《Magic Card Apocalypse》


 Prologue: Dual Rebirth

    Corpses were piled up in massive mounds and scattered across the cratered ground, stars shattered in the distance, and the dusk of a foreign sun slowly descended upon the mass grave. Unlike the occasional explosions, roars of terrifying beasts, and clashing of heavy metals coming from the distance, this unending stretch of land was eerily silent.


    Littered across the battleground were unsightly war-torn bodies, sludge puddles that were victims of acidic blasts, and body pieces sprinkled over everything like grim confetti, so much so that the bodies with gaping wounds or soulless eyes were the better of the bunch.


    While many had met their gruesome demise, one seemed to have been spared. In the depths of the mound of dead, a metallic hand pushed through and twitched.


    In the distance where chaos and war raged, rays of light dazzled all over the bleak battleground where the living still stood. Battle cries, screams of despair, mocking laughter, and metallic clashes of weapons sang a cacophony that could drive anyone to the brink of madness.


    A colossal three-headed wolf breathed poisonous gas over its companion¡¯s foes, one of its heads licking blood off its jaws while it watched men drop like flies as the poison filled their lungs. Above the wolf¡¯s heads, golden spears adorned in runic characters whizzed past, hitting their targets with distinct thuds as they punctured human skulls and sternums. Futuristic cannons obliterated targets within their range, and a miniature sun razed areas to scorched earth not far off.


    How had humanity managed to achieve such impossible feats?


    A fighter unleashed a ten-foot-tall feline creature with the head of a bird of prey to attack the wolf, a small rectangular glow of light having made it possible to wield such power. Magic Cards, or just cards, the reason for humanity¡¯s rise and downfall, were truly a wonder of the heavens.


    In the resplendent skies of the battlefield, the strong battled for dominance. Several figures among the humans, armed with the extraordinary powers and strengths of what were once fictional superheroes, fought against their kind and against alien races who also sought the prize of this treasured land. However, it was clear that the humans held the advantage; as they were mainly fighting amongst themselves, and the alien races were blown to the side.


    Each traded blows for blows, metal for metal, blood for blood, joining enemies to kill off mutual enemies, in pairs and alone. A lone figure cut the sky in two with a single sword stroke, his white beard dancing in the wind. A bulky fellow multiplied in size, growing into a steel giant and bouncing off projectiles. Yet another human wielded a staff, casting spells that brought catastrophic weather to the battlefield.


    Opponents changed within seconds, but this category of fighters was high-ranked and of similar strength, each with at least thousands of battles under their belt. They were like cockroaches, hard to kill. The battle raged on.


    Several figures surrounded a woman with sapphire blue hair and matching eyes. Her beautiful features were covered in dirt and unruly blue hair strands, a cut bleeding out on her petite nose. Her once-splendid blue dress was now tattered, swaying forlornly as she staggered forward, the weight of fighting for three days taking a toll on her.


    Clutching a broken staff that glowed faintly, she trudged over to a giant sapphire-colored bird, dropping the staff and caressing its feathers as they emitted weak blue flames but did not harm her. The bird chirped lowly to comfort her, its diamond eyes weary. It stared at the blue flame rings floating behind her, but their embers were slowly fading like candlelight into the wind, a testimony of the duo¡¯s impending mortality.


    However, the crowd was uncaring of this tragic sight. Their eyes were all focused on the golden iridescent crystal in her other hand, its seven edges catching the light at different angles. She was the first to have gotten a hold of the crystal for more than three hours!


    Of course, these battle-seasoned fighters were not stupid. Even in her pitiful state, Celes was not one to easily contend with, having the ability to put up a horrifying fight even with her dying breath. They were stalling by talking, fearful of the final desperate attack that could take one of them out with her.


    "Celes, hand over the crystal now, and maybe we¡¯ll spare you!" roared a burly man, the murderous glint in his eyes saying otherwise.


    A woman with long golden locks scoffed, every drop of patience sapped from the weariness of the war. "We don¡¯t have all day, bitch. Now!"


    "Miss Celes, if you please," a handsome but grimy man said, brandishing his sword. "Let¡¯s not do this the hard way."


    Celes coldly glared at the crowd blocking all paths of retreat. Scanning the sea of faces, her sapphire eyes landed on one woman in particular who stood aside, staff in hand, trying to detach herself from the crowd. Turning to another with deep red hair, Celes started to speak, "Flame Empress ¡ª"


    "Blue Phoenix," Flame Empress interrupted softly, "We are all fighting for the same thing, but you¡¯re the only one among us Lords that possesses a White Silver natal card. You are the closest to becoming King, so that crystal cannot fall into your hands." Her expression was soft and serene as if explaining to a child why she couldn¡¯t have more candy, but Celes knew she was as fiery as the flames of her natal card.


    "Tch¡­" Celes muttered with a clench of her jaws, "And my Stronghold can¡¯t get it either, right? Because it threatens all of you present, is that it?!" She let out a short laugh of disbelief. "I didn¡¯t think the rumors of the alliances were true¡­"


    This was her own fault, their information gathering was too poor compared to the rest.


    Looking to the side, she said, "The royal alien races will soon come. We are now weak from battle and they know this, yet we still want to fight ourselves."


    The crowd had clear segregations, though several people looked to be in cahoots, as expected of the sly figures that each led their strongholds, there was no sign of the several alliances before today. They were all silent to her accusations.


    Flame Empress was right; Celes, the Blue Phoenix, was currently the strongest humanity had, also leading the stronghold whose average strength exceeded theirs. If Celes were to claim ownership of that crystal, she would finally have the power to rule over them all. Everything they built would no longer be theirs.


    Humanity would have a single ruler.


    They didn¡¯t want to even imagine the thought. The taste of power was too irresistible to revert to the way it was before¡­ No, even a slight reduction was unacceptable!


    Their lives and fates at the mercy of another?


    Impossible.


    Celes sighed heavily, seeing no way out as she stared at the determined figures blocking her paths of escape. Sapphire, her loyal life-bound beast companion, was on her last breath, meaning Celes was too unless she went back for the feather she hid away. But all her main cards were shattered in battle. Her foes were definitely in similar situations, but she was greatly outnumbered, and her low-level cards were either not combat-oriented or worthless in this situation.


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    ¡®Screee¡­¡¯ Sapphire crooned, her breath heavy as she weakly rustled her once majestic feathers.


    Celes gently looked over to her lifelong partner, Sapphire Beauty, her weak posture and fading life force cutting like knives into Celes¡¯s soul. This was not merely the emotional pain of losing her closest companion, but also the mental burden of what was coming. As her natal card beast, her and Sapphire¡¯s deaths were shared, so she too had no hope.


    She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking of her family and friends, people she had abandoned before the New World descended, people she was going to abandon in her dying breath. She couldn¡¯t bring herself to accept all she had achieved was going to end right here. If she could get to Sapphire¡¯s nirvana feather now, there might still be a chance for her and Sapphire to survive. She opened her eyes, attempting to negotiate.


    "Will you let me leave if I surrender the crystal?" she asked, half-knowing the truth.


    "Naturally¡­" Flame Empress said, her firey eyes stationed on the crystal.


    Celes let out a laugh of disbelief. The audacity to lie to her face.


    Her eyes caught a trio not too far from Flame Empress, her glare freezing over in pure unbridled hate. The trio was notorious for practicing slavery and cruelty to any woman they could lay their hands on. Even if the entire crowd miraculously let her live after she gave up the crystal, these three would never pass up the chance to exploit her in such a vulnerable state.


    They were also the most threatening secret alliance revealed today, rumors of their scuffles must have been fake.


    She should have killed them when she had the chance.


    Drawing a deep breath, wincing as pain spiked within her lungs, Celes finally accepted her fate. She was going to die, but she would take the crystal down with her.


    "Wait!" a thin man shouted in panic as he noticed her intentions. "She¡¯s attempting to explode her aperture!"


    Upon hearing this, everyone backed away in unison. All but one person.


    "Insolent human, don¡¯t you dare shatter the holy treasure!" A man wearing black armor shouted. His human facade shredded, giving way as he transformed into a Titan over thirty meters tall. Lava flowed down his skin, and he wielded three arms and eight eyes.


    An alien race had managed to slip among them.


    "The Flame Abyss Titan!"


    "A royal alien race? How?!"


    "Kane, Horace, you motherfuckers!"


    The crowd was outraged seeing an alien race present, in the armor of one of their native forces no less, but Celes was unfazed.


    The rumors were true after all. How laughable that one of the top ten¡­ No, three of humanity¡¯s tallest lighthouses had gotten in bed with the enemy. Different from the elves or mermaids with no explicit hostile relations, the abyss titans ate, enslaved, and killed humans en masse.


    While the chaotic disturbance ensued, no one noticed an injured man who had crawled out of the corpse hills. He dragged himself forward with his mechanical arm, his second arm ripped off during the battle.


    Seeing a small window of chance, Celes flicked her wrist and activated her card wheel. The three rows of slots were now mostly empty, a far cry from her prime, just four days earlier. Using three cards in succession, she retreated dozens of meters away. Knowing she didn¡¯t have much time, she placed her remaining cards in her aperture and was just about to explode it, when a hand grabbed her ankle. Before she could see who it was, she was roughly pulled down to the ground and the crystal fell out of her grasp, rolling off to the side.


    Looking up, she came face to face with a scarred yet handsome man. He was missing an arm but had an intact mechanical arm, save for a few scratches on the metal. His turbid black eyes were deep and cold like a stagnant pool of water, the horrific scars littering his tanned skin telling stories of the hells he had been through. He was wearing tattered armor with a black metallic glow.


    A Dust Soldier!


    Celes recognized who he was with a glance, known yet unknown, a wandering mercenary without affiliation who fought in many battles to carve out a path of survival. Dust soldiers did so in hopes of getting a high-level card or suitable resources to evolve their natal cards to go a step further, often using lower-level cards and equipment that didn¡¯t match their level to fight.


    Currently, the armor he was wearing was a mere Black Iron-ranked item. On a battlefield of this level, it was like bringing a spoon to a gunfight!


    The dust soldier felt the titan quickly approaching as a blast of heat sweltered against his face. He weakly crawled forward, musing over his luck as Celes had teleported beside him. He went straight for the crystal.


    Seeing him rush towards the crystal, Celes jumped out of her reverie, quickly crawling forward as well. Both reaching for the crystal, their fingers touched and they looked at each other.


    "Let go," he growled, allowing her to hear his voice for the first time. It was weathered beyond his years.


    "Are you serious?!" She shouted at the absurdity. This little dust soldier lower than her foot soldiers dared to tell her to let go. "It¡¯s mine!"


    "Yours?" the dust soldier spat. "It belongs to no one. Whoever holds it last is the owner. Now let go, you blue-colored bird brain."


    "What did you just call me, you tool? You pathetic excuse for a human being!"


    The man seemed to be hit by those words, his eyes flashing with anger. Celes was unfazed by his reaction. He was not the first dust soldier she met. Their ¡®woe is me¡¯ bullshit was nothing; everyone was dealt the same hand! Should she pity him? They were all living in hell, having to deal with humans and aliens alike. She was merely stronger than him. Well, several times stronger, and luckier. Her wit, guile, and real ability got her this far, and this was after many sacrifices and lives lost!


    "Let. Go," he grunted.


    "You let go!" she snapped back.


    He clawed at the crystal. "No, you!"


    Both had undergone several days of battle and couldn¡¯t muster the mental strength to form constructive arguments. They were simply too exhausted. Realizing how childish they sounded, they fell silent and glared daggers at each other.


    Somewhere in the future, Celes would regret this one moment. She didn¡¯t know just yet that she would look back on this moment countless times and wish she had found the strength to pluck his fingers off the crystal, wish she had dug that strength out from somewhere! For now, she only lamented how pathetic her last moments were.


    The blood from her injuries, along with the dust soldier¡¯s, mingled and smeared against the golden crystal, causing it to suddenly let out a blinding light. The next moment, their bodies fell cold, and their souls had departed.


    The Titan finally arrived. He smashed their corpses, but his anger didn¡¯t stop and he roared, shaking the entire secret realm with shockwaves.


    The crystal had disappeared.


    ***


    Sierra Valley University, California, United States of America


    12:07 p.m, September 25th, 2028


    3 months before the apocalypse.


    A young man with tanned skin and a head of waves was rushing out of the lecture hall for an urgent call at work. Getting out to the entrance of the brick building, he suddenly tripped and fell. Raising his body a bit, he spat out the grass and dirt he managed to get in his mouth from such an intense fall, his dark eyes dazed and lost. He looked up at the bustling groups of college students moving to and fro, not paying him any mind.


    Unlike seconds before, the boy was struggling to recognize anyone or the environment now. When was the last time he had seen such peaceful scenery? When was the last time a functioning university like this existed?


    ¡®Where am I?¡¯


    ¡®Who am I?¡¯


    ¡®What is this?¡¯


    ***


    Sierra Valley University, California, United States of America


    6:37 a.m, December 18th, 2028


    An elegantly dressed young lady was surrounded by three companions, chattering nonstop and sipping iced drinks.


    "No, he didn¡¯t!"


    "Girl, I swear he was ¡ª"


    The young lady stopped abruptly, losing touch with reality for a moment. The others carried on the discussion, not paying attention. She touched her long black hair, rubbing it between her fingers and blinking slowly. It was no longer sapphire blue.


    ¡®What¡­ Where¡­¡¯


    She looked up, dazed, trying to make sense of the chuckling three and the surrounding scenes in blank astonishment.


    ***


    And so two souls returned to the past, before the start of the end of the world. Both were destined to set off waves so high they would pierce the sky.


    Knowledge was power, but that was only true for those capable of acting on it. Both happened to wield such time-sensitive knowledge, knowledge whose value could be conservatively dubbed as priceless.


    But how would they use it? What paths would they set themselves on?

 Chapter 1: O’Brien Hall

    The weather in September was scorching. Although the heat had subsided a little, it had not completely receded. Though the weather was still a bit sultry, the coolness of the morning and evening was also refreshing.


    A young man spent quite a bit of time on the road, seemingly with no destination, going where the wind blew. As the afternoon approached, he seemed to remember something and headed east of the city. The residential area he was headed to had a particular house that held get-togethers, usually on the fly with no set times.


    If he remembered correctly, one should be going on this afternoon.


    The sun¡¯s rays passed through the beautiful blue sky, partly obscured by clouds, causing shadows to be cast on the earth.


    The city area was busy, but further east you would find residential areas with tall official apartment complexes and casual homes, some for rent and lease.


    It was in an ¡®official¡¯ apartment complex that the dazed young man had now entered. The so-called official apartment complexes were just one of many casual terms for the residences that big companies or wealthy people had bought, tearing down past structures and erecting new ones. Some used empty plots of land for the sole purpose of renting.


    All official apartment complexes typically had many rooms on each floor, rented out to young couples, singles, and struggling workers on their last breaths. It was no wonder how small each ¡®apartment¡¯ was.


    "Chadicus, dawg, what you been ¡ª"


    "Alright, where in god¡¯s name did you get that nickname from?" Cherry, Chazz¡¯s girlfriend, asked her boyfriend after hearing his friend¡¯s absurd name again and again. But, boy, did she regret hearing the backstory.


    "Chadicus?" One of the boys echoed, his eyes fixed on the video game Chazz was playing. Chazz responded, "Ah, shi¡­ Back in high school, when he was thirteen, he got it on with two teachers. Some fine-ass MILFs; I¡¯m talking eights at least. It was all over the news, too."


    Seeing the shocked look on Cherry¡¯s face, Chazz took a sip from his cup before continuing. "Was the talk of our little town back then. Everyone was up in the drama, and the older guys were especially jealous. Although good for us, they didn¡¯t bully him out of jealousy but praised him everywhere, calling him King Chad. Then we named him King Chadicus Biggus Dickus The Almighty The First."


    A smirk crept on his face as he concluded with a, "Or Chadicus, for short." Taking another sip, his smile widened, enjoying Cherry¡¯s reaction.


    "Teachers?!" Cherry gasped, absolutely flabbergasted. "When he was thirteen?!"


    "Bro started out with a big win," said a shorter guy in a proud tone.


    "Yeah," agreed another, "Closest he ever got to that was that Roxanne chick and her friend." He nudged Chad who was busy with his video game, saying, "Lucky bastard."


    The other guys chipped in, except one who was silent and observing the scene like an old man among children. He seemed to be in his early twenties, the same age group as the rest of the gathering. With only his deep eyes as the clue to unmasking him, he was in expert disguise. The disguise, a normal youth in his twenties.


    Cherry was dumbfounded for a few seconds before blurting out, "I can¡¯t believe you guys! That¡¯s sexual assault; he was abused!" She looked around like she was trapped in a psycho ward. "Why are you making it seem like he won a prize or something? Think of ¡ª"


    Before she could continue, Cherry was cut off by her one and only big-eyed boyfriend.


    "Typical female reaction," he simply stated.


    Not to be outdone, she immediately retorted, "Typical male reaction."


    "I swear, girls always fall for the SA bit," said Chazz. "Chad never even thought about it till they brought it up and now it¡¯s like the gift that keeps on giving when he tricks them all into pity sex."


    Muttering the next line under his breath, Chazz said, "Looking at yo'' dumbass, you would¡¯ve probably been one of them." He was moving his fingers at high speed on his game controller when he felt a menacing glare pierce through him.


    ¡®She heard that? Fuck!¡¯


    "Well, I¡¯mma take my dumbass out the door for good and you¡¯re free to get with whoever is dumb enough to deal with your bullshit!"


    Slam!


    The only other girl who was present opened her mouth to say something after Cherry slammed the door, but she simply closed her mouth in exasperation and chased after her friend.


    "What¡¯s her problem¡ª Ah, Jeston, you cunt, don¡¯t shoot while I¡¯m distracted!" Chazz immediately got back to playing his game.


    The only two females had left and all the males were enjoying themselves.


    The silent young man watching the youthful banter of his fellow peers was O¡¯Brien Hall, a regressor from the future. Yes, he was the man who quibbled with the Blue Phoenix, Celes Greymore, over ownership of the crystal. Yet he, who was such a marginal side character in the war and last days¡ªno, a mere mob character¡ªwas lucky enough to go back in time. It had been three days and the truth had now fully undressed itself before his very eyes.


    He had traveled back in time!


    Looking around at the faces of his good friends, he reminisced, recalling the laughter and joy they had shared. He remembered the girl he once deeply loved and the girl he later came to love, along with his best friend, who had gone through thick and thin with him. Their social group had banded tightly in the end, although the bonds came loose due to him¡­


    A rush of emotions flooded his heart and soul; nostalgia, melancholy, love, camaraderie, hope. He remembered the changes they all went through over the years, as clear as day, almost unrecognizable from the past. Some died, some lived, some lived in brokenness, some died at peace, while others remained suffering.


    Looking back, this was the dream-like ¡®normal¡¯ life they had lived before it all went to Hell.


    ¡®Such pure youthful banter¡­ And my position in this group, how nostalgic¡­¡¯ O¡¯Brien mused to himself. ¡®So very nostalgic¡­¡¯


    He looked through the window at the girl that stormed out.


    ¡®Truly, it is the past¡­ Her eyes, her face, her laugh, her purity. They had disappeared long before we became a thing¡­¡¯


    Cherry would eventually become his girlfriend, the first woman he loved and intended to marry, even in the darkest times of the abyss. She was his light, and their love bore fruit after dancing out of death¡¯s embrace together, one too many times.


    The team formed by the people in this room was outstanding, to say the least. Even in the early days of hell, they were decent. But as fate would have it, the two of them were split off from the rest for a whole month, one fateful occasion.


    It was then the seeds were planted, and as the clich¨¦ went, they cemented their relationship and didn¡¯t have the face to remain in the team with Chazz, her then ex and the team leader.


    O¡¯Brien looked at the pouting beautiful figure outside the window, and after a moment of thought, he walked out of the room, ignoring the calls of his friends. He felt his heart stir a bit.


    "Oh, O¡¯Brien, what¡¯s up?" Cherry asked as she saw him approaching. She had been feeling that his gaze was strange since he stepped through the door of the apartment earlier.


    O¡¯Brien paused in front of her. The memories buried deep within his psyche resurfaced at this very moment, some long forgotten.


    After a few moments of silence and staring, Cherry was starting to get annoyed.


    "Well?" she spat with an annoyed frown.


    "Take care of yourself¡­" was all he said. He looked her up and down, then deep into her eyes before walking off and not looking back, but a few steps later he stopped.


    The memories of the passion, the woe, and the heartache they shared were now like grasping the wind. Time had taken away their substance and sway, and now they were faded like pictures from several decades ago.


    His heart once stirred for her, but now, as he stared her down with a few feet between them, feeling the heat from her body, the light in her eyes, the vibrancy of her gait¡­this big living person felt dead to him.


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    He no longer loved her.


    Perhaps he never truly did.


    Perhaps love was out of the comprehension of most people in his generation. Maybe it was just a substitute word used because of the oddities of saying something else.


    Perhaps the love he knew was nothing more than reliance. In those dark times, with the ugliness of humanity laid bare and their helplessness brought to light, he needed an anchor to keep his humanity, someone to give him stability and reason. Otherwise, he would have taken the easy way out like the ¡®sheep¡¯, in the face of the hell that was the New World.


    Who knows what his feelings for her were back then?


    What he did know now, was that his feelings for her were gone.


    "Timothy Royner, the ¡®Blazing Sword¡¯ of the third pioneer squad of the Lighthouse¡­ You should avoid him," O¡¯Brien instructed Cherry. After taking a deep breath, he continued his retreat but stopped once again, three steps later. After all, they were once intertwined, so he couldn¡¯t just coldly forget about her and leave her to her fate. He was the cause of her tragic fate after all, even if indirectly.


    His voice trembled, not out of emotion but because he was still unused to his younger vocal cords, before all those days and nights when he screamed in pain, despair, and anger until he went hoarse and his voice became reminiscent of a chain smoker.


    "If the day ever comes, don¡¯t go to Blue Jessel Ruins," he finished. With that he finally walked away, leaving Cherry in visible confusion.


    Timothy? Blazing Sword? Lighthouse? Jessel?


    What was he on about?


    Did he smoke some of that Purple Corn Weed Chazz was meat riding?


    O¡¯Brien never looked back once. he resisted the temptation, sighing again and again after he had left them all behind.


    This was both a literal and physical severance of ties.


    Finding himself in a random internet cafe with slow traffic due to the time of day, he got their rarely used cafe service and had some coffee and snacks.


    His thoughts swam around in circles and irregular patterns haphazardly.


    ***


    O¡¯Brien Hall realized he had regressed two days ago, but he was digesting it up until today. At first, he was like a mental patient, laughing like a madman, then so excited he shivered for half an hour, and finally angry, screaming like a wild beast; he wanted to rip all of his enemies to shreds and feed them their viscera!


    The strong men who trampled him and his dignity! He wanted to purge them from the cradle.


    He wanted to save his friends and his lover. He wanted to stop all the injustices of mankind and slaughter the alien races. A second chance¡­ What was it for? This was it! Right all the wrongs that were done to him and others! He would do it all over! Everything would be fixed!


    But as quickly as those passions flared up, they were doused with similar intensity.


    Then he was overwhelmed and confused by the truth of it all.


    Everything happened so fast back then. Although the days leading up to the end had clear signs, no one could have ever expected what was to come. The natural and unnatural disasters, followed by the supernatural wave of energy that swept throughout the earth¡­ The earth grew more land like some weird cartoon, and the stars shone as bright as the moon in their sights all at once, weird visions showed up, and by the time it was all over, weird cards began to show up one after the other.


    Just the precursor natural disasters alone caused a great loss of life. Moreover, they were the cause of low food reserves for the average bachelor living at home, also forcing most to stay home and not go back to their families.


    It was like the outbreak of the 2020 pandemic all over again, but death was raw and laid bare. The governments worldwide struggled to contain the victims of the disasters and, when the apocalypse came, their strengths were dispersed so they couldn''t mount a full offensive.


    The Genesis Card Fall came so suddenly that no one knew what to do. How could they know how truly valuable these cards were? How could they know that some cards were so much more valuable than others? How could they know these cards controlled their fates?


    Soon after the event, posthumously dubbed Genesis Card Fall, or Gold Card Rush, God''s Mercy, Card Bestowal, depending on who you asked, monsters and alien races began to appear. These creatures slaughtered in all directions, turning civilization back into the jungle where the weak preyed on each other and the strong preyed on all.


    Humans were truly done dirty in the New World. They were suddenly thrust to the bottom of the food chain with guns and other weapons having little to no effect on monsters and alien races. Furthermore, the precursor disasters ruined defense and attack infrastructure, and nuclear capabilities were crippled in most of the world.


    Monsters killed and ate humans; mutant trees and bacteria turned them into fertilizer; alien races enslaved, killed, pillaged, and tortured humans en masse; and the living environment became unfriendly with the existence of ludicrous phenomena like floating lava and poisonous miasma that wandered across the land, among other terrors of the enraged mother nature.


    But by far the most cruelty humanity would suffer was by its own hands, what man did to their brethren.


    O''Brien suffered from this many times. He had many people who had done him wrong, literally and figuratively spitting in his face.


    One hundred and fourteen scars were once on his body, and half of those were from ex-lovers and brothers-in-arms turned foes in the face of wealth and profit.


    For vengeance for himself and justice for humanity, now with knowledge of the future, it was possible to obtain all he had ever wanted from the New World.


    Tapping his plastic coffee mug, he looked deep inside himself. He clutched the hot coffee until his long light brown fingers burned from the heat.


    "No¡­ That''s not what I want," he remembered.


    That was all wishful thinking for one man; even with powerful knowledge of the future, there was only so much you could do, but what really mattered to him was not all these illusions of grandeur and saintliness.


    That moment on the battlefield when one of his mechanical arms was ripped off, when he was the closest to death than he had ever been, that moment when the mountain of corpses drowned him, the thoughts that had run through his mind at that very moment wasn¡¯t all this righteous BS, or crap about love and repaying debts!


    He was simply tired. He had fought enough, almost ceaselessly for 15 years. And it was all for nothing, he had nothing to show for it. He was less than a cog in a machine; just some bug on the side of the road. In the end, he was simply tired and wanted to rest.


    The only regret he had was that he didn¡¯t seize power fast enough and couldn¡¯t compete on the level of the Blue Phoenix and the others. He regretted never even touching the truly magnificent and powerful cards, nor ever living in luxury like those evil scum and hundred times sons of bitches, as his old Colombian comrades would say. Despite being such scum they lived better than the ''good'' persons.


    Accidentally getting a summoning-type Stone Cyclops card, an assassin-type Dark Shroud equipment card, or even any other high-quality cards like the rare talent cards, could have taken him a long way.


    Bending the weather to your will, changing the landscape, one sword to split a building! All that escaped his grasp and fell into the hands of others.


    Why must evil always prosper over good?


    Why did the evil gain these great boons and the good was left with scraps?


    If only he had been luckier starting back then.


    That regret was what gave him the strength to rob Blue Phoneix, even though he was destined to die. He had nothing to lose, already accepting he had no hopes of surviving. He just wanted to stick it to her and the others just once before he died. For the longest time, they had all he ever wanted.


    He wanted to grasp what they didn¡¯t have, what they could only have dreamed for, what they had lusted for.


    Yes, he was envious. Who wouldn''t be?


    They all started at the same line, as ordinary humans, but some pulled away to become Superman and Supergirl while others struggled to get shabby video game powers.


    After experiencing the future, the only thing that mattered to O¡¯Brien now were Cards. His youthful heart of justice was weathered and beaten by the winds, and only a few things could bring excitement to his now old heart.


    Only Cards could let his old heart grow younger.


    Cards! Cards! Cards!


    The omnipotent and almighty-given form.


    Human relations were just heavy chains to weigh you down.


    Cards were supreme!


    Suddenly, O''Brien remembered something or, to be more accurate, someone.


    Just like that, his passion was doused, if just momentarily.


    "Damn. There was...such a person," he groaned in annoyance, running his hand through his dark hair. Now he was feeling out of sorts, remembering that smiling figure and warm memory.


    He had resolved within himself to sever all ties and start anew with his newfound advantages. He wanted to be one of the tops, and nothing would stop him this time around. He also wanted to rest leisurely and fight optionally. That was all O''Brien wished for with his new beginning.


    A truly new beginning.


    Sadly, nothing could be perfect. The perfect sequence of events was him being by himself with no dead weights to take care of so he could fully go after all the opportunities that would come with the Apocalypse. Single-minded in the pursuit of power and excellence.


    He had no family as they had died when he was just a teenager. He was not on good terms with his extended family, even then they were in his home country. He had also severed ties with both friends and lovers. Logically, he should be free to do as he pleased with no chains binding him right?


    "Fuck¡­ What a nuisance. But it is what it is, right?" He sighed deeply after spending several more hours in internal turmoil. To care or not to care?


    ¡®I have been having these long internal debates with myself a lot lately,¡¯ he thought. ¡®It''s starting to get exhausting.¡¯


    O''Brien had one dead weight to carry after all, but hopefully, he could get rid of it in a short time.


    "First things first, I need a plan. I should try and remember everything I experienced and what I heard about the start of the apocalypse," his dark eyes flittered across the cafe while he muttered quietly to himself. "God knows there are many stories as it was such a massive upheaval." He pushed the single fly in the ointment to the back of his mind as he got up to leave, leaving his coffee cup empty.


    He stared up at the sky with a smile. He was now less confused than he was before and had direction in his life. With this extra edge, he would rise to the top, unless he was cursed with bad luck.


    If bad luck prevailed, then... Well, that was what if. Either way, if he won then he won, and if he didn''t, well¡­ that''s the end of that.


    Hell, those mystical cards even had luck-enhancing ones, so maybe he would try his luck with them.

 Chapter 2: Tess Celes Greymore Litvia

    Room 07, 61st Floor, New Moon Plaza Hotel, California


    2:39 a.m, December 22nd, 2028


    Impossible! Absolutely impossible!


    Celes held her head down to the sink and splashed her face with water for what felt like the thousandth time in four days. It was a wonder her skin hadn¡¯t washed off yet.


    What had happened to her was simply ridiculous, yet she had no choice but to accept it.


    Were she one of those severely mental ''Paradise Seekers'', she would have realized and jumped at the chance of rebirth days ago, but a trick was the first and most logical answer she could think of with her years of experience.


    It could be a Phantom Butterfly or a Mirror Hell Devil or possibly a Dream locust! But none of these entities could make such a detailed world and trick her brain to this extent.


    As a fourth-ranked Card Lord, she had already begun to strengthen her soul subtly and her senses couldn''t be that easily manipulated without a trace.


    After four days, the reality was concrete.


    This wasn''t an illusion.


    But even then, she had a hard time accepting it.


    Leaning against the sink, with the water dripping down her chin and long dark hair, she stared blankly at the mirror, her mind whirring for more reasons. Suddenly, something floated to the surface of her consciousness.


    Since this is the past...


    She immediately dashed out of the bathroom and raced for her phone. Grabbing it, she dialed a number, slightly trembling as she waited for the call to be picked up.


    "Jasmine... are you¡­ ok ¡­Sis?" Celes asked. Her voice couldn''t stop trembling, despite mustering all her strength to hold it back.


    "Sis?" came Jasmine¡¯s sharp tone over the phone. "What drugs are you on Lady Celes? I''m busy."


    Hearing that voice followed shortly by the beep of Jasmine hanging up, Celes was sure this wasn''t an illusion.


    Jasmine should be dead.


    As siblings, naturally she and Jasmine were at each other''s throats on a regular basis, but at this time, if Celes remembered correctly, they were supposed to be in a month-long feud caused by Jasmine going against Celes without letting her know. When she found out Jasmine went against her words, she tattled to their father. Of course, he gave Jasmine the ¡®talk¡¯, fueling their little feud more.


    Such petty squabbles were the last thing they remembered of each other, until¡­


    Celes shut her eyes tightly as the memory came flooding back. She couldn''t bring herself to think of what happened and of her sister''s desecrated body.


    Trying to shift her thoughts away from the gruesome details, she remembered another member of her family who she needed to call.


    "Wait! Mom," she gasped.


    One of the biggest regrets of her life.


    She quickly dialed another number, saved as Rebecca Greymore and not something like ¡®Mom¡¯.


    "Hello?" A soft voice answered the phone with audible surprise after the second ring. "Celes, is it really you? What''s with the sudden call ¡ª No, it doesn''t matter. Is everything ok? Are you ¡ª?" But she was quickly cut off by the dial tone.


    Somewhere in the city, Rebecca Greymore tucked her chestnut hair behind her ear before placing her hand on the steering wheel to round a bend. Her phone was still on, now sitting in by the gear. She had answered it upon seeing the caller ID, but the call had ended as quickly as it began.


    Rebecca parked a few seconds later and looked at the screen in a daze, the caller ID "My lovely Celes" displaying the minute call length.


    "Celes..." A soft murmur escaped from her lips. Was it a mistake? Or was one of her daughters really open to talking to her after all these years?


    She desperately hoped so, but it felt too good to be true¡­ It was probably a mistake.


    Back in the luxury hotel room, Celes stared at her mother¡¯s picture on her phone, remembering the voice that had just filled her ear. She could no longer help it, her trembling fingers spread their disease to her body as she shook violently.


    Tears burst like a dam.


    "Mom!" she cried out, sinking to her knees. "Mom! Mom¡­"


    How was she so cruel before?


    Resenting a loving mother simply because she didn''t love her father as much as they did, and the fact she and her sister were born as test tube babies? Rebecca was a mother who loved them and supported them!


    Covered in shame, Celes couldn''t even speak to her when she got the chance to say all she wanted to say now. It was blocked in her throat, forming a painful lump that synchronized with her heartbeat.


    She slumped to lay against the floor, drowned by the memories and regret of her foolishness. Her tears continued to stream out the sides of her eyes as she now stared at the ceiling, deep in thought.


    "No. I have a chance to make things right¡­" she murmured, realizing the opportunity her regression had brought.


    Her voice started bolder as the realization hit her deeper, daring to be a reminder of her commanding tone as the Blue Phoenix. "I will make things right. Mom, Dad, Jasmine, this entire city; I will save them all!"


    Thinking of those tragic scenes and the horrific fate that lay in wait for her loved ones and the city she grew up in, Celes hardened her resolve.


    With knowledge of the future, she would be a fool to not capitalize on it. As one of the peaks of humanity and the few who ascended to the rank of ''Lord'', even heading her own stronghold, she was fully qualified to save an entire city. She would not lose any of them. Never again!


    Her thoughts suddenly spun on who to first get on her side, someone who could give her some much-needed assistance with her preparations as she couldn''t do many things alone, nor did she have much time before the end of the world began.


    She quickly called her best friend, explaining as much as she could without sounding absolutely crazy. But unfortunately, she couldn¡¯t escape sounding absurd.


    "Extraordinary Cards? End of the World? Alien Races? Secret Realms?" Minnie¡¯s voice grew in concern as she heard Celes quietly hum in confirmation of the things she echoed. After a short moment passed, she asked, "Sweetie, are you on drugs? Did Morgan finally drag you to a party and slip some in your drink? Or is this your way of revealing you have a gamer boyfriend? If it¡¯s a boyfriend reveal, then let me just say it¡¯s about time! Being single for so long will ¡ª"


    "Minnie!" Celes cut her off in a solemn tone. There wasn¡¯t a hint of amusement in her demeanor. "This is serious."


    There was a pause. Deep breaths were carried over the connection as if bracing for something.


    "I''ll be right there."


    Celes heaved a sigh of relief, as her future right hand and the brains behind the operation, Minnie could be counted on. Minnie had saved Celes¡¯s neck time and time again, and the shelter would have been flattened several times over without her help.


    ***


    "So, let me see if I''m understanding correctly," Minnie started as soon as she walked in, her blonde hair in a high ponytail. "You came back from the future and the world ends? Is that why I haven¡¯t heard from you in days?"


    Minnie was a lively young lady, wearing pink shorts topped with a red blouse and finishing it off with purple high heels. Of course, we can¡¯t forget the pink skull necklace that rested on her sizeable chest. She crossed her legs and made the sofa her home, not knowing how happy and relieved Celes was to see her and her eccentric wardrobe choices again.


    ¡®We were like this in the past, weren¡¯t we? So much has changed.¡¯


    "Yes," Celes answering, taking a seat next to Minnie. "One week from now¡ªno, it''s been four days since ¡®I¡¯ technically got here, so¡­ three days from now?" She paused and confirmed the calculation before continuing.


    "On December 25th, 2028, at approximately 10:15 p.m, the world will come to an end. The time will be a bit different here in New Roselee, though. These strange disasters that have been occurring are all precursors to this. The weird behavior of animals, terrible weather displacing millions around the globe, and sightings of strange debris and celestial bodies in space¡­ They are not made-up events or unrelated; they are signs."


    Leaning back against the sofa, she rubbed her face with her palms, letting out a soft breath as she tugged at her memory. "The spatial fabric of this world has already begun to become unstable. Three hours after the Genesis Card Fall, three days from now, the portals will open, Earth will expand, celestial images will appear in the sky, and cards will have descended on the planet. Four days have passed, so you should be clear of the trend currently forming. It all leads to the end of modern times. Some disasters have yet to happen, but they will in these last 3 days."


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Minnie nodded quietly, listening attentively at the recollection.


    "The alien races from beyond the portals and mutant animals are the biggest threat," Celes informed her. "But in some ways, they are dwarfed by the Prime Terraforming Event that occurs at the same time. This is when the earth expands and the lands and seas shift, mountains rise, and the landscape is changed forever. Before the apocalypse, just some precursor disasters reaped countless lives as we see on the news, but even though such feats like these cut down the global population by a lot, the terraforming will similarly reap countless lives before the fighting even begins. We are lucky to be in one of the few ''complete cities'' and even then a piece of the city is separated, but we are in a better position than cities sunk to the bottom of the ocean or split into several pieces and tossed around."


    Celes''s face was downcast thinking of all the casualties and crying children, mourning parents, and displaced regular people with their hopes extinguished just to be hit with an even worse calamity soon after.


    Minnie''s eyebrow twitched. If she hadn''t pinched all over and checked if this was her dear friend Celes with the perfect body and personality of a prude, she would wonder if she had been replaced or if this was a fever dream. But as her best friend, Minnie could tell when Celes wasn''t joking. She wasn''t even the type to make such sick jokes, not to mention interrupting her at work.


    "So, on top of the dead we see on the news now¡­ there will be even more later?" Minnie asked, still poking and pinching Celes¡¯s arm for good measure.


    "Yes, much more. Beyond your wildest imagination," Celes replied, brushing her hands off from pinching her flesh.


    "Is it worse than a zombie apocalypse?" Minnie asked, looking up when the response was delayed. Seeing Celes nod, her eyebrows further knitted tightly in a frown.


    "And these cards¡­" she kept asking, "They give us the power to survive and fight back against all foes? And they are omnipotent? Really?"


    Minnie obviously couldn''t instantly accept such big news of a ridiculous nature. Just one was hard to believe as it was, but the combination was bat-shit crazy.


    "Without them, we humans would undoubtedly be extinct," Celes answered. "Even with many races not being hostile to us, the few that are could easily wipe us out if it weren¡¯t for the power of our Card Masters."


    In her time, they were indeed close to extinction. Were it not for her and the other lords, they might have already been erased.


    "So, like¡­ How do these cards work? Is it science, or more like magic?"


    Celes shrugged but still provided an answer. "Our scientists have surmised that cards hold countless mystical powers and make the impossible possible. If there was something impossible, then it¡¯s merely our ignorance and lack of ability.


    "Elemental Cards, Spell Cards, Transformation Cards, Summoning Cards, Tool Cards, Domain Cards, Talent Cards. You name it. They come in many forms and offer great powers, matching that of fictional superheroes, and even beyond."


    Minnie blinked rapidly, trying to keep up with her trance-like friend.


    "Sadly, even in the end, humanity fights among itself with this great power. Men inflict great amounts of torment and suffering on their fellow men. Warlords ruling streets and districts, revamped concentration camps, selling people as items in slavery, rape, plunder, pillaging...The malice of human beings has taken many forms in the last days. The apocalypse movies and TV shows are child-friendly compared to the horrors that will happen in real life."


    "This is a lot to take in, that''s for sure," Minnie chuckled nervously. "If I wasn''t sure you''re my favorite melon eater friend, then I would think you belong in an asylum!"


    "This isn''t all some elaborate joke, is it though?" Minnie asked after a thought, playing with her bright ponytail. "I''m warning you right now, Tess Celes Greymore Litvia!"


    Celes raised her eyebrows when her full name was called, an amused smirk tugging the side of her lips, daring Minnie to continue.


    "If you are playing some sick joke then I will never forgive you!" Minnie''s clear blue eyes rested on Celes''s face as if to pick up on any telltale signs. She had already been stuck at home, juggling school and work responsibilities, but now she was implicitly being asked to drop everything for a few days which can greatly affect her review, grades, and pay.


    As a self-sufficient woman not relying on her parents, also on bad terms with her family, she would rather not have to beg or borrow money. With consecutive days of absence, she would definitely lose her job if she went chasing after some apocalypse prank.


    "I would never.¡± Celes was back to being stone serious again. ¡°I swear, if I''m lying then I should be struck by lightning and be cursed to be stuck in a vegetative state on a hospital bed." Celes matched her friend''s gaze and couldn''t help but feel lucky she had such a reliable friend that she could always count on no matter the situation.


    It was decided; she would ensure that her friend became a ''King'' and even higher.


    They would become stronger together and not be separated like in the past, due to Minnie''s inferior natal card. Adventuring and saving the world, they will do it together like in the beginning and forever after!


    After hearing such a solemn vicious oath, Minnie was finally put at ease, but her heart was still troubled by other matters, like certain details Celes had shared about the future she came from.


    "Your sister and my mother¡­ Did they really... have that done to them?"


    "Yes," Celes answered in a somber tone.


    "Even Xia was¡­¡± Minnie muttered, mulling over what she had been told. ¡°I can''t imagine how scarred she was afterwards."


    Celes heaved a sigh. "It haunts me that I couldn''t stop any of it..."


    "Then I guess we should make a hit list. Scum like those should have a date with some medieval punishments," Minnie said, gritting her teeth as she thought of the tragedy.


    The thought alone was enough to make her blood boil. She really couldn''t imagine it actually happening. She thought of her favorite apocalypse weapon; a bat with barbed wires. She would definitely give those scum a taste of pleasure between their legs. Let them see a real big and fearsome rod!


    "The future seems horrific, but fortunately for us, we have you as the cheat code to this cruel new game," she grinned. Her heart was at ease thinking of this. Knowledge was power and this knowledge brought power comparable to several nuclear bombs and missiles if what Celes said was true. Cards... Were they truly that amazing?


    "So, what''s the plan?" Minnie looked to see a now smiling Celes.


    "That''s what you''re here for."


    ***


    They spoke in hushed tones, even though they had no reason to be as they were so high up in the building.


    "The Medallions, and grabbing suitable cards from the Genesis Card Fall you mentioned are obviously top priorities," Minnie began, "but creating the shelter and protecting our close family and friends will be difficult without extra preparations."


    Celes nodded. "We can''t take in everyone at such an early stage. That would spread us too thin. A hundred able-bodied people and extra family members should be the max initial resource size."


    "To feed and protect such a group, we need a lot of food and a good shelter,¡± Minnie pointed out, scribbling into a note. ¡°I can already think of a few ways. We also need to remember to store resources for expansion."


    Celes nodded, taking notes as well.


    "Choosing who to save and bring with us initially, other than family members, won''t be an issue with your knowledge," Minnie continued. "But before any further plans... We need to convince your family and mine that we''re not crazy. That¡¯s the tallest hurdle. Even though I still find it hard to believe, I''m choosing to trust you.¡±


    This made Celes crack a smile, mouthing a ¡®thanks¡¯.


    Minnie smirked and carried on with her survey of the situation. ¡°Getting them on board will be very difficult, and without their cooperation, saving them will be much harder, especially since my family and I are not on speaking terms. Moreover, some of yours and mine are not in the city. We need to get them here ASAP."


    "Yes. I was trying to avoid thinking about that. As expected, even you find it difficult," Celes added. She had too little time after her inner turmoil to make structured plans. The shock from regressing still hadn''t faded yet, so someone level-headed like Minnie, adaptable to all situations, was best suited to draft the plans.


    Minnie heaved a sigh, rubbing her forehead as she muttered, ¡°I wish we had more time¡­¡±


    "I''m sorry,¡± Celes apologized. ¡°If I hadn''t been out of it for four days, we would have more time." Guilt was starting to spread within her. She had been given the privilege of going back in time but wasted four precious days in denial.


    "No no, it''s okay. Like I keep saying, it''s really hard to believe, even for me. For you, it must have been crazier. In a future like that, this situation is a wild dream for many. Thinking it''s fake when it happens is quite normal."


    The end of the world¡­ Who would believe it? People had become too desensitized to crazy predictions and various other factors. These past four days made many ask that question, but how could they truly understand what the end would entail? Old folks like their grandparents were also very thick-headed.


    "Tricking them is obviously the best option to guide them to act as we wish, but unfortunately, our families are used to our quirkiness and are too smart to be easily deceived. You also have Aunt Sheril and your sister, and I have my entire family due to that ''incident''."


    Celes completely agreed. Her sister and she were in a fight right now, and Aunt Sheril was evil in flip-flops with mustard-colored nail polish. Her father was an ex-soldier, private investigator, and doctor. He was so outstanding that people often asked if he was real or made in a lab, which irked her underlying issues from being a test tube baby.


    In retrospect, she was more open-minded now, almost 25 and mentally mature. Her family was also wealthy, from old money, and their values were hard to change. Their minds were sharp from being trained from an early age. She knew her father well, and pulling a fast one on him would be extremely difficult.


    They spent the next few hours brainstorming ideas and occasionally writing down things to use later on after they crossed this first hurdle.


    "I got it!" Minnie suddenly jumped up excitedly.


    "What is it?" Celes quickly asked.


    "We''ll make renovations to a storm house shelter and tell everyone we''re doing a charity project to help local homeless children. We need a large crowd to qualify for a government grant to expand to Africa to help even more people!¡±


    Celes frowned thoughtfully as she tried to process this, but Minnie didn''t stop.


    ¡°Tell them it''s a class effort,¡± Minnie continued, her blue eyes lighting up in excitement, ¡°and everyone is bringing their families, even the university president! It also doubles as my research for my major under the family relationship theme, so we need every family member to be present. It''s very on-brand for you and me and our extra ''charitable'' university."


    "Your major is accounting, though?¡± Celes pointed out. ¡°And didn''t you say the university''s charity events are just facades where rich people show off their money only to put it right back into their pockets, looking like chipmunk-ape hybrids in dresses and suits?"


    Celes chuckled, finding the irony in the situation.


    "Well, even now, the charity is still not a charity but a cover. Family studies is a minor here, didn''t you know? As for the poor children in Africa and the homeless, well..." Minnie''s voice slowly grew to a whisper.


    Celes quickly touched her shoulder, trying to comfort her. Minnie had a tender heart that ached for the less fortunate. She would help whenever she could and volunteered at orphanages and elderly homes. It wouldn''t be easy using charity as a cover.


    "Don''t feel too bad. It''s necessary to save all of them. It''s for their survival, even if we use the less fortunate in vain."


    While she wasn''t proud of it, such tactics were frequently used in her time as ruler. Even Minnie grew to do so frequently. Using just their names was pretty tame. Understanding her friend''s current innocence, Celes tried to cheer her up.


    "Don''t worry. The children in Africa are safe. The Elephant Spear, or Adebiyi by name, is one of the thirty-six known True Lords in the last days, with his territory in former Africa. With him at the head, the little children should be fine."


    Minnie looked up at her friend with a smile. Celes always knew what to say to cheer her up.


    She was tempted to ask what a True Lord was but knew what to prioritize.


    "We''ll stock up on snacks and drinks to really sell it. It doubles as a perfect excuse to stock up a lot without drawing too much attention. There''s plenty of room for all our friends and family. Then when the time comes..."


    Celes picked up, "We lock the doors and break the news. It''s not a perfect plan, but it''s our best shot to quietly gather everyone safely ahead of time without causing total panic."


    Minnie smiled supportively.


    They both tacitly avoided discussing the logistics of buying a lot of food to store, which obviously couldn''t be hidden. Some would definitely remember it post-apocalypse and come to their doors.


    Celes took a deep breath and steeled herself." Okay, let''s do this."

 Chapter 3: The Pieces In Place (I)

    West Wing, Sierra Valley University, California, United States of America


    5:38 p.m, December 16th, 2028


    The west wing of the university harbored the community college program and evening classes for failing university students, or aspiring high school students. Students who were typically poor and couldn''t afford the full tuition fee for the university found a place here as well.


    There was a singular building with signs of wear and tear, surrounded by flowers and nature. Its exterior was aged, but the interior gave a homely feel.


    "This takes me back," O''Brien sighed lightly, looking up at the entrance before moving forward.


    As time went by, even the little things began to drown his soul in nostalgia. In these past three months, every dose of a once familiar sight was potent.


    O''Brien chuckled inwardly at himself, thinking he was beginning to sound like those paradise seeker nimrods.


    He was thankful though. If their beliefs hadn''t been so popular, he wouldn''t have had many old comrades who were paradise seekers. Because of them, he could vividly recall many things that happened at the start of the apocalypse, which has been very helpful in making plans for the second future.


    *


    O''Brien halted in front of a classroom door. Gazing through the upper glass section of the door, his eyes captured their target.


    There she was.


    He drank in the sight of her at the front of the bright room; a cascade of red hair, eyes dancing with wit and compassion as she spoke animatedly to her students. His heart swelled even as it broke anew.


    Her vermillion suit and white underblouse complemented her red hair and sapphire blue eyes. She had an explosive body with very sizeable breasts and buttocks, along with a shapely curve that drove strange men mad.


    But O''Brien couldn''t bring himself to look at her lustfully, even without the scars of the future. The same was true for her class of students made up of hormonal teenagers and young adults.


    Miss Rose was like a saint. She took care of them; her goodwill was like a material substance that blew around her like the wind, warming their hearts and souls like rays of sunshine.


    How could they blaspheme such a goddess with thoughts of lust?


    O''Brien lurked in the shadows as Miss Rose''s class dragged on. How strange to see her like this¡ªcarefree, impassioned by knowledge and learning. The weight of coming calamity had not yet settled upon her shoulders. But even then, she didn''t waver. No, she shone even brighter than before, using her powers to help the less fortunate.


    He was sure he had regressed to the past, but even then he couldn''t help subconsciously being a broken record thinking, ''Oh, if this is here, or that person is here before me, then it must be real.''


    "Seeing her again makes this feel even more real..."


    O''Brien looked at the person who had long turned into a memory, revived before his very eyes. He searched for the differences between his last image of her and the present her with a weary sigh.


    The only telltale signs for those familiar with her then were just her eyes; the weariness hidden behind them as they glowed brightly, determined to light their path in the darkness, a new inhabitant that was not within her before the apocalypse.


    But it is only within the toughest times that people show who they are. Many were dirty to their very core, but she was more dazzling than the light of a thousand stars.


    He had almost forgotten how to make simple conversation after the harsh years he had been through in the future. Pleasantries felt foreign on his tongue. He ran through potential openings in his mind, scraping off the layers of bluntness that now armored his speech. The months had gotten him used to his young voice, but he had forgotten his previous manner of speech.


    At last, the students packed up their things and trickled out. Miss Rose erased the board, her back to the doorway where O''Brien stood obscured. He scoured his memory for the bright spirit he once radiated.


    "It''s been a while, Miss Rose," he forced the now unusual brightness into his tone. "Have you been well?" He spoke shakily, trying to sound natural. It felt he was a body snatcher who took a poor bright young man''s soul and replaced him. Well, in a way he was.


    Being polite and friendly was a societal norm at the moment, unlike in the future.


    Startled, Rose turned around to find this sudden visitor.


    "Oh, it''s you, O''Brien," she said, her gentle gaze brushing over him with a hint of concern. "It has been a while. Why do you sound so distant? You and the other three foreign students are the best examples to the lazy little bums from here. I''m glad you are doing so well in school and the new business you started again. You should have come earlier and introduced yourself to the new ones. When you get rich, don''t forget your fellow classmates."


    With a light chuckle and wink, she turned around once more to clean the old-fashioned blackboard.


    The budget for this place was too low, and many were not aware that she helped students with lunch out of her pocket. The warmth and gentleness radiated from her simple words, soft tone, and ordinary movements were too overwhelming for O''Brien, who was now used to the darkness in man.


    He felt like a vampire being exposed to the sun.


    O''Brien paused, his heart racing for such a simple mundane task as talking, despite the years he bathed in mud and blood.


    "Uh, we need to talk¡­" he started, unsure of how to pose the topic as he flexed his fist. "There''s a new pandemic that has been released. M-many scientists are uncertain whether the said virus is even lethal, so it has not been escalated yet, but one of my friend¡¯s cousins is from a research team in Germany, examining the virus. Just yesterday, he told me the harmful effects."


    O''Brien felt his throat drying a bit too rapidly. What seemed simple in thought was difficult in practice. "It''s a slumbering poison-like virus that lingers before exploding... The longer the exposure, the greater the explosion, which could lead to d-death. But even more so, after death, those near the infected will have their virus advancement rapidly accelerated, and those without the virus will be infected with a mature stage pollutant..."


    ¡®How long has it been since I felt like this?¡¯ he thought. It felt strange straining and stumbling over his words, stuttering a few times and pausing even more often before continuing.


    How irritating!


    He cursed inwardly several times, feeling his energy and enthusiasm draining like he had stumbled into a nest of blood-sucking worms.


    "I know this is a lot," he told her, "and it''s hard to believe¡­ But you know me, Miss Rose." Now he looked up to maintain eye contact, willing her to keep her attention and trust. "In all the time we''ve known each other, I''ve never lied to you."


    In an attempt to be more convincing, he held her hand abruptly, but the abruptness of it, as well as the edges of coldness in his tone, gave him away to this familiar teacher.


    In the last few years of his former future, he never participated in something so mundane. As a mercenary, their interactions were zero or blunt between each other. When he visited bases to gain supplies or information, he would be treated with outsider status, plus the lone mercenary favorability debuff, so no one had spoken pleasantly to him in a long time and vice versa.


    Curt and direct statements without wasting any words were all that was needed.


    ¡®Shit, I never was a good actor.¡¯


    He inwardly cursed.


    Even with his attempt to soften the bluntness of his words somehow, Miss Rose still felt a sudden wave of shock and concern as she processed the information about the new deadly virus.


    That would be the typical reaction of any sane person, so he could not blame her.


    Her mind raced to comprehend the implications and the potential impact on the community. Amidst her thoughts, she couldn''t help but notice the abnormal behavior of O''Brien, her former student. Despite knowing him as someone who was not prone to lying, she couldn''t ignore the signs of unease or distress that seemed to accompany his revelation.


    Something was different about the young man who stood before her.


    Trying to find the right words, Miss Rose took a moment to gather her thoughts, withdrawing her hand from his clammy grip at the same time.


    "O''Brien, are you sure about this? This is not a small matter or one to underplay."


    Her tone was a mix of concern and a desire for confirmation. As she spoke, she observed O''Brien closely, searching for any additional cues that might shed light on the authenticity of the news and the reason behind his unusual behavior.


    O''Brien spent quite some time convincing her. He passed on his abnormal behavior to the fact that he himself was still in shock from hearing the news and was doing everything he could to keep his loved ones safe and that he didn''t have a full understanding of the virus himself just that it was very dangerous.


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    His odd behavior can mostly be covered up with that lie, even the prominent flaw of his unnatural voice when explaining it to her.


    "We need to move fast. There is a certain area that hasn''t been exposed to the virus, and we must move quickly to avoid being exposed too much before we get there," he said as he grabbed her bag and started to usher her to the door, urgency in his voice. "I only want to keep you safe."


    ¡®Please bite and don''t make this any harder!¡¯


    He had internally fought with himself for quite a while before deciding he had to repay Ignoring her and leaving her to her tragic gate when he could prevent it was something his conscience couldn''t tolerate.


    He needed his mind to be free from guilt. In the past two months, O''Brien had placed his plans for the last days on a higher level than dealing with her. But now, he decided it was necessary to repay his debts to her and her alone in his new life.


    Such was the greatness of the debt he owed to her, now and in the days of the future past.


    Monetary debts and materialistic items were the least of them. The truly cumbersome one was that thing that permeated them all. That thing called...kindness?


    Being led away, Miss Rose was still out of sorts, not yet recovered from the news just dropped on her, yet her feet moved with O''Brien.


    The wind howled and weaved into the halls of the building, mourning a gloomy atmosphere.


    At this point, Rose stopped, causing a not-so-patient O''Brien to pause as well, looking at her face to understand why. Silence ensued for a moment before the teacher found her words.


    "Wait, I¡­ I still have to get my young niece who is in the city," Rose stuttered, her mind racing. "I promised my brother to take care of her. Th-there''s also my friend. She''s from the military. She might have some information on the subject."


    At this point, she took her bag from him and started to rummage within it, saying, "There''s also my other friend, a doctor at Elijah Jones Memorial Hospital. The rest of my family are still in Europe¡ªI''ll try and contact them to get them to the location."


    Still flustered with many thoughts and concerns running concurrently, Rose pulled out her phone and started to dial a few calls with shaky hands. Experiencing the pandemic in 2020, the sudden outbreak of wars, and new viruses appearing in the past 8 years afterward, Rose was quick to believe her student''s words at face value.


    O''Brien stared hard at her worried face, while she held her phone to her ear and waited for someone to pick up.


    ''Tsk... Unfortunately, it happened after all; a multiplication of burdens.''


    So soon, his newborn nervousness faded, and then it was replaced by what he knew best¡ªa numbing coldness.


    O''Brien hid this coldness in his eyes and turned away, the memories of her replaying in his mind. He remembered her giving him his first combat card to survive, helping him obtain food, recommending good shelter, protecting him from the tyrannical exploitation of the shelter leader at the time, and teaching him how to get stronger.


    Mary Victoria Rose.


    She was a ''Blessed One'', like the famous Celes Greymore. She had a Natal Card whose great abilities were no worse than the outstanding Blue Phoneix.


    She was one in a hundred thousand. Her powerful abilities elevated that to one in a million.


    Considering the human population was estimated to be less than a billion post-apocalypse, this was quite impressive.


    Her abilities helped her to lead her own group¡­which she eventually left, moving from place to place to help others once each group was self-sufficient.


    ''Bloody Mary with a Bleeding Heart'' was her famous moniker.


    Her approach brought delight to the many refugees of broken cities and lost countries within her path.


    Her selfless and heroic acts earned her respect, even among the fiends and tyrants that rose in the last days.


    Sadly, to save a group of children after saving six consecutive groups of survivors from a wave of Blood Eye Trolls, she succumbed to monsters. But as expected of someone who could have rivaled Blue Phoneix, although she died, she brought all the monsters down with her. A clan of a Tier 2 alien race was annihilated, just like that. This was merely three years after the Last Days began!


    Unfortunately, such a heroic death was desecrated. It would have been better for her to have been devoured by monsters. Several fiends defiled her corpse and later resurrected it as a zombie.


    Then she became a real Bloody Mary.


    To O''Brien, this was a new beginning, but although his conscience was fine with killing any and everyone in his way, it couldn''t hold up against the weight of the debt of kindness he owed her in the days of the future past.


    Even now, before it all came to pass once more, he still owed her a lot. While he was her student and was running short, she paid for his rent twice, among when other little things that added up over time. If he didn''t repay her, his heart would not be still.


    Without her, he would have died very early and would not have been able to even grasp his current grand opportunity.


    *


    Plop¡­


    The water in the pond rippled, scattering the rays of the afternoon sun as the tossed pebble sunk to the bottom.


    "Aunt Rose, as I said before, this guy is too suspicious! There is no news at all about a virus anywhere on the news or social media. Why do you trust him so much?!"


