"Let's call it a truss."
Dennis stood between the elders and Diablo, separating them like a wall of calm in the midst of chaos.
Diablo was already tired and knew it was time to let things go, even though a part of him still wanted to continue tearing through them.
"Sure, let's call it a truce," Raphael said while panting heavily. He and Adogun slowly retreated, warily helping the other elders up. Their faces were filled with anger and humiliation, but they knew there was nothing they could do in their weakened state except to leave.
"Now that you have taught them a lesson, I hope you yourself have learnt one also," Dennis said as he looked at Diablo, who was breathing hard.
"Yeah, a big lesson." Diablo exhaled, trying to calm his lungs before continuing. "Although my fighting style is good against mindless monsters that just attack without intelligence, fighting against people seems harder. If my stats and physique weren't stronger than theirs, I would have had my ass beaten already."
He analyzed his fight with the five elders, realizing the difference. The flexibility of his body gave him the advantage of unpredictability, since his attacks could come from unexpected angles. That gave both Raphael and Adogun a hard time. Still, their experience as fighters tested him heavily. Before the apocalypse, Diablo had been nothing more than a bullied high school student. But that was then, he was no longer the boy who had once been looked down on.
"I think you should create a proper fighting style, instead of just relying on body strength and flexibility and your craziness " Dennis advised.
"Guess I'll have to learn from you and my fighting style isn't crazy, it's unique." Diablo smiled.
Dennis gave him a blank look when Diablo said his fighting style is unique.
"My fighting style is different and won't perfectly fit your body," Dennis warned.
"It doesn't matter. I'll learn what I can from you and then change it to fit myself," Diablo said firmly.
Dennis's eyes glinted sharply.
"It won't be easy."
"Then don't go easy, I'll take it all," Diablo shot back with equal sharpness.
"Humm… excuse me, sirs?"
The man who was the leader of the group Dennis and Diablo had saved earlier stepped forward.
Both turned their attention to him.
"Thank you for helping us. Without the both of you, we don't know what would have happened. No, we know, we just don't want to even imagine it." The man bowed deeply, despite being older than both of them. His group followed, bending in gratitude.
"Thank you."
"We truly appreciate it."
Each one voiced heartfelt thanks. Since the apocalypse began, survival had pushed people into selfishness, but Dennis and Diablo didn't just save them. They had helped them complete the world quest, saved them from death, and even from being enslaved by a faction they knew nothing about.
Dennis gently lifted the man up.
"Please, raise your head. You don't have to be so polite. We're just doing what we can."
"We know," the man said.
"Alright then, me and my colleague will take our leave," Dennis added.
"What?! You're leaving?!" The man looked alarmed.
The rest of the group panicked too.
"Why don't you just become our leader and form your own faction, with us working under you?" the man hurriedly suggested.
"No. Doing so will only hinder our mission. We won't be able to help others like we helped you," Dennis explained.
"Then we'll follow you," the man declared with conviction. Both Dennis and Diablo were stunned. They'd rejected offers to form faction before from others they had saved, but this was the first time someone insisted on following them despite the danger.
Dennis smiled softly.
"You're impressive, but I'll have to decline. Don't forget, you still have people to care for, especially the old and the young. You need to provide food and shelter. It would be impossible to follow me around while trying to fulfill that."
The man and his people looked dejected.
"Alright, let's do it like this," Diablo suddenly said, having regained his breath. "Once a week, we'll return to check on you and help with whatever you truly need."
The man and his people's eyes lit up. Dennis was a little surprised at Diablo's suggestion.
"But you must continue to kill monsters to survive and level up. This quest isn't the first, and it won't be the last," Diablo added.
"We'll follow your wishes!" the man agreed happily.
Unknown to Dennis and Diablo, they had just gained an army of Ascendants who would one day aid them in an upcoming quest.
"What's your name?" Dennis asked.
"Marcus."
"Please, Marcus, lead the people well."
"Of course. You can count on me."
Dennis nodded. Together, he and Diablo helped the group clear surrounding monsters and build barricades for protection against mutated beasts. Only after that did they leave again, wandering through the broken ruins of Akure city, searching for others to help survive the nightmare.
"Damnit, my body aches because of you!!" Mrs. Samirat yelled at the man who had called them into the fight.
The man bowed, pleading for forgiveness.
"Why did you lie?! Do you take us for fools, huh?!" she bellowed again.
"Stop shouting at him," Adogun intervened, frowning at her behavior.
"If he hadn't lied, we wouldn't be in this condition," Mrs. Samirat snapped back.
"You're wrong. Even if he had told us, we wouldn't have listened. Besides, we are at fault for underestimating them in the first place," Adogun said bluntly.
"Tch." Mrs. Samirat hissed, she looked at the man and hit him away before she turned away, leaving the man alone. Feeling pain on his stomach but still relieved, the man hurried off away.
"Mrs. Samirat?" Raphael, who had been resting and healing, suddenly called out.
"What?" she asked sharply.
"Before the apocalypse, how could the government hire someone like you to work in their secretariat?" Raphael asked. He had been wondering for a long time. Actually, not just him, the other elders often questioned it too. Mrs. Samirat was the weakest among them, but her mouth was tronger than her strength and sharper than blade.
"What? You want to start poking into my business now?!" she barked.
"No, just wondering," Raphael said, and turned back to resting.
Mrs. Samirat snorted, going to a corner to nurse her injuries. Diablo's attacks had left her badly wounded.
"We'll rest for a while before resuming our journey back to the faction," Adogun announced. None objected, since they felt the same way and rest was the only thing they wanted now.