141 Setting A Plan For The Quest
"I told you already about our pyramid way of leadership. Your world is already arranged into zones. The entire world is divided into five main regions for each race, each ruled over by one heaven son."
"One region for each big continent, right?" I asked just to make sure I got what he said right.
"You can consider it this way, but in fact it was arranged based on how your world will look like after the merge ended," he tried to explain something I was already aware of.
The big five lands, each was supposed to be ruled out by one single big race of those aliens. As for humans, they were already wiped out from the picture.
"I get it," I said to make him not waste time explaining this over, "what about these heaven sons then? You called them paragons, right?"
He nodded, and then shook his head. "Only one paragon is allowed for each race in any apocalypse. They are just competing with each other, as all races are competing to get more lands over other races," he said in a solemn tone before adding:
"Our paragons are situated at the east from here, across that big water separating us from them. But the dragons have two paragons situated in this continent."
"Two?!!" I was surprised to hear that.
"Not only them," he still had more bad news to tell, "but the succubus race also has three paragons here, and the berserkers have two. But you can't depend on these berserkers, after all they are here to fight everyone and not dominate anything."
"This… It's a big f*cking mess!" I never expected all of such attention would be focused on this part of the world.
What? Did the dragons already sat their gazes over this continent? Come on! I wouldn't let that happen! Not under my watch.
"They have selected this part of your world to focus on," he just confirmed my earlier guess, "and as two paragons appeared here, they also brought many strong and capable senators, vices, and even archlords. My bad luck was to be assigned here out of all places."
"Don't say it this way," I said, "we are together in this. Don't think I have no way to deal with these fiery lizards."
"Don't underestimate them," he rolled his eyes, "once you do, you won't know when or how you died!"
"I won't," I smiled in confidence, "just tell me everything you know about that dude near us."
"He was supposed to go active in the centre of this continent," Fang sighed, "but for some reasons, he abandoned his earlier plans after the first quest was over and came to this part."
"Something forced him to be active here… Is it your race?" I asked and Fang shook his head.
"My best guess is that he met a hard rock to crack from your race."
"Humans?" it came as a surprise even for me. I knew all about the life stories of big shots in human history in the apocalypse. They wouldn't go active or show up their talents and abilities except after the tens quest.
Who would that be to show up his potential early on? Was there someone so strong enough to push such a deadly foe back and force him away?
"Is there a chance he might be faking all this?" I asked, trying to consider all options, "or perhaps he controlled many cities in the centre, so he is trying to expand his territory."
"It's not possible," but Fang's response was firm, "I already got the news. He lost, lost a big part of his forces in the centre. Then he came here to try and take more regions to compensate for his losses."
"He lost big? Interesting," I saw a chance in this.
"Don't get your hopes high up," but Fang kept throwing more bad news, "he got another army to support him from the big gate at the north west from here. He isn't that weak, in fact he is so dangerous to face in my opinion."
"Hurt and want to get revenge… Hmm… you said north west?" this point flashed back something, "so that dude was trying to go there. Does that mean his base is near?"
"He is," he nodded in confirmation, "only one hundred miles north west from here."
"Do you have eyes over him?"
"What do you have in mind?" he got my idea, "don't go directly towards him now. I say we shall retreat and consolidate our forces at the shore side here. Let him vent his anger and expand his forces so we can hunt them down."
"I don't like that," it was a safe and good plan. But it wasn't an active one. "If we wait, he will consolidate his forces and be far ahead of us. At least right now his forces are all in chaos and low morale. And he will come at me anyway, right?"
"Don't you have two cities? Why bother about this one?"
I looked at the other side of the Hudson river and couldn't help but sigh, "the two cities are so close to not leave me in rest while he controls here. Besides, what's the point in claiming a city then ditching it for someone else to control?"
He looked at me without saying anything for a long minute. I also kept my silence. After all, what I was proposing here seemed to be against what he had in mind for his future plans in this quest.
"If we fight him here, we will miss a lot of time and…"
"Victory isn't guaranteed?" I grinned evilly, "just tell me, do you have eyes close to him and his forces?"
"Of course I have," he said in a show off way, "every single archlord won't be one without eyes in his enemy forces."
"So he also has eyes in your forces?"
"I believe even in yours as well."
"No," I shrugged, "I already cleaned my forces before anything else."
"You… don't tell me you used that dirty compass!"
I grinned as I took one out. "Yes, you have it," he sighed, "that means you already paid a hefty price to cleanse all of your forces."
"That's a must," I said, "without doing that, how can I sleep at night."
"Do you even sleep?"
"I'll try to get some rest soon," I shrugged, "anyway I want you to move slightly away from here and away from his forces… why not go south?"
"And?" he asked while thinking about my proposed plan.
"I'll lure him to attack me while not shielding against your forces," I said, "this way we can get him off guard."
"But I'll be far to the south by then!"
"It's not you, but your main force," I corrected.
"Do you want only me and my elites?" He read my idea and I nodded.
"I can show him a grand army of fodders, but against his elites I lose big without doubt."
"Hmm… matching his elites means…"
"I'll target him from the start," I said in a serious tone as this was the base of my entire plan.
"He won't show such weakness as you imagine," Fang had such a defeated spirit even before we started the fight. "That toy you are happy with… I can say for sure that he has a one hundred force totally equipped with it! Can you fight such force? With only your chariot?"
One hundred? F*ck! I was almost this close to dance in joy to get one of these, and he had a hundred! And that was for his personal force to use! F*cking dragons!
"I say we play it safer… Why not let me be the bait? Go to the north and make him come to me?"
"Won't work," I sighed, "he will come at you with his full force. We won't have a chance to ambush him at all!"
"Then let me go to the far north instead of south," he proposed, "just going south will put me far from my territory."
"Don't set your gaze under your feet," I noticed his issue with my plan now, "when we remove that threat off the world, then we can play as we want in a wider territory than what you have in mind."
"But…"
"Just go south for now," I said ending this discussion, "and let me think over the plan again. Also send me all the data you get about his force movement."
"Why do I feel I turned into your lackey?" he glared up at me.
"It's for our both sake," I replied with a sly smile.
"Then let me go north and I won't let him escape. But letting you use this damaged city as bait won't work."
"Just drop it, we will do it our way," I rolled my eyes while wondering if this Selvator had a distant relative with stubborn berserkers or what.
"Alright, we'll do it your way but you need to let part of my elites hide in your backyard."
His tone told me he read already through my entire plan. Good Selvator, you guessed it right indeed.
"How many?" I asked before agreeing, "too much and we'll get exposed."
"Isn't your force clear?"
"I'm worried about yours."
We stayed silent for a few seconds before both breaking out in laughter. The all silent Karoline giggled and shook her head as if we were two big boys playing with each other.
"I'll send two hundred at your other city," he said while starting to walk away as if this was his own way to say goodbye.
"Hey, two hundred is a lot to hide!" I shouted but he only raised his fist in the air as he answered while getting away:
"I trust them with my own life. So don't feel any worry."
"Hey! Stop!" I tried to stop him but he simply opened up his speed and left in a hurry like he owed me money.
"Hahaha, you two… hahaha!" Karoline's laughs made me finally snap out of what just happened.
"Did you see that? He ran away like a shameless dragon and not an honourable Selvator!"
"Hahaha, come, tell me first what Selvators mean," she motioned towards me to come while she seemed to lose any control over her laughs.
Girl! What was funny about what happened? That dude used my backyard city as a garage to hide his own forces and keep an eye over my forces!
"Just chill out, you also got what you wanted from him," she patted me on the shoulder while I felt more ease when she did that.
"I won't let him spy on me," I rolled my eyes towards the direction Fang ran towards.
"At least he is on our side, right?"
"For now, yes," I said, "he is bound by a contract. But the contract is only limited to controlling this coastline for now."
"This coastline? You say it as if this was a few miles area in size!!" she was surprised but I knew it wasn't that much of a space considering the new world after the merge. "Anyway, what shall we do now?"
"We will rest," I stretched my arms and realised I didn't have a rest for a long time already.
"Rest and that dude is coming here for us?"
"He won't come at once, he isn't camping at our doorsteps or something," I took a piece of meat out and ate it while drinking big mouths of water.
"Wow! Where did you get the meat?" her eyes sparkled when she saw my palm sized grilled meat.
"Oh, you haven't eaten meat since the apocalypse?" she didn't know how to cook monster meat for sure. I just missed this little detail, "come, let's have a feast on the honour of conquering the city."
"Only me and you?" she asked while I took out a big box filled with ammunition. It came from the dragon dude that I killed and his little elite gang.
"A lord and his girl… Why should others be with us?" I said it as if this was settled.
"You, stop it!" she poked me while holding back her laugh. And she got only a snort from me as a response while placing many pieces of meat and a big liquor filled with clean water on that table-like box.
142 Crashing The Party
"Hahaha, I'm just stating the obvious," I shrugged while laughing. But my eyes were all focused on her face and reaction.