    Miss Rose''s fiery young niece in her early twenties had strawberry blonde hair and glassy green eyes. At the moment, her gaze flickered in anger as she clenched her raised fists to the heavens as if to curse and ask why her normally smart aunt would be so easily tricked by some student of hers or whatever he was.


    O''Brien listened from a distance with a sigh. He''d admit that he didn''t think this through; his flimsy lie couldn''t hold up to the waves. Even if he fooled her, fooling her family and friends was another matter.


    In hindsight, maybe he should have waited two days for the Seven Day Calamities to begin or even waited until it was well underway, like Day 4. It would have been easier to convince them.


    The woman who spoke next had full lips and a fit figure. She wore boots, camo pants, and a black tank top that struggled to contain her ridiculously ample chest. Despite her obvious womanly features, she exuded a commanding presence, blowing smoke from her cigarette with a confident air.


    "Settle down, Jules," Roya told the fuming girl before turning to Rose. "Although, Mary, she does have a point. While such a virus would indeed be terrifying, there is currently no evidence to back up his claims, so understandably we are concerned about the truth of the matter with so little to go on." Her eyes flicked over to the young man in question.


    ¡®Just what is that strange smell? It was as if the smoke carried it,¡¯ she thought, discreetly moving her gaze around. ¡®A flower? And this guy¡­ Why does he feel dangerous? Rose said he is her ex-student¡­ Is that really all?¡¯


    Roya had carried on the family legacy, even as a girl. She was a sniper for an off-the-books special unit. Since the age of eight, her father had drilled martial arts, discipline, and gun control into her head until it spread to every fiber of her being.


    Several missions and countless bouts of training done in the wild and enemy territory had given her a sixth sense of danger. Logically speaking, an unarmed university student with barely any muscles shouldn''t seem like a threat, but she felt it as clear as day.


    He had her late father¡¯s presence, an aura immortalized in her memory.


    Or maybe it was just this weird headache she had been feeling lately that was messing with her head. Her usually alert eyes felt heavy as well. She couldn¡¯t remember the last time she felt sick.


    Breaking out of her thoughts, she turned back to Rose. "Even if it was happening and the government was covering it up, I would know. But let''s ask the local expert right here." This time she found the eyes of a regal-looking blonde, who seemed as if she had stepped out of a painting. The white coat and ID badge hanging from her neck identified her as the doctor Rose had mentioned earlier.


    Dr. Lea had been quiet all this time, trying to make sense of the current rush of events. She swayed slightly, feeling dizzy, probably from the stress of everything going on.


    "Well¡­with so little to go off on, I can''t say for sure," she said, taking another sip from a water bottle before returning it to Rose. "As you know, doctors don''t know everything. We are eternal students constantly learning. Some samples or distinctive characteristics of the virus would be helpful to make a judgment though."


    Now, she turned to the idle O¡¯Brien who was playing in the pond like a child. "This might be a bit rude, but can I contact your friend who gave you this information?"


    Three gazes filled with wariness, distrust, and suspicion gathered on his body.


    Even Rose, as time passed, was starting to feel uncertain, and to some extent, she physically felt strange, like she was sick. She took a sip of water from her bottle, trying to make the nausea she felt go away. She had called several relatives in worry at first, but they either couldn''t make it, or were unable to be contacted, yet she somehow didn''t find herself calling them a second and third time.


    It was clear that with their conversation they were all leaning towards distrust instead of the seemingly neutral stance.


    O''Brien had exaggerated the lethality of the virus quite a bit; it was a wonder that they were able to fall for it to even this level. Its features seemed ridiculous to the educated, and they supposedly should have done prior research before coming here to discuss it.


    Naturally, the weak support beams for the fake story he made were collapsing quickly.


    Perhaps he could have used some news stories as the basis; with some proper research, the unknown could be used as a weapon for reliance.


    O''Brien exhaled sharply and got up, walking towards them. ¡®As expected, I wasn''t good at this type of farce anyway,¡¯ he thought to himself. ¡®Takes too much effort.¡¯


    "Well, it couldn''t be helped after all," he said as he got closer. "I don''t feel like wasting breath from explaining to people I could care less about, so I guess this is the only option for me after all."


    Rose looked at him, trying to discern what his words meant. It felt like she didn¡¯t know this boy anymore. And in truth, she no longer did. No, the O''Brien she knew was dead and replaced by a weary ruthless killer from the future.


    It was at this point that Jules, her niece, dropped to her knees, groaning in pain. Lea instinctively rushed to the girl to offer aid.


    "Sorry, I don''t like wasting time," O¡¯Brien muttered, looking at the writhing girl without empathy. "This is for your own good, in a way. When you wake up you''ll understand."


    Roya¡¯s arms were quick to capture O¡¯Brien¡¯s neck in a headlock. "What did you do to her?" she demanded with a growl, but he remained unnaturally calm in her hold.


    "You son of a bitch!" Jules gasped, her face almost as red as her hair, glaring as if to rip him apart. "Don''t think you can get away with this! People will notice we¡¯re missing!"


    Soon, Roya trailed off with a string of curse words as she buckled, letting go of O¡¯Brien and dropping her cigarette on the grass. Lea wasn¡¯t far behind.


    Their muscles had tightened and became rigid. With heavy heads and drooping eyelids, they were on their way to temporary paralysis.


    Rose felt like her world was being flipped on its head. Her nausea amplified, her breathing running on terror as she processed what was going on. In her bid to save her loved ones, she had accidentally gotten them caught up in¡­whatever this was.


    Roya grunted in disappointment in herself for being caught off guard and poisoned, her twenty years of training now a mockery at being outsmarted by a lanky college student.


    In hindsight, the signs were all there, with her smoke smelling different. If she had been more alert and suspicious, it could have been avoided. Roya was already prepared mentally for the worst-case scenario. Such a casual yet calculated plan, she could feel the ruthless fangs dig into her beneath the surface. He executed it too well for this to be a casual drugging occurrence.


    Lea felt something similar in not noticing the odd scent in the water Rose had shared with her. Ironically, she was helping her colleagues with a research paper on hallucinogens three months ago!


    "It¡¯s not lethal, Miss Rose. It was necessary," O¡¯Brien told the teacher, watching her try to clutch at wisps of consciousness while battling with the whiplash of what she felt was his betrayal.


    "H-how¡­? How¡­" Rose gasped, falling but fighting to stay awake, eyes shaking in disbelief. Her bottle rolled out of her numbing hands.


    O¡¯Brien crouched down to meet her on the ground, a cold but sorry expression plastered on his face. "You¡¯ll understand later¡­" he muttered before kicking the water bottle away and she saw her last image of him, or anything.

 Chapter 4: The Pieces In Place (II)

    1:17 a.m, December 23rd, 2028


    "Well, that takes care of that," O¡¯Brien muttered, smoking a premium cigar and looking out the window of a chartered aircraft as they soared in the early morning skies.


    He turned and looked at the tightly bound captives, having been on a drugged diet to stay asleep until the end came.


    Ah, shedding all pretense and stopping the act of a nervous teenager unloaded a large burden off his shoulders.


    O''Brien lived for 15 years in the apocalypse, in that dog-eat-dog kennel of a world. Of course, lost dogs like him were not spared. Their personalities were farthest from the word ''pleasant''. He was even one of the more reasonable of the bunch, but their values of efficiency and oneself above all, regardless of human life and feelings, were cemented to O''Brien''s very core.


    There were many ways he could have convinced the women, but they were all temporary and required repeated assurances and fake evidence to back things up.


    In truth, he hadn''t given much thought to his plan of capturing them. Perhaps a few hours of thinking at most. His mind was preoccupied with the Apocalypse and whether he would make it past the first hurdle. This was because he had placed a certain ''weight'' on that hurdle. It was the centerpiece of everything he was and would be. It was that important. That thought alone occupied his mind, almost every waking hour.


    Weariness spread from his heart to his limbs as he slouched in his seat, puffing smoke.


    Ah¡­


    These days, with no danger around him, forcing him to be alert 24/7 were heavenly. No drug could replace the inner peace he felt at this moment.


    Sadly, it was broken too soon.


    Bzzz¡­


    Bzzz¡­


    Feeling a vibration in his pocket, he slowly picked up the phone.


    "Hm. What do you mean the two spices burst in transit? Scoop them up and put them in another bag or whatever. Just deal with it! It''s what I''m paying you to do!" he yelled into the device.


    "I don''t care if the chili powder and paprika are burning your eyes! Are you a toddler? Don''t you have helpers? Earn your fucking keep!"


    O''Brien angrily hung up the phone. Of course, of all the things on his list, it wasn''t the expensive alcohol, renovating a barely released RV worth 30 million dollars, or even buying tons of weed and cigars that were causing persistent problems. Neither was it convincing quirky patent-holding inventors to help with his RV renovation and modifications for a substantial sum nor was it any of the other risky to very risky regulated items in the modern world that was the source of his biggest headache.


    No.


    Instead, it was the seemingly insignificant spices for his food that he on his tall high horse, wanted to get straight from the source in the remote and not-so-remote islands!


    Had he known it was going to be such a headache, he would have taken the factory spices grown by companies instead!


    Fast and easy!


    Cheaper even.


    Six times! Six times he was bothered by the twat he paid in the region that was supposedly ''experienced'' in the business and could get several tonnes packaged and delivered to the location with no problem he said! What a load of BS!


    Google reviews meant shit!


    Taking a deep breath, O''Brien sat back and relaxed, eating his favorite kind of spicy chicken and a full-course meal being laid out before him by a hostess.


    "This would have been worth a¡­" he paused, then nodded, "Well, this will be worth a fortune in the end times, provided you could swallow the profit, you can even get a few grams of energy crystals. Maybe even a high-valued Tier One resource, if someone was desperate enough."


    O''Brien refocused his attention.


    Popping a blood vessel from some peasant angering him was not worth his time.


    Happy thoughts, O''Brien. Happy thoughts.


    Bzzz¡­


    Hearing that annoying sound once more, O''Brien ignored it for a while, trying to savor his feast, but after a few persistent rings it started to feel like his eardrums were being scraped.


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    "For the love of God, you incompetent imbecile, what has trumped your great abilities and experience this time?!"


    If society wasn''t still standing tall, and the idiot didn''t have his uses, O''Brien was tempted to wring that chicken-headed fool''s neck.


    Even though the end wasn''t here, he''d try to teleport over there just to strangle him like he incarnated into a Hidden Void Ghost Walker, and imprison his soul to torture him like a Dream Eater Spider. Just after slapping him in the face several times courtesy of the O''Brien Hall!


    "Um¡­ Am I calling at a bad time?" A different voice than O''Brien expected coughed after a few seconds of silence.


    "Who are y¡ª Oh, Shadow." Realization clicked and O''Brien sat up. "Silly me and my memory... Yes, it''s about time for your first call, granted there was a reason for your calling. Hopefully, you don''t ¡ª Never mind."


    He stopped eating and paused, his ears perked up in a slightly anxious manner. His fingers jolted and caressed his armrests as if not sure where to go and what to do.


    From lazy, to annoyed, to anxious, his mood within the last half an hour was turbulent, to say the least.


    The previous imbecile was washed from his mind completely with this call.


    This call meant one of two things. The likely thing had happened at last. Or it hadn''t.


    Oddly enough, even at this very moment, he still didn''t know which option he should want in reality.


    He had avoided thinking about it, but he had already made plans, evident in this call being made in the first place.


    Three months of preparation time does that.


    As if sensing his anticipation, Shadow cut the small talk and got to the point. His voice was deep but powerful, with a drawn-out tone and focus on every syllable.


    "She started acting weird five days ago. She was cooped up in a hotel for a while, missing her classes and not continuing her daily yoga and martial arts classes, or meeting up with her friends. Then one of her friends came up to the hotel yesterday and they spent a while inside. After that, they both rushed out urgently to do something, splitting up. I followed her and found that she was examining the layout of someplace down by 53rd and Beckam. I went back after she left and turns out it''s just an unfinished shelter or something."


    O''Brien froze, not daring to even suck in a breath, as if it breathing would cause him to miss out on crucial detail.


    "Anyway," Shadow continued. "They met up and talked for a while on a balcony in a high-class restaurant. I managed to overhear them talk of ¡®trucks and supplies,¡¯ ¡®Mom and Dad,¡¯ and so on before I had to leave to avoid suspicion. Do these count as weird and abnormal behavior? I still don''t get why I had to watch this rich girl and her friends for three months. Is that worth 20 G''s a fortnight?" He voiced his confusion but he didn''t seem to be all that concerned in truth.


    O''Brien remained silent, an unreadable expression covering his reaction.


    After a while, Shadow spoke up, hearing nothing from the other side. "Hello? Hello¡­? Say, Boss, are you still there?"


    She did come back as well.


    Plans were in place, but should they be carried out¡­?


    ¡®She and I¡­ What are we? What will we be? Do we have to be something?¡¯


    New Roselee City''s future opportunities, just how valuable were they?


    No, just how valuable was she?


    How dangerous was she?


    "Shadow."


    O''Brien got up and stood at the window in the one section of the plane he could stand upright.


    His hands rhythmically tapped on the inner edge of the plane''s window.


    "Listen closely," he commanded. "From now on, you''ll be on a very important mission that will benefit you and me a lot. I''ve already paid you and shown you my sincerity, but the real payment will be in knowledge. Don''t get me wrong, while this fragile peace lasts I will still pay you, but afterward¡­ I will give you something worth even more than a hundred million in today''s cash. Until then, stand by and complete your mission, know her every move. In three days, it will all end. No, in three days, it will all begin."


    Click.


    Without giving Shadow time to respond, O''Brien ended the call.


    He paused in silence for a few minutes, deep in thought. He felt a smile creep up on his face uncontrollably.


    ¡®My, oh my. Lady Celes. Goddess of the Blue Flame. Blue Phoenix. Humanity''s number one. Despite your many names and previous feats, you were unlucky this time. Now I am the one with the upper hand. Or to be more accurate, my luck exceeded yours!¡¯


    O''Brien had half-forgotten her in the past month. He checked on her himself at first, as they went to the same university, but even in this time period, they belonged to different worlds.


    He was a struggling aspiring entrepreneur with failed ventures and she was a second-generation nouveau rich coming from a wealthy family.


    Normally, they would not have any interaction on such a large campus with different majors and schedules, but he went to test her out. She did not respond to any trigger words or events. He was sure of it.


    So, he judged she did not regress. Excited, he jumped up and down like a buffoon, losing control, thinking he was the chosen one, but a day later logic overcame him. The sequence of events pointed to that crystal being the trigger, and they both were holding it. So the more likely scenario was that... he returned first!


    She was merely late for some reason.


    The crystal likely sent them both at the same time, but although their departures were the same, their arrivals were not. He wasn''t well-versed in Time Attributed Cards or Monsters, so he didn''t have much to go on but his logic. Still, he felt this was likely the case.


    Realizing this, he advanced all plans by a month, trying to get ahead quickly before she came to. Eventually, he forgot about her in all the excitement of winning the lottery and buying supplies to stockpile heavily.


    To think he was here three whole months earlier!


    She was just now arriving from the future!


    This privilege of going back to the past was already a godsend, but the gap between a week and three months before the end was as large as the previous gap between him, a Tier Two Card Master, and she, a Tier Four Card Lord!


    It was like the gap between the Heavens and the Earth!

 Chapter 5: Eve of the End (I)

    3:24 p.m, December 23rd, 2028


    Celes and Minnie chuckled while eating at a popular coffee shop.


    As they chatted over lattes at an outdoor table at their favorite corner cafe, the midday crowd created a light buzz around them. Outside, big city traffic rolled by the towering glass buildings, they soaked in the ambiance unaware that a shadow lingered, watching them from afar.


    "What a bother," Shadow muttered. "But 20 G¡¯s for nothing is pretty good." He started making another call. Before long, he left, and a big bald muscle man aggrievedly took his place, looking like a wronged child forced to eat vegetables at the dinner table.


    "So, enough of the secretive Mary Mystery Act. Spill!" Minnie jokingly poked Celes. "I hardly know anything about cards, but you''ve praised them so much."


    Celes smiled before holding her delicate chin. " Hm. It''s kind of hard to explain. Think of it like a new field of study. Like Math was non-existent and had just been discovered, or Gender Studies, or Mechanical Engineering."


    "That sounds terrifying. There''s no way it''s that complicated, is there?" Minnie gasped, realizing the implications.


    Celes looked at the billboard to the far left, painted with several big-eyed white marshmallows. Several small children passed by, holding their parents'' hands and clutching an oversized stuffed marshmallow doll of the trending kids'' cartoon.


    With an inward laugh, she thought of something amusing. So many times before, when they would hold meetings on what to do, Minnie would explain their strategy and she would get confused. Minnie would then explain the strategy in children''s terms later on so she could understand, which Celes always found mildly insulting.


    However, they had agreed to compartmentalize roles, with her leading the different teams on missions and fighting on the front lines with different friends and foes. This was only due to Celes being the strongest, along with the great role of Sapphire Beauty who was a summoning type card and her natal card.


    The usefulness of Summoning cards was almost universal. These cards possessed intelligence and could function as a second individual. With their racial abilities and skills as a bonus, they were the most sought-after cards. They could fight, keep watch, serve as mounts for travel, share burdens, substitute for oneself, and so on.


    Being a Flight Type summon also raised Sapphire Beauty''s usefulness by many folds. So, Celes was always on the front lines, trying to reduce casualties with her presence, or taking part in covert missions for the base''s survival, while Minnie was the at-home strategist, which suited her sharp mind well. This created a situation where Celes couldn''t follow her detailed plans and figure out her end goals at times without her explicitly spelling them out, despite Celes being the actual leader of the base.


    "Think of it this way," Celes returned to the present, looking for better words of explanation. "Everything we know now is through practice like many equations proved wrong and beliefs turned into foolish muses, like the earth being flat. It''s all a small part of the real picture. Fifteen years was too short a time to truly study anything from such a complete and foreign system."


    Minnie nodded quietly, the gears starting to turn in her head.


    "Sparing you from any technical terms, let me break it down for you," Celes continued. "You''ve watched Rainbow Marshmallow with the kids at the orphanage, right? In the New World, we humans are just like those little marshmallows. We start as Tier Zero Card Apprentices, which was not easy to figure out by the way, then we transform into Tier One Card Experts, Tier Two Card Masters, Tier Three Card Grandmasters, and so on."


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    "The leveling system is starting to sound based," commented Minnie.


    Celes nodded. "Like the show, you start as a slightly capable little white marshmallow, but as you fulfill kids'' dreams, or cultivate in our case, you eventually meet the requirement to get promoted to the next class. This gets you bigger, stronger, and more capable, like little Guoba was when she was going to be promoted to a Yellow Marshmellow."


    Minnie momentarily scrunched her petite nose at how Celes was dumbing it down for her, but Celes carried on.


    "Just meeting the requirements isn''t enough, though. You need a special method to advance, like the errands Guoba has to run. There are a few methods that have been discovered, and possibly a lot more undiscovered, but the best is the breathing method. It has the best all-round improvement and fighting ability in the same rank, with only little flaws to exploit. It is also the most consistent from low rank to high rank."


    "So, like a diamond method?" Minnie jumped at the opportunity to have some input. "Imperfectly perfect?"


    Celes nodded in agreement. "Something like that. Of course, unlike little Guoba, we have to deal with everyone and everything trying to kill us every five seconds. This isn''t the Cotton County. Many call it the Devil''s Crusade New World."


    Minnie nodded as she listened. The trending cartoon, Rainbow Marshmallow, was well-known by anyone who stayed with kids. It had an upgrade system like Pokemon, but with quite a few more levels, like the colors in a rainbow with the added white marshmallow and black marshmallow. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, from the young to the old. In the cartoon, upgrading to the next form was quite hard, considering the cartoon had several dozen episodes and each rank took around a dozen to complete.


    "And then?" Minnie prodded.


    Celes seemed to remember something, becoming somber.


    The knowledge gained was with corpses of millions in the wake. While they were busy figuring things out, the population plummeted due to massacres and disasters. Had they discovered it earlier, they would have saved countless lives.


    As the gamers would put it, dying a few times to figure out the mechanics was a given. But this was real life and there were no extra lives; all the lives used to discover the mechanics were eternally gone. Only those who remained benefitted from their sacrifices.


    Since she had returned to the past, Celes felt it was up to her to save them and publicize this knowledge.


    Their sacrifices would be unnecessary!


    Of course, with that being said, she was no fool.


    Celes intended to wait a little while, maybe a few months, to pull ahead. She wanted to deal with the barbarians and heathens who would take advantage of the apocalypse to fulfill their sick fantasies and fetishes. The bad apples had to be taken care of before she could focus on the good. As the saying goes, ¡®It only takes one bad apple to ruin the barrel.¡¯


    Minnie got up, pulling the brooding girl along. She knew Celes long enough to tell something was on her mind.


    She was also self-aware and couldn''t possibly imagine the horrors Celes had lived through before returning. The best thing to do as her best friend was just to be there for her and provide a shoulder to lean on. Asking Celes to open up old wounds would be too selfish. She would wait for the right time.


    The world was changing.


    The recent disasters have destroyed homes and property, reaped lives, destroyed businesses, killed insurance, and much more.


    Despite only being days apart it hadn''t truly sunk in for most.


    But this was just the beginning.


    No, it was the prelude to the end.

 Chapter 6: Eve of the End (II)

    6:54 p.m., December 25th, 2028.


    Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock!


    Christmas carols echoed from the distance as a lone young man walked through four alleyways, navigating a difficult path to a storage facility located between three buildings.


    Anyone attempting to find this place for the first time would get lost even with directions.


    O¡¯Brien made his way through the identical storage garages and stopped at Number 17, opening the side door to enter.


    With a low thump, he dropped down on the chair inside his leased storage facility. His dark eyes as deep as the lingering shadows in the night. He quickly surveyed his now awake but groggy captives, still trying to recollect their bearings after ending their drug-induced coma.


    The silence was deafening, not even punctuated by distant screams, traffic horns, or even a cat''s meow here in the sound-proof containment.


    The four women looked up at him, still bound by ropes, their stomachs groaning in hollow hunger and their bodies shivering from the cold floors and frosty winds howling outside. Although they were previously all hooked up to IVs, the person responsible for the transfusions wasn''t very experienced, so their catheter wounds were prickly under the carelessly placed band-aids. The sleeping drugs used on them also had a light conflict with the nutritional supplements given by the IV, causing them to feel a bit nauseous.


    Since the IVs were disconnected and plates of food were placed in front of them, they refused to eat. Their hands were tied up and they lay on the floor, so wiggling to the food and eating like without their hands, like animals, was too demeaning. There was also the possibility that their meal could be spiked with something else.


    Getting fooled twice would be their fault.


    "Try not to murder me with your glares,¡± O¡¯Brien hummed without a tinge of intimidation. ¡°I''m really doing this to help you. Yes, I could have been a lot less rough in your treatment, but that''s only because you would not have come easily had I used other methods and most would have annoyed me plus the three extra baggages you involved making things harder."


    O''Brien didn''t mince words about the three extra burdens, but the glares remained the same.


    He leisurely flipped a newspaper in his hands, pursuing it swiftly.


    "You might be wondering¡­¡± he continued his one-sided conversation. ¡°Why did I let you wake up now? Well, it''s because the day of reckoning is nigh. The Apocalypse is on its way."


    Another stretch of silence ensued before one of the ladies finally decided to break it.


    "Aunty Rose, I think your student is crazy." Of course, it was Jules. ¡°Way to put us in the hands of a lunatic.¡± Her voice was steady with a tone as spiky as a barbed wire, itching to dig into the guy sitting before her.


    "O''Brien ¡ª" Rose attempted to speak up, her voice breaking from both not speaking for so long and from the betrayal and fear that had been embedded in her heart since the poisoning.


    "Your suspicions are valid,¡± O¡¯Brien interrupted her, ¡°Which was why I drugged you, to keep you quiet and bring you along. But today is the 25th of December, the last Christmas this world would celebrate.¡±


    Jules squeezed her sour expression even more, frustrated that she had to continue hearing this insane jerk spew crap.


    O¡¯Brien barely glanced at the girl. ¡°In three hours, the apocalypse will arrive and the New World will begin. This world as we know it will change forever.¡±


    His heart started to beat faster, his dark and gloomy eyes slightly lighting up he began recalling the events to come, an almost nostalgic smirk on his lips.


    He wasn''t one usually this talkative but he was swept away by anticipation of it all. He wouldn''t admit it but he was actually quite nervous.


    ¡°Extraordinary Cards with supernatural abilities! Alien races with a hunger for human flesh! Portals to other worlds! Ancient ruins from unknown civilizations!¡± He set his paper aside, steeping his fingers and now lowering his voice. ¡°The shrinking of humanity¡¯s living space, despite the expansion of the earth''s area¡­¡±


    He leaned forward and his eyes found Rose¡¯s. ¡°There''s no need for me to lie to you because all will be clear in these final 3 hours. Although,¡± he added with an unamused chuckle, ¡°The bad part comes a little later on."


    Roya clenched her jaw, throwing her dark hair out of her bright brown eyes to survey the situation. Even though she was battling with the side effects of all the craziness she found herself in, she was ready to get the hell out of here. Wiggling discreetly, she tried to sense any flaws in her current binding.


    ¡®The hell¡­¡¯ came her surprised thoughts. ¡®This is a professional knot! Has he tied up a lot of people before?¡¯


    Lea was the first to attempt to diffuse the situation. Relying on her experience with mental patients, she slowly beat around the bush, trying to get him to see the error in his ways. "You don''t have to do this. We can talk this out and come to a compromise. The apocalypse? Supernatural powers? You understand how that might be hard for us to believe, right? Give us some time to think this through together. What makes you think that the apocalypse is c¡ª"


    "You have no idea about what is to come,¡± O¡¯Brien cut in, having heard enough. ¡°It''s not an ¡®if¡¯ or ¡®but¡¯. It''s a ¡®when¡¯. It¡¯s a matter of less than three hours. I''m actually¡­¡± He stopped himself, shutting his eyes for a moment before opening them with a drawn sigh. ¡°Never mind. You just need to know that it''s coming and you being here is only because of Miss Rose¡¯s big heart. She was the only one I intended to protect.¡±


    His gaze jammed with the still seething Jules as he said, ¡°So, yes, you three aren¡¯t important to me in any way. You weren¡¯t even part of my plans, to begin with.¡±


    For some reason, this made Jules even redder, but O¡¯Brien couldn¡¯t care less, looking back to the doctor. ¡° Don''t worry though, I won''t keep you near me forever. As soon as I repay my debts to Rose, you¡¯re free to leave.¡± Reaching Jules once more, he added, ¡°Actually, you three are free to leave right now. Need me to untie the ropes? You should have fun figuring your way out of here."


    He smirked when none of them responded to leaving. Despite their doubt, a bit of belief was starting to creep in. Or maybe it was his somewhat sadistic tone that kept them from doing anything rash, and the fact that they were on a completely different continent.


    Leaning back into his chair, he turned on his phone, watching the timer rapidly count down to his new beginning. His new beginning was to have all he wanted. His new beginning was to do as he wished!


    Eat lavishly! Sleep comfortably! Be powerful! Fight only when he wanted, not because he had to do so to survive. Not when he could have others take the bullet.


    Taking care of other people¡¯s feelings and being social¡­? Not a part of his new beginning at all.


    Having had his fair share of human interactions before and after the end times, he saw the masks come off and the darkness uncovered within their hearts. He would rather not waste any valuable time trying to be considerate to people who could bite the hand that fed them, backstab him, be ungrateful, or betray him.


    He didn¡¯t even care about Miss Rose; it was just a debt so great that he had to repay, even in this life.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    In this life, he alone would be enough.


    *


    "I''ll be leaving before the event starts,¡± O¡¯Brien announced to his captives, now standing behind his chair and looking down at them. ¡°When I do, I''ll let you three go and you can do whatever you want; stay or leave. If you choose to stay, I¡¯ll tell you about the cards. If you leave¡­¡± He shrugged as he trailed off.


    Now, if any of them decided to stay, O¡¯Brien wasn¡¯t going to help solely from the goodness of his heart. No. The more they depended on him in the New World, the better. He could use them to collect more cards and, being the only one with information on cards among them, he could collect the most valuable ones for himself since they wouldn¡¯t know better.


    ¡°Rose, you¡¯re different from the rest of us. You¡¯re one of the chosen ones.¡±


    Rose blinked slowly, not knowing how to answer to that, aside from the fact that he had gradually stopped adding his usually polite ¡®miss¡¯ to her name. O¡¯Brien watched their reactions, seeing that even Roya was starting to hesitate.


    ¡°Your natal card will come to you,¡± he continued telling Rose, ¡°so I¡¯ll leave you tied up in here. I can¡¯t have you getting killed out there before you get it. After you fuse with it, those binds will be nothing to you and you can leave to gather more cards. We¡¯ll meet at the Three Ring Tower, west of the city.¡±


    O''Brien wasn''t worried about Rose not getting her natal card even if she wasn¡¯t in New Roselee City. Several chosen ones had been in remote areas during the Genesis Card Fall. A few were even in areas that had no cards descending at all! Yet their natal cards all managed to find and fuse with them. Clearly, it was predestined.


    O''Brien finished his monologue and put in his earbuds to listen to some music. Even this was a luxury in the apocalypse.


    Unbroken phones were a commodity. Even broken ones could be repurposed. This was also due to threats from alien races like the Miniature Hell Bats, One-legged Canines, and other beings who were attracted to signals from phones. Since the internet was no longer working, the risk was greater than the reward, so many phones had to be destroyed. Though they could still be used, it was expensive to use them safely.


    As the time ticked closer to the apocalypse, O¡¯Brien¡¯s old heart beat faster in anticipation. The women were mostly silent, whispering among themselves things he didn¡¯t care to listen in on. He was busy thinking about far more important things, like the fact that he left his city.


    Giving up his home-field advantage could be said to be unbelievably foolish. Everything he knew was in that city. Discarding both dangers and opportunities and moving elsewhere opened him up to risks and the unknown.


    He was giving up his main advantage of being from the future! If those from the future could see him wasting his opportunity like this¡­


    Forsaking New Roselee meant his risk of death was significantly higher than if he had stayed, but he did this after careful consideration.


    ¡®I don''t know which aliens and monsters appeared in this city in the beginning¡­¡¯ he thought to himself. ¡®Hopefully, I don''t meet any Zombies or Brain Eaters. Those guys only mentioned the later ones. I gave up my familiar turf of New Roselee to Blue Phoenix on this gamble...¡¯


    This city will eventually become overrun with the undead, later becoming the Undead City of Resentment, one of the forbidden areas of the New World. The other six confirmed Forbidden Areas were shrouded in mystery since no one lived to tell the tale of how they came to be, but this place was different. There were eyewitnesses. Many at that.


    O''Brien''s knowledge of the locations of valuable high-ranked cards, dangerous monsters, safe locations, important people, and so on were all near useless now in another city. It was a stupid act from the perspective of maximizing all possible gains and knowledge. He was well aware of this.


    But what was his goal after returning from the future?


    To be strong and live luxuriously. The former almost guaranteed the latter.


    It almost seemed like a goal too simplistic in an insanely complex world.


    But how strong did he want to be? The same level as Blue Phoenix? Humanity''s strongest?


    No, he wanted more!


    Even she was weaker than many alien races!


    Even she had to take the long way around some clans, small or large in number!


    Even she had to run on sight from the feared dragons and angels!


    How could he live luxuriously when he had to run away from malicious aliens and monsters at every turn? How could he tolerate such a life a second time?


    He was one person, no less. Even Blue Phoenix had to form a team to share victory and defeat, to fight against monsters, to survive in the wild areas with danger on all sides, to challenge strong enemies and harvest their corpses into cards. This was naturally due to the size of her base and territory.


    O''Brien was determined to be a lone wolf, yet teams were prevalent in the end times for a good reason.


    There was strength in numbers, and different specialties helped to deal with different situations. With the right recruitment, each other''s strengths would also cover their weaknesses. The collective was stronger than the individual. Of course, this wasn''t always the case. There were some who could survive well alone. For instance, the Blue Phoenix, Celes, was qualified to do this with her expansive set of cards and powerful natal card, but she chose to lead a team.


    Many gang leaders and local tyrants also had groups working under them in teams to better exploit opportunities and cards.


    She and they formed teams for different reasons, out of their own free will, but people like him had to. There was hardly a choice.


    Teams were necessary for low-ranked plebians with only one or two cards in their possession and an average natal card.


    Some didn''t even have one combat-type card to fight directly.


    Many low-level and unlucky card masters with a later start and no connection to Blessed Ones, started with just their natal card and took months just to get another card. O''Brien was unfortunately a part of this group.


    It was unavoidable for the sake of survival. Even if you were betrayed nine times out of ten, if you wanted to survive, you still had to suck it up and join a different team. That was the case for O''Brien, but he was sick of that life. One lifetime of that experience was more than enough.


    To avoid this was simple; he needed strength. He craved power.


    If he had a powerful natal card and a suite of high-ranked cards, he could match several teams of card masters all alone!


    A complete deck of 20 cards covering all fields was enough to survive the horrors of the New World.


    The higher the quality of cards in the deck, the better.


    But that is where the issue lies.


    The strongest card in New Roselee City was just Blue Phoenix''s Blue Flame Phoenix, a White Silver summoning card. Perhaps there might be one or two hidden cards of the same rank, but they were likely to be less useful or extremely difficult to obtain without knowing where they descended.


    That card was also destined for her, so there was no way of grabbing it. If O''Brien wanted to surpass her, it was obvious what to do; leave New Roselee for a place with higher quality cards!


    But then where would he go?


    O''Brien had to draw on knowledge and hearsay from the future. Finding a place better than New Roselee wasn''t easy. This was clear because Celes Greymore was humanity''s number one with her Phoenix card!


    While there were a few on her level who died unexpectedly or were assassinated, her¡¯s was still the highest ceiling for humanity. The natal card not only determined combat ability, but also the upper limit on how far one could go. Without a good quality Natal Card, a person could be stuck as a Card Apprentice their entire life!


    Blue Phoenix''s natal card was truly amazing. Even though the abilities weren¡¯t public knowledge, its feats were. Even among White Silver cards, it was outstanding. While summoning cards weren¡¯t the rarest or most powerful cards, they were by far the most useful in the Apocalypse for general situations.


    ¡®I won¡¯t be stuck at one level like before because of my natal card,¡¯ O¡¯Brien vowed to himself, ¡®and I also won''t settle for less with such an advantage in my grasp. If I don''t surpass Blue Phoenix, then I might as well die!"


    O''Brien recalled his musings from months ago while he made his plans. While his passion had been burning, as the time drew nearer, his heart started to become still.


    True, it was very difficult to find a card better than Blue Phoenix''s Natal Card, but it was not impossible.


    O''Brien had several former comrades from different cities and countries around the globe. They had told him something interesting about this European city, Monvec.


    It was rumored that a wingless grey dragon rose to the sky, blocking out the sun during the Genesis Card Fall, and then it disappeared without a trace.


    Afterwards, this place became known for ghosts and ghouls, producing undead and death attributed materials in high quantities and qualities abnormally for a while. But eventually, the locals couldn''t suppress the monsters and had to leave their city as refugees.


    The dragon rose soon after the card fall, within 30 minutes according to various accounts!


    Logically speaking, no monsters appeared during the Genesis Card Fall, with one exception.


    The cards themselves.

 Chapter 7: Eve of the End (III)

    The Grey Dragon appearing so early could only mean one thing.


    It was an activated card!


    Dragons in the New World were just like those in fantasies. Placed at the very top of the food chain, rivaling the Angel Clan and Archdemons.


    Moreover, all known dragon sightings were of Western Dragons.


    The specific abilities of cards were very close to myths and legends, a phenomenon that scientists called Greater World Resonance. It was an ongoing and unproven theory, but it meant that cards were somehow tailored to the earth in a way. So many fantasy and scientific principles were followed in the card system.


    The Grey Dragon was an Eastern dragon, in that mythology they were worshipped as gods and not just powerful monsters. So, it was likely an even higher-ranked being than the known dragons in the New World!


    Activated cards are described as a set of cards activated without human intervention.


    Once activated, they did not return to card form unless killed. Moreover, many of these activated cards with monsters within them had intelligence.


    Cards could be activated for several reasons, but the common theme was that they were supplied with unowned energy and could awaken by themselves without human aid, becoming separate beings.


    Another theory New World researchers had come up with was the RERT - Real Eyes Realize Theorem. Although cards were tools for humans, it wasn¡¯t difficult to question what their true purpose was. Had they always only existed as cards? Or did they simply take on the form of cards due to the Earth? The mechanisms underlying the magical cards¡¯ existence were still largely undecipherable.


    What was certain was that spiritual energy was the common denominator in using cards. Spiritual energy, Evolutionary ki, Nine Phase Mana; this new supernatural energy present in the air had many regional names, but spiritual energy was almost universal.


    The spiritual energy present in the atmosphere during the Genesis Card Fall was not that powerful yet, neither was it minuscule. More importantly, it was unowned.


    Depending on their card quality and intelligence, cards could gather enough energy to activate within different periods of time by just sitting still. With the intelligence necessary to actively absorb the energy and awaken, they could be self-sufficient. Their card quality determined the geographical distance they could absorb from and how fast they could soak the energy in.


    After various tests, it was revealed that Grey Ash cards were less intelligent but, after a while of passively absorbing energy, they could activate in 24 hours.


    Blue Stone Cards were smarter, activating in 18 hours.


    Black Iron Cards could awaken in 13 hours.


    As for the higher-ranked cards, O''Brien didn''t know. No one really did, since high-ranked cards were rare.


    ¡°The last I heard of a dragon was it wiping out a clan of Red Skin Orcs 50,000 strong,¡± he mused. ¡°I don''t know how high of a rank this dragon is, so I have to be at the spot early."


    O''Brien didn''t know the exact location where the card appeared, whether it was on one particular floor of the Howard Nelson Tower or on the roof of the building, so he had to give himself time to get there when the Card Fall happened.


    Ideally, he would be there within 5 minutes.


    "Fortunately, the Card Fall for this city happens to be at the 2-hour mark of the apocalypse and not among the ones that began exactly at 10:15 p.m. I still have time to get to an Altar for the medallion and awaken my aperture."


    To use cards and store cards, as well as strengthen human bodies for health, evolution, and survival, the card aperture was an unavoidable obstacle in the way. It was the focal point and fundamental basis for human evolution within the last days, with just spiritual energy running about in your body, you were merely more healthy perhaps also a very delicious meal for man-eating monsters, thick with nutrition.


    O''Brien once again had the thought many humans repeated in the New World.


    Who made this bullshit system?!


    How cool would it be if, like in comics and movies where all it took was one bite or singular traumatic event to awaken your powerful superpowers instantly, there was no tedious work that came with becoming a Card Master?


    Instead, they had to put in all the hard work; a combination of studying and parenting.


    In the normal progression of events, the average time it took to figure all this out was an entire year. By then, the casualties would be astronomical. While some places were faster, the earliest time to figure out the promotion system was 5 months but the latest¡­ was 3 years.


    *


    The four women''s eyes were all drawn to O''Brien''s cell phone now showing the local news.


    They were surprised when he suddenly disconnected his earbuds and flipped his phone for them to see. Their eyes slowly widened with shock, not believing what they were seeing and hearing.


    "Just in... Breaking news as we all can s-see¡­¡± the news anchor stuttered. ¡°It''s the seventh consecutive day of disasters, and while we all w-welcomed ¡ª I¡¯m sorry, I need a moment..."


    The news anchor paused filled with emotion before continuing. "In the wake of yesterday''s widespread animal tantrums, this morning the sky suddenly changed, having the sun and moon both visible in the sky as clear as day. A giant rectangular glowing celestial body has just appeared in the sky behind the moon, appearing beneath it are several smaller moon-like objects.¡±


    As the lady spoke, clips and images of her reports were displayed on the screen. ¡°Moreover... Tears in the very fabric of space have appeared in the sky around the moon and even the sun and close to Earth... Small asteroids have also been falling to the earth at irregular periods. Scientists remain baffled by the current environmental phenomenon. In these past seven days, we''ve all constantly asked ourselves this question and now the thought is stronger than ever... Is this the end?"


    The nightly news reporter was abruptly cut off from reporting a robbery at three corner stores near a pet store that had a particularly violent outbreak of the ''Madness Syndrome'', the hallmark of the previous day with animals globally going crazy and attacking everything.


    The owner of this shop made the news because his store happened to have a mutant poison dart frog three times the normal size that somehow spat acid and burned through its cage.


    Oddly enough, this was far from the most bizarre occurrence. That was more up the alley of the millions of ants who ate a concrete four-floor building almost to the ground. Although more than half of them died, it was far from mildly concerning.


    But as if this wasn''t crazy enough already, the news shifted to today''s chilling occurrence. At first, people were subconsciously at ease with the sky disappearing as this was much better than the hurricanes and volcanic eruptions that started off these days of terror. However, the sense of relief was now replaced with the ominous foreboding present in the heart of every man.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Many could only pause and look upwards in deep shock, uncertain of what to do. Others would continue what they were doing with a stiff smile, their hearts uneasy as they tried to turn a blind eye.


    O''Brien was unperturbed, whipping out several more devices, including phones and tablets, and placing them on his lap and the floor.


    Seeing his attitude, the women were brought back to reality. They had barely gotten to experience the first day of disaster as that was just after they were kidnapped.


    The different news stations were meshing all 7 days of catastrophe and asking what was next, all the while O''Brien was deep in thought and kept switching stations on different devices and checking social media.


    "Whoa dudes, this is crazy! This undersea museum statue thing just popped out of nowhere, all of a sudden.¡± The lanky skateboarder stepped closer to inspect the shrimp-like stone, his phone camera shaky as he walked. ¡°Totally ruining my stunts, dude. It looks like one of them cartoon things come to life or a movie prop with mad CGI, though I don''t see any wires and shit in this rock. Mad creepy fam!¡±


    Setting his skateboard aside, he went even closer, daring to hover his hand over the glowing rock. "Look at all these weird voodoo-looking markings. It''s like Black Magic or some shit. Maybe it''s a witch''s tombstone from the 18-1300s or something..."


    O''Brien''s eyes immediately lit up upon seeing the item. It was an ancient altar covered in moss, broken vines, and dust. Its earthy appearance was reminiscent of a newly uncovered ruin from thousands of years ago, untouched by all except the elements. It spanned less than 200 square feet, claiming the center of attention wherever it appeared.


    A 7-foot-tall monument stood at the center, cracked in several places with mystical runes and markings covering its smooth surface. A bright yellow light was emanating from a circular crevice in the upper region of the monument, reminiscent of a miniature noonday sun.


    O''Brien ignored all other devices and focused on this one, pushing the bad Google audio translation to the back of his mind. He listened to the skateboarder and waited patiently for him to move around so he could use some landmarks to pinpoint the location accurately.


    The official languages of Monvec were French and German, with both languages being influenced by the other in slang and accents which the complementary Google Audio Translate obviously couldn''t decipher all that well.


    Divalo Grande Skatepark.


    Rue se Gartenstrasse.


    Left central path.


    "Found it."


    O''Brien quickly stood up and glanced at his captives. Sparing any nonsense, he blindfolded them immediately. Leaving only Rose behind, he lifted them all in a large push cart used for transporting crates.


    ¡®It''s hard getting used to a mortal body,¡¯ he thought, feeling how much strength he had to exert just to do the simple task.


    Jules tried to protest. "What are you do¡ª Umph!"


    Well prepared, O''Brien simply gagged them as well before pushing them out.


    "Settle down. You''re free now,¡± he informed them. ¡°If you want to come back, you should remember the meeting spot; Three Ring Tower. I''ll place each of you in different areas of the city so you can cover more ground."


    O''Brien paused, meeting the eyes of his still dumbfounded former teacher for a while, then he pushed his captives out and pulled down the garage''s metal door.


    ***


    5:46 p.m, December 25th, 2028


    Celes Greymore felt that these seven days of stress on her brain pre-apocalypse could match the scale of each part of Mother Nature''s fury that had come to pass.


    At this moment, countless pairs of eyes were staring at her with hunger.


    Despite leading an apocalypse base with over a million people before, her nerves were the most tense they had been for quite a while. The number of people wasn''t the problem¡­ It was their identities.


    Her mother who stole glances at her.


    Her sister who was still ignoring her.


    Her father, who she had brushed off a few minutes ago, started his detective work, looking at her up and down with fine scrutiny.


    Her cousins, aunts, and some distant relatives, as well as their friends were all present. Minnie''s family and their own circle of friends and families were also invited.


    Of course, more than just a few people were missing from each category, so this wasn''t every single one, but still...


    How was she supposed to protect these one hundred and thirty plus individuals while also grabbing more power?!


    Celes Greymore hadn''t been this stressed since she had to fight an injured Spark Archdemon after bringing her troops through a hostile territory.


    "This is gonna be a bigger headache than I first thought¡­" Celes pouted slightly. Minnie was quick to hit her with the ''I told you so'' gaze.


    Thirty was the ideal traveling size to maneuver the dangers of the apocalypse, while also teaching them how to fish, instead of handing it to them on a silver platter. One hundred was the max, difficult but doable with detailed planning and role assignments.


    A hundred and thirty? An overkill.


    But it somehow ended up this way after she made a few calls. She barely had enough space to recruit the essential people she needed. Those individuals with rare and useful skill sets, trustworthy character, who were loyal, talented, and powerful. Those were the most important to here. There were many options, but she could barely scoop up a handful for their current team due to the number of relatives and friends.


    "I''d like everyone''s attention please!" Celes banged her table with a sigh.


    She slowly opened her mouth, spewing the most absurd thing anyone in the room must have probably heard. The silence afterwards was deafening. She chugged a bottle of water, waiting for anyone to say anything. Then the mutters came.


    "Is this a joke?"


    "Some sort of play?"


    "Well, the news was playing not so long ago and we all saw it. These past few days have also been very strange."


    ¡°Kids these days. Probably using that as an excuse to play an elaborate prank.¡±


    ¡°She sounded serious, though¡­¡±


    "No matter what, the Apocalypse seems a bit far-fetched, isn''t it?"


    "I still want to make it for the rest of Christmas, although most people have canceled it with all the disasters going on.¡±


    ¡°Us too, but my family still wants to retain a sense of normalcy with all this craziness going on."


    Celes explained the situation the best she could in the time she had. The monsters, descent of magic cards, portals to new realms, aliens and mutants, and a bit about the savagery of humanity.


    Several strangers unfamiliar with Celes looked at her with strange eyes and discussed the absurdity of the so-called news.


    "This is bullshit. I''m leaving. I still have a multi-million dollar deal to finish by tomorrow. I don''t have time for a little girl''s shenanigans." A fit man with a perm in business attire quickly spat while fixing his collar. His physique was well maintained despite his age, and his well-lined collar bones were weighed down by a gold necklace. He wasn''t particularly handsome, but he had a rough yet refined face.


    "Gale," A tall bespectacled man in pitch-black formal attire called out with little emotion in his voice. His blue eyes were as piercing as Celes¡¯s.


    Trevor Gale quickly froze up.


    "I''m sure my daughter has good reason and evidence for her seemingly absurd claims,¡± Mr. Greymore stated before turning to Celes with a measured smile. ¡°Isn''t that right, Dear?"


    Celes felt a chill run down her spine. Her father was quite scary when he wanted to be. Without their mother actively in their lives, he played the role of a strict yet loving parent, but she recognized the thinly veiled reprimand in his tone. Evidently, even her father doubted her, and she could not blame him at all.


    "Yes, of course,¡± she answered him. ¡°If you''d direct your gaze outside, you¡¯d see that it has already begun." Celes walked calmly to the door, each of the three layers opening in a second. The slope leading to higher ground was not steep and they quickly followed her to look outside.


    To the horror of the onlookers, space in the sky was rippling like water and gash-like open wounds in the fabric of space shook like the sky was in pain.


    It was just after 5 p.m. here and yet the blue sky was absent. The night had descended, but the stars seemed to be far too close, the sun and moon even more so, all blazing in their brightness.


    The newly appearing celestial bodies that were not there before brought an even larger impact.


    Since when were there so many things in the night sky apart from stars?!


    Unknown to these onlookers, the earliest bestowal of cards had already begun in Athens, Greece.


    There, in under 30 minutes, the first alien monster would appear.


    It looked similar to a rat but was covered in scaled armor, the size of a small child. It crawled out from a dark space in confusion, but its instincts quickly kicked in as its eyes turned red, smelling a unique fragrance in the air. It felt its body being slightly weaker than normal, but it could smell a lot of delicious food nearby to regain its energy. The creature slapped its tail on the pavement and appeared several steps away, continuing until it disappeared.


    This first alien had appeared so suddenly, but it was just an appetizer.


    For in an even shorter time, this ''first'' monster would no longer be alone.

 Chapter 8: The Apocalypse Descends! (I)

    "Quickly, I want everyone to gather and sit in the vehicles prepared in the yard or your own vehicles that you drove here,¡± Minnie commanded, springing into action. ¡°The cards are coming soon; they will all look like glowing rectangular lights. This place is far from the center of the city, and with traffic clogging up some areas it might take a while to cover all the important spots.¡±


    Holding up an illustration, she explained. ¡°The reddish steel color is of the highest value, followed by the greenish copper, and metallic black! If you see any of these within your sight, drop everything and head towards them. Other colors are also important, so don''t neglect them!"


    "Finally and most importantly,¡± she concluded, a stern look replacing her usually jovial expression, ¡°Everyone should please remember this location. It would be best if we all return in two hours; not a minute longer! That''s the exact moment a giant earthquake worse than we''ve seen will occur."


    While Minnie was barking instructions, Celes was stuck with a much more difficult task.


    "What exactly is going on, Celes?" Rebecca Greymore in an office suit asked.


    A petite young woman with dyed pink hair looked at Celes for the first time. She wore overalls splashed with paint, making her stand out. Her face shared similarities with Celes and Rebecca. She was the second Greymore daughter, Jasmine Greymore.


    "At first, like the others, I thought you were crazy,¡± she commented, ¡°but the sky does look... Wacky, so I guess we''ll believe you for now. But... how the hell did you know?"


    "Celes,¡± their father, a black-clad man intervened, towering over the ladies, ¡°I don''t know what''s going on, but things seem urgent so I''ll save the questions for later.¡± He directed that last part to the curious interviewers before looking back at her. ¡°I hope you''ll have time to explain things clearly then."


    Celes sighed in relief.


    Celes looked back to the burning gazes of two of her girlfriends, trying to light her on fire with their eyes.


    Xia and Giselle.


    What a headache. Her mouth was going to fall off in the following days from explaining.


    ¡°Let''s just go,¡± she told the two, heading into a pink Jeep where Minnie was already getting set to take off. After they made sure everyone else was ready, Minnie stepped on it, zooming off and taking the lead.


    *


    "Miss Greymore¡­ So wonderful of you to join a car with us lowly plebs. Your great plans are truly astounding. I''m blown away."


    Giselle was the first to attack, carrying herself in a tomboyish manner, her freckles sprinkled lightly over her face like a work of art.


    "It''s... not like that,¡± Celes groaned. ¡°I mean it. Think about it. It''s such an absurd thing that no one would believe me if they didn''t see it with their own eyes.¡±


    Giselle rolled her eyes at this, folding her arms across her chest and leaning back loosely.


    ¡°I wanted to tell you,¡± continued Celes, earning another eye roll. ¡°Really, I did. But I wasted four days in a daze, and time was of the essence, so I had to nip it in the bud. I''m telling you now, aren''t I?"


    Unfortunately, Giselle had a thing with grudges, so she was a bit of a lost cause for the moment. Turning to someone who''d be a bit more sensible, Celes asked, "Xia, would you believe me if I said this over a week ago?"


    Xia''s half-Asian origins colored her face, her bleached hair strands touching her eyebrows. She was completely expressionless as she glanced back from the passenger seat, but didn''t grace the query with a response and returned to looking out of the window and up at the sky.


    Celes knew her friend enough to recognize her almost invisible angry pout.


    "But Minnie would believe you? Is that it?" Giselle glared at the driver''s seat where Minnie was easily maneuvering traffic.


    Minnie didn''t reply but had her nose upturned in triumph.


    The number one BFF is clear for all to see!


    "The color of the cards indicates their value¡­ but it''s far more than that, I assume." Xia''s cold voice broke the thick tension in the air, soothing the slowly sweating Celes.


    "Ah- Yes!¡± Celes jumped at the opportunity to change the subject. ¡°If you have to say the color is the most important, then yes, it is. But color isn''t everything. Sure, If you want to go farther in the future, color is priceless. You can upgrade cards to different colors, but it''s a difficult process with low probability and high risk. The steps and materials needed for upgrades are unknown, and you often blindly guess, risking destroying your card.¡±


    Giselle faked a yawn and looked away, but it was evident she was paying attention.


    Celes continued to explain. ¡°There are certain cards that can guess for you, but they are unimaginably rare. Even then, the upgrade materials are not easy to get. For Grey Ash and Blue Stone Cards, it''s relatively simple to upgrade with the materials not so scarce, but everything upwards is a tough nut to crack. Some upgrades require some absurd rituals and special environments. The higher the rank, the more difficult it is to upgrade. The safest and best bet is to get a compatible card of good quality from the get go."


    Feeling the pressure in the air lessen, Celes heaved a sigh of relief.


    "Which ones are the strongest?" Xia asked, now focusing her eyes on this familiar yet unfamiliar friend through the rearview mirror.


    Celes thought for a moment before answering.


    "It''s hard to say¡­ It depends on the situation and the user. There are no useless cards, only incompetent card masters. Several famous figures started out with average cards and rose to the top. So, no card is necessarily stronger than the other."


    This was a question many had different answers to, but as the former peak of humanity, Celes was naturally an expert in the area. Someone had actually fought her toe-to-toe with four well-matched and utilized Black Iron-grade cards while she was only using a Red Steel-grade card. Eventually, she even had to rely on Sapphire to win!


    It shocked everyone at the time.


    "Are there sword and bow types?" Xia asked once more.


    "Yes, of course."


    "Miss~Celes!" Giselle dragged.


    Hearing this other voice, Celes felt her brain ache in pain.


    "Lady Giselle, please forgive your humble one,¡± she droned, turning and attempting to placate her friend. Her deep brown eyes drank in her every feature, smiling at her half-hearted tantrum.


    "Say, why do you know so much,¡± Giselle prodded, feeling her best friend''s gaze to be a bit too heavy. ¡°You couldn''t have... come back, could you?"


    Time travel was far from a foreign concept to the modern man so, naturally after a while of settling in, she thought of it.


    Celes paused but eventually admitted.


    "Yes, I did come back."


    "So, based on your weird behavior of not violently attacking me and forcing me to obey... Things must not have turned out well for me, have they?" Giselle quieted down as she pondered, putting mental puzzle pieces together.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Their relationship was a straightforward physical one since childhood; fights, pokes, pulling hair, throwing things... It was how they showed love. Even up until college. Her friend not acting the same could only mean something was on her mind concerning Giselle. The likely situation was that she met a tragic fate in the future.


    BOOM!


    Their conversation was cut short by an explosion that shook everyone to the core. Minnie slammed on the brakes.


    Celes almost jumped out of the window at the sound.


    ¡®Damn, how I could forget? Of course, I was in the East at the time, not the North! I only heard about it later!¡¯


    Celes was too caught up in planning to remember every detail. She was, at the time, just getting used to the strange bird that came to her.


    But she had heard of this.


    A card had landed near some gas tanks and the energy surrounding it caused an explosion.


    The heat and energy also damaged the card, forcing it to activate under special conditions!


    Although they later discovered this special rule for activation, at the time they just had to deal with what manifested early without thinking of the reason it happened.


    Unfortunately¡­ it was a Stone Cyclops. Celes wasn''t afraid of many things, but these creatures caused her to pause.


    Screee~


    Celes gasped, hearing the crooning she had missed dearly, even if only for a few days. ¡°How could I forget? Sapphire!"


    A sharp cry resounded as a silver and blue light rushed towards Celes from the sky. Her natal card was seeking her out.


    She hurried out of the vehicle, almost immediately getting slammed by the light, knocking her unconscious.


    *


    Somewhere in the sky, a small metal bird cut through the clouds with a grunting whistle.


    This was a private aircraft that seated three, built for the wealthy.


    In the passenger area sat a young man with a quiet handsomeness. O''Brien had deep pupils that reflected the pits he had crawled out of in life.


    3..2...1


    Looking at his watch, he hit the speed dial and extended the antenna on his phone.


    "It''s time, Shadow,¡± he said. ¡°I already gave you a taste of my knowledge and you know the plan.¡±


    After a slight pause, he continued. ¡°Now for a little auspicious recital... Follow your script closely. If you fuck up, we do it over until you get it, but I won''t be pleased. The pronunciations must be as we practiced. Let''s start."


    O''Brien suddenly started speaking a weird tongue-twisting language. It sounded like a growl and scream combined. Familiarity would cling to the fact that sometimes it sounded slightly like Russian and Mandarin, but it was inexplicably mysterious and skin-crawling at the same time.


    Sounds that humans were not supposed to make.


    A similar evil grunting echoed from the other side of the phone. This went on for a few minutes until...


    "Zslect O''brien Lesser Hall."


    "Good,¡± O''Brien gruffly said. ¡°This is all we''ll hear of each other for quite a while. I wish you well, Shadow. Don''t disappoint me."


    By now, the plane had already landed on a roof. He got up and calmly walked to the rear area with a small grin.


    ¡®I couldn''t let it go after all, Blue Phoenix. I hope my gift satisfies you enough to reciprocate in the spirit of gift-giving. In hindsight, even if I was there, the knowledge I possess is far inferior to yours¡­¡¯


    His smile faltered a little bit at his thoughts. ¡®Which is why I can''t help but be a little restless¡­¡¯


    ¡°All this plotting has made me hungry.¡± Opening a snack, he spoke to himself as he walked, a surprisingly healthy habit.


    "Fortunately, it''s just about done now. I shouldn''t do anymore. With the colossal storm that is the apocalypse and New World incoming, seeking to control everything or even most things is no more than a fool''s errand.¡± He took a bite, chewing thoughtfully. ¡°The variables are even more crazy than the wacky weather in some areas that change from sunny to raining lava and hail."


    While munching, O''Brien couldn''t help but think about his fellow regressor once more. Their fates were semi-intertwined and special, so of course he couldn''t completely forget about her. But they were now taking different paths, even without his own intervention. He had a feeling they would meet again. What would their next meeting be like?


    He paused and ordered on his comms as they began to move again. "Airdrop the next one here."


    Hanging outside the plane were three lightweight containers as large as a human. Fortunately, this plane had enough power to handle heavy loads, which was one of the strong points as a result of reducing carrying capacity.


    At his order, another one of the containers was detached.


    O''Brien continued munching, not dwelling much on the airdrop.


    The space was already tearing and the supernatural energy had begun to seep into Earth. Luckily, it was enough to allow for a contract to be done.


    Otherwise, he would have to blow up an entire building just to erase some important papers from existence.


    Well, he had bigger things to worry about now. If things didn''t pass the next critical stage, it wouldn''t matter anyway. Blue Phoenix, aliens, the apocalypse; none of it would matter.


    It might have been cowardly, but he was really tired and bet everything on this next step. If it failed, he would just die.


    ¡®I''m tired of fighting tooth and nail to survive and having to lower my pride to join or deal with teams as an ''individual'', running away from 4 out of 5 alien races at any point in time. Brainwashing or training a new trustworthy team is also¡­something I don''t want to do. I was prepared to die anyway, so if this is really a gift from high above, I can only say they are blind for choosing me. Thoughts and prayers for the unchosen and better qualified¡­¡¯


    He thought it was more likely that his regression was an accident. Blue Phoenix was likely the main fated one to begin with.


