“So they are basically mutual enemies to all, is what you are saying?” I really didn’t want to work with someone who was after my life. But if the situation calls for it. A temporary alliance might be needed.

  “Yes, but Rodden is not someone we can trust. Even if we formed a pact with him, we don’t know what tricks he has learned over the years. But he might come to seek us out if things are not kept under control or if we can not figure out why this is happening.”

  “Have our people look for the source, if found we will destroy it if we can. If not… We may be in for a hard time.”

  Chapter 18

  “Boss, if this goes on, we won’t last much longer!” A young man held his injured arm that had a deep wound running down it. Blood dripped on the ground trailing behind him, but he ignored it to make his plea.

  “We need to hold out. There are too many counting on us.” Serenity was covered in the blood of her enemies. She had no idea what was going on. The Kings were on the run, but suddenly turned and now had monsters assisting them. “I think someone has a unique skill to control monsters. But even a unique skill has its limits; we just need to hold out!”

  Serenity continued to swing her hammer. Wanting to destroy those who tried to pass. Her people, those who could still fight, were slowly being pushed back. She couldn’t hold the line herself.

  “Leader of the Elysium Soldiers, Serenity, just give up! You can not win!” A man in his forties wearing a black suit began walking through the battlefield.

  “Jamal! Do you think you can rule the world!?”

  “Rule the world? Heh, that is my goal. My power is not something anyone can stop. Even if you are a higher level, I only need to send wave after wave of monsters after you. They will also slowly grow stronger. Monsters can grow stronger by killing each other and us. They are weak now and can only hold your people back. Think about it, how long can you last as the monsters steadily get stronger?”

  “You’re a fool. Do you think you can stop her? Do you think you have the means to deal with the Demon Queen!? No matter how strong you are now you can never match her.”

  “That is for me to decide. I’ll admit that the Demon Queen is stronger for now, but think about it. I just won’t go near her until I’m sure I can deal with her.”

  “Heh… Do you really think she won’t have the same idea as you?” Serenity snorted. And raised her hand. She hated to do this, but now she had no choice. “Jamal. We will retreat. And move off these lands but know… That one day you will lose everything.”

  “Smart move, and I’ll await the day you come begging on your hands and knees to work under me.” Jamal smiled. He had no need for senseless fighting as long as he got what he wanted. He welcomed those who would challenge him, or else it wouldn’t be fun. This was why he was willing to let Serenity go and why he looked forward to the future.

  “Hear me! All soldiers retreat. We will be moving out.” Serenity wanted to wait. She wanted to hold off the army in hopes they would see a chance to push through, but now she understood after seeing Jamal. He was by no means afraid and probably had other means to win this war. So instead of losing more lives, it was best to pack up and move north. Only there could she join her idol.

  “Boss, are we really giving up?” An older man appeared at her side.

  “Dad, we can’t win this fight. You saw Jamal. He is using his mana, but there are only small traces of it. He can keep going for as long as he wants. And he is right. His monsters will just keep getting stronger as they level up. It won’t take long before we are overpowered, and we all die. But one thing we are lucky about is the man’s arrogance. He won’t kill us while we retreat. He doesn’t care for the deaths of his people. He sees them as nothing but tools as he works toward his goal of world domination. We will move north. Get everything ready as planned.”

  “Understood. Serenity, no Ali…”

  “That name is no more.” Serenity cut her father off. “I know what you want to say, and thank you. You have stuck with me this entire time. You helped me when mom was ripped to pieces, and I felt I was going to lose my mind. You and my idol are the reason I am still moving forward, why I can keep my head up and my sanity in check.”

  “The Demon Queen also helped me… Or else I wouldn’t have been able to help you at all.”

  “She has saved many of us and now we will go and join her. I’m sure she won’t say no to a group of seasoned soldiers.”

  “We can only try. But make sure you suit up. The area is not safe for us.”

  “I know. This is why I am sure Jamal can never beat her. You have to be very strong to be able to control a nuclear wasteland.”

  Serenity’s father reached up and ruffled his daughter’s hair. They had gone through a lot since the apocalypse happened. His wife, his daughter’s mother, died right in front of them when the first wave came, torn limb from limb and eaten alive. The scene still haunted his dreams. But the young woman, who called out to the world and warned them of what was to come, saved them from going crazy. Gave them motivation. Motivation to keep moving forward, to build up the group that they had and try to stake out a place of their own. But now… the man hated to admit it, but he felt weak. He couldn’t even help protect what his daughter worked so hard to build up.

  ♦♦♦

  “This is the last one.” I severed the head of another mutated monster. We were currently in the neutral zone between Dark Front and my territory, searching for the reason for the mutated monsters.

  “Leader, the area is clear. But are you sure you shouldn’t wear a suit?” One of the soldiers asked, his voice filled with concern.

  “Yeah. Radiation does not affect me or Angel now. Mati is making sure of this.” Angel underwent a forced evolution path even though she hadn’t reached level 150. But once you undergo evolution, such things as radiation no longer affect you unless it is part of the system. But to be safe, I still have Mati watching over Angel and me.