She smiled a sweet one that made my heart dance. I dunno why I was this happy or excited but it was a good feeling that I never felt before.
"Oh, having a party already without inviting us?" Just before we could eat a single piece of meat in peace, that annoying voice came to disturb the moment!
"Jumper… What are you doing here?" I gave this dude a warning glare but he seemed to totally ignore it.
"Guys, guys, come, Hye is having a party for our win."
Damn! This dude shouted with all his might and the next moment I saw many silhouettes running from two different directions.
"Why are you doing this man?" I looked at him with a deep hatred, a look that he welcomed with a teasing laugh.
"It's a party for all of us, right?"
"Oh, we have a party! Yeah!" The first to arrive was Angelica who seemed to literally teleport herself to here. I knew the moment was screwed.
That jumper… Did I kill him before in my past life or what to have such a grudge against me? And here I was holding back his secret. What? Do you want me to share it with everyone else here or what?
"Why are you giving me such a look?" without being invited, he sat first before everyone else took a place around the box.
"It's just not a decent thing to eat man's food without asking," I looked at him while weighing if I should open my vault of secrets and snap him to everyone here or keep it hidden for now.
"Let them be," but the warm hearted Karoline leant slightly over my side and added in a soft tone that melted all the annoyance in my heart, "I already got what you want to do… Thanks for all this by the way."
"Got what?" Isabella was stuffing a big piece of meat in her mouth before adding in a muffled tone, "this food was all cooked by our chiefs."
"And I was the one to tell them how to do it, right?" I rolled my eyes at her while she giggled in a way that looked vicious in my eyes.
"Let's eat then," Alex sat and looked at the meat in a droll way, "I never tasted meat after the apocalypse. How did you get it?"
"Ask your girl," I turned to Angelica who was eating like this was the last meal in her life, "she also has a lot of meat in her inventory."
"Oh, is that true?" Alex gave Angelica a look that made the latter look at me in a blaming way.
Girls! You crushed my little moment with Karoline without being invited! Don't blame me then.
"It's monster meat," the jumper said as he was the most experienced one here to survive the apocalypse after myself, "it's not that bad!"
He added when Alex showed a look of disgust over her face while Karoline seemed to be surprised. Yet my girl didn't stop eating before saying:
"If we lost everything in the apocalypse, we need to adapt and learn new stuff."
That was my girl! Yes, that was right indeed.
"But…" Alex felt a little nauseated as she covered her mouth with her palm.
"If we don't cook them, we'll die out of hunger even before they face us," I spoke before adding, "plus there are many benefits regarding this meat. Take that monster for example…"
I pointed at the killed dark realm monster which was still looking as majestic as ever. Even after all this time, my warriors couldn't even scrap one tenth of it!
"It has a high cultivation base plus enormous amounts of nutrients. Eating it will boost our strength to new heights."
"Then we should cook it!" Angelica said in glimmering eyes.
"We can't," I wanted to do so indeed, but not for now, "we need to first delve into the path of cultivation before eating such a behemoth."
"A path of cultivation? What does that even mean?" Leo asked and he seemed a bit nervous while eating this meat for no obvious reasons.
Guys! Girls! This meat wasn't poisoned! I guarantee this as I was also eating it and letting my girl eat it as well.
"It's a way to make our bodies stronger…" The jumper seemed to find a topic he was interested in and well experienced in. I left the stage for him to talk while I focused my attention solely over Karoline.
"What do you think?" I asked in a low tone to not disturb the ongoing chat. It felt good to let that jumper's eyes shift away from me for a few minutes.
"It's amazing!" She confessed, "If we can distribute the way we cook it, then many people won't die of hunger. Can we do it? Please!"
Girl! Stop looking at me with such mesmerising eyes. I did have a way to send such info to everyone, but it would be a waste to just use it for such a purpose without doubt.
"Let me think of a way," but under her look and petition, how could I say no directly to her?
"You are the best man, Hye," she held my arm and hugged it as if she was hugging me instead. For a second there my heart dropped a beat before I felt more nervous.
"No problem," I said in a slow tone but didn't try to push her away.
"Look at these two, acting all lovey dovey even in front of us… That's shameless!" Yet again the distasteful voice of the jumper came to kill the beauty of this moment.
As that dude spoke, Karoline jolted herself away from me and all the eyes here fell on the two of us.
"What?" I asked while moving my eyes around, "do you want to leave us alone for now or what?"
"Not a chance," the spearhead laughed as if he found a moment to pick back at me for before.
"Keep dreaming!" and the jumper snorted while returning to eat as if he didn't say anything just now.
"Screw you all," I stepped up and added, "I'll leave you to eat and then come to me up there."
I heard their muffled laughs and even low whispers from my back. At this moment if I didn't leave I'd have said or done something I'd regret later with all of them.
Just watch, more chances would come for me and Karoline, humph!
As I had nothing else to do, I went first to check over my warriors and that behemoth. The dark realm monster's body was colossal. Even after all this time and gathering up four different hills of materials that came from its body, it didn't show any signs of being cut down or anything.
"This one for the meat," I started to examine the four hills. The first one was a huge meat pile that was made out of cube-like pieces of meat.
Each cube was in the size of half metre in length, width, and height. "Come inside then," I took everything in that hill away in a few minutes before examining the next one.
"This is for the sharp materials of it… interesting!" The next pile was formed of more unorganised and uneven pieces of the monster. All were sharp and looked quite deadly.
I saw its teeth, parts of one claw that seemed to get smashed when it died. Yet that part alone was enough to fill half of that pile or even more.
I took it all, then moved to the third pile which was related to its organs.
This time I stopped for a longer time and examined these pieces of the organs thoroughly. I couldn't tell which part of the organ each piece was, but each one was considered a treasure in my eyes.
Thick lining, glimmering solid interior with different lights like they were beating hearts. Each piece weighed more than it looked, and it gave me a dangerous feeling when I tried to carry a few of them.
"Get inside for now," I didn't care to examine everything as there were a lot! I took all in and that left the last pile behind.
It was a grand pile of bones! From the shape of it, the bones were from the torso part of that monster. There were many different shaped bones that still emitted black energy in dense amounts.
Just standing ten metres away wasn't enough to make me feel secure. The air it emitted created a screen of pale darkness that enveloped the entire pile.
"Come inside," but who said I'd leave them behind like that? The bones seemed to grow stronger the more bones there were in the pile. After taking everything away and gulping a healing potion just in case, I shouted at one of my warriors to come.
"These bones must be scattered around the ground," I said while pointing at one piece of long flat bone that looked like a big scapula in my eyes, "each one must be ten metres apart, do you get it?"
"Roar!" it was a Bulltor and he roared in response to my words.
"Good lad," I patted him on the shoulder before adding, "go and inform others."
"Roar!" This time the roar came from a different direction than my Bulltor, and it was followed by more roars.
"What's going on?" without thinking too much about it, I ventured directly towards that direction.
As I climbed the big body of that killed monster, I found many big holes that were formed by my boys. Only a few of them were left after the big battle that happened here.
And at the direction of that monster's last heart, the one that was below the only neck it had, I found many of my warriors gathering up while others were roaring from deep inside its body.
"Oh… What do we have here?" As I reached there in a few minutes of running, I found an interesting thing waiting for me there.
There weren't the three holes which were created by the three races before, but one bigger and much deeper hole that was linked directly with the heart space.
My warriors did a good job in expanding this hole and deepening it. Right now they already cut almost thrice the space of the earlier space. And as they got deeper, I could see the backbones of that monster in the form of giant vertebrae.
Yet near that giant train trail-like bones, I saw something flashing in a deep green light. It was like a bubble formed by some sort of energy to protect something.
And a mixed group of my warriors were surrounding it, roaring as if they were stirred to fight that thing.
"Wait for me," I shouted to my Bulltors, shield bearers, illusionists, and soulers while I started to carefully descend this hole.
The warriors cut the edges in a sharp , sloppy way, letting me cut the way down and create something like stairs for me to use to climb back up again after finishing here.
"Oh… It's you!!" As I reached that dark green ball of energy, I could see the form that lay within this bubble.
It was the Curasee, or that what got into my mind the moment I saw that body inside the bubble.
It was a slim and tall body of a building similar to girls not boys. It had a small head, few tentacles coming out from the head mixed with strange curly looking coarse dark green hair.
The eyes were long elliptical and closed with thick eyelids and long slashes. The skin was filled with spots all over, focused at some places and rare at others. Yet they took the form of a whirlpool at the two slender and long cheeks of it.
It was either sleeping in deep slumber or dead. But if that Curasee was dead, then why was that bubble still active?
"There is one way to know the answer for this," I didn't hurry to crush that protective bubble and instead opened my profile to look for the answer.
143 Memory Beads Again!
"Let's see… Hmm…" I opened my class interface and scanned the list of souls I got. If I killed that Curasee then I'd have his soul inside the list.