    ¡°My presence was just an accident, so I can give up anytime I want. Ha!¡± He chuckled darkly. ¡°Who would have thought that instead of becoming a Conqueror after regressing, I would become a Sheep instead?¡±


    Celes and Minnie had no way of knowing their currently unknown formidable competitor was actually so weak-willed that he would kill himself if things didn''t go his way. They had forgotten he existed, and if things went well for them, they wouldn''t even have to remember he existed.


    O''Brien felt no shame in feeling this way. Who wanted a life filled with difficulties at every turn without basic human rights? Even if he could avoid a lot of that humiliation, he wasn''t satisfied with only that. A little effort and sucking up was still too much for him, especially when he had already made his peace with death. He had resolved himself to die. He didn''t ask for this second chance!


    To grovel or even slightly beg was out of the question for O''Brien. Even needing to ask a small favor of someone disgusted him at the mere thought.


    Given this second chance, O''Brien could easily and safely rise to the top ranks of humanity with his knowledge of the future, but the ''top'' was very different from the ''peak''.


    He asked himself a question like many others in the past.


    Why did they keep pushing forward? What was the purpose?


    The people of this time didn''t know the horrors that lay in wait for them in the New World. Even with knowledge of the future, humanity would never regain their former positions. Even the strongest of humanity fifteen years later had to run away in the face of many alien races. Despite the expansion of the earth, the area belonging to humanity was shrunken to less than a fifth of what it once was. The population was set back almost to the medieval ages for various disasters.


    O''Brien simply felt that it was too tragic to return to the past and still have to work like a disabled stray dog to survive anywhere in the world.


    If he wasn''t prostituting most things for nothing, like a tyrannical dictator with everything at his fingertips, then what was the point?


    Like redoing all tests and class projects after going back in time, even if it came easier, it was still a nuisance. Anyone with sense after decades of schooling would choose to find a way to forego those tedious tests that in the end meant very little.


    Such was the case for him, given the choice to redo it well, with average effort and redoing it perfectly, with minimal effort. The choice was clear.


    The latter obviously took priority.


    Eternal peace and slumber were far more attractive to him.


    Hard work? He was sick of it. If he didn''t have everything on a platter this time then he would jump into Death''s embrace!


    Besides, he already gave up 75% of his advantage by not being in New Roselee City, so it was too late to turn back now.


    It was all or nothing.


    Sweee~


    The plane descended, all airdrops having been made. It was finally time.


    The card fall had just begun.


    O''Brien equipped his special parachute and jetpack, then signaled the horrified pilot who was having doubts about life, seeing the sky and meteor showers.


    Was five million for a short flight worth flying with all the crazy things happening?


    His initial thought was yes. He had burned a hole in his pocket this past week in disaster funds, helping friends and family. He could always stock up on more non-perishables, but...


    What the fuck was with those glowing lights suddenly dropping from the sky?!


    This client seemed to be eccentric enough, though he had met far stranger clients among the rich. But the weather conditions were the wackiest he had ever seen, even in his dreams!


    The pilot opened the hatch and saw the tower below a second later. His eyes almost jumped out of his skull, seeing what was below.


    At the same time, as soon as the hatch opened, O''Brien jumped out.


    A grey aura was on the 41st floor, and the top half of the tower was vanishing like dust bit by bit.


    Strange visions of ghosts and demons roamed the sky and around the tower like apparitions. Their numbers grew by the minute from several to dozens, and to what would eventually be thousands.

 Chapter 9: The Apocalypse Descends! (II)

    "Fortunately, I didn''t attempt to climb up from below or go up to the roof ahead of time to get to the card," mused O''Brien.


    Still... this is crazy.


    Seeing this many known and unknown phantoms of hellish creatures, each capable of wiping out fortified bases in the future by their lonesome, appearing together, surrounding the building for seemingly no reason, O''Brien was just now feeling the possible terror of the card he sought to control.


    "It hasn''t even manifested yet, and it''s causing such visions and uproar. What rank is it?"


    O''Brien couldn''t help but muse as he activated the thrusters on his jet pack. Having three months of dedicated prep time was enough for him to ensure nothing could go wrong from his end. The only setback was¡­ the accuracy of the information he had.


    His mind churned. Grey Ash, Blue Stone, and Black Iron; the three symbols of soldiers. Green Copper, Red Steel, and White Silver; the three hallmarks of leaders. Yellow Gold and whatever followed it¡­; the myths unseen.


    It was clear this card belonged to the last category because even White Silver Cards didn''t have such majesty unactivated!


    Equipping his binoculars, O''Brien quickly found the brightest glowing spot and adjusted his thrust towards there.


    His jet pack wasn''t cheap, but money no longer held value in the end times, so all the money he won from the lottery was going to be spent towards making the future easier.


    The poor comrade who missed the jackpot by one digit and cried for the rest of his days had served a great purpose. His calloused ears from listening to him recite his last regret like a prayer each mission had finally paid off and in a big way no less. The other methods for funds he could think of had some risk and were a lot less than three hundred and eighty million.


    Inside the depths of the building, beside some destroyed office cubicles, a shimmering grey card floated upwards. The grey mist surrounding it seemed to contain endless mysteries, but O''Brien had waited too long to hesitate and savor the sights. He blasted full throttle to the card and loosened his straps to jump out when necessary.


    With an ungraceful jump, he lunged towards the card, grabbing it and simultaneously activating his card aperture deep inside him near his lower abdomen. A light ash-grey hue covered his palm as it grabbed the card.


    A sense of awe and terror suddenly flooded O''Brien as he attempted to fuse with the card that landed less than three minutes prior.


    A giant amber-gold pupil stared at him from the abyss. It felt like death itself had gazed at him. Transparent grey scales were vaguely visible from a colossus hidden figure in the grey fog within the abyss.


    ROAR~


    A deafening and guttural roar resounded in O''Brien''s mind, but his card energy was still subconsciously flooding into the card from his aperture, a mouthful of blood from the mental shock also spurted like an arrow dousing the card in crimson.


    With flickering eyelids and a convulsing body, O''Brien unwillingly fell unconscious.


    How could it still be conscious in its card form?!


    Mental shock should only be possible for recently slain cards with lingering wills!


    This was a newly born card without its initial activation. The absurdity of it all shook him before a deep calm came over him.


    ¡®I guess this is it. At least, I tried. Now I can sleep forever¡­ Farewell New World... You motherfucker¡­¡¯


    *


    Celes looked up to the colorful void that spat out the cards as she awoke shortly from her sudden blackout.


    Sapphire. Always so lively¡­


    She chuckled inwardly at being reunited with her old partner.


    Glancing down at her now fiery blue hair, she didn''t need to look to know her appearance had changed; the Blue Phoenix was back.


    She didn''t hesitate to summon her best pal.


    ¡®Come! Sapphire Beauty!¡¯


    Screee!


    A blue flame burned from the depths of her abdomen like a meteor of light. It shot out, flying around before landing beside her.


    The flames receded to reveal a huge blue-feathered phoenix with silver plumes.


    With its magnificent azure feathers, shimmering like the depths of a crystal-clear ocean, this mythical avian being was a sight to behold. The vibrant blue hue of its feathers would captivate all who laid their eyes upon it, exuding an aura of serenity and tranquility.


    Adorning its majestic wings were silver plumes that glinted in the sunlight, casting ethereal reflections like moonlight on a tranquil lake. These silver accents lent an air of elegance and grace to the Blue Phoenix, enhancing its already captivating presence. As it soared through the sky, its wings unfurled with grace and power, effortlessly navigating the heavens.


    The Blue Phoenix possessed a regal bearing, its head held high with a sense of noble wisdom. Its eyes, like twin sapphires, each with two pupils, glistened with ancient knowledge and depth beyond measure. Its slender body, adorned with intricate patterns reminiscent of constellations, spoke of cosmic mysteries and celestial wonders.


    Legend had it that the Blue Phoenix represents rebirth and renewal, a symbol of hope and transformation. It was said that when this mythical creature spreads its wings, it carries with it the promise of new beginnings and a brighter future.


    Sapphire Beauty was her light and hope, always there to be relied upon in the dark time.


    Celes hugged her old friend while Sapphire pushed her head into her arms, enjoying the strokes.


    "Celes, that''s ¡ª" Minnie started to say, but covered her mouth in awe.


    Giselle¡¯s jaws were agape as the mythical creature appeared from nowhere, while Xia stared with wide eyes.


    "Yes. It''s my partner Sapphire Beauty, our greatest reliance,¡± Celes introduced the phoenix to her friends. ¡°No time to talk, though. You girls take the ground, I''ll grab the cards from the sky."


    Without awaiting a response, Celes jumped on the beast with a wingspan of 6 meters and a body two and a half meters long. Taking to the skies, she ignored the calls from her friends.


    ¡®Sapphire Beauty¡­ You''re a Phoenix rivaling the Dragons. Yet you had to run from them repeatedly due to that issue with your third Nirvana. If you had completed all Nirvanas, then they couldn''t hold a candle to you. You would have been on top. This time¡­ This time it will never happen! Anyone who hurts you will have to bear my wrath!¡¯


    Screee~


    Feeling her master''s emotions, Sapphire Beauty gave a cheerful chirp to improve her mood.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Celes smiled warmly in response, continuing to stroke her feathers gently as they glided through the sky.


    *


    On the roof of a building with a broken water tank, three stories high, a reddish bronze card floated a few feet in the air.


    Swish ¡ª


    A blue shadow flashed by as the card disappeared.


    The blue shadow blurred as it visited various locations in the city.


    Celes paused for a while after cleaning out this area, looking around and deciding which way to go.


    ¡®I should hurry. The scared persons avoiding cards like the plague are only a minority. After a while when the shock has faded, some are naturally drawn to the cards for power, others think they can keep them to sell for money... Whatever the case, I should hurry while there are enough high-ranked cards about.¡¯


    Celes turned to fly to the West. The rainbow-like lights in the distance were already visible due to her now-enhanced eyesight.


    She had to grab enough cards, not just for herself but for her loved ones. Then she would have them use a Hope Medallion to get their aperture and cement their first natal cards.


    ¡®I already have two Red Steel Grade Cards, but should I give them out? I want Mom and the others to have cards at least as good as mine, but that is almost impossible.¡¯


    This was a city with a population of millions, but only under 20,000 cards were estimated to be available, of which at least 10,000 were the lowest-ranked Grey Ash quality. 5,000 were Blue Stone, and 1,000 were Black Iron. Even with only 4,000 high-quality cards, and their numbers dwindling with each rank, this card fall was something desired and longed for by many who had missed this period of the Gold Rush.


    Even just getting a Black Iron quality card was phenomenal! That meant one could become a Card Master. At the early stage, Card Masters were not random bugs flying around and had considerable power. Of course, it would take at least two years or so to become a Card Master, but such a person two years into the apocalypse can already lead a medium sized survival camp.


    Seeing a few more coppery lights in the distance, Celes''s gaze grew firmer.


    This time around, her family and friends would have the basic strength to protect themselves from danger.


    Never again¡­ Never again!


    Thinking of some things of the future past, Celes bit her lip until they drew blood.


    This time, it would be different.


    ¡®Ideally, they should get White Silver grade cards, but those are rare¡­ Saphy is the only one I know in this region. Rumor has it there were two others, but even if that''s the case and not mere hearsay, just two will not be enough for all my family and Minnie. Yellow Gold and Purple Crystal... those ranks are rarer than Phoenix feathers and Qilin horns. I have a few suspects, but even I don''t know where their pre-activated forms initially appeared¡­¡¯


    ¡®There are at least 6 other cities in the New World Region, High Cliffs of the Wailing Winds, where New Roselee City will end up in a few hours.¡¯


    Celes flew on her Blue Phoenix, swiping all the cards visible from the air in her path.


    Her flight advantage was fully realized as she already counted dozens of cards just by herself in this short period!


    Descending in the window of an apartment broken by the card falling there, she quickly swiped the card.


    This was a white card with a pattern of interlinked bones on the back. The white semi-circular gap between the center of the bones formed a unique image with a light green thread. A blue light thinly covered the entire card.


    Flipping the card to the front, a Stampeding Rhino was displayed on the card''s face. It had three rows of smooth unyielding bone spurs on its snout and its shoulder blades were covered in thick armor. Its yellow pupils rolled back into its eye sockets revealing the whites of its eyes, and a broken stone boulder crumbled before its great charge. A mace-like tail hung behind its rear end.


    To the average person, this card exuded toughness and fierceness, but Celes merely sighed seeing it.


    It was just a Blue Stone-grade [Stampeding Bull Rhino]. It was a good summoning card, but its uses quickly ran out after a year or so. After that, using it to merely survive the next day would be troublesome if it was all a person had.


    The activation period of the Red Steel Cards was approaching. By then, she would have no chance of subjugating them at this stage.


    "The intensity will spike for a while with the different portals opening, which means they should activate an hour or so after the Prime Terraforming Event begins. I don''t have a lot of time. I should find some good cards as soon as possible."


    Celes was once again facing a situation that stumped Card Masters of the New World repeatedly.


    Lack of suitable cards.


    The high-ranked cards in her current possession were either unsuited for combat or had severe side effects. There were even a few that she didn''t recognize!


    Cards were not a part of some game-like system where the abilities and details were written down on its face to know their use. It was a process of trial and error. Or cheating.


    Most cards without simple requirements couldn''t be used because their activation materials were unknown. Some had known activation requirements but still couldn''t be used because of how outrageous or strict they were.


    Without a special Appraisal Card, more than 70% of known activation requirements would never have been discovered for several years or decades, perhaps even centuries.


    For example, this Stampeding Bull Rhino required six pure earth and wood element energy crystal shards, or thick healthy bones, wet earth, and any type of plant-type materials to activate it for four days. Until the fourth day, all it needed was some card essence to activate normally.


    Despite this, it was only a medium-difficulty resource card.


    As for the more outrageous activations, some could reach the extent of massacring hundreds of people within thirty minutes.


    These were just activation requirements. The long list of curse penalties for some cards, which could include permanent impotence or being mute for seven days, were not included in the postpartum effects of these magical babies.


    This real-life Card system was far from user-friendly.


    This was another reason natal cards were so important! A person would be exempt from the activation and penalty conditions of their natal card and could sustain it merely with their normal card essence flowing in the card aperture. They were the most economical and useful cards in one''s deck.


    "I mean¡­ White Silver is still rare. Red Steel is the ceiling here, so there are very few. I guess I could help evolve the lower-quality cards to higher ranks."


    Celes was forced to lower her standards for her loved ones. The reality was just too difficult, being unresigned or unwilling wouldn''t make higher-ranked cards appear out of nowhere.


    In her many journeys and battles, her White Silver card stood out wherever she went. It was just that rare. While some people avoided exposing their cards, such people were far few and in-between. Peers who held a similarly ranked card were rarer than phoenix feathers and qilin horns.


    It was unrealistic to wish for White Silver grade cards for her family now in a card fall where they were almost absent. She wouldn''t even be able to grant each one of them a White Silver Card at her previous peak! She had only three permanent ones. Minnie, as well as Carmen whom they had yet to meet, each had one. She was too presumptuous and forgot the facts for a second. But was it wrong to want the very best for her family?


    "If only I could have gathered everyone and gone to Athens..."


    Celes felt the thought bury itself in her mind, but she quickly dug it out. That would be unlikely and too dangerous regardless.


    This was her roots. She knew everything of importance for a hundred miles surrounding the city and then some.


    She could control the danger here, but in a place like Athens, where the first card fall happened and where the first appearance of Dream Weaving Spiders was spotted soon after the apocalypse, her family would be like fish on a chopping block. With more than a hundred people, she would be lucky to save half.


    New Roselee was her rock. She could predict and control many things. It was insane to think of leaving just for better cards.


    It had to be known that several peers with White Silver natal cards were rumored to have died early on due to bad luck, whether it was being killed by a powerful alien, drowned by a swarm, falling from a tall height, or withering up like an old tree.


    Even she almost died dozens of times before reaching her previous heights!


    Celes collected treasures left and right, despite being unsatisfied initially. Adjusting her mindset and realizing the error of her ways, she now saw the good in everything.


    Card masters were rare to begin with. Card masters with full decks were more so, fifteen years later.


    But she now had close to eighty cards just by herself!


    Combat cards, Pet cards, Summoning cards, Legion cards, and Equipment cards! It was a great harvest!


    Screee!


    "Are you happy too, Saphy? We''re rich! No one can stop us. No one!"


    Celes stroked the bumbling Sapphire Beauty as she smiled brightly for the first time in quite a while.


    She could arm an elite troop with just these and sweep through the city!


    Beep.


    Beep.


    Beep.


    "Two hours passed already? Well, it should be ok. Our city wasn''t tossed about like some others."


    Hearing her watch go off Celes realized the Prime Terraforming Event was about to occur. She called back to base.


    "Minnie, has everyone returned to the base? No one met the Stone Cyclops, right?" She tapped her left ear.


    "About that..." came Minnie''s hesitant tone.

 Chapter 10: The Apocalypse Descends! (III)

    ''Shit Shit Shit!¡¯


    Celes rushed to the North of the city on Sapphire.


    The worst-case scenario had occurred. Her sister was curious about the alien monster and went over to the Stone Cyclops'' range of movement. She even tried to save a fleeing family from it with the guns she had given to her as insurance, enraging the monster!


    As if that wasn''t enough, their parents heard about it and rushed to her rescue. Now they were all running from the Stone Cyclops at this very moment!


    "Damn it! Sapphire is fast, but at this stage, she''s not fast enough to get there in time. I can''t boost her with my card energy to increase her speed."


    It took very little time for Celes to make a decision. She had been in tougher scenarios with vaguer priorities, but now it was simple. Her family was and would always be number one, no matter what.


    ¡®I have no choice, I have to use a card!¡¯


    Celes had no way of knowing just how much danger her family was in, and it was better to be safe than sorry.


    Even if she had to sacrifice some precious cards, if it got her there even a little faster, it would be worth it!


    With zero hesitation, Celes took out an Ash Grey card. Its back was covered with a flowing sea of pure grey ashes, like a vat of colored ink. The card face was also simple and only had the image of concentric circles and a droplet of liquid.


    She took out another card. The rear of this one was green and white, with tangled threads spread to the four corners like crystalized plant fibers and resin. Its face had several arrows pointing in one direction.


    Celes poured her card essence into the first card and slammed it into the second.


    Kachak!


    The first card released thick liquefied gas, pouring into the second card before disappearing into nothingness.


    A mysterious aura enveloped the bird and card master, tripling Sapphire''s speed as they surged towards the city''s North. Celes silently prayed for everything to end well.


    *


    A thick growl shook the earth, causing buildings to slightly tremble.


    A 30-foot tall stone-skinned creature with a single giant red eye on its head howled, smashing nearby buildings with a wrecking ball of a wooden club.


    Four-story buildings were turned to rubble in just two swings.


    At this moment, its thick drool was dripping in the wind as it chased a group of people.


    "F-fuck. What the hell is that thing?! Where did it come from?"


    "That''s not important right now! We should run to where it''s safe!"


    "Where the fuck is that?! That thing smashes buildings like they''re made of paper!"


    Crowds of people scattered in all directions from the monstrous creature, some lucky enough to escape, but others were right in its path.


    With the wide swings of its club, people were reduced to bloody mush. Its destructive power did not end there, the flying rubble from broken buildings increased the possibility of injuries and fatalities. Screams, cries of terror, and a strong stench of ammonia emanated from the fleeing crowd.


    A few people noticed the monster was following a specific group and quickly avoided them like the plague.


    "Jasmine, maybe you shouldn''t have provoked it by shooting at it..."


    Celes and Jasmine''s cousin wryly smiled, trying to hold back her blaming tone. Priya felt she was partly responsible, so she couldn''t throw all the accusations at her accomplice and helper.


    It was she who was curious about the appearance of the monster and came to see it with this childhood playmate of hers, convincing her it would be harmless.


    The ignorant were fearless, weren''t they?


    Priya decided from that moment on that she would kill her curiosity before it killed her.


    Well, if she made it out of this one alive.


    Jasmine felt a similar sentiment in regretting her actions. Of course, her tiny guns couldn''t scratch such a fearsome giant. One look at its flesh made it obvious it wasn''t as fragile as humans, even if they had been the same size. Her little pride from being proficient in using the AK-GF5R she had gotten from her sister was crushed into bits seeing the bullets bounce off the giant monster.


    "I was just trying to help that mother and her child. They were defenseless..." Jasmine weakly tried to stand up for herself, but her parents sending glares her way didn''t help.


    In extending a helping hand, she had effectively shifted the aggression to her and her friend, forcing them to rush over here and get involved... even though she never asked them to. Of course, Jasmine would never dare say it out loud and knew to hold her head down when the odds were against her.


    "I''ll deal with you later,¡± vowed her father. ¡°Even without the warnings from your sister, you should have the common sense to stay away from such a monster. Fortunately, its size seems to be slowing it down. As soon as we get out of this street and find a decent path, we should look for a working vehicle and use it to get away."


    Jasmine winced at her father''s calm yet sharp tone. The dreadful sounds from the growling giant behind them continuously sowing the seeds of fear within their group.


    "I''ll try and call Celes,¡± her mother said. ¡°She might have a good way on how to get away from that thing."


    Rebecca noticed Jasmine struggling to say something, but when she remained silent, Rebecca quickly took out the mini radio Celes had given each of her family members and looked for the right channel.


    "Still though, that mother and daughter didn''t even run with us and ran the other way after seeing it chase us. Ungrateful much?" Priya felt the subtle gazes towards her from the couple. Feeling guilty about being the ''bad company'' parents often warned their children about, especially in such a life-or-death situation, she quickly found something to divert attention.


    Falone Greymore was not having it. "It''s understandable. She has to look after her child and should be thinking of her safety. If you can''t help yourself, then helping others not only causes trouble for yourself but can even have the opposite effect. What would you have done if that monster had stomped before chasing us, instead of immediately rushing this way? They would have died anyway and you would have nothing to show for your heroic acts. Think next time before you act." Her father''s words felt like daggers and Jasmine felt this lecture had returned her to the tender age of eight when she had received the most lectures.


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    Screee!


    A giant blue bird suddenly appeared, covered in bright blue flames.


    It flapped its wings in front of the cyclops, sending forth blades of wind.


    However, the thick skin of the monster was unbroken by this attack. It was further enraged.


    "Quick, head back to the base and I''ll take care of this!"


    Hearing that bell-like voice, they all looked up at the back of the bird to find a familiar figure.


    Celes!


    Wait, why was her hair blue?


    "Where did that bird come from?" Jasmine''s mouth was agape from the addition of a new mythical beast shrouded in flames.


    "Celes, are you sure you''ll be alright?" Rebecca Greymore was also taken aback, but her astonishment quickly turned into concern for her daughter.


    "I''ll be fine, Mom!¡± Celes shouted. ¡°Just go. I''ll distract it and regroup with you guys as soon as you get out of harm''s way." She turned Sapphire around to face the Stone Cyclops, having the bird send tongues of blue flame its way.


    Mom?


    Rebecca froze, hearing Celes address her in that name, almost tearing up. But she knew what was more important at this time and she hurriedly urged her family to leave.


    The Stone Cyclops was a second-tier monster with tough defenses and great strength. It has relatively simple intelligence but was still capable of making somewhat good decisions.


    Celes swerved out of reach for another one of the monster''s wide swings.


    The others, especially Jasmine, were left surprised by Celes, but they knew what was important and quickly evacuated, looking back at the awesome spectacle of the two monsters fighting.


    *


    "What exactly is this world coming to? Those things she said before... Could it really be true?"


    Priya held her hand over her mouth as she looked over to the area where the two monsters were now clashing. They were very far away now, but clouds of dust and the sounds of shattering buildings were still traveling to their current location.


    Jasmine, Rebecca, and Falone Greymore all were silent, thinking of Celes.


    They exchanged glances with each other, with subtle meanings and confusion.


    The Cyclops howled, now holding its club with both hands and swinging up a chaotic storm.


    The wind violently lashed at the buildings, shattering more glass. Dust swirled up, the fierce winds and dirt particles assaulting the defenseless Celes on Sapphire''s back.


    ¡®Damn it, I don''t have enough card essence to use the Essence Barrier skill. But I shouldn''t use a barrier-type card either, since I can''t kill the Cyclops and recover the cost. It would just be a giant waste! Even if I wanted to, I can''t find a barrier-type card right now in battle. A card wheel would be heaven-sent right now¡­¡¯


    Celes was struggling to deal with the Cyclops, with the air resistance and rough tossing around on Sapphire''s back during combat, especially with the added flying dust and winds.


    ¡®Sapphire, evasive maneuver V-Delta!¡¯ Celes ordered mentally, but after receiving no response she switched to orally ordering.


    "V-Delta Sapphire!" she cried.


    "Sapphire?!"


    Cawu~?


    Sapphire''s puzzled eyes looked back at her in confusion.


    Celes then realized she had yet to train herself and Sapphire. Their battle experience together was gone!


    Just great!


    There was very little she could do in their current state. Fortunately, her knowledge of Sapphire''s abilities saved her a ton and could be useful even now. No, especially now when she was at a disadvantage.


    Celes quickly touched Sapphire''s feathery head, urging her to a higher altitude. She shared her vision with Sapphire, successfully seeing her family in the far distance with the bird''s eye view.


    This skill took her three years to figure out. Now, she could do it instantly.


    "I can leave now," Celes breathed a sigh of relief, gazing at the rampaging cyclops.


    It was far from the time to engage with such a beast. In terms of danger level, even among the Second Tier, Stone Cyclops were among the strongest. Big, strong, thick defenses. High endurance, strong vitality, and three racial skills. These creatures were a force to be feared. Most importantly, they didn''t rely on spiritual energy much and their combat ability even at this stage was quite high.


    Suddenly, there was a low rumbling and a shrill crack.


    The earth shook and the rifts in the sky opened even wider.


    The world began to shake like it was a beast awoken from its slumber, finding pests on its body and intending to shake them off.


    ***


    O''Brien drifted within an otherworldly realm, his senses enveloped in a boundless ocean of ethereal waters. In this dreamlike expanse, a solitary eye, vast and luminous, opened from the void above, its gaze piercing the veil of his slumber. This eye, resplendent in amber gold, bore an almost human-like quality, yet held the mysteries of ancient, unfathomable depths.


    Surrounded by a dense, enigmatic fog that sparkled with the essence of distant stars, this celestial mist clung together like cosmic jelly, undulating with the ferocity of a tempest-tossed sea. O''Brien felt an overwhelming aura of majesty and awe radiating from within this nebulous veil, signaling the presence of a being beyond mortal comprehension, akin to a deity.


    As the dim, twilight world around him suddenly erupted into brilliant light, the fog dissipated, revealing an awe-inspiring, majestic entity. Its form was colossal, an ethereal mirage that seemed simultaneously distant, yet vividly present.


    This majestic creature was an amalgamation of the fantastical and the divine; it bore the horns of a regal stag, the head of a wise camel, rabbit-like eyes exuding serenity, a serpentine neck, and a clam''s rounded belly. Its body was adorned with fishlike scales, shimmering in translucent grey, each scale a fortress of strength. Muscles rippled beneath this armored exterior, causing the very fabric of space to quiver with their latent power. Its serpentine form, supported by eagle-like claws and tiger-like paws, trailed through the grey fog, which clung to it like tattered robes of royalty.


    Above, the sky transformed into a deep, golden canvas, adorned with clouds that veiled a radiant luminescence, while stars shone with an ethereal clarity against the backdrop of nine azure moons. A celestial river, turbid yellow and dirty, meandered across this cosmic tapestry, with ephemeral spirits and lost souls surfacing within its currents.


    Opposite this heavenly river stood a colossal gate, towering higher than the mightiest of mountains. Crafted from gold, bronze, bone, and pearls, it stood as a sentinel in the heavens.


    While O''Brien''s gaze was captivated by these various celestial wonders, the Grey Dragon''s gaze drew his attention earthward. Below, an endless legion of the undead raised their heads in reverence. Clad in battle-worn armor, they spanned a spectrum from ethereal wisps to towering giants and monstrous beings, an uncountable army that bowed in unison.


    "Hail the Dragon God of Death! Hail the Sovereign of the Grey Expanse and Netherworld Descent! Hail! Hail! Hail!" Their cries, some beyond his hearing, others beyond comprehension filled the air. They chanted a great many things. Oddly, the overwhelming majority of words escaped his hearing and only a select few were clear.


    As O''Brien''s vision began to blur, the dragon locked eyes with him, unleashing a roar that resonated through his very soul. In a fleeting moment, his perspective merged with the dragon''s, granting him a glimpse through its ancient, all-seeing eyes.


    A shining crown descended onto his head as the dragon, its light shining brighter and brighter.


    And then, all was darkness.


    *


    O''Brien came covered in dust and rubble, in the very same place he fell unconscious.


    "What was that¡­ strange dream?" He held his forehead as it throbbed slightly.


    Long strands of hair lightly caressed his arm.


    O''Brien immediately noticed something was wrong.


    His hair was longer and as white as a ghost, reaching below his waist, almost touching the ground, and his skin was a very pale grey. His muscles were also chiseled and tighter. Hell, he even seemed taller.


    O''Brien''s amber eyes lifted his arms in astonishment.


    "The card factor manifestation? But my compatibility with card energy was low tier¡­"


    Were the rumors true?


    Wait, that means ¡ª


    "I was successful in fusing the natal card!" he cried out in confused excitement.


    A flood of emotions bubbled in his hesitant heart. The wishfulness, uncertainty, and fear all disappeared in smoke, replaced by a sludge of vibrant emotions.


    Images from the future past flashed through his eyes like a movie reel. Memories. Memories of pain, struggle, sadness, futility, weakness, hatred, love and fear.


    He dropped to his knees, facing the sky from the ruined ceiling.


    O''Brien let out a deep laughter. He laughed gently at first, in soothing relaxation and triumph, then his laughs grew louder and deeper, almost with a tinge of the loss of sanity. He laughed the hardest and longest he had ever laughed before.


    The tears leaking from his face gave him no sense of self-hate, sadness, and shame as they so often had.


    He was one huge step forward. His new future was starting to look possible.

 Chapter 11: The Apocalypse Descends! (IV)

    Explosions and repeated gunfire echoed in the city below, snapping O''Brien out of his reflection.


    "There are monsters! Run!" a man cried.


    "All citizens please be advised that there is a current situation in the city requiring all residents to stay indoors as much as possible while the military handles it,¡± someone on a screen neutrally said. ¡°All those currently outside or far from home, please head to the following locations..."


    "What the fuck!! It''s eating his brains ¡ª Th-that giant bug!"


    "Mom! Grab my hand, grab my hand!"


    "You there! Head to the nearest evacuation point and get out of the way!"


    Outside was noisy.


    O''Brien wiped his face and dusted himself off. He was tempted to look within his card aperture to see how it had changed. Maybe his card slots increased? If the rumor about the card factor and natal cards was true, then perhaps the one about card slots was also true.


    But...


    "I don''t have time to waste¡­¡± he muttered under his breath. ¡°I should hurry up and grab all the cards I can. I need a few sealing and storage cards for everything in the storage lockers. Logging them around everywhere just as they are would be a pain. A few good combat cards and other auxiliary cards wouldn''t be too bad either."


    His heart was incredibly itchy, even his willpower tempered by fifteen years of the apocalypse was almost broken by hitting his weak spot.


    He couldn''t wait to see how he had changed in detail due to the still unknown quality natal card. He could already feel some indescribable changes within himself. The best he could describe it was that he was no longer purely ''mortal''.


    ¡®In hindsight, I should''ve probably gotten a drone or something to monitor where the higher-ranked cards have fallen to better find them now but can''t cry over spilled milk.¡¯


    O''Brien felt a little embarrassed about such an oversight, even after traveling back in time, but he didn''t beat himself up too badly.


    He wasn''t even a hundred percent sure he would be successful in taming the natal card and even had a backup suicide plan ready.


    He was even... slightly looking forward to failing.


    It couldn''t be helped. No one could be certain about taming such a mysterious natal card. Men on the level of Blue Phoenix and even a tier below her were said to barely match their natal cards in the wild, even with the force of an elite troop behind them.


    Once activated, creature cards like the Blue Flame Phoenix, gain higher-level intelligence and they were far more adept at using their abilities than they were. Without humans tying them down, their combat power was several levels higher on their own.


    It was clear that in nature, the cards many humans wielded, the monster summon cards in particular, were capable of a lot more than they could manage using their power via cards.


    Killing monsters for cards was very difficult since they knew how to run, plot, and hold grudges. Some might say their intelligence even surpasses humans at times.


    There were stories of a few people hunting activated card monsters, only for them to self-implode and commit suicide, preventing their card forms from being formed.


    The standard method of obtaining cards was to kill the related monsters or subdue the related supernatural phenomena, but how could you when you were just a weak mortal?


    To do so, one must gain strength by using cards.


    Even if you left your natal card position free and resisted fusing it, you would not be able to surpass the realm of Card Apprentice (Tier 0) without a natal card.


    Moreover, without fusing the natal card, your basic strength would be incredibly weak, and using powerful cards to fight was that much more cumbersome with their various activation requirements.


    Guns affected only low-ranked monsters and aliens. The death rate of doing this was also exponentially higher than one would expect.


    And how can a weak Card Apprentice match the power of a higher-ranked being several times stronger than them? Through cards, of course!


    Low-ranked cards were ineffective against great beings, so a high-ranked card was needed. But you could only use cards that matched your level, so how could you kill and subdue a high-quality card as your natal card?


    Such was the conundrum, almost a carbon copy of the spending money to make money scenario, or getting experience for an entry-level job that also required industry experience.


    So to obtain powerful cards without external help, the Genesis Card Fall was the only viable option for humanity.


    "Well, everything worked out, so I got to move into the next phase." O''Brien was filled with energy and a new outlook on life.


    "All citizens please be advised that there is a current situation in the city requiring all residents to stay indoors as much as possible while the military handles it. All those currently outside or far from home, please head to the following locations..."


    He looked down at the city below him before he jumped down from the 41st floor with his newfound epic strength!


    In his heart at least.


    Reality was different, while he would have liked to do that, the basic strength of a Tier Zero Card Apprentice was not so exaggerated. He had just become a Card Master and was in the first realm of Tier Zero''s four sub-realms. Without cards, the basic human strength was so-so even after enhancement.


    He just fetched his slightly battered jetpack and did a few equipment tests before jumping down through the shattered glass window. The 41st floor was now the top floor after all the above floors vanished into nothingness.


    ¡®The Prime Terraforming Transformation should be happening soon, so I gotta hurry.¡¯


    Without being too proud of himself although he was deserving of it, O''Brien quickly got to his feet and began executing his follow-up plans.


    Everything beyond this point was a bonus for him; he already had the most precious and vital thing. The natal card was the most important and irreplaceable thing to evolve in the apocalypse.


    Battle cards, equipment, food, shelter, allies, and so on were all important, but these were all easily obtainable with a good natal card. To put it simply, everything else could be lost, but not the natal card. It was even more a part of a person than their limbs! People could still cut off limbs but no one can cut out their natal card.


    In this early period, many people, other than ''Blessed Ones'' or ''God''s Favored'' whose natal cards had sought them out from afar, did not know how to awaken the card aperture. So this first set of Card Masters was destined to monopolize a lot of the good cards. Therefore some individuals argued that the Gold Rush period was actually until normal people began awakening their aperture. Based on this he had a lot of time.


    *


    The decaying buildings groaned ominously, soon to be mere shells, ready to crumble after endless days of this waking nightmare, with added shock from the terraforming that was soon to happen.


    Below, unearthly horrors skittered through the streets¡ªmonstrous beetles the size of cars relentlessly hunting the screeching and fleeing humans. The largest were as big as cars, and the smallest, were the size of dogs.


    Their rounded, three-part heads were revolting, but the curved, sickle-like mouthparts were the stuff of pure nightmare fuel, serving only the most sinister purpose.


    Darkly iridescent shells shone in the dim light, reflecting wavering colors that made the skin crawl. Segmented blade-like legs carried them with unnatural speed and agility, streamlined bodies built for hunting.


    Stolen story; please report.


    But their most depraved and terrifying aspect was not the mouthparts, instead it was their gruesome rapid reproductive methods.


    "Ahhhh! No, please!" Blood-curdling screams echoed through the streets, drowning out the constant gunfire rattling off their shells.


    "Dad! Oh god, Dad!"


    "It tore his head open! It''s laying eggs in his brain! I can hear them squirming!"


    "Mom! Mom, where are you?!"


    "Somebody save me!"


    The beetles pinned people with their bladed legs, splitting their skulls with sickle mouths. They regurgitated eggs from their pulpy abdominal cavity. The eggs swiftly hatched within seconds, bursting heads in a shower of gore, and greedily devouring the corpse remains.


    At the sight, many doubled over, retching as they cried for their mothers, both young and old. None were spared from the paroxysms of horror.


    Over the madness rang the endless gunfire of military vehicles¡ªtheir only chance for survival. In reckless desperation, people hurled themselves towards the barrage, even into the line of fire.


    "Get back, you fools! Priority is extermination, no matter the cost! If you rush the line, your death is your own doing! Back up!"


    The squadron of armored vehicles mounted with guns unleashed a thunderous storm of bullets upon the chitinous demons, heedless of collateral damage.


    "Fucking unbelievable. Not only do we have to deal with these alien bug-like creatures with turtle shells, but we still have to try and not slaughter the fools who jump in our line of fire to help.¡±


    ¡°And still no fucking word from HQ. What are those pencil pushers doing? Where are the choppers? The tanks! The damn missiles!" A middle-aged man smoking a thick cigar dressed in a standard military outfit bit his cigar in frustration.


    "Captain, Second Lieutenant, Those larger bugs..." one soldier cautiously began after observing a few bugs still in the process of laying eggs in human skulls outside of their current firing range.


    "Yeah, we see it. After laying eggs those bigger ones get a bit slower, a tad smaller, and their shells soften a bit making them easier to kill. But their armor strength is already exaggerated enough. The fuckers can stand heavy machine gunfire for more than five seconds before they start breaking apart from the barrage of rounds."


    Having served for over a decade, being deployed on various battlegrounds, the platoon commander could still make observations himself.


    But what made his skin crawl was the solemn look on his second lieutenant''s face, a man with a background in biology and medicine serving as the de facto field medic in many cases.


    "How bad is it?" The captain asked.


    In the background came the reoccurring announcement. "All citizens please be advised that there is a current situation in the city requiring all residents to stay indoors as much as possible while the military handles it. All those currently outside or far from home, please head to the following locations..."


    "Very bad,¡± was the lieutenant''s grave reply. ¡°The period from laying eggs to hatching is too fast, and the combat ability of the hatchlings is too strong. The speed is not unprecedented but is usually only seen in tiny bugs, mostly ant-sized or less. The big ones are big enough and the babies are already way too big upon birth.


    ¡°Even these little ones can withstand a round of machine gun fire,¡± The second lieutenant surmised. ¡°They are reproducing too fast, but considering the extent of the reports we have about the presence of these creatures... I imagine there were initially only a few, but... the ones in front of us, even the larger ones, were likely eggs not long ago."


    "Fuck," the captain vocalized what every man was feeling right now.


    They already had an inkling as to why HQ had not given them proper instructions other than to eliminate all invaders. And why HQ had minimal contact with them even now, save for some inquiries.


    Their city probably wasn''t the only one suffering from this monster.


    "It''s not all hopeless, although the hatchlings seem to be able to reproduce themselves after reaching an estimated size. If we find and exterminate Bug Zero, we might be able to better suppress the outbreak," the lieutenant guessed.


    "Are you sure?" The captain jumped up in half-excitement.


    "No¡­ I''m as blind as the rest of us in this matter, but it''s a way to start." The second lieutenant felt bad, dousing all their excitement as everyone looked toward him, but he had to be truthful. He had too little info to make a good enough conclusion. This hypothesis was the best he could come up with from his observations.


    Their mouths were busy, but so were their hands and they continued to fire.


    Elsewhere, on a building just out of the reach of the main line of rushing beetles, a white-haired man with a jetpack held the straps as he looked over to the tense battleground.


    "Sickle Beetles huh,¡± O''Brien muttered. ¡°Those fucking abominations. I think I remember those guys mentioning their shit luck¡­¡±


    There should only have been a normal female beetle at first, but it saw the opportunity to become a queen with so many humans as feed. It split off a part of itself and sent out the order to lay eggs to its descendants after birthing them.


    This city sure drew one of the shortest straws possible. Without the undead likely caused by the Grey Dragon, they still weren''t completely off the hook.


    The normal case would have been one or two activated cards causing trouble, which were relatively easy to handle with few fatalities, but they happen to have won the lottery with a type that could reproduce rapidly.


    ¡°Well, at least the male soldiers haven''t been produced yet. One could only imagine if the Dragon card had activated as well."


    O''Brien hypothesized that his Grey Dragon was responsible for this place becoming a forbidden area feared by even the alien races. With him taking it away, the forbidden area should not form. Of course,


    it was just his intuition that felt this likely to be the case.


    But even with his interference, the humans of this city had a tough break in a different-themed hellscape; they still had to deal with the Sickle Beetles harvesting their brains to feed their young. Little did they know that they were spared from an even worse scenario with remnant corpses rising from the dead as zombies or ghosts of the violently killed.


    The corpses and ghosts of your loved ones appeared and tried to kill you. The stuff of horrors that gave you nightmares years later.


    The normal situation was likely a zombie apocalypse in this city due to the Grey Dragon''s brief presence. The zombification of humans meant lacking nutrition, so this would-be-queen never dared to try. Or perhaps the Dragon had somehow deterred her. Whatever the reason, now the bug was trying to be Queen, and this city would suffer if it wasn''t stopped.


    "Well, it has nothing to do with me," He cold-heartedly refocused his attention, not caring too much about the blood-curdling screams. He had heard worse many times over.


    Sometimes it was he who was screaming.


    Many would die no matter what he did. Cards were his obsession now and before.


    O''Brien checked his watch, roughly estimating the remaining time. He whipped out his binoculars before heading towards some other glowing light in the distance.


    *


    On the other side of the main street where havoc was being unleashed, a broken-off line of fewer bugs was also killing and laying eggs left and right. There were only about a dozen now, but the number was rapidly increasing.


    "Leo, baby! Leo!" a woman screamed as a bug snatched her child from her, impaling her right arm to the ground with its blade foot.


    The little boy was scared stiff as his terrified eyes zoomed in on the sickle mouthpiece of the bug covered in blood and broken flesh.


    As the creature was about to bite his head off, a bloody light pushed it backward.


    A woman with blood-red hair and two bat-like black wings appeared, her right arm covered in a bloody light dense enough that it seemed it would drip droplets of blood the very next second. Her body had blood-red roses with thorns tightly gripping her curves, a sight that should have caused pain, but the woman seemed unperturbed.


    "Run," the cool beauty commanded.


    Her posture warily lowered, eyeing the rest of the beetles.


    Huuuak!


    The sickle beetle that was knocked away angrily ran back to the insolent food species, daring to touch it.


    "All citizens please be advised that there is a current situation in the city requiring all residents to stay indoors as much as possible while the military handles it. All those currently outside or far from home, please head to the following locations..."


    Seeing it come back, the mother and child frozen in place seemed to find energy from somewhere and ran away.


    "Th-thank you."


    Hearing the mother thank her, followed by the low voice of the scared child, the bloody woman couldn''t help but smile a little, all the while trying to understand her new reality.


    ¡®What the hell are these things?¡¯


    ¡®And what are these new abilities that suddenly appeared in my mind?¡¯


    ¡®O''Brien you... who are you really¡­?¡¯


    ¡®Whatever the case, I can''t sit idly and let these monsters eat people!¡¯


    Mary Rose was confused by the sudden changes within her, foretold by O''Brien. But her body moved as if through muscle memory.


    She had already killed three bugs before getting here and was somewhat used to her newfound power. There was a special instinct showing her how to use her abilities.


    Channeling the bloody energy to her delicate right hand, she opened her palm to slap the rushing beetle.


    *


    Elsewhere Roya was similarly baffled, seeing bugs rampage as she took the high ground and set up her custom sniper rifle. Her backpack set behind her was glowing brightly in different colors.


    *


    "Hurry run this way. Come now, hurry up." Lea tapped her thighs and slightly bent down as she urged the small children to evacuate underground to one of the city shelters.


    She had a medical kit on the ground but something was strapped to her inner thigh just below her skirt, its content''s bright glow hardly being concealed.


    ¡®That student of Rose¡­ So he wasn''t mentally challenged. But it doesn''t make this any less crazy.¡¯


    *


    "Cards, right? They''re important." Jules clasped her hand over her pounding heart, seeing the bugs eat another human.


    She hadn''t collected any cards at first and was busy trying to find where they had been locked up to try and rescue her aunt. Then she encountered her first man-eating bug.


    She was tempted to rush out and help the victims, but the size of the bugs and their terrifying mouths discouraged her. She hid for a while, then she remembered what else O''Brien had said.


    Seeing the bright lights flickering in the distance, close yet far away like stars, she took a deep breath and sprinted.

 Chapter 12: Devil’s Crusade New World (I)

    "What the hell is going on? Why is there another earthquake?!"


    "The fuck? As if the first ones a few days ago weren''t enough! My fucking garden is still deep underground, beside my great-grandfather! I spent hard labor and fifty thousand dollars on those fucking bushes over the past 15 years."


    "For crying out loud, when will it end!"


    "Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Take me, oh Lord!"


    "Mashallah. To him, we shall return. Astaghfirullah."


    "No work today either it seems..."


    Such sayings circulated throughout their little city of New Roselee, California, yet they had missed the brunt of the force of the global expansion.


    The space between buildings and streets weirdly expanded about 2-3 times more than before.


    The sky churned tumultuously, reminiscent of an approaching storm, as immense waves surged forth from fissures in the heavens. These waves, bearing the force of an atomic bomb yet devoid of its radiation and lethal effects, undulated through the air with a powerful, unnatural intensity, resembling a fierce wind that transformed into a tangible, dynamic force.


    Boom!


    This continued for over 30 minutes.


    With a low rumble, it concluded, although in the span of a few minutes, such drastic changes had taken place. At the edge of the city, you would find the city outskirts now foreign as there were now brown barren rocky stretches of land as far as the eye could see, with sharp wailing winds in the distance.


    "Minnie. Minnie, how''s everything?" Celes quickly tapped her ear, hoping to hear something.


    But the line was dead.


    As expected, the energy shockwave knocked out all of the communications. Getting them back up would take a while.


    Fortunately, she had known this would happen and detailed instructions were given.


    "I just need to find Mom and the rest, then regroup with everyone else. Hm..."


    Hearing the howls and roars echoing from different areas, Celes slapped her forehead.


    ¡®Of course, the surge activated quite a few cards, I''d imagine. It''d be the strong and feisty ones waking up so early, too.¡¯


    Hearing some complaining citizens nearby harping on the devastating earthquake, Celes shook her head.


    ¡°They don''t know how easy we have it. It''s estimated that just now... 2 billion people died.¡±


    A horrifying number. Almost a fifth of humanity.


    *


    And so it was elsewhere, even in the surrounding California region, it had started simultaneously.


    Across the state of California, the seismic rumbling began as a faint trembling felt deep below. But soon it amplified into an earth-rending roar. Up and down the coast, the ground fractured and heaved upward, beaches crumbling into the rising ocean.


    In Los Angeles, the Hollywood Hills thrust violently skyward, mansions breaking apart and sliding down the steepening slopes. The Hollywood sign collapsed, its enormous letters tumbling down the quaking hillsides. Along the coast, the Santa Monica pier splintered and dissolved into the crashing waves.


    Further inland, the San Andreas Fault ruptured, triggering massive quakes across Southern California. In Palm Springs, the earth split open, swallowing whole neighborhoods into vast chasms. Golf courses collapsed into sinkholes, while country clubs and luxury hotels were ripped apart.


    In the Central Valley farmlands, orchards were uprooted and tractor-trailers tossed end over end as the fertile soil rippled and deformed under the force of the expansion. Mountains burst forth among the fields, their jagged peaks climbing miles overhead.


    From San Francisco to San Diego, cities groaned as roads warped and buildings collapsed. Coastal freeways crumbled into the sea, while suburbs were inundated by surging waters. Terrified residents could only flee for their lives as their state was violently transformed within moments. All of California was at the mercy of a planet expanding beneath it, no part of the landscape left untouched by the upheaval.


    *


    Sometime before the global expansion in Monvec, Europe, the captain was doing his best with his ragtag team of soldiers who were at the base before emergency deployment.


    His scouts sent back some important information. "Sir! Abnormal situation and person reported four hundred meters eastward."


    "What is it, soldier?" He grabbed the radio.


    "Person using superpowers to kill hostile aliens, sir!"


    They looked at each other, slight confusion and surprise on their faces.


    "Keep a safe distance and maintain radio contact, Private. Monitor their every move." He lowered the radio, looking around solemnly.


    "Lieutenant, man our current position,¡± he ordered, ¡°Continue North as we planned, down Main Street. Jones, Schmidt, Petit, and Durand with me. Move, soldiers!"


    The captain quickly headed to the reported position, taking out as many bugs as they could en route. They had already made trips back to base for ammo, but even so, wartime consumption was heavy and rapid. Before long the base would have no ammo and still no word from HQ.


    *


    Lea helped some fleeing individuals to shelters as she sought out more cards. Gathering information as she went, she left the second hospital she could make it to, where she had hoped to grab essentials. It was clear the guy¡¯s words weren''t drug-birthed or empty drunken ramblings; the apocalypse had indeed come and resources were now a treasure.


    "We''re somewhere in Monvec, Europe. And these past seven days have filled up the hospital wards and caused millions and billions in property damage."


    They had been captured for most of the seven-day mayhem but word of all seven days was on the tip of everyone''s tongue, though the various happenstances today were looking to mark this as the crown jewel and the most terrible as said by the survivors.


    Lea felt her head was going to explode the very next minute from stress.


    *


    Roya wasn''t left out of collecting cards. "Coppery green number two. Supposedly a good one, I think. Ashy Grey, Blackish Iron, Copper Green, and Rusted Steel, I think he said. Wait, I think Stone is there somewhere. Is it¡­Grey Stone?"


    She sniped quite a few bugs, but even her kill shots didn''t kill the cockroach-like bastards. For once, she felt like a seven-year-old again, back when she needed at least three shots to down a target.


    Running low on ammo, she was back to gathering cards again. So far she had four Grey Ash-grade cards, two Black Iron-grade cards, and two Green Copper-grade cards.


    "Still, this is hell on earth," she muttered through gritted teeth.


    Seeing car-sized bugs kill and lay eggs in people, the eggs hatching and devouring the corpses, was far from a pretty sight. She had seen some pretty horrible shit in her day, but this was the most unnerving and disgusting scene her eyes had ever taken in.


    ¡®What the fuck was really going on?¡¯ She wondered.


    *


    Mary Rose heightened her bug kill count to twelve before she heard some shouts.


    Exhausted, she slowly turned around. Seeing guns pointed at her, she slowly raised her hands high up.


    "Wie hei?t du?" the lead brutish fellow bellowed, the mouth of his gun not shifting from its point to her head for a second.


    Mary Rose froze a bit. Her German was rusty and she only rehearsed a few phrases well, but she was sure he asked her for her name. Before she could answer, the man''s eyes flickered and he switched to English.


    ¡°Your name.¡±


    ¡®Well, that''s better, I suppose.¡¯


    Rose stated her name. Guns were convincing enough, plus she knew she wasn''t bulletproof. At least she didn''t think so, and she didn''t want any trouble.


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    "Mary Rose, is it? Who and what are you? What do you know about¡­" he gestured at the nightmare around them, ¡°...all this?¡±


    There she was stuck.


    After all, she didn''t actually know anything.


    ***


    "Times about running out now,¡± muttered O''Brien. ¡°I''ve got all the cards I could get a hold of. Hell, even a gold one made it in.¡±


    He checked his watch. ¡°If I stay too long, I might miss the meeting with Rose, which would be problematic. I spent too much effort on my baby and those storage lockers to lose them all. A Black Iron-grade [Storage Ring], Blue Stone-grade [Traveler''s Backpack], and Blue Stone-grade [Sealing Card] should be enough to store everything just barely.¡±


    Checking his watch one final time, he tapped his empty jetpack tanks, and was tempted to throw the jetpack away but decided to keep the piece of junk for sentiments.


    ¡°I would prefer to have some others of the same type as insurance though. Hopefully, Rose and her friends won''t let me down. I got seventeen cards above Grey Ash so it isn''t a bad haul at all."


    O''Brien had looked upon the Grey Ash-grade cards with scorn and disgust but, as time passed, he realized they were still worth something. He should know; that card grade kept him alive for almost ten years!


    "A dollar¡ªhell, even a cent¡ªis still money after all."


    Though if they sold for money, the lowest monetary value for a Grey Ash card would sell for around thirty thousand dollars.


    However, no one was dumb enough to do that, because money was wastepaper in the apocalypse.


    *


    The Three Ring Tower of Monvec was among the 15 wonders of Europe. Although this was a city of less than ten years, it had achieved marvels in architecture due to advancements in technology and the gathering of skilled workers and intelligent minds.


    The Three-Ring Tower stood as a testament to architectural innovation with its stony triple-ring design. The outermost ring buzzed with public activities, housing a glass-paneled facade that opened to shopping areas, eateries, and cultural spaces, interspersed with cascading greenery.


    Enclosed within, the middle ring offered a serene residential haven, featuring eco-friendly, adaptable living spaces with private sky gardens. At its core, the inner ring formed the commercial hub, equipped with high-tech offices and collaborative spaces, fostering a vibrant center for business and innovation. Interconnected by sky bridges and panoramic elevators, this architectural marvel seamlessly integrated bustling community life, private living, and professional environments into a harmonious, self-contained vertical city mall, community district, and office building.


    O''Brien chose this building because of its position near the center of the city, with telescopes on the outskirts of the third and first ring. Its height as the third tallest building in the city was also suitable; any overlooked cards would be clear from this viewpoint. The stronger the card, the brighter the glow, so they were hard to miss even if obscured a little.


    However, O''Brien was not the first to get there.


    Jules sat down on a bench near the telescopes as O''Brien had so fleetingly mentioned. Cursing for a bit, she was lost, not remembering where they were supposed to meet. He only said it once at the end of a very heavy sentence about the wacky apocalypse which, as it turned out, was not him going crazy but the world, clear as day through the telescopes.


    Having some time she inspected these so-called magical cards. She had managed to collect ten, but two stood out the most. They were reddish bronze, which she believed he had said were amongst the most valuable...


    Well, 60% sure.


    The first card bore an image of intricate winged sandals. Bronze feathers adorned the straps, etched with lifelike precision. Near the heels, small wings were poised for flight. Tiny serpents coiled around the straps, onyx eyes glinting. Strange runes edged the mercury-fluid soles. They radiated an energy promising mythic voyages, their enchantment conveying the wearer across vast realms in the blink of an eye. The magical card was not printed with ink nor made of mortality; the sandals exuded an aura of adventure, ready to bear a hero aloft on transports of glory.


    The second card was a bit weirder. The card depicted two ethereal angels, their wings arched gracefully as they hovered in the air. Between them, they tenderly held a crimson thread. The thin cord connected the angels, binding them together as they gazed into each other''s eyes. Their hands delicately kept the thread taut between them, protecting the fragile bond. The crimson strand seemed to glow with latent magic, promising affection and desire for those tied by its power. Unlike normal pigments on cardstock, the image was rich with love''s symbolism engraved with magical techniques onto the card-like object. A timeless representation of intimacy and fate''s role in romance.


    Both cards were magical and evoked feelings within her, but while Jules felt a heroic calling from the card with boots, the one with two angels made her nostalgic about her parents as they were now apart.


    "So, you''re here first¡­ That''s a surprise," a calm and cheery voice sounded.


    Jules jumped up to see Roya. The two of them had always gotten along well enough, although they had only met less than ten times in total before it all.


    "Yeah... The world has turned to hell. I was starting to wonder if I''m the crazy one. Still feeling like it''s all a dream."


    Roya grew quiet. Even now she felt the world was crazier than the minds of a dozen madmen.


    A third voice suddenly appeared, walking up to them.


    "I keep thinking I''m in the craziest dream, and I''ll wake up any minute,¡± Lea''s soft voice echoed down the hall. ¡°My coffee gone cold by my desk¡­spilling as I stretch on my precious work documents I''ve been doing for weeks, forcing me to decipher the smudges and rewrite the lost contents from memory, mumbling why I agreed to do this."


    She must have run here, but she didn''t seem physically tired at all.


    The women found themselves weary, talking about the craziness of it all, and most of all their previous captor.


    The enigma.


    The time seemed to pass slowly as they conversed, until they heard a group approaching and saw them as well.


    "Put away the cards, Jules," Roya ordered in a discreet tone as she put down the bag with her low-round sniper rifle and brought out her two pistols, aiming them forward.


    Jules did as she was told and hung back as well.


    Lea''s eyes narrowed as she stood beside Roya.


    "She doesn''t seem completely unwilling," she said.


    "Not entirely willing either," Roya responded.


    The group slowly approached with guns drawn, seeing Roya armed and on target.


    "You scared them," Lea chuckled.


    "They should be if they don''t stop pointing their guns at us."


    The captain spoke cautiously. "Ladies, we don''t mean any trouble. All we want is to meet this O''Brien fellow." His men flanked him, with two on Rose as ordered.


    "Well, it sure doesn''t seem like it to me,¡± quipped Roya before she added with a smirk. ¡°Why don''t you make us ladies feel safe and lower your guns?"


    The other two women were staring at Rose''s new look with gusto.


    Her hair was now so red, it was as if it was dripping blood. And those roses and thorns tightly wrapped around her, what were they?


    The standoff drew on with no one willing to back down.


    "What''s this now, army pups?" a calm voice interrupted the scene with light steps from the shadows, originating from the line of telescopes to the left.


    A white-haired man with tight muscles and well-defined collarbones, dressed in dirty ragged clothes and a strange backpack device on his back, revealed himself with a nonchalant smile.


    O''Brien looked at Rose surrounded by soldiers. Without a thought, he knew her soft heart was the cause of the current situation.


    Blessed Ones were typically the strongest solely because their compatibility with their cards was sky high; they were loved by their natal cards.


    If Rose wanted to truly resist, even he would have difficulty stopping her. This was evident through Rose defeating several bugs head-on with just her natal card. Currently, O''Brien could not do the same.


    "Hm. Whatever. We don''t have time for this,¡± O''Brien nonchalantly said, waving a hand of dismissal. ¡°It should be happening in a few minutes and some things are still left undone. So, get lost, army pups. I don''t have time for you."


    The ex-military troops were a part of many gangs, guilds, and groups. Both partially and fully integrated among them, but the current active military were usually of the pro-country factions trying to restore the past nations from the ruins, members of the path of restoration.


    The ones O''Brien crossed paths with the most were the second group of pro-country faction loyalists closer to the path of conquerors. They were loyal to the military and their brothers in arms, not the government officials or the traditional image of their country. The country they sought to restore was one of ideals. One that never existed to begin with. It was an odd thing, how a simple idea and belief could end up on such a tangent, how a single group joined by beliefs would once again branch off into so very different paths. They wanted to carve out their piece of the world, and you were either with them or against them.


    The military regimes.


    Early apocalypse, they treated ordinary people like trash, servants at best.


    Sad to say he was a part of that. He couldn''t fight for shit in the beginning. He learned later on simply because he had to, in order to survive. Even then, until about five years in, he was no match for any military man hand to hand.


    The ones still alive, anyway.


    He even got brutally beaten by one squad and was in bed for weeks, a very dangerous thing in end times. He almost didn''t make it, so naturally he didn''t have a good impression of them.


    "Mr O''Brien, right?¡± the leader excitedly began to speak to O''Brien. ¡°What you know is too impor¡ª"


    "Forget it. Girls with me. I won''t repeat myself,¡± O''Brien cut in, then turned to walk away. ¡°We''re leaving."


