The 'Extra' Lord - A Plundering Kingdom Building LitRPG

He and his men gazed at the sand wave in horror. Lome was the first to react, as if fear had no effect on him, pulling Owen off his feet. Together, they all sprinted straight for the tunnel. The sand would undoubtedly entomb them, but that was a worry for later.

Securely in Lome’s arms, he sprinted as fast as his skeleton legs could take him. And he was quick. Owen watched the tsunami tower above him. Any moment now, and they would be devoured. His heart struck against his chest. It was getting darker. Not even his Draed’s desperate arrows could break through the veil of black threatening to consume them whole.

Owen grit his teeth and returned Shelldon to his soul. He couldn’t die here. Then, with all his might, Lome leapt through the air, straight toward the tunnel. The wave was right above them. The rising sands touched his feet. It was cold.

“Shit!” He screamed. Sand splattered into his mouth. Grit grinded in amongst his teeth. And then he launched straight into the tunnel. He rolled, and continued to roll. Rocks poked and prodded his body like blunted daggers. But he couldn’t feel the pain. Adrenaline made sure of that.

The sand was right behind him. Someone pulled him up—Lome, he realised—and pulled Owen forward. The sand covered his legs, engulfed his chest, and climbed until it grabbed hold of his neck.

He continued forward. The sand didn’t stop. He held his breath. The sand consumed him. To his horror, one of his Warriors died as he received the notification of one of his units perishing.

But unable to open his eyes, he was consumed by darkness. Not only that, his lungs burned from having to hold his breath. One minute. Two minutes. His throat lurched. He wanted to gasp for a breath, but he knew the moment he tried, sand would fill his mouth and throat and it would choke him to death. He held on. Lome pulled him forwards.

Just as he was about to black out, he felt his body hit open air. He gasped the instant he realised he had resurfaced from the sand. He coughed and spluttered, sending clumped up sand from his throat.

My men, Owen thought, not taking his own well being into consideration. He counted. Lome, Draed, and… Bohar. He sighed in relief.

Owen lay flat against the cold stone of the tunnels. Chest rising fast, he gazed at the blocked tunnel. There was nowhere to escape to. The tsunami of sand had most likely washed over the entirety of the land, engulfing it whole. His land would be safe as nothing could penetrate a Lord’s protection dome, but those inside would be given a shock.

Thankfully, Owen had Unlimited Plunder. He’d just have to wait and then excavate the sand until he was back outside.

Owen lay for a few seconds, recovering his breath. Once that was done, he stood up with the help of Lome.

“Is everyone okay?” he asked, scanning his men.

They nodded, grunting in affirmation.

“Okay, good,” Owen said in relief. It could have gone a lot worse. “Let’s find a way out of here.”

Heading back into the main cavern, Owen wandered over to a standing pillar. It was enormous, about the width of twenty humans all standing huddled around each other.

He brought out his bag from his storage and quickly snatched out the flask of water. He first washed his mouth out before drinking some. He then handed it to the others.

Then he brought out his fire starter. It was a basic flint and steel. With the wood he had taken with him, he started trying to make the fire. Sometimes he would get close, blowing the embers in hope the fire would start. And other times it just wouldn’t work. Draed ended up taking over, and a few moments later, embers transformed into a crackling flame.

Owen’s mind turned absent. How was mum doing? Dad? Owen sighed. The warmth of the fire licked his cheeks. But the darkness was beginning to eat away at the light, gradually, second by second. Around 6 minutes passed and the darkness had consumed most of the illumination. The crackling fire only shone around two foot around it. Thankfully, it had no effect on the fire. Soon found his eyelids turning heavy. Then darkness took hold of him once more.

***

It had been an hour since Owen had awakened and it was freezing. During the night, the fire had dwindled, and he and his men had ended up cuddling each other to fend off the cold. Lome was useless in that regard. The skeleton warrior was as cold as the night’s chill was. Despite that, he still wanted to be a part of the group huddle. Owen didn’t have the heart to kick him away.