"Oh, you aren't dead yet!" but when I didn't find the name of his race in the list, my eyes shone in cold light.
Damn! How hard it was to kill such a race?!
"It was a nice idea to keep hidden here," I said while simply calling my chariot here, "but it isn't enough to trick me. Let's kill you once and for all."
My chariot came in the next moment and I simply moved away while calling my warriors to stand down. "Fire!" without holding back I shifted my chariot to the fully powered version and then used the energy pulse attack on this dude.
*Boom!*
A massive explosion occurred. My chariot pulse wave clashed violently against the dark green energy of that Curasee. The fight continued for one whole minute before the green energy shield was crushed open and then my pulse wave attack landed over the Curasee.
"Ahhhhh!"
A blood curdling scream came from his throat even when he was in such deep sleep. The scream was so loud at first but rapidly weakened until it vanished.
[You slain a cursed race]
[You got one favour point from the creators of the apocalypse]
[Keep the good work]
What the f*ck was that?!! I looked at the couple of messages without knowing what to say.
The creators of the apocalypse? Were they the mysterious beings behind that created all that mess?
And what was that favour point even meant? I was at a loss for a second before closing the window and looked at the dead Cruise.
"What will I find in your inventory dude?" my eyes sparkled while I placed my hand over its body and waited.
This time it took five entire minutes until a message popped up in front of my eyes.
[The first seal was broken off the inventory of the cursed Curasee race. Four more seals are still remaining]
[You don't have the privilege to unlock the remaining seals]
[Only twenty percent of the inventory are added to yours]
[The body of the killed Curasee race can be kept in your inventory for later usage]
"What the hell…!!"
Another weird thing happened. What was wrong exactly with that race?
I thought of taking it into my inventory and it worked. "Damn! I never thought I'd store a dead body in my inventory before!" This was totally unheard of. But it already happened.
"Let's check the inventory then," I opened my inventory with no expectations. But the moment I saw the weird things I got there, I couldn't help but frown again.
"Seal of curse level one… Seal of dam level two… Seal of stealth level two… What are these things?!"
I found a half dozen of such weird named seals inside my inventory. As I took one out and tried to examine it, I got this weirder message.
[You can't view the info of the seal]
[The seal requires a member of a cursed race to use it]
"What the f*ck?!!!" I was almost about to throw it away and empty my inventory of these useless things before another message popped up and stopped me.
[You have the favour of the creators of the apocalypse]
[You can use this seal by binding it to something in the process of making it]
[The details of how to use it will appear to you when time is right]
"This…" I calmed myself for a second while looking at this seal in my hand. It was in the form of a flat, half palm sized black orb with a flashing pattern on its surface.
It was engraved so deep in faint dots that came to form a shape of a whirlpool. It was similar to what was on the skin of that Curasee kid.
"Seal of curse of wrath… does that mean…" an idea popped up in my mind, an idea that changed my vision towards this item.
Would it have the ability to give such a wrath ability to weapons I make? If that is so… then…
I looked at my inventory again and this time I didn't have any slight intention to throw them away like before. If what I thought about was right, then I might be able to make weapons that were heaven defying.
If I made weapons that could add such cool boosts to their wielders… then I could start thinking about making my elite force out of humans.
But the questions here were… Would that be true? And how many times I could use a single token of these?
I had around a hundred of each seal in my inventory. If each one was used for one time then my plan couldn't be real.
Six hundred augmented gears wouldn't be enough to arm a hundred forcefully. But if each token could be used more than once then things would be different.
"It's not an issue I could decide for now," I stored this Seal inside my inventory for now, "besides I still got four more tries to get everything out of that cursed bastard. If he has more of these then I can arm a five hundred force in the worst cases."
I started to climb back while leaving my warriors to resume their mission. If they kept on this rate, then they'd take almost the entire time of the second quest to scrap everything from this behemoth.
As I returned to my chariot, I operated it as the middle powered version before heading back to the group. They were still eating and having fun down there.
Alright… now it was all calm and peaceful enough to consider my next move.
From the words of Fang I could say my next opponent was a big wall blocking my path. How would I kill him then?
"I need more info about archlords and their abilities…" I was lost in thought while my chariot landed just hundred metres away from the team.
"Let's check the beads of memory then," since I got them, I only used the free time and didn't check it again.
I didn't have time to do that, and didn't have something I didn't understand before. I opened the bead record from my profile and scrolled through the large list of its content.
Would I find something about it?
"The god shrines… The pantheons of gods and their differences… Conflicts inside the same pantheons… Damn! Every single one of them is a must to listen!"
Unlike what I wanted to find, my eyes fell over names that I wanted to hear. I never expected the old man to know even about the inner conflicts between gods.
It was the same problem I was facing right now. I needed to open these records and listen to all of them.
"Each cost one million coins to open… Not a problem…" Despite having the ability and desire to check them now, I decided to first look for the archlord record first.
"Let's see… Hmm… That's a section regarding enemies in the apocalypse… Selvator race basic info… Selvator race intermediate info… Elevator race advanced info… Things to watch out for from Selvators… Damn!"
He left me detailed records regarding each race. Well, I never expected the beads to have such immense and valuable information before. I had to watch them all.
It was great to have one entire week of rest in this quest. I only would move out to hit that dragon where it hurt, hopefully killing him or at least clearing most of his elites out of the picture.
But to do so I needed more info about his rank first. I skipped all the records regarding races as I already knew a lot about them.
"General knowledge about enemy ranking order… all info regarding Sons of heaven… All info regarding paragons… All info… yes, here it is…" my eyes flashed when I read a record name.
"All the info about the archlords… Let's open it."
[One million coins are needed to view this record from the memory beads. Do you want to pay them?]
"Pay!"
[One million coins are deducted]
[You are viewing the record now]
[You can view the record later for free]
"Hi Hye…" the next moment the face of the old man appeared. To me it seemed like an entire lifetime passed since my last meeting with him.
Old man… Thanks for everything you did for me, I was truly and honestly appreciating this great chance you gave me.
"As I told you before in the record regarding the general ranking of the enemy forces… Archlords come as the third lowest rank in the entire pyramid…"
He started to speak and the more he did, the more I got absorbed and totally lost track with time. After he finished I couldn't believe that he lasted for six straight hours speaking.
But damn! Everything he said was new to my ears!!!
"You finally woke up!" Just as I stretched my arms, I heard the soft voice of Karoline.
"Oh, you were waiting for me all this time?" I turned to her with an apologetic look. But unlike what I expected, she wasn't alone.
That damn jumper was standing next to her. He leant over the edge of the chariot, giving me a deep gaze.
"I thought you were so tired from sleeping while standing," he threw another silly comment that made me scoff in return.
"What are you doing here?" I ignored Karoline and rudely spoke to him.
"Can't I wait for you?" he shrugged, "or should I be with long hair and tits to see a smiling expression on your face?"
"Shut up!" I was tempted to screw him and tell his secret to Karoline, but I was better than him. I controlled my anger and waved at him, "go, scream and sleep at any bed downstairs and leave me alone."
"Then I'll take her with me," he said in an evil tone that got a glaring look back from me.
"I dare you try," I was at my patience limit here. Damn him! All the good feeling I had from listening to the old man's wise words and seeing Karoline's pretty face next vaporised in thin air!
Damn this dude! Who was he? A joy smasher or something?!
"Humph," he gave me a snort, "you know if I heard anything abnormal then I'd crash into that room without excuse."
"I'll leave a souler guarding it," I said while waving my hand as if I was throwing a rock at him.
"A souler won't dare to touch me before he'll die!"
"Then I'll ban you from my chariot," I coldly snorted, "let's see how you are going to stay a single moment in here."
"Humph, I warned you," he turned his back and left.
"And I warned you back!" I shouted at him and all I got was his middle finger raised in the air.
"What were you two talking about just now?"
Out of the blue Karoline's soft voice made my face turn all red. Damn! I totally forgot she was here all this time!! Damn!!!
"It's nothing," I shrugged while putting a calm smile on my face. "Are you tired? Do you want to sleep?"
Her all red face told me she got what I talked about with that bastard. Her eyes evaded mine, and even she lowered her face and looked at the ground like a little shy girl.
Damn girl! Don't give me such a look or I'd be more tempted to eat you up!
"I…"
"Let's go then," without waiting for her to answer, I grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the stairs in a gentle way. I could already feel her body trembling from my touch. Damn! That even got me hyped up!!!
"I also need to have some rest," I only said that and I saw her lower her head till her chin got glued to her chest and her trembling body kept increasing without pause.
144 Is It Karoline?
I grabbed her while descending the next floor towards the middle one. During that we didn't even share a single word, as if all the words in the world melted down in front of the two of us.
I felt a strange heat deep down in my heart. I wanted her, I wanted to acquire and discover her mysteries like I always dreamt.
