Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 119: Army

The soldiers looked on horrified as Zac returned just five minutes later, covered in head to toe in blood. He still wore the cape above his usual robe, and it didn’t have the self-cleaning option.

“It’s done,” Zac tersely said as he passed the captain without stopping.

“Are you staying in Greenworth?” the captain hesitantly asked Zac who kept moving toward the town.

“No, I am heading to New Washington in an hour,” he answered.

The soldiers looked both relieved and troubled at the same time as Zac disappeared. There were a few things he wanted to do before leaving. First he went to a deserted home and cleaned up and changed clothes.

After that he went back to their old house and put everything of sentimental value into a pouch. He also left a note for Kenzie under the floorboard, explaining what had happened here and where she could find him. For all he knew Kenzie might be trying to get home as well, and this note would hopefully send her to Port Atwood if she passed by.

Next he went back to his own apartment. Ryan was still there, fretfully hiding. When he saw Zac walk through the door he looked quite startled.

“You’re alive! It’s a good thing you came back. Those guys are extremely dangerous, you better not do anything rash,” he said with a sigh.

“They’re all dead, the council and the Mayor. We’re leaving Greenworth, going back to my hometown,” Zac answered as he put most of his belongings away into the pouch.

“Dead? Wait, what? What’s going on, what do you mean WE’RE leaving?” Ryan said, seeming he had some trouble understanding the burst of information.

“You are the only one who knows my actual identity. That could be a risk for my sister. So either I kill you here and now, or you come with me to my home town,” Zac answered as he stopped, turning toward the gangly man.

“Your place sounds great, a change in scenery is just what I needed,” Ryan answered, his head quickly nodding.

Zac rolled his eyes and threw one of his empty Cosmos Sacks over to the man.

“This is a Cosmos Sack, its value is around a million Nexus Coins. Take it as compensation for forcibly being relocated,” Zac said as he kept storing away his items. “Is there any place that has good terrain vehicles, such as jeeps?”

“I think those were mostly confiscated by the council and a few other powerful cultivators. It’s pretty much needed if you want to get to New Washington in one piece,” Ryan distractedly answered as he was fiddling with the pouch.

“Right. Do you know if anyone of my neighbor is still alive?” Zac asked.

“I’m not sure. This apartment complex is within the outer walls now, but before the wall was built monsters roamed freely on the streets. I think only something like a third of the whole town is still alive, if even that,” Ryan answered with a sigh.

The answer gave Zac a start. He had been preoccupied by his quest to find his family, but now that he thought about it there seemed to be quite a few people missing, and it wasn’t something that missing cultivators or the randomized missing areas could explain.

Only the core of Greenworth was walled in, while the outside was exposed to all kinds of beasts. As he sped through the outer part it was mostly abandoned apart from the occasional scavenger. Less than a third of the population could actually fit inside the walls judging by the area it encircled. But it didn’t seem cramped at all, rather the opposite.

It was a sobering feeling knowing that so many of the people he had seen growing up were just gone. Old classmates, co-workers, even random people on the streets. Most of them were simply dead, many likely suffering terrible fates. Zac could only sigh as he finished packing.

“Let’s go, we’re picking up some more things before we leave,” Zac said as he made for the door.

Ryan didn’t really seem to own many possessions as he was still dressed in Zac’s old clothes, so he quickly scampered behind him after safely tucking away his Cosmos Sack. Zac simply knocked on the door of some of his neighbors he was closer to, but only silence answered. He could only shake his head and move on.

They turned toward the core area with the inner wall, and Ryan started to get fidgety as they approached.

“Hey, buddy, I know you are powerful and all, but the army is up there. You might be able to dodge the bullets like some action hero, but I can’t,” he hesitantly said.

“What did you do in the Tutorial anyway? You got this huge opportunity to gain power and survive, but you’re spending your days hiding in my apartment,” Zac scoffed with a roll of his eyes.

“Hey! I’m still decompressing from that nightmare. You know the horrors we had to go through. I’m just happy I made it out alive. Besides, I’m still thinking about my true calling, trying to find my way, you know? After that I’ll start leveling again.”

Zac could only snort in response. Ryan’s excuses sounded much like the ones he heard from many in the old world who didn’t want to work but only play around.

Of course, there was no guard that challenged his approach this time, and they freely entered the posh neighborhood. The army was clearly uncomfortable to just let him go about as he wanted, but also unwilling to get too close out of fear of getting bisected, so a few people shadowed them but kept a respectful distance.

Zac used them for directions, and with their help he snatched up a group of vehicles that would be able to run in rougher terrains. He simply threw them into his larger Cosmos Sack that had no problem accommodating them. He planned on bringing them back to Port Atwood.

His town had the advantage of housing the demons who had far greater experience with crafting. He hoped that perhaps they could refit the vehicles to run on crystals rather than gas. If the refit was somewhat simple it could become another export of the town.

Soon it was time to meet up with Joanna so Zac went straight to the open space in front of the mansion. To his surprise it was filled with women, far more than the dozen or so that were at the meeting. A quick count put them at over one hundred people. All of them wore wretched clothing and had haggard expressions, but it was clear that all of them were young beautiful women.

The regret that the Mayor died was quickly fading away as he looked out over the victims of the apocalypse with a frown. Who knew what humiliation they had been forced through the past months. Besides, his little sister might have been one of the victims if she hadn’t been whisked away, and he could only pray she had found the power to protect herself in the tutorial.