  “You’re lucky. These things are hot.” The suits everyone else was wearing were not meant to be very weather-friendly. If it was hot, so was the suit. It did help with keeping some cold out, but if it got too cold, you would still end up feeling it. But right now, we were in a nuclear winter.

  “It’s because you were moving around so much. You will cool off soon. Scan the area for anything that seems out of place. And I mean anything. Look for things that have higher radiation than the surrounding area. And I mean like one hundred times more.”

  “Understood.” The young man saluted me before running off.

  “Zoe, do you think we will find the source?” Angel hooked arms with me and asked.

  “Maybe. We can only hope. I would rather have one less thing to worry about, but if we can’t find it, we will need to make more preparations.”

  The reason for being out here was to prevent future problems. While I know we can never stop monsters from evolving, we could at least prevent this forced mutation that was occurring. I’m still unsure what we are looking for. We were basically searching for a needle in a haystack.

  Scanning the area came up with nothing, which I had figured would be the case since this area consisted only of building rubble. Angel had her hands cupped over her eyes as she asked, “Are those Dark Front people?”

  “Yeah. They are sticking to their area. They know we are here and probably don’t want to start anything. With so many of us here at this time, they wouldn’t want to risk starting a war. I hate to say it, but we might need their help to search the area.”

  “Master, should I send someone to ask?”

  “It’s fine, Hilde, I will be the one to go. Right now, Rodden will need to think twice about everything he has planned. I want them to know that we are now more powerful than ever. While it would be easy to conquer them right now, I don’t want any dissonance. Having to deal with people trying to get revenge is never a good idea.”

  “That does make sense.” Hilde nodded. “But we will need to deal with him sooner or later.”

  “I know. But for now, until we are ready to make our move to begin our conquest, it’s better to keep the status quo.”

  “Zoe’s right. While I really want to burn him alive, it’s best not to make the situation worse for us. If fully evolved monsters begin to appear and not just these mutations, we will have a hell of a time dealing with them and that bastard at the same time.” Angel added.

  Hilde nodded her head. “Yeah, I can see how dealing with Rodden now would cause more issues in the long run, especially since we don’t know what will happen if you retrieve part of your soul. If that part causes any strange side effects at a time when we need Master the most, then it will cause a big issue.”

  “Anyway, it’s still good to get them involved. I will make contact. Have everyone continue what they are doing.” I didn’t let them reply before disappearing and reappearing in front of a group of ten Dark Front players. “Yo!”

  “You!? How!?” One of them fell over and began backing away with a strange backwards crab walk.

  “I’m not here to harm you,” I said, blocking the area with earth magic. “I need to deliver a message to your leader. Tell Rodden that we should form a temporary alliance to fight the mutated monsters. If he agrees, send a trusted delegate to my territory. I guarantee safe passage.”

  “I’ll do it!” A young woman who looked four or five years younger than myself stood up and raised her hand. “I’ll tell our leader for you.”

  “Good. I also suggest for now until the alliance is formed that when you see a group of my people, not get too close. I will head back now. I hope to hear back soon.”

  Chapter 19

  Deep in a newly constructed bunker, Rodden sat at this desk looking at the young woman. “Have you confirmed what she said?”

  Rodden was not happy about forming an alliance, but he also knew the dangers of evolved monsters. He knew his current force wouldn’t be able to hold them off for very long. As they grew stronger and stronger, it would go from a standstill to his complete loss.

  “Yes, the monsters they were killing did indeed have humanoid features. We have been staying out of the neutral territory as you ordered when The Fallen are there.”

  “Then we will send a delegation. I want you and a few of our strongest to escort you to their base. Do not, and I repeat, do not try anything while there. I will repeat this once more when you go to leave, but know that if you do not wish to live a life of hell, do not get on that woman’s bad side.” Rodden had to admit he still feared Zoe. She was his mother, the person who created him and brought him into this world. But she had one tick that made her lose her sanity, and that was her people.

  If you touched her people, she would not usually kill you right away, but torture you until you died. It was what made her send shivers down his spine to this day, but he still betrayed her. He wanted to be free and not be tied to the woman who had created him. His hatred stemmed from her rejecting the idea, all because he was made with her soul.

  “Leader, may I ask, if we were to go to war with The Fallen, would we be able to win?” The girl’s voice got weaker as she asked her question, but she really wished to know.

  “The truth…” Rodden sat back and thought for a moment. “Right now, we would lose unconditionally even if I could hold off the others. We are lucky because right now, they are still wary of me. We will maintain the status quo. When the time comes, if we see a means to wipe them out, we will take it.”

  “I see… So that is why when I tried to check her level, I only got skulls…” The girl’s words made Rodden’s eyes widen.

  “What did you just say?” Rodden stood up and appeared before the girl, holding her shoulders. “Repeat that.”

  “I said her level was so high that I could only see skulls. In fact, not just her, but another girl who had been hugging Zoe’s arm. We couldn’t see their levels. She also looked different from before. Blood red eyes with black pupils. Curled black horns and a pair of wings on her back.”