    But the man wouldn''t have it.


    "Mr O''brien! I''m afraid I can''t allow you to leave. If you could just ¡ª"


    "What a goddamn waste of my time and energy¡­" O''Brien groaned.


    ¡®A few days from now at the rate I''m getting stronger I can make short work of them in seconds. Currently, it''ll take minutes barehanded. I also can''t afford stray bullets hitting Rose, although she''s already awakened her aperture and has her natal card, it''s better safe than sorry.¡¯


    "Guess it can''t be helped."


    O''Brien turned to the uneasy leader, taking out two Ash Grey cards.


    "It''s unlikely I''ll see you again, but if that is the case, take this as a warning. I''m in a good mood now, so I won''t kill you. Bother me again and I won''t even waste this much breath on you."


    That was the last thing the men heard and after a flash of light, all five soldiers dropped to the ground, unconscious. They and the ladies barely saw what happened, except for Rose.


    Bright balls of light and an eyeball?


    O''Brien walked over to the unconscious men, checking if they had anything of value on them, although he knew it was unlikely. Little did he know, they did indeed collect a few cards but they either had stored them in safes or had already sent them off to their higher-ups.


    ¡®Should I kill them anyway? Wait, technically I''ve been reborn, so I haven''t killed a single soul yet. My hands are clean!¡¯


    The epiphany shocked O''Brien greatly. The sin and blood on his hands were washed away now!


    Briefly frozen in shock, hearing the women''s approach caused him to regain some clarity of mind.


    "Chop-chop now," he softly said to the still shocked women, his thoughts in chaos.


    What a crazy thing it was, for your bad deeds to be undone. It was a converted priest¡¯s wettest dream.


    "Is¡­ is it alright to leave them like this?" Rose asked, her brows creased in worry.


    "Is it really the Apocalypse? Why is it happening?" Jules blurted out, stepping closer to him, pressing for answers.


    O''Brien merely waved at them in answer as he walked away. His train of thoughts were chugging down a deeper track.


    ¡®What should I do now then? Avoid killing? Keep my hands clean? Make others do the killing for me? What others? Is keeping my hands clean that important? Can it realistically be avoided in the apocalypse?¡¯


    For the first time since he returned months ago, O''Brien was at war within himself.

 Chapter 13: Devil’s Crusade New World (II)

    O''Brien''s worldview was once again overturned somehow. After all he¡¯d been through. He couldn''t help but think of the first time he saw lava and hail both fall from the sky.


    How ludicrous. How incredibly ludicrous.


    His kills and the sins associated with them were all erased. No need for atonement or anything. Just gone. Like a bad dream.


    Only now did it truly sink in how much of a clean slate he was given.


    His brain now mirrored the women following him and many humans currently trying to comprehend the dawn of the new world.


    Faced with the thoughts wriggling uncomfortably in his head like worms, he used the tried and true method he had used months prior to cement and detail his plans for the future.


    That future was now becoming the present as did his future prior to returning in time has become his past. He was so confused he defaulted to his high-pressure decision-making mechanism.


    O¡¯Brien had crafted a system¡ªfive pillars to anchor his mind when the weight of decision-making threatened to drag him under. It was supposed to bring clarity, to cut through the fog of uncertainty. Pros and cons, wants and effectiveness, and always the attempt to see from a third-person¡¯s perspective. A structured path, a method to keep him from drowning in hesitation or worse, indecisiveness.


    "Pros of having my sins erased¡­ A brand new start, the chance to do things differently. Cons... Belief system overturned, and mental pressure to do what''s right to maintain that purity, I guess.¡±


    He still found it difficult to believe that was even crossing his mind.


    ¡°I never had the chance or privilege of making my own choices for events as big and meaningful as this. I¡¯ve always been pushed around by the currents. What do I want?¡± he brooded shortly.


    It took a while for him to clearly structure his feelings and subliminal beliefs into words.


    ¡°Same as always; peace, comfort, luxury, power, and no headaches. Most effective method to achieve this? Hm, pending for discovery, I guess."


    Somethings out of his cognition would remain that way.


    ¡°What would a person seeing me from afar or above say? Probably something like¡­ kill as little as possible, human life is valuable; something of that nature."


    O''Brien felt that even if he was clear and understanding of the stakes at hand, it didn''t make it any easier to decide what to do.


    Why was he given such responsibility over himself all of a sudden?


    Responsibility was such a heavy burden.


    How did people handle such great responsibilities like little blank slates in the form of little humans who relied on their inputs for growth?


    He couldn¡¯t imagine the pressure¡­. Well, now he could somewhat.


    ''Fuck it all. I''ll handle it as it comes.''


    Finally letting in the noise he was drowning out, he surveyed the surroundings for a car to use, only to hear a loud voice screaming at him.


    Four faces wearing different expressions surrounded him.


    Jules was currently fuming and vocal, having raised her voice to get his attention. Rose was conflicted as she looked at herself like her own body was now a stranger to her. She snuck glances at him, while both Lea and Roya were quiet as they stared at him.


    "What?" He impatiently clicked his tongue, being interrupted from his thoughts.


    "What exactly is going on? The apocalypse, cards, those horrifying bugs ¡ª You haven''t explained a single goddamn thing!" Jules clamored. She has had it with this douchebag. She had felt it when they first met, but this guy was purely insufferable!


    Sure, he wasn''t crazy as they had once thought, but didn''t he know how to act human?!


    She clenched her fists and wondered how she would fare if she punched him right now.


    The urge grew stronger by the minute.


    Oblivious or pretending as much, O''Brien paused at the boiling young lady.


    "Lesson one in surviving the apocalypse, love: You''re not entitled to an explanation,¡± he replied cooly. ¡°Information is very valuable. It can mean the difference between life and death quite literally. Wait, that''s¡­ lesson nine or whatever. Anyways, what I want to say is, the part crosses with lesson one; nothing is ever for free. True before and truer now." He didn¡¯t even bother to face her for longer than a second.


    He turned, looking up at a building with two and a half cars embedded in the windows and walls.


    The tornado-like winds from the hurricane calamity in the past week did a number on the infrastructure. Cars especially suffered a lot.


    They were tossed like ragdolls and shattered like metallic pinatas. Needless to say, insurance was not an option for anyone. That business had a colossal downfall from the sheer quantity of claims and was completely bankrupt.


    Abandoned cars were everywhere, but some could still be used.


    Lea spoke up. "You''re doing something right, now aren''t you? You need a car right? Information is valuable, so can you at least shed some light for us if we you help out?" She stepped forward, nudging the shaking Jules backward and away from O''Brien.


    The head of strawberry blonde hair was having a semi-seizure of pure rage from O''Brien''s dismissive attitude. In all her years on God''s green Earth, she had never met such a massive dickwad. She wanted to beat some manners into him, but she knew she couldn''t win upon further thought. Which made it ever more frustrating for her.


    Lea, ever the expert in human behaviour, quickly intervened, distancing the two while trying to get more information out of O''Brien as well.


    As it stood, they were all in the dark.


    The fear of darkness was not just a fear of the lack of light. It was the unknown dwelling within the shadows that truly inspired primal fear.


    O''Brien briefly stopped spinning his head about and responded half-heartedly. "Here''s a smart one¡­ You''ll survive long enough with that attitude, if your luck doesn''t run out.¡±


    He tilted his head as if in thought. ¡°But you''ve overlooked one thing. My information and the value of your help is incomparable. Also, I''m looking for a car to help you guys out, not me." With that, he continued looking.


    Jules finally snapped. "What made you such a gigantic douche! Did your mother not love you when you were a kid?!" She had it with his pissant attitude thick with social aversion.


    Did he not have human decency?


    Unfortunately, she failed to solicit the response. Instead, she was the one still shaking in anger.


    ¡®My mother loved me very much actually¡­¡¯ O''Brien thought to himself.


    "The Cards,¡± Roya asserted, breaking the stalemate. ¡°They''re valuable, right? If we give them to you, could you give us more information then?"


    "Good job. Now you''re thinking, but try again,¡± he gruffly remarked. ¡°I will obviously take your most valuable cards for payment for giving you the power to use those cards. It''s only fair." O''Brien once again erected another roadblock to their hearty attempts at gaining knowledge.


    Unlike Jules who was still young and fresh, the other two had been in society long enough to meet different types of people and had learned how to handle all the quirky ones. Of course, even for them, O''Brien was a tough nut to crack. It was like he lived in a cave before and the fact that he had to endure human contact was a disgusting burden to him. Roya couldn''t help but ponder how such a man came to be.


    In her line of work, she met many unreasonable and dangerous men. O''Brien struck her as similar to the hotheads, but by his lack of response to Jules''s outburst, it was clear he was far above just being easily angered.


    While Roya stared intently at him, O''Brien paid little mind to their gazes, but he was satisfied with their behaviors displayed.


    ¡®These women have good heads on their shoulders¡ªWell, except the loud-mouthed one. But the majority is agreeable. It''ll save me the annoyance in dealing with them.¡¯


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    The silence was deafening.


    Even Lea''s straight expression couldn''t help but twitch in response, leaving out Jules whose inner and outer blaze was raging vengefully.


    How could he be so bitter?


    What series of events birthed such a massive prick of unprecedented levels?


    Was he born to be unpleasant, or was it an acquired taste?


    "You¡¯re entitled to the most valuable ones, you say? Meaning, we will have to give you the less valuable ones for info?" Lea surmised. Persistent in her pursuit of knowledge. They were not in a position to just give up because it was hard. She was determined to get an answer.


    Roya''s eyes widened seeing her thought pattern. Yes! If they did that it would work! But that meant a huge dent in their collections.


    Jules stopped her grudging glances and string of muttered curses, but she looked to Lea with a confused expression. Didn¡¯t that mean almost all their cards would be his?


    O¡¯Brien clicked his fingers. "Correct at last. Now, find a good vehicle for faster movement. We''ll continue in the car. Same for you, Rose. Snap out of it."


    O''Brien gave the final command as they split up. Rose, who had been silent all along with her head down, uttered acceptance and slowly drifted off to search under his watchful gaze.


    Her mind still rang with the agonized screams from not so long ago.


    She had failed to save so many lives, and their cries still screamed in her ears. It was one thing to be spared from witnessing the horrors, but blood and remains had spattered onto her body. Those were living, breathing people just seconds ago, going about their day. And right before her eyes, they were ruthlessly cut down and devoured.


    At first, Mary Rose had acted on instinct, springing into action to save those in distress. But now, the gravity of the traumas and failures had started sinking into her mind.


    What was the use of this great power she had been gifted, if not to protect the less fortunate?


    Why else had she in particular been chosen?


    Rose had too many questions to ask O''Brien, but struggled over where to even begin. Why had he changed? Why was she changing? Why was any of this happening?


    So many questions begged for answers, but which should take priority? Did she even want to know the truth?


    She looked at the others, sighing deeply within herself.


    Soon, under their combined efforts, the group of five found a usable car and they all boarded.


    O''Brien collected the cards energetically, unable to hide his smile and expectation, slightly surprising the four women. He still had human emotions?


    Wasn''t he maintaining a prince of douche persona?


    Or were the Cards just that enticing?


    For the regressed mercenary, it was like a parched man seeing an oasis within the desert.


    "Let''s see¡ªa Green Copper-grade [Sumeru Pouch], another Black Iron-grade [Storage Ring], and a Black Iron-grade [Sealing Card]. Not bad.¡± He flipped the cards over, nodding in approval. ¡°Seems like I got lucky with the Spatial cards. Those can do for the information, but the price for the Altar... Hm..."


    O''Brien examined the cards they gave him closely. He got ten cards from Jules. Rose had three. Lea got seven and Roya submitted nine. Not a bad harvest with twenty-nine Magic Cards in all. Of these, there was a single White Silver-grade, five Red Steel-grades, four Green Copper-grades, six Black Iron-grades, six Blue Stone-grades, and seven Grey Ash-grade cards.


    After starting with one card and only holding six trashy cards at most four years later in the future past, O¡¯Brien could hardly restrain his emotions as much as he would have liked to.


    His eyes sparkled brightly like a young child and slightly tremored while sorting the cards according to their qualities.


    After taking out Rose''s two Grey Ash and Black Iron Cards, there were twenty-six cards of good qualities. Naturally, O''Brien focused on the higher qualities first.


    He had dreamed of them for countless nights and here they were. A dream come true.


    The treasury of some well-known bases in his cognizance was just this, at the very pinnacle of riches within the mid to early days of the New World. This was just numbers, quality wise this was already a late-game grand treasure trove.


    O''Brien was drawn to the highest rank White Silver card, but ignored it after careful thought.


    He glossed over the White Silver card depicting a bow, giving it back to Roya who was clutching a long black bag. "You''re very lucky," he told her.


    She hummed and accepted the card. Roya didn''t know how great this card was, but even the blind could tell it was amazing. The bright silver light surrounding the card was just icing on the cake for the intimidating presence this inanimate object was giving off. It seemed to be a divine weapon of the gods, oozing divinity in its bow. As a sniper, she favored a long-range weapon very much.


    Jules swallowed unconsciously, seeing O''Brien hold her card with the boots next. Somehow she really liked that card and had grown attached to it. O''Brien looked at her wriggling in her seat and gave her back the card, taking the other one.


    "Hm. Quite the selection here." He could hardly contain his pleasure as he looked over all the different cards. Who would have thought he could have been so close to cards this precious? He could even choose which ones he wanted! This was unimaginable for his previous self. Even looking at them or touching them would have been absolutely out of the question back then.


    He had managed to obtain a great natal card, never before seen or heard of, and his Yellow Gold card surpassed all cards within the current collection. Moreover, he had collected twenty-seven cards in total by himself, so apart from soaking in the sights and sighing a few times, he quickly got to work.


    Only children made choices, he wanted them all!


    And he would have taken them with zero remorse if Rose wasn''t in the equation.


    Holding himself back counted towards the debt reduction right? Anyone, from the strong to the weak, would be moved by this assortment of cards once their value came to be known.


    O''Brien was no exception, but he managed to hold himself back in the end. The clock was ticking and he had to think fast.


    ¡®In the past, I would definitely go for strength. Even now, I still like that thought the most, but I can have them owe me a favor for being generous,¡¯ his thoughts rushed rapidly. ¡®The next is utility. I also can leave those to them to pay off a bit. I would eliminate the trashy Grey Ash quality¡­ but I can''t exactly ignore the rumors just because I dislike them. Most importantly, they are the easiest to use for now.¡¯


    He glanced at the array of cards. ¡®Still, I can''t correct my perfectionist nature. I''ll take the unknown two Red Steel cards from Jules and Lea, and the third one from Roya.¡¯ Having tasted meat, he could no longer go back to eating vegetables. Even if he could only look and not touch, he still wanted them.


    Rare and powerful cards. Who could get enough?


    A few rare cards had some of the craziest effects. Even if they were temporary cards or had strict activation requirements, they were worth it once you did activate them.


    "Good. Very Good." O''Brien nodded in approval.


    Seeing this, the ladies thought he knew what they could do.


    They were curious about the uses of the various cards, but didn''t bother asking, learning from the previous tango of trying to get him to explain something. He might just ask them to pay for more information if they did.


    Little did they know, he didn''t know as much as they thought. He was playing the guessing game as well.


    Of all twenty-nine cards, he only knew a lot about ten of them, a little about six, and no clue for the rest.


    It couldn''t be helped. He had a late start in the last days, and even in the end he was a mere merc. If he didn''t have contact with the cards personally, then he had no way of knowing their use.


    It was also a common dilemma in the early days of the new world to have cards with unknown uses. Cards were the greatest assets, so anyone with a brain hid or withheld their personal details. Of the free-flowing information, many things were to be taken with a grain of salt.


    Even amongst his own collected cards, including the highest-ranked Yellow Gold card, he was in the dark about the attributes, nature, and uses of more than half within his possession.


    He wouldn''t even have known it was a Yellow Gold quality if he had not heard of the quality indicators in rumors, all cards had a colored glow that indicated their quality when they first landed from the card fall.


    Although, this glow grew weaker over time, it was the best method of differentiating card grades with the naked eye and zero effort or cost. The materials of the card itself were also capable of glowing, so at times it was easy to mistake the quality of a card without sharp eyes after this indicator vanished.


    Naturally, O''Brien would no longer make such a rookie mistake at this point.


    He was no saint, neither did his generosity nor thoughtfulness for Rose come from his heart as he would like to think.


    The real reasons he did not take the cards from the women were simple: he didn''t know how to use them. What their restrictions were, any penalties they might have for use, the activation materials to use them, and even the card essence to use so many high-quality cards was absent for him.


    As a tiny beginner Tier 0 Transcendent, his energy reserves were limited. He also wanted to rid himself of the women as soon as possible.


    Risk was the most important factor. O''Brien knew tales of the ignorant who managed to activate high-level cards. But like a blind cat encountering a poisoned dead mouse, they suffered nonetheless.


    There were horror stories of skin falling off their face, growing extra body parts from forceful card factor manifestation, losing body parts for the same reason, being cursed, becoming fearful of certain elements, suddenly dying or becoming an inanimate object...


    The wide repertoire of ill omens was never-ending. He would rather not give himself a weakness without even knowing why.


    The women felt perturbed, seeing his sunny attitude worlds away from the mechanical robot expression he stared at them with beforehand. O''Brien chortled, seeing their heavy gazes. "Ask away."


    The douche or the sunny young man, which was the real O''brien?


    Only Rose was taken aback, seeing a glimpse of her past student.


    "First ¡ª" Jules was about to say something before Lea grabbed her mouth.


    "Hold on. Let''s discuss the specific questions and split them between each other first," the doctor said.


    Hearing this, Jules was enlightened.


    Of course, this human-shaped turd would give them a hard time with the questions so, for maximum efficiency, they should ask different questions!


    "Ok. Do whatever you want," O''Brien accepted without much of a fuss. How they asked their questions didn''t matter to him. He just continued driving to their next destination at full speed.


    The vehicle''s exhaust sounded like a dying donkey along the road, but fortunately for the group, it was still traveling at an efficient speed.


    The tall buildings on each side of the road were covered in damages from the assault nature and heaven had bestowed these past seven days.


    Cars were embedded in buildings, some trucks managed to do the same for some lower elevation buildings, trees. Stumps were on roofs and in trees, and puddles from flooded drains had yet to fade away.


    The most disturbing sights were those surrounded by yellow tapes, with splattered blood appearing on pavements ever so often. Broken steel bars, glass shards, rocks, and so on were coated in the dark red liquid.


    The women''s chatter in the back of the car grew silent in view of the window sights. Up close, it was a much more gruesome and thought-provoking sight. But a white-hot question burned deeper in their minds.


    Would they survive this new reality?

 Chapter 14: Devil’s Crusade New World (III)

    O''Brien drove up to the storage facility that the women had been previously kept in, following the arrows he left for Rose to make it out quickly.


    To the women''s surprise, all thirty-six lockers in the facility belonged to him.


    They watched as he opened the doors and used a card to take away the contents of the first storage locker.


    Two? There''s one in his right hand, separate from the one he holds up, that seems to be the one taking away all the items.


    Roya paid close attention to the methods O''brien was using for these magical cards although she couldn¡¯t see everything due to the bright lights from the cards¡¯ activation. Still, she was beginning to see just how extraordinary these cards were.


    Jules couldn''t help but ask, "How''s he doing that? They just disappear into nothing. Is he destroying them?"


    "Unlikely,¡± answered Lea, ¡°Why go through so much trouble? He''s probably storing them inside those cards. The lights make it hard to see."


    "Yes, I think I heard him say storage and backpack when going over our cards at first, so I imagine he''s putting them away somewhere else."


    Despite saying this, Roya couldn''t help but wonder how such a small palm-sized card held so many things. O''Brien was now at his 5th locker and was using the same card. He only switched to another one after the 7th.


    ¡°Maybe it holds some sort of pocket dimension?¡± Jules tried to guess.


    They watched as he summoned a ring and a pouch, then put them away magically into the cards, or more accurately, transformedthem back into cards.


    The women all looked at each other, their eyes being questioned by their brains. Their brains questioning their entire existence.


    Spotting the roses coiled all over Rose, Lea shifted her attention to her friend. They didn''t have much time before, but now there was a short break from the madness.


    "Hey Rose, what''s the deal with your new look? And those thorns on your body¡­ Don''t they hurt? "


    "I don''t¡­ I don''t know,¡± Rose muttered softly, looking down at herself. ¡°It just happened. One moment I was tied up, the next a warmth seeped into my heart from the outside. My blood felt like it was boiling. I had a few waking dreams¡­ Before I knew it, my binds came loose and I looked like this¡­"


    She then looked at her hands, blood still under her fingernails. "I felt pretty powerful and gained new abilities from nowhere. Blood Sucking Thorns and Cursed Blood Power; their names just appeared in my mind. And while I was still in shock, I stumbled out of the place¡­ That was when I saw people get attacked. Subconsciously, I used those abilities to fight off the monsters. It felt like second nature, like breathing and blinking, like I was born with these abilities all along.¡±


    A scene seemed to flash through her sky blue eyes and she shut them tightly. ¡°Unfortunately, I couldn''t save half of the people I tried to. There were women, children, the old and frail. I had to watch as they died before me... I could hear them while fighting monsters¡­¡±


    ¡°The bones breaking, flesh tearing, blood splashing, and the screams¡­ Oh the screams¡­ I never thought screams could contain such palpable fear and distraught until then. Until I heard them with my own ears..." She hugged herself, her voice trembling with her body.


    There it was.


    The reason she had been quiet all along.


    As she let it out, the other women looked at each other. All familiar with her heart of hearts, how she must have suffered from being able to help, but not being able to help to the end.


    Jules stepped forward to hug the shaking Rose, but only held her hand due to the thorns. Lea held the second hand, squeezing in comfort. Roya patted a part of Rose''s shoulder somewhat mechanically, not really one to deal with emotional situations.


    As they quietly comforted her, they heard a voice.


    The content of the words and the familiar voice it belonged to caused them all to reel back in uncertainty.


    It came from a tent larger than any of the storage lockers, as wide as five people holding hands and as tall as three stacked up on each other, placed oddly in the corner.


    "My wonderful baby. I missed you so much. Did you miss me?" Seeing O''Brien hug the head of a huge RV and act coquettish shocked the four onlookers, some with their jaws hung low in unspoken surprise.


    Who was this imposter?!


    When O''Brien saw them coming, he slowly stepped back, pretending nothing had happened without so much as a change in facial expression.


    Yet his heart was beating thunderously in his chest.


    All or nothing.


    He took out the Black Iron Sealing Card he got from the women, pointing it towards the 55-foot long behemoth of a vehicle weighing several tonnes.


    In reality, the Blue Stone-grade Sealing Card he had collected himself could have possibly done the trick, but he was afraid it would be insufficient and shatter due to the size and complexity of the vehicle, so he opted for the higher-quality sealing card just to be safe.


    In the future, many would curse this prodigal son for using such a card on an old-world technology, a mere man-made thing.


    Wouldn''t it be beneficial to simply use it on a monster or alien race? Maybe some great equipment made from card materials? Instead, it was wasted on something so trivial for survival.


    But O''Brien couldn¡¯t care less. He bought this vehicle for eighteen million, customized it for three million, and had additional special customizations by various experts which cost him ten million.


    A lot of it could have been cheaper, but he needed it fast with a high quality, and that came at a premium. The spare parts cost another four million.


    The total cost added up to a whopping thirty-five million.


    Even the rich would look at him like a fool.


    Even the workers mocked him, despite getting paid a pretty penny to drop everything and focus on getting it ready.


    This RV was in breach of several laws and couldn''t travel across a city, much less a state. It was too wide and the off-road wheels were too large. No car or truck could be beside him without risk.


    Highways shunned this beautiful monster.


    It was undrivable on almost any road in the world. The only smart thing he did was give it special off-road wheels, but even then it would struggle in the wilderness terrain with so many trees everywhere.


    But O''Brien was adamant. He didn''t care about the naysayers. This was luxury. This was a home. This was everything he ever wanted outside of cards in the future.


    This also caused him to be so anxious at this moment.


    If the card didn''t seal the RV properly, his baby would be in much more danger in the New World.


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Fortunately, he was worried for nothing and it was sealed up nicely. Forming a card depicting the crossover Marchi-Provost masterpiece with a Jet-inspired cockpit. This Custom SSR 180 Palazzo-Provost Ultimate was a thing of beauty.


    O''Brien put the spare parts in his storage ring and concluded clearing out his storage lockers.


    He would be self-sufficient for years on end.


    *


    "Was that an RV? Looked expensive."


    "Forget that. Did you see how he was talking to it? Who was that person? Does he have a split personality?"


    "Unlikely. It''s probably just a difference in attitude. The truth of the matter is... we''re likely placed lower in his heart than the RV."


    ¡°You think?¡±


    On the drive back, hushed whispers in the back of the car discussed the prior wack series of events.


    But it also brought to light something very clear.


    "You''ve been preparing all along, haven''t you?" Rose asked.


    "Of course. How else would I have brought you in long before it began?" O''Brien responded, his tone much gentler but still lacking genuine kindness.


    Had it been anyone else in the car, he might not have even responded.


    "We''re here, cutting it close on time with eight minutes remaining." O''Brien halted the beat-up car at a familiar skatepark a few feet from an ancient monument. It looked to belong to some civilization long faded in history.


    The two-meter-tall earthy tombstone lay dead in the middle of the altar. The women were once again drawn in by the magic of this new creation, matching the mystery of the cards.


    Under the curt guidance of the lovely Prince of Douche Kingdom, they each stepped forward to touch the yellow light one after the other, from youngest to oldest.


    Where these altars and medallions came from, very little was known. Their markings and architecture somewhat matched that of the Orginal Civilization, posthumously dubbed Card Primal.


    Ruins, secret realms, lost artifacts, and the ever-so-rare wandering NPCs, little was known specifically about the civilization, but remnants and fragments guided the Card Masters of the New World.


    Knowledge of the realms of evolution and how to ascend from one rank to the next were gleaned from traces of this civilization, outside of that done by deduction and Fate-type cards.


    Deductions from discoveries brought forth the possibility that the primary race of the Card Primals were humans from another place.


    Each fragment of this civilization, once deciphered, saved decades and centuries of hard work for Earth''s humanity.


    Jules knew nothing of the Card Primals, of course, but she felt a subtle attraction to the magical medallion the moment she dripped her blood onto it as instructed.


    Something inside her, something that she never knew existed, was tingling in anticipation.


    It was like her very soul was thirsty and thick with desire for the warm yellow light.


    As more and more of her blood dripped from her palm and seeped onto the earthen monument, the light shone brighter, almost blinding her.


    The energy seeped into her body, resting between her kidneys and accumulating until they released an exploding sensation.


    Soon after, her mind went blank, her entire body becoming soft as if she fell into a quagmire of clouds. Her heart relaxed, her fine hairs flattened, and her pores re-opened again.


    In a short while, her entire body was perspiring.


    She felt a warm embrace. She did not remember her time in the womb, but somehow she felt it was like this.


    The whole experience felt long but only happened in a short amount of time.


    A fleeting sensation, leaving as soon as it came.


    Jules returned to her senses and felt something within her. She focused her attention into her body and found that below her navel and in between where her kidneys were located, an aperture had formed out of thin air.


    ¡®This is what I need to use those magical cards?¡¯


    The aperture was mysterious and unusual. Although it was located inside Jule¡¯s body, it simultaneously wasn''t sharing the same space with her internal organs. You could say that it was an infinitely small endless void.


    Some called it the Nucleus of Evolution, Mana Heart, God''s Source, and so on, but its most popular term of reference was the Card Pool Aperture.


    The aperture was spherical, its surface covered in a thin layer of flowing white light. It was the layer of light from the medallion that previously exploded within her.


    This thin membrane of light supported the aperture so it would not collapse, and inside the aperture was the card pool filled with mysterious energy akin to pond water.


    The fluid energy was smooth like a mirror, an ashy grey color that was dense with a dark smoky lustre.


    Only Tier Zero Card Masters could form this ashy grey sea essence, known as the sea of ashes.


    This card essence was used by Card Masters to nourish, seal, and activate magic cards. That meant that from then on, Jules had formally entered the realm of a Tier Zero Card Master, a Card Apprentice. She was now a transcendent being, no longer purely mortal.


    "If you want to soak in the sights you can, but time is ticking, so move over so the others can use it." O''Brien''s lazy voice brought her back to reality.


    Jules was excited to show the others, but quickly made way for them. She saw her smiling aunt and was going over to her to share the joy when O''Brien''s annoying voice reached her again.


    "Take out that favorite card of yours. The one with the boots. They are the best choice you have for your natal card. Your aperture is the most basic and many functions have yet to be revealed. Once you try to use the card, you will be drowned a powerful feeling to absorb the card. Don''t resist it. It will shape your aperture into something more unique and powerful. You will also gain some powerful abilities through the natal card which you can use at will."


    Jules''s rapid steps slowed in tempo upon hearing this. He was actually not being a jerk for once.


    She took out her favorite card without hesitation. The beautiful boots worthy of a god''s feet enamored her even more, now that she was a transcendent being.


    "How exactly do I do that?" she asked with barely concealed joy.


    "Simple. Just focus on your newfound aperture and carefully move the water from within, directly into the card," O''Brien instructed, looking up to the colorful void in the sky that spit out the magical cards. "You can also hold the card and try to think about throwing it within the sea inside the aperture and that will do."


    Meekly, Jules did as instructed.


    Within her aperture, the unknown card depicting boots appeared above the sea. It slowly sank within it and was swallowed by her primal urge to evolve.


    In the following moments, Jules watched with wonder as the card glowed brighter and brighter, gushing out golden light and transforming her card aperture bit by bit.


    Soon an extra wall paved with gold covered the aperture, bright wings of light on each side. The former pool of ashy essence remained largely unchanged, save for penetrating several layers deep. It occupied only one layer before, but now it occupied five and a half layers in the aperture. The sea floor was no longer visible.


    Most importantly, she now knew what the unknown card was and the amazing abilities it brought her.


    The Legendary Relic, [The Boots of Hermes].


    Before Jules could fully explore and try out these new abilities, she heard a low rumble.


    She looked over to Roya and Lea who had finished awakening their aperture and were similarly shocked.


    "It''s here,¡± O''Brien calmly dictated as he led by example, ¡°Grab onto the Hope Medallion and hold tight."


    The Prime Terraforming Event was here at long last, the true start to the New World.


    It started as a dull rumble, easy to ignore at first, but soon a vibrating hum arose, growing louder, more insistent, until it became an unsettling roar from deep within the Earth''s core. This was when the real chaos would begin.


    The ground fractured underfoot with an ear-splitting crack, jagged fissures snaking across sidewalks, sending manhole covers rocketing into the air as the planet violently expanded beneath their feet.


    Buildings shrieked in protest, concrete foundations mangled as the buckling earth heaved them aside like toys.


    The streets ruptured, tossing the poor abused vehicles high before they smashed down, some exploding in flames.


    At first, the expanding horizon was scarcely noticeable, but soon it was horrifyingly clear that the Earth''s very curvature was distorting, stretched out of shape as it swelled to many times its normal size.


    What moments ago had been familiar city blocks were now becoming an alien landscape, nightmarish visions clawing their way out of the underworld.


    Colossal mountains burst forth like the bony fingers of a long-buried titan, peaks vanishing miles overhead into roiling thunderclouds.


    Vast forests and winding rivers erupted where concrete jungles once stood. Entire neighborhoods were swallowed by rising seas, lost beneath the black waves forever. Normal trees grew taller than the city skyscrapers.


    All around, panicked screams and wails of terror echoed through the streets. But there was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide as the world was torn asunder beneath their feet.


    A primal force had been awakened. An ancient evil was remaking the Earth itself into a ghastly realm. As familiar sights warped into a hellish landscape, all hope was lost. The planet had turned against humanity at long last.


    The sky stopped trembling, now housing two extra moons, red and purple, forming a trio with the silver-white moon.


    The bright card-shaped light seemed like a close constellation, having several belts of asteroids visible. This vision would continue even in the day time, though not as vivid.


    Here it had descended at long last.


    The Devil''s Crusade New World.

 Chapter 15: Devil’s Crusade New World (IV)

    Celes felt like an eternity was passing as she tried to rejoin her family, a lump of dread lodged in her throat. She felt like a mother not seeing her infant baby who had crawled into the next room without her notice.


    She worried about every possible thing that could harm them, but unlike a worrisome and overprotective mother fearful of a car crashing into their mature child on any given day, her worries were valid, more grounded in reality. The chances of such a thing happening in most places were quite low but there was real danger in this city.


    Death and terror.


    Their city was ''blessed'' with the local monsters of Forest Goblins and Blood Sucking Mosquitos.


    The Goblins were an alien race but the mosquitos weren''t. The news glossing over malaria concerns couldn''t have been more right.


    The spiritual energy from the great change had transformed the tiny pests into larger pests with an unchanged taste for blood.


    Celes wasn''t too worried about these two threats. She was more concerned about the activated monsters. The prior goblins and mosquitos were trash monsters that could easily be handled by the hundreds, even in her mid-level state and not even her prime, but some of these activated monsters were real freaks of nature, matching even the Blessed Ones within humanity.


    They overcame their racial limits and cordoned off regions as their domain once they grew strong enough.


    Even some high-strung alien races took the long way around them. These individual ''talented'' monsters were quite rare, but that rarity lessened the longer they roamed free without dying.


    In this world, there was no main character. Everyone was just trying to get by. Until Celes survived to the end, along with many Kings amongst humanity, these beasts were considered the true main characters of this world. Their speed of growth and their influence were just that significant.


    These variant beings were the only threat she could not fully predict.


    Back to the present, despite her fears, Celes finally met up with her concerned family, each of them still in one piece.


    They wasted no time regrouping with their main force.


    They met a few lesser monsters on the way, but she made short work of them. With her vantage point from the sky, she saw any worthy threats from afar and detoured to bring her family to safety.


    *


    Having made it back to the base safely, Celes had some room to breathe easy and think after finding her family safe.


    The first order of business was quite simple.


    Sweep the city, purge all monsters in the cradle, and fortify a worthy stronghold.


    To achieve this and more, she knew she couldn''t do it all alone. She needed strong and competent helpers.


    ¡®Now that I think about it, this is the perfect time. There are no Hobogoblins, Goblin Priests, or too many variants amongst the riff-raff to consist of a threat.¡¯


    The activated monsters were scary, sure, but they were weakened and with foggy intelligence. It would take a few weeks to recover to their better states and even longer to their original status. This was the perfect hunting and training ground for an elite force!


    The foes were not too strong, and enemy groups were not watching them closely, so this was the ideal environment for growth.


    Once they grasped this period well enough, they would be long ahead of most groups, even those with military backgrounds!


    But first...


    The curtain at her door fluttered open as a guest hurried inside.


    "We''ve got a problem, Les," Minnie announced with wrinkled brows.


    "I know¡­" Celes sighed, hearing the noisy commotion outside.


    The groups sent out to gather cards across the city brought back a lot of tails with them upon their return.


    Citizens were not blind. They saw them actively seeking out the cards and figured they knew something.


    They stuck to the dispatched groups like glue, refusing to leave them. Unable or unwilling to truly chase them away, they ended up bringing them back to the shelter.


    Before Celes could enact her plans, she had to deal with this headache first.


    She sighed deeply. They were already struggling with a hundred and thirty persons. Adding more, doubling and tripling that amount, with many strangers no less, was out of the question.


    Yet, she could hardly threaten them to leave cold-heartedly. Their worries were valid. She herself was in the very same situation at the start, freshly wearing the dress of trauma threaded by the loss of seeing death up close and vivid. She had been just an ordinary young woman then, it was a difficult adjustment to make.


    Gruesome deaths, familiar deaths, ugly deaths. She joined the pack of fleeing humans like a zombie, seeking answers like brains. Even with Sapphire''s power, she doubted her potential and felt her mind was playing tricks on her, so she never activated her natal card until almost a week into the apocalypse. Even then she didn¡¯t trust sapphire. She sensed that in the beginning as well and their relationship was rocky for a while.


    Fear had ruled her once, so the crowd had her sympathies.


    Celes ascended the underground bunker to the outside.


    The bunker only had a few cracks here and there, but nothing too serious. She wouldn''t have chosen one broken by the Prime Terraforming Event.


    This piece of real estate was fully intact and functional, despite the rough tumbling the city received.


    Even then, many buildings were slowly crumbling from the assaults of the week of calamity, and the supernormal terraforming beat them to the ground as the final nail in the coffin.


    One out of five buildings being safe for inhabitants was better than none. It could have been worse.


    Arriving outside, she spotted her parents and even Uncle Gale trying to hold back the crowd from rushing into their bunker.


    Seeing her, they sighed in relief and almost rushed to her like excited pups.


    The crowd had elevated from weary distressed citizens traumatized by the horrors of the New World, to a furious mob.


    They were convinced this group was government-related, knew about the end, and kept them out of the loop to save their skins.


    Within the short time of their arrival, they were already protesting passionately.


    Their fury grew palpable in the air. They had suffered mentally and physically up until this point; they were all at their wit''s end.


    Crying babies unaware yet responsive to their environment, wailing children alone or with their relatives, sobbing grandparents, fathers, sons, mothers, and daughters.


    There they were, demanding answers.


    The adrenaline rush was still fresh, the cluttered crowd sweaty and dirty, ragged and bloody, radiating ear-grating screams from women and children. Their mental faculties were spiraling.


    They had watched their loved ones die. They needed clarity, closure, justice.


    The chaos was unchained.


    The riot was unbridled.


    "Silence."


    A powerful voice swept over the crowd like waves. It was like a voice whispered into their ears, close yet far away.


    The magical sound transmission technique. It was such a minor trick, yet it still took humans of the New Age about a decade to discover they could actually use the essence from their aperture to perform such a convenient skill.


    Celes looked into the crowd icily. Her sapphire eyes held hundreds of displeased gazes, not wavering one bit.


    "I know you are traumatized, fearful, worried, and want answers, but nothing will be resolved if everyone speaks at the same time. Nonetheless, I have an idea as to why you''re all here,¡± she began. ¡°We ourselves do not know all that is happening. If you could gather orderly in the perimeter outside the yard, we will do our best to help you in the coming days. However, you are better off rushing to the actual military. The base remains in the same region it once was, more or less at Bella Howser Spring Fields. The Marine Corps stationed there is at least three hundred strong, with active combatants present. They have many weapons, food reserves, and bunkers to put you in. Here we have very little space."


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    The crowd looked around. Eyes ripe with uncertainty, lips quivering in fear.


    Someone shouted from within.


    "I''m not going back out there. There are monsters everywhere!"


    "Yeah!"


    "We''ll die on our own!"


    ¡°You have guns too, you can fight them! Help us!¡±


    The chatter began to sprout once more.


    "Silence." Celes once again calmed their uproar. Her expression a stone-cold mask of displeasure.


    In fear, the crowd quickly grew silent once more.


    Her voice had that effect. She stood tall with a proud figure, blue embers flickering about her like will o'' wisps.


    A dominating queen.


    They couldn''t help but feel something akin to that as they stared at her.


    When she summoned a blue bird to fly above them, a few unsteadily stepped back in fear, but the majority could tell there was something different about this bird.


    It moved with regal grace, a disciplined being, clear to even the ignorant naked eyes.


    ¡°M-Monster!¡±


    ¡°Fire. Blue Fire!¡±


    ¡°It''s listening to her!¡±


    The crowd was rattled.


    Celes continued her speech. "I understand your predicament and will not drive you away. I will assist in getting you to the military base in due course. Until then, you will obey. My people will assist you out of our yard."


    With that and with Sapphire as an intimidating factor, the unruly mob settled down and began to listen.


    *


    "That should do for now." Celes smiled at the sight of Minnie, puckering her lips in a teasing manner.


    "My my, that was amazing,¡± Minnie chuckled. ¡°I knew you would be important one day, but you sure tamed that crowd like it was a room of children."


    "They were unable to control themselves or think clearly," Celes nodded dismissively.


    "So¡­¡± Minnie switched subjects, ¡°the most pressing matter right now are the cards. We''ve collected all the cards from groups that went out, but they noticed how magical they were and started demanding to know how they work. Some want theirs back, others didn''t release theirs." She sighed. It was already a pain in the ass.


    It was a headache trying to control people who watched them grow from kindergarten to college. Her Aunt Gertrude, already a nagging spinster in normal times, was even worse now.


    Celes walked with Minnie, her steps determined and graceful. "Yes. We need to bring everyone to an altar and let them awaken. I can lead the first team. The sooner we turn our cards into actual strength, the better. Did you get a count of all the cards?"


    "They made it very difficult, but yes. A grand total of sixty-three." Minnie had crossed her arms falling into step beside her blue-headed leader. Wrinkles traced her brows, thinking of the backtalk she got not long ago because of the cards.


    The grandmothers in age were particularly vocal, although they didn''t even leave the base. She barely made it without screaming at them.


    ¡®Sixty-three was a bit less than expected¡­ All the more reason to sweep the city as soon as we can.¡¯


    Celes slowly let her thoughts stir as they entered her room.


    Bam!


    "Um, I¡­ may have accidentally let it slip about the awakening bit and my family is right behind me!" Giselle rushed in, panting out of breath, yet her eyes darted around, not daring to face anyone in the room out of embarrassment.


    Stoic Xia trailed her, shutting the door and casually leaning against it.


    Celes and Minnie facepalmed.


    "While it''s important to give them the strength, a few groups have fewer cards than the others,¡± Minnie sighed. ¡°How to distribute them will be an issue. Not to add to the headache, but it''s also something we have to consider."


    "I''ll add in my own cards to try and even it out," Celes pitched in after a thought. She had eighty-six cards of her own. That was enough for everyone when added to the sixty-three.


    "Yeah, that might work," Minnie nodded. Anything to tame the wild beasts.


    But someone wasn''t satisfied.


    "No," Xia firmly disagreed, lightly glaring at Giselle. Her family was the largest here, with sixteen members present, many young and middle-aged. Yet she wasn''t saying anything, why should Giselle act selfishly?


    "You don''t like it, Xia?" Celes whispered in surprise. This was an odd development. For sensitive matters such as this, Xia usually kept quiet and allowed them to call the shots.


    "You''re both too close to see it. You''re too soft on them. Without you, we would have nothing; we wouldn''t even know to collect the cards. The way I see it, you should take all the cards and allocate them based on merit. Let them earn the cards, with the exception of your family. Mine, hers and Minnie''s should all earn their keep and not freeload." Xia decisively put forward her view. Her own family had mostly women with few in their twilight years.


    Her mother, father, and grandmother had all spouted it to her since she was a child, to earn her place. She had a feeling they would love to be handed everything on a platter, but not if she had anything to do with it.


    Minnie tried to protest. "But, they''re ¡ª"


    "Family, right?¡± Xia scoffed, pushing herself up from the door and stepping closer to Minnie. ¡°You of all people should know that''s nepotism and it''s disgusting, especially with lives on the line now. I don''t have a problem with them awakening, but cards? They get them when they deserve it."


    She made her case while glaring at Giselle. Giselle only scrunched her freckled nose, hesitant to voice her thoughts.


    Minnie met Xia''s determined eyes. Thinking of Celes''s burden, she slowly nodded and added on.


    "It might be a bit harsh¡­but I agree with Xia. You gave us everything and you are the core of the group. We need to lay down the law now and not cultivate any entitlement. Like you said before, the coming days will be hard and bloody. To weather them, we need real men and women, and not¡ª"


    "Pussies." A voice came from the door as it swung open. It was Priya, Jasmine and Cele''s troublemaker of a cousin, joined by her elder brother, Justin.


    "Excuse us for eavesdropping,¡± Priya said with a polite smile. ¡°We were waiting for the right moment, but things were getting a bit heated in here."


    "We don''t have the whole story, but based on our guess, we''re here to offer our services,¡± Justin chipped in. ¡°We''re willing to earn our spot alongside you."


    The duo''s entry caught them by surprise, but they waited on Celes''s decision.


    Giselle felt a lump in her throat, wanting to say something but still battling with her guilt. She eventually squeezed out a barely audible whisper, more to herself. "We don''t have to be so harsh with our loved ones, do we? They''re scared, too..."


    No one else in the room heard her but Celes. With her heightened senses as a Tier 0 Card Apprentice, she was always alert.


    Celes felt Xia''s argument had merit. She wanted to protect her family and give them the best, but would it be fair to leave everyone else out?


    Those were her family, too. She played with them when she was younger, visited them on holidays, went to their birthdays and weddings, and received help from them when she needed a hand.


    Could she really single out her own direct family and leave the others out? Their own brothers and sisters and their children? What would her parents say?


    If it was another group, she would favor Xia with zero hesitation. In fact, she would be even more brutal and strict. But this was her family. Her good friends.


    She couldn''t decide.


    Sensing her warring thoughts, Minnie further tried to strengthen her case. "You told me yourself, remember? Cards are incomparably precious and are a controlled resource and weapon of war. We should centralize our control over it as much as possible."


    Xia was right. She was too close, too reluctant to face it, but that was the reality. Although they were their families, they couldn''t be biased. Celes alone had that right.


    Just then, someone turned the handle of the door, but Justin held it shut, glancing at the ladies as loud knocks were rapped on the other side. Giselle lowered her gaze, biting her lower lip in guilt.


    "I''ll think on it. Give me a little time." Celes knew time was tight, so she didn''t intend to waste too much daylight making her decision.


    Minnie nodded, then she stepped outside the room to deal with Giselle''s relatives.


    ***


    Elsewhere in the city, green-skinned humanoid monsters wreaked havoc in groups. They were armed with stone and wood, blunt and sharp weapons.


    Some chased and beat the fleeing humans in droves, seeing them scatter and flee in fear.


    While some humans fled, some were frozen to the spot. The goblins examined in wonder the ones peeing themselves and shaking in the same spot, those paralyzed in fear, small children not knowing how to run, the unfit elderly unable to run, obese persons... The unathletic baffled the war-like race.


    Why don''t they run? Why don''t they fight? Why so big, yet so cowardly?


    They poked and prodded, shrieking in communication with one another.


    Their yellow eyes shone with malicious light.


    These fragrant delicious animals with tender meat actually didn''t resist. One screamed in emotion, rushing forward.


    Blood spurted from open wounds.


    Most of the goblins didn''t even have to use their weapons. Their muscular arms rivaling chimps were enough for the helpless humans unable to run.


    One goblin ripped an old woman''s head clean off. Her eyes were thick with terror, even in death. Holding her by the hair, a few bundles of muscles and veins were pulled out before the tearing force ripped off her head straight from her shoulders.


    Kyaaa!


    Children cried even louder, seeing this. Separated from their parents, they were lost in the terror.


    Their cries only attracted the creatures.


    Lifted by their short legs, yellow dagger-like fangs punctured their tender flesh.


    Bone grating sounds echoed as teeth met bone.


    Screams intensified.


    "This isn''t real. This isn''t real. I gamed for too long, that''s all. It''s just a nightmare. A bad dream. That''s it. Wake up!" A fat man in an undersized t-shirt huffed to himself as he struggled to run. He tripped over himself, crashing to the ground. He began to kick in the air, trying to keep the goblins away.


    Two goblins looked at him in wonder.


    This one was fatter, but the energy was still about the same in his body, though? Weird.


    Humans saturated by spiritual energy from the change were the most delicious meal they had ever had since birth. They emanated a reiki-like stink.


    Attractive stink to predators. Dinner never smelt so good.


    Uncaring, the two goblins grabbed their weapons and tenderized the fat man with clubs, then violently ripped him apart from the middle.


    As he lay still with his final scream, he watched as they dug through his stomach and partook in his organs.


    One scooped out his heart as their second dish after devouring his lungs in four chomps.


    In excruciating pain, he watched as it beat one final time as his vision faded into the void.


    Elsewhere, this scene played out in different forms. The weary fell first to chasing goblins who colored the streets with their blood and guts, while the rest, emboldened by adrenaline, ran even faster.


    A choir of shrill screams echoed throughout the city like unleashed banshees.


    Blood-sucking mosquitos hunted in hordes of hundreds and thousands.


    They appeared like black clouds, swarming humans, puncturing them full of holes, sucking their blood in gulps. In a matter of seconds, only skin and bones were left, muscle tissue dried up like exposed plant fibre, organs drained and flattened inside the sagging flesh.


    The metallic scent of blood, the whiteness of bones, the corpses scattered about, were the new morbid decoration of the streets.


    At that moment they all felt it, everything had changed.

 Chapter 16: Devil’s Crusade New World (V)

    The three moons dulled in the bright blue morning sky, like a reflection within foggy waters, overshadowed by the rising sun casting its rays down to the new earth.


    The sun had once been a pure bright yellow ball of flame, but purple embers had now mixed themselves in.


    Celes looked up into the sky after changing into a new set of leggings and over it, a set of baggy clothes tightened at the sleeves and ankles.


    She knew that in the coming months, another sun would form. Fortunately, with the strength of the new seven-layered atmosphere, it didn''t matter whether there were two or five suns in the sky.


    ¡®The day of the Second Sun would be the next global card fall¡­¡¯


    It would be far more than just an ordinary card fall. Alien races would then be active on Earth, intelligent plants and beasts, activated cards, and humans.


    Although only humans could harness the true and full power of the cards, other races could also benefit from their magical effects in different ways.


    So on that day, humanity would have to fight for the cards, instead of having them fall directly into their lap as they had in the beginning.


    The Day of the Second Sun was a mere nine and a half months away, and by then many of the surviving humans wouldn''t have much fighting power. The ratio of Card Masters to normal humans would be about one to five hundred at that stage, with the majority being God¡¯s Favored, the Blessed Ones.


    It was an expected outcome. Drunk on power, with a lengthy head start, and even with knowledge on how to transform ordinary mortal humans into Card Masters, most Blessed Ones would not encourage it. No, they would rigorously try to control this source of power.


    Some would even downright hide its existence so the cattle would stay cattle and do their bidding!


    They were the sovereigns of the New World! They would not allow the ordinary man a chance at being a threat to them.


    Unfortunately for them, circumstances changed. Willfulness faded against the pressure of outside threats.


    They had been caught unprepared by the intensity of the war for magic cards. They had thought themselves invincible. The alien races giving trouble were temporary and eventually, they would surpass them.


    This war proved them wrong. Alien races and other native creatures could match their pace of getting stronger, and some were even gaining power at breakneck speeds, leaving them in the dust.


    After the Day of the Second Sun, the monopoly on power was loosened a bit.


    The Favored leading their various groups began to expand their fighting force in preparation for the next global cardfall.


    Celes had also participated in that gruesome battle, sustaining heavy injuries, but luckily she managed to survive.


    She made it out with two good cards in the end, but they didn''t match the lives lost in the great battle.


    She did all that for an equipment card and a temporary card that disappeared after three uses. Looking back at it now, it was so ridiculous.


    Such was the charm of cards.


    This time would be different.


    Minnie walked up to the brooding young lady, softly informing her. "It''s time, I''ve gathered everyone."


    Responding with a nod, Celes took a deep breath and followed her outside, ascending the makeshift podium.


    The crowd had already gathered with all in attendance. Their fierce gazes lined up with her walking silhouette. Some familiar with her had already started rudely calling out and protesting.


    She calmly took the stage on the podium. In the face of all her experiences, a crowd of angry mortal humans was nothing.


    "I have already explained the basics of the different magic cards prior,¡± she began. ¡°Now you would have realized that my words were not nonsense, and many of you are demanding to know how to use them. I have decided to take possession of all cards. "


    Celes looked into the crowd, sweeping her gaze anti-clockwise to catch their shocked reactions. Before they could interrupt with a protest, she continued in a firm tone. "However, basic knowledge will be explained for your safety and for future reference, to make good decisions in your personal cultivation of strength. But the sources of this strength will not be given to you unless you prove yourself valuable to the group with skills or feats, or are expressly given cards by me. You can also find them yourselves again but without my help. In that case, they will belong to you."


    The crowd started looking amongst themselves and whispering with a low buzz. Celes continued nonetheless.


    "We will have a merit and rewards system established in the coming days. Everyone will start off with 30 merits. That¡¯s enough to buy food for a week, for a family of four. The specifics of the system will be detailed in brochures in the coming days for your understanding. By the end of this week, we will commence the execution of the system.¡±


    She held up her hands and counted off them as she spoke. ¡°You can earn credits by scouting, crafting items, making new discoveries, going on missions, and so on as situations present; anything to benefit the group as a whole. I will be choosing seven young persons as the first batch to awaken their powers and use cards. They will have the full support of the base and will personally be trained by me.¡±


    To finish the speech, Celes declared, ¡°At this moment, Day 2 of the New World, I decree that the Blue Flame Stronghold is born."


    The merit-point system originated in the remnants of the East and was eventually adapted into many strongholds due to its efficiency.


    There were a few systems to govern bases and shelters, but they were largely decided upon on a case-by-case basis, factoring in the population size, dominant internal power, external threats, number of card masters, and so on.


    The merit-point system happened to stay true for a variety of shelter compositions and environments. There was no number one system of governance, only the most suitable.


    "Wait, does that mean that you''re still going to take away our cards?!" someone shouted.


    "Weren¡¯t you listening? Yes, she has," Minnie responded in a curt tone, mildly annoyed from spending the morning dealing with them.


    "That''s not fair. We earned those, we got them ourselves! You can''t just take our blood and sweat away!" one woman screamed.


    Another middle-aged man supported her. "Yeah, that''s not fair!"


    The complaints and shouts of injustice were lit ablaze by these two firestarters.


    "We demand justice!"


    "Little girl, that''s a bit much, isn''t it?"


    "Did your parents raise you to be greedy?!"


    The voices chanted indignantly. They couldn''t watch as the magical power slipped through their fingers without a fight, by a little girl many years younger no less. What gave her the right?!


    "Falone, please have a word with your daughter. Do you see what she''s doing?!"


    Voices pleaded to Falone Greymore who was watching the development silently.


    Celes felt her heart waver, seeing her father look over at her with an unexplainable expression. She wondered if he pleaded for them, would she be abel to stand on her word or would she retract her decision?


    In truth, she probably would back down if it came from him¡­


    She looked over to his right, seeing her mother sweating profusely from being surrounded by relatives. Some were even tugging at her while screaming in her face, spit flying everywhere.


    Those damn pigs! How dare they!


    As she was about to go over there, her father spoke up.


    "I fully support my daughter''s decision. As does her mother, I''m sure. What about you all? Can¡¯t you see how you¡¯re acting like children? No, more like beasts,¡± he winced in unhidden disgust. ¡°How can you talk to your savior in such a manner? Without her, many of you would be dead by now, not sitting pretty inside this bunker or even remembering your rights enough to scream for them.¡±


    Celes let out a breath she hadn¡¯t realized she had been holding. Just then, she met her father¡¯s gaze before he continued.


    ¡°She owes you nothing at all. Conduct yourselves with some dignity and show some gratitude. No one is forcing you to be here. If you don''t like it, leave." Falone then nodded to her in approval, a shift from his earlier doubtful tone.


    He was a well-known detective and commanded quite a significant amount of respect in the city.


    Seeing the truth come to light, he made it clear he was entirely on her side. Celes breathed a sigh of relief. Having her father against her would be the last thing she wanted to happen.


    With that, the crowd died down, but from the expressions on many of their faces, it was clear this was not the end of the matter.


    The relatives grabbing her mother, typically her aunts and some uncles had let go as well, but Celes remembered their faces.


    They would not be getting away with putting their hands on her mother in her presence.


    *


    "Here''s the list and order we''ll be going in. I put your family 4th, like you asked." Minnie handed Celes a few sheets of paper with names on them.


    "Quick as always,¡± Celes smiled, patting her small shoulder. ¡°I knew I could count on you."


    The lights in the ceiling cast long shadows on their faces.


    They could hear disgruntled friends and relatives gathering together and discussing her announcements.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "They''re not too happy it seems,¡± Minnie mumbled, worried for a fleeting moment but shrugging and reinforcing her trust in her leader and best friend. ¡°Well, we expected as much.¡±


    Celes couldn¡¯t seem to care less. ¡°They¡¯ll understand as time goes on.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ Apart from Xia, Giselle, and me, who else are you bringing in the first batch with you?"


    Celes raised her gaze with a chuckle. "I take it you have some suggestions?"


    She had placed her family fourth in line for their safety. She wasn''t active this early. There was no telling what they might encounter on their way to the Altar. But she figured that after three trips she''d be able to handle any situation that would pop up.


    "Yes,¡± Minnie eagerly recommended. ¡°Priya and Justin showed good initiative. That''s a good sign this early into all this. Shows they¡¯re self-aware and can think ahead.¡±


    Feeling as though she was getting ahead of herself, she added, ¡°Of course, you should know best, but since you told me you were stuck at the government shelter for a while before you went back to school and didn''t leave, I figured you''d only know a few of the people here. Their character, I mean¡­"


    Celes nodded in response. She was slow on the uptake in the beginning and didn''t take much action herself. Gathering a group didn''t happen until a few weeks into the apocalypse even then she started out very small not at this grand scale.


    Furthermore, this melting pot of individuals wouldn''t have gathered without their interference.


    The city was large and now filled with danger, and they would have been scattered in all directions. Some likely died in the first wave of threats. Others were not in the city at all. Some never were, others had recently left.


    The only familiar persons among this group matching ''elites'' were those she brought in as friends.


    Celes looked over to one corner. A brunette with dyed brows was holding a small child. She was the daughter to one of her mom''s friends and was once her classmate.


    There was nothing particularly outstanding about Kelsie Wave, but she was a reputable scout for one of the city''s top guilds. Celes had called her and her family simply because she had some amount of friendship with her and could bring her there faster.


    Celes looked in another direction, capturing an elderly man dressed in a neat blue suit. His niece was a few years older than her. She had invited them based on her dad''s connections.


    They were another story entirely. The elderly man was a researcher with decades of experience and ties to many government projects.


    His niece was in a similar field and very talented as well. Both of them were responsible for a lot of discoveries on the mechanics of the Card Master system of transcendence, researching the effects of the many minerals and natural treasures that were born in the New World.


    Lastly, was a chubby boy with a round childish face, wearing glasses and a kitty-patterned pink shirt.


    Cooper, nervously sweating even now.


    He was nothing special in normal times, only a shut-in gamer living in his parent''s basement. Celes had played with him a lot when they were children.


    She was not ashamed to say she cut him off once they reached adulthood because of his lifestyle.


    Ironically, his lifestyle put him ahead of the game in the New World. Gamers, the ones with some amount of backbone and a lot of smarts, were at the forefront of figuring out how the Card Master system worked and the abilities of various cards.


    Oddly enough, gamers progressed in that area even more than the educated scientists and researchers. Cards, monsters, aliens, whatever it was, they managed to decipher a lot of their abilities and behaviors within a relatively short time of first meeting them. They were the head explorers and inventors of the New Age.


    These were the four people she specifically invited to be of use to her.


    Tracing Celes¡¯s gaze, Minnie smiled, nudging her.


    "I never expected you got so sly with age. When you told me about them, I figured you''d put them in the first group and keep them close to win them over, but instead you''re playing hard to get.¡± She chuckled, tucking a lock that had slipped out her fair ponytail. ¡°Touch¨¦, Les. Touch¨¦."


    Celes didn''t respond. Yes, putting them in the first group would have helped in winning them over, but she wasn''t satisfied with just that. She wanted their loyalty, and the biggest step towards that was for them to come to her. She couldn¡¯t risk having them feel too important.


    Even if they did come to her so early, she would find a way to refuse. Only after spending some amount of time as mortals, watching others get ahead of them and experience everything they wanted, would they be grateful to her for giving them a chance.


    Desires achieved without effort were not as treasured as much as those fought for. This was human nature.


    *


    Seven bicycles and a low-flying Sapphire Beauty exited the base under the blazing noon sun, to the wonder of the outside crowd.


