Beyond the Apocalypse
Chapter 103: Despair and hope (I)

Chapter 103: Despair and hope (I)

Vlad made sure the defensive formation and troops in the Silent Wind Military Base were in top condition before leaving with Jormungandr, informing only his inner circle and General Anglius of this fact.

The rest of the Silent Wind Military Base believed that he and Jormungandr had entered deep seclusion to perform essential experiments. Part of that was correct, as a deep investigation was taking place by the A.I. Chip over the Vengeful Formation.

Vlad only allocated 50% of the A.I. Chip’s full capacities to that task, so it would take over a month to thoroughly analyze and engrave the knowledge and muscle memory into his mind and body. However, that was fine since obtaining the Lightning Core and returning to the base would take much longer.

The duo left in the middle of the night, ensuring no one detected their presence. It did not take long for the Silent Wind Military Base to fade from sight. The first part of the journey was through a massive mountain range that extended for several hundred kilometers.

Along the way, Vlad and Jormungandr encountered numerous Monsters. They seemed to become more common as the months passed, and the fauna began adapting to the world’s energy.

None of the mountain’s Monsters were beyond the Mortal Levels, so the duo effortlessly killed them, stored their corpses, and kept marching forward. They also saw several small packs of lost demonic beasts that must have appeared in the area, but they also posed no threat and were quickly dispatched.

The terrain was actually the more challenging part of the duo’s journey, demanding a lot of Vlad’s stamina and endurance. Had his body not broken through to the Champion Tier, he would have needed a month instead of just a week to pass through.

After leaving the mountain range, Vlad looked at his space ring with a smile. There were a lot of new materials and ingredients inside. Just like the fauna, the flora and minerals of Terra had also begun to change.

It was harder to detect the difference between a magic plant and a regular plant with the naked eye, and even Vlad would have wasted a lot of time inspecting them, but that was not needed with the help of the A.I. Chip. He and Jormungandr just used their chips’ scanning abilities to survey the terrain, and every time something valuable was detected, they would gather it.

Once he left the mountain range, Vlad surveyed the terrain. His destination was Nagan Mountain, and he could have walked straight through some forests and barren lands, but he chose to deviate a little. The new path would delay him for a few days, but if he found what he was looking for, it would be worth it.

The young man and the small cat advanced for a few hours along the highway before finally locating a town. It was Frost Town, much greater than Good Side Town, but there was no sign of human life, and the only things Vlad saw were rows and rows of demonic beasts filling the streets.

Vlad did not see people, but most of the buildings and houses were still present, so survivors could be hiding inside. Unlike the last time he went on a voyage, now he had the power to help these people and would do it.

His eyes grew sharp as he focused his Force on them, enhancing his vision and surveying the terrain. Immediately, he focused on a massive demon resembling a morbidly obese yeti sleeping over a broken house in the middle of the town.

The demon was at the Champion Level, but it seemed to spend most of its time sleeping and was not interested in giving commands to the horde, luckily for the people of Frost Town.

Vlad glanced at Jormungandr, and the small yellow cat immediately jumped off his shoulder. The next second, he gathered his energy, and the runes covering his body began to glow as he silently walked into the town.

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Jamas stood in his house’s attic, a dim, claustrophobic space cluttered with relics of a life that now seemed impossibly distant. The air was thick with dust and despair, and his eyes, once bright with hope, were now dulled by a profound sense of loss and hopelessness. Like countless others, he had been taken by surprise by the apocalypse, the sudden rise of demons forcing him and his family into hiding.

The gnawing hunger was a constant, searing pain, but it was nothing compared to the agony he felt as he looked at the three figures lying motionless in front of him. His wife had collapsed, unconscious from the lack of food, her face pale and gaunt. His children, once so full of life and energy, now barely moved, their tiny bodies weakened by starvation. The sight of his family in such a state was a torment beyond words.

A man could accept death, but no man could endure watching his wife and children suffer and die. The desperation of the last few days had already started to break his mind, each moment a fresh torture of helplessness and fear.

Jamas glanced through the tiny crack in the attic that allowed him a view of the streets below. He saw the demons, monstrous and malevolent, patrolling with a cruel indifference that filled him with a burning hatred and overwhelming sadness. They were the reason for this nightmare, the cause of his family’s suffering.

Just as he was about to succumb to the exhaustion and despair that threatened to consume him, his eyes caught sight of something unusual—a flaming light in the sky.

’A meteor?’ That thought just crossed Jamas’ mind when he saw, with awe and utter shock, how that flaming ball of fire landed on the largest of the demons, making it burst to pieces like a balloon full of blood and incinerating all the demonic beasts around.

Utter and absolute shock filled the heart of the man as he saw that scene of destruction, and things were far from over since the next second, arcs of lightning fell from the sky, blasting demons apart and spreading everywhere.