WEE-WOO. WEE-WOO.
The Magitech sirens scread everywhere. The sky turned the color into a bruised plum.
[System Alert: The First Wave has initiated.]
[Enemy Type: The Scourge of Rot (Undead Legion).]
[Estimated Count: 10,000.]
It was unexpectedly ten thousand.
In the life before regression, the First Wave was 500 goblins. But maybe because I killed the "Chosen One," the System decided to skip the tutorial phase and went straight to Hard Mode.
I stood on the roof of the Auction House. The wind whipped my cloak. Below , the city of Storm-Wall was in severe panic mode. "Close the Gates! Activate the Mana Barrier!" I watched the glorious chaos.
The Royal Mages ran to the City Core. They tried to activate the giant do shield that would protect the capital city. They pulled the lever. Vrrr... Pfft. Nothing happened. "Where is the Mana?!" the Head Mage scread. "The reserves are empty!"
I laughed, actually I laughed so hard that I almost choked on my mana potion. Why were the reserves empty? Because Lord Azure just liquidated the city’s entire crystal supply to buy my Void Core. I had the crystals. They had a rock. Now? They had zombies climbing the walls.
CRASH.
The North Gate splintered. A tide of grey fleshes poured in. Ghouls, rotting wolves, skeletons who were wearing rusted armor, and more.
[Level 10 - Rot Ghoul]
[Level 12 - Bone Wolf]
They weren’t strong individually, but there were thousands. They washed over the guards like a tsunami of teeth.
"Help!"
"My face! It’s eating my face!"
Blood sprayed. Limbs flew. It was like a buffet, humanity was the main course.
I checked my nails. Not my problem. I had my loot and exit strategy. I could shadow-step out of the city and watch it burn from the hills. But then...
PING.
[Hidden Quest by the Crown: The rcenary King.]
[Objective: Save the City Core.]
[Reward: Access to the Royal Armory.]
Okay, now it’s personal. I grabbed a magical gaphone from my inventory that was looted from the Auction House storage. I infused it with mana.
"ATTENTION CITIZENS OF OAKLAN."
My voice bood over the city, drowning out the screams of the dying. Every head turned upward. They saw a silhouette man that was standing on the roof, frad by the burning moon.
"This is a premium service announcent. The City Guard is incompetent. The Nobles are broke. Your ’Hero’ is dead." I paused. "I can save you."
A Ghoul climbed up a drainpipe near . I kicked its head off without looking.
"But salvation is a subscription service. The price is 80%. 80% of the Guild Vaults. 80% of the Royal Treasury. And 100% of all loot dropped by this wave. You have 10 seconds to decide. Or I let the zombies eat your children."
Silence.
Then, a voice roared from the palace balcony. "Treason! Shaless!" King Varic shouted, shaking his fist. "You dare blackmail the Crown?!"
"Nine seconds...," I counted.
A Bone Wolf leaped onto the King’s balcony and mauled a guard. The King shrieked like a mad banshee.
"Eight seconds..."
Lord Azure, down in the streets, was fighting back-to-back with his son. "Pay him! Just pay him already!"
"Five seconds..."
The horde breached the Inner District. "FINE!" The King scread. "WE ACCEPT! KILL THEM!"
[Contract Accepted.]
[System Witnessed. Binding Vow established.]
I grinned nacingly. "Pleasure doing business."
I put the gaphone away. I looked at the sea of undead swarming the plaza below. "Ti to farm." I activated the Fusion Furnace.
I had the [Web Weaver] talent (create sticky webs).
I had the [Venom Spit] skill book (acid damage).
I had [Infernal Guillotine] (fire nuke). "Fuse," I commanded.
[Fusing...]
[Success!]
[New Skill: (A-Rank).]
I jumped off the roof. I plumted toward the horde. The Ghouls looked up, hissing. I extended both hands. "Burn."
THWIP. THWIP. THWIP.
Nets of glowing, orange webbing exploded from my palms. They covered the entire plaza in seconds. The webs were sticky, trapping hundreds of undead instantly. And then?
Chemical Reaction.
The venom inside the webs ignited on contact with the air.
FWOOSH.
It wasn’t normal fire, but it was sticky, acidic, clinging fire.
The plaza turned into a fire chamber.
"SKREEEEE!" The undead scread as they lted. The fire spread from ghoul to ghoul, fueled by their own rotting flesh.
[Kill Streak: x50]
[Kill Streak: x100]
[Kill Streak: x200]
The notifications scrolled so fast they were a blur.
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
I landed in the center of the inferno. My Void Ring was humming, sucking in the souls of the dead.
[Ring Growth: 15%]
A massive Rot Abomination (Level 25 Elite) charged through the fire. It was a ball of stitched corpses, wielding a at cleaver. It swung at .
I didn’t dodge. I used [Shadow Servant]; the skill unlocked by the ring reaching Tier 2. "Rise."
The shadow of the Abomination detached itself from the floor. It stood up. It grabbed the Abomination’s arms. The monster froze, wrestling with its own shadow.
"Pathetic," I said. I dashed forward. Void Fang Dagger in my hand.
[Skill: Infernal Guillotine.]
I slashed the monster’s legs, its torso, then its head. It was dissected in mid-air.
[Elite Monster Killed.]
[Item Dropped: Cleaver of Gluttony (Rare).]
I grabbed the loot. I looked around. The square was a graveyard of ash. The remaining undead were fleeing. The citizens peered out from their windows. They saw the fire and the massacre.
And then they saw . I wasn’t a Knight in shining armor, I was like a businessman in a blood-soaked cloak while checking his inventory.
I tapped my ear. "King Varic," I projected my voice again.
"That was Sector 1."
"I’m heading to Sector 2."
"Have the gold ready by the ti I get there."
I started running toward the screams in the next district. This wasn’t a tragedy at all. Instead, this was the most profitable Tuesday of my life.
————————————————————
[anwhile: The Royal Palace]
Saintess Seraphina stood by the window, clutching her holy staff. She was alive, physically. But her mind wasn’t.
She rembered the ceremony, Arthur falling, and the boy with the cold eyes stealing the Hero’s destiny. She watched the purple fire consu the city below. She felt the darkness that were radiating from Cain.
It was evil and heresy. But... She looked at the corpses of the monsters he was slaughtering. Arthur would have tried to purify them, prayed, and pitied them. But to Cain? He eradicated them rcilessly. She felt a shiver run down her spine. It wasn’t fear. But it was... An inspiring awe. "He is a demon," she whispered to herself.
She touched her chest, where her heart was beating too fast, too fast that she wanted him. "But he is the victor." The System flashed a notification in front of her.
[Hero Unit: Deceased.]
[Designating New Partner...]
[Target: Cain Cross.]
[Compatibility: 0% (Fatal).]
[Override? Y/N.]
Seraphina stared at the screen, then looked at the burning city. She pressed Y in a heartbeat.
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