All my life I lived a solitary life. It wasn't my option, but now I have to decide what to do.
And she wasn't showing any signs of rejection or even hesitation. Only shyness was there and her red lowered face was the evidence.
"Damn!"
But just as we reached the middle floor, I found that jumper standing there crossing his arms and leaning over the closed door of one room.
"Oh, the two love birds came at last," he lightly chuckled like this was something amusing to his eyes.
"Get lost," I simply said while firmly taking my steps towards that closed door.
"It's my room bro, look for another one for you two," he winked and I didn't hustle about that and simply stepped aside.
"Then enter that room," I said.
"Not until I see where you two will be," he laughed, "or to be clear to see how you two will behave."
"Acting like the guardian of justice you are, right?" I was getting annoyed more and more with his attitude, "come," I turned to see the face of Karoline getting far redder than before that it was almost on the verge of exploding.
"This one is mine," just as I selected a door separated by two others from the first one, the jumper flashed and appeared in front of it.
"Come forth!" without giving him a satisfying answer, I summoned my own Bulltors and soulers, "make sure this dude stays away from me."
"Or what?" he said in a challenging tone and at this moment I couldn't help but say it.
"Or I'll share your little secret with everyone here."
"Secret…!!!" his body trembled for a brief second before the next moment he darted at me trying to grab me by the collar.
"Roar!"
Yet the three Bulltors I summoned stood like a mighty wall in front of me, preventing him from taking a step closer.
"Behave yourself before asking others to do so," I wiped imaginary dirt off my shoulders in a casual way, "come darling, we will sleep here tonight."
I felt her soft hand tremble violently for a second before I heard an 'Uhm' sound from her as I opened the door.
Then we entered, while that jumper was screaming and threatening in rage.
"Just remember… Your secret lies with me, deep and safe, hahaha!" I gave such a teasing laugh before closing up the door.
Then I heard a loud bang on the door that scared the sh*t out of me.
Damn! That dude went totally insane if he thought for a second he could take my three Bulltors and five soulers head on like that!
"Is… Is he going to be alright?" Just as I turned to Karoline, I heard her shaky voice coming from her lowered head.
"Don't worry about him," I moved an inch towards her and she retreated a metre. But this room was already small enough to make her back hit the wall. You got no place to run girl, just be brave and accept my passion.
*Bang!*
That jumper seemed to go overboard again as I heard a loud bang at the door. It seemed he was fighting seriously. This dude…
[I promise to keep it hidden if you leave me alone] I sent this short message to him and I got dozens of messages from him.
But I never opened them for now. That dude was really an expert at ruining any good moment for me. And now I had to enjoy every single moment with my girl.
"Let me see your eyes," I extended my arm, touched her chin and slightly raised her face to meet mine.
F*ck me! She was purer and prettier than angels in fairy tales! I lost my sense with everything else around except for her. And in such a magical moment, I got closer and painted a soft kiss over her soft lips.
I felt something I lacked for my entire life; love! It started with a long soft kiss and then everything progressed naturally as both of us got lost in such magical heat and started removing our clothes like crazy.
Then the small bed in the small room witnessed our first session of love, an experience I'd never forget till the end of my life.
At this moment I lost my virginity and realised how much I lost by not experiencing this ever before!
I felt like I never had the real taste of life before in my entire life! Nothing compared with this feeling, nothing at all!!
I didn't feel time until we both got exhausted, laid over our backs while our bodies soaked out with sweat.
We were panting, and she rested her head over my chest, leaving her hair scattered all over my shoulders and neck.
It was such an unforgettable feeling that I wanted to return again and try it over and over. But strangely enough I felt an unexplained desire to sleep. And in a span of a few minutes she was already sleeping and I followed.
I didn't know how long I slept. But when I woke up, I found myself all alone in the room. "Damn! That was good!" I stretched out my body as I got out of the room.
The world was so quiet, yet the door of the room held deep marks of that fight from before. I opened my channel and saw her feed first.
She was standing on the roof, lost in thoughts while looking at the world in peace. She wasn't alone as that mad jumper was standing right next to her, chewing something like gum.
"I hope he is alright," I started walking while whistling a melody of my time, one that warriors used to sing after getting back from wars with triumph.
My Bulltors and soulers were intact, as I found them standing on guard at the main stairs. "Come," I said while getting to the roof with them.
If that jumper wanted to come at me again, then I'd let him have trouble in return.
"Let's see… Hmm… Fang even sent me a message," I checked the long row of messages. Most came from my team and they all carried puzzled questions and even teasing comments that I simply ignored.
I had my first time with a lady, and she wasn't just a normal girl. I was in such a great mood to let anyone spoil it.
Before opening Fang's message, I came to the roof and felt a strange cold wind howling up there.
"The groom is awake at last," the jumper welcomed me with such a loud shout which startled the all peaceful Karoline.
She turned to me in a reflex. When our eyes met, her face turned all red and instantly shifted her eyes away.
Damn dude! Why the hell were you still here? Couldn't you let the two of us alone for this night?
"I have a long discussion with you," as if he read through my mind, he said, "that thing you mentioned before… we need to talk about it."
"I… I'll leave you two alone then," Karoline was acting nervous and all shy. She tried to escape but I simply flashed and stood in front of her path. My move came while she was lowering her head and she wasn't prepared for it.
So she ended up landing in my embrace, and I only surrounded her with my arms.
"You can speak about it now then," I felt her body shake again and couldn't help but touch her back with my hands.
But that seemed to add more trembling to her and didn't help.
"I want to know what you know…" the jumper's eyes shone in a dangerous flash of light, "and how!"
"That's something you'll never get to know," if he was acting this free in teasing me, then why the hell should I not return the favour?
"You… Do you want to die?"
"Again with this cliche response of yours," I snapped my fingers and my warriors stepped to the front of me, "if you didn't chill out yet, I can let my boys help you with that."
"Humph, I dare you to challenge me alone, without them."
"I won't be this crazy," I kept patting Karoline's back while she got a little reassured. Yet after painting a soft kiss on her head, she returned to shaking again.
Damn girl! Just get a hold of yourself! We already crossed all the lines together.
"Then…"
"I told you already, your secret is safe with me," I said while moving towards the place Karoline was standing at, "just don't annoy me like before and everything will be fine."
"…" he seemed a bit hesitant before saying in a warning tone, "just stop fooling around. We aren't that secure yet to waste time in flirting and such useless stuff."
"Don't tell me you are still a virgin," I asked and my tone implied another meaning.
"Do you want to die?"
I laughed at his typical response. I walked my fingers across Karoline's hair while she kept her eyes lowered and evaded any contact with mine.
"Damn!"
But just as the situation was silent and calm, I suddenly shouted.
"What's wrong?" The jumper looked at me while his tone wasn't void of his anger.
"Nothing," I shook my head but I wasn't feeling that well. The message I opened was the one sent by Fang. and it contained just a simple phrase.
[The dragon archlord's god is a higher god from the war pantheon]
F*ck! I knew that the war pantheon of the dragon race was different from our human race war pantheon.
But when I saw that message, I couldn't help but recall the weird messages that were sent from a god of the war pantheon before attacking the city.
I mistook this as a mission to do well in the city fight. That was why I felt weird when I got nothing but silence from that god.
Now I realised his real meaning. That god knew all along about that archlord dragon. He wanted me to fight him and bring a victory of our human race pantheon over that war pantheon of the dragons.
Sh*t! What did I get myself into without knowing all the stakes on board? Damn!!!
"Where is everyone?" I looked at the jumper who shrugged.
"They are roaming the city and clearing the dead bodies," he said and that reminded me of all my loot I left scattered all over the city.
"Come!" I motioned to my Bulltors and soulers who instantly flashed and appeared in front of me. "Go around, grab any dragon and berserker dead here."
"Roar!"
They moved fast and left the chariot while the jumper stayed silent.
[Come back now!] I opened my friendlist and sent messages to all of them. At this moment a grand meeting was a must to have.
I knew a lot of ground shaking info from the old man about the dragon archlords. I needed to hear their opinions before anything else.
"Ah by the way," just as I was waiting for the team to gather, the jumper said in a tone that I didn't like.
That dude was about to say something annoying once again.
"Fang, that Selvator dude, sent slightly over one thousand of his forces while you were… Ahem, sleeping," he said and I couldn't help but frown at the number he mentioned.
"One thousand?! Damn that Fang!!"
"I sent them over to New York," he shrugged, "you don't have an issue with that, right?"
145 [Bonus chapter] The Plan
One thousand was way too much than what we agreed upon from before. That Fang! He wasn't just aiming to spy on me, he wanted to store up his elites to eat, drink, and rest at my safe city.
What? Did he think I had that city as a resting resort for his boys or what?
