Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

"I feel something is missing. You didn't add the restrictions?" she asked surprised after she was done adjusting.

"No, I didn't."

"Why not?"

"Because... I wish for you to stay with us at Minas Mar, but I do not wish to force it onto you. What good is keeping you, if it was against your will? I just hope that, if you really leave, you will help us travel to Beta first." a flood of words fell out of Seth's mouth.

"I see. Then I will leave right away!" she said and turned around before Seth could utter another word. He could only look at her back in disbelief as she walked to the exit of the workshop where she halted at the door.

With her hand on the door handle, her shoulders started shaking.

"Pff, hahaha. Look at your sad face! Did you really think I would just leave like that!?" she fell into a fit of laughter.

"Hah, jokes aside. I won't leave the one place worth my presence in this world. Don't worry." she said after calming down.

With a kind smile, she gently grasped his shoulder.

"I have no reason to leave. This place has the facilities, the opportunities, and... the manpower I need," she said seductively.

Seth who had just calmed down was overcome with a sense of impending doom. He just hoped it was not his manpower she was planning to exploit. A prayer went out for the guys in the redlight district.

"S-So, how is the new body?"

"Hmm, it's very good. Better than being summoned through that token and definitely a lot better being a lich," she said while her hands were roving her own body in a way that made Seth's heart race.

"Now then, are we setting off for Beta right away, or do we wait to see if we get a message from Jonah?" she got to business with her hands on her hips.

"...First, I need some sleep. Then we should talk with Duhu to decide our departure..." Seth mumbled before porting to his bed.

Now that Al'Zalsar was here the tension of the last few days fell off him and he could finally get a few hours of good sleep.

------ Beta---------

Jess and James were currently hiding in a grocery store, Their armors were covered in blood, scratches, and some deep gashes. They were heavy panting from the fatigue.

The streets outside were flowing with blood, fire, and monsters.

Just what was wrong with this place?!

They had joined Lord Jonah on his quest to save the Tijaahk after that letter had arrived. Their journey had been peaceful with only few monster encounters. It was so smooth that they even arrived early in Beta District.

Like Y-City, Beta was one of the three districts that were in contact with each other and one of the two who fought against the maritime empire that had tried to invade the continent from the southern coast.

Their first step in Beta was gathering information as they traveled through the cityscape in the direction of B-City, the capital. The letter did not give much information on the cat peoples current location, so they had to carefully follow their trail.

It was about three days after they entered when they saw signs of unrest. More and more people were on the streets, as they got closer to B-City. Refugees talking of beasts in the capital and terrible battles.

However, there was nothing official, the leadership stayed mum and from what they heard could not be reached.

On the fourth day, people insisted that the capital had fallen. From the few soldiers and guild that tried to organize the evacuation efforts, they found out that the higher officials of the places they came through had already fled!

They decided to stay for the moment. Jonah wanted to call Minas Mar, but the phone network had gone offline. Suspicions of sabotage were rampant and unfortunately, they had not taken any magical communication devices with them.

Finally, Jonah decided to join the local forces to help in the evacuation in exchange for access to a still functioning landline of the military. It was one of the few methods that had enabled the three districts to communicate shortly after the start of the apocalypse.

It was a military secret, but they were hard-pressed for manpower and the higher-ups were already gone. Following the promise, they stayed in a satellite city close to B-City and helped evacuate and escort the civilians for another two days.

This connection also brought them more information about the threat that supposedly appeared in B-City. Shocked they found out that it was not just B-City. The few military scouts that reported spoke of anything southwest of B-City already being wiped out by the enemy forces.

Their only valid guess was that something happened in B-City that disabled any warning systems before the maritime empire invaded once again.

This news could not have been worse because, from the information they gathered themselves, the most likely place the Tijaahk were apprehended and held captive was exactly this B-City. This meant that even if they had been alive, the chances of them still being well in this situation had become terribly slim.

Not to mention that the danger level of their mission had risen dramatically. Jonah needed to desperately report back to Minas Mar but when he insisted on using the landline, the Military officer they had spoken to begrudgingly admitted that it had been offline for several days already.

Angrily, Jonah and the teams of the Oathguard set off immediately. If he really had to make someone use <Home Call> to report back, he would do so after getting a good look at the actual situation himself.

It had not taken long for the situation to devolve into a mess after they entered the vicinity of Beta. The city was a complete war zone with people fighting monsters, people fleeing or getting mercilessly slaughtered.

The monsters were no stranger to some among them. They were obviously known to Jonah. They really were the troops of the maritime empire. Giant humanoid fish berserkers, covered in gray and blue sharkskin. Their dead eyes only looking for an opportunity to kill and spill blood.

Confronted with this sight, Jonah did not stay silent and commanded the Oathguard to help and to save as many as possible. In the end, they were separated by the flood of beasts.

The creatures were much stronger and more intelligent than expected. Although the Oathguard, decked in epic armor could hold their ground for a long time. The overwhelming numbers had chipped away at them until their formation finally broke.

This was mere minutes ago.

Jess and James had managed to escape by the skin of their teeth. There was no telling what happened to the others and Lord Jonah.

"What should we do?" James finally asked after catching his breath.

"Should we just return to Delta? I bet the other already used <Home Call> to escape this nightmare"

James was tired and ready to call it quits. He just wanted to get home while he was still alive. Jess on the other hand stayed silent. A tiny flame was ignited in her eyes when she heard James' second sentence.

"No, we stay," she said determinedly.

"Yeah, a lot of the others probably returned in the chaos. I am sure nobody will blame them too harshly. But think about it, we came here with a mission. We came to save people the tower master and the Lords cherish." ambitions were swinging in her voice.

"With most of the others gone, if we manage to find them, or at least return with definite information on their status, we gain all the credit."

"Jess... have you lost your mind?"

"Don't be so overly dramatic. We have been in a worse situation than this. Remember that time when we delivered those letters to Y-City? We had to sneak past that giant tinkle of ice trolls. Back then we didn't have any awesome equipment or high level. We don't have to fight them, just sneak past, and take a look around."

"hmm..." James was not convinced.

"We can just teleport back the moment it gets dangerous."

"...Fine. But promise me, that you will really use <Home Call> the moment the situation turns sour. No heroic."

"Great! Let's get going."