    Celes and Minnie nodded to their fathers. Both men were left in charge of managing the base in their absence.


    "Wow, it looks like a whole different world out here now,¡± Priya exclaimed, ¡°Like fifty years have passed or something."


    Large vines and moss-covered buildings crumbling slightly in place and tilted over like the leaning Tower of Pisa seemed to be the new architecture trend. In such a short time, New Roselee had transformed into a true post-apocalyptic scenery.


    "Hard to believe a few days ago it was business as usual," Justin commented, riding his bicycle alongside his younger sister. ¡°Well, as usual as it could be with the disasters and all.¡±


    Screee~


    "It sure is an amazing new world,¡± Priya marveled, her eyes refusing to stay put as it drank in the sights. ¡°Terrifying but amazing." She glanced up to Sapphire gliding just ahead of them. Her beautiful blue plumes fluttered ever so slightly in the wind.


    Just a moment ago, she had spat her phoenix flame, burning a cluster of Blood Sucking Mosquitos to ash.


    Her blue flames were like ignited gas from a stovetop, but they burned much brighter and vivid, like melted sapphire gems mixed with a tinge of silver.


    The heat from the flame was oddly gentle and soothing, like a spring breeze, yet when it caught ablaze it was as terrifying as any flame.


    "Fourteen Goblins about 200 yards ahead," Celes announced from above.


    "What do we do? Avoid them?" asked Minnie.


    Celes thought for a while before deciding. "No. A few are unarmed and the rest just have wooden spears and clubs. It''s time for your first battle."


    With a different group, she would have gone around or gone ahead to take care of the enemies, but since this was the team she wanted to entrust and delegate a significant amount of authority to, her most elite troop, she decided to baptize them in blood as early as possible.


    She had planned to wait until after they awakened, but seeing such a well-matched group of foes changed her mind.


    Goblins were strong, yes, but with the right strategy they would be easily handled. They were sneaky and well-versed in traps and sleazy ambushes, but that was about it. Without any totems, priests, or a chieftain, they were no match for a competent Tier 0 Card Apprentice.


    She had armed her elite squad with blades and guns, weapons their current target lacked, so she had high expectations for them.


    Hearing her declaration, the group tensed up. They had heard her describe the unearthly flesh-eating abominations, reminiscent of the fantasy-like creatures in games and media.


    Unfortunately, they were not the weakest version of the fairy tale monster, but they weren''t the most disgusting ones either, so there was solace in that fact for the women in the team especially.


    As a part of a civilized society, many had rarely fought, much less to the death with their lives on the line.


    Justin, who was over six feet tall, looked over at his sister. Priya met his eyes, communicating wordlessly.


    They had to prove themselves here and stick close to Celes, otherwise, they and their family might be in danger. Looking at the crowd of fearful survivors outside their base was enough to convince them.


    The wondrous abilities she promised to give them after they awakened were another great motivator.


    They had to perform well in the coming battle.


    Xia and Giselle did not have the same worry, being long-time friends of Celes and Minnie, but Giselle was fearful of her first encounter with the monstrous creatures. Even Xia who hardly broke a sweat knitted her brows in worry.


    The remaining three members of the team were a short man called Reid. He tutored Celes in Archaeology in the past. She actually wanted his brother, but they were separated and Reid had his own advantages worthy of placing him on the team. Although, the same was not true for the quiet bespectacled girl who hadn''t said a word until then. The remaining member of the squad was Celes¡¯s younger sister, Jasmine, hitching a ride on a Sapphire.


    Celes massaged her temples, thinking of the hell Jasmine raised to tag along. Celes had assured her she would have her turn in due time, but she wouldn''t have it.


    Faced with her unruly behaviour, she had to give in. Blame her for feeling deeply about their last fight before learning of her unsightly death in the future past.


    Although she hadn''t mentioned it specifically, her sister was quite sharp when she needed to be and picked up on it, successfully guilt-tripping her.


    The group pedaled steadily on the cracked street. The cluttered cars from escapees in the early days of the seven-day calamity no longer blocked the road; most vehicles were pushed to the sides of the street by the earth''s expansion.


    The bright rays of sunlight reflected off their windows and frames, shedding light in some darker corners of the enlarged streets.


    Entire buildings and some sections fell sideways into the streets like felled trees, causing them to go around or climb over with their bicycles on their back.


    These fallen buildings were quite fragile as well, so they had to watch their steps while climbing.


    "She''s so pretty. I want one. How do I get one?" Jasmine clamored, combing Sapphire¡¯s feathers once getting a ride.


    "I thought you said you wanted to fight up close when I asked,¡± Celes responded. ¡°Though, if you want, I can change your natal card for you. They can be your cute pet, go scouting for you, fight for you, carry you around, scare off lower-level creatures, hunt for you, shield you, keep watch for you..." She easily listed a dozen more reasons.


    Natal cards determined the path one would take and the combat style. It was the strongest, most effective, and most sustainable power you possessed. It only made sense to build everything else around it.


    Celes thought long and hard to extend the list while saying it. As her older sister, she wanted Jasmine to be as safe as possible. She had expected Jasmine to reject being a healer, but being a close combat specialist was outside of her expectations.


    Celes had spent hours trying to convince her sister and failed, but now the chance presented itself again, she grabbed it with renewed gusto.


    The nine main positions for a competent wilderness team within the New World consisted of the main close combat damage dealer to attract the monsters'' attention, a healer or priest to take care of any injuries obtained at any point of the journey, a long-range damage dealer to give suppression fire, a shield bearer to block powerful or corrosive damage.


    The remaining five positions were a secondary melee combatant to assist the primary damage dealer, a mage type for magical large-scale area damage, scouts or rangers to do reconnaissance and set traps, assassins to do quick and stealthy damage, and a master of mystic arts to predict the weather, handle curses, test bad luck, find treasures and so on.


    Of course, Mystic Masters were rare, so it was usually an eight-person professional team. Though the standard team was twelve persons, one profession was repeated twice in the setup.


    It goes without saying that healers were the safest in any group apart from the master of mystic arts.


    "On second thought, I''ll get one later,¡± Jasmine happily said, continuing to massage Sapphire''s soft feathers. ¡°You can have more than one card right? I''ll wait."


    Celes pursed her lips, but she chose to not say anything at that moment.


    Jasmine¡¯s pink hair was slightly haggard from lack of care, but Celes observed her sister''s bright and unwavering expression as she voiced her refusal.


    ¡®She had always known how to get under my skin... If I was the same as before, this would have started an argument.¡¯


    Jasmine had always been difficult, so Celes quickly accepted her defeat. Perhaps she would have been harder on her if she had survived the Last Days in the future past, but that was a ''what if'' scenario on the other side of Fate''s coin.


    She quite preferred this turn of fate, getting a second chance to watch over her younger sister. She had prayed the same many nights back then, that if she could get back her sister, she wouldn''t care how annoying she was.


    Even after slaughtering her murdering rapists, she was left empty inside because that wouldn''t bring back her sister from the dead.


    It was the same for her mother, although anger didn''t cloud her judgment in that case and she got to give them a very painful death, worthy of their animal like natures. Yet even then, the hole in her heart from their loss was bleeding for years without a moment''s break.


    "We''re almost there. Don''t rely on me to save you,¡± she called out to the ones on the bicycles. ¡°If you can''t handle this much, then you''re better off knitting at an elderly home."


    Celes wished for them to live their lives without worry, but to survive in the New World was no walk in the park, so she had to strictly train them to be ready.


    The group left their bicycles in a safe corner while Celes kept a safe distance. Sapphire was a variant Phoenix, a higher transcendent bloodline several tiers higher than goblins.


    She could sense that the goblin''s auras lingered between the initial and middle stages of Tier 0. Sapphire and her were already at the upper stage.


    Most Blessed Ones also had a head start in cultivation, it was through their differences with ordinary card masters that the path of cultivation eas quickly deciphered.


    Although even if she was a single stage higher than the goblins, their cowardly nature of bullying the weak and fearing the strong would cause them to run either way once they saw Sapphire, a creature with a great noble bloodline.


    Celes subtly placed three cards in her sleeves in case of emergencies. Whatever her mouth might have said, she was not going to risk anyone''s life, especially her sister''s.

 Chapter 17: Oh Fragile Humanity, Humanitys Blood shall not be shed without consequence!

    Minnie and Xia took the lead, both carrying assault rifles, machetes, and pistols. Justin, Priya, and Jasmine were close behind. Reid and Gilly, the young lady in glasses, also hung to the edge of their triangular formation, all armed.


    As they approached the goblins, Gilly let out a high-pitched squeal.


    The group immediately stopped as if on cue.


    The air seemed to grow heavy, with rancid scents and the unmistakable odor of blood assaulting their senses of taste and smell. They gulped as they surveyed the area.


    "How awful."


    "It''s disgusting."


    "How could they do such a thing¡­?"


    Flies had begun to surround the bloody guts and remains. The little pests were one of the few to only slightly change along with humans in the New World. Of course, humans had cards. But the majority of flies remained the same and were at the lowest level of existence, unlike ants.


    Up ahead, there were half-eaten and dismembered corpses of humans.


    Organs spilled across the street, some fresh, others crushed and discolored. Eyeballs hung out of their sockets, and brain matter splattered on the pavement like spilled beans.


    They felt their stomachs churn at the sight of such cruelty, and fear started to flow along their veins, their hearts unprepared to oppose whatever painted such a morbid scene.


    Jasmine was the first to vomit.


    Minnie retched, while Gilly dry heaved before throwing up her breakfast as well.


    Priya just barely managed to hold it in, her eyes rapidly growing teary and bloodshot while clutching her frozen brother¡¯s arm for physical and emotional support.


    A vein in Xia¡¯s jaw ticked as she clenched them tightly, hands on her hips. She lowered her gaze, mentally disconnecting from her vision.


    It was a slaughter.


    Humans were actively hunted and eaten raw.


    The sounds seemed to fade around them.


    The world was silent.


    The group stalled, frozen in shock.


    "It''s hard to look at, I know,¡± Celes transmitted her voice to the shocked group, sympathetic yet desensitized, ¡°But you can reflect later. The same is true going forward. Bottle your trauma and save it for later. There''s only one thing you must do now. Kill. Avenge those scattered at your feet."


    She had seen such sights on countless occasions, yet the anger in her heart blazed even brighter than before.


    ¡®I couldn''t do much before. We were in the dark, searching for our senses. But now, if I let humanity be livestock, I would have been given this life in vain!¡¯


    She was sent to the past for a reason, for humanity. To brighten the darkness that haunted their waking and sleeping hours, the first step was these men and women before her right now.


    Eight individuals had their worldviews shaken. Only now did it truly sink in that society as they knew it was gone. All that replaced it was undilated hell.


    Justin was the first to recover from the reeling shock. He slammed his fist against the roof of the a car, his rush of adrenaline causing him to make a dent in it. "We should kill those bastards! We can¡¯t stand by and watch them slaughter us like cowardly prey!"


    "I agree,¡± Jasmine spoke up despite her teary eyes, wiping her mouth. ¡°We shouldn''t let their crimes go unpunished."


    Slowly, their fears and disgust morphed into white-hot anger, fueled by ruthless adrenaline. Brandishing their weapons, every step forward was a testament to their fury and a promise of vengeance.


    Minnie drew back, her gears whirring. Even though she was equally sharing overwhelming emotions with the group, she couldn¡¯t allow them to charge mindlessly into battle without a plan.


    Jogging forward, she stood before them, saying, "We shouldn''t let anger cloud our judgment. Celes said she would prefer if our first kills were done with the machete, but we should still start with guns from a distance and ambush them while they are unaware."


    Realizing the logic within her words, the fury in their movements slowed a bit. Their eyes reflected their resolve. After a short time of agreeing on a strategy, they made it close to the goblins, a group of fourteen as expected.


    What they didn''t expect was to see them still having lunch.


    Three corpses lay on the ground. A man, a woman, and what resembled a baby. It looked like an unfortunate family was on the menu, their limbs and organs still inside fanged jaws.


    "You motherfuckers!" Jasmine jumped ahead, ignoring their earlier plan and rushing towards the goblins.


    Several pairs of yellow eyes turned in their direction as their pointed ears twitched.


    Minnie almost facepalmed her machete into her face.


    Justin and Priya hesitated for a second before rushing after her, and Xia followed suit in a determined sprint.


    Minnie looked at everyone else and sighed, "Well, let''s go."


    The goblins had their guards slightly down at first. Seeing the humans rush at them, they recognized these creatures. The soft sacks of flesh who liked to run and also not run.


    They were slightly puzzled, seeing them rush towards them and not away. That was before Jasmine drew blood, and chopped the shoulder of one goblin with her machete after missing eight shots from her pistol.


    Her blade sunk deep, but was not enough to touch bone.


    She tugged it out to furiously hack some more, but the goblin was already angered and in pain. It swiped its claws at her head, but an arrow buried itself in the green forehead, intervening as Jasmine stumbled back and away.


    Cover fire erupted from behind her as quick rounds bathed the green skins.


    Realizing the threat after seeing one of them fall, the goblins grew furious and lifted their weapons, rushing towards them in an intimidating pace.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°Oh, they¡¯re mad now!¡± Priya yelled, backing up Jasmine with Justin covering for them.


    Everyone else was shooting from afar as they briskly walked towards them, trying to keep steady aim.


    Jasmine haphazardly waved her machete to her first strike, reverting her pistol to its direction. Seeing it still alive and kicking, she felt a strong force collide with the edge of her blade, then a quick grab from the pained goblin. As it grabbed her throat with its bloody hand, tightly blocking her from the air and baring its yellow fangs, she shoved the pistol in its mouth and let loose the rest of a newly loaded magazine.


    As she felt the grip loosen, she swatted the muscular green hands and kicked the dead goblin''s torso.


    Minnie aimed from afar, getting as many ankles as she could. Xia was uncomfortable with her gun, so she switched to her bow. She successfully blinded many of them and penetrated their orifices.


    Justin angrily competed in strength with goblins trying to chop them, realizing they just about matched him, despite his extensive workouts. He bashed his rifle into one of their skulls when the clip was empty.


    Giselle struggled from the rear, trying to get in a few shots, while Gilly kept pushing her glasses up her nose as the recoil of each shot bashed into her.


    Reid and Priya were a bit more courageous and smart, sticking close to each other as they let loose a few shots.


    Celes hovered, monitoring like a teacher during a test.


    Their combat was¡­ unsightly, to say the least; ugly but not bad, considering their lack of experience.


    The group went back and forth for almost ten minutes in an intense battle.


    Towards the end, the surviving proud goblins had to run with their tails between their legs.


    *


    "Well, not the prettiest sight,¡± Celes evaluated, slowly pacing past the fighters, ¡°but you got the job done with¡­ minor injuries, so it¡¯s pass, I guess; a three out of ten."


    Considering she just wanted them to face their fear and get their first kill, it was an ok attempt. Everything else could be taught.


    "Minnie and Xia did well, as I expected.¡± She turned her gaze to her best friend, her expression somewhat disappointed as she said, ¡°But you should have expected that my hot-headed sister would jump off, Minnie. One thing you will always say is ¡®Evaluate the characters before assigning the mission.¡¯ I expected you to keep close on potentially risky members of your team.¡±


    She made to move on, but then remembered and added, ¡°Oh, and good job leading the hesitant ones to go in for the kill when the goblins were squirming on the ground."


    Turning to her tall and muscular cousin, she blankly said, "Justin, your strength isn''t bad, but as you would have discovered, even the goblins are a bit stronger than you. They¡¯re at the bottom of the food chain, so work on building your capacity.¡±


    Justin nodded obediently, cracking his bloody knuckles while his steel blue eyes lit up in determination.


    Moving on to the next, a head of disheveled pink hair and a face decorated in bleeding scratches, Celes heaved a sigh. ¡°Jasmine... Really? You did alright, but look at the cuts on your arms and face¡­ Your entire throat looks bruised. Keep fighting like that and you¡¯ll join the corpses on the streets.¡± She pulled no punches, determined not to show any favoritism. ¡°It''s always a team effort, so you¡¯re evaluated as a team. You''re the cause of the low score, I hope you know that. Try to fight smarter next time."


    Celes glared at her sister, half expecting her to bite back with a retort, but Jasmine took her scolding like a champ. If she insisted on being difficult in matters affecting lives other than her own, then Celes would have to step in forcefully.


    Hopefully, she would learn from this.


    Looking at the rest of the battle-worn group, she continued her evaluation.


    "Giselle, seventy percent of your shots missed. But you listened to Minnie and stabbed your first goblin nicely, so it¡¯s not all bad. With that aside, you''re most suited to be a healer. Your background in vet science counts as a bonus. That means you won''t be fighting a lot, but that doesn''t mean you should be a complete vase. Keep that in mind."


    She had expected this from the beginning and so it was. Despite her aggressive tomboyish nature, Giselle didn''t get into a lot of fights in their youth and was usually the first to suggest walking away.


    "Reid, you did ok enough; no glaring issues. Priya, you should dial it down on the screams when fighting. It alerts whatever is in the surroundings," Celes concluded, causing Priya to blush as she was called out.


    She was barely satisfied with their performance, but she could work well enough to shape them into an elite team. Talent could be replaced by natal cards, skill could be taught through her experience, and willpower could be grinded steadily until refined.


    Such was the charm of the New World. While luck reigned supreme, even those without luck could prosper. With the right resources and support, anyone could become strong. Whoever you were, wherever you came from, you could achieve greatness and power beyond your wildest imagination.


    Blind, deaf, crippled, nothing was truly a limit. Except maybe idiocy, though that was a self-imposed limit in their case.


    For others, the ceiling had been removed. The impossible had become possible.


    Cards were such a heavenly and nonsensical creation to humans.


    "Thirty-minute rest, then we head out," Celes announced, looking at her silver wristwatch.


    They all plopped to the dusty floor of the abandoned building they had gathered in, exhausted and in pain. The high intensity of the fight had made it feel like hours. With their lives on the line, it was all the more stressful and draining when the adrenaline rush rudely faded.


    They were covered in sweat, the salty liquid soaking into their open wounds with a stinging sensation. Their hearts were thumping excitedly in their chests, their muscles screaming in agony and their eyes straining from focusing so hard.


    Quenching their thirst and having a few snacks, the group discussed their prior battle proudly despite Celes''s low evaluation.


    "I had no idea something that small could be so strong.¡± Justin laughed heartily, lifting his bruised thick hands. ¡°Look, my arms are red and bruised."


    "Hell, I almost threw up when one screamed in my face with its stinky breath,¡± Priya shuddered. ¡°God, I was surprised my nose didn''t fall off."


    "Ah, my neck is almost completely dark now,¡± Jasmine muttered, staring at her tilted neck in a dusty shard of reflective glass by a window frame. ¡°Those ugly fuckers pack quite the punch for real." She felt regret for the first time, touching her slender neck. It was so tender, it felt raw. Just mildly turning her head caused her entire neck to scream in protest.


    Celes stepped away from the resting group, feeling Sapphire''s call. Together, they ascended onto a lone rooftop several hundred yards northeast.


    "Truly... I had almost forgotten the brutality humans survived in this short time,¡± Celes whispered. She sighed, seeing a horde of more than two hundred goblins.


    They were surrounding a tall altar made of bones and some alien metal. It was a thick pole, similar to a lightpost with an irregular head, with a mysterious energy emanating from it.


    They were trying to create a priest or chieftain by praying to their god.


    "It shouldn''t be a problem now. They need to gather a lot more corpses and accumulate more spiritual energy within the medium for it to work."


    She could come back in a few days to exterminate them.


    As she turned away, she saw a few fresh skulls covered in blood at the foot of the altar, large and small. Suddenly, she froze in place. Those empty eye sockets seemed to be staring at her.


    "Humanity''s blood shall not be shed without consequence, huh?" She muttered to herself, recalling her team''s earlier cries.


    Still, she had to be smart about things. She couldn''t waste cards or energy, trying to kill this batch of goblins while their journey was unfinished. A few similar altars should already be popping up about the city.


    That was true.


    That was true and yet...


    Why was she riding Sapphire in their direction?


    Her body seemed to be moving on its own.


    Various images and massacres replayed behind her retinas. Phantoms of the future. Recalling the fear, despair, and blood within all those encounters, she closed her eyes tightly in pain.


    "Yes... Blood will not be shed in vain."


    Coo¡­?


    Sapphire looked back at her in puzzlement.


    Celes whipped out a precious card. Thick stony blue droplets coalesced in the front, like water settling in on a large riverbank. The viscous drops were ripe with power and life. The back of the card was stone-like, akin to an ancient scripture carved from precious stone. Celes paused, staring at this Blue Stone-grade Energy Card. There were certainly a great many ways she could use this card significantly. Its many effects spanned recovery, boosting, substitution, and many others.


    She knew better than to waste such a good card out of pure emotion, and yet¡­ Yet, she watched as she soaked it in her card essence and it fully activated with a blinding light, a light blue aura seeping into Sapphire.


    ¡®I know¡­ Yet, I can''t help it¡­ For humanity.¡¯


    With a loud cry of a phoenix, the ground below was bathed in a sea of sapphire blue flames.

 Chapter 18: Heroes Appear in the End times, Branches of the Extraordinary tree

    The apocalypse had been compared to many things, hell, a terrible game, a race for evolution, the fury of gods, revenge of the wildlife, a government experiment¡­ The list goes on, but most of all, it has been compared to war.


    Not a war for a country or one¡¯s beliefs as in days of old, but a war for survival as a species.


    It was said that hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.


    Among these hard men were many heroes and villains. Of course, it was not so black and white. It was merely the ratio and number of good deeds that warped one''s perspective.


    Who is a hero? Who is a villain? That could change depending on who was asked.


    A drug dealer was a villain to the police and wider society but could be a hero to his family or community for the benefits he brings them.


    Nevertheless, it was a stone-cold fact there were many noteworthy figures in the New Age who had achieved amazing feats and discoveries, whose names hung on the tongues of humanity, and whose fame traveled faster than the wind.


    Bedtime stories, sagas, ballads; their feats and deeds propagated in many ways throughout the New World as humans huddled together for warmth. Those heroic tales kept away the darkness, allowing them to carry on in the face of fear and pain. Of these, the greatest and most impactful were called Numbered Epics. The others were simply the leftovers.


    *


    16th Epic


    Nedallion, Founder of the Truth Seeker Guild


    Branches of the Extraordinary Tree


    After many adventures through trial realms and mission spaces, the great pioneer and discoverer, Nedallion, found that haphazardly mashing together cards for battle was an ignorant approach. It was the method they had been using so far, but apparently it wasn¡¯t maximizing the full potential of the cards.


    Cards were mystical and all-encompassing, yes, but each had a specialty.


    Just using them without skill was like adding and subtracting in turns without reason, like giving a clueless amateur tools without technique. Nedallion surmised that natal cards were the nucleus of the Card Master¡¯s extraordinary path.


    It was the seed to the great tree that grew with time, nourishment, and adversity. The branches and leaves on this tree had to be carefully chosen for maximum efficiency to create a perfect organism.


    The Path of the Elements, for instance, consisted of sticking solely to a single element such as fire, and only using cards of that attribute. This subtly affected the card master''s aperture and increased the pace of development of their natal card, invoking new effects and abilities. It was a virtuous cycle where the natal card also had an effect on socketed cards, increasing the growth of these already thick branches.


    The physique was tainted with fire, the aperture was tinged with flames, the essence blazed, and the spirit smouldered.


    The extraordinary path of the Card Master was a controlled path of evolution for humans. This focused path was further refined and strengthened according to the individual, increasing their combat capabilities.


    Forcing a variety of different core cards within your internal system was the equivalent of heading down different roads at the same time, tearing yourself apart.


    The Great Pioneer thus concluded that, for the path of card masters, five fingers were inferior to one fist, and the nutrients of five different fruits were inferior to a single carefully cultivated fruit.


    With the evolution of the human as the focus, branches that consisted of socketed cards attached to the stem of the natal card must be carefully chosen.


    Thus, branches of the tree sprouted the extraordinary professionals, forming the nine basic professions with their countless internal branches.


    *


    4th Floor, South Central Mall, E 42 Main Street, Jefferson District, New Roselee City


    An ancient altar sprouted up in a department store, spanning several square meters.


    The front of the department store was littered with green goblin corpses lightly toasted. The altar stood, unseen from the outside. Inside, several figures repeatedly approached the earthen medallion bearing a yellow light erected upon the altar.


    One figure stood a distance away in the ruined clothing store, watching as the rest took steps to the medallion. Soon, the first person sucked in the medallion''s holy light and joined the quiet Minnie, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. One by one, the first batch of the Blue Flame Stronghold received their awakening from the altar.


    Celes took a look at her excited little sister beaming at her like an expectant puppy. She sighed internally. Jasmine only looked this cute when she wanted something.


    "So? So? You said to wait until everyone awakened their aperture from the altar. They''re almost done, so when are we gonna start?" Jasmine chirped like a baby bird.


    ¡®I guess there''s no helping it¡­¡¯ Celes thought with a sigh. ¡®She''s as stubborn as a bull when she wants to be.¡¯


    "You said you wanted to fight in the frontlines, yes?" Celes asked, almost raising her hands in defeat, catching Minnie hold a hand over her mouth with a small chuckle.


    Jasmine nodded firmly in response.


    Celes thought for a while before continuing. "Like I said before, we typically fight in teams in the New World. There are some lone wolves, but those are usually the unfortunate or abnormal, so let¡¯s ignore them.¡± She flipped through cards as she spoke. ¡°Based on your request, you want a melee combat position. There are different branches for that position, but popular choices are Warriors, Berserkers, Heroes, and Paladins.¡±


    She stopped at one blue glowing card for a moment, but then continued her flipping. ¡°It''s hard to categorize the different variations under one bracket. But basically, you choose a weapon, strengthen yourself to use it, and fight accordingly. Choose a skill and select matching or supporting skills to form a system. Choose a talent and¡ªwell, you get the idea. Out of these, talents allow for the most wiggle room; skills and weapons typically force you to fight in a certain manner. These come into play later and determine your rewards from missions, cards you use, and so on.¡±


    Jasmine¡¯s soft blue eyes lit up, eager to make her input. ¡°Okay, so I¡¯ll ¡ª¡±


    ¡°I have four options for you,¡± her sister interrupted calmly, spreading out a collection of cards she had selected from her flips. ¡°The most powerful card I have suitable for you is a sword; Red Steel-grade Crystalline Nature Fang. The next two cards are Green Copper grades; Three Point Biting Fang and Ten Times Strength. You could specialize in several weapons in the future, or you could focus on your body. Lastly, we have the Black Iron-grade Fairy Thorn Maiden Transformation.¡±


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    The name of the card caught Jasmine¡¯s attention. ¡°What does that one do?¡± she asked, reaching out to take a closer look at it, but Celes held it away from her.


    ¡°Normally, with the cards in my hand, I wouldn''t give you such a mid-ranked card,¡± she said, flicking it across her fingers like a magician, a glint of knowledge shining through her experienced sapphire eyes, ¡°but I know how to promote this one to higher qualities. It is one of the most valuable card natures one can have, apart from summoning or brood natures.¡±


    ¡°How does that work?¡±


    ¡°Oh, it allows you to transform into an alien race specialized in controlling thorn-like vines and plants with tough defenses, and a momentary ability to fly ¡ª¡± Celes sucked in a breath before continuing her pitch. ¡°It¡¯s a good all-rounder for a transformation card. Its weaknesses are not the worst. It¡¯s just fire, and even then it has to be a pretty strong fire."


    Jasmine blinked slowly. It felt like she had just been bombarded by an eager cardealer ready to make a big sale. Celes cracked a small smirk, leaving her to her mental abacus.


    "What about me?¡± Minnie raised her hand like an obedient kindergartener.


    Celes rolled her eyes. "You''re a special case. In the past, you were forced to choose a skill from the spell nature, but you always regretted it since your main position was at the base or in the rear, far away from the front lines."


    ¡°That does sound like me¡­¡± Minnie muttered thoughtfully.


    In the past?


    A flicker passed by in the pupils of several team members who thought ''sure enough''.


    Everyone else was in the dark yet Celes somehow knew exactly what to do. Even fools would be suspicious.


    "You also regretted not having Fell''s Spiritual Soul Network or Vanquished General''s Regretful Map as your natal card. Those were super rare and we only got them by chance later on.¡± Celes rapidly sorted through her cards. ¡°Unfortunately, I don''t have them here either. I do have one of your second choices though, Green Copper-grade Spiritual Link Insignia. We can still wait if you want; we''re not in the same rush we were before."


    Fell''s Spiritual Soul Network was the card form of a racial skill from a race of beings who existed as souls. The card allowed for the user to connect with the souls of comrades, transmit thoughts, see through their eyes, regenerate, and many other esoteric wonders once utilized well.


    Vanquished General''s Regretful Map was a card that allowed one to view a three-dimensional image of the battlefield from afar. The data would be transmitted directly to the brain, allowing the user to easily grasp the liquidity of the battleground without ever setting foot on it themselves.


    Spiritual Link Insignia created a magical emblem inside the mind, capable of splitting off sub-emblems to others and allowing the user to link their thoughts and feelings, transmitting them across great distances.


    These were all cards of the spiritual category, rare beyond measure.


    "Do you have to ask? I''ll take it!¡± Minnie answered with an excited clap. ¡°I won''t sit still and look pretty, watching you do all the work."


    Celes smiled. She had expected as much.


    With the cards in hand, she would be able to give the team a full set of matching cards without any issue. In total, her arsenal was 149 strong. She had never owned so many cards until around seven years in the future, with countless deaths and bloody exchanges to achieve such. The level of quality within her current collection surpassed anything she had ever obtained until much later.


    Owning thirty-two Green Copper cards, she could currently give each member of the team at least 2 matching cards of the same quality. Only one or two persons would have a Blue Stone or Grey Ash card.


    Celes carefully picked out cards for everyone, giving them detailed instructions before walking to the center of the room.


    She hesitated for a bit, bringing out two more cards.


    ¡®I''ve already shattered and wasted two essence cards to exterminate the goblin horde¡­ Do I really need to do it again when it''s not a urgent situation?¡¯


    Celes bit her lower lip deep in thought.


    ¡®Better safe than sorry¡­ just one mistake or blemish could affect them for the rest of their lives if it happens.¡¯


    There were known cases of things being attracted to fusion of the Card Soul lurking deep within before erupting one day. Many alien races were capable of this, along with parasites, curses, and the like.


    Although the Essence Devouring Spirit Worm and Gelahk clan were never once reported in New Roselee City, Celes wasn''t so sure since she couldn¡¯t possibly remember every little thing that had occurred in the city. Someone could have been killed by mutant bacteria infecting their Card Soul, but deaths were as frequent as catching a cold during the last days.


    With the signature Ten Thousand Abyss Crevices stationed at the High Cliffs of the Wailing Winds Region, who knew what might have flown up and sneakily slumbered in the city?


    Celes activated two other cards and watched as a ball of light emerged, waves rippling throughout the room before they vanished. One could never be too careful.


    *


    Far away from the High Cliffs of the Wailing Winds, in the border between the Giant Tree Forest Plateau and the Six-Coloured Desert Plain Regions, a metallic blue RV was parked on a piece of pavement, surrounded by patches of dehydrated grass. Ruined buildings dotted the landscapes like droplets of hail falling on dry earth.


    Wriggling brown and black figures noisily attacked a white silhouette. The white silhouette flashed between the swarm of a dozen car-sized insects, maneuvering past their sickle mandibles like an elegant obstacle dash course.


    The insects squealed like pigs as their heads were bashed in with repeated hits. They tried to use their powerful jaws to rip the flesh of the enemy, but their prized fangs only grazed against his powerful grey scales.


    O¡¯Brien slowed down at intervals, dodging the neon green-glowing fangs.


    Their blade-like legs anchored them to the ground, unable to reach the figure when he jumped in the air and rained down blows. They could only watch as he lifted their brothers as shields and broke off their mandibles and legs, stabbing them with it.


    Their hard carapaces were now cracked from his fists and silver claws, displaying broken-off body parts that pierced into them like needles. Whenever they died, their armor withered like poisoned plants and their flesh rapidly decayed like they had suffered from a chronic infectious disease.


    The battle raged on for several minutes, concluding with little surprise. They had been cut down one by one.


    The slit pupil in O''Brien''s amber gold eyes disappeared, replaced by a normal circular pupil, the shining gleam of gold dimming slightly as he undid his transformation. Seeing his scales recede to reveal a body covered in scratches, O''Brien paid them no mind and turned to the corpses of the slain bugs.


    The bugs were weak Grey Ash-blooded monsters. In his prime, he could have easily taken these base creatures, but that was in peak physique with his past natal card as a frontline combatant. He had never used claws to fight either, so changing fighting styles was also a factor to consider. It would have been easier if he had used his past fighting style, refined by years of effort and rumination, but unfortunately, he could not.


    Now he had to struggle to develop a new fighting style based on his current attributes.


    "What a joke,¡± he scoffed. ¡°I know even White Silver quality cards are deemed greatly unnatural by those crazy Truth Seekers, but still¨Chow the hell did the transformation of a giant dragon turn into just some scales and horns appearing? Am I a horned fish? Where are my giant muscles?! Why can''t I soar through the sky?! I feel like a fucking knockoff!"


    O''Brien complained bitterly, kicking an innocent rock out of his way.


    Starless cards beyond Grey Ash and Blue Stone were unnatural to begin with, but only starless cards could be fused as one''s natal card. One could only use cards that matched their current realm, and Grey Ash cards were the other half of the Card Apprentice Realm of Tier Zero.


    Using cards beyond your ability naturally meant you couldn''t bring out the full force of its power


    The only reason humans of the New Age could have natal cards beyond the Blue Stone quality was because of the peculiarities of the first card fall. It was one of the many reasons the Genesis Card Fall was also dubbed God''s Gift.


    "There''s no helping it,¡± O''Brien sighed deeply. ¡°I just have to make do." Despite his complaints, he was quite satisfied with his natal card.


    It wasn''t even a Strength-type Dragon race to begin with, like the Nine-Headed Jewel Earth Dragon, yet his scales were almost impenetrable. By transforming, his visual acuity increased several folds, along with physical fitness, regeneration, and so on. Of course, such was the standard of transformation cards; the user could gain all the little attributes of the transformable race.


    His power increased, similar to the application of a Blue Stone-grade Three Times Strength! Or a Grey Ash-grade One Ton Strength! His claws also had a corrosive effect that stacked, the longer the battle raged on. The advantages were numerous, despite him only using the castrated version of his natal card.


    His complaints were the unreachable envy of the current majority.

 Chapter 19: Socketed Cards, I envy myself so envious

    O''Brien exhaled and calmed his thudding heart. Drops of perspiration nestled on his brows and his body felt a bit sticky. It was his first time using his Natal Card and his body was still not used to it. Although, after such a prolonged battle, he would naturally be a bit winded as of then. Maybe he underestimated the effects of such a powerful natal card.


    The sun''s rays turned the clear droplets of sweat into containers of golden light, heating the surface of his skin slightly. It was a cloudless noonday sky accompanied by scalding heat.


    ¡®I can''t do much more than this¡­ I need to rest¡­¡¯


    Fighting alone on many occasions and having enemies all around taught him how to sleep light and regulate his energy.


    He had done so for nearly fifteen years.


    He had also lost more battles than he won and ran from more battles than he fought. But he had stayed alive, so he was doing something right.


    With O''Brien''s then superhuman body, he could train himself to do things otherwise harmful and incredibly difficult, such as limiting himself to using exactly sixty-five percent of his full strength.


    In the past, he could control his strength by two percent intervals above fifty percent of his total strength. With his current untrained body, he could only manage five percent.


    Having met his predetermined limit, he went back to rest a bit.


    In the gap between several fallen buildings, akin to a forest clearing, O''Brien lightly trotted behind a block of broken concrete and took a seat, obscuring himself from any distant onlookers.


    The distance between himself and his RV was short, but this spot had wind and shade. The cautiousness in his bones was also uncomfortable. Going out into such an open area with sixty-five percent of his card essence consumed and zero passive cards or defensive equipment was a huge risk.


    He had already scoped the area, making sure there were no foes to jump him unexpectedly, but there would always be a ''what if''. The constantly changing environment, weather, and every other outlandish phenomenon were things to always be aware of in the New World.


    Using his rest time, O''Brien brought out the Yellow Gold card, deep in thought.


    He had been ecstatic when he first obtained this beautiful magic card, but having selected his natal card, the playing field had shifted.


    The blank canvas could no longer be randomly splashed with paint. Every further decision he made regarding cards from then on could affect him years into the future. He had to tread carefully.


    He focused his attention internally, placing his spiritual vision within his card aperture. The magical organ appeared before his eyes in a grey expanse.


    The surrounding space outside the aperture was once pitch black, but this had changed along with many things after he had fused with his natal card, the Immemorial Dragon God of Death. He had thought it was a summoning card, but after he fused with it, he discovered it was transformation type.


    Now his card aperture was worlds apart from its initial appearance. The same Grey Ash essence calmly shifted like a gentle ocean, but it had penetrated thirteen layers deep into his aperture. The light grey ash color remained unchanged, indicating he was still in the initial stage of the first cultivation realm, Card Apprentice.


    The width of the aperture also expanded almost six times more, something he had never heard of. New layers were rumored to be able to be penetrated by luck and chance, as well as deepening one''s cultivation, but an expansion of the aperture itself? This was the first he had seen.


    His aperture was surrounded by a grey dragon roaring to the heavens. Above his aperture was an abnormally colorful sky, cloaked in a thin mist containing ever-changing shadows. It seemed to reflect an alternate dimension.


    High above the aperture were nine card-shaped lights fixed in the sky, representing his available card sockets.


    I had just two card sockets at the beginning of the future past, gaining one after I ascended into the Card Master realm,¡¯ he thought with a wry smile. ¡®But having nine at the start? Unbelievable.¡¯


    One''s beginning truly dictated their achievements in the New World. It was possible to grow strong even with humble beginnings, but that required great luck.


    He had been reborn with a gold spoon beyond his wildest imagination.


    *


    O''Brien sighed looking at the card in front of him, his heart felt like countless ants were running over it. Despite his mixed feelings for his selected natal card, he still thought it better than the Blue Phoenix.


    ¡®Blue Phoenix must know how to raise her natal card to a higher level. It would be difficult, yes, but someone of her previous status would know exactly what to do. The materials could be hard to find, but she''ll find them.¡¯ O''Brien couldn''t help but chuckle seeing how the tables have turned. ¡®I guess the Blessed Ones have their drawbacks as well; she is stuck with that as her natal card without having a choice in the matter.¡¯


    The many advantages of Blessed Ones, such as their head start in cultivation and using cards, also restricted them in other ways, such as lacking complete control over their future paths.


    Of course, this was a laughable issue that no one thought of. The advantages of the Blessed Ones easily stood tall by themselves. Only those in a position to fix past regrets would even think of this as a ''limit''.


    O''Brien merely saw it as such from his perspective. He was a completely blank canvas with the sky as his limit, but she was not.


    For Blue Phoenix, she was innately disposed to a special kind of flame or talent. Attempting to use water-type cards would likely risk a conflict occuring.


    Putting Blue Phoenix to the back of his mind, O''Brien refocused on himself and his current headache.


    Card slots were the basis of one''s extraordinary profession and the skeleton of one''s combat strength.


    Having nine card slots, no profession had that many core abilities, so he had to pioneer a new path, which was incredibly risky.


    Extraordinary professions were strong and systematically tested for combat effectiveness, and so many flocked to them once they were aware of the requirements.


    The Warrior profession for example was one of such. Regardless of the natal card, the basic composition to be a Warrior was a vigor-type card to increase endurance like Reinforced Vigor, armor-type cards; whether the rare completed set or individual pieces like Death Knight''s Breastplate, and at least one attack skill, like the Sword Qi Wave. These were the basic cards needed to walk the warrior path.


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    One could further refine this path and become a Flaming Swordsman, Water Calling Spirtsword, Sword Caller, and so on depending, on the natal card, future path, and socketed cards.


    Socketed cards, that is, cards placed in card slots, were cards with reduced difficulties across the board, from usage to upgrades, a great benefit. It was a never-ending debate on which were the most important to have socketed.


    There was too little information in existence and within his knowledge base to select a good extraordinary profession for his natal card, so O''Brien could only choose based on his style of battle or needs. His goal was to be a one-man team, so he needed multi-faceted and wide-ranging skills to deal with different situations on his own.


    "There are too many useful cards to begin with, like the Danger Perception talent card I got. Even though it¡¯s an invaluable socket card for any profession, it''s only a Black Iron quality card," O''Brien moaned in disappointment.


    With the high level of his natal card, he didn''t necessarily need another high-quality card for now. He also had no idea what the card he held even did, nor the penalties it could bring.


    Once again inspecting the Yellow Gold-grade card, his eyes traced the depiction of a yellow cloud dancing in the sky. Did it cause rain? Did it turn its user into a cloud? Would it cloud one¡¯s judgment? Could he switch places with a cloud? He had no idea.


    "I have six more suitable cards here. They will be a pain to upgrade, especially Danger Perception¡­ I can just use them all since I have the sockets, but I feel that would be an extremely stupid thing to do," he sighed and leaned back, staring at the gap revealing the sky above him. He stretched his legs and roughly rain his fingers through his long white hair.


    "My gut says just do it but it might be my greed and perfectionist nature acting up." O''Brien could hear voices echoing in his head, tugging him to either side of logic and desire. "I could just¡­ wait? Maybe use a deduction-type card or get some appraisal ones or something. I''m not exactly in a rush, but there are risks¡­"


    He knew he had yet to become invincible. Not only could he barely bring out the full power of his natal card, but he also didn''t know how to use most of the cards he had.


    It was a big flaw that many could exploit as their enlightenment progressed. At this stage, many Blessed Ones were still a threat to his well-being if not matched properly.


    His blindspot about Yellow Gold cards was too large. It wouldn''t run off, would it? Cards were known to have some incredible effects. Most cards needed to be activated. He had already prevented this one from self-activating, but even then anything could happen in this crazy new world.


    Preventing a card''s self-activation was simple. He had to remove its access to spiritual energy or socket it, regularly pour some of his own card essence inside it, or insert it into his card wheel¡ªthe most popular and convenient option.


    O''Brien had the sneaking fear that the card would suddenly push out all his card essence and activate in his sleep, running away after activating, or worse, attacking and successfully killing him.


    What a ridiculous death that would be.


    "Fuck it! Repercussions and penalties be damned. I won''t carry it around everywhere until I know its use. Too risky."


    O''Brien couldn''t take it anymore and flung the card into his card aperture, directing it to the first card-shaped light high above the aperture.


    For him who had only ever seen Red Steel quality cards in large battles where strong men released them to fight. He only ever touched two trashy Green Copper cards with hellish activation conditions, one was even stolen before it could warm his calloused hands, and the other was sold since he was unable to use it. One of the requirements was, get this, to be a woman, and that was the easiest condition to achieve, he had no choice but to sell it despite his unwillingness and the trouble it could cause.


    For a destitute man such as him, losing such a rare card was unacceptable.


    If he lost it for whatever reason, he would be bitter for the rest of his days, even with a better-quality natal card. Even if it had unfavorable side effects or penalties, he could find a card to remove it somehow. After all, they had made the impossible possible.


    The higher the rank of the card, the lesser the effect of socketing it. Thinking of the worst-case scenario, O''Brien was comforted and so threw caution to the wind, socketing the card.


    A couple of minutes passed.


    Five minutes dragged by.


    Surely, it had been about twenty minutes by now.


    Nothing happened. How could such a powerful card be so¡­


    "Oh shit, I didn''t activate it ¡ª" O''Brien realized.


    The stress had made his mind foggy.


    He half expected to fail. The average card had at least three different material or energy requirements, so even if one requirement was erased, the others would remain after becoming a socketed card making it impossible to activate.


    With the heart of giving it a try, O''Brien focused on the card which had materialized from its card form within his aperture space. He felt a soft sensation come forward, almost like cotton.


    Soon, a yellow cloud the size of an ottoman furniture appeared, floating in front of him.


    Was it a summon-type?


    He tried to order it to attack but nothing happened. He couldn¡¯t sense intelligence from it, so it was clear that it wasn''t alive. He tried attacking it himself but ¡ª


    Poof.


    It faded away like a cloud.


    He poked and prodded for nearly an hour. Finding it a waste of card essence, he deactivated the Yellow Gold card. He wasn''t too disappointed; this was a common occurrence for Card Masters in their attempts to discover card abilities.


    "Well, at least it had no permanent penalties, like losing an organ or worse, so the worst is out of the way. I can slowly figure it out later."


    It was a good outcome. Just being able to summon it was lucky enough.


    He stretched his limbs, finding all his shallow cuts and scrapes to have healed, completely replaced by rosy skin. Sensing his current body''s condition, he inhaled sharply in surprise.


    He had recovered more than half of his full power in a short time, despite depleting more while toying with the cloud.


    This regeneration rate of card essence was completely monstrous. It matched the effect of a high-ranked recovery card, yet this was merely his natural recovery rate, thanks to his natal card!


    Ordinary Card Masters, depending on their natal card, could only recover all their card essence in several hours to over half a day.


    Starting with a gold spoon was truly enviable.


    *


    The broken buildings and plants growing through hardened cement were reminiscent of a scene out of a movie, a sight seen by the world years after a nuclear apocalypse or global plague. The absence of humanity in these once-busy streets was an eerie symbol of desolation and ruin.


    The noonday sun reflected off the streamlined body of a metallic blue RV, increasing its artistic impactfulness to the untrained eye. Around this RV were four women at different vantage points, with one on the roof of the mini lookout cabin, her blood-red hair hidden under a hood.


    Roya sat beside a covered object, cleaning her rifle. Lea was making some notes and drawing diagrams of various objects and monsters, glancing up now and then to keep an eye out for danger.


    Golden-winged boots kicked up dust as Jules ran around in them, at times rising off the ground but falling down after losing her balance. She blew her light hair out of her face, determination burning in her eyes as she pushed herself off the ground and tried again.


    A terrifying grey wolf sat by a distant corner, large paws sitting up in a protective stance while his predatory eyes oversaw the camp.


    Seeing Rose step out from the lookout, they all became alert and looked in the direction of her gaze. A tall grey-skinned figure in tattered rags approached them. His bright white hair swayed calmly behind him, but his golden eyes matched the fierceness of the wolf he stopped to pet.


    "You were gone since morning,¡± Roya commented, setting her rifle aside and standing up with a popping stretch. ¡°Jules was getting bored, so we let her practice and kept watch. We doing anything special today?"


    O''Brien needed to find the perfect amount of bugs he could handle and still have a good fight for his maiden battle. This took him a few hours to find and lure the optimal size troop of Sickle Beetles to the proper battlefield, away from external influences.


    Rose descended the external ladder, looking over his body in concern. "Were you injured? Do you need Lea to heal you?"


    O''Brien didn''t wince this time, getting used to her care.


    "No. I''ll take a short nap before I bring you out for some more experience,¡± he said. ¡°You and Lea can approach your lovely group of pitiful survivors. Check their condition. See if they have anything worthy of exchange ready. Word should have spread by now about me and our offer."


    O''Brien was about to enter the van when Lea hesitatingly spoke up.


    "About that... Some survivors approached us while you were away."

 Chapter 20: Hoarding Supplies, Heading to the Shelter

    O''Brien had been in a good mood for the past two weeks. It was not uncommon for one city to split into four pieces, with all fragments heading to different regions in the global expansion.


    O''Brien had even heard sorrowful tales of cities being split into over a dozen pieces, causing families to forever be lost to each other.


    The problem was not being split up for most, but the particular region within the New World you were lucky or unlucky enough to end up in.


    While his comrades from Monvec did not mention landing in one of the top hellscapes, some of them did end up in a tough situation being directly in the Yellow Sand region of the Six-Colored Desert Plains.


    O''Brien''s current location on the border between the Giant Tree Forest Plateau and Six-Coloured Desert Plain regions was quite a good outcome.


    He and his group were in a better position than he thought. The ruins and secret realms nearby were numerous, well, according to the rumors. Furthermore, it was also near to where the elves would be settling sometime in the future, thus greatly lessening the number of other intelligent alien races that would be active in the region.


    O''Brien intended to fully enjoy this period of peace, well aware of the dangers that would roam the land in the coming weeks causing every corner to be rife with danger.


    In the New World, as far as humans were concerned, trouble would come to find you even if you stayed in the same place so prolonged periods of peace were well celebrated.


    O''Brien had time to relax in these past two weeks as if the apocalypse was just some horror-themed vacation with no threat of imminent death.


    Yet, nothing could be perfect.


    "So? Did they come begging again?¡± O''Brien mockingly asked. ¡°Did their tears move you? Were there a hundred crying children?"


    Of course, Jules flamed up. "Would it kill you to have some basic human decency?!" Another entry in her regular headbutting with their beloved chaperone, the Prince of Douches.


    "As a matter of fact, it would,¡± he answered, slowly pulling his white locks into a ponytail. ¡°Same for you as well.¡±


    ¡°Please educate me on how, Your Royal Doucheness,¡± Jules scoffed, folding her arms across her chest.


    O¡¯Brien carefully wrapped a long lock to secure the others in place, his perfectionism guiding his fingers. ¡°Even if they are incapable of stabbing you in the back now, what happens when you are exhausted from protecting them? If a strong wave of monsters appears and you create an escape pathway for them, do you think they will shed tears for your noble sacrifice as you die covering their retreat?" He massaged his temples with a roll of his eyes. Her lack of simple logic baffled him at times.


    ¡°An empathetic human wouldn¡¯t let children die like that!¡± Jules bit back.


    "I''ve said it many times, but I''ll say it again,¡± he sighed. ¡°I''m not stopping you. Feel free to go save them. You can die trying, but you sure have fancy aspirations when you can''t even back them up with strength.¡± He felt Roya staring at him, but he fixed his gaze on Lea, the most cool-headed one of the group, it seemed.


    ¡°You''ve seen movies, or whatever hell it might have been. Even just surviving in society would tell you. Humans are less than dogs, since man''s best friend doesn''t bite the hand that feeds them, or gloat while stabbing you in the back, twisting the knife so they can torture you with the pain for as long as possible."


    The oozing nobility and kindness from these four women had caused him no small amount of headaches these past two weeks.


    "Well... We can at least give them a little food, can''t we?¡± Lea softly argued, grabbing her elbow.


    O¡¯Brien threw his hands up in exasperation, causing her to lower her gaze, but she continued to speak.


    ¡°Even if we aren''t protecting them, we are the ones who cleared out most of the supermarkets and convenience stores. Some medicine as well. We¡­ don''t exactly need those. None of us are on prescription drugs, but we emptied all the pharmacies here as well."


    What had he been thinking? She had been adamant and headstrong in the beginning when it came to saving lives, the same as Jules. Rose was uncharacteristically mute, still not fully recovered from the brutality that had unfolded before her eyes weeks ago.


    When they tried to go out on their own against his advice and were surrounded by Sickle Beetles, he was the one who had to come and save them, only because of Rose¡¯s plea.


    The commotion they had caused trying to save one group caused the rescuees to all end up in the belly of the ambushing new foe.


    According to O''Brien''s mocking jeers, if they hadn''t made so much noise screaming for help and using their new abilities so flamboyantly, many would have survived the encounter. Instead, they all wiped out the people they wanted to save.


    By extension, they had murdered all those people because of their actions.


    This caused a relapse in Rose''s mental condition. Jules and Lea dealt with more trauma, tears, and a major loss of appetite. As a former soldier, Roya had long controlled her reactions to death, making her an exception to the guilt O¡¯Brien had thrown on them, though she respected their mourning with silence.


    The event caused four days of wonderful peace and silence for the joyful young man.


    The section of the city that had ended up at the border with them was only about one-fifteenth or less of the entire city structure. The battered buildings included residential apartment complexes, malls, flower shops, vegetable markets, and the like. Convenience stores, supermarkets, and gas stations were not as numerous in this particular city block compared to some others.


    Considering Sickle beetles and a weird giant Green Worm were roaming the city ruins, it was that much harder to go scavenging for supplies. These monsters were not mindless zombies. They were predators who could feel the body¡¯s warmth and scent from a distance.


    Due to the calamities a week before the apocalypse, many persons had stockpiled preservable food, but with the majority being lost in transition as the earth shifted, supplies had begun to run thin only two weeks into the New World.


    Initially, O''Brien didn''t have a plan concerning others. He just happened to be near the Altar and Hope Medallion when the terraforming began, instructing the women to awaken their aperture. When he came to his senses after it ended, he had an epiphany. He could leave the Altar and Medallion, but that would be such a colossal waste.


    This was a strategic item that entire shelters were built around with it as the core!


    Surely, he could use it to his benefit somehow.


    He had the idea to follow the standard apocalypse procedure and gather food and daily necessities, although he himself had no need for them. Why? He didn''t need it, but someone would, wouldn''t they?


    It was a common practice to barter such items in the New World, so the plan was concocted within his mind. Outsiders were charged a higher premium when trying to buy from settlements.


    Although the New World had yet to form its mature systems of exchange, he still could barter them for cards that most people did not know the use of. He would also spread the word to the smart ones who recognized the value of cards, offering to teach them how to use them. With the medallion in hand and an unused Storage Ring, he had everything he needed to carry out his plan.


    He alone could monopolize all the food in this city block. The portions he couldn''t carry close to him or on his person, he had hidden well in the lairs of monsters so no one could get to them. Call him petty, but it was an investment worth making.


    He made sure many people saw him from windows and their hiding places as he swept the place for food and medicine. If they were not nearby, he would deliberately take a detour towards them. Advertising at its finest. He would have made a great entrepreneur if the world didn¡¯t go to shit.


    Survivors would seek him out once information spread that he had what they needed. He had especially left scribbled notes and markings in supermarkets, gas stations, and convenience stores he had been to, to paint them a clearer picture and guide them to him.


    He was practically screaming, ''Hey, I did it! I have all the food! You want some? Then come find me!''.


    Now after two weeks without renewing their food source, the survivors had finally started to crawl out of their hiding places. It was like smoking out an anthill.


    Having his hair tied back and sleeves rolled up, ready to work, he addressed his sympathy party once again. "Let me guess. You want me to help them out for free, isn¡¯t it?¡± he directly asked Jules.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a human ¡ª¡±


    ¡°Not gonna happen. I''m not a fucking charity," he cut her off, heading up the steps of his RV. Did she think that because he was helping her to repay his debt to Rose, he was some Santa and would be giving away gifts freely?


    As if.


    He¡¯d rather wrestle a Flame Abyss Titan.


    "O''Brien, there are several children in that group,¡± Rose pleaded, hurrying after him. She held the railing and looked up at him, her once cheery face now a canvas of depression and PTSD. ¡°We saw¡­tiny babies, weeks and months old, skinny mothers that can barely breastfeed." She knew she had the strongest voice among them to try and convince him, yet it was difficult to sway his rock-hard heart. ¡°Think of¡ª¡±


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    "Babies have the lowest survival rate at this point of the apocalypse,¡± he stated, watching her tired face fall. He rubbed his face with his palm, drawing a long sigh. ¡°I sound like a broken record. Again, Rose, are you prepared to lay down your life and protect them for the rest of their lives? If not, then don''t needlessly extend your helping hand. They''ll start thinking they¡¯re entitled to your help, you ¡ª" O''Brien froze for a second, whatever he was building up to dying on the tip of his tongue.


    Why convince them with his words when seeing for themselves would teach them a better lesson?


    It would be a fun past time.


    "Fine. We''ll help,¡± he resigned, the words tasting like cardboard on his tongue, quickly adding, ¡°Just a little.¡±


    Roya raised her head, glancing at the others to know if she heard right. ¡°Did he just ¡ª?¡±


    ¡°I''ll give you some food. I cleaned out most of the stores in the district, but some places would have bulk stock of similar items already bought and stored within their facilities, like jails and hotels. I''ll get some things ready before we go and collect whatever they can exchange, and then we''ll give them a little charity afterward to surprise them. Good?"


    A smile from this ashy being still bordered on being unsettling to the women. More than that, they doubted their ears.


    Did he really give in?


    They were giving their all, not expecting much since he was as stubborn as a mule, but he actually agreed!


    Rose frantically nodded, not wanting him to change his mind. "Of course. Thank you so much, O''Brien. Thank y¡ª" Before she could finish, he disappeared within the RV. Within a few moments, they heard the shower start to run.


    "His body language and behavior were thick with distaste and aversion at first," Roya commented, having had professional requirements to be able to read body language.


    ¡°True,¡± Lea agreed, slowly cracking her knuckles in slight hesitation. ¡°I wonder why he changed like that so fast¡­¡±


    They were so used to him cutting them off and flinging their barely spoken views out of the window like a toddler hosting a tantrum. This was quite unnatural, coming from him.


    "Sure enough, it''s Rose again,¡± Roya observed, leaning closer to the blonde and lowering her deeper tone. ¡°Do you think he has feelings for her and this thing about a debt is a lie?" Rose was an earshot away but was telling Jules something.


    "I don''t think so," Lea replied with a little chuckle, loosening her tightened shirt sleeves. O''Brien''s actions and personality displayed no regard for human life at all. It was easy to guess that he could harbor feelings for Rose because of the way he treated the rest, but he only gave her the bare minimum of good treatment, so that was out of the question unless he came out and admitted it himself.


    He had been changing in recent times, from dissatisfaction to indifference, but he was still far from a charitable person.


    Roya lifted her brows, her lips in a thin line. ¡°I smell a trick. This sounds too good to be true.¡±


    "Whatever the case, we got what we wanted since he''ll help," Lea shrugged, being able to help make her feel a lot better. She had healed their injuries but her natal card, Light of the Asshai, could only heal wounds and not satiate hunger. ¡°I don¡¯t see how he¡¯d possibly ¡ª¡±


    ¡°He could poison them,¡± Jules interjected, sitting beside Lea and joining the conversation.


    Rose let out small gasp in synch with Lea. ¡°Don¡¯t think about such a thing!¡± she scolded her niece with an angry pout.


    Jules folded her arms across her chest, crossing her legs at the ankles. ¡°I mean, he¡¯s done it once. Who¡¯s to say he wouldn¡¯t do it again? He¡¯s a twisted soul.¡±


    Roya held up her palms. ¡° Let¡¯s not jump so far into conclusions, Jules. Yes, there are chances he could do something horrible like that, but he''s not wrong, you know.¡±


    They all snapped their necks to her with appalled gazes.


    ¡°I mean, the things he¡¯s said,¡± she quickly clarified. ¡°If you give them everything for free, they''ll start to rely on you. If they don¡¯t earn it, entitlement slips in quickly. It''s hard to say it, but yes, they''ll be a burden to us. Let¡¯s admit the truth." She clicked her tongue.


    Of course, she stood on her friends¡¯ side, but she felt she needed to say something about their holy-mother actions. She could feel that things were not headed in a good direction like that Gianni guy who came with his child in tow, out in this dangerous environment to beg for food and guilt trip them. He was clearly playing the pity game.


    For some reason, Roya supporting O¡¯Brien¡¯s views caused an outburst, but it wasn¡¯t from Jules.


    "So what?! You''d have us watch as they die when we can save them with just a little effort?!¡± Lea snapped, growing red as her delicate face twisted in anger. ¡°You actually agree with that psychopath? Listen to yourself! No wonder you weren¡¯t as persistent as we were. What did those small children ever do to you?!"


    Roya¡¯s brow only creased slightly, but her dark eyes betrayed her surprise. It was rare to see Lea display such behavior. Jules discreetly scooted away from Lea¡¯s side.


    Realizing her actions, Lea sighed and covered her face with her hand, her voice lowering to a whisper when she raised her head once more.