[We didn't agree on one thousand dude!!!] I instantly sent to Fang and without waiting for his excuse on this one, I sent again:
[I'll use them freely as if they were my men. I hope they cooperate well enough or else…]
[Sure thing, use them as if they are yours]
He didn't hustle around and that was one of the things I liked about Selvators. They were a direct race, one who didn't like to fool around like dragons.
"Wassup!" Leo came with everyone else as he greeted me first.
"Do you have any contact with people in New York city?" I ignored him while asking the spearhead.
Out of the people in my team, this dude had his top elites stationed back in the city. They were still mining that ore, and I had to leave them for as long as I could.
"I have a lot," he answered, "what do you want them to do?"
"A group of Selvators went to the city," I said, "make them go and meet them."
"And?"
"Let a few of them add me to their friend list."
"My men or theirs?" The spearhead seemed a bit lost and I rolled my eyes at his question.
"Both of course," I didn't intend to have his men add me as friends, but why not?
"It's done," as he said it, I received a long trail of messages notifying me of those who added me as a friend. And I accepted them all.
[Be ready to move according to my instructions] I sent it to one of them and he sent a smiley expression back.
"What do you want now?" The jumper was leaning on the edge of my chariot while giving me a questionable gaze.
"I want to discuss our next move," I said, "against the dragon archlord."
"F*ck! Did you say archlord?" Strange enough, the one to ask this wasn't the jumper, but Alex and Angelica.
These two were once part of the traitors before repenting over. I looked at them in a deep gaze while they welcomed me with a scary one.
Since their return to the chariot, all the girls here gave me a weird gaze, especially Isabella. The spearhead was having that teasing expression over his face as if what I did was something worthy to get mocked over.
But I did nothing wrong, and there was no time to waste on speaking about such useless stuff.
"I'm impressed that you two know about archlords," the jumper spoke well about my own puzzlement.
"We read few intel before the apocalypse about how deadly strong they were," Angelica said before Alex explained further:
"The angels told us to not mess with them. They were like lords of the apocalypse, beings beyond our reach and out of competition."
"Not anymore," I simply said, "we are going to face that dude next."
"We are competing against him in the next quest?" The two girls literally screamed in panic at the same time.
"No," I slowly shook my head, "we'll clash with that dude during this quest."
"…"
The two girls' expressions were clear enough to tell me what they were thinking inside their heads.
"Can anyone tell us first what an archlord is?" Isabella asked and the other two guys and Sara nodded in agreement.
"It's one of the lords of each race in the apocalypse," the jumper took the burden to explain, "he leads a lot of forces, has a lot of treasure and wealth from the beginning. Facing him means we are going to face armies, not only a single army."
"Can we beat him?" the spearhead asked in doubt.
And the jumper didn't answer that as he turned to look at me.
"We have a chance if we play it right," I said before adding, "from what I learnt from Fang about that dude, he just lost big at the central zone of this continent. He ran over here to recuperate and build up his forces again."
"So he is weakened?" Leo jumped to the same conclusion I had before, "we should hit him sooner than later then."
"Don't underestimate the archlords," the jumper's cold voice was enough to snap Leo out of his daydreams, "any single one of them is a real behemoth even if he is like that Selvator said."
The jumper then turned to me as he added:
"If he is this weak, why didn't that Selvator go and hit him?"
"I'm the one who wants to kill that dude," I shrugged and my answer left even the jumper speechless.
"Are you out of your damn mind!!!" then after a long moment of peace, he exploded in such rage, "that is insane! Literally insane!!"
"We have to kill that dude if we want to expand safely later on," I said without delving too much into my futuristic plans, "he is a tough rock to crack, but we can do it. After all, we aren't alone in this fight."
"That Fang dude is going to participate?" the spearhead asked, "so that's why he sent over one thousand of his men to hide in our back city?"
I didn't show any signs of agreeing or rejection, as I only smiled. "That's not important for now. Let me first explain what I learnt about that dude from Fang…"
I threw everything I learnt from the old man over the shoulders of Fang. "That dude has his own support through a big portal linking our world with his family base."
"So we have to shut it down?" Sara asked.
"I suppose you know where that portal is, right?' Isabella asked and I nodded, then shook my head.
"The exact location isn't clear yet, but Fang is working on it," this wasn't true. As Fang didn't know exactly where that portal was. He even didn't know about that portal at all, or simply hid that info from me.
"So?" the jumper said in his cold tone, "you want to just invade his territory and search for it?"
"Doing this isn't going to work," I shook my head, "his forces are large. And even if we manage to kill most of them, he will simply ask for more reinforcements, leaving all our efforts to rot."
"Then…" this wasn't just the sceptical reaction from Angelica, as I saw the same reaction over everyone.
"We'll do it to lure the tiger away from his den plan," I said before further explaining part of my thoughts.
I took roughly half an hour explaining what we shall do. I also didn't hide the information of the relation between that killed dragon leader from earlier and that dragon archlord.
"So we are going to face his retaliation no matter when or where," Isabella sighed, "I agree with your plan. It's risky but at least we will answer his threat more actively."
"I also agree," Leo's response was expected. As a gamer, nothing was more appealing than a good fight and a good opponent.
"I have nothing to say," the jumper shrugged, "you are a crazy dude, I give you that. But thinking about the inevitable clash with that dragon bastard, then it's better to hit him now."
"I have no objection," the spearhead shook his head in a helpless way.
"What about you two?" I looked at Alex and Angelica. Both seemed terrified to even speak their thoughts or think rationally about this.
"Why should we object or agree?" Alex bitterly said, "most of us already are agreeing over this crazy thing."
"If it was up to me," Angelica added, "I would prefer to run as far away as possible from his reach. That's the only safe way to escape that archlord."
"We can't do that," I shook my head, "we have great things to do here. Leaving everything behind and doing it from scratch isn't a feasible plan. Plus that dude is crazy like any dragon. Who can guarantee he won't hunt us till the end of the world? It's better to kill him, after all a dead dragon is the most harmless dragon ever."
The two girls weren't that convinced but Sara said in high spirit:
"Let's do our best. The worst thing will be our loss and retreat back to New York city or even run away to the north or south."
"We won't lose," I didn't like that tone in her words even though she meant good, "we will do our best and win."
"Provided that Fang won't chicken away," the jumper said a mean comment just like usual.
"We will win this," I ignored what he said, "just start phase one of the plan. Isabella will draw the map of the parts around here. You are familiar with this region, right?"
"I can help," Leo raised his hand as if we were in a class or something. "I'm from around after all."
"You two do it then," I didn't mind his help, "after that you'll start spreading over the area."
"What about you?" the jumper asked. "Where will you hit?"
"I won't," I shook my head, "my role will start in phase two."
"You…"
I rolled my eyes at him. Come one dude, don't say that phase one was harder than phase two!
"What about Karoline?" he didn't let my girl off as expected, "will you two stay here and have fun?"
"I…" Karoline raised her head to answer him but I placed my finger over her lips to silence her.
"She will stay with me," I declared loud and clear, "after all the angels are targeting her. The safest place for her is on my side."
"This…"
"Just do your role at this phase," I stopped the jumper from adding fuel to the fire he was trying hard to ignite, "phase two is all on our two shoulders," I pushed Karoline closer as she nestled inside my embrace, "be ready to come when phase three starts."
"Don't just die," the jumper snorted, "out of exhaustion you two."
"F*ck you!" I answered his mean comment with a curse. The team didn't immediately leave as Isabella and Leo started to draw the map of the region first.
"I'll take that way," Leo pointed in one direction towards the north while he looked at Angelica and Alex.
"We'll come," Angelica said in a helpless tone while Alex kept looking at me in hesitation.
I knew she wanted to stay back, but if I kept everyone behind then we wouldn't move a single inch forward in this plan!
"I'll take this one," the spearhead pointed at the south, "and Isabella will join me."
"Who said I'll come?" she said in an annoyed tone but she didn't specify anything else as expected.
"Then I'll take this one," Sara said while looking at me, "I'll need more forces to help so…" she rolled her eyes towards the jumper who coldly said:
"I prefer to go alone," this dude was really a ticking bomb if I left him with Sara.
"You two will take the west then," I said, "the north and south have the support of the Selvators, but the west is the most dangerous place. Be sure to stay close to each other and don't hesitate to call for help."
"What about our forces? Will I take my men?" Leo asked and I simply shook my head in rejection.
Dude! When would you learn that they weren't your people since you joined me?
"I've already sent for reinforcements from New York," I said before adding, "each one of you will lead a force of two thousands. Your task is to dominate as many counties as possible."
"What about cities?" the jumper asked.
146 Enemy Is Approaching
"If you can, take," I shrugged, "but I believe the fight inside big cities will be hard and brutal. It will waste more time and resources. Let's focus on expanding our territory as fast as possible."
"What's the time limit for this phase?" the jumper asked again.
"From three up to five days," I pondered for a long moment, "but once I start phase two, you'll be on alert to join at my mark."
"Yes yes, your phase three or whatever," the jumper waved his hand before adding, "I'll go and select two thousands from the armies here."
