n

n

nWasting my time fighting useless battles with these wolves and monsters wouldn't work. I knew they would swarm the entire world in endless waves.

nBesides, my main goal was to capture castles, not just kill monsters.

n

"Keep moving.

"

nHowever it seemed my enemies were also aware of this point. Another thing I had to care about was sleep.

nI haven't had any sleep since coming to this world, which was over a day ago. I could stay awake for two days straight, but not a second more.

nI needed to finish wrapping things here before going to sleep.

nMy target for now wasn't to go and seek other castles, but to go and find that ace's whereabouts. As for looking for the castles, I have this task handed to someone else.

nThe distance from the castle I took and the hospital wasn't that much in the first place, but it seemed like I was crossing rivers and mountains to get there.

nThe sheer number of wolves was a problem to the point that killing them became pointless. The more we killed, the more that appeared and walking through them began to be like crawling on four.

n

"Come out,

" but who said I was without an option? Once I took out a single dragon, things started to change for the better.

nAt this stage of the apocalypse there weren't a single water monster, not to mention airborne monsters. So having a dragon midair fighting them gave me total control over the situation.

n

"Finally arrived,

" once I reached the hospital, I couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief. But at this moment I had another thing to think about.

nThe jumper just sent me two places with castles, one of them wasn't far from here. That madman was strong enough to not get himself killed. So having him scout the entire city was the best mission he could do solo for me.

n

"Shall I go and take another castle for now or what?

" I wasted almost half an hour just crossing a distance that should take ten minutes. But when I was just considering leaving for now, I got a strange message.

nUnknown god supporting your channel sent you a direct message

nBefore I started the main fight against the traitors at that castle, I locked up all the notifications again. I didn't want to be disturbed by anything else.

nBut one of the gods seemed to pay a large price to deliver this message to me.

nThe message says: You won't succeed in your goal this way. Contact me for more info

nI looked at this weird message and couldn't help but frown. I knew what he wanted to say. Having fifty ex-traitors work all around the world was a gamble from my side, but I did it because I lacked any other options here.

nIt was simply the best response to such an impossible quest. However, something told me that I should speak with that god, so I simply reopened my notifications again.

n

"You can tell me what you want now,

" I said while raising my head to the sky like speaking to it.

nA long row of useless messages popped up. Most contained different reactions from many gods, mostly supporting my actions. Few didn't like what I was doing.

nWho knew what their real motives were. However my wait for that god's message didn't last long as a few messages came interrupted with messages of other gods.

nThe number of your helpers isn't enough to change the situation. The angels made a deal you didn't know about. They changed the requirement to cancel the merge to be at least twenty percent of your human race

n

"What the hell…!!!

" Once I read this message, the blood all over my body boiled out of pure anger. Those despicable angels… they really outdid themselves this time!

nIf this was true, then even with the help of those ex-traitors I got no chance at all.

nThey suspect that you already know the content of the quest. But there is another way to stop them, a way that only you can do

n

"Then say it!

"

nThe god seemed to love playing with my nerves! He didn't say anything for a long minute. If there was another way that could solve this disaster, then it would be great to do it.

nBut something told me this method wasn't that easy to do.

nDo you know about the heroic calling?

nJust this simple message came without any explanation in front of me from that god. But when I read it, I couldn't help but getting soaked in cold sweat.

n

"Damn! Isn't there any other choice but that?!

" I couldn't help but shout in fright.

nOho, you know about it! That's impressive and quite interesting

nWorthy of the human I'm following and supporting, lol

n

"It's not time to say that!

" I felt colder in my heart and back the more I thought about it.

"Isn't there any other way?

"

nThis is the only way

nOr else you will lose everything by losing your world

nI knew he got a point here. But the thing he asked me to do was really dangerous! Really impossible!

nWhat did a heroic calling mean? In an advanced quest, over fifty perhaps, there was such a quest given to the surviving races of the apocalypse.

nIn such a quest, they were asked to deliver a hero. A hero was someone having achieved something not achievable by common sense and logic.

nFor such quest, different missions were assigned to each race. Wait a second, I didn't need to go and do that crazy task of the humans back then, right? After all this would be considered a voluntary act of mine.

nBut what were the other missions for other races?

n

"I can do any of the missions in the heroic calling list to achieve this, right?

" I asked about my first dilemma. And the answer swiftly came.

nSmart kid! Yes, any mission there is counted

nBut all are, arguably, on the same level of difficulty

n

"Of course I know that,

" I sucked in a cold air of breath before asking,

"where can I find such a list?

"

nYou'll need the help of the oracle, not me!

nOracle? I felt puzzled for a few seconds and even thought about asking him again. However, just as I looked up at the hospital in front of me, I realised what I missed here.

n

"Yeah, an oracle… indeed she is one, hahaha!