    "I''m sorry, I shouldn''t have snapped,¡± she apologized. ¡°It''s just that I made it my life''s goal to help as many people as I can. That''s why I became a doctor. I already know that many people have died and are dying as we speak. I keep having this nightmare¡­ I see their faces¡­their half-eaten corpses¡­that hideous giant worm biting into them one by one. Then I wake up. Despite trying not to let it all gets to me yet it still is, I don¡¯t know how much more I can take, I''ll feel better if we at least do our best to help all those we can."


    "We''re all in the same boat, aren''t we?¡± Roya asked without malice. Though she didn¡¯t show it often, she wasn¡¯t completely numb and emotionless, just someone trained to control her reactions to the cruel world. ¡°I know it''s hard at first but there are certain things we can''t control, I''ve been on many missions and fought against child soldiers against my will but simply killing their leader will not remove the child soldiers, years of work and investment of time and resources are required for that even in somewhat peaceful times much less now with all out wat on every front against man eating monsters..."


    Lea pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them. She wasn''t the type to cry in public like Rose, but her heart felt full of sorrow. So many people were in suffering and pain, yet she could do nothing to help them. It was as if her natal card heightened her shared pain with the suffering.


    She felt two strong but gentle arms gently hug her from behind.


    "Don''t worry," Rose whispered, her face buried against her fair head. "It will all be alright in the end. We''ll manage somehow. We''ll definitely find a way to help them.¡±


    As the hot afternoon slowly rolled by, they looked forward to their latest mission. Jules continued practicing with her Boots of Hermes, aiming to get strong enough to make a difference. With angry huffs and a red face, she poured all her energy into mastering her natal abilities.


    Rose was back up in the lookout cabin. For once in a long time, she was in high spirits with a big smile on her face. Roya started packing weapons and emergency kits. Yes, O''Brien was powerful and all, but they couldn¡¯t rely on him for absolutely everything. She was good at following orders when she wasn¡¯t leading, but taking the initiative was important as well.


    O''Brien had given them zero responsibility. He had left the summoned wolf to fight off intruders and notify him of any dangers it could not handle with a howl. From the beginning until now, he had never relied on them, so they couldn''t interact with him as teammates.


    They were just baggage he was logging around.


    *


    O''Brien leaned against the balustrade of a building¡¯s roof, sucking on an orange popsicle. Now three and a half floors high, it had fallen off its original height of twelve. Below him, a fierce battle was unfolding as the four women faced just three bugs.


    "No, no, army chick, you''re a lot better than that!¡± he transmitted his voice directly to Roya as he watched. ¡°Special ops, right? No, you''re too specialized. Are you a merc? That''s it, isn''t it?" O''Brien smacked his lips together, enjoying the sugary ice. "Your response is good enough, but you''re too trusting of your eyes. Also, are you underestimating those bugs? Sure, they aren''t the brightest little bulbs, but they know enough to play dead, pull tricks, and plan ambushes."


    Roya gritted her teeth against the jabs and the loud chewing noises within her ears.


    "Feel everything around you,¡± he continued. ¡°Your senses have grown stronger; use them. Don''t put all your energy into one arrow. Do you want to faint after three shots? Are you stupid?"


    But she knew better than to ignore his advice.


    Feel it.


    Feel it.


    After taking a breath, she held a majestic silver and purple-lined bow, drawing an invisible string.


    The bow was bigger than her body and quite heavy as well. It was made of unknown metals and wood, with many inscriptions and runes carved into its sleek and robust body.


    She carefully poured only a little of of her card essence into the bow, forming a thin arrow of light much smaller than her previous attempts. Although it was small, she felt she could let loose several of these.


    Swoosh!


    The arrow pierced through the air in an arc before it fell straight onto a beetle, denting its thick carapace as if it had been smashed with heavy stone.


    "Fuck. Too weak,¡± she muttered to herself, already readjusting. ¡°Just a little more, then." Once again, she took a stance, aiming to fire a stronger arrow. Her steady pupils had hawk-like focus as her prey never left her line of sight.


    Both of her arms were steady as she rested one knee on the surface of the car she was using as her foothold, titling the giant bow so she could aim properly.


    Turning his focus to a different fighter, O''Brien widened his eyes at the large nutcase on the battlefield.


    "Oi, oi! Is your head for decoration? Can''t you see that flying up so high sucks out much more of your card essence?¡± he asked Jules with a groan. Must he teach everything? Watching her unsteady flight, he cracked a mocking laugh. ¡°Am I mistaken, or are you actually an uber strong Card Grandmaster? Wow, Your Holiness, your elegant flight ability is so mesmerizing. I''m blown away. Truly. Can I have your autograph?"


    A vein protruded in Jules¡¯s forehead as she viciously smacked the Sickle Beetle with a piece of steel she had picked up, ignoring O¡¯Brien as much as she could.


    She flew several meters high in her glowing golden boots, the thin wings of light unfolded like an insect¡¯s as they flapped, bringing her closer to the beast as if she weighed almost nothing. Due to still not perfecting her mastery of flight, she veered off-course and struggled to maintain balance, like an amateur ice skater.


    O''Brien made sure to mock her the most, laughing like he had front- seat tickets to a comedy show. Just to further piss her off, he refrained from advising her.


    ¡°Good luck doing any damage with that flimsy piece of metal! I admire your ¡ª¡± The very piece came flying towards him, causing him to duck. When he raised his head, he met blazing green eyes glaring at him and a middle finger declared between them, a sight he was rapidly growing used to.


    Sending Jules a smug smirk, he turned his attention elsewhere, his face falling flat immediately before he slapped his palm to his forehead.


    "Hey, Doc, are you the same as that knucklehead over there? Why the hell are you healing tiny scratches immediately? Are you their mother? Does a scrape go straight to your heart like that?¡±


    Of course, Lea responded to his rhetorics. ¡°I can''t afford them losing too much blood.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, after you waste so much energy on their minor wounds, the little essence left in your aperture would definitely heal the fatal ones in a breeze,¡± he sarcastically bit back like a mosquito in her ear. ¡°You''re a healer. Your major role is saving your energy for critical wounds, not fucking scrapes."


    Watching the blood-red thorns wrap around the wrong parts of the enemy not far off, O''Brien bit into his popsicle speechlessly, wondering if common sense was lost to them.


    "This is going to be a long walk¡­" he muttered, crunching the cold treat before whipping out a bottle of wine and a cigarette.


    Training while traveling was a good choice, considering the monster density in their path from their previous location to the shelter they were heading to, but he had certainly underestimated the amateurs¡¯ stupidity.


    He was beginning to second guess using training as a form of debt repayment to Rose.

 Chapter 21: Benevolence to humanity? Human Decency? Consider me a monster then

    The sun rose high into the sky. The blue expanse seemed to shun clouds at this moment, unblocked sun''s rays having uninhibited reign in beating heat down into the earth.


    Across the city, scared survivors watched the sun rays reflect off the menacing carapaces of the man-eating monsters roaming the streets, sniffing about like stray dogs for their next meal.


    Their blood-stained mandibles seemed ever sharper as they glistened in the sunlight.


    Weeds sprouted up through cracks in the sidewalks, the only spots of natural green among the grey ruin. Overturned vehicles lay lifeless, metallic corpses being reclaimed by rust.


    The hollow groan of the bitter wind moaned through gaping holes where windows once stood.


    Each derelict tower loomed ominously, no longer havens but tombs haunted by nameless dangers.


    Nowhere was safe anymore.


    A mere two weeks had passed, but the scarred city seemed to have endured several years of neglect.


    Screams and gunshots echoed in the far distance.


    A white-haired man leisurely jumped from building to building, trailing behind a group of women, shouting at them at times.


    "Firecracker, who taught you how to kick? Aren''t you supposed to be an athlete? Rose, if you''re going to focus on using your thorns instead of your blood energy, then keep a distance. Army chick knows how to support from a dista¡ª Doctor! That level of injury is not worthy of a heal mid-battle, for fuck''s sake!"


    Sighing for the umpteenth time that very afternoon, O''Brien looked ahead, spotting three largely intact residential complexes. The buildings housed survivors from the entire residential street.


    They had united under three leaders and used those three buildings as their camp. The basements were intact and deep enough underground. Those buildings also had thick steel doors. It was not a bad choice for shelter.


    Seeing that they were almost there, and with no enemies about, he decided to give them another lesson. "Stop and rest here. Never look forward to resting at your destination; always rest before so you''d be up for ambushes and such."


    The ladies all breathed a sigh of relief and wearily dropped to sit down, like rheumatic elderly women.


    O''Brien nodded and played with a card in his hand. It stored and depicted his metallic blue RV.


    He faced the southeast direction. Sensing a horde of bugs, he jumped up several broken buildings to a higher vantage point.


    "Wow."


    The horde of Sickle Beetles was close to a thousand bugs strong.


    "The upcoming queen beetle sure is rising fast. At this pace, she might use the monarch method to advance another quality. If she keeps up with that momentum, she just might take the next step in a few weeks,¡± he marveled, realizing she was already a Blue Stone grade. He scoffed. ¡°Monsters sure have it easy."


    In the New World, strength only gained by years of development and growth could be shortened with proper nutrition and strategy.


    This was part of the reason monsters were stronger than humans who had to take the step-by-step approach.


    "I should probably take her out soon before she does something crazy, like becoming an actual Queen-level monarch creature."


    A True Queen could produce offspring endlessly at set intervals, eventually forming a kingdom of thousands or even millions, eliminating predators in their environment as their bodies and individual power adapted to the strength and growth of their colony.


    Seeing the eerie creatures surrounding their larger would-be queen, O''Brien felt the pangs of a threat.


    *


    "Are you sure you¡¯re not going to intervene?" Jules asked, watching O''Brien snack on nutty chocolate behind them.


    "Yeah, that''s what I said, didn¡¯t I?¡± he asked nonchalantly, chewing loudly and making Roya''s jaw tick from the habit. ¡°I''ll start and take what they have to exchange, then you can give your allocated rations and medicine to them."


    ¡°Sounds fair enough,¡± said Lea, hoping to end the conversation there before Jules would manage to push his buttons.


    "Oh, another thing,¡± he remembered. ¡°I doubt you¡¯re that stupid, but if you give them more of my stuff than I told you to, or tell them something they aren''t supposed to know, then I''ll kill them all myself. Except for the babies, I''ll dump them onto some other group who may die at any moment, leave their fate in the hands of god."


    Their silence whispered sharply. They had underestimated his heartlessness.


    They had indeed planned on trying to sneak as much food as possible to the survivors since O''Brien had a surplus and didn''t need them, but they underestimated his miserliness. He had even kept them eating bagged and canned goods while he ate fresh meals of meat, except for his favorite Rose, of course.


    They underestimated his selfishness and ruthlessness.


    "S-surely, you don''t mean that, do you, O''Brien?" Rose couldn''t help but stutter.


    "Are you crazy? Why would you say something so cruel?!" Jules demanded, balling her fists in anger.


    Lea had her jaw agape, while Roya was expressionless and silent. Her worry that O''Brien was up to no good didn''t seem far-fetched anymore. They had momentarily forgotten who they were dealing with, just because he offered to help.


    O''Brien scoffed, unfazed by their reactions. ¡°I¡¯m not their savior and what''s mine is mine, I''ve repeatedly told you how valuable information is and if you use the information I gave you so cheaply then I''ll be very pissed.¡±


    "It''s not like you''d need all that!" Jules barked in exasperation. ¡°You''re stronger than any of us, so it''s not like it was that hard for you. Most of those people are just ordinary ¡ª¡±


    "See what I''ve been saying?¡± he pointed out with his chocolate bar. ¡°The sense of entitlement over someone else''s property baffles me.¡±


    Jules gritted her teeth. ¡°This has nothing to do with entitlement. You don''t have human decency; you''re just a monster!¡±


    ¡°Consider me a monster, then,¡± he shrugged, flicking his tongue over his canine. ¡°Anyone who gets in my way is an enemy. Anyone who steals from me deserves to die. I won''t kill you all this time, but they¡­ They are a completely different story.¡± Holding her gaze, he added. ¡°Just test me."


    Noticing the killing intent soaked in his calm golden eyes, Lea placed her hand on Jules''s shoulder to stop her from further aggravating the situation.


    "So¡­ It''s fine, as long as we don''t cross the line, right?" Roya asked, level-headed as always.


    "Sure. Hell, if you want to pamper them, you can do it yourself. I''ll train you all a bit for Rose''s sake to survive the New World as we agreed, but that''s how far my benevolence goes. We''ll head to the spots, you decide what to do with the food in there, whatever."


    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    O''Brien looked up to the summoned bird that had switched with his wolf, scouting the area from above.


    Fierce Grinning Wolf and Blue-Spotted Bird were two common Ash Grey summons. O''Brien had many comrades who had once possessed them, showing off to everyone, so he was well aware of how to use them. They were relatively economical, but at this stage without all their activation materials, their uses were limited.


    After their uncomfortable rest was over, the women subconsciously walked farther ahead of him as soon as they got back on the road.


    The rest of the short journey was done in uneasy silence.


    Even Rose the mediator was silent. In the past two weeks, O''Brien had made it clear that although he favored her, he wasn''t going to change for her at all.


    *


    The group made their way to the entrance of the main building.


    "Wh-who are you?" A shaky voice asked, seeing their ragged and blood-stained appearance.


    "Oh, no need to be afraid,¡± Lea stepped forward with a friendly smile and a gentle voice. ¡°We came to exchange food with you. Your leaders, Gianni, Kevlar, and Otto, spoke with us before."


    Seeing the pretty blonde smile at him, the man wavered a bit and opened the door. He heard the leaders mention going out to ask for food from someone. They were the ones who cleaned out the food in all the nearby areas.


    The man kept looking over them once they entered as if to wonder where the food was. His gaze paused on Lea for a while, but seeing the other women, he couldn''t help but steal a few more glances.


    Even with ugly and dirty blood-stained clothes, their beauty could not be concealed. For some reason, the pretty women caused him to further let down his guard. What was the worst they could do?


    But then a man with overflowing white hair and a skin tinged with grey walked in after them. He didn¡¯t say anything, but his brooding golden eyes stirred something uneasy within him, an aura that announced wariness.


    He gulped but sent word of their arrival, leading them to the basement where everyone gathered. They were low on supplies and he wasn¡¯t going to let his feelings delay anything.


    Sounds of subdued conversations echoed as the group of five stepped in. Before they could even look around, a man holding his small daughter''s hands approached them with his haggard wife. The lady refused to lift her gaze from the floor.


    "Ah, you''re here. Could it be...?" Gianni asked ripe with anticipation. It was clear what he was conveying; ''Did you come to bring food?''


    When he looked behind them and saw them carrying nothing but weapons, he was visibly deflated. If not for the situation raging outside the walls, he would have even switched to suspecting their intentions of bringing weapons in.


    "Ah, our group is withering away,¡± he groaned dramatically, heaving an exaggerated sigh while holding his daughter to his chest. ¡°My daughter barely has enough to eat. Some children haven''t eaten in days. Many are dying. Some of us gathered the courage to find food outside, despite those monsters, but we saw everywhere was cleaned out and some notes had been left.¡±


    The ladies listened silently, glancing at O¡¯Brien¡ªwho they still kept their distance from, by the way.


    ¡°That was you all right?¡± Gianni pressed. ¡°Not that I''m blaming you or anything. It''s just¡­you are only five people. We have over two hundred here with many helpless women and children. Surely, you didn''t have to take everything.¡± His voice further thickened, wavering with emotion for his theatrics. ¡°Now we are left with nothing."


    Of course, the display touched the soft-hearted woman covered in a thorny embrace. Rose opened her mouth to speak, but O''Brien beat her to it.


    "You should have contact with the rest of the survivors in the region to help you, yeah?¡± he hissed before brushing it aside dismissively. ¡°Spare me the crocodile tears and go call them. Tell them we''re here and can commence the exchange."


    "Ah, but young sir ¡ª" Gianni, a middle-aged businessman with experience in politics, was once again about to use his age and family as leverage. He was experienced in the ways of the world and knew just how effective such tactics were against women and youths, but he didn''t expect to meet a walking brick wall.


    "Ho?" O''Brien lightly exclaimed, his golden pupils elongating into slits as his Ash Grey essence boiled over, the pressure a prehistoric beast emanated like waves from his body.


    Gianni immediately felt like he was in the presence of a vengeful deity and his knees went weak, causing him to grab his wife¡¯s shoulder for support. Even O¡¯Brien''s group felt the energy ripple across the space.


    "W-we''ll contact them,¡± Gianni stammered, stepping back. ¡°Th-they were actually expecting a call from us si-since you left our address as your main point of contact."


    He initially wanted to squeeze as many supplies as they could from O''Brien before contacting the other groups but clearly, his plans had died before they could bear fruit.


    O''Brien saw the aggregated gazes of the crowd, scouring them warily with a light tinge of anticipation. He flicked his first storage ring on his left ring finger and summoned a tall pile of food and medicine, then he used another card that spat out some canned goods, instant ramen, microwave foods, and some common medicine in a much smaller pile.


    He sat on the taller piles that were several feet high, making himself at home in the center of it all. He then summoned a few mini freezers with fresh meat, out in the open for all to see, before he summoned his wolf to stand guard, causing anyone near to quickly stand back.


    Gianni let out a wonderous gulp. His eyes almost fell out of their sockets. This, this was blatantly tempting them!


    "How did he do that?"


    "They just appeared out of nowhere!"


    "That wolf too. It''s huge."


    "Is it magic?"


    "Maybe. It¡¯s those cards. No wonder he''s collecting them. I saw him use one for that pile of food and the wolf, clear as day!"


    "I have one, but it just lays there no matter what I do to it."


    "Me too."


    Sure enough, as he laid back against his loot, groups cautiously began to approach his women after chattering amongst themselves for a while.


    Gianni went to get the others, but he nudged his wife and handed her their daughter before leaving. Soon, the other groups from the buildings directly adjacent entered, headed by two men who approached the women with large smiles.


    "Ah, you''re here,¡± The elegantly dressed man said. He had neatly combed hair, a slightly stocky frame, and a curled mustache. "Truly an impressive thing you did. We checked every store and supermarket thirty blocks from here, in all directions. They were all empty." The passive-aggressive tone and his choice of words conveyed his stance, but he buttered it up. ¡°It would be a pleasure to exchange things with you.¡±


    "Indeed,¡± his older and shorter companion loudly added with unhidden contempt. ¡°You selfishly hoarded everything to yourselves. Do you not have a conscience? Are you so greedy you have to take everything that others need more than you do?" He had one chipped tooth and was balding in several areas. His gold watch and suit displayed his previous position of wealth. He stepped closer to Rose as if to intimidate her.


    Grrrr¡­


    Hearing a low thundering growl, he hiccuped and backed away, seeing the wolf glare directly at him while sending his warning.


    ¡°Careful, Otto¡­¡± his elegant companion warned, his eyes also drawn to the agitated wolf.


    "I understand your predicament,¡± Lea attempted to explain. ¡°We didn''t want to do so as well. It''s just circumstances..."


    "What circumstances?¡± The short man spun to her immediately. ¡°That you''re a bunch of greedy bitches?!"


    "Please. We don''t want any harm to come to you as well,¡± Lea pleaded, meaning her last statement intently, as there was no telling what the currently calm O¡¯Brien could do in the next second. ¡°We''ll help as much as we can."


    A few feet away, another conversation unfolded.


    "How has it been these past few weeks? Any deaths?" Rose asked Gianni''s wife, bending down to caress her little daughter who was scared of them.


    "Uh- No,¡± the wife responded. ¡°We went out to search for food a few times, but only a dozen or so people were injured; they managed to make it back alive. A few of them are recovering ¡ª¡± Holding her tongue, she glanced away and quickly said, ¡°Well, actually they are doing quite badly. They are not eating well, so their wounds... aren''t healing.¡±


    While Rose tried to catch the quick switch, the woman grabbed her hand, holding her sky-blue gaze with her trembling brown ones. ¡°They don''t have enough antibiotics. So, if you could¡­" She glanced suggestively at O''Brien sprawled out on his food throne. She had seen him in action. She knew how scary he was. Rose was her only hope.


    In fact, their group did have some medicine and even weapons on hand, otherwise they wouldn''t have dared to go out. But she remembered her husband''s earlier urgings.


    ¡®We need the food and supplies. Whatever it takes. Exaggerate. Exaggerate and beg,¡¯ he had said.


    For their daughter!


    The man was scary, but the women were not. Start from the women!


    She continued her pleas to Rose''s discomfort.


    Jules went over to the onlookers to see how they were doing, but Roya warily held her gun, looking around.


    All three women in conversations eventually had the same question posed to them.


    How do those cards work?


    To which the women could only fake a laugh, remembering O''Brien''s earlier threat. Perhaps, they might have slipped up and revealed a bit if he had not said anything, but his ruthless threat was like a guillotine above their necks.


    Several hours later, seven groups of men and women entered the basement. Two individuals were particularly eye-catching.


    A thin beanpole-like man was dressed luxuriously, surrounded by armed men. A fat man wearing rings on all his fingers walked in after them. The other groups entering avoided these two like the plague.


    Sensing their energy, O¡¯Brien lifted his brow at them.


    These two were unmistakably Blessed Ones.

 Chapter 22: New Gods Favoured, Unexpected Harvest

    O''Brien''s sleepy eyes grew sharper and narrowed as the two Blessed Ones approached. He discreetly loosened the cards in his sleeves with a stretch before sitting up straight.


    ¡®I''d expected to see them soon.¡¯


    O''Brien knew not to take any God''s Favored lightly as they were the poster children of the New World.


    Of course, he always had cards ready in one sleeve for escape and the other sleeve was to attack swiftly.


    ¡®Neither of them is currently a threat. If it comes to it, I just need the three cards in my right sleeve to wipe out everyone present.¡¯


    Of course, this was dependent on him being alert and in top physical condition. Also, he didn''t want to completely destroy any of his cards if he could help it even Grey Ash-grade ones. It was like burning money, his heart ached at the mere thought.


    The closed-off basement had only eight sources of light despite its great width. The nearest lightbulb cast a shadow on O''Brien''s smooth complexion.


    "As I said before, Mr. Otto, please understand that we first have to do the initial exchange.¡± Lea chose her words careful not to upset the old man. ¡°When it''s over, then we can talk more about cards ¡ª"


    The stubby man stomped his foot against the ground in fury. "I''ve been alive the same amount of time as your father or longer! You don¡¯t know the basics of negotiation. Everything can be discussed slowly, yet you adamantly refuse to budge from your conditions. Do you take us for incompetent children?!"


    Jules had decided to avoid the interviews altogether, going over to the children. She tried to offer them some broken candies she had found in a candy store they had passed. Perhaps they hadn''t been discovered yet due to their partially concealed location.


    As she played with the pitiful children, the adults began to bombard her with questions and harass her like a flock of flies.


    "If you don''t want to tell us, then say so. You don''t have to lie; you clearly know. Why can''t you tell us?"


    "We''re all in the same boat, right? Surely, you can help out some struggling families."


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand how important this is because you¡¯re still so young.¡±


    "You can''t keep quiet and watch us die, can you?¡±


    ¡°How cruel!"


    "Please. At least show us how to use one, just one card."


    "Don''t be so selfish."


    "Like I said, I don''t know!¡± she hissed in exasperation. ¡°Are you deaf?!"


    Jules was about to lash out more, but seeing the small children look up at her, she felt the words stuck in her throat even though she was annoyed to her boiling point.


    The large and pitiful eyes were quite lethal. Jules was almost tempted to disclose something, but they only knew how to get the qualifications to use cards. O''Brien had yet to teach them how to use ordinary cards.


    Even that bit of information would cause him to kill them all.


    Although Jules recklessly butted heads with O''Brien on many occasions, she wasn''t a fool. Her Aunt Rose could plead for her, protect her, and even sneak some of her own cooked dinners to flavor up their basic supermarket goods, but she wouldn''t be able to protect her if Jules truly pissed him off.


    Even if he still took her around and did not harm her, he would definitely would punish her ruthlessly if pushed far enough. He had made it clear; he didn''t know how to treat anyone delicately in the slightest.


    ¡®For your sake and mine, I''m sorry, but I can''t say anything,¡¯ she thought with an internal sigh, sharing eye contact with a snotty little girl, crumbs of crushed green candy decorating her mouth.


    If she was strong, then she could wipe out all the bugs and bring the group with her to search for food, but she didn''t have that ability.


    Only O''Brien did.


    Strength¡­ Strength.


    She had never been more desperate and thirsty for power than she had been for these past few weeks. If she got any more desperate, she would need it just as much as she needed to breathe air.


    "Jules, come here," whispered Roya as came over, grabbing her arm. "You''ve recovered enough of your essence to use your natal card again, right?"


    Jules nodded in response, blowing a lock of hair out of her eyes. "What''s the matter?" she asked, seeing Roya more serious than usual.


    "Just look at him." Roya nodded towards O''Brien who was smiling while holding his cheek in his palm atop his throne of food. " He''s paying attention to the newcomers. Those two in particular. I''ve never seen him act that way for humans."


    Jules looked over and sure enough, he was paying attention to the newcomers with a predatory gaze. He only acted like that when monsters were near.


    "Are you saying they''re monsters in disguise?" She asked worriedly, speaking in a hushed tone.


    "No, they¡¯re likely the same as Rose," Roya whispered, following their movements with her gaze and tightening her grip on her gun. ¡°Chosen Ones.¡±


    *


    "O''Brien, I presume?¡± The thin man bowed slightly. ¡°A pleasure to meet your acquaintance. You may call me Jean."


    ¡°I am Guido,¡± said the second man in a thick and accentuated baritone.


    A sweaty Gianni gulped as he created some distance between the two monsters, approaching the bigger monster who had what their group needed to survive.


    "Well, look at this," O''Brien playfully smirked. "So, you guys were chosen, huh? I guess you don''t need to be given the qualifications to use the cards, but I imagine you two are super anxious since you can''t use any other cards than your natal card."


    Jean looked at Guido, raising his creased brows as they received the name for what they thought was just their superpowers.


    "Yes,¡± Jean started to say, ¡°we''d love to exchange some-"


    "Then let the exchange begin!¡± O''Brien interrupted with an even louder clap, startling the tall man. ¡°Gather around if you have a card."


    Jean''s eyes narrowed at being brushed off in such a bare-faced manner, in front of his subordinates, no less.


    ¡®This O''Brien fellow... Should I teach him some basic respect in black and blue? He doesn¡¯t even seem to realize how powerful I am.¡¯


    He exchanged glances with Guido once more, who shook his head, sensing his thoughts. They had never been disrespected so much after gaining superpowers, yet they had to stay quiet since he had something they wanted. After they got what they wanted¡­ Well, that would be a different story.


    Seeing the expectant faces gather around him with bags containing dimly shining cards, O''Brien began by clearing his throat.


    "Okay, the ones with a grey glow can be exchanged for ten cans of food of your choosing, three hygiene products, and five one-liter bottles of water.¡±


    While people began examining their cards, he continued. ¡°The ones glowing in a blue light can be exchanged for sixteen cans of food, three types of medicine or five hygiene products, and ten one-liter bottles of water.¡±


    Some faces with only a grey card in their possession dropped, realizing medication was out of their reach. Smarter ones quickly rushed to beg and request specific medicine from the blue cardholders.


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    ¡°The ones with a metallic black can be exchanged for some fresh meat, snacks, twenty-five cans of food, medicine, and ten two-liter bottles of water,¡± O''Brien smiled. ¡°Depending on the specific card and the portion of what you want to take, these are all negotiable. I''m nothing, if not flexible," He added with a grin.


    He enjoyed playing this role, scouring all the wool off these ignorant sheep. They would only come to know much later on that they had been completely ripped off. They had successfully sold themselves and helped him count the money as these prices were highway robbery.


    "All other colors can be used to gain the qualification to use cards, which is the same thing as gaining superpowers like those two guys over there,¡± O''Brien continued in a light-hearted tone, pointing to Jean and Guido who immediately frowned, feeling threatened at the possibility that common people had a chance at becoming like them.¡±The greenish-copper glowing ones can get you two persons with superpowers, and rusty-steel colored cards can get you five persons with superpowers."


    O¡¯Brien leaned back and watched them whisper among themselves. He was like a retiree on vacation; he had already gotten everything he truly needed, successfully claiming his natal card and sweeping the area in a collecting spree. Everything else was just a bonus to him. He didn''t even have much expectations of this lot and was prepared for heavy negotiations.


    Yet, a fly''s meat was still meat. After this initial period passed, they would not be so easy to fool.


    Cards would not be so easy to obtain.


    "How do we know you are telling the truth and can give us superpowers?" one voice asked, to which the others looked at O¡¯Brien expectantly, eagerly awaiting a sufficient answer.


    Feeling like a stage performer in front of an audience of hundreds, O''Brien almost chuckled. He beckoned to the girls to come over. Jules huffed and puffed like a big bad wolf, but still obeyed. They each displayed their abilities to the wonders of the leaders of their respective groups.


    "Wow, so they have superpowers, too!"


    "Mommy, can I have boots like those?"


    "She can control vines, the other can summon a bow?"


    "This¡­ this is all because of those cards right?"


    "She can heal!"


    The leaders at the front line beamed, seeing them in action. Soon, they could have these powers, too!


    "Of these women, only one is like those two over there,¡± O¡¯Brien voiced over his exhibits. ¡°Innately gifted and chosen. For the rest of us, we went the standard route. You all have groups spanning hundreds behind you, yes?¡±


    Several leaders nodded in response, their eyes already glinting at the chance to touch such power.


    ¡°You would have all explored the city by now as well,¡± O¡¯Brien continued. ¡°Despite the large population, there are only one or two persons in an average of a thousand heads that possess superpowers naturally. The Chosen Ones are that rare. It''s not a coincidence that we are five and came together from the same place.¡±


    He jumped down from his throne and folded his arms, unblocking their vision towards the food. He also summoned another pile and leisurely leaned against it. ¡±So, are you convinced yet?"


    The leaders began to discuss among themselves, while O''Brien caressed the huge wolf and summoned things from thin air.


    One stepped forward with a bag.


    "What can I get for this one?" He handed over a Grey Ash-grade depicting an orange-striped bug.


    O''Brien nodded in response. "The basics, like I listed. Choose what you want and I''ll tell you what you have to put back down."


    But the man didn''t stop there, taking out more cards. He was representing his group after all.


    O''Brien inspected the eight cards, with only two Blue Stone grades and one Green Copper out of all the Grey Ash.


    "All food, or do you want superpowers?" He asked the man.


    "Superpowers,¡± the man quickly replied. ¡°Superpowers, of course!" Only fools would refuse superpowers!


    "Ok, choose what you want and take this,¡± O¡¯Brien instructed, handing him a card. ¡°Bring this back to me in three days. I''ll take two people with me to give them superpowers at this location at noon on that day. Don''t expect me to remember your face and give you a pass if you don''t bring it. I remember the card, not the person."


    Several ears perked up, hearing that significant detail. O''Brien looked over to Rose and the others, well aware of the bloodbath his casual words could trigger.


    Oblivious to his subordinates'' internal turmoil, the man went to choose food and supplies, but he was a bit greedy and O¡¯Brien ordered him to put back half of what he wanted to carry away. With a nod from O''Brien, some subordinates loaded the food and supplies onto a cart.


    "Any funny business and I''ll blow one of your heads off," he said without looking back, dealing with the next group. The transactions ran smoothly.


    Ten cards; four Grey Ash, two Blue Stone, one Black Iron, and three Green Cooper.


    Five cards; all Grey Ash.


    Twelve cards; ten Grey Ash and two Black Iron.


    Thirteen cards; four Grey Ash, two Blue Stone, four Black Iron, two Green Copper, and one White Silver.


    "Oh?" O''Brien exclaimed, seeing the group with the White Silver card. Unsurprisingly, it was one of the two God''s Favoured, the thin and tall Jean.


    "You didn''t mention this one,¡± Jean said with a cocky smile, displaying it proudly. ¡°What can we get for it?"


    O''Brien simply said, "Ten new superpowers, excluding the two Green Copper grades, or choose your supplies and I''ll tell you when to stop. This can get you quite a lot from my beautiful pile."


    "Just ten? I think this one is pretty good. How about fifteen?"


    "Ten." O''Brien stood his ground like a statue, his lazy eyes already bored and wandering elsewhere.


    Jean gritted his teeth, seeing the nonchalant expression that seemed to say, ''Take it or leave it''.


    "What if I add in the other cards and don''t take any food?" Jean suggested. To them who could fight the bugs, food was important, but as O''Brien informed the women, locations other than supermarkets and stores held food on hand. To them, superpowers were much more valuable.


    "Hm," O''Brien pondered. The Green Copper Cards already present in their offering gave them four superpowers. Without those, only the Grey Ash, Blue Stone, and Black Iron cards remained. Finally, he declared, "Thirteen."


    "What! That''s complete bullsh¡ª"


    "Take it or leave it," O''Brien insisted, almost in annoyance. ¡°My trade, my terms. I don¡¯t need your cards. If you aren¡¯t ready, move over for the next group.¡±


    Jean would have stepped back and renegotiated at a different time to see if he could change the young man¡¯s mind, but the thought of having others go before him hurt his pride. He furiously tapped his feet for a few seconds before accepting the offer.


    The next in line was Guido. Without a word, he took out sixteen cards, the most so far. His collection had three Grey Ash, two Blue Stone, two Black Iron, four Green Copper, three Red Steel, and two White Silver. It was quite the luxurious lineup, even O¡¯Brien was impressed.


    "Superpowers and food?" O''Brien asked, suppressing his joy fiercely as he greedily drank in the sight of the card. This bunch had wildly exceeded his expectations. White Silver, White Silver, so many, were they cabbages all of sudden?


    "Food.¡± The fat man''s eyes shone. ¡°Just food."


    Oh. Look at this one.


    O''Brien knew the man was a leader of at least two hundred, mostly men, although he came alone. They would surely love to acquire superpowers.


    Even if he wanted to control his group with a tight grasp, he was supposed to at least ask for one or two superpowers with that logic, to have some competent lieutenants. Clearly, he wanted to take all the food, or perhaps test how much O''Brien truly had. Maybe he would withdraw his order at the last minute and change it.


    "Just to warn you,¡± O¡¯Brien said, folding his arms and looking down at him. ¡°You and I are going to have a problem if I hear you withdrawing your request.¡±


    Light Grey Ash particles seemed to cling to O''Brien, the air in the room growing heavier as his killing intent caused ripples in the confined space. The visitors felt they were trapped in a box with a land shark as he let loose vibrations of his bloodlust without inhibitions.


    "Of, course not. I won''t go back on my word," Guido quickly placated him, cold sweat dripping from his double chin. Any ulterior motives he had quickly vanished into smoke.


    A smile accompanied by a light tone dropped over O¡¯Brien¡¯s face like a blind, fast enough to give anyone a whiplash with how quickly his emotions changed. Oxygen seemed to flow in the room once more. "Oh, that''s good then. This can get you quite a lot, including fresh meat and some precious medicines."


    He didn''t gather that much fresh meat from supermarkets and other places, so he would just about be wiped clean by Guido if he decided to stock up on meat. Fortunately, he didn''t have to use any out of his personal stockpile, though he would be willing to dip in due to the rarity of White Silver cards. Hell, he didn''t expect so many of them to even have Green Copper-grade cards, much less Red Steel and White Silver.


    Guido rubbed together his large palms in anticipation as he took fresh meat, wine, rum, beer, cigarettes, sheets, bedding, numerous cans of food, fruit, and vegetables, some critical injury medicines, gasoline, cooking gas, and so on.


    By the time he was finished, O''Brien had less than a tenth of the total pile he had erected remaining, with only less desirable types left.


    Guido beamed brightly as he hoarded so many items, but he didn''t have enough hands to carry them back.


    "You all,¡± he called into the crowd, patting his stomach folds. ¡°I need ten helpers to help me bring this back. First come, first served; I''ll throw in some cans of food."


    He easily had over a thousand cans, large and small, many to go around. This was even with the more expensive fresh meat and bottles of wine and rum.


    "I have strong arms!¡±


    "How many do I lift for you?"


    ¡°I worked in construction!"


    Dozens of people ran forward, struggling to reach an item to carry for him.


    While Guido picked his pack mules, the remaining two leaders presented their cards and went to claim their goods. Unfortunately, there were no surprises. They didn''t even have the qualifications to get superpowers.


    O''Brien neatly collected all the cards and looked at the first luxurious pile now a skeleton of its former self. The smaller pile was filled with crackers and biscuits, candies, and other foods easily found on gas station shelves.


    He pushed the piles together and waved to Rose and her companions as if it were to say, ''It''s your turn now. Have at it.''


    O''Brien even postponed looking through his bountiful harvest to watch them show off their charity to the groups of survivors.


    This would be quite the show.


    Even the two Blessed Ones had not left just yet, their eyes drawn to one beauty in particular. They couldn''t allow themselves to leave without talking to her.

 Chapter 23: The Boons of the Genesis Fall, A baby dragon and newborn ant are two incomparable beings

    It was a cloudy afternoon in New Roselee City, the coolness hitting the perfect temperature for a picnic. But that was as good as the day could get.


    The yellow sun was blocked by abnormally thick clouds that seemed to contain their own thunderstorm, yet still cotton-white. They surfed the skies, casting moving shadows down on the city. Sunlight peaked through the gaps between them like curious children, illuminating the dried blood and corpses scattered on the city streets.


    The dense black clouds formed by the mutated mosquitoes were smaller during daylight, seeming to dislike the sun. On the other hand, goblins terrorized the city¡¯s inhabitants, ignorant of rest. As Tier Zero creatures, goblins needed rest as much as any living organism, yet nourished by nutritious meals and greedy for more flesh, they continued their hunt tirelessly.


    *


    In a mere two weeks, the underground storm shelter of the Blue Flame Stronghold had expanded above ground, with wood, metal constructs, and a thick barbed fence ten feet tall. The three-story building above the shelter was reinforced with metal and wood, and the balconies were converted into lookout posts. It was far from a pretty sight, made of rough uneven edges, mismatched shades, and scratched surfaces, but it was reassuring to the inhabitants.


    Aesthetics didn¡¯t matter when it came to safety.


    Outside, there were deep ditches with repurposed spikes coated with poison to ward off intruders.


    Just outside the base, in an open area to the southwest, several figures were practicing using their superpowers.


    "If you''re going to be a main attacker, you need to match my movements and attack when there''s an opening,¡± the blue-haired lady instructed, brandishing a thin rapier. ¡°You also wield a great sword, so you have to be careful of the delays while you swing. I don''t specialize in them, but I''ll write down a few guiding points for you to use when you practice."


    Celes displayed a few attack patterns on a straw dummy. Gesturing ever so often to her sister.


    "In a battle of life and death, you have to know your teammate''s next move before they make them,¡± she continued, making swift swings and jabs as straw escaped their binds. ¡°And as a front-line attacker, your body must move faster than you can think, so mastering that sword is your first job. Practice until it becomes second nature to swing in for the kill, watch the enemy''s movements, be aware of your teammate''s positions at all times..."


    As Celes was lecturing Jasmine who now held a giant sword almost thrice her size, Minnie walked over with a haggard look. Catching Minnie¡¯s stink eye, Celes straightened up, nodding to Jasmine to continue her practice.


    "New face?" she asked as she moved from Jasmine to Gilly and Priya who were also practicing their new powers.


    "Don''t ¡®new face¡¯ me,¡± Minnie hissed. ¡°Your aunt is harassing me like a stalker. Let¡¯s not even talk about how personal space doesn¡¯t seem to exist for her.¡± She kicked a stone out of her way, before speaking in a mocking imitation of the woman. ¡°¡®Just to get a better card for my son and daughter,¡¯ she says."


    Celes sighed deeply. Why do people have to be so difficult? Even after experiencing them in her former life, they still irked her.


    "She keeps demanding to see Celes. Celes will understand!¡± Minnie¡¯s complaints continued to stream. ¡°Celes wouldn''t do this to her Aunt. Celes this, Celes that! The old bat heard you announce to everyone that I was second-in-command and in charge of the base''s daily operations, but she calls for you when she can''t handle the word no. She even wants the same natal card as your mom, and her stupid son deserves nothing less than your dad¡¯s as he¡¯s the man of her household now. Can you even believe that?!"


    Sighing once more, Celes asked, ¡°I hope they¡¯re not bothering my parents too much, are they?¡±


    "While they¡¯ve stopped begging them to show their powers, the envy echos loudly. Although most are not as clingy as the old bat, they keep asking when it''s their turn and what card level they would get. Since everyone now has room for comparison with your parents and three batches of awakened Card Masters, it¡¯s harder to keep them in check."


    Feeling she had vented enough, Minnie hugged Celes, running her fingers through the splendid blue. It was her natural stress reliever.


    ¡°Your hair is so pretty now¡­ Why didn''t I change so much?" Minnie muttered as she hung her head off Celes''s shoulder, a natural lavender scent emanating from it. ¡°I wish I was more powerful like you so they¡¯d respect me down there¡­¡±


    "Like I said, the card factor manifestation differs from person to person,¡± Celes explained, her hands by her sides while Minnie clung to her. She wasn¡¯t one for hugs. ¡°Natal cards become a part of us, so it''s understandable that they affect the rest of our body in some ways once fused. Appearance changes are actually not that common. It comes with certain high-rank cards."


    She held off the fact that this rarity and uniqueness of significant physical changes made people who had them a target as a commodity item in the slave trade. It was crazy how the future would both evolve and backslide to outdated practices.


    ¡°Wish I still had a little something different,¡± Minnie muttered.


    "As for your troubles, how about I give you an advance? I have two talent and physique cards that are pretty good, so I''ll give them to you to increase your power," Celes added with a smile. Having completely sorted all her current cards, she had organized her stock of cards quite well and had the leeway to distribute them.


    "You don''t have to do all that," Minnie gasped, straightening up immediately.


    "You deserve it,¡± Celes reassured her, taking her hand. ¡±You¡¯re right; as my second-in-command, you deserve to have enough power to command authority, especially when I¡¯m not there."


    Now and before, she would almost be helpless with Minnie''s presence. Just thinking of all the stress and headaches she would have to endure alone sent shivers down her spine.


    Unknown to them, Jasmine had been eavesdropping. Now she sprung out, loudly whispering, "Hi, Celes!¡±


    Celes frowned thoughtfully, sensing she was up to something. She had been good lately. Suspiciously obedient and quiet, staying out of trouble.


    Stolen story; please report.


    ¡°When are you gonna give me a card pet?¡± she asked with bright blue expectant eyes, sticking with the two as they began to walk. ¡°If you¡¯re giving Minnie two extra, can I at least get one more?¡±


    With a low sigh, Celes replied, "Jasmine, like I said before, you can''t have one right now. The activation requirements of most cards are too heavy at this stage for ordinary cards. We have to wait until ores and natural treasures start appearing, as well as farm-type monsters. There are only a set amount of cards we can actually use right now outside of those selected as natal cards. Even if you could use the pet card, you could never control it without it being your natal card. For the same reason, a Red Steel quality card outclasses a Grey Ash quality card."


    "How do you know I can''t control it?¡± Jasmine huffed. ¡°You never know until you try." She had seen Celes use Sapphire to ward off several waves of goblins attacking their base and it had impressed her each time.


    She wanted a beautiful and powerful pet as well!


    ¡°I know because I¡¯ve lived through the apocalypse before, remember?¡± She could understand why Jasmine felt it was simple, but the card system was a complex one, and if Jasmine didn¡¯t understand, it could cost her in the future. ¡°Just like how a newly-hatched dragon and a newly-hatched ant cannot compare, your rank and the other batches with lower-ranked cards cannot compare. Your natal card has more potential to gain power because of its level, even if you feel a lower-ranked card is more powerful than you are right now. You starting at a lower level is very different from you having a lower level as your limit. Do you see it now?¡±


    Jasmine nodded, enlightenment shining in her eyes.


    Celes cracked a warming smile. "The Genesis Card Fall is humanity''s chance. Without it, we would have to slowly evolve our natal cards over and over again until we were able to fight equally against alien races. Here and now is when the future leaders of humanity are born!"


    Even with cards giving them the basic ability to fight against weaker creatures, when the stronger aliens started coming through portals and native monsters grew to greater heights, this level of strength would not have been enough to fight against them. Only with high quality natal cards were guardians of humanity born to protect their growth and lead them on the path of survival.


    All these gifts from the Genesis Card Fall were beyond priceless.


    In her past, Celes even heard of someone who was lucky enough to subdue a dragon as his natal card! He wasn''t even a Blessed One, yet he managed to force the will of the dragon to submit. Of course, if he had tried this outside of the Genesis Card Fall, he would have never succeeded. That was how powerful the first card fall was.


    It was a pity his overwhelming power threatened too many people. He was assassinated by some of his defeated generals, killed before he could grow into a true pillar for humanity.


    "To use cards, you have to meet the activation requirements unless it''s chosen as your natal card. Other cards need to be activated. These cards have beasts and phenomena that are mature and simply suppressed to the level of an infant. They won¡¯t hesitate to fight against your orders if you¡¯re inferior to them. Although I can forcefully activate the card once for you to use, as a tiny card apprentice attempting to control a Green Copper-grade being without its acknowledgment, it is practically a death wish. It can swiftly kill you in its resistance."


    Jasmine felt cold air settle around her heart upon hearing this. Suddenly she wasn''t so anxious to get a pet. She decided to wait patiently until she could handle such a beast, but her curiosity still burned.


    ¡°Can I at least see what a summon-type card looks like so I can look forward to it?¡± she quietly asked.


    Celes nodded with a small smile. There was no harm in looking.


    The summoning card she displayed held a beautiful horse, its ruby eyes matching the flaming mane and tail. Its hoofs were emboldened with an eternal flame and its muscular body was smooth and handsome, its untamed power glaring like a wildfire.


    As for using cards, Celes had already detailed the steps for their knowledge.


    Firstly was the activation of the cards. The second step was to gain their acknowledgment or improve their favorability through communication and repeated use. The third step involved constantly nourishing them with card essence, gradually refining the cards, and making them more compatible with the card master. Last of all was growing in skill level, which was a measure of how adept one was at using the full abilities of magic cards.


    Using the magical cards was far from simple.


    Finally getting a chance to shift the topic, Minnie asked, ¡°Can I see the two cards you have for me?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re both talent cards, the most special among those with no activation requirements,¡± Celes explained, bringing out blue and green cards, ¡°partly due to their nature in being¡­ well, talents. Not skills or abilities, just talents. After you use them, you gain a new talent as if you were born with it. They are one of the most valuable cards in existence as it pertains to the Card Master themselves. Like natal cards, the energy consumption is usually low some none at all.¡±


    Holding up the blue-glowing one, she said, ¡°This is Baseless Intuition, a Blue Stone card. It¡¯s not very reliable, but it''s helpful in the mental domain, for those focusing on the spirit or soul. I¡¯m not sure how, exactly, but it should allow you to sense random things like danger or presence. It''s passive, so you can¡¯t activate it. It¡­ also rarely activates.¡±


    Minnie¡¯s hands were already at her hips, giving her the ¡®seriously?¡¯ look.


    ¡°But hey, it¡¯s a talent card,¡± Celes shrugged, holding up the card. It depicted a weirdly shaped head with an antenna, colored in a blue shadow. ¡°Maybe we simply haven¡¯t found the best application for it.¡±


    ¡°Sounds useless to me,¡± Jasmine commented.


    Minnie bit her tongue from saying the same, but since it was being given to her freely, she couldn¡¯t complain. Besides, she trusted Celes¡­ even when the leader in question didn¡¯t seem too sure about the card.


    Celes held up the second card. ¡°Now, this one other one is Spiritual Resistance. It increases your spirit¡¯s resistance by strengthening your defenses against non-physical acts of the spirit and soul, which are hard to guard against. Seeing as it does this by strengthening your spirit and forming a thick barrier within your spirit, it''s pretty invaluable and has universal applications and uses. It¡¯s much more valuable than the physical resistance card or some of the elemental resistances. It even helps in detecting races without physical bodies, like the Rumiyons.¡±


    Celes failed to mention something else. Resistance cards were talent cards in most cases, but not all resistances were talent cards. Not wanting to overcomplicate things with too much information, she refrained from including this aspect.


    Celes handed both cards over to Minnie, urging her to activate them.


    ¡°Just treat them the same as your natal card. Oh, and be careful not to socket them. If the lights above your aperture begin to attract them, cut off the attraction by denying it as strongly as you can.¡±


    Minnie did as she was told. The cards faded from her hands like ashes blown away in the breeze.


    ¡°Well, I can feel my mind becoming clearer and more active, but that¡¯s about it.¡± She looked to Celes.


    ¡°It¡¯s natural. They aren¡¯t the type of cards that cause recognizable changes. They come into play in certain scenarios.¡± Celes nodded, expecting as much. ¡°Other than the Eagle Eye talent card I gave Priya as our true long-range attacker, those were the only talent cards in the entire batch, so it will be a while before we see any more. Use them well.¡±


    Minnie nodded before adding with a weary sigh. ¡°I¡¯ll head back to base and see how things are going.¡±


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s continue our training, Jasmine,¡± Celes said once Minnie started leaving, turning back to the training area. ¡°Once we have the basics of acting together as a team, we can start clearing out the monsters in the...¡±


    Jasmine looked back enviously with a pout, drowning out her sister¡¯s voice. But she knew her limits. She could only get so much special treatment as Celes¡¯s only sister. If she were to ask for more, she would seem annoying and alienate the rest of the team with such actions. So, she remained silent, even though she wanted a talent card as well.


    She glared at Minnie before catching herself doing it, fixing her face immediately before Celes would notice.


    Something had awoken in her heart.

 Chapter 24: The Collapse of Society (I)

    In a fragment of the city of Monvec, the border between Giant Tree Forest Plateau and Six-Coloured Desert Plain regions, a base was still abuzz with activity as the afternoon sun slowly traveled across the sky.


    After Rose took stock of the supplies that O¡¯Brien had left for them to give away, Lea and Jules were at the forefront in trying to distribute them equally among the large group, though it was intimidating at first glance.


    ¡°Families with at least one child, weak, sick, or elderly adults, and no men, please line up over here!¡± Lea shouted outwards before repeating herself.


    It took a while before the crowd understood what was happening and began to respond. Realizing food was being given away, the chosen groups were excited while the others were displeased. Some sneakily attempted to mix into the crowd, taking random children and clinging to the elderly.


    ¡°Bring your families with you to receive the supplies,¡± Roya coldly ordered, seeing the shifty individuals.


    ¡°That¡¯s not fair! We¡¯re hungry, too. We barely have enough to eat,¡± Someone clamored.


    ¡°Yeah, it''s dangerous outside. We might have been able to handle a zombie apocalypse, but this is way too much,¡± a man added indignantly. ¡°How do you expect us to gather supplies, especially since you guys took them all!¡±


    ¡°Yeah you have more than enough, he exchanged so much just now, but you must have more stowed away with magic. Give us some! It¡¯s the least you could do after blocking us from the chance to search for food ourselves.¡±


    O¡¯Brien scoffed inwardly. Even if he hadn¡¯t taken the rest of the food, it was unlikely that this lot would have gone exploring. Perhaps they had only even seen one or two stores he had been to and nothing more. Many people were content with sitting on their asses in the early days, expecting the government to eventually save them.


    Those with half a brain would realize even the government was fractured almost beyond repair in the apocalypse. Disasters didn¡¯t discriminate; soldiers and politicians were affected as well.


    ¡°Yes, but we have limited food to give away for free. So, the more helpless groups should take priority. It doesn¡¯t mean you may not get any; we¡¯re only putting them first,¡± Lea attempted to reason with the greedy crowd. She underestimated these childish grown adults who were acting like children. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t watch as these old women and children starve, right?¡±


    She felt that although it wasn''t a lot, it was something that should help alleviate the situation a bit. Her soft soothing voice and subdued posture in attempting to convince them was like blood attracting sharks, her show of weakness excited the wolves who had been checked very little by society.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m sick, too! I have a back problem from working in construction for decades and being abused by the system!¡± A middle-aged man wearing an orange work helmet yelled as saliva escaped his chapped and smoke-discolored lips. ¡°I have it hard as well, and all I¡¯m asking is for a little food! Some slices of bread and a few cans are all. You can afford it. Why are you so stingy when you have more than enough?!¡±


    The crowd gave birth to many men like the old construction worker, shrill old women, thick aunts with bucket-like girths, and school children adept in the ways of seeking self-benefits. The wolves emerged from the woods and attacked the poor and helpless Rose and Lea attempting to make a difference.


    Jules of course was pissed to see them rudely spoken to, but her biting nature couldn¡¯t match the spoiled drunkards and aunts who took advantage of others without the slightest bit of shame.


    Compared to the stubbornness and unreasonableness practiced by these experts, she was just too young and na?ve.


    The discussion¡ªor one-sided attack as it was shaping up to be¡ªshowed signs of continuing even after an hour.


    Meanwhile, the two visiting Card Masters had been greedily eyeing the beautiful Lea for a while now but were unable to speak to her while she was engaged with the crowd. They were not enamored so much by Lea¡¯s delicate beauty and curvaceous figure. No, she had another feature that tickled their fancies even more than base attraction could ever do.


    Yes, she could heal. She was a magic doctor who didn¡¯t need tools or medicine to heal injuries!


    How could they as leaders and fighters not recognize the strategic importance of such a personage? Her value was immeasurable! She was worth a dozen well-equipped doctors just on her own! Even if it meant being at odds with the wolf owner O¡¯Brien, they were willing to try and poach this wondrous doctor in the end times.


    Flying to her rescue, the two men stood between the women and the crowd.


    ¡°Settle down now, settle down now,¡± Jean attempted to placate the crowd, but not everyone had eyes and could tell who he was. He was in a foreign area after all. The mob, drunk on their ¡®rights to free speech¡¯ and ¡®government assistance¡¯ were still trying to squeeze out some benefits from Rose and Lea. How could they care about anything else?


    ¡°What¡¯s your problem buddy? Trying to get the food for yourself?¡±


    ¡°Move it, Slenderman!¡±


    Disgruntled voices attacked these newfound targets putting themselves in the line of fire without bias.


    Jean scoffed in anger. That O¡¯Brien fellow was another story since he was the same as them, but these mere mortals dared to bark at him?!


    He had to teach them who was superior here.


    Did they not recognize current affairs?


    Did they think the world was the same as before?


    As the insults intensified and Guido laughed at him in the background, Jean chuckled maliciously and decided not to use his men to beat the crowd back as he initially intended. No, he would instead do them the honor of acting personally.


    ¡°Foolish wretches,¡± he growled. ¡°You don¡¯t realize just how much the world has changed, do you?!¡± His thin frame glowed with a verdant green light. With a wave of his hand, vines sprouted up from beneath the thick basement floor like a patch of forest wilderness. The vines were thick, tough, and elastic. They coiled around men and women like snakes, squeezing them tightly.


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    The members of the mob out of range scattered in fear, seeing the vines up close.


    ¡°W-what the hell?!¡±


    ¡°Where did those come from?¡±


    ¡°Wait, that guy is the same as those girls. He has superpowers!¡±


    For a while, the crowd had forgotten that the gentlewomen offering food were wielders of superpowers and could threaten them if they wanted to. But now this thin man was glaring at them, beating back the crowds, injuring women and children alike with whip strikes and boa-like squeezes. It was then that they understood what brutality was.


    The bugs and worms were not the only danger in the new world.


    It had been two weeks without word from the government. Their city had been displaced and carried off somewhere. Maybe it was even another world! The government¡­ couldn¡¯t save them.


    If Jean were to kill one of them by accident, they would have no one to report to, and they certainly couldn¡¯t go up against one with superpowers.


    The space between the crowd and the philanthropic women widened by the second as they backed away in fear.


    O¡¯Brien looked on in wonder, thinking, ¡®That¡¯s a domain-type skill¡­ Not even a spell, but a domain-type control skill. The lucky bastard.¡¯


    Even he couldn¡¯t help but be a little envious. He cheated to get what he currently had, but these fellows just had such good things fall into their lap without effort. Although the Blessed Ones typically had some very good cards, Jean was lucky even amongst them.


    Domain cards were very problematic in group battles. They could easily influence victory if there was no way to handle their domain. Of course, the man would have to become a lot stronger¡ªat least becoming a Grandmaster¡ªto truly use the full extent of his domain.


    Successfully suppressing the crowd, Jean wore a friendly smile as he attempted to speak to Lea, but he was already beaten to it by Guido.


    ¡°Ah, madam, it''s good to be charitable,¡± the man spoke with a wide grin, ¡°but for these lot, you have to show them the stick before the carrot, otherwise they think their numbers mean something, and that society still holds strong to protect them.¡±


    ¡°Ah ¡ª¡±


    Before Lea could reply, Rose interrupted, handing over the distribution to the others. ¡°It was unnecessary to hurt them to prove your point.¡± She turned her sky-blue gaze to Jean.


    Jean cursed under his breath. He wanted to be their hero, goddamnit. Now they were glaring at him like he was some kind of monster.


    ¡°These are just mere mortals lacking powers,¡± he began, trying to appeal to rose-red Blessed One. ¡°We can do with them as we please. Without our presence, they would be mere feed for the monsters. They should be thinking about how to be useful instead of insulting their benefactors. Without the military or any high-powered weapons with ferocious monsters, we¡¯re the ones at the forefront, risking our lives to fight against these monsters while they run and hide and leech off our efforts.¡±


    Jean carefully chose his words as he had yet to see Rose¡¯s abilities, but his intuition told him she wasn¡¯t one to mess with. However, even these careful words were sharp in Rose¡¯s ears.


    ¡°What¡­?¡± She stared at him with disbelieving eyes. ¡°How can you talk about your fellow humans like that?¡±


    O¡¯Brien smirked upon hearing this. Society and the modern world had become hard to live in for many, struggling day to day to make ends meet, those shunned by the system and the rats running the race. Given a chance where society had collapsed, going back to its primal state, many were relieved, feeling a heavy weight had been removed from their chests.


    For some, the hate for the old system and the ones enforcing it was greater than the joy from the system being shattered.


    Others simply enjoyed the new world and used what they could to get ahead.


    It was clear Jean was the latter.


    ¡°They are humans, too!¡± Jules butted in, her anger flaring up. Was it a requirement that these superhuman men be so cold-hearted? ¡°They deserve to live as much as anyone else. We¡¯re all in a difficult situation. They shouldn¡¯t be treated less than human!¡±


    Jean burst into laughter.


    ¡°Really? When they don¡¯t even have to guts to fight or try to survive? they huddle down here and watch the others do the work. They don¡¯t deserve shit. Natural selection has already begun. Only the useful and the fighters will survive!¡± He scoffed.


    ¡°You¡¯re the ones bringing the selection,¡± she hissed back.


    Jean shook his head. ¡°You¡¯ve seen them, haven¡¯t you? With those monstrous bugs and the worms that have recently appeared, even the land we¡¯re familiar with is no more. If we were to rate the difficulty of this scenario amongst apocalypses, it would definitely be the top, worth several zombie apocalypses. Will you die for these useless peons? I strongly believe we with powers have been selected to be the last humans, and we can only evolve from there.¡±


    Jules opened her mouth to reject but felt she couldn¡¯t find the words. There was some sense in what he was saying although it was harsh. Lea and Rose also had crumpled expressions.


    Jean struck while the iron was hot. ¡°We lead fighters ready to make a change and lead the way in this new god-forsaken world. They have families they fight for. They deserve some extra food as much as the next guy, don¡¯t you think? Why don¡¯t you share some with us since you¡¯re feeling so generous?¡±


    For a moment, Rose felt her world collapsing around are with so many people''s interests presented before them. Who should they favor? Who should be forsaken?


    She turned to O¡¯Brien for help, but he was now looking over his new cards and paying them little attention, leaving them to their devices. They wanted to do this, didn¡¯t they?


    Guido let out a fake cough. ¡°Although I also think they¡¯re a waste of time, trying to help them is not going to hurt. If my base had someone with healing abilities present, I have room and feeding to babysit and train these freeloaders into fighters.¡± Guido quickly ran ahead once more causing Jean to grit his teeth.


