'That can't be true.'
'There were countless awakeners who fought the monsters and anomalies without backing down.'
'They were the reason why peace returned.'
Then why was the man devoid of hope?
Neo found the answer easily.
'Ah… He is a normal human, not an awakener.'
The awakeners had the power to defy fate and stand up against their enemies.
But normal humans were different.
Even the weakest monster could kill them easily.
Just like how Neo had died when he encountered a zombie in his first life.
"Old man, do you know where I can find a base of survivors?"
"Does any b-base work?"
"Yeah."
"I've heard the Azrew has a good amount of survivors."
The old man gritted his teeth through the pain and answered.
"App-apparently they've built the walls to keep the monsters out."
"What about your base? You can't be traveling alone."
"The statute anomaly killed them and destroyed the base," he muttered, his voice growing weaker. "I escaped with my brother, but he was caught on the run."
Neo nodded.
"That Azrew City. You know the way to it?"
"Y-yes?"
The old man was confused at Neo's answer.
"Good, I saved your life. Now, pay back by helping reach that city."
Neo curled his finger.
Red lightning – red – materialized around the old man.
Neo pulled that Death into himself, temporarily stopping the deterioration of the old man's wounds and giving him a few more minutes to live.
Sothing at this level consud barely any Divine energy.
"What are you doing?"
"Wait here."
Neo entered the supermarket.
He searched through the place for a few items.
"Needles… Found it.
"Sutures… Can't find them, I'll use threads from the clothing departnt."
"Clean Water... I will use my elent."
He returned after searching for a few more items.
"These are not perfect, but they should be enough to treat your wound."
"B-but…"
"Hold it, old man."
The healing elixirs could've solved the problem,
However, Neo had only divine energy elixirs; the healing ones were probably with Jack.
"I don't know who was the dic in your group, but this level of injury can be treated with ergency first aid.
"The blood loss is a problem though, so we need to reach Azrew City quickly, or your wounds will deteriorate."
Neo had intensive knowledge about dical treatnt thanks to visions of Sphinx.
He chuckled inwardly.
'Sphinx might be a bastard. But it still helped greatly.'
The old man hissed in pain as Neo stitched the wound.
Nonetheless, he was calm for soone who wasn't given painkillers.
"Good, this is enough."
He stood up after treating the old man's wounds.
"We should rest for a few hours before we start moving."
"Why… why are you helping ?"
"I don't need a reason to help soone," he said.
'Besides, you'll help increase my fa and give information about this era.'
The old man, Kane, thanked him in tears.
The two talked for a few hours.
Neo gained a lot of knowledge.
The apocalypse had hindered communication between people greatly.
The flow of information from just one city to another was almost impossible.
The situation improved after the Titans brought reforms.
However, a few decades ago, [Mother Silence] was born.
The monster, Mother Silence, would kill anyone who used mass communication thods.
Whenever soone published a newspaper or tried to post an article on your local internet band, they would inexplicably die.
'What decides sothing is a mass communication thod?'
'Does a newspaper I've printed for myself and myself only count?'
Mother Silence sounded powerful, but Neo knew there must be a drawback to its ability.
All monsters in this era had a drawback.
'Divine Energy – mana – forced everything and everyone to evolve.'
'The sudden mutations made monsters and awakeners nigh omnipotent, but it left gaps in their abilities.'
It was similar to dumping all stats in Strength or Agility in a ga.
The ga character would beco strong, however, it would have paper-thin defense.
"Why aren't the Titans or Awakener Association dealing with Mother Silence?" Neo questioned.
"I don't know," Kane shook his head. "I've heard rumors, but they are too hard to believe."
"Go on. I'm all ears."
While the two talked, Kane passed him so jerky.
Neo shook his head, saying awakeners don't need to eat much, and returned them to Kane.
After all, the jerky, much like everything, was made of shadow elentals.
It wouldn't fill Neo's stomach, and would rather cause him health problems if he forcibly tried to consu shadow elental objects.
"Mother Silence has been slayed. Twice."
"…?"
"They say there is one Mother Silence in every country. Even if the Mother Silences are killed, more are born."
"Born?"
"Yes," Kane chuckled bitterly. "The apocalypse is dangerous, but don't you find sothing strange?
"The monsters are too bizarre.
"I get how a lizard could mutate into a wyvern or drake, or an ant colony can evolve into a Thousand Demon Army.
"But what about Mother Silence? She is too bizarre to be an evolution of an animal. Not to ntion her ability perfectly hinders our human society.
"It's almost like…."
"Like soone is creating those monsters and targeting us," Neo completed Kane's words.
"Yeah," Kane nodded. "There is no official confirmation, but I think this is why they are called anomalies and the others monsters."
The two prepared for a journey after they had enough rest.
"Is it okay for to follow you? I'll be just a burden."
"It's fine. I'm going to Azrew City either way. Nothing changes if one more person tags along."
The two moved at a slow pace.
Along the way, they had to take multiple detours to avoid strong monsters.
They reached the city after a few weeks.
"Woah…."
"…."
Neo and Kane gazed at the walls that seed to touch the sky.
Kane had a stunned expression, and Neo was inwardly shocked.
The wall was long, and Neo couldn't see its end on the sides.
'Does this wall actually cover the entire city? Creating sothing like this shouldn't be easy.'
Before the two could say anything, a tiny section at the wall's bottom opened.
A woman, green hair, milk-white skin, ca out of the wall's gate.
Several soldiers stood behind her.
"Welco to Azrew, wanderers," she curtsied. "I can see you two have gone through imnse struggles to reach this place.
"You don't need to worry.
"Our city is a safe haven, a paradise."
"…"
Neo stayed silent.
Kane's expression hardened.
"Sothing is wrong," he whispered to Neo.
"Why?"
"This place is too welcoming. I've seen cities fall because the citizens fought for resources.
"And she is inviting random people like us without any questions."
The woman heard Kane even though he had whispered.
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