"

nI laughed while realising that the ace I tried to save was in fact an oracle herself. She had no other stats unlocked thanks to her ability to see through the intentions of the angels.

nWhat did that mean? She could see through the future! She was an oracle indeed.

nGood boy and this message of the god proved my assumptions were right.

nI walked inside the wide and empty street alone. Since taking the turn a few blocks away, not a single monster was present here.

nThis was expected. After all, if there wasn't a single castle here then the monsters wouldn't appear.

nAs for my boys, I scattered them all around in a large circle of protection.

nThe hospital was in L shape, comprising three big blocks merging together with at least ten stories tall. In front of this, there was a low levelled building with only one story tall, acting as the front gate and entrance of the hospital.

nWith the lack of monsters, it was normal to see many people standing on patrol and in high guard against any incoming. They covered an area of almost three hundred metre radius around the hospital.

nThey looked slightly relaxed. Compared to what I and my team experienced, these folks were much better.

nThe hospital was lit by big lights, turning the area around it for five hundred metres to be bright in such a dim world.

nIt wasn't hard to spot them from far, and it was easy for them to see me coming at them.

n

"Halt right there,

" as I got closer, I was called to stop.

nThe people surviving the apocalypse here might be considered one of the luckiest groups ever. They had such a large and easy to defend place as a base. Coupled with the medium height wall, strong gate, and those strong lights, not a single monster could come near here and threaten them.

nPlus the place was bustling with people from different places and origins. This hospital wasn't the only one surviving here. But from the look of people gathered up in three groups to welcome me, their stance and their high alert, I figured they looked a bit different.

nThey weren't lax or inexperienced, meaning they must have their own share of the apocalypse and survived these fair and square.

n

"Excuse me, I'm here looking for a friend,

" I complied to their request, and even put my sword away. I came here without any ill intentions, and only wanted to find Alex as fast as possible.

n

"A patient here?

" one of them asked, one who was cladded all in armour from head to toe. He wasn't the only human here fully wearing armour, but there were at least a dozen like him.

nHaving such wealth to buy full body armours and even caps and helmets meant they killed a lot of monsters. Or... Something else!

nHowever as I looked around, I could only see a limited number of dead hyenas, not even a single wolf was there.

n

"She said she will come here to have a check before all this happened,

" I gave a reasonable explanation before adding,

"her name is Alex.

"

n

"Alex? Hmm…

" another one said, pausing as if he was thinking about something,

"I met few with such name. Do you know anything special about her?

"

n

"Why not let me enter and look for her myself then?

" I forgot to ask for her description from Angelica. But it wasn't time to ask her about that.

"I came from downtown, met a lot of monsters and am very tired and wounded. I can also ask for help.

"

nI put on a sincere expression while closely watching their faces. I knew it was logical for them to stop anyone looking suspicious, but they acted a little aggressive against me.

n

"Alright, come here my friend,

" the first one to speak said,

"but here we follow rules. No fighting is allowed and also inside the hospital, no weapons are allowed either.

"

nWithout any hesitation I moved towards them. Even if there was a trap here, I was sure to crush anything if anyone tried something funny.

n*Rumble!*

nBut the moment I got closer than one hundred metres from the main gate, I felt my body shudder without a reason. Something seemed to hit me, something invisible that I couldn't see.

nThen a strange message popped up in front of my eyes.

nWarning: You have entered a private zone. All your stats are locked. Your inventory is locked

n

"What the hell…?!!

" I was shocked to see such a message. Instant weakness started to find its way into my body while one of the three groups moved and two strong youths held me by the arm.

nAnd I could feel the cold tip of a sword pointed at my back.

n

"Don't struggle, it's futile,

" a new voice came from the front, before a man in his mid twentieth appeared.

nHe wasn't much taller than me, cladded in full body red armour with faint pink rose drawings on it. He held two long spears, wore a strange pointy helmet and had a long scar over his forehead, a scar that resembled a spear.

nA name suddenly popped up in my head, a name that I never expected to meet this early and not right here.

nThe bloody spearhead, that was the name of such infamous and notorious person who once ruled a great stretch of cities with terror and blood.

nOne of the ten criminal warlords of our human race back in the apocalypse. He was considered one of the strongest and most brutal outlaws in the apocalypse.

nBound by no morality or honour, he only lived by spreading terror and killing anyone who dare to stand against him.

nSuch a vicious and greedy person was once the leader of a mighty group of evil people.. They worked their way in the apocalypse, did everything you could imagine wrong, and they found an astounding success amidst such tumultuous times.

n