After drinking some water and eating some of the provisions he had stored, it was time to find an exit.

He took one step, then heard a crack. Draed, Lome, and Rohan whirled around. At first he thought it was another skeleton unable to weather the test of time, but then another crack entered Owen’s ears. Then another. Quickly, ten or so cracks, followed by the noise of popping raised the hairs at Owen’s nape.

Owen spun on his heels. Oh shit. Owen watched as from below where the monster carcass was located, numerous worms emerged. There had to be at least 15, or more. Owen and his men were already running toward the tunnel entrance.

A screeching squeal attacked his ears. Chased by the sound of hurried scuttling. Owen’s arms trembled. He glanced over his shoulder and gazed at the creatures screeching with him as the target.

They were worms around the size of Owen’s torso. One of them still had a piece of putrid flesh covered bone in its dagger-like lined mouth. They were gaining on him. Lome had to pick him up again.

Shit!

Lome picked up the pace. Everyone managed to keep up. Owen glanced over his shoulder once more. The nearest worm was close. Just ten feet. Draed turned and fired an arrow. It bore through the first monster, and fired into the second behind it with deadly precision.

Your subordinates have defeated a Bone Worm (Level 8)

| You have reached Le–

Owen cut the message off. The next worm leapt for him, but he sliced at the worm with his kukri, splitting it in half. There were too many of them, and they were gaining on him.

Owen grit his teeth. It was a twenty or so minute run back to the ruins. They weren’t going to make it. He looked around, his heart smashing against his chest. At the corner of his eye, another worm jumped at him, yellowed teeth pointed at him.

Rohan used his shield, smacking one of the worms, sending it crashing against the wall. The wall crumbled into dust. Owen’s eyes widened. That was it!

“Destroy the walls!”

His men devotedly listened to his order without a shred of hesitation. Draed fired supernatural arrows into the wall, Lome slashed it, and Rohan pummeled the wall as they ran. They also targeted the ceiling.

Suddenly, the tunnel gave in behind him. Sand, rocks, and bones hidden in the dust, all cascaded down onto the bone-eating worms, covering them completely. They were gone.

His plan had worked. Then he heard rocks move. A worm leapt out from under the dust pile. It was so fast, Owen, or the others, didn’t have much time to react. He brandished his blade, but it was too late. Owen felt scorching pain. Or maybe it was the blood dripping down his shoulder. He felt the worm latch onto the back of his shoulder. It squirmed.

Lome tried to remove it, but Owen panicked.

He slammed his shoulder against the stone wall in a maddened craze. Finally, after the seventh strike, the worm fell.

Owen stomped on the monster repeatedly, mashing it into a bloody pulp. Die, bastard, Owen thought through gritted teeth. He received the kill notification. Dust swirled all around him. No rewards.

“Keep moving,” Owen said through a cough.

Not savouring his victory just yet, Owen and the others kept on running. He didn’t hear anything coming from behind him. That was good. But his heart burned. His legs ached. Having sprinted for twenty minutes straight, he was nearing his limit. Not only that, but the over utilisation of Ultimate Plunder had exhausted him.

Light appeared. How? The sand from the tsunami should have filled the tunnel to where he was. But the fact was, there was light, and no sand. It was getting brighter by the second. But then he heard screeches coming from deep in the tunnel.

With strained breath, Owen broke past the barrier of light. An intense heat followed, beating into his fleshy torso, arms, and legs. Lome turned on his heels and slammed his axe into the entrance of the tunnel, where it was held up by heavy supports.

The blade sliced through the only supports holding the tunnel up; the archway of heavy sandstone. The arch collapsed, sending god knows how many tonnes of boulder into the tunnel. The land behind it also caved in, like a mountain caving inwards.

Dust surged out. Owen closed his eyes and moved behind a broken wall for cover. The dust settled a few moments later and no noise could be heard. He wasn’t happy with that. He waited ten more minutes in the alien heat, keeping a close eye on the tunnel for any movement. The last thing he wanted was for the worms to hunt him down when he turned his back.

There was no activity.

Owen and his men were free.