"Dude, these people are all experienced and strong," the spearhead worked with the jumper for a long time to not fear him like Leo, "you can't dream about having all the good stuff for yourself!"
"Who will stop me? You? Humph!" That dude was even more arrogant than dragons!
"The forces here will be distributed evenly," I stepped in, "among all of us," I added while making it clear that I'd take part of this force here just like them.
"You have your warriors, why ask for more?" The jumper seemed a bit aggressive. He didn't like me standing on the side of the spearhead on this. But the latter had a point and a right to claim.
"I will only handle phase two on my own," I said, "if you want, then you can help me."
"You have Karoline already," the jumper glared at me, "why do you need my help?"
"Coward," I rolled my eyes and like always, that dude exploded in rage while shouting his typical answer.
"Do you want to die?"
Come one dude! Couldn't you be more creative please?
"Everything will be shared," I said in a decisive tone to end this useless debate.
"But there are tons of beginners here," the jumper didn't drop this matter this easily.
"Then do your part as a leader of the team and train them," I said in a sharp tone while telling others what they should do as well.
"Many of them will die," the spearhead said.
"Most will die," Sara added.
"They have to learn it the hard way then," Isabella shrugged, "they have to experience hell the way we do."
"Yes, it's the right way indeed," I said in agreement, "besides we have lots of new green faces. Apocalypse isn't a babysitting trip, so take them directly and throw them into the depths of hell."
My words put an end to this matter. As everyone got what they would do, the jumper had another thing to pick at me again.
"What about the experienced forces in New York city?" he said, "are you going to have them all for yourself?"
"We'll share them as well," I rolled my eyes at him, "but we'll add two more slots in the mix."
"What for? Two more? Gimme a break!" that dude exploded his anger again but who told him he was the boss here?
"This is for the end game move," I said in a decisive tone again, "the forces are on the way here already. They'll take one hour to arrive. I already ran the numbers and left two shares back at the city."
One slot was for defending the city, and the other was meant to be used in times of distress. I knew he knew that, but he just loved to hustle over everything I said.
"So we got an hour?" Alex asked, "can we move out before that?"
"Little impatient you are," Leo said but I found it weird for Alex to be this impatient.
"What's going on?" I asked, "don't try and hide it."
"I won't," she shrugged, "I just got an info from my ability."
"The angels?" I knew what happened. She got to see a peak from the enemy plans. That was the best thing for sure, provided that what she saw was something good.
"They gave an order to their traitors in a radius of one hundred miles around here to gather up and start to come here," she said and I knew now why she became so impatient to leave so fast.
"There are a strong force nearby?" I asked and her silence was a good answer for me. "Alright, we will do it this way… you'll disperse and leave the incoming forces to act as a surprise reinforcement."
"All of them?" The jumper's eyes shone brightly in a will to fight spirit, "I'd prefer to wait for them here and crush them."
"Dude, that won't help," I looked at him as I pointed at the map drawn on the ground of my chariot's rooftop, "they aren't throwing away their traitors for nothing. Just think about it… What will they gain most by this useless move?"
I knew the enemy wasn't dreaming about killing all of us using that move. They only wanted to delay our force deployment. And why was that? The answer was simple.
That dragon bastard would move his forces during that delay. So the angels wanted to waste our time and I wouldn't fall for that.
If the traitors thought of themselves to be enough against me, then they had to rethink that delusional thought.
"But…" the jumper was still bitter about losing his own share of forces.
"I'll send the survivors equally to all of you," I said before adding, "but that will happen after all of the attack waves are gone, do you get it?"
"That means no reinforcements for two days straight at least!" the spearhead said and I nodded. Dude, if you didn't like it, then do something about the naive forces you had. Train them, throw them to hell or anything, I didn't care.
Just make the best use of your forces to your best capabilities.
"So we are going to move out now?" Isabella jumped on her feet like she was warming up.
"Sooner the better," I nodded, "I'll leave the distribution of the forces here to you two," I was talking to Isabella and spearhead. And the two nodded.
"Do you know where and when the first waves will come?" I asked and Alex shook her head.
"I only knew that five groups are coming from nearby counties to here," she said, "and they won't just hit here, but also New York."
"So I'll have to jump between two places, not a problem," I didn't find it hard especially with my little staff in action.
I already had stored bookmarks in New York city. If things went south there, I could easily jump there and help them before returning here again.
In my opinion, New York city was well protected. The forces there were all elites, all saw the colour of blood of their enemies.
And the city was already well secured with the forces expanding to the nearby counties. So even if traitors aimed at New York, I wasn't worried about losing it.
But here… Things were much different. Indeed the incoming forces would be a great help, but come on… the city here was just ruins. Literally ruins!
So the fight here would be a deadly direct encounter between our two forces. Against experienced traitors, my huge army of noobs would be put at a hard test.
That of course if I didn't use my warriors, and I wouldn't.
I needed to train my forces. Having a large number of humans in such a short span of time was epic, but it also held a deadly trap.
If I left them protected and noobs, then I would be digging my own grave later on. Traitors and monsters weren't a challenge for my warriors and elites. But against that dragon archlord… the game rules would be changed drastically.
I had to train them, not only me. But everyone else needed to do so as well.
So leaving aside the elites coming from New York city, it was better for the longer shot to use the forces here to resist.
Let them taste the blood of their enemies, let them fight with their lives on the line.
"See you later."
"Stay safe."
"Keep in touch."
All of the team of mine left while giving me encouraging words. Only the jumper glared in a cold way as if he was threatening me from behind his mask or something.
"Don't dwindle too much about those elites, you hear me?" he said in a threatening tone before leaving my chariot.
"That dude is just like an explosive ticking bomb," Karoline finally spoke after everyone left.
It seemed like she was under immense pressure when everyone was here.
"He is always like this," I waved my hand as if I didn't care about him. "It's now up to us to defend the two cities."
"Will our forces be enough?" she looked at me in a weird way before adding, "there is a nearby military base nearby. It's almost twenty to thirty miles away from here."
"We don't need them," I could already hear her own thoughts playing out loud in my mind.
The last thing I needed right now was to add more noobs to my already newbie forces.
I had to first train my boys, turning them into decent forces before receiving more troops.
The number of forces in the city was already immense. Not to mention the people we had from Leo, the number of saved people from the cages in the castles all around the city was really immense!
At least thirty thousand humans were inside the city, and my share of them would be almost eight thousand.
This might look like a decent force, especially when adding the elites that Sara led here. Let's hope one tenth of them survive at the end when phase two starts.
If I could salvage one to two thousand humans from them, this fight would become really worthy of my time. But I lacked any info regarding the numbers of the enemies marching towards here.
If they just attacked blindly then it would be for the best. Yet I had such a hunch that they wouldn't do that.
They would first wait and gather, amassing a decent force enough to threaten me.
"I need you to do something for me," I said while not turning my gaze off the map in front of me.
"Anything," Karoline instantly said.
"Remember the info I taught you when we first met?" I asked and she nodded in understanding. "I want you to lead a short crash course for everyone here. Tell them everything about the market, the skills, gears, how to fight, how to kill, everything, alright?"
"It's not a big deal," she said, "but I'd love to gather everyone together first."
"Leave this to me," I opened my friendlist and instantly sent a short message to someone. The answer came swifty back with one short phrase.
[Count me in!]
"Cool."
"What?" Karoline mistook my comment to be for her.
"It's nothing," I shrugged before summoning two dragons. The two appeared hovering on top of our heads, looking threatening with their big bodies and their auras.
"What were you doing? Eating that monster or what?!" I felt the slight change in them, yet I didn't find anything weird in their information window.
"Lord, we couldn't resist it," one of the two said while the other one said in defence:
"Other brothers also ate its meat."
I looked at the two. Their bodies got slightly bigger but it wasn't the issue here. The air they emitted was way far more dangerous and threatening than before.
"It won't turn you into dark realm dragons or something, right?" I asked as nothing was mentioned in their info windows.
"It's… making us grow stronger," one of them said while the other said in defence again:
"Everyone ate the meat of the monster, not only the two of us."
"Dude, I'm just concerned about your safety… you know what? Forget it," I didn't hustle too much about this matter. After all they all looked better and that was what mattered.
"Go around, gather all the humans left inside. Bring them here. Go and then go back to gather the meat and other materials."
"Ok lord," the two roared and flew fast as they vanished in urgency, worrying I'd order them to stop eating the meat.
But if they could get stronger eating that dead monster's meat, why would I stop them? As long as it wasn't dangerous then it was fine.
147 Learn About Cultivation First
"Come here," as I sent away my two dragons, I finally got the time to add my final touch to my girl.
Karoline came closer as an obedient girl, lowering her head and her eyes totally avoided mine. Goddammit girl! You were literally killing me with that look on your face!
"Let me see you," I stopped her one metre away from me and started to examine her body. She was a real embodiment of beauty and alluring that any girl would dream to have.