    This fat motherfucker!


    He still wanted to butter her up a bit and play on her guilt and charitable nature before going in for the kill, but here Guido was not only skipping steps but repeatedly harvesting the fruits of his labor!


    Lea paused as she gave a family a bag of food and supplies, realizing these God¡¯s Favored were interested in her abilities. She looked over to Rose in response.


    Seeing this, Jean pushed his malice to the backburner and took the opportunity first. ¡°Your friends can come along if they want. We need all the help we can get.¡±


    At this, O¡¯Brien lifted his head and looked in their direction. He watched the display and almost wondered if he should say something. He didn¡¯t actually need the other three, so long as Rose wasn¡¯t leaving, he was fine with whatever.


    The two men were watching him from the corner of their eyes. Seeing his lack of response to their poaching, they were overjoyed. They intended to be subtle at first, but since he didn¡¯t care that changed the entire game!


    Jean was a bit hesitant, studying the head of white hair as he nonchalantly looked at his card collection. ¡®Is he stupid? I know it works to our advantage, but would he let a healer and superpower users slip through his grasp so easily? Is he that confident they won¡¯t leave him?¡¯


    ¡°We¡¯re¡­¡± Rose began.


    ¡°Not interested,¡± Roya sharply finished, her dark eyes fixed on the thin man¡¯s narrow gaze. Jules nodded in agreement, her arms securely folded across her chest.


    These two were obviously bad eggs.


    While they weren¡¯t completely wrong about this group of survivors, they were in the grey now, but probably hid a lot of black elsewhere or would darken to black in the coming days.


    O''Brien was also no selfless martyr, but somehow he wasn¡¯t like those two.


    Of course, the two God¡¯s Favored were not about to give up so easily and began negotiations.


    Despite saying nothing for hours now, O¡¯Brien¡¯s presence was still the strongest in the room and the two men couldn¡¯t ignore him even if he was doing nothing. They couldn¡¯t wrap their heads around his thinking.


    Little did they know, neither could the women accompanying him.

 Chapter 25: The Collapse of Society (II)

    Avid debates continued until nightfall. The two men argued until they were red-faced and hoarse.


    One man argued for the sole sake of his retinue, urging them to forget about everyone else, while the other simply emphasized how supporting him could benefit a lot more people in the long run.


    After a few back-and-forths of logical statements, the discussion inevitably turned into heated arguments, due to conflicting opinions about the simple value of human life.


    Even the difficult-to-anger Rose grew furious.


    In the end, the women found that their words did nothing and they could not alter either men''s perception of the helpless survivors. Just like they couldn¡¯t affect the cold-blooded maverick that accompanied them since before the end times had started.


    "Are you really not going to reconsider?" Guido sighed.


    "Food is becoming even more of a scarce resource for everyone,¡± Jean stated in exhaustion. ¡°By next week, we might have our first victims dying of hunger. We all thought the government and army were coming before, but you see how it is.¡± He almost pleaded if it were not for his pride. He had never met a group of people so stubborn despite the reality.


    ¡°Even then you refuse to come with me?¡± Guido tried once more. ¡°I''ll take a step back and donate our surplus of food once a month to the leeches, but no more than that. Well?"


    Seeing the women now staying silent after distributing half of the remaining pile, expressing their stance, Jean scowled and was about to say something but eventually didn''t.


    Guido was more aware of current affairs and was also silent. He left his address before taking his leave. Soon after, Jean scowled at them and also left, muttering, ¡°You''ll regret this..¡±


    This cemented the feelings of aversion the women had for the two men. Perhaps if they had not possessed any other superpowers apart from Lea''s healing, they would have suffered greatly. Jean, in particular, had the makings of a threatening figure. If they didn''t have superpowers, perhaps he would have forcefully taken Lea. Guido also didn''t leave any good impressions on them, especially with his cunning smile.


    "I don''t understand why it has to be so difficult¡­" Rose sighed deeply.


    Living in a peaceful society for so long, her equalitarian views had fully flourished and blossomed as she constantly tried to help people, succeeding in doing so on many occasions. Now, offering help was like a double-edged sword and it couldn''t achieve the simple effect of everyone benefiting.


    "I know one usually looks out for themselves in times of despair, but I''ve always seen the considerations for their family and the less fortunate,¡± Lea also sighed. ¡°I guess it¡¯s still the same, but they''re more willing to stomp others away for their families." She had met many families with loved ones on their deathbed, some acted scummy and regretted it, while others were there until the end.


    Jules whispered something to Rose, their eyes drifting over to O¡¯Brien, but Rose knew what her niece was asking was nearly impossible.


    Would the O''Brien they knew selflessly give away more food? He had made it clear that this was all they could get.


    "Um, O''Brien, could you..." Jules started, but even her usual boldness was drawn out after such an exhausting day.


    Rose felt the pressure of two other gazes and eventually stepped forward. Even then, she was not graced with a twitch or response as O''Brien was engrossed in observing his treasure trove. It was clear they were intentionally being ignored.


    *


    The women discussed how they could benefit all parties involved but found that was wishful thinking and too greedy of them.


    It was like every solution they thought of was eventually revealed to lead to a blocked passage forcing them to start from square one. The supplies on hand couldn''t possibly satisfy so many sick bodies and hungry mouths. If the city was whole, it would have been a much simpler task. They only resided in a fragment of the city that was tossed to who-knows-where.


    "If only he would help us out, it would be much simpler"


    "I wouldn''t count on it."


    "Why does he have to be so selfish?"


    From one perspective, O''Brien was cut from the same cloth as the ones giving them headaches. He thought only of himself and no one else.


    Lea sighed for the umpteenth time and Roya added, "Let''s forget it. Trying to change him won¡¯t amount to anything."


    Roya supported O''Brien''s stance quite a bit, however, she agreed with the others in that he could help if only a bit. He didn''t need to give away all his supplies, just some of them, like the irreplaceable medicine. Many modern-day humans were on prescription drugs and would suffer from far worse conditions than withdrawal were they to be deprived of their prescriptions.


    It was their job as the capable ones to help those who couldn''t help themselves right?


    Roya was beginning to feel these groups of survivors were not worth all this effort, but she refrained from making a statement. While Rose and Lea were both benevolent and motherly figures, they both could be very stubborn when it came to such matters.


    ¡®I just have to wait until they tire themselves out,¡¯ Roya thought to herself. She didn''t see how they could satisfy such large groups by themselves without O''Brien''s assistance.


    As time passed, an unlikely voice of reason spoke up to their surprise.


    "You can distribute the food and supplies tomorrow,¡± O''Brien''s lethargic voice trailed over from his corner. ¡°We''ll stay here for the night. It''s too dangerous to travel now."


    The women felt this arrangement made sense as they were beyond exhausted and they had the basic common sense to avoid traveling through such dangerous city ruins at night.


    ¡®Strange¡­ Why did he suddenly get involved in being slightly considerate?¡¯ Jules thought as she held the sleeping bag he passed to each of them. But her thoughts weighed heavy and so did her mind so she eventually nestled inside the bag without complaints.


    Looking over to Roya who was surveying the area, O¡¯Brien thought, ¡®You might be a problem, so go to sleep early.¡¯ He stealthily flicked his fingers and a subtle ghastly glow flashed before disappearing.


    At the same time, Roya felt sleepy all of a sudden, her eyelids as heavy as lead. She knew her body quite well and had experienced much more difficult and grueling situations, so she found it very strange to suddenly feel this exhausted, but oddly enough she couldn''t fight off the urge to sleep.


    Roya practically collapsed to the ground, but O''Brien was nearby and caught her to tuck her into her sleeping bag. Lea saw this from the corner of her eye but didn''t say anything at that moment, also feeling drained.


    In less than ten minutes, everyone was sound asleep. Their tired bodies hungered for rest after such a long day.


    O''Brien thought of his day¡¯s harvest as he collapsed on his soft travel mattress and sheets, holding up the rear position.


    A single white silver card was more than he ever expected.


    He gave his wolf one final order before falling asleep.


    *


    A few more hours into the night, hushed voices approached the group''s sleeping area. Weak flickering lights accompanied the voices casting irregular shadows.


    "Are you sure it''s ok? Did you see the size of that wolf?" Someone whispered.


    "What are you scared of? It barely did anything. It might even be fake, you never know. That guy''s powers are probably illusions or something. He only ever bluffed without fighting," another voice scoffed.


    "What about those girls¡­ Don¡¯t they all have superpowers?" someone else worriedly asked.


    "Don''t be a wuss, just look how they struggled to handle the crowd earlier on,¡± the ring leader replied. ¡°They won''t hurt us. They''re probably the type to freeze up when things get tough. I''ve met girls like them before. If things go downhill, grandma and her golden girls are here to hold them down," he added with a chuckle, looking back at the frail woman trailing behind them. He had thick hairy arms, a broad chest, rugged facial hair, and stood tall at over six feet.


    Who could hit grandmas?


    "Whatever,¡± the old lady huffed. ¡°I hope you guys keep your promise. I want superpowers for my son, Gertrude wants some cans of food, and Jeanette wants superpowers for her husband."


    The shadowy figures held up their lights from waning phones and battery-operated flashlights, slowly creeping up on the sleeping women.


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    "It''s a fucking full-course buffet," the leading man muttered, but he wasn¡¯t talking about the attractive pile of food and supplies. He towered over the women as he ran his tongue over his lips with a predatory gaze.


    Lea''s blonde hair was disheveled as she slept, and her complexion was slightly haggard and dirty from the day''s journey and nighttime stress. Yet these couldn''t hide her overwhelming beauty. Her parted pink lips complimented her pale skin, forming a seductive countenance as she breathed steadily while she slept.


    Mary Rose''s blood-colored hair was vibrant even in the night, her luscious red lips a shade lighter on her smooth peachy skin. Her bountiful chest rose and fell as she lay in slumber. Roya was in a similar position but she was sprawled out and not fully zipped up in her sleeping bag, her mouth slightly open as she lightly snored. Her twin peaks surpassed even Rose and Lea who were very well endowed, causing the pink light of desire to intensify in the onlookers¡¯ eyes.


    Jules lay sprawled out in the open, lying atop her sleeping bag. Her toned skin was a different texture from Roya''s who was used to the outdoors, a light tan, with lips colored lime green from eating sweets with the children during the day.


    The men hailed from Gianni''s survival camp and lived in this basement. They had been cooped up for days without going out and had a lot of pent-up stress and emotions.


    Seeing the helpless women, they felt a fire light up within their groins.


    Their breathing became uneven.


    "Are we really going to ¡ª" one man gulped, feeling a bit excited.


    "Of course, you fool,¡± The ringleader scoffed with a menacing grin, ¡°just to teach them a lesson. Then they''ll have to give us the food and supplies."


    As he was about to to reach out to grab Rose who was closest to him, he saw the wolf lying down before O''Brien in the corner, asleep on duty.


    "Let''s move them away first." The man''s libido died down as he observed the beast''s long silver claws and canine teeth peeking out from the corners of its mouth.


    They dragged the women away further into a distant corner, pleased that they seemed to be in deep sleep.


    Soon after, sickening chuckles echoed from the distance.


    "Hold her down, Grandma! You have one job!"


    "I get it. Shut up already!"


    "Damn, it''s stuck."


    "Woohoo, check it out. They''re even bigger without clothes in the way!"


    Rose was the first to come to, feeling a strong sweaty hand grasp her breast and squeezing through her bra. She felt another on her thighs. Another pair of hands were squeezing her elsewhere as well.


    As her eyelids fluttered open, she took in the horrific scene. She lay down on the ground while several men surrounded her, touching her, their pants down and some with dangling objects already swinging in the open air.


    "Woah, look how they bounce and jiggle. These aren''t plastic, they''re all natural! I was wondering why such vain bitches filled with implants were pretending to be saintly." The ringleader tsked in surprise.


    Rose heard the wanton voices clearly in her half-asleep state.


    She was in shock for a moment before completely shaking off her groggy state.


    "W-what ¡ª who ¡ª why are you doing this?!" she shakily exclaimed. Her heart felt squeamish as the dirty hands touched her and the greedy eyes seemed to swallow her whole, bloodshot and tremoring in desire.


    They seemed so beastly.


    "Fuck, this one''s awake. She has superpowers too, tie her up!" Shouts quickly ensued realizing she had woken up.


    Rose looked around to see her friends in similar situations as her.


    Slap!


    A resounding blow struck her right cheek as the man directly in front of her cursed.


    "Damn bitch, causing so much trouble eh? Well, now you will have to give us the food, but not before we take something else we want as interest first¡­"


    The tall man with a hairy chest caressed her smooth skin while he deeply chuckled. Rose never knew she could feel such disgust from mere touches.


    Another man tightly grasped her hair as the others tied her up, sniffing repeatedly. " Mhm... She smells nice."


    "Can I go after you?"


    "Sure, but I''ll probably take until morning. I''ve never had any quite like these bitches. You can start with the others. The fit chick with the six-pack is still so sexy and bursting from the seams like this one, nothing like the gym machine units. The other one is a bit more fragile and dainty but still has an explosive body, but this one¡­ She''s more exotic and innocent; my type."


    "Ha, like you''ve even met someone this exotic before!" another voice crookedly commented.


    "Whatever, since you like that one, I''ll take the youngest one, she''s feisty. I like that."


    Jules had also woken up at that moment, screaming, but she was gagged by one grandma as the other men tied her up, bundling her feet.


    Her confusion was quickly replaced by anger as she felt the hands roaming about her figure. The hands touching her skin gave her a weird sensation. Having nauseous skin was the best way she could describe it.


    The other grandmas did the same. By now, Lea had also woken up from the commotion and was also being groped wantonly.


    Rose was shocked to see an elderly woman help these beasts defile her. Her struggle stopped for a while as she looked at her. The old woman averted her gaze in guilt but Rose just now remembered that she was one of the few who got food and supplies before they closed for the day!


    Why would she...?


    As the women felt despair creeping up on them, Roya finally awoke. She didn''t even flinch a bit when she came to and instead grabbed the thing dangling near her face and squeezed and pulled hard with murderous intent.


    "Ahrgha!" A pitiful wail scraped the air like a wounded dog.


    Before the rest of the men touching her could stop admiring her, they bore the brunt of their subdued force.


    She twisted one man''s hand, flipped him over, and grabbed another by the neck.


    Her movements were slow but strong and warming up.


    All the surrounding assaulters swarmed her as she fought off the three men.


    Roya felt her limbs heavy like lead as if she had been run over by a truck, before she could ponder why she was so slow, she was tackled to the floor.


    All eight men plus the grandmas struggled as they tied her up tightly.


    "Fuck¡ª! This one is a riot, huh?" As the ringleader spat in her face, Roya showed no visible emotions, just a cold glare as if she were looking at a dead person.


    "Huh? You dare fucking glare at me, bitch?!"


    Slap!


    Slap!


    Even as he slapped her she didn''t utter so much as a grunt and stared dead into his soul.


    The man flinched uncomfortably.


    "Fuck it, I changed my mind, you''re first. We''re doing you together!"


    "Ah-ah, that''s about enough. You showed them as much as I wanted them to see."


    The men froze hearing a smooth and relaxed voice speak from the shadows.


    A creeping chill traveled down their spines.


    "No matter how much I see it, it never gets any less disgusting," O''Brien muttered, watching the half-naked men around the women, tear streaks on their pretty faces.


    ¡®Is this enough? Do you see the faces of the ''helpless'' survivors you wanted to help so much?¡¯


    Seeing their miserable appearances, he even wondered if he had gone too far, causing them to sleep so deep that they woke up later than normal.


    Well, it was an unavoidable obstacle, especially for the three who were not Blessed Ones, as they would have spent months powerless before awakening. They would have likely crossed paths with Blessed Ones by then. Quite a few would be drunk on power, even if not, their subordinates having them as their backing would be.


    Perhaps such a thing did happen in the days of the future past, he didn''t know them back then, so he had no way of knowing.


    He turned to the group of men looking like they were mice who had seen a cat.


    The low growl of the wolf menacingly prowled in the dark.


    The men all began to slowly edge back, feeling the air subtly change.


    If O''Brien had screamed at them in anger or immediately beat down them, perhaps they would have felt better.


    But he was too calm.


    Far too calm.


    His wolf was now behind him and not at the front.


    "I guess I should thank you a lot, not for bearing your ugly faces but for giving me the answer to a question that has troubled me for quite a while..."


    Tap.


    Tap.


    As his steady steps approached them, a primal fear was born in the hearts of all the assaulters. They felt like they were facing the monster they had seen from afar, the green worm that swallowed dozens of goblins and survivors, grinding them into meat paste with its rows of revolving teeth. Its large, twisting, monstrous visage and bloody maw, the electricity that had run through them at that moment they first saw the creature, here it was again.


    The uneasiness the newcomer brought was that unsettling. Cold sweat dripped from their bodies previously hot with desire, like they were doused in cold water.


    Their survival instincts were screaming at them.


    Run.


    "Fuck this, I''m out of here!"


    One man attempted to run, but no sooner had he dashed than a sudden force blasted him to the ground. As one foot pressed down on his back, the other stepped on his fingers.


    An ear-grating scream echoed as the man felt his bones crushed.


    "Yes, to kill or not to kill,¡± O''Brien casually said. ¡°Leaving your enemies alive is a sin in and of itself.¡±


    His eyes glazed over the men. ¡°Of course, you''re not worthy of such a grand title. That wasn''t what troubled me either; it''s natural to kill enemies. It''s the rest that was giving me a headache. You know¡­ those on the border, not a threat, but easily killed."


    O''Brien swiftly grabbed some others who attempted to escape, snatching them up like they were small misbehaving pets.


    "The unpleasant fellows, the ones that you say, ''Oh, killing someone just because they insulted you or looked at you funny''. I would be the same as the tyrant dictators¡­ It''s so tedious, such thoughts couldn''t help but weigh on me."


    He roughly tossed them into a corner where he could block their escape. The men groaned feeling their bodies treated like rag dolls, their swaying third legs swang heavily about and some even hit the wall causing them to scream out.


    "The category of people to kill¡­ Such a delicate subject, after all, human life is so precious," O''Brien mocked with a smirk, watching the ringleader wriggle like a worm as he was held up by the neck.


    "Yes, I''ve finally decided." O''Brien smiled. "Given the chance to keep my hands clean, to feel good about myself for being clean of ''sin''... Who doesn''t want to think themselves pure, think themselves righteous? But I see clearer now. Being good is such a chore, filled with too many choices and restraints¡­ It''s not free at all. Imagine if I couldn''t kill you lot and had to stop at crippling you."


    "Ah, that would leave a bad taste in my mouth¡­" O''Brien exaggeratedly grimaced. "So being evil is a lot less tedious." He nodded to himself like he was the only one present and was having an epiphany.


    "Kill all those who annoy me and those I feel like killing, whatever the reason... Ah, such a luxurious notion. Perhaps that''s why the answer escaped me..." His smile turned into a toothy grin that sent chills down the spine.


    A clean slate¡­ Sometimes it was overrated. Forcing himself not to kill just because he could afford to was an uncomfortable notion the more he thought of it.


    Now he had rid himself of such a notion.


    He looked up at the half-naked red-faced man struggling to breathe and begging for mercy as he was held by the throat.


    "Now then, shall you be number one?"

 Chapter 26: The Collapse of Society (III)

    O''Brien loosened his steel grip on the man. He was beginning to look like a cooked prawn and would soon die from asphyxiation.


    That would be too clean a death in O''Brien''s eyes.


    While he didn''t have any female relatives to suffer any secondhand trauma from their defilement, his previous girlfriend he thought to be his soul mate and only love was enough.


    After seeing it right before his eyes and being forced to watch, every rapist that ended up in his hands had the grudge package of death.


    Slow and sweet.


    While he didn''t feel as much anger as he did back then at the sight of them, having grown used to such acts, it had already become a habit and favorite entertainment of his.


    Watching as these previously ''strong'' men begged for their lives.


    O''Brien even felt slightly excited at the thought of doing so again.


    As expected, the peaceful pacifist life wasn''t for him.


    "Please. They forced me to do this! I didn''t want to. They threatened me and my family!" The head grandma was already wet with tears. She looked as if she had only a cup of water for moisture in her entire body, so it was surprising the waterfalls she let loose.


    As she grabbed his ankle, pleading her case, O''Brien gave her a bored look.


    "Do my eyes look like they''re for decoration? You were so cooperative for someone being threatened. I wasn''t born yesterday. Don''t worry though. You''re last."


    O''Brien gave a sweeping kick in her gut, sending her flying to the wall with a thud sound.


    She continued to bawl her eyes out, but he was unimpressed.


    He had killed several seniors, and unlike now where they were all bark and no bite, the ones he met were wily old foxes and annoying cockroaches.


    Strong too. Very strong.


    With card essence and certain regenerative cards, it was possible to regain one''s youthly appearance and vigor. Like sipping from the fountain of youth.


    Even just card essence circulating through your body had restorative effects. There was a reason why scientists dubbed it ¡®the energy of life evolution¡¯. Even just the card essence without cards was amazing enough and could pioneer human evolution on its lonesome.


    The seniors he met were already tough having returned to their prime but there was a more dangerous category of seniors.


    A rare breed of lunatics that single-mindedly pursued ''higher martial arts'' with the blessing of card essence, which they called Heaven and Earth qi.


    Through self-discipline, self-exploration, and hard work, certain martial art styles were created and improved upon whose effects and combat ability matched several cards.


    Then, several sects and temples were created by these men of discipline, standing at the forefront of the righteous factions.


    Had they not succeeded they would be just that; lunatics. But those sons of bitches did it, headed by thousands of years of Chinese discipline and hundreds of years of other various types of fighting arts in similar ancient cultures.


    Of those martial arts masters, the old men were to be feared, their skill and experience predated the apocalypse and their newfound powers were a deadly combination.


    O''Brien felt his current physique could match one of those martial masters at the same level.


    He had been growing incrementally stronger for weeks and now could fight ten men easily without using cards or his card essence.


    Amazed by his growth, O''Brien felt taking that risk in the face of death and uncertainty was the best thing he ever did.


    One of the men crawled forward with tears and snot dripping down his face, breaking O''Brien out of his train of thought. "Please. Forgive me. I was blinded by lust, I ¡ª"


    "Ah," O''Brien scoffed with a blank stare, remembering his current job, and stretched his limbs.


    With a regretful sigh, he continued, "Sadly, although I can afford it now, I can''t heal you since that one''s in a bit of a shock over there,¡± he pointed to Lea, ¡°and the other healing card I have can''t be activated currently. Without the ''Thieving Death'' , ''Death Surgeon'', or a ''Nailed Saint'' available nearby, I can''t prevent your rapid death either¡­ Pity."


    He exhaled in disappointment. "Even Argul Worms and Love Leeches are out of the question, not in this region. Since you''re all so weak and not even Card Masters, that makes it worse. I can only prevent you from dying for thirty-five ¡ª No, thirty minutes at most. Fifty if I really take my time. I guess that''ll have to do."


    "Give me a sec." O''Brien whistled to his wolf, having it watch them while he looked around the area for parts. He grabbed random things like steel pipes, shards of dirty plastic and glass, dirt, rusted wires; almost everything he could get his hands on.


    ¡®Should I process them a bit?¡¯


    He wondered but eventually shook his head, thinking it would take too much time and energy.


    "Wait, wait. Let''s talk this out. Yeah, yeah ¡ª Those c-cards, I know something. I saw the leader hide a few more than he gave you. The greedy bastard. You should punish him. I know where he keeps them he-yukgh!"


    Crawling backward in fear while trying to bargain with O''Brien, the ringleader was greeted with a powerful controlled kick that left him bent in an obtuse angle on O''Brien''s outstretched leg.


    Picking him up by the collar, O''Brien crushed his toes and went over to lightly twist the ankles of all the others before going back to him.


    Soon, ear-piercing screams and howls reminiscent of a pig slaughterhouse echoed in the dim light of the dark before eventually dying down.


    *


    "Well, that was way quicker than I expected. Too bad."


    O''Brien sat down on a mangled body with holes and cuts covering every inch of skin. Blood-stained dirt was stuffed in both nostrils, tiny fragments of glass were in the pupils, and his mouth was gagged with a bloody object with two shriveled hairy orbs. It was a horrible gag, held in place by a tied cloth which might have been a better gag.


    Blowing a wave of smoke, O''Brien sat disappointed in himself. "I could''ve done better. Didn''t think I was that rusty, but I guess I got practice." He looked over the six other badly mangled men and one other lightly tortured man all gagged in the same way.


    Sadly, O''Brien only managed a max time of twenty-two minutes for the longest person. A lot less than expected.


    He ended up getting bored after ten minutes and started with all the others at the same time. He successfully prolonged the total time but two accidentally died without his consent in the process.


    "Those were accidents they don''t count¡­" he muttered, looking at the only two corpses.


    "You...mon...ster," the barely recognizable ring leader weakly cried out.


    "Pots and kettles, Baldy. Pots and kettles."


    Stolen story; please report.


    O''Brien tapped the ringleader''s bloody and now plucked bald head, before casually stretching his legs and then dealing the killing blow when he heavily stomped down, crushing his skull and killing him instantly.


    The man couldn''t feel his life flash before his eyes, but he did feel regret for his actions and peace having been released from this mortal coil. Grateful that he was leaving the same space as that monster.


    "There it is again. What the hell is it? Am I hallucinating?" O''Brien muttered.


    Thud.


    Thud.


    His heart slightly sped up and he felt the strange presence of ''something'', but as soon as he felt it, it disappeared like he was grasping smoke.


    He went over to kill the six other men and experienced the fleeting sensation again, but it disappeared too quickly each time. He logged the lightly injured man over his shoulder and looked over to the shaking grandmas hugging each other for emotional support.


    They all looked at him like he was the devil incarnate.


    He grabbed all of them up by the hair with one hand and dragged them over to the four women who had now somewhat recovered and covered up.


    Well, they were absolutely traumatized by O''Brien''s torture session.


    "This isn''t TV where you overcome your internal values formed by your parents, environment, and society and finally kill an enemy. The intent to kill and intent not to kill makes a difference when fighting man to man. So here. Kill them."


    O''Brien tossed the old women like rag dolls toward Rose, Lea, Jules, and Roya.


    The women immediately started begging strongly after hearing O''Brien''s words.


    "P-please!"


    "I have a family, children, grandchildren!"


    "I didn''t mean it. If I could go back and change things, I would never have come!"


    O''Brien took the remaining man from his shoulder and placed him before his teacher.


    "I saved this one just for you. He was the one having fun groping you."


    As if remembering something, he casually added, "Oh, you don''t have to do it if you don''t want to. I left only old women since they''d die too quickly if I touched them, even just a little bit like this one here." O''Brien pointed to the sole man as he spoke to Roya who had already killed many people.


    "Since she doesn''t need hers, I''ll give her to you," he said, turning to Rose and kicking Roya''s designated old lady towards her.


    O''Brien looked at their blank faces and sighed in disappointment.


    "Hello? Wake up! You have a decision to make. Give them their due or be ''merciful''. If you don''t kill them, then I will no longer train you and find some other way to repay Rose, like an expensive gift item or something. There''s a lot of those; natural treasures or special cards. Or, you can just stay there like corpses refusing to do a thing if you don''t have the stomach for it."


    He waited a while and watched as they stared silently at their counterparts.


    "Tsk. What a disappointment."


    Well, if they didn''t learn with him, they would learn after they eventually parted ways.


    O''Brien clicked his tongue with slanted eyes and walked away.


    The unmistakable whoosh and thud of a stab broke the heavy silence.


    O''Brien turned midway to see Jules impale one of the elderly women with a piece of steel, breaking through her brittle bones in the process.


    As the old woman writhed, she kicked her with the Boots of Hermes she had summoned in anger.


    "How could you?! How could you hold us down as they did all of that?!" She stomped her to death with each word, brutally ignoring her screams.


    O''Brien whistled as he witnessed the brutal murder. He had honestly been expecting vanilla if anything, nothing so hardcore.


    Lea hesitated and bit her lips. Staring between O''Brien and the old lady in front of her, she took a deep breath, and slit the lady''s throat cleanly with clinical precision.


    Rose wiped her skin where the man had touched her, and looked down at her ripe breasts that had red marks and dirty fingerprints on them.


    Eventually, a hot feeling burned up inside her, wanting to get out. Her blood boiled both in fury and as a response to something inside her.


    Rose''s eyes glowed red as larger thorns reappeared on her body as they had when she first awakened. A bloody aura emanated from her like wisps and her thin delicate fingers grew claws before she ripped the man''s heart out.


    His bleeding heart was absorbed in the air by her body, hugging yellow-stemmed thorns, and a red rose bloomed on one flower.


    Sssk!


    Rose was slightly taken aback as she watched the man''s blood drain away, sucked in by the thorns as well, turning him into a mummified corpse and successfully blooming two more rose heads on her thorns.


    ¡®Come to think of it. What is her Natal Card?¡¯ O''Brien thought to himself. ¡®I only know it''s likely of the White Silver grade and has vampiric features, but sucking blood without fang and or mouth contact? It must be pretty powerful.¡¯


    Vampires gained strength from blood, so it goes without saying how overpowered one who could suck blood from a distance was.


    "I can''t do it¡­" He was drawn back to reality by Rose refusing to kill the old woman.


    "She was wrong, yes, but¡­she has her circumstances.¡± Rose shook her head, looking at the terrified old woman who had been crying a river before freezing on the spot at her words. ¡°She''s just a weak old lady. There''s not much she can do to get ahead in times like these."


    O''Brien scoffed.


    "After all that, you still have this to say¡­" O''Brien shook his head. ¡°Still so stubborn, I see.¡±


    "Well it''s a pass I guess,¡± he shrugged. ¡°As a reward, you can go back to sleep and Wolfie here will actually do his job as guard wolf and stop getting paid for nothing." O''Brien looked at the curious wolf sniffing the shriveled corpse and approached the remaining elderly woman who was profusely thanking Rose.


    But Rose didn''t look at her at all. She refused to kill her and forgave her wrongdoing, but she would never forget such a horrible thing.


    Of course, O''Brien didn''t leave loose ends.


    The joyful old woman felt a hand twist her neck in a full 180. She started up at her killer as her brain registered her death.


    The cold eyes.


    Wheat-coloured skin.


    The sharp yet calm visage.


    It was Roya who had moved in.


    She turned to O''Brien giving him a cold look of displeasure. "We obviously can''t go back to sleep. We want to fight. You said you''d bring us around the city."


    She wasn''t stupid and realized he had something to do with her falling asleep so suspiciously.


    O''Brien pretended he was dumb and looked to the others, "Are we in agreement?"


    Jules responded in kind and so did Lea after a while. With a glare from Roya, Rose also completed the unanimous vote.


    "Well, I want to sleep, so we''ll wait anyway," was what O''Brien wanted to say, but he would rather not stave off attempts of his assassination in his sleep since the worthless wolf was only luckily activated and he did not have a second set of activation materials available after three more days.


    Valuing his sleep and peace, he approached the women and led them outside.


    The morning sun rose over the purple-tinted clouds on the horizon, beginning its ascent in the sky.


    The air was fresh but solemn as in front of them was a city in ruins and overflowing with monsters.


    ***


    New Roselee City


    Celes led her group of seven through the city, slowly wiping out each group of goblins they met.


    "Conserve your card essence,¡± she instructed. ¡°At this early stage as Card Apprentices, you''re all at the lowest level with only light ash grey card essence. Those of you with Red Steel natal cards can last a bit longer with more layers of your aperture penetrated, but at this stage, the difference is not that big. So conserve every bit of essence."


    Celes was like an army commander leading her troops through war on her flying tank of a bird.


    The Goblins gritted their teeth, unfamiliar with fighting humans but fighting hard nonetheless.


    They brandished their clubs in large swings but were easily dodged each time.


    "Card essence can be used to reinforce body parts or produce bursts of power, but be careful as this can drain you. Essence Coating is a skill from a card but it can be learned without one with a little training in the right direction. It''s your go-to when fighting weaker monsters like goblins without racial skills."


    Celes felt a bit proud watching her team evade the Goblin''s strikes and place their critical blows in.


    They were armed with machetes, but each machete had a light ashy glow to its edge.


    At this point, the small groups of goblins didn''t require her to interfere and they could manage them quite easily.


    They spent the day making a circle around their base and placing markers. Minnie looked around several places with Celes as they evaluated the usefulness of the terrain.


    With their base as the center, they were expanding our in all directions.


    Now they were killing several birds with one stone by fighting against goblins, increasing their combat experience, training new skills, and reducing the monster population, while they surveyed the land and made plans for their checkpoints, lookout spots, and traps.


    As their home field, they had to create more of an advantage for themselves other than knowing the terrain. Turning the entire area into an impregnable fortress was a given if they wanted to maintain a strong position in the city against upcoming enemy forces.


    Celes combed Sapphire''s feathers as she so often enjoyed and taught her little maneuvers and combination sequences even in their free time.


    As she was taking five minutes to go over another maneuver with her trusted partner, she felt the magical emblem on her skin warm up and thoughts were transmitted to her mind.


    "Celes, we''ve met people," Minnie reported, but there was an odd cadence in her voice.


    "What is it?" Celes inquired.


    Celes felt Minnie''s emotions transmitted with her voice through the Spiritual Link Insignia, so she was aware there wasn''t any danger, but she was curious as to what was causing such a thick mixture of surprise, confusion, suspicion, and amusement in her best friend.


    "One of them seems to be the same as you, a God''s Favoured, Blessed One, you know. It''s just that... Well, you''ll know when you see them."

 Chapter 27: The Collapse of Society (IV)

    The cloudy sky spun a melancholic color within the city, grey and desolate with the whistling winds.


    Flyers and loose papers were blown through the streets, the only commuters in this city of the end.


    In an abandoned gas station, two parties were getting acquainted after their coincidental meeting.


    On one side was Minnie and the others, and on the other side was a group of fourteen led by a little person.


    He was smaller than a goblin, about the size of a four-year-old child.


    He had a stocky frame and brick-like muscles, but most notable were his oversized arms and his red rust-like skin. His arms were much thicker than his legs which were already pretty thick like an elephant''s feet.


    His wrist region had a circular growth, with an almost metallic texture akin to an oversized sci-fi handcuff with streaks of yellow fused into his wrists. His beard had a weird texture as well, unlike hair at all.


    He had red eyes and black horns that bent towards the sides.


    Everyone stared in wonder, asking if he was a new race. They couldn''t believe his reply when he said he wasn''t.


    "Like I said, you damn kids,¡± Old Wheeler huffed. ¡°I''m human. I was normal a few weeks ago. Just a little short and hunchback from my years of hard work. Not this short. My body suddenly changed around two weeks ago when everything went to shit."


    He blew out a breath with his nostrils. Even then his lungs must have been quite strong as his exhale was a strong gust.


    "Now I look like a toddler. Although my muscles are nice, I could outwork the young''uns on the site even without them


    But now¡­I could outwork the entire district staff by myself," Old Wheeler chuckled to himself, very amused.


    His supervisor would beg him to stay now. If the construction company branch wasn''t rubble and the world hadn''t ended, of course.


    Old Wheeler spoke in a manner befitting his age, although he wasn''t a dwarf. He was fifty-five and prone to rambling about himself and the past.


    "Haha, Old Wheeler." One of the accompanying men laughed, ¡°No need to sulk. Sure, you''re shorter, but you have superpowers now. Those green monsters are crushed into mush with a light punch from you. You can even lift cars with no problem."


    The girls were all starry-eyed looking at his strange visage asking if they could touch him.


    His height made him almost cute although he was fierce looking.


    "No ya fucking can''t you little rascals!" He protested with his nostrils flaring.


    "He says that but you actually can, he''s soft on women and children. To him, you''re both, anyone 5 years younger than him is a child, even my mother. He likes being an old man, he still listens to old music and wears the same type of clothes, can you believe he had one of us who could tailor to refit his old clothes instead of wearing new ones!" A woman chuckled as she held her hand over her lips. She always wondered how her mother tricked this oddball to remarry when he regularly called her kid.


    "Nutcracker stop luring people to manhandle me. I will not be touched!" The old man ran in circles trying to escape Jasmine whose eyes had shone brightly hearing that she could touch him.


    They all chuckled seeing the display.


    Celes arrived with Sapphire, seeing the red-skinned impish old man.


    "Titan Hand Wheeler?" She exclaimed in shock.


    She hadn''t expected to cross paths with one of her peers so soon. A great figure who had lived long enough and was also strong enough to attain ''lord'' status.


    That grumpy old fellow was a future fierce persona who possessed a Red Steel Natal Card and whose raw combat power trumped almost everyone in the city in a direct fight.


    In terms of raw arm strength, only one other person could compare to him in this entire region, but Wheeler''s skill was of a far higher quality than most.


    Back then they didn''t know the truth, but later on, they recognized that his natal card skill, [Titan''s Far-Reaching Arms], was a racial skill from the famed Titans!


    A pinnacle race on the same level as dragons!


    After his family was killed in a premeditated attack, he went on a rampage killing all responsible before leaving to wander through various secret realms. He firmly believed there was a way to bring them back to life with the magic of the New World.


    The last she heard was that he and the other two of the unfortunate trio in similar circumstances had really found a way and were working hard to get back their families in a frenzied race, searching for some odd materials no one had ever heard of.


    It was hard for such a powerful figure to not cause an uproar wherever he went, so Celes knew quite a bit about him, although they only met a handful of times and never spoke much.


    Celes immediately entered the gas station.


    She must recruit him!


    Someone of his talent and power without a matching highly ambitious or nasty personality was a walking treasure to her stronghold. His eccentric personality had yet to develop with his family still alive and well.


    If the Blue Flame Stronghold were to truly become the undisputed strongest and be the beacon of humanity, high combat power, and talent were essential. There were only so many she could cultivate from the start. Winning over good talents was one of her highest priorities in returning from the future.


    Celes tightened her waistband and fixed up her hair which was a mess from the wind. The doors were blown open but there was still some clear glass near the sides of the entrance. Celes looked back at her reflection.


    Bright blue hair and deep blue eyes, creamy skin, and a lithe figure whose curves could be seen in her slightly baggy blouse and her skinny jeans.


    Nodding to herself, Celes made her way further into the store where the group was.


    "Woah, your muscles are tougher than iron mister." Jasmine attempted to squeeze some flesh on Wheeler''s arm but it didn''t even budge.


    "Damn it. Well, I guess they are." The old man looked to be displeased but some pride could be seen hidden underneath his outward expression.


    "Oh Celes, you''re here." Minnie greeted.


    The strangers looked over to her.


    Seeing her fairy-like beauty, they were all shocked. Sure Minnie was not bad looking, and Jasmine had dyed pink hair, but Celes had what seemed to be natural blue hair adding to her fantastical beauty.


    "Yes. It''s about time to end our rest, you guys are..." Celes pretended not to know. Minnie saw this and immediately knew what to do even without conveying their thoughts to each other.


    Celes had discussed all her plans with her beforehand and even if she hadn''t, Minnie would have suggested recruiting the old man based on his supposed capabilities which were likely to be true.


    Leading such a large group without any firearms and sustaining very few injuries through the goblin-infested city was very abnormal.


    "We met them while we resting. This is Old Sam Wheeler and his companions. They''re holed up around 53 Freeman Avenue and Williams Street at the underground parking lot."


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    Minnie did their introductions and then introduced Celes as their leader.


    "Yes, it''s nice to meet you. Unfortunately, we have to leave soon. I found a group of goblins in the final stages of making an altar. A Hobgoblin Warrior and Hobgoblin Mage have appeared, we need to get rid of them before more begin to appear.¡± Celes solemnly explained. ¡°Even worse, there''s a Black Iron-ranked card near them. It must be compatible enough since they have made such rapid progress on their racial altar and even produced enough blessings to create a warrior and a mage."


    She wasn''t joking and this was indeed a serious situation.


    Monsters were able to, in rare cases, absorb the power of cards or use them to their benefit while they were unable to activate, use, or store them. They could harvest the mystical energy inside through certain methods or if they had high compatibility with whatever the card represented.


    All cards were priceless and it was no exaggeration to say they were worth dozens of lives as their power could protect a great many helpless human beings.


    Monsters being able to use cards even in a handicapped manner was a threat to the livelihood of human beings on many accounts.


    This was an occurrence that caused continuous headaches and tragedies for humanity. Monsters lusting after the power of cards and aiming to use them for their own could be said to be one of the primary causes for humanity being in such a precarious situation later on.


    The real sore spot was that monsters fought for and even possessed cards they couldn''t use in the slightest, hoping it would somehow work one day.


    Depriving humans of the chance to ever use said cards.


    "I already made some preparations to improve our likelihood of a successful assault,¡± Celes continued grimly. ¡°The earlier we strike, the better."


    In her memory, she hadn''t heard of this set of goblins but it wasn''t surprising as she wasn''t active so early and the city was in chaos in the beginning.


    Goblins also could serve several different gods and they killed all those not of their faith so internal power struggles were also common. This group might have been wiped out later on, but Celes couldn''t leave them be and ignore the death and destruction they would cause.


    Wheeler and his team were still caught off guard by Celes who seemed to be similar yet very different to Old Wheeler, they both looked like people out of a Fantasy book. Then they were exposed to new information with a dangerous overtone.


    By this time, taking advantage of the shock factor of the New information, Minnie quickly explained Wheeler''s situation to the rest of the group and successfully disguised the expressions for those who couldn''t control their face and change of attitudes professionally through this overhead current issue.


    As they exited the gas station, Wheeler''s group who was tossed aside with a regretful ''until next time'' finally caught up.


    "Wait, friends. Just for a minute."


    "What''s this about altars and all that? You kids know something about what''s happening." Old Wheeler was quite straightforward and did not beat around the bush.


    "We don''t have time to talk,¡± Celes said in an urgent tone. ¡°If you want to know, then you can follow us."


    Old Wheeler thought for a moment, nodded to his companions, and directly said he would follow.


    So Celes brought them along so they could see with their own eyes what was at stake.


    The group approached a den of goblins a thousand strong, chanting mysterious scriptures in their native tongue, hoping to birth another miracle apart from their two revered ones.


    At the head of this ceremony were two odd goblins. One was slender and tall, holding a bone staff that glowed blood red and an ominous green.


    The other was muscular and four meters tall with a large battle axe and exposed fangs poking out from his lower jaw.


    Just one look at these goblins could convey the danger they represented.


    Celes grew even more serious seeing their appearance and the bloody skulls on the altar surrounded by oddities like human hair and pieces of steel. A peculiar method of worship and sacrifice, even for goblins.


    ¡®This early? If they didn''t die to unforeseen causes... This must be a Blood Skull Tribe that worships the same god as the Blood Throne Cultists¡­¡¯


    That would make things much more difficult. Of course, fortunately for them at this stage, the gods'' influence was minuscule.


    The true terror would take years to appear in full force.


    "Please! Here!"


    Celes and Wheeler''s group had their attention redirected by desperate shouts to the far side.


    There they witnessed something that turned their stomachs into tangled knots.


    *


    On one side of the army of goblins gathering around the two mutant goblins like a congregation in prayer to their god¡ªan unspeakable sight unfolded.


    Several humans, headed by some middle-aged men and women, tied up some other humans comprised of children, adults, and the elderly, gagging them and pushing their tearful faces forward in a rigorous effort.


    "Oh Lord, forgive us for our sins. We offer up these sinners to your agents of fury. All we ask is to spare us, Lord! And we shall repent for the rest of our days." A middle-aged woman with eyes marked by crow''s feet was at the head of the heinous offering, her face painted with urine mixed with ''holy'' herbs.


    Their wide arms swung wide as a gesture of openness and acceptance.


    Celes gritted her teeth seeing this. "Those fucking cult-minded upstarts."


    Minnie was surprised hearing her curse as Celes never had done so in all the time she had known her, but this Celes took no heed to her concerned gaze and was seething with rage.


    The End Times brought forth many sick groups with a variety of extreme views and practices, all claiming they knew how to handle the apocalypse.


    Extraordinary power gave rise to crazy individuals who could lead such blind sheep to the murky water, forsaking their fellow man and causing widespread damage unable to be repaired.


    The atrocious acts and lifestyle of these cultist groups were so high-strung, that even the severe acts of discriminatory-themed hate groups based on race, past nationalities, and so on seemed like child''s play before them.


    Celes had personally seen one group use several women as ''mothers'' for the Red-Skinned Orcs, using the newborns as part of their elite guard and army. It was a scene depicting an unholy breeding factory that their base destroyed.


    These cultists would stop at nothing. The human skin and bodies they possessed were hollow inside, for they were inhuman.


    Of course, these individuals offering up their relatives, friends, and likely unfortunate strangers had yet to fully develop into a cult and only had the framework and mindset of such an entity.


    Needless to say, Celes would still show no mercy having seen what they were capable of.


    She brought out a card that looked like heated metal. The orange hue was smooth and rubbery, and pockets of ruby-like gems dotted its rear. The card face depicted a pillar of yellow fire ripping the earth asunder.


    "Circle to the other side of that building over there, then launch an attack from their rear. Minnie, coordinate the assault." Celes gave out instructions to her team before she turned to Old Wheeler. "I can handle the mage, but the Goblin Warrior might be a stretch. Can I leave him to you?"


    Old Wheeler nodded solemnly, his eyes still wide from witnessing the sacrifices. It seemed even the goblins were shocked as they only moved after the thin goblin in a human-skin robe shrieked out some orders.


    Unsurprisingly, they attacked indiscriminately. However, as Celes had expected, only a small group split off to apprehend the humans, allowing others room to escape.


    "Watch over that girl and her husband in the coming battle. They should be Old Wheeler''s family members, his daughter likely." Transmitting her thoughts through the Spiritual Link Insignia, Celes took her position.


    Watching the leader survive an ugly escape, she mentally scoffed.


    ''Not on my watch.''


    She bit her finger without hesitation, leaking blood, she swiftly wrote a symbol on the card in her hand, the she wrote another with just her card essence, then with a soft incantation she was finished.


    The card in her hand flashed as a giant beam of orange-yellow light vaporized all in its path, cutting a neat line through the goblin army and killing all the cult minds, leaving zero traces of their existence. It was an eye-popping spectacle that caught friend and foe alike off guard but she didn¡¯t give them time to react.


    Sapphire flew into the sky by herself and spat out whips of fire on the surprised goblins.


    The Hobgoblin Priest screamed at his people, quickly getting them organized and sorted, turning them to Celes.


    At this moment, a short stumpy figure was launched towards the muscular hobgoblin warrior.


    Minnie''s group rushed the rear of the goblin army, with Justin trailing behind already a bit winded from having thrown Wheeler like a catapult toward the Hobgoblin Warrior. His muscles wailed in agony. So heavy. It was like lifting a car.


    Sapphire collected Celes, who used a recovery card after activating her first socketed card in this lifetime, Red Steel-grade Great Ray of Searing Skies.


    The duo of woman and phoenix rushed to the Goblin priest as it was preparing its magic.


    The battle broke out like a falling avalanche.


    Old Wheeler''s group was given machine guns by Minnie, who had the group''s largest storage card Greedy Imp''s Sachet.


    Although this was a world with supernatural creatures who could shrug off bullets like they were nothing, Goblins were not a part of that group.


    Bullets still worked just fine.


    A storm of bullets struck the bodies of the screeching green skins like rain to a still puddle.


    Splashes of blood flew in the air from the heavy-duty machinery, courtesy of the thoughtful Minnie and Priya who had robbed several police stations.


    Finally getting the chance to use her pirate''s booty, Minnie excitedly led her new group while mentally commanding her home team in their coordinated attack, machine gun in hand.


    The bullets of the smaller caliber rounds were buried in the thick flesh of the goblins who could have passed for zombies with their ignorance of pain.


    Even when full of holes, their warlike spirit raged on in battle.


    The sound of gunshots mixed with the screams of death and warcry from the large group of goblins echoed throughout the city.

 Chapter 28: The Collapse of Society (V)

    ¡°Feast on lead, suckers!¡± Minnie yelled while she trained her gun against the horde of zombie-like goblins running up against her. It was shocking how the green skins just kept coming despite bleeding out. Such was their devotion to protecting the Altar.


    Old Wheeler¡¯s team manned a set of machine guns, raining bullets into the suffocating crowd of goblins racing towards them. The gap between the two opposing sides was gradually getting smaller and smaller, and Minnie was getting worried. They were greatly outnumbered, even though it was only a fraction of goblins were involved in the battle. However, a fraction of a thousand against two dozen people was still an overwhelming number, and soon they were being joined by more of the remaining.


    The gears in Minnie¡¯s mind whirred like clockwork. As if solving a Rubik¡¯s cube at lightning speed, she flipped through strategies, trying to click one into place. Using the Spiritual Link Insignia, she communicated formations and techniques to the rest of her team, multitasking between making sure of their safety and her aim at the horde of goblins.


    Justin wrestled a goblin off his back, grabbing its leg and swinging it like a club to hit the other goblins. Letting go of its now dead weight, he groaned as his entire body still ached from catapulting Old Wheeler before joining the fight. The goblins weren¡¯t usually a problem for him, especially since he started training, but right now every swing of his arm shot sharp pains through his body. He fought to remain standing as he was surrounded.


    ¡°Jasmine, watch out!¡± Priya yelled, shooting down a goblin that lunged at Jasmine from behind.


    The head of pink hair spun immediately, swinging her large sword and hacking through several stocky goblin necks, burying itself in a particularly large one and getting stuck. Jasmine grunted as she tried to pull the blade out, her vision catching one of Old Wheeler¡¯s men getting dog-piled by the green skins.


    The lady who tried to shoot at the dogpile to save him had her entire right rib torn open as a goblin sunk its jagged teeth into her delicate skin.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Jasmine yelled, placing her foot against the chest of the goblin and pushing back to drag her blade out. It was finally released, leaving the goblin¡¯s head dangling with only a strip of skin connected to its body. Rushing over to the pile of goblins, she swung her heavy sword, determined to at least save the man, but as the pile was cleared, she caught a glimpse of the crushed skull belonging to the victim, teeth scattered in the mush of blood and brain matter. Her stomach churned at the sight, and she turned away, receiving cover fire from Priya once again.


    Priya slammed the butt of her rifle into the face of a goblin before quickly reloading. She was a long-range attacker and wasn¡¯t supposed to be so close to the fight, but she needed to keep her reckless cousin out of imminent danger.


    ¡°I can¡¯t keep up with your suicidal ass, Jasmine! Get out of there!¡±


    Jasmine continued to slash and hack in anger, feeling like she had failed because she couldn¡¯t save the man and woman, unaware that she was rapidly getting surrounded.


    ¡°Jasmine, I need you on higher ground right now,¡± Minnie communicated through the link. ¡°Get out of there immediately.¡±


    But the girl turned a deaf ear to the instruction that floated through her mind. If only she had more cards, she¡¯d be able to tackle more enemies faster.


    She¡¯d be stronger.


    She¡¯d be more powerful.


    Power.


    Something that Celes was willing to give Minnie and not her.


    It smoldered in her heart like a nasty heartburn, causing her to grit her teeth and grind through the green throng.


    ¡®Why did I have to take orders from Minnie who would always stay in the back and give orders while I did the hard work in the front lines?¡¯ she thought. ¡®Why would Celes give her two extra cards without her asking, while I had been begging for one for so long? I was the one who truly needed more cards, not Minnie. Why not me? Was I not good enough?¡¯


    Jasmine roared back at the shrieking goblins, their blood splattering against her face as she chopped off yet another head.


    Meanwhile, Xia set up base at the window of a debilitating building. Her quiver slung behind her back, she slipped them out with a practiced grace, firing into the crowd of green. She attempted to fire two at a time. One was a hit, and the other narrowly missed Justin who she hadn¡¯t seen earlier. Her eyes widened and she quickly redirected her next single aim. She wasn¡¯t perfect just yet. Her arrow whizzed past the giant warrior goblin.


    Xia had ceded the Eagle Eye talent to Priya simply because she wanted to focus on all-round improvement not just long-range shooting. That was a vital skill better suited for a pure sniper so she refused it. Ice covered her arrows reinforcing them as she let loose several more.


    Steps away, Old Wheeler wrestled with the warrior goblin. It was a sight to see a four-meter-tall giant having to put up a fight against a tiny red opponent, but Old Wheeler meant business. Having been launched at the warrior, he had successfully landed a double-foot kick against its broad chest, causing the warrior to stumble back.


    The giant goblin swung its ginormous battle axe at the pesky human, but Old Wheeler was fast despite his thick arms and legs. The warrior bared its yellow fangs and roared a challenge, and Old Wheeler accepted it with a determined nod and a heavy breath, each exhale a fog of steam with how high he felt his temperature rising.


    Without warning, the hobgoblin charged at him with the axe raised high. Old Wheeler braced himself, his fists clenching. When the hobgoblin brought down the axe with a thunderous crash, aiming for Old Wheeler¡¯s head, the man dodged to the side. There was a rush of air as the axe sliced through the space he had just occupied, and the ground where the axe struck erupted in a shower of dirt and debris.


    Old Wheeler countered, swinging his fist in a wide arc. His enhanced strength sent the hobgoblin staggering back a few steps, but it quickly recovered, growling in anger. The two circled each other, each sizing up the other¡¯s moves. The hobgoblin feinted left, then swung its axe from the right. Old Wheeler anticipated the move, ducking under the blade and driving his fist into the hobgoblin¡¯s ribs. The impact was solid, but the hobgoblin warrior was unfazed, its thick hide absorbing the blow.


    With a guttural roar, the hobgoblin swung its axe again, this time in a sweeping arc meant to catch Old Wheeler off guard. He narrowly avoided the deadly blade as he leaped back, using the momentum to launch a powerful kick at the hobgoblin¡¯s knee. There was a sickening crack as bone met bone, and the hobgoblin let out a howl of pain, dropping to one knee.


    Seeing his chance, Old Wheeler moved in for the kill. He grabbed the hobgoblin¡¯s axe arm, amplifying his strength through his natal card ability. With a tremendous effort, he swung his body downwards to twist the hobgoblin¡¯s arm, forcing it to drop the axe. The weapon clattered to the ground, and Old Wheeler delivered a bone-crushing punch to the hobgoblin¡¯s face.


    The hobwarrior reeled from the blow, blood streaming from its squashed nose, but Old Wheeler showed no mercy. He landed on the ground with a thud, kicking its supporting foot from under it and sending the creature sprawling to the ground. Before he could recover, the beast of a man had already scurried up the back of its head, dragging the axe along with him.


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    Just then, his eyes caught a sight that caused his blood to run cold.


    A goblin lunged at Natalie, claws outstretched and thirsty for blood.


    It happened so fast, but as Old Wheeler watched his daughter, it felt like a heart-wrenching eternity.


    Just as the goblin¡¯s deadly claws reached her, her husband threw himself between her and the danger, receiving four deep slashes across the chest. Natalie screamed, both from getting a minor injury to the shoulder, and the fact that her husband was bleeding out in front of her. Despite the damage, the man off-loaded his ammo at the goblin and any other that dared to approach them. Some of his fellow comrades hurried over to them, dragging him off to safety.


    Old Wheeler glanced around, finding corpses with familiar remains scattered on the ground as the fight raged.


    These were his people¡­


    He could feel his blood literally beginning to boil, blisters inflating and popping against his skin.


    This was not enough.


    He could not survive in this new world if he could not save his loved ones.


    Being special had to be more than this.


    The metal handle of the axe rapidly gained a rusty red glow, traveling up to the double-bladed head. Smoke hissed out from Old Wheeler¡¯s palms as he gripped the huge haft. The axe already huge, tripled in size.


    With a roar, he lifted the massive axe above his head, then brought it down on the goblin warrior¡¯s head with a resounding thud, splitting it open and frying some of its brain matter with the sizzling heat.


    Jumping down from the warrior¡¯s corpse, he tuned into this new technique.


    It was as if his blood had turned to literal lava, glowing a deathly orange-red under his red skin. His footsteps sizzled against the concrete, baking his footprints into the surface. With the oversized battle axe, he roared out in anger, sweeping the massive red-hot blade across the sea of goblins and slicing through them like butter on a hot summer¡¯s day.


    *


    Celes had taken a detour before flying towards the priest hobgoblin. Sapphire¡¯s blue flames poured out her majestic beak like a dragon, setting every green skin it touched ablaze. Out of over a thousand goblins, only a few had fled, while many gave up their lives for the protection of the altar. If Celes and Sapphire left the two groups to fight against the hordes of goblins with simple gunfire, they may be overthrown by the strength of numbers.


    From her position on the phoenix, Celes could see the state of her people on the battlefield. Many of Wheeler¡¯s men were down in battle, and although her team had been receiving sufficient training, they were still struggling to tip the balance of the fight.


    Jasmine.


    Celes groaned when she found her sister fighting in the depths of the horde, bloodied and sweaty.


    Minnie was trying to concentrate her firepower on the goblins in Jasmine¡¯s direction, hoping to clear a path for her to get up to safer ground, but the green skins had found the team¡¯s weak spot and their own nuisance, so many shifted their focus on getting rid of the pink-haired girl with the huge sword.


    ¡°Minnie ¡ª¡± Celes¡¯s voice began in Minnie¡¯s mind.


    ¡°I¡¯m on it! I just need to get these green fucks out of the way! I don¡¯t think she can hear me!¡± Minnie quickly cut in, her machine gun spitting out empty shells as she never let up once. Gilly had stuck to her side to help her reload. ¡°Jasmine, I need you to start making your way to me!¡±


    Jasmine gritted her teeth as she heard that, choosing to ignore the linked messages. She was going to make it out on her own and then show her sister that she was ready to own more cards.


    A goblin swung its club at her, which she luckily parried with an unintentional swing of her sword, but this left her back vulnerable. Fortunately, Minnie''s machine gun struck out eager assailants before they could get to Jasmine.


    Minnie was internally panicking. She couldn¡¯t let anything happen to Jasmine, not while Celes had put her in charge. She had to monitor two separate groups, one of which was suffering a high casualty count, and she also had to keep an eye on Celes¡¯s dare-devil of a sister. She was careful not to let her gun¡¯s stray bullets hit Jasmine, meaning that with every bullet she released, she had already calculated its trajectory nanoseconds before.


    For a normal person, it would have been absolutely impossible to have such an intense mental workout in such a chaotic scene, but it seemed the Baseless Intuition talent card had actually activated, guiding her mental capacity to blindly spot the bodies of danger and avoid Jasmine.


    Celes wanted to save her sister, but from the corner of her eye, she was reminded of the sinister priest aggressively chanting to the skies, cutting its own palm and dripping the blood at the foot of the altar, invoking an ancient spell to fight the adversity.


    The priest wanted to perform a Blood-Born Curse.


    If she didn¡¯t confront it immediately, it would be a fatal mistake.


    Although their gods¡¯ influence was not as significant now as it would be in the future, a Blood-Born Curse was a horrifying dark magic that showed no mercy to both the user and the victims. She had heard about skulls exploding a few seconds after it was invoked. Blood Throne Cultists were well-known for such tactics to ward off enemies, and the Blood Skull Tribe would be no exception.


    There was a chance that the curse wouldn¡¯t manifest if the priest¡¯s skill level wasn¡¯t high enough, but she couldn¡¯t couldn¡¯t risk it.


    Celes redirected Sapphire to fly towards the priest, determined to interrupt the chilling invocation. She would trust Minnie to get Jasmine out of harm¡¯s way.


    Minnie had saved Celes from far worse back then.


    As Celes was reaching the priest, she saw the goblin strike one of its own, ripping out the goblin¡¯s heart and offering it to the altar as blood dripped down the priest¡¯s raised arm.


    That was when Celes realized this was not an invocation for a Blood-Born Curse.


    It was an invocation for a Blood Oath Prison, a catastrophic spell that she had only heard rumors about.


    It had been specifically targeting her all along.


    She didn¡¯t even have time to think about how this was possible so early into the apocalypse.