  “She…” Rodden stumbled back a few steps, his face growing pale. “Be polite. Be very polite and diplomatic when forming the alliance. By no means should you give them a reason to attack us. If what you just said is true, then they have already somehow jumped past level one hundred. Only when you reach level 150 can you gain your path, an evolutionary state that will decide your future path. And the appearance you just described to me can wipe us all out and only make her stronger.”

  “Path? This is the first I have heard of a path.” The young woman was confused.

  “No one would know until they hit level 150 this is why. The highest level we have is fifty. This means she is over a hundred levels higher than all of you. She could easily wipe out this entire base on her own, leaving only me to fend off my brother and sisters, who will have also grown a hundred times stronger.” Rodden walked back around his desk and sat down, his eyes growing blank. “To think she was able to level up so quickly. She must have encountered something within the game.”

  “Then maybe the other one evolved, too. While the face and hair were the same, she had a black halo and an extra set of wings made of bone.”

  “It’s a possibility. When you have gathered everyone, let me know. We will have a meeting.” Right now, Rodden wished he had taken the risk to kill Zoe before she had a chance to grow stronger. He had been too arrogant then. Unlike his siblings, he could not gain power as Zoe grew stronger. He had to wait until the restrictions were lifted on this world before he could use his true power.

  ♦♦♦

  “Ahhchooo!” I hadn’t sneezed in such a long time.

  “Bless you.” Angel reached up and wiped my nose with her sleeve.

  “Thanks. Must be the dust in the air. Anyway, still no luck?”

  “Reports are still coming up negative at each site. We have no signs of what is causing the mutation except for radiation. Zoe, do you think it has something to do with the countdown to the end of the first trial? Like, is it setting things up for a hardcore second trial of mutated monsters with human forms?”

  “If that is the case, then we may be in trouble. We will break here today and head back. We need to make a few plans just in case.”

  We left the neutral zone and headed back to our base. It annoyed me that there were no strong reactions from anything in the area. We only searched a quarter of the neutral zone, but you would think there would be something there. The strangest part was that ground zero showed no signs of any mutated monsters. Even the outer areas that we don’t normally cleanse all the time, monsters were just radioactive in nature, nothing more.

  When we arrived back at the base, I summoned a meeting of all top and local leaders. “I thank you all for coming on short notice.” I started by writing on the whiteboard. “We need to come up with a few plans to deal with a situation that might or might not happen. As some of you might have heard already, mutated monsters with humanoid features have appeared. These mutations could lead to the development of a fully formed humanoid monster. If such a thing were to happen, it could be perilous.

  “We are more than likely safe for the time being, but our current barrier does not encompass the entire area we are currently taking up. Whether it be above ground or below, it doesn’t matter. We will be at risk. We have barriers protecting our heads. It is hard to know if what comes will be able to break them or simply ignore them. We need to begin practicing escape drills for those who are not combat worthy.”

  “Should we run north or south?” An older woman named Karen, who asked such a question, didn’t look too bright.

  “South. If we went north, we would be running into the zone that is the current hotbed of the mutated monsters.” I replied while glaring at the woman. “Were you not listening to anything I have said? Our northern tunnels are for transport only, not escape. They will also be collapsed now to protect our people. Karen, you are responsible for teaching our kids. I am wondering if you should keep such a position.”

  “Leader, you can’t fault me for asking that. There is no telling if either side will be safe.”

  “If the neutral zone that we have been investigating, which is where the mutated monsters are currently located, is a place of danger, why would you want to run into the mouth of the enemy?” I looked over at Derrick, who gave me a nod. Seconds later, two soldiers walked into the room and stood behind Karen.

  “What? Get your hands off me! Leader, you can’t do this to me! I have worked hard as well!” Karen cried out as she was dragged out of the room.

  I snorted and looked at everyone. “Incompetence will not be tolerated. Each of you were selected for your position because we believed you were well-suited for the job. The first signs of inability to follow directions will lead to termination. Just like Karen, you will be escorted out of this room. We are not some company where you have rights. When in a leadership role, your job is to do your job, stay alert, and listen to what is being said. Bad decisions can not only get you killed, but also harm others. Karen was a teacher. If she had decided to go north without thinking about the consequences, then she would have delivered our young, the next generation, into the mouths of monsters. You can not expect me to be civil. My job is to keep everyone alive and keep The Fallen of Elysium going.”

  “I see no problem in your actions.” Herbert, a man who works under Derrick, stood up. “She was only relieved of her duty. It’s not like she has died. I will suggest making sure she has no opportunity for revenge.”

  “They will be taking her to confinement,” Derrick explained. “You all may not know this, but there are regulations put into place in case situations like this arise, based on severity. In Karen’s case, she proved that she was unfit for her position by even asking if we should head north. While some may think this is a fair question, that thought alone reveals your incompetence, and I would suggest you refrain from saying anything if you did feel this way. The south is our only escape. Not just because the mutated monsters are north of us, but because the Dark Front is also north. Even if we were accepted in the north, there is no telling how we would be treated. They may even ask for Zoe’s head, and I will be damned if one of my daughters has to give up their life. Especially Zoe, who has worked so hard for all of us.

 

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