Perfect! She was simply perfect! Flat belly with two smooth curves up and down. She had no spot of fault, nothing at all!
"Hmm… you lack good equipment," I thought for a moment while checking my filled to brim inventory, "here, take these."
"This…" she looked at all the gears I took out and was surprised.
"My girl can't just go around unprotected like that," I shrugged, "you have stat points, so use them and raise your stats to two hundred caps."
"Uhn," she nodded in obedience and I couldn't help but come closer, raising her chin slowly as I brought myself upon her.
A soft kiss and a long hug was the end of this. Just after that, humans started to pour towards here from every corner of the city.
"Shall I help them with my stat points?" she asked and I shook my head in return.
"Let them fight for what they'll gain, it will make them know the value of these," I explained and taught her how to deal with them.
"But… the city is void of monsters!"
"Send them north," I shrugged without care, "You can assign elite forces to accompany them in their farming experience. Just don't give them anything for free."
"But you just did that with me…" she said it in impulse before our four eyes met and hers shook and evaded mine.
"You are special, can't you tell that?" I smiled and she didn't say anything else as she excused herself fast and left the place in wide strides.
Girl… stop shaking like this. It was also my first time in bed, y'know?
As she went down there, I stood for half an hour watching how she dealt with them. A girl that was brought up in such a deeply rooted family in US history wasn't simple.
She led the others and took charge over them in the early minutes, worthy to be called a natural born leader.
"Now this is settled," I muttered to myself before I opened my inventory and took out one gigantic bone from it, "and it's time for me to enter the cultivation world."
The bone I took was the one with the highest grade ever in my inventory; a red graded bone.
It was supposed to be a humerus bone of that monster. Its arms were short to begin with, compared to its colossal body.
But compared to mine, it was a colossal bone. The bone was so long that it got extended over the edges of my chariot with tens of metres in both sides.
It was simply crazy to try and merge with it. But who said I couldn't? After all the highest bones I got were from this colossal monster, and the next highest ones came from dragons I killed.
Yet the difference was simply immense! The highest grade dragon bones was a pale gold grade, almost three grades lower than this red one.
"Time to merge you with me," I touched the bone while opening the interface of my class. Without hesitating any further, I activated the separation skill and a message popped up the next instant.
[Do you want to integrate this bone with your body?]
[Warning: This bone came from a dark realm monster. Dark realm monsters walk different paths than your race in cultivation. Do you still want to proceed?]
[Warning: This bone's grade is red grade but the cultivation stored within is simply way beyond what your human body can tolerate. Using it will have a certain risk of detonating your body into shreds if failed]
[Warning: you'll need one hundred thousand soul points to integrate with it]
"Damn!" I sucked in a cold air of breath when I saw that figure. One hundred thousand soul points for just one bone? How much cultivation did it have inside?
The earlier messages also bothered me a bit. I never expected the two cultures of our races would be this different.
But who said I couldn't merge with it? Having a fixed chance of dying wasn't something I'd simply ignore. But it was stated obviously that it would happen in case of failing.
And I wouldn't fail!
"I agree," I looked at my current soul point reserve. After all that killing inside the city and outside it, alongside what my dispersed forces were doing all this time, I got slightly twenty thousand soul points over the one hundred thousand threshold.
It was enough to secure me against the backlash of my soulers. Not to mention my widely scattered forces were about to add more points to me as well.
There was no danger in paying such a hefty price for now. Of course that would be a problem if I needed to merge with other bones in my inventory.
After all, I wasn't planning on stopping at just one bone.
[You can add another one hundred thousand souls and get the guidance from the system in process]
[Do you agree with that offer?]
I frowned. "How big will that help be from the system?" I couldn't help but ask.
[A system higher up personnel will be guiding you throughout the entire process. So the odds of success will be elevated from five percent right now way up to fifty percent]
"Phew!" I sucked in another cold air of breath. My odds of success were initially this low? Damn! Did that mean my odds of failure and dying were much higher than my odds of success?
"Hmm…" I had to admit, I couldn't resist accepting such an offer. Yet it wasn't practical to do it right now. "I'll have to wait until I have enough soul points."
I said it while storing my bone away. Yet the next message from the system startled me for a bit.
[The higher up was notified by your intentions]
[He sends you one piece of advice]
[Try to get as much knowledge as possible about cultivation before starting again]
"Getting information about cultivation… Interesting idea…" I had to admit, I never planned to do so in the first place.
I intended to go out, kill more monsters until the first enemy wave arrived. Yet with that piece of advice I couldn't do that anymore.
"I'll check the beads then," I got no other place to look over but inside the memory beads of the old man. I simply opened them as I started to scan the long list of content with impatience.
Inside the apocalypse, and aside from any other race than humans, no one could help me with this issue but the old man.
I could ask the help of Fang, but I doubted he would do it for free. Also I doubted he would tell me enough info like the old man.
"Basic information about cultivation… Intermediate information about cultivation… Advanced information about cultivation… He was indeed meticulous…" I nodded in content while seeing the three records that I desperately wanted in front of my eyes.
"Thanks old man," I raised my head to the dimly lit sky and shouted in gratitude. The old man kept helping me even after sending me back in time in such a priceless way.
The three records cost me fifteen million coins. The first record, the basic information one, cost one million and it lasted for four straight hours.
It held not much more valuable knowledge than what I already knew. But the next two records were an eye opening. The intermediate one cost five million coins, and took almost six hours to finish.
The advanced one needed nine million coins, and it would take ten hours. But I couldn't hear it for now.
And the reason was clear… The enemy arrived!
"They are here!"
The first shout that came to disturb my thoughts came from Karoline. She went all the way up to me as she shouted the moment she saw me sitting on the floor of my chariot.
I was immersed in thoughts, trying to link all the info I learnt from the old man. According to the old man's teachings, each race had different ways to cultivate themselves.
So when using any race's cultivation, there was a chance of a backlash happening. That explained why I got that death threatening message from the system before.
And that also meant I'd end up getting the same message when using any other bone as well. So it wasn't that much of a big thing to be honest.
As for how each cultivation differed, the old man gave a few examples.
As a start, humans weren't blessed by any advantage to their bodies or souls. We weren't like Berserkers for example who had big bodies and immense strength from their birth.
And we weren't like dragons who had strong bodies and intermediate grade souls. As for Selvators and Succubus races, they both were blessed with high grade souls, with Selvators having an upper hand with intermediate blessing for their strength.
But humans had another advantage, which was flexibility and adaptability. We could learn any other race's cultivation and modify these based on our thinking and will.
After all humans' greatest advantage lies in their minds and intelligence. Also we were famous to be a resilient race, just like cockroaches. Even the old man used the same word to describe humans in his teachings.
So I got to work my mind and try to find a middle solution that would fit my body and soul. Of course learning about my shortcomings before starting the merging process was something good.
At least I now knew the next merging process wouldn't be that simple and using just force wouldn't help. Forcing this merge would end with one simple result; failure.
I needed to wreck my brain and try to find a way to solve problems rising during the process. At this point I realised how valuable that piece of advice from the system higher up was.
"Where are they?" as I got interrupted, I stood up and calmly asked, "what about our forces?"
"They got outside and started their training," she reached me with painted breaths that forced her to lean on her knees to breathe regularly and not collapse, "they are coming from the north and west. Two groups, each is almost ten thousand strong."
"This much?!" I knew they'd wait to gather up and come in large numbers. But never expected to be this huge.
"They aren't all humans," she explained, "many monsters are aiding them. The number might be even larger than what the scouts told me."
"Have they started their attack yet?" I asked while looking at both north and west. In my eyes, only ruins extended without an end till the river and even beyond.
"Few groups were ambushed and killed," she said in a bitter tone, "our initial loss is in the hundreds!"
"That's nothing," I shrugged, "we might end up losing most of the forces we have here… What about those elites from New York city? Have they arrived yet?"
She seemed perplexed at my simple response and reaction towards such loss. Poor girl, don't get attached too much with those you taught.
After all, your mission was to guide them, not to protect them. No one could protect such a huge number in the apocalypse. I might be able to do so, but it wouldn't yield good results in the end.
"They were here hours ago," she said, "they brought chefs and they cooked the meat of monsters my boys brought over."
Boys? Good start! I smiled when I heard how she described the humans she trained.
"Alright," I turned to focus on the horizon, "gather everyone and make them station at the border of the city. The river can't be easily crossed. After all, only weak water monsters will appear in this stage."
"So they are coming from the north?" she asked and I shook my head in response.
"Don't assume anything before making sure of it first," I slowly taught her, "send a few groups of elites to be our eyes in those areas. We need intel more than anything else."
148 We Meet Again!
"Got it," she seemed a bit energetic before she started to get herself busy sending messages. Good girl! She added many to her friend list, making it easier to get in contact with the dispersed humans.
