WEE-WOO. WEE-WOO.
The Magitech sirens screamed.
The sky turned the color of a bruised plum.
[System Alert: The First Wave has initiated.]
[Enemy Type: The Scourge of Rot (Undead Legion).]
[Estimated Count: 10,000.]
Ten thousand.
In the original timeline, the First Wave was 500 goblins. A warm-up lap.
But because I killed the "Chosen One," the System decided to skip the tutorial and go straight to Hard Mode.
I stood on the roof of the Auction House. The wind whipped my stolen cloak.
Below me, the city of Storm-Wall was in 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 dome shield that protected the capital.
They pulled the lever.
Vrrr... Pfft.
Nothing happened.
"Where is the Mana?!" the Head Mage screamed. "The reserves are empty!"
I laughed.
I laughed so hard I almost choked on my mana potion.
Why were the reserves empty?
Because Lord Azure, Iron-Jaw, and every other idiot Noble just liquidated the city's entire crystal supply to buy my Void Core.
I had the crystals. They had a rock.
And now? They had zombies climbing the walls.
CRASH.
The North Gate splintered.
A tide of grey flesh poured in. Ghouls. Rotting wolves. Skeletons wearing rusted armor.
[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 a buffet, and humanity was the main course.
I checked my nails.
Not my problem.
I had my loot. I had my exit strategy. I could shadow-step out of the city and watch it burn from the hills.
But then...
PING.
[Hidden Quest: The Mercenary King.]
[Objective: Save the City Core.]
[Reward: Access to the Royal Armory.]
[Failure Penalty: The destruction of your favorite bank.]
My bank?
I narrowed my eyes.
Okay. Now it's personal.
I grabbed a magical megaphone from my inventory (looted from the Auction House storage).
I infused it with mana.
"ATTENTION CITIZENS OF OAKLAN."
My voice boomed over the city, drowning out the screams of the dying.
Every head turned upward.
They saw a silhouette standing on the roof, framed by the burning moon.
"This is a premium service announcement."
"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 me. I kicked its head off without looking.
"But salvation is a subscription service."
"The price is 50%."
"50% of the Guild Vaults. 50% of the Royal Treasury. And 50% 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!" 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 banshee.
"Eight seconds."
Lord Azure, down in the streets, was fighting back-to-back with his pants-less son. "Pay him! Just pay him!"
"Five seconds."
The horde breached the Inner District.
"FINE!" The King screamed. "WE ACCEPT! JUST KILL THEM!"
[Contract Accepted.]
[System Witnessed. Binding Vow established.]
I grinned.
"Pleasure doing business."
I put the megaphone away.
I looked at the sea of undead swarming the plaza below.
"Time 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:
I jumped off the roof.
I plummeted 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. It was sticky, acidic, clinging fire.
The plaza turned into a deep fryer.
"SKREEEEE!"
The undead screamed as they melted. 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 meat cleaver.
It swung at me.
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 hand.
[Skill: Infernal Guillotine.]
I slashed the monster's legs. Then its torso. Then its head.
Dissected in mid-air.
[Elite 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. They saw the death.
And they saw me.
I wasn't a Knight in shining armor.
I was a businessman in a blood-soaked cloak, 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 time I get there."
[Dopamine Spike: Maximum Greed.]
I started running toward the screams in the next district.
This wasn't a tragedy.
This was the most profitable Tuesday of my life.
——————————————————————————————————————————
[Meanwhile: The Royal Palace]
Saintess Seraphina stood by the window, clutching her holy staff.
She was alive. Physically.
But her mind was broken.
She remembered the ceremony. She remembered Arthur falling. She remembered the boy with the cold eyes stealing the Hero's destiny.
She watched the purple fire consume the city below.
She felt the darkness radiating from Cain. It was evil. It was heresy.
But...
She looked at the corpses of the monsters he was slaughtering.
Arthur would have tried to purify them. Arthur would have prayed. And Arthur would have died.
Cain burned them.
She felt a shiver run down her spine. It wasn't fear.
It was... awe.
"He is a monster," she whispered to herself.
She touched her chest, where her heart was beating too fast.
"But he is winning."
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.
She looked at the burning city.
She pressed Y.