He really felt that his plan might work out as he looked at the group.

He needed a private army. Everything looked fine with the demons on the surface, but he knew that he couldn’t trust the protection of his town to them alone. There needed to be a counterbalance apart from just himself on the island. The demons possessed their own interests, and Ogras was a duplicitous character.

Besides, even if these girls entered a Contract of Binding with him it wasn’t like he could or would use it for some nefarious purposes, and he’d release them when his force was stabilized. He looked at it the same way as most powers of the multi-verse, just a contract to make sure that he didn’t get stabbed in the back after pouring large amounts of resources on their training.

It was becoming increasingly clear to him that women were generally having a worse time in this new world compared to men. Neither gender really had any advantage or disadvantage when it came to cultivation or getting stronger, but scum like the Mayor was simply far more common among men.

He doubted that there were too many female powerhouses who were catching hundreds of young handsome men to trap in their sex dungeons. These girls weren’t useless when it came to cultivation or fighting, it was just that they got left behind in the early race for power, which left them helpless against people like Thom.

Their eyes reminded him of himself when he’d been stuck alone on the island, feeling weak and hopeless as he fretfully huddled in his camper while listening to the roars in the woods. Hopefully, they could turn that helplessness and anger into a desire for strength, turning them into a real force with the right training.

The main problem with a lot of people was that many didn’t seem to keep pushing themselves after an initial burst of activity, after which they started to feel safe again. However, safety was just an illusion. He had already seen multiple ghost towns while traveling through the area to Greenworth. They were small encampments with basic fortifications just like in Fort Roger.

One or a few cultivators simply didn’t have the power to contend with the increasingly hostile wildlife unless they went out of their way to grind levels in between the beast attacks. Just idling around like some kings in between short bursts of monster hunting would only work in the short run. Some of the citizens would be able to migrate to larger and safer towns, however many would die during the travels.

At least these women in front of him seemed driven enough to keep pushing themselves forward if they were given the chance now. And if they started slacking off he had the contract to push them forward. He walked over to Joanna who looked very conspicuous with her spear.

“Who are all these people? How come there are far more people compared to before?” he asked as he looked around.

“Half were kept by the mayor, the rest were split among the council,” she answered with smoldering anger barely concealed beneath her calm façade. “When they heard about your offer they wanted to join.”

“Is it true you can make us powerful? Strong enough to slaughter assholes like Thom?” a girl, looking about the same age as his sister, asked skeptically.

Zac looked over the field, and the same skepticism could be seen on many of the faces looking at him. He looked over to Joanna who silently stood beside him.

“Are these mansions empty?” he asked her. She looked confused but immediately answered.

“Yes. No staff dared stay there, and all captives were freed,” she said, after which she pointed at a pile of sacks “We also removed anything of value as well.”

Zac nodded and walked over to the pile, and with a flourish put them all into a Cosmos Sack, which elicited a few surprised gasps. But he wasn’t done here, as he felt he needed to display some of his power if he wanted to recruit these people.

He unleashed his aura in its entirety, and it billowed out among the onlookers. By now he had calmed down and it only contained his power, and the murderous intent was far less discernible. Screams and gasps echoed across the square, and many even fell on their knees clutching their heads. With two quick steps he arrived at the gate of the old Mayor’s mansion and Charged up three fractal edges with [Chop].

In a lightning-quick manner he made three wide horizontal swings, and just before the fractals flew off he imbued them all with the Dao of Heaviness. The fractals flew toward one of the mansions each, and with the help of the Dao Seed completely destroyed the buildings from the impact. It looked like a terrorist attack, where a few bombs were simultaneously set off. Rubble flew in all directions and many had to take cover to avoid the falling debris.

He removed his aura and once again glanced at the group whose skepticism was not replaced with fear.

“I will tell you the same as I told Joanna. I can give you power. But power comes through walking over the corpses of your enemies, if you don’t believe me, take a look at this,” Zac said with a loud voice reaching across the square, as he opened up his title page and shared his [Butcher] title, which showed he’d killed over a hundred thousand beings.

Another round of gasps was heard, and Ryan even edged away from him with horror in his eyes.

“Since the world turned to shit I’ve been attacked in all kinds of ways. I’ve been stabbed, maimed, mauled and suffocated. I’ve been blasted with fireballs and mental shockwaves and struck by lightning bolts. But I’ve survived, and I’ve become strong.

“You all have the potential to become powerful, but you need the willpower and determination to fight, and keep fighting. The second you stop struggling someone like Thom will pass you in power. I can only provide you with an opportunity, but your effort will decide whether you will become a hunter or the hunted,” Zac said.

“If you decide to follow me you will become a part of my army, and we will immediately set out to New Washington. From there we’ll teleport to the home base of the Force I belong to, and there your training would begin in earnest. If you can’t keep up during the walk, I’ll leave you in the woods.

“I won’t force anyone to follow me. You have five minutes to make your choice; Power or freedom,” he finished as he summoned a chair and sat down.

There was a subdued silence as he looked upon the women. The silence stretched to a minute until it finally was broken by the young girl who questioned him earlier. She walked right up to him with steady steps.

“I choose power,” she said with determination in her eyes, as a Contract of Binding popped up in front of Zac.

He nodded, as he took out another set of gear and a spear and handed it over. With the first person walking forward it was as though a blockage was removed, and the former slaves walked forward one by one to pledge allegiance and get a set of gear.

With that the first battalion of the Atwood Valkyries was born.