    It struck her like a bullet and a blade at the same time, straight to her heart. Her dark blue eyes widened in a trance-like gaze as she felt like she had fallen into a timeless abyss.


    Like a movie, she rewatched the gruesome deaths and assaults of her loved ones from the future past, unable to tear her vision away. Every single heart-wrenching memory was dug up against her.


    She couldn¡¯t save them.


    The next scenes showed them in the current battle; Jasmine torn in two, a headless Giselle being stampeded in the fight, Minnie hanging from a spear she had been impaled with, her limbs mauled.


    She couldn¡¯t save them this time as well.


    In the physical, Celes coughed up blood, limply falling off Sapphire.


    The giant bird swooped down to catch her, but the descent was too sudden and she missed, managing to only slightly buffer the fall.


    Celes landed on the altar with a thud, scattering the bloody skulls and other gut-churning sacrifice items. She coughed up more blood from the impact, rolling off the stone and falling on her hands and knees. Her blue hair hung down her face like a curtain as she remained slumped, heaving and throwing up blood.


    Upon lifting her eyes, it was evident that she was still in a wide-eyed trance, unable to see the reality before her, blind to the mage goblin menacingly walking up to her, its bloodied hands clutching the goblin heart in one and the glowing bone staff in the other.


    ¡®Why was I given another chance if the story would end the same?¡¯


    ¡®What had I done wrong?¡¯


    ¡®I thought of everything¡­ Thought of everyone¡­ And yet¡­¡¯


    Thoughts of despair circled her head as tears ran down her face. Her blood weighed heavy inside her and it felt like she was coughing up needles. Her insides burned and all she had for comfort were traumatic scenes on repeat.


    Surely, she would die here.


    *


    Screee~!


    Sapphire screeched a warning at the goblins who dared to come close to the altar before bathing them in flames.


    Giselle was the closest to the altar. She wasn¡¯t the best fighter, but she had to pitch in some way. Running from the goblins, who Sapphire thankfully burnt to crisps behind her, she focused on getting to the altar as quickly as possible.


    Watching her leader fall from that height and coughing up blood had sent a chill up her spine.


    No one had openly said so, but they all looked at Celes like an invincible warrior and leader who knew more than possibly anyone in the entire world because she had lived through the apocalypse before.


    Seeing Celes so helpless threw Giselle into a state of fear and shock she struggled to hide, adrenaline pushing her to run faster than the goblins.


    Giselle had received a Green Copper-grade natal card, [Two-Touch Lotus Healing]. It required deep concentration and could demand significant energy drain for complex healing, but it could mend broken bones, and cure poisons and low-level magical system attacks or curses.


    But to get to Celes, she had to get through the priest first.

 Chapter 29: Intense Battle

    Goblins attacked in droves, their pupils rolled back in their eyes as if driven mad, foam forming at the edges of their mouths, spilling saliva as they attacked Celes''s and Old Wheeler''s groups.


    Old Wheeler had fought a lot before but it was only single against opponents that were all together quite weak, he never experienced such heavy moments with the scent of death in the air, the nervousness forming sweat on his large palms.


    Old Wheeler''s molten blood churned as his gaze darted between his injured daughter and the fallen blue-haired leader. The battlefield was a symphony of chaos - gunfire, screams, and the sickening sound of metal meeting flesh.


    His son-in-law lay bleeding but alive, protected by a circle of their companions who maintained a desperate defense with gunfire. The corpses of a few fallen caught his eyes, not long ago they were talking and laughing but now their blood ran cold


    The priest loomed over Celes''s prone form, its bone staff crackling with dark energy. It cast various spells at tricky angles, Old Wheeler watched in horror as it impaled dozens of its own clan and used their blood and bones to fuel its power.


    Kueek!


    The priest was smart, it realized she was fighting off its previous spell and would likely recover soon.


    ¡°Hakum, vladco, hakumm¡­¡±


    Blood congealed into ominous tentacles and lashed out at Celes viciously. Blue Flames formed a thick barrier in an attempt to block but Sapphire still had to get close and use her feathers and talons to fight off the numerous thick tentacles of blood.


    "Father!" Natalie''s scream cut through his thoughts. A group of goblins had broken through their defensive line, charging toward the wounded. Justin, the towering shield-bearer, immediately repositioned himself between the green-skinned horde and Wheeler''s family. His massive frame boosted by an even larger shield became a wall of protection as he shouldered aside the first wave of attackers.


    "I''ve got them!" Justin''s deep voice boomed across the battlefield. "Do what you need to do!" He was still not used to Minnie¡¯s abilities as a medium a d shouted out loud.


    Priya provided covering fire from her new elevated position, her arrows finding their marks with deadly precision. Beside her, Xia''s ice bow sang a frozen melody, each crystalline arrow leaving trails of frost in its wake. Priya shot pinpoint accurate arrows due to her Eagle Eye talent, Xia shot numerous arrows covering the ground and corpses with thick icy shells. Together, they created a deadly crossfire that prevented the team from being completely surrounded.


    It did help that the goblin priest was also using some of the goblins as sacrifices.


    Through their spiritual link, Minnie''s voice rang clear in Wheeler''s mind: "The priest is our priority! We need to get Giselle to Celes, but that thing''s in the way!"


    Wheeler''s newly awakened power surged through him like a furnace fire. The massive battle axe in his hands began to glow brighter, responding to his burning blood. Its metal took on the color of sunset, then shifted to a dangerous white-hot brilliance that made nearby goblins shrink back in terror.


    With a roar that scattered the closest enemies, Wheeler spun in place, his enhanced muscles coiling like springs. He instinctively activated his natal ability [Titan¡¯s Far Reaching Arms], the axe left his hands like a meteor, its burning mass carving a path through the air toward the altar, it was so fast it left afterimages. The priest''s eyes widened as the weapon approached, forced to leap back or be cleaved in two.


    Sapphire felt her burden lessen as the blood tentacles became weaker but some goblins took the opportunity to attack Celes at the command of the priest.


    The axe embedded itself in the ancient stone with a thunderous crack, its heat so intense that the sacrificial offerings around it began to smoke and char. More importantly, it had created the opening they needed.


    "Now!" Minnie''s command cracked through the spiritual link.


    Giselle sprinted forward, her healer''s robes fluttering behind her. Reid materialized from the shadows briefly to cut down two goblins that lunged for her, before disappearing back into the chaos of battle. The priest raised its staff to intercept her, but a barrage of ice arrows from Xia forced it to defend itself instead.


    A goblin''s claw caught Giselle''s shoulder as she ran, drawing a line of blood, but she didn''t slow. The young healer''s eyes were fixed on her fallen leader, her Green Copper-grade [Two-Touch Lotus Healing] card already beginning to resonate with her determination.


    She carefully approached Celes protected behind Sapphire¡¯s powerful flames, Sapphire gently called out to her in worry, their connection was one of the soul so it could sense her inner turmoil. Giselle was worried at first but fortunately, the flames avoided her, Sapphire had recognized her.


    *


    A bloody crimson cage of resentful souls weighed down on Celes¡¯s spirit.


    Celes was in a total daze, the effects of Blood Oath Prison spell were powerful yes but what truly caught of her off caught was something within herself, it reacted before the spell could swallow up her spirit and taint it with resentment.


    Just then.


    Something strange happened.


    A white barrier protected her, even stranger¡­


    She could sense her soul, covered in flames. Somehow, she could also see something deeper inside her soul body. A perfect silver orb with tinges of gold. Nestled in the embrace of what looked to be a baby sapphire.


    Inside the orb, she saw a tower of silver blood mixed with blue flames.


    She saw the shadow of a beautiful tree, it was just like any other tree, but its roots were piercing the sky itself, it was upside down yet still above the clouds, nestled atop the tree was a beautiful bird. It looked similar to Sapphire, but it was different. It had more wings and tails, it was also¡­ smaller. Yet despite this, she sensed a great power and nobility within the tiny creature.


    In fact, Celes was caught off guard by the powerful soul attack, she was still too weak just a Tier Zero Card Apprentice, and unable to defend against a spell fueled by countless lives and resentful souls. However, she managed to avoid this dangerous spell.


    And in a twist of fate, she was able to glimpse a hint of ¡®something¡¯, something that she wouldn¡¯t have contacted normally. As this ¡®thing¡¯ protected her soul intuitively, she was able to hide from the effects of the Blood Oath Prison.


    The golden crystal that sent her back in time had several other properties, unbeknownst to both time travelers, one of these was defying fate, another was tracing time. Both due to their differing circumstances and luck, had tapped into some of the remnant embers of the crystal¡¯s power.


    Strange, it looks like her but its completely different. Also, unlike what¡¯s outside that is clearly Sapphire¡¯s infant form, this one seems to be mature.


    As Celes tried to peer closer onto the form of the strange bird with many similarities to her natal beast, the outside battle raged on.


    *


    Giselle reached Celes''s side just as another wave of blood spilled from the leader''s lips. Giselle''s hands moved to Celes''s temples, trembling slightly but sure in their purpose. Green energy began to flow from her fingertips, fighting against the dark corruption of the Blood Oath Prison that held Celes''s mind captive.


    "Please," Giselle whispered, as much a prayer as a plea. "Work!¡±


    The healing energy from Giselle''s hands pulsed in gentle waves, each one pushing back the darkness that clouded Celes''s mind.


    Time passed but Celes showed no signs of awakening until Sapphire used some of her flames to help out. Then she was dragged out of her daze.


    Celes¡¯s unfocused pupils quickly adjusted seeing the real world unfold before her.


    No, wait¡­ I¡¯m still not sure what that is or why I¡¯m here.


    No longer needing to protect her soul¡¯s origin, Celes felt herself being pushed out from her inner mind, first becoming transparent, then dissolving like smoke in a strong wind.


    The terrifying spell the priest used was both a physical and spiritual one, her flames had destroyed the physical cage, but she didn¡¯t expect the spiritual attack to be so fierce and filled with resentment. Even after destroying the cage, she was still injured.


    She felt the stinging pain in her body.


    As she was back to her senses, Celes realized how careless she had been. Swept up by curiosity she had allowed the spell to seep deeper into her body causing further injuries, she also neglected the battle outside despite being the leader.


    ¡®Yet, what exactly was that.¡¯


    She thought back to her weird inner vision. Even the lingering images tugged at her heartstrings. She couldn¡¯t help but look towards Sapphire who was also looking at her with a worried gaze, she quickly comforted her then turned to Giselle.


    ¡®There¡¯s no time to be dazed. Lives are at stake.''


    "Thank you," Celes managed, her voice rough with the blood she''d coughed up. She gripped her rapier tighter as strength returned to her limbs. "While sapphire¡¯s flames have regenerative properties, using them now would drain too much of my card essence. I was careless, we don¡¯t have time to waste let¡¯s go."


    Sapphire continued her protective circle of flames, keeping the closest goblins at bay. The phoenix''s screech echoed across the battlefield as she spotted a group of goblins attempting to flank their position.


    Through the spiritual link, Minnie coordinated their defenses. "Justin, left side''s breaking! Xia, cover him!"


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    Justin''s massive frame moved with surprising agility as he charged through the goblin ranks. His shield became a battering ram, sending several of the creatures flying. A particularly large goblin managed to get behind him, but before it could strike, an ice arrow pierced its throat. The creature''s flesh froze solid before it hit the ground.


    "Got your back!" Xia called out, already nocking another arrow. Her ice bow hummed with power as she drew back the string, frost crystals forming in the air around her. Three goblins rushed Justin''s position ¨C three ice arrows found their marks in rapid succession, each shot precisely placed to protect the shield-bearer''s blind spots.


    Justin grunted his thanks, using his brief reprieve to help one of Wheeler''s injured men to safety. "Stay behind me," he ordered, his shield already rising to block another wave of attacks. The man barely had time to nod before Justin was moving again, his defensive line never breaking despite the constant assault.


    Justin felt a little worried having to protect so many people against the horde but Minnie sensed his attitude and helped ease his emotions through her ability. With renewed vigor, Justin¡¯s eyes brightened as he continued his role as guardian.


    From her elevated position, Xia had a clear view of the battlefield''s flow. Her eyes narrowed as she tracked multiple threats, prioritizing targets that threatened to overwhelm their key defenders, she looked over to Priya who nodded in turn.


    Another goblin tried to leap onto Justin''s shield ¨C her arrow caught it mid-jump, the ice spreading from the point of impact until the creature shattered on impact with the ground.


    "Their numbers are still too many," Minnie''s voice crackled through the spiritual link. "We need to-"


    Her tactical assessment was cut short by a familiar battle cry. Jasmine had broken formation again, her massive sword [Crystalline Nature Fang] glowing with an ominous green light as she charged deeper into the goblin horde.


    "Jasmine, maintain position!" Minnie commanded through the link, but the girl''s mind was closed to the connection, focused only on proving herself through combat. Despite Minnie¡¯s fevered attempts to ease her bullish emotions she failed to connect with her mind.


    Celes rose to her feet, her blue eyes tracking her sister''s reckless advance. The goblin priest had retreated to the edge of the battle, beginning another dark incantation. The Black Iron card still lay on the blood-soaked altar, its power calling to anyone sensitive enough to feel it. Celes faintly saw a giant eyeball depicted on it.


    She looked over to the goblin priest who was once again keeping his distance while launching spells, Sapphire holding him off.


    Celes gripped her rapier, her experienced eyes already analyzing the battlefield''s shifting dynamics. The priest''s retreat wasn''t born of fear ¨C it was positioning itself for something bigger. She had seen too many battles, and lived through too many wars in her past life to miss such obvious tactics. As a priest, its main skill set was biased towards tricky auxiliary, area of effect, and curse-type skills.


    "Sapphire," she commanded, and the phoenix responded instantly, understanding her partner''s intentions without the need for further words. As they took to the air, Celes''s rapier gleamed with a deadly purpose. She had no intention of letting the priest complete whatever ritual it was preparing, it was also weaker now having launched such a powerful spell but it might have other tricks.


    It already proved it could use such a high-level technique like channeling the resentment of the fallen to strengthen its spells, that it used on her, who knew what else it was capable of.


    In the back of her mind, Celes found it suspicious, the size of this clan and the strength of the priest was very abnormal¡­ could it be? No, that¡¯s not possible.


    Below, Jasmine''s sword began to pulse with an intense light. The Crystalline Nature Fang was responding to its wielder''s turbulent emotions, drawing deeply from her card essence reserves.


    "That fool," Celes muttered, recognizing the signs of what her sister was about to attempt. "Minnie, pull back the forward line! Now!"


    But Jasmine was already swinging her blade in a wide arc, channeling everything she had into the sword''s ultimate ability. A massive verdant green phantom of a large deer materialized from the slash, its ethereal form towering over the battlefield. The goblin horde actually paused their assault, momentarily stunned by the manifestation.


    The phantom''s strike was devastating, crushing dozens of goblins beneath its ghostly blade. But the cost was immediate ¨C Jasmine''s legs buckled as her card essence drained to nearly nothing.


    "Justin!" Minnie shouted through the link, already moving to reach Jasmine. "Cover our retreat!"


    The shield-bearer responded immediately, but the goblins had also recognized their opportunity. They surged forward like a green tide, forcing him to defend multiple angles at once. Even with Xia''s ice arrows creating frozen barriers to funnel the enemy movement, there were simply too many points of attack.


    Minnie reached Jasmine first, grabbing her arm to pull her back. "You reckless-"


    Her words cut off in a sharp cry as a goblin''s blade found its mark, slicing deep into her side. The spiritual link carried her pain to every member of the team, a stark reminder of the cost of broken formation.


    From above, Celes saw it all unfold. The priest was still her primary target ¨C she knew better than anyone how dangerous it could become if allowed to complete any of its full-fledged magics. But Minnie''s cry shifted something in her chest, memories of her friend''s death in her past life overlapping with the present danger.


    Her decision was made in an instant.


    "Handle the priest," she commanded Sapphire, leaping from the phoenix''s back. Her rapier became a blur as she fell, each precise strike finding a vital point on the goblins below. She landed in a graceful crouch beside Minnie and Jasmine, her blade never stopping its deadly dance.


    Sensing her remaining card essence, Celes looked towards the goblin priest as she fought of the horde. She turned to Minnie.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± She asked in concern.


    ¡°Tis but a flesh wound.¡± Minnie who looked a little pale, joked with a smile.


    Celes furrowed her brows and looked over at Giselle who was healing Reid who had gotten injured in the fray. Then she looked at Xia and Priya who were looking at her, she gave them a look then lifted both her dainty arms and tossed both the unconscious Jasmine and the injured Minnie with a powerful throw towards Giselle.


    ¡°All yours!¡± She shouted then she activated a barrier card to keep away the ferocious goblins then sat cross legged. She called on Sapphire in her mind and was about to try and teach her how to use one of her more dangerous bloodline skills to end the battle as quickly as possible when she felt a strange attraction envelop her soul.


    Sapphire¡¯s avian form seemed to become transparent, and a thin thread connected their physical souls. At that moment, Celes felt herself inside Sapphire, their intuitive connection closer than ever before.


    Scree? Sapphire also seemed to sense their connection deepening, and her beautiful, slanted eyes widened in shock feeling Celes inside her head.


    ¡°This¡­!¡± Celes felt her body, no, Sapphire¡¯s body in shock.


    A soul possession was possible?!


    Celes had mastered both man-beast fusion and spectral summoning in the future but feeling her feathered body cloaked with flames gliding through the air was something she had never experienced.


    Kweeeuk~!


    At that moment, the screams of her comrades caught her attention.


    Old Wheeler was struggling to contain some spear-wielding goblins with his card essence running low, the rest of the team was in a similar situation, the battle had gone on for too long, and they couldn¡¯t take much more.


    Celes felt the warm yet burning power of bloodline that Sapphire possessed, the spiritual energy thick in her flesh and feathers, and made a decision, she immediately flew up high in the sky at breakneck speeds, surpassing the clouds.


    ¡°This should be high enough.¡±


    She looked around as Sapphire, then she found a certain area down below then began to dive, she folded her feathers and enhanced the intensity of her flames, from far away she looked like a blazing ball of fire, halfway through she began to spin, soon she had built up enough momentum that her flames were forming clear circles around her like Saturn¡¯s rings.


    On the ground, Minnie had just recovered from her wounds with Giselle¡¯s help when she saw a flaming blue and yellow meteor pierce the clouds and head towards them.


    Celes!


    The heat from the flames began to burn those directly below it before it even hit the ground.


    Keukk!?


    The goblin priest finally saw that things weren¡¯t looking good and attempted to escape but it was futile. The wind picked up wildly scattering dust and rocks.


    With beautiful blinding light, the meteor adjusted its path to the goblin priest¡¯s escape and with a low boom formed a shallow crater in the earth, burning everything in range.


    The goblin priest was reduced to ash.


    Celes felt her soul spasm in pain as she separated from Sapphire, even Sapphire was drained as she was forcibly returned to her card aperture.


    ¡°Ugh!¡± She felt a splitting migraine in her head, her body felt weighed down like lead soaking up water, but she couldn¡¯t afford to rest, not just yet.


    She grabbed her rapier and joined the ongoing battle, fortunately, without the goblin priest directing them the goblins were unorganized, her well-trained team already took the advantage with her taking out the priest and dozens of surrounding goblins, as well as the priest using his men as recovery packs, the horde was thinned continuously.


    With an extra push with Justin and Old Wheeler at the lead, they wiped out most of them before she could make it over and she could rest for a while.


    She sat down behind the team and sat down cross legged and began to meditate to recover her card essence. Her aperture was as dry as a cracked pot as she needed desperately to fill it up once more.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let up, don¡¯t let any escape, kill them all.¡± Minnie commanded as she herself charged heroically into battle, she gave Celes a fleeting glance with Xia and Giselle who were running on fumes before cornering the remaining goblins and picking them off one by one.


    The battle ended on an anti-climatic note, no one died amongst her own team but a few were severely injured. Old Wheeler on the other hand, had a few causalities.


    Celes looked at the scattered corpses of goblins, a few of which had floating cards above them.


    She walked past fallen bodies and made it to her team.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± She asked Minnie thick with concern, she was bleeding once more.


    ¡°Yea, I¡¯ll manage, It¡¯s Giselle, Gilly and Reid you should worry about, their frontal combat ability isn¡¯t that good and they¡¯re not as tanky as Justin so they¡¯re in pretty bad shape.¡± Minnie coughed a bit before pointing her chin over in the other direction where most were slumped covered in sweat and goblin blood.


    ¡°You all did well, I¡¯m proud.¡± Celes patted her friend on the shoulder. Minnie smirked and poked her a few times trying to ease her tension, her old friend knew her well Celes swiped her pesky hands off with a smile. Her first in a while.


    Celes then looked over to Old Wheeler who was caring for his daughter and their people in mourning.


    ¡°Old Wheeler, thank you for everything, you even risked the safety of your family. I promise you won¡¯t regret this. Once Giselle is recovered, she¡¯ll make sure to heal everyone completely until then, we have some backup medical supplies, help yourself.¡± Celes bowed in gratitude and directed him to supplies Minnie had summoned, obviously she was not careless enough to only rely on Giselle for healing so many people.


    She herself had some first aid knowledge and began helping.


    "I''m sorry they had to die because of me." Celes said in self-blame, if she wasn''t confused in the hint of battle perhaps some of this death could have been avoided.


    She had been careless and complacent.


    ¡°No, no. It¡¯s the right thing to do, we couldn¡¯t allow those bastards to continue.¡± Old Wheeler shook his head, reassuring her. With his great power it wasn¡¯t right if he didn¡¯t do his best to protect those unable to fight for themselves. His daughter and the others knew this too.


    They died noble deaths, it was clear the goblins were up to no food, if even to avenge the previous owners of the skulls on the altar, they died righteous deaths.


    Celes felt a little touched at his words, such selfless displays were a rarity in the last days. She could see he was a little torn on the inside but truly meant what he was trying to express.


    ''Fortunately, none of his direct relatives died so his mind is still stabilized, mistakes like today.... Can never happen again!''


    She felt largely responsible, she inwardly pledged to never do such a large scale battle again without her team having several cards they can activate without issue, even the weak Blue Stone healing cards she possessed would have made a world of difference if they could activate them.


    ¡°Is it over? Did we win?¡± At this moment, Jasmine finally woke up from her exhaustion and looked around confused at the aftermath of the battle.


    ¡°Jasmine!¡± Celes saw her waking sister and called out in surprise.


    ¡°Celes?¡± Jasmine couldn¡¯t help but utter hearing her sister¡¯s from behind her, as she turned around, she saw a pale white hand approaching.


    Slap!


    The sound resounded on the quiet battlefield as Jasmine fell backward with a thud, landing heavily on the ground.

 Chapter 30: Zombie Maker, Black Plague Doctor

    At the border region between Giant Tree Forest Plateau and Six Colored Desert Plains.


    A ruined city merged with the untamed landscape, like bits of square pegs trying to fit in round holes.


    The bright light fell from the sky like splashing water, covering the lands below with a thick golden sheen. It was noon.


    The warmth reflected off the surfaces of tattered skyscrapers and low-hanging buildings in the blinding lights. Suddenly, a shadow flew up into the air becoming obscured in the brightness of the sun, then it swooped down with a purpose, landing a series of vicious kicks.


    Tuack!!!


    Kueeee!!!


    Below, there was a giant worm wreaking havoc on the ruined streets, it was at least twenty feet long and five feet wide, its large elongated body had thick earthy flesh the color of moss, and its numerous rows of teeth were like a death grinder stained with blood and rotten flesh.


    It whipped its large body against its tiny enemies, one wore shining golden boots with wings of light, and they flew around its head like a pesky fly, no matter how it attempted to dissolve them by spitting acid, the figure always escaped in the nick of time, the bright trails of light accompanying the boots only served to irritate the creature.


    Even worse, whenever it opened its bloody maws to bite at the pesky human or any of the others, painful arrows would come from afar and enter through its mouth, causing severe internal damage. These ash-colored arrows were like sharp iron spears sinking deep within its flesh causing it to squirm fiercely in pain at which point the fly-like figure landed a few powerful kicks.


    It couldn''t even escape back into the earth to its natural habitat as thick reddish-black thorns blocked the entrances to its burrowing tunnels that it used to rise aboveground.


    Whenever it approached the thorns, the bleeding inside and outside of its body seemed to magnify and its blood seemingly flew to thorns at its own initiative.


    Atop a car jammed into the side of a building, a tanned beauty drew a half-moon arc on her bow, she notched the arrow made of her light ash-grey card essence but didn''t let it loose, instead, she took a deep breath as she drained every bit of her energy, strengthening the arrow continuously as she did so the arrow began to transform, becoming denser, more powerful and blindingly threatening.


    Behind her a blonde woman clasped her fingers at her temples, slowly easing her emotions and enhancing her card essence recovery. She was cradled in a warm holy light and afar she looked like an angel come to earth.


    The swift figure dancing through the air had once again aggravated the large worm as it howled and sprayed a stream of acid at her, when she dodged out of the way it took the opportunity to bite at her with a desperate lunge, sensing the opportunity, the archer immediately loosed her powerful arrow.


    Bang!


    With a low whistling sound, the arrow obliterated the head of the large worm, reducing it to charred pieces; a rain made of coarse chunks of flesh, broken teeth, and blood fell from high up.


    Naturally, this was the team of Lea, Jules, Roya, and Mary Rose. Days had passed and they had come to form an even better understanding of each other and the ways of combat with monsters. They were able to work together and slay enemies much stronger than them.


    In a familiar action, Roya threw her bow into the warm corpse of the green worm, soon four moss-green arrows were congealed that she promptly placed into a fresh new quiver made of repurposed cloth and monster skins, nodding in satisfaction.


    After she harvested the arrows, swift shadows swung behind her but she paid them no mind as she walked away.


    Thick reddish-black thorns then covered the corpse sucking out its blood and drying out its moist flesh.


    Jules watched in envy as one improved her arsenal of weapons and the other enhanced her recovery and strengthened her abilities.


    ¡®Why can''t my boots get stronger from slaying enemies? It''s like they get exp from killing and I don''t.¡¯


    She thought in frustration, still if she had to choose again she wouldn''t do anything different. She quite liked her boots, they were fashionable, fairy-like, sturdy, and best of all, she could fly.


    Even their douchey self-proclaimed nanny couldn''t fly and had to jump around like a monkey.


    O¡¯Brien watches from a short distance away, nestled atop the corpses of five worms piled together, their bulky forms filled with elongated scars and holes of missing flesh dying the ground beneath them in the color of their blood.


    ¡®I just wanted to teach them a lesson and alter their naive mindsets, I didn''t think this mindset would have transferred so well in their teamwork and battle coordination.¡¯


    O¡¯Brien watched in wonder as they slew their great foe after fighting against its weird tactics and unnaturally swift giant body.


    Although he led by example and finished off his batch first then found them a secluded area with just the right amount of green worms, allowing them to fight against the worms one at a time, they had done surprisingly well in such a short time since fusing with their natal cards.


    They had the makings of a strong team, a few days ago he was still giving advice but he had stopped recently, not that they didn''t make mistakes but they were already beginning to learn from their mistakes without his help.


    He saw it as better for them to ruminate after each battle themselves without him guiding them; the fruits of doing so would be far better than if he had straightforwardly told them what to do next.


    His decision proved correct, as they improved greatly compared to their last battle. He chomped down on some flavored jerky.


    As the worm collapsed, a card floated above its corpse enveloped in an ashy grey light. Jules swiftly captured it and regrouped with the others. They didn''t go towards the shadows nearby but gravitated to where O¡¯Brien was sitting instead.


    O¡¯Brien watched the dropped card with a hint of envy, none of his five produced any cards. As a matter of fact, he could count on one hand the number of times a card dropped for him post-cardfall.


    ¡°You did well Jules, without you attracting its attention we wouldn''t have been able to deal so much damage.¡± Roya patted her with clear praise.


    Although Jules felt a bit pleased with herself, she still responded, ¡°No without your arrows and auntie''s thorns impeding it, I would have been swallowed long ago, that bulky bastard moves unnaturally fast and I still struggle balancing myself properly in the air.¡±


    Jules didn¡¯t dare grow a big head considering, Roya was a combat veteran with sharp eyesight and experience and her aunt was the sweeter teddy bear version of O¡¯Brien.


    ¡°Anyway, who wants this card? It seems we hit the jackpot, this is definitely a summon of that ugly worm.¡± Jules held up the green-brown ornate card depicting their slain foe. Seeing O¡¯Brien use a few summon cards, they already could recognize a few things.


    ¡®You¡¯re right in this case but I wouldn¡¯t be so sure.¡¯ O¡¯Brien thought by the side. Just the image of the creature didn¡¯t necessarily mean it was a summon.


    ¡°We already benefited enough.¡± Rose exchanged a glance with Roya who nodded in agreement.


    Before they could say anything, Lea added, ¡°I''m just support. I don''t need an offensive card, not now. Even if we could activate it, I''m already struggling to use my current abilities with my card essence as is.¡±


    The other girls nodded in agreement, so Jules simply pocketed the card. It could prove useful later or to exchange with their resident princely douche.


    Still, barring anything else he was quite fair to them and didn''t attempt to occupy any loot from enemies he hadn''t slain himself.


    ¡°Our teamwork has improved lately, I think we''re doing pretty well, you said if we could take care of this enemy. You''ll teach us the next step to getting stronger didn''t you?¡± Roya turned to O''Brien who was still munching on a snack atop his pile.


    ¡°Hm?¡± O¡¯Brien tilted his head, and then a look of realization struck him. Indeed, he had promised such a thing.


    Although they were all initial-stage Tier Zero Card Apprentices, with the exception of Mary Rose, who was at the upper stage, they still hadn''t begun to progress in their cultivation.


    Not just them but himself as well, it was easier to bring out your full potential when you had to carefully plan your battles around your limited reserves of card essence.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    To that fact, O¡¯Brien limited both himself and the girls to only fighting with what they had at the moment. It was a way for everyone to get used to their natal cards.


    Their bodies were like rapidly growing newborns, unfamiliar with their own flesh. Before they could run they had to learn how to crawl. O''Brien was no exception, his natal card in his past life was simply a Grey Ash grade [Weapons Mastery] skill card. He could count on both hands the number of cards he had used in his previous lifetime. The very rare transformation-type card was not something he had ever used himself so he had to familiarize himself with it.


    There were also some hidden reasons. Whenever the large forces supported new talents, they forced them to hold off on cultivation and breathing techniques, solely drawing on their limited card essence and natal card abilities.


    O¡¯Brien followed their example although he wasn''t sure why they did so, at least before.


    O¡¯Brien sent a wave of ashy essence throughout a corpse beneath him, and then the unthinkable happened, the corpse of the green worm actually began to move as if it was alive.


    Its skin faded to a tinge of grey and it gave off a deathly aura that chilled the soul, it meekly flung its tail end to form a slide that O¡¯Brien slid down joining the others.


    ¡°... Can you stop doing that? It''s creepy as hell.¡± Jules couldn''t help but shiver and hold her arms seeing the grotesque scene of the mangled worm corpse come back to life.


    Roya looked at it with a complicated gaze, ¡®He¡¯s been experimenting with that more and more as of late, trying it on all slain monsters but¡­ don''t tell me he can use it on humans as well? No, that would be too absurd.¡¯


    But O¡¯Brien was an enigma of a man so Roya felt it might be possible.


    It was a spine-chilling thought.


    ¡°Not here in the open, when we are back in the RV. Besides, didn''t you say you recognized some of these ruined streets? Well?¡± O''Brien turned to Lea who was wiping her tiny bits of perspiration.


    ¡°Ah. Yes.¡± She quickly snapped back to attention, placing some loose strands of hair behind her ear. ¡°I''m sure of it. Oscar Benedict Hospital is near here. They recently published a paper on a multi-purpose MRI and surgical robotic device. The surgical part is still in the testing phase, but it did cost 600 million, so I''m sure it''s state-of-the-art. We watched the unveiling virtually when it happened, and the size is¡­ manageable.¡±


    Lea thought of the giant coffin like device she saw on screen and said hesitantly, although in comparison to O¡¯Brien''s RV it could be considered small.


    It was a large mobile contraption that would definitely be priceless in times such as these.


    Upon hearing this, O''Brien held his chin in deep rumination.


    There were several skill cards he knew of that had universal or widespread healing capabilities, the Blue Stone grade [Enhanced Regeneration] could boost the body¡¯s healing capabilities by a large margin, the Black Iron grade [Cure Fatal Wounds] or [Warlock''s Bandage] could bring you back from the edge of the death.


    The rare Green Copper grades [Shining Restoration], [Transcendent Regeneration], or [Two-Touch lotus Healing] were all legendary and when fully mastered could do outrageous things including restoring severed limbs, failing organs, curing severe diseases of physical and mental natures, among others and were notoriously sought after.


    Still though¡­


    ¡°It''s not necessary; you don''t need it.¡± O¡¯Brien shook his head after looking at Lea. Of the team, she was the most relaxed. He had thought it would have taken longer, but she had been managing her abilities well lately. As a healer, she had to prepare for emergencies, so she made it a necessity to never run out of card essence.


    Roya was quite the daughter of luck, and in addition to her own White Silver grade [Grand Demon Slaying Bow], she also looted the Red Steel grade [Light Angel of Salvation] that had several healing effects and buffs as well. It was a rare possession-type card with multiple abilities that Roya traded with Lea who had a unique feeling about it that proved correct as she obtained an amazing natal card.


    Just the Green Copper grade healing cards could already achieve miraculous feats with little to no adverse effects, and in a much shorter time than medical science could ever hope to achieve.


    While advanced medical equipment did have its own advantages¡­


    ¡®It''s of no use to me.¡¯


    ¡®My Immemorial Dragon God of Death card is a transformation type, for all intents and purposes I have, or will have the regenerative ability of a dragon. That''s more than enough for my needs.¡¯


    Although O''Brien, like other Tier Zero Card Apprentices, could only use a fragment of the power of his natal card, the bit he was already capable of using was already quite outstanding, equivalent to a Grey Ash grade [Minor Regenration].


    Even if he was severely injured and near death, luckily, he happened to have collected two Grey Ash, and two Blue cards that he recognized as healing cards. Half of which, he could use right now with materials on hand.


    These were the perks to being an early mover and gluttonous card collector.


    Whenever he thought of his ¡®collection¡¯ an electric current ran through his body and he felt giddy like a child getting all his favorite toys and foods in the world.


    Yet a fog of frustration also grasped his heart, like the reflection of the moon in a pond; he couldn''t grasp it.


    O¡¯Brien had been a tad complacent at first, he had this amazing natal card of a never-before-seen rank. His potential was limitless!


    But those cards, his treasures, were a stark reminder of who he was in the days of the future past.


    A base mercenary.


    He knew too little. Even now, with his breathtaking assortment of cards, he barely recognized seventeen percent of them and knew the activation requirements of about eight percent of them.


    While he also had a few guesses, for a select few cards, he wasn¡¯t dumb enough to experiment and incur unnecessary risks.


    In total, it was a pitiful number, sometimes he wondered if he should be ashamed of himself as a regressor.


    ¡®Blue Phoenix .. you would know a lot more, wouldn''t you?¡¯


    ¡°Yes, but there are all still certain ailments that by their very nature are hard to heal since the body recognizes or doesn''t recognize some things as its own, there''s also cancerous cells as well. For targeted treatment, I would need an MRI, a sterilized environment, the proper incision tools and so on which are included in that device.¡± Lea noticed that O¡¯Brien wasn''t too impressed and quickly highlighted the advantages that the machine would bring but O¡¯Brien was largely uninterested.


    She had thought he hadn''t realized the benefits of the machine but seeing his continuous plain expression, she realized he simply didn''t care.


    ¡°There''s also card essence depletion, I can only use my skills about five times with my current reserves and it takes an hour for me to recover around 25% of my card essence or to use my skills one more time. It''ll be more economical if I can surgically remove or¡­¡± Lea suddenly paused, realizing something.


    O¡¯Brien smirked in derision, ¡°Surgery? On the battlefield?¡±


    ¡°Well, uhm, the MRI is also good for spotting injuries¡­¡± Lea held her head down and weakly argued.


    ¡°Hah, if you''re injured you can already tell where the injuries are unless you are a fool, we don''t need such a device, it''s a waste of time and energy, cards surpass it by a long shot,¡± He scoffed at the idea, but soon added, ¡°The only use it has, since it''s not on the battlefield, is the treatment of ordinary humans with serious conditions, or even minor ones once you use the machine to spot the issue, you can conserve your energy used to heal it. Card essence by its very nature already has restorative effects, and our body¡¯s natural healing rate is already magnified. We can also sense our conditions well enough as Card Masters. Sure the machine will probably be more precise or it can be, but it doesn''t make much of a difference. Furthermore, the stronger we become as Card Masters the less we are prone to diseases until eventually it''s almost impossible.¡±


    The key word was almost.


    ***


    Unnumbered Epic: Zombie Maker


    The Scourge of Normandy, the Black Plague Doctor.


    There was once an old man who was stripped of his medical license in the Old World for attempting to stimulate the bubonic plague to fuse with the coronavirus and cancer cells. Curious to see what the resulting strains were after he accidentally fused a strain of cancer and coronavirus in a cadaver.


    He claimed it could elevate the mind and break through human limits, he wanted to do further research. The hospital board shut him down but he was persistent and did outside experiments.


    He was found and arrested, but his obsession continued into the New World and he continued to experiment, sacrificing humans for his crazed goal.


    In the end, with the sacrifice of hundreds, he actually succeeded in a way, he created a type of zombie different from the alien species, or undead card types. His could infect the living turning them into zombies, they also wielded corpse poison that could harm even their fellow undead, and their vessels could also breed different diseases that even Card Masters could contract.


    He was overjoyed by this odd coincidence and began to create even more diseases trying to infect monsters and even cards, spending every waking moment to achieve his goals.


    Thus, a scrouge was born.


    Man and Child alike were told stories of him to scare them into obedience, his every victim a monument to his dark desires. He even had a bedtime ballad made after him.


    ***


    Lea¡¯s intentions weren''t lost to the group; they were as clear as day, and O¡¯Brien didn''t even have to point anything out explicitly. She and Rose were cut from the same cloth; no wonder they were such good friends.


    The device would most certainly be used on ordinary people or persons with conditions predating the Last Days.


    ¡°I swear, I was enjoying the peace and quiet and reveling in our wonderful victory but you just have to sour the mood don''t you, you must have been terrible as a child.¡± Jules couldn''t help but complain in an exasperated voice


    ¡®I¡¯m told I was a darling and loved to eat tomatoes¡¯ O¡¯Brien inwardly rebutted but didn¡¯t feel like arguing again with Jules, the previous ten times for the day were enough.


    ¡°Don''t worry about it Lea, we can fetch the machine ourselves.¡± Jules quickly patted her chest.


    While she admitted they were brash and careless earlier on, and instead of helping, they actually worsened the situation for those they intended to save, but now although it had only been a short while, they had gotten used to their abilities and worked well as a team. Furthermore, they had an ace in the hole.


    ¡°Look, we have my wonderful aunt to help us out, she''s even stronger than the king of sourness over there.¡± Jules rushed over and held her aunt''s hand while bragging.


    Her statement was somewhat true however, even in the last battle Rose''s power was irreplaceable, the green worms could burrow through the ground like moles and were actually faster and more powerful when underground, one of its main attacks was to collapse the ground or shake the earth underneath you, its unseen strikes were the most dangerous.


    Without Rose restraining its large body they couldn''t have worn it down and killed it.


    In fact, Jules and the others knew she could take care of it one-on-one if she wanted to; she was merely handicapping herself for them.


    ¡°Come on, O¡¯Brien is still plenty stronger than me.¡± Rose slightly knocked her niece''s head but then her expression froze somewhat as her thoughts churned.


    Suddenly, the sound of glass shattering echoed from nearby.

 Chapter 31: Oscar Benedict Hospital Conflict, Unknown Assailants

    Roar!


    A mutated wild dog suddenly burst out of a nearby building, the scent of blood must have attracted it.


    O¡¯Brien lazily pointed and his corpse worm quickly attacked the dog, it was almost an instant kill as it smashed it to pieces with a swipe of its rear end.


    While powerful, it was rare for mutant native creatures to compare with card summons or alien creatures. Though those rare cares when occurring were all quite amazing.


    ¡®It''s fast!¡¯ Roya inhaled a sharp breath.


    She looked at O¡¯Brien then at Rose and couldn''t help but lament how the student-teacher pair was equally monstrous.


    Rose could summon dozens of bucket wide thorns that could be used to attack and drain the blood of her victims, which she then could use to heal herself or use the thorns to curse the target stopping their blood from clotting or making their blood heavier.


    In the beginning, Rose had trouble controlling her abilities and it slightly affected them as well as her targets, Roya still had a lingering fear of sensing her own blood riot against her.


    To top it all off, Rose also had great strength and incredible agility.


    Moreover, she could even fly when using her wings, although she said it was exhausting and consumed a lot of energy. She also didn''t like the devilish appearance of her wings.


    O¡¯Brien was even more of a monster. His raw strength, and defensive capabilities when he grew his transparent grey scales were already pretty amazing, but the withering effect of his claws was like a flesh-eating poison gnawing away at the bodies of his foes.


    His endurance was also off the charts and she had once seen him fighting for five hours continuously, his injuries, even those that touched the bone also healed in an abnormally short period of time


    To top it all off he could now raise the dead and they were no different from when they were alive.


    ¡®I still have a long way to go before I can be compared to them.¡¯ Roya had always been confident in her own abilities but surrounded by stars she felt her own light dim.


    She couldn''t help but think of her past teammates from her mercenary missions, they too were monsters but their strengths were either innate or acquired through drugs.


    She hadn''t been willing to pay the price for the latter but now¡­


    There was a better way.


    As O¡¯Brien called it, the pathway to transcendence.


    ¡®Still though, in such an interesting new world, it''ll be a shame not to make the most of it. I''ll definitely become even stronger. Before as a woman, no matter what I could''ve done physically I could never compare to a man, while I didn''t like that, the thing that bothered me the most were my limits. There''s only so much the human body can do or see, sniping, no, archery, I can go even further down the path now. Without my body in the way. And I intend to do so, whatever it takes.¡¯


    As Roya was in the midst of her self-reflection.


    Jules continued praising her aunt sprinkling bits of envy of her being a God''s Favoured.


    These past few days have shown them just how amazing a so-called God¡¯s Favoured truly was. Moreover, considering that O¡¯Brien wasn¡¯t one, was icing on her cake, so she liked bringing the matter up as often as she could.


    O¡¯Brien continued munching on some chocolate and snacks while ignoring her.


    One thing he wouldn''t hesitate to admit was that he was still a bit below Rose in terms of raw power and the intricate utilities of their natal card, the gap between the ¡®God¡¯s Favoured¡¯ and ordinary folk was not one easily surpassed.


    Their abilities were like clingy tame kittens while ordinary folks¡¯ were akin to an unknown creature in a hidden cave.


    If he had to compare the two of them currently, then he would still be a little weaker than her, after all, Rose hadn''t stayed stagnant all this time either, and she had gotten more used to her powers. In fact, he was a little curious about the true extent of her powers.


    Still, in a life-and-death battle, he was confident in being the victor, his combat experience far surpassed hers after all.


    ¡®After I fleece as many persons as I can in these early stages and further explore my power, I need to head towards Cael Mor to find the Appraisal Sage. Then I won''t have to helplessly sit on my mountain of gold.¡¯ O¡¯Brien thought to himself.


    His advantages born from his knowledge of the future had not yet faded and there was still a lot of room to maneuver and profit.


    The world was also constantly changing, and his targeted destination might not even exist at this point so there was no rush to get there.


    ¡°How will we transport it? I imagine it''s quite big.¡± Roya added her piece to the conversation, seeing Jules enthusiastically begin to draft up battle plans and approaches, upon hearing her words, Jules ground to a silent halt.


    ¡®Yea, that''s right¡­. I hadn''t thought of that.¡¯


    Lea had described the device as manageable, so it must be quite large, something like that would be hard to transport unless you had a storage type card or sealing card.


    Both of which only O¡¯Brien possessed.


    Lea looked at him begrudgingly thinking of their storage cards, ¡®That bastard, he took advantage of our ignorance! What¡¯s worse, it''s clear that storage and sealing cards have no prior requirements unlike most other cards, so we severely lost out!¡¯


    If O''Brien could hear her thoughts he would laugh and say only storage cards have no requirements, or to be more accurate their requirements were invisible and readily available.


    The power of space.


    Sealing cards on the other hand required a detailed mental image of the object¡¯s design and a sufficient understanding of the technologies involved for man-made items to successfully seal the targeted object.


    ¡°Wait, I can use the device to help people but I''ll charge a percentage of wealth, ten, no, thirty percent! That thirty percent will be yours as the handling fee, for each patient!¡±


    Lea¡¯s mind was churning all this time until she finally settled on a solution. After spending sufficient time with O''Brien, she already had his number; she knew what moved him were benefits and interests.


    If there was something in it for him, then he might say yes. The other women also looked over, also recognizing O¡¯Brien''s quirks. This was indeed something to his tastes.


    Would he agree?


    Seeing him pause, she realized her idea was working, she quickly struck the iron while it was hot, ¡°That hospital also has several other rare medications in stock I''d imagine. The rarer, the more valuable, especially now right? Not everyone has healing abilities and if it''s a permanent or long-lasting ailment they also cannot spare time every day to heal everyone right? Furthermore, the richer the person being healed, the more you stand to gain. There must be¡­ a contract or something right, a card for that, that way they have to give you the right price! Even if it''s a regular person, they could be a relative of a Card Master!¡±


    Lea had always wrestled with the dilemma that came with her profession. She became a doctor to help people, not to burden them with exorbitant hospital bills, yet the harsh realities of the system left her with little choice. She longed to offer aid to those suffering during these terrible times but couldn¡¯t bear to repeat the injustices she¡¯d witnessed.


    Too often, families were forced to abandon treatments they couldn¡¯t afford or leave their loved ones untreated altogether and await death.


    Even if it could help some people, she couldn¡¯t bear to repeat the same mistakes she was forced to in the Old World, her proposed method will result in the poor having nothing to lose and everything to gain. They could still be saved.


    In this New World, Lea was determined to do more for those who had been left behind.


    O¡¯Brien looked over at her, her eyes burning with enthusiasm and her delicate palms clenched in anxiety.


    ¡°Fifty percent. Also, they shouldn''t be a chore, so one person a day, on rest days only when we''re not fighting or moving. When you get stronger you''ll be able to heal more. It''s quite likely you won''t be able to start this endeavor of yours for a while.¡± He looked at her with half-amusement. She was annoyingly persistent on wasting her time with insignificant passersby in her life. She made a good argument though, he would still benefit by sitting back and doing nothing.


    Lea hesitated a bit before agreeing, ¡°Smaller wounds or less serious conditions don''t count. That I''ll do at my own discretion and I won''t charge.¡±


    After days of experimentation, she found that she didn¡¯t need to fully release her skills to promote healing, just the lingering aura or tendrils of her powers had soothing effects on the mind and minor healing effects; upon this discovery, she planned to capitalize on this feature.


    For this matter, she wouldn''t budge. She looked seriously at O¡¯Brien.


    ¡°Of course, that goes without saying.¡± O¡¯Brien smiled. As long as she didn¡¯t drag down the group, he had no issues with how she used her abilities.


    ¡°You¡­¡± He looked carefully at Lea as if pondering something.


    Lea quickly felt a prick in her heart, was he second-guessing his decision?


    O¡¯Brien stood up as if making an important choice, ¡°Rose, she can eat my food too. Starting today, she doesn''t have to eat the convenience store goods.¡±


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    Naturally, as a proper ball of sunshine despite his vast reserves of fresh food, meats, and vegetables that could be used to make proper home-cooked meals; O¡¯Brien hadn''t been sharing them with anyone except Rose despite having so much that a hundred people could survive a decade without finishing it all.


    Rose had been pleading their case for a long time but he had always refused.


    Now he had a change of heart, Lea had proved to have a good head on her shoulders and could be useful to him. She also was quite adept in judging people and never annoyed him as much as a certain strawberry blonde.


    ¡®If I¡¯m stuck with them until Rose leaves then they might as well be useful.¡¯


    O¡¯Brien looked over at the taciturn-tanned beauty smoking a cigarette, inseparable from her giant bow, and hesitated a bit but eventually added.


    ¡°She can join us as well.¡± Honestly, he never had a problem with Roya, she didn''t cause trouble like a certain someone, was quiet, did her job well as a sniper, and was a good judge of situations and danger, overall she was lacking any attributes he''d consider distasteful. In fact, in his past life he would have loved her as a teammate. Seeing as he was easing up on Lea, he figured he''d include her as well.


    Roya looked a bit surprised hearing his decision, she never thought he had anything called a conscience. So it was an unexpected development.


    In fact, even she was a bit annoyed and jealous seeing Rose make him home-cooked meals that changed each time while they survived off plain supermarket and canned goods.


    In several cases, it even looked like, no, she was sure he was deliberately teasing them.


    Rose being the wonderful angel she was, had refused to eat with him at first despite his offer, feeling bad for them, but they all agreed in unison that she should treat herself well and eat well, for their sake or they''d be angry. She eventually relented.


    Roya suddenly remembered that morning, ¡®I want steak and mashed potatoes, the rum & raisin chocolate for dessert¡¯, ¡®Okay¡¯.


    She had blocked out the noise while in the RV that morning but now she couldn''t help but look forward to dinner, it was a pity they missed breakfast and lunch. At least there was supper afterwards.


    ¡°Isn''t that great! I have some wonderful fruits and nuts that I cut up and sorted as side dishes. It''ll be great.¡± Rose sported a wide smile as she egged them on. She was truly happy from the depths of her heart. Before every meal had felt like torture but now they could finally eat together!


    Then she remembered something and turned to an outsider.


    Jules: ¡°...¡±


    O¡¯Brien looked over at her with an expression of distaste, as if he swallowed a fly.


    Rose quickly latched on to him, before she could begin another edition of the nagging wars, he quickly voiced, ¡°...Fine. It can come as well.¡±


    It?


    ¡°You corpse-skinned bastard, who are you calling¡ª¡± Jules was about to flare up when a powerful hand grabbed her mouth.


    ¡°Now, now. Calm down. Think happy thoughts, think of dinner tonight, it''s steak. Fruits, any juice of your selection since he probably has everything. Why bother blowing your top? Steak, Steak~¡± Roya held her tightly and sang beside her ears like a lullaby.


    They had been eating like shut-ins since forever, some good food would be a welcome addition to their monotonous stressful days.


    Jules begrudgingly glared at O¡¯Brien before acquiescing. Lea and Rose couldn''t help but chuckle seeing her pouty puffed-up face. The pair of Jules and O¡¯Brien had butted heads on numerous occasions since they met so they had gotten used to it.


    ¡°Let''s go, we''re burning daylight.¡± O¡¯Brien ordered as he lay to rest his zombie worm, unable to sustain it for longer. He looked at it reluctantly before dusting himself off.


    ¡°The conditions of the hospital are unknown so keep that in mind.¡±


    ¡°I know. Even if we can''t get that specific device there must be a lot of useful alternatives in that hospital.¡± Lea confidently stated.


    Oscar Benedict Hospital was owned by a billionaire conglomerate so it was quite wealthy, it also had several wealthy investments in the area of equipment in the past two years.


    ¡°Can we each get one of the beds too? There are four apart from his but we all sleep outside or on the floor or sofas.¡± Jules quickly added, figuring it wouldn''t hurt to try.


    ¡°No.¡± O¡¯Brien curtly responded.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I''ll convince him.¡± Rose whispered to her with a wink.


    ¡°You know I can hear you right?¡± O¡¯Brien clicked his tongue.


    **


    O¡¯Brien and his group made it to the relatively intact Oscar Benedict Hospital.


    The East and West wings had collapsed to varying degrees, their skeletal remains jutting into the sky like jagged claws.


    Rubble surrounded the building, alongside overturned vehicles and scorch marks that hinted at battles fought long ago.


    Inside, the air was suffocating, thick with decay and the metallic tang of dried blood.


    The lights had failed long ago, leaving the corridors draped in an oppressive darkness broken only by their flashlights.


    Shadows danced on walls smeared with handprints and claw marks, some fresh, others faded with time.


    As they moved cautiously under Lea¡¯s direction toward the pharmacy, they passed ominous reminders of the dangers that lingered in the shadows: a dried pool of blood near an overturned stretcher, gouges in the walls too deep to have been made by human hands, and the skeletal remains of those who hadn¡¯t escaped in time.


    They met with a few monsters but at this point, with O¡¯Brien at the rear and Rose at the front not pulling any punches they were hardly in any danger.


    The pharmacy itself was located on the basement floor. As expected, much of the medicine had been looted, glass cases were smashed open and metal cabinets vandalized to get to their contents.


    ¡°Antibiotics, allergy medicines, blood pressure medicines, kidney¡­ there¡¯s quite a lot of expensive medicines still here on the ground.¡± Lea crouched, steadily analyzing the remnants of looted medicines. She began sorting through the mess, picking out what she could from the scattered remains of bashed-in cabinets and shattered containers.


    ¡°Likely, those who raided this place only chose the common types of medicines and antibiotics.¡± She examined the remnants with a practiced eye, unearthing surgical aids, blood circulation medicines, and treatments for lymph nodes¡ªsupplies too specialized for the average looter to recognize as valuable.


    All of it was very expensive and rare, a treasure trove amidst the chaos.


    ¡°Just these alone are worth the trip.¡±


    Rose reappeared from a narrow side room, carrying a few dusty hospital first aid kits she had found stockpiled. ¡°Found these,¡± she said, setting them down.


    Lea inspected them quickly. ¡°Yes, these should be backups. The rest would be in different places throughout the hospital.¡±


    Roya shifted uneasily, her gaze lingering on the dried blood attached to pieces of shattered glass. ¡°We should be careful, the traces here are relatively fresh, we don¡¯t want to be boxed in if there¡¯s an attack.¡±


    Lea stood, clutching a small box of medicine. ¡°Yes. We can organize them later, let¡¯s just collect them.¡±


    She paused a bit, wondering if she should ask to leave some behind for the others but knowing O¡¯Brien¡¯s personality that would prove difficult, fortunately, they were not the first here.


    ¡°There should be only one group repeatedly coming in, they came for a specific medicine, the ones kept in that cabinet at first, then whenever they came back they started from that side to here.¡± Roya quickly analyzed the broken cabinets and containers and their various locations, ¡°They''ve been here, four or five times.¡±


    ¡°Yes, most of the common prescription medicines are gone, those for insomnia, pain, colds, fevers, depression, and a few.¡± Lea added also noticing this.


    ¡°They didn''t take it all at once? Surely after so many times, there shouldn''t be this much left.¡± Jules asked in confusion. While the pharmacy was largely vandalized about 70% of the contents were still there.


    ¡°They couldn''t, the city streets are dangerous¡­ you forget, there are few with abilities to handle monsters. The streets and various corners are filled with different monsters and aliens, making your way through is bound to be a chore even with guns, hell even if there is a ¡®God''s favoured'' like Rose, just one hardly makes a difference don''t you think?¡±


    Roya analyzed. As O¡¯Brien stated, she was a quick judge of situations.


    Noise could travel far based on the layout of this building, although they had easily taken care of the monsters that came, the same couldn¡¯t be said for most people.


    She was sure that if O¡¯Brien of all people was just the same level as Rose, that meant they were outliers even among Blessed Ones.


    Regular Blessed Ones should be just a little better than their trio, not a lot. Their capabilities would not be sufficient to travel heavy and unimpeded. Even O¡¯Brien when he went out by himself often came back covered in injuries, the dangers of the New World were nothing to be scoffed at.


    ¡°They''re likely based far away, they needed to travel light each time. Still, it should be a decent-sized group, around ten, at most fourteen whenever they come to gather supplies¡­¡± Roya trailed off.


    There were traces of the hospital being attacked by monsters several times, plus the ones that made nests here. It was no longer a good place to use as an emergency shelter. The original residents must have long departed due to the threats of the monsters.


    ¡°It''s not that surprising nearby bases have begun to look for supplies, other than food and water which is typically the top priority, medicine is the close second. The ones that made it here should be quite competent, also they either have a doctor in their group, or its someone who worked at the hospital.¡± O¡¯Brien added not at all surprised that they were late, a hospital was a prime target for both food and water.


    ¡°Their group must have a lot of women as well, I recognize those boxes. They''re contraceptives, pregnancy medicine, and abortion medications.¡± Jules picked up a few pink boxes and purple containers that formed a large pile before a glass display.


    ¡°...¡± Rose looked over at her.


    ¡°Hey, don''t look at me like that. I''m not interested in those shallow or¡­¡±, Jules deliberately looked over to O¡¯Brien, ¡°Egotistical kinds, so I don''t date or party. I''m still, well was, aiming for the Olympics. But I have a lot of female friends.¡± Jules quickly defended herself feeling the weird gazes zero in on her. She was innocent!


    Her knowledge merely came from her teammates who were quite active and didn¡¯t seem to put all their effort into sports as she did.


    Lea was amused by her display and couldn''t help but tease her along with Rose.


    To the side, O¡¯Brien flashed his space ring and the piles of medicines vanished from the floor.


    He had allocated all his supplies to his other storage items and primarily utilized his storage ring, the space within was the size of several large rooms so even with it at half capacity he was able to fit all the remaining prescriptions in without issue.


    ¡°Seventy-thirty.¡± He said leisurely.


    As usual, Jules was quick to argue although even she had come to expect nothing less from him. Naturally, O¡¯Brien was discussing the allocation of the medicines. He never attempted to paint himself as their equal or teammate.


    Suddenly, he looked towards the door, sensing the same thing, so did Rose and Roya.


    Immediately they all took combative stances with the exception of O¡¯Brien.


    They exited the room not wanting to meet the newcomers in such a closed space. As they entered the corridor, a well-equipped team armed with pistols, rifles, and shotguns approached, upon seeing strangers they also looked on guard and held up their guns.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± The leading man held nothing but a tiny pistol which sent alarm bells off in the women''s hearts.


    ¡°Same as you.¡± Roya curtly responded, opting to use her gun instead of her bow being in such a closed space. O¡¯Brien looked at her with a weird gaze.


    ???


    ¡°I''m sorry but I''m going to have to ask you to empty those bags you''re carrying.¡± After a short standoff, the leader of the group voiced an order, his team still pointing guns at them


    ¡°Hah? Aren''t you something?¡± Jules couldn''t help but raise her head and exhale a sharp breath.


    ¡°You''re outnumbered almost three to one.¡± He said quite confidently.


    ¡°You''re not bulletproof either I imagine. We''ll have to ask you not to come back to this spot as well, it belongs to our base.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t see your name on it. Did your daddy open the hospital?¡± Jules spat as golden boots appeared on her feet.


    ¡°My mistake, so we¡¯re kindred spirits.¡± The leader quickly spoke seeing her summon winged boots. ¡°... Still, though I must insist, if you¡¯re interested you can follow us back to our base and we can get to know each other, for now though, please empty the bags and allow us to search you.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to say no.¡± Roya coldly glanced at them.


    A few have experience but the rest are amateurs, that leader, he should be a Card Master considering he¡¯s so confident to only carry a small pistol.


    ¡°If you do not cooperate, we will be forced to take action.¡± The leader¡¯s eyes narrowed dangerously as he held up a hand signaling his companions.


    ¡°Please, we¡¯re all brothers and sisters in these trying times with the threat of monsters, we shouldn¡¯t fight amongst ourselves.¡± Lea was quick to try and de-escalate the situation but the opposing group seemed to take it as a sign of weakness.


    ¡°Should I take care of it?¡± O''Brien leisurely asked while looking at an air vent, not particularly jazzed.


    ¡°No. We''ll handle them.¡± Jules scoffed clearly irritated.


    The tension in the air was already palpable, the conflict could ignite at any moment, and so it did. The opposing group was the first to open fire.