Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Paul Lane, the leader and founder of the Raider's Association was sitting in his big comfy chair in his room. He was reading a book and eating dried meat on the side. It felt good to be back in power. He enjoyed spending the late evenings like this.

Paul was a rough man in the middle management of the underworld before the apocalypse. He was ruthless and not dumb, but he missed what was necessary to get to the top. This had not changed even after he gained an epic class.

Despite his personal strength and the ability to power up all his allies, he was pushed out of the slums. He was lucky enough to come across some idiots that owned a safe zone. Life was great with a bunch of slaves and more than enough food. He simply took over a well-feathered nest.

The monster raid and escape of the slaves was a great setback, but he survived. He and his close aides only grew stronger through this experience. He returned to the slums and rebuilt his organization. But it was already too late to compete with the set power structure at this point.

Instead, he opted to return. Paul was not ready to let it go so easily. Somewhere in the ruins were those slaves and the undead that could create wards. He would find them again and everything would go back to the leisure days!

The search was long and arduous, but in the end, he found them and took control of the new safe zone. It was a shame that they had become too strong to suppress and had to be killed. The biggest regret was that the sentient undead had managed to escape.

As long as he got his hands on that monster and gain control over it, he could literally found his own country! He could be a king! Paul used a lot of money and even prepared a mage who specialized in stuff like mind control. He had sent many teams to search for it, leaving the base with 50 men for defense. Every team had at least one person that knew how the undead looked.

This was a risky play on his part. The ruins were very dangerous, and he could lose many men on this search, but it was worth it. They were a sacrifice he was willing to make. His elites stood by his side, he had only sent the new ones and some of the weaklings that survived through fortune.

He was just getting to the good part in the book when he smelled smoke. Had those idiots in the kitchen messed up dinner again?

Their base was a small mall close to the center of the highjacked safe zone. They had chosen this place because the walls were thick, and the entrances already had several reliable safety measures. Sturdy barricades on all entrances enforced the defense again. Even if the wards were deactivated, they were confident to defend this place against most monsters in the city.

"Alarm! Fire!"

Bells suddenly resounded in the mall and the alarm was rung. Paul threw away the book and ran out of his room into the main passage. His room was close to the main entrance. Before the backdrop of the dark night sky, he saw the barricades outside burning with an eerie fire.

"It's an enemy attack!" he heard another call. He had just stepped outside and saw a swarm of fireballs raining down on the mall. They set fire to the roof while the ghostly flame was rapidly encircling the mall and blocked their escape routes.

This was no normal fire. It was so hot that they had no choice but to flee inside the mall. Even from several meters distance, they felt like being burned. But they were not safe. The thick walls and fire safety door could not stop this flame! It easily entered the mall where it devoured anything flammable and liquified everything else with a rapid speed.

The bandits activated all kinds of protective skills in a hurry, just to be able to flee. The few mages among the cast water attribute magic which was like a drop on a hot stone. Those with lesser defense were lost to the fire while Paul and the few elites managed to reach the rooftop.

The regular fire up here was almost comfortable compared to the terrifying flame below. Through the fire and the smoke, coughing and wheezing they looked for an escape route in a panic. The weird fire surrounded the mall, but there was still a gap at the long backside. One of his men spotted the chance.

Sure death or a 30m fall? They jumped without much hesitation. Paul and nine of his men landed on the ground. He rolled off and managed to avoid any broken bones. Others were not so lucky. 2 of his men were crippled as both of their ankles broke. The rest had also smaller issues like broken ribs or dislocated shoulders.

All of them had lost a bunch of health, but this was not the place or time to whine. They grabbed their crippled comrades and limped away from the terrifying fires that were eradicating their beautiful base.

They could not see far in the darkness, but they knew that they needed to find shelter. It was suicide to wander around in the ruin in their condition. And somewhere out there were people aiming for them. They needed to get some cover and aimed for the closest building.

The door was kicked open and they stumbled into the dark hallway. A pair of giant fists and the terrifying sight of three rabid dog faces greeted them. It was the last thing Paul remembered when he woke up again. A terrible pain ran through his body.

Paul could feel that his limbs were broken, and he felt a tight rope stopping him from moving. He looked around. He and his men were stripped to the underwear and tied up. They laid in a row on the floor of a dimly lit room.

"Oh, you woke up sooner than I expected. Never underestimate a high level, I guess?"

On a chair to the side sat a tall man in dark-red and black armor. Paul could spot something like golden chainmail beneath the impressive plate armor. Those items had to be extremely expensive, what had they done to offend such a figure?

"Wh-Who are you?" he spat out. He could only talk with much pain as his throat had been parched and burned by the hot air in the mall.

"It's not important who I am. It's important who she is." he pointed at a young girl, maybe 18, with long ash brown hair and big eyes. Paul only noticed her now. She was staring at him with her unwavering dark eyes.

"Who is she...?" Paul asked confused.

"Your judge. Your jury. And executioner, I guess?" he said with a big smile that betrayed the gravity of what he just said. Paul now noticed the girl holding a dagger with a long, very slim blade. It was a quick and decisive movement, but the tip of the blade stopped just before piercing his eyes.

A big gauntlet had grasped the girl's hand and stopped her attack. The tall man had jumped off the chair and stopped her. Did he change his mind and save him? Maybe there was still hope?

"What did I tell you? Control your emotions a little and don't make the same mistake twice. Stab him several times and let him slowly bleed out. Also, try using the stilettos skill. We have more than enough time, you should be able to use it once or twice on each of them." the man reprimanded her.

"What are you saying, man! If you don't help me, just let me die in peace! Why the hell did you have to step forward!" was all Paul could think as he watched the girl nod with a determined face. She proceeded to stab him several times, avoiding vital areas and inflicting a heavy bleed status.

All he could do was watch on as his HP drained away and the girl went over to do the same to his subordinates.

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<Ding! -Paul Lane lv.43- has been killed. You have gained Experience.>

<Ding! You have leveled up! You are now lv.30!>

<Ding! You have completed the quest -The Next Level 5- You have earned new System Rights.>

<Ding! You have received a follow-up quest -The Next Level 6-!>

<Ding! You have received the divine blessing of –Hephaistos, the lame God- Check your Status Window!>

<Ding! You have received the divine blessing of –Hades, the Host of Many- Check your Status Window!>

<Ding! You have received the divine blessing of –Seth, Lord of the Red Lands- Check your Status Window!>