"They are all coming back," after a few minutes of silence and working, she raised her head and said in a tone filled with the will to fight.
"Do you want to lead this fight?" I noticed her desire for battle.
"Will you protect me?" out of the blue she pointed her two index fingers against each other and in front of her face while a cute look appeared in an irresistible way.
"Your safety is out of question now," I sighed while helplessly smiling, "go, have fun and don't over exert yourself."
"Thanks, you are the best ever," she jumped and crossed the one metre distance between us as she painted a soft kiss over my cheeks.
Then with a bright smile she sent me her farewell before descending to the ground.
"This girl…" I shook my head before watching her back vanishing amidst the ruins, "come… make sure no harm will happen to her."
A group of twenty soulers appeared around without making a noise. They nodded and vanished using their superb speed, leaving behind only a long trail of black smoke.
"I'll keep watching them from above," as I had nothing else to do, so I decided to scout the area first.
The battle didn't seem threatening but I had to be careful from any surprise attack. Who knew, that crazy dragon might just send his men over and make them infiltrate the city while the attack was going on.
As I decided so, I flew up using my intermediate version of my chariot. At this point of the apocalypse, only first grade water monsters would appear.
As for the ground monsters, they would show an upgrade by the appearance of new more powerful versions of the monsters.
Hyenas would grow sharp steel like spikes that would appear like thin needles. They would gain some protection against physical attack, but it wouldn't differ much as their fatal weakness would still be there.
As for wolves, they'd get three small spikes in the middle of their heads. Their claws would grow bigger and become sharper. They'd be deadlier than ever but not to make me worry.
The new monsters to appear would be the spiky tiger, the mammoth lion, and different versions of poisonous scaled snakes.
Against each of these monsters, my forces might struggle. Yet each one had a weakness that I shared already with Karoline while she was training her troops.
Hopefully they'd learn their lessons and remember them quite well or else the death toll would be simply immense.
In a few minutes, my chariot brought me to the top of the western river. There I spotted a few groups of snakes and crocodiles that weren't like anything on earth.
"So they are amassing the aquatic forces here," from high stature I could see clearer than anyone else. The aquatic forces were gathered at some point, just directly opposite to the heart of Jersey city.
A sneak attack directed at the heart of my city… That looked promising as an idea. But who said I would let them have their way?
[Send a small army to guard the west border of the city, close to the direction of the city heart] I sent it to Karoline and she responded with a smiley face.
"Alright," I didn't stop there and kept wondering about the area beyond the river. What disturbed me was that not a single enemy force was spotted near here.
Then why were those aquatic monsters gathering up at the river? That was a puzzle that would soon be cleared.
In ten minutes I was almost about to give up looking in that direction when I saw something flashing. My chariot was moving at its normal speed when I noticed that something seemed to get shaky before returning to normal.
Would it be…! I didn't hesitate to stop my chariot, returned to the spot I saw that strange refraction and couldn't find anything abnormal there.
Ruins were everywhere and nothing looked amiss here. But I knew what I saw.
"If you thought you could mask your presence from my eyes, then you'd better use another method," I opened my chariot's interface and simply clicked over the energy pulse wave and released it.
In a radius of five hundred metres around me, the energy pulse wave moved fast like it had no rival. It looked like a wave of clear silver water from my position, and in the middle of that wave… Islands began to appear.
"Roar!" "Attack!" "Kill him!" "Roar!"
Many shouts and roars came from all directions around. To my surprise the enemies weren't just one simple group, but massive groups of enemies that extended even beyond the reach of my pulse wave.
Damn! Did they think they could counter me with numbers alone?
Just with these shouts, the stealth cover they used to mask their presence was removed. I saw familiar faces in front of my eyes… a race that I totally missed during my calculations; the illusionists!
"So you are the real ones leading this attack? Interesting…" despite seeing thousands of them leading thousands of other races and tens of thousands of monsters, I didn't flinch back.
The reason was obvious… I got my chariot and I was airborne and they weren't! If they wanted to hit me, they had to exert double effort and would gain nothing in return.
"Activate the fully powered version," I slowly said and instantly my chariot ignited with more power before a dense wave of attacks came.
*Sizzle!* *Boom!* *Bang!*
Different mixed sounds came when their attacks met my shield. My shield was something that even the god tears of their race didn't even scratch. Not to mention the angelic deadly star weapon.
In a span of ten minutes, and after attacking continuously to the degree of lighting me up, the attacks finally stopped and strange silence ushered over everything around.
It was such a heaven deafening silence, one that would exert an irremovable weight over your chest and soul.
It was my presence's irresistible threat that they all felt.
If they couldn't even leave a scratch over my chariot, and I didn't even budge an inch from my place, then things were clear to them.
Even if they came at me with such a grand formation of tens of thousands… They had zero chance of killing me.
Would I be able to kill them? That must be the question rumbling echoing inside their heads at the moment.
"Let me give you the answer then… Come forth my babies… come and kill them all!"
I didn't summon another warrior but my precious soulers. They were simply killers, predators to any other race.
Summoning and releasing them over such a large army was like letting sharks lose in a herd of salmon fish.
And I helped from the above, releasing everything I got inside my chariot's arsenal. Of course my chariot missed my mighty Gollems and their deadly giant ballista bolts. It also missed the various warriors working on the defensive platforms and weapons here.
Yet the fight was simply described as one sided game. I didn't stand in my place and kept roaming around.
My first task was to scout and scan the area. Such a grand army couldn't be simply summoned in response to a short call from the angels.
This one was being prepared long before that. "So I didn't only attract the wrathful gazes of the dragons, but also the illusionists… interesting!"
It was the only explanation I got. After all, everywhere I went was filled with illusionists and their allied races. I flew over for an hour, scanning an area of a few miles on the surface.
The sheer number of forces here was really big. This army would only answer to one leader; an archlord.
I missed the illusionists' archlord from my calculations. But who said I'd get chickened away by such a person?
If he was that dragon dude then I'd be threatened. Yet against such a stealth loving cowardly race, I got nothing to worry about.
Who knew? I might even slay an archlord tonight before even moving a finger against that dragon archlord.
[Be careful, the army is led by illusionists] I sent Karoline in warning before adding, [Make sure to use AOE attacks all the time. They can escape your eyes but can't escape the attacks you release]
[So we shouldn't go outside?] she asked before adding, [What about the force you asked for earlier? I'm hearing scary sounds coming from that direction on the other side of the river]
[It's me clearing some flies] I sent, [Don't scatter your forces and make sure to arrange magicians all around and they must be well protected]
[Ok]
[You shall stand down for now] I paused before adding, [Go to the behemoth body. My warriors there will keep you safe for now]
[Are they this dangerous?]
She didn't see the horror of illusionists in one Vs one situations. [They are deadly if you faced them head on]
[I got my skill. I'll stay here until I feel things aren't safe]
This girl… Fine then.
"Come!" without going into an argument with her at this moment, I simply called forth two of my biggest dragons and ten of my small ones.
"Here, take these," I gave the ten small ones enough stat points to turn them all mighty like the other two. Now I had fifteen grand dragons, enough to make me feel proud of myself.
"Go and make sure to keep Karoline safe," I said to them before adding, "she has a team of soulers to protect her. Make sure they surround her tightly and guard her well."
"Leave it to us, my lord," one of those who gained their new powers said before others roared, "but this fight here…"
That bastard was acting sensational as he got something nice from me. "Just go and leave things here to me," I waved my hand to them. In this fight I didn't need their help unless something new came up.
What was weird though was the fact that the enemy didn't plan on running away. Even when I roamed and scouted all their entire force, they didn't show any signs of fleeing.
Why was that?
I kept flying over, taking endless attacks coming from down below without causing any harm to my chariot. In return for that, my soulers were clearing group after group of the enemy at a fast pace.
Those dudes only needed to flash through any enemy's body and then it would be over. Their ability to kill was really terrifying. I needed to go back and ask for more of those monsters.
Against such big armies, having a small force of them wasn't enough to clear the enemy or scare them fast. This might be the reason the enemy didn't flee yet.
After all they only saw me and a few of my soulers fighting. Why would they run away then?
But something felt off here. What if they brought someone terrifying? What would be terrifying of such a race?
Don't tell me… without hesitating I summoned two swords of mine and instantly turned around, raised them high up like I was holding daggers and not swords, then landed heavily on the ground.
*Clang!* *Clang!*
Was I overthinking it? My swords hit nothing but the empty ground of my chariot, releasing sparks of orange fire everywhere for a brief second.
But what was that? I felt like something flashed in front of my eyes the moment these sparks appeared.
"There!" without hesitating I turned around and landed another blow over a place only few metres away from me to the side.
*Clang!* *Clang!*
This time I saw it clearer… Someone was definitely here!
"Alright dude, your cover got blown away already," I stood erect while having a calm expression on my face and a teasing smile.
A shadow master! We met again in the shadow master race!