Chapter 196 - Brother

Wain wanted to leave, but suddenly Hana stopped him.

"What? Do you want to come with me? Why? Though no, it doesn't matter. I don't need a burden." Said Wain and turned around.

"Wait! Take me with you, please!" Hana wasn't about to give up.

"That's enough. What's the point of me taking you with me? You're hurt, and you don't have a weapon. You'll only get in the way."

"I understand, but I have to go south!"

"Hmm, why?"

"My brother must be there..." Hana muttered.

"I see..." Wain said slowly. "In any case, it won't change my mind. If you want to go yourself, it's your business, don't drag me into it."

Hana bit her lip. She knew Wain was right, and she blamed herself for not going looking for her brother herself before. 

Hana wanted to do it, but she couldn't. At first, she had the task of surviving, and it wasn't until she took the high ground in Twilight Steel that she had the opportunity to do so.

However, she didn't know how to cross the canyon separating the parts of the city. Unlike Last Light, Twilight Steel had not yet built bridges and passageways to the other parts of the city. 

The reason was that the western part was much larger, and Vineta needed more time than Gisle to establish their hold over this territory. Also, Twilight Steel did not have someone like Clovis, making the transition to the other sides much easier.

Hana had no way to traverse the canyon, even when she had time to search for her brother. Of course, Hana could have gone down, but she didn't know of this method since she had not been there.

However, when Wain said he was going south, Hana saw this as an opportunity. She realized that Wain must have known a way to cross the canyon and get to the other side, so she decided to try it despite her dislike of Wain.

"Damn, you attacked me, broke every bone in my body, and took away my weapon. Don't you have any humanity in you? If you don't take me with you, then at least save my brother!" Holding back tears, Hana said, holding out a photograph to Wain.

Wain stood silent for a while but decided to look at the picture.

"His name is Marco Helzu. You will distinguish him from the others." Said Hana.

The picture showed a boy of fifteen with a unique appearance. The left half of his hair was white, and the right half was black. Also, one of his eyes was gray, and the other was purple.

"It's pretty rare to meet people with heterochromia and such an unusual hair coloring... I really notice him even out of a million other people." Proclaimed Wain.

"Does that mean you're going to help me?" With hope in her voice, said Hana.

"You could say that." Wain nodded. "But, I won't look for him purposefully. If I happen to meet your brother and it doesn't interfere with my plans, I'll save him. Don't ask for more than that." Wain said seriously and walked out of the hall.

Hana murmured quietly, "Thank you..."

"What was that...?" Teresa said, shocked. "He can kill people without blinking an eye, but now he's decided to help a stranger."

"Yeah, that's something incredible. A solar eclipse can be seen many times more often than such a kind Wain. It's not like him." Said Gisle.

"Huh." Teresa grinned. "Seems to me there are two possibilities here, either he liked this girl, which is unlikely considering he broke her bones, though if he's sadistic, it makes sense. Or even Wain can't be completely cruel and cold to children."

When Hana heard this, she was embarrassed. Even though Wain had behaved like a real bastard and barbarian toward her, she now felt grateful even though he had given her only a ghostly hope.

"Hana, you do realize that there is almost a hundred percent chance that your brother is no longer alive, right?" Said Vineta.

The blond-haired girl nodded, "Yes, but I managed to survive, which means Marco has a chance. Suddenly the apocalypse started, it's unbelievable, and a miracle could happen to all of us, including my brother."

...

When Wain left the base, the ring on his finger shone brightly, and a silver compass appeared in his hand. With this item, he would locate the last part of the map.

Wain decided to check again to see where the third part of the map was.

Click.

He opened the compass, and the next moment the arrow turned south.

"Great, now I need to find out something else." Wain muttered and closed his eyes.

He had several tasks in the south, one of which was to discover the fourth form. Like the last time, Wain saw a blurry image of a wooden door in a dark alleyway.

It was almost impossible to find a place based on this clue, but other than that, Wain also sensed energy fluctuations. They worked as a beacon, and the closer Wain got to the target, the more accurate the way was.

'The fourth form, given that conditions are different this time, will likely be unique. Although, each of the forms has incredible power and specialness.' Thought Wain and ran towards the south.

On his way, Wain encountered several monsters. Most of them were Primary Chronicle creatures, he ignored them, they were useless. 

However, there were a few First Chronicle. Wain was surprised that such monsters roamed the city during the day and killed them after collecting a few souls.

'Three months later, First Chronicle monsters are already walking the streets of the city. Soon there will be as many as Primary Chronicle. it could be a problem...' Wain thought.

He understood that not all humans had evolved yet, only a small fraction. What's more, most people still haven't activated their Soul Altars yet. Now it was much harder to find a weak zombie than on the first day of the apocalypse, which made the process more difficult.

It took Wain a little over two hours to get to the canyon, and in that time, he killed fifty First Chronicle monsters. Wain did not save these souls for trade but used them immediately.

Wain bought everything he needed from Sven and didn't think he might need Void Souls anytime soon.

"Here I am." Proclaimed Wain was approaching the ledge and looking at the southern part of the city.

Overion was partly a tourist town because of its special location. Overion was technically an island that was not far from the mainland. Overion was separated from the other cities and territories by a fairly narrow strait only a few hundred meters long.

The eastern part had partial access to the sea, while the entire coast of the southern part of the island was open. 

It was the main tourist center of Overion. There were many skyscrapers, hotels, and different attractions.

However, all this was near the beach, which occupied about 30% of the southern part. In the rest of the south were the usual houses and districts, and there was also a small military base of the city created for emergencies.

'I wonder, when the apocalypse began, how useful was the military base and soldiers? They had the best equipment and machinery with high firepower. That's more than enough to take out the zombie and mutated insect mobs.' Thought Wain and jumped down.

After a minute, he reached the bottom of the canyon and ran forward. Every time Wain went down to the bottom of the canyon, he found something interesting. This time he decided to move exclusively toward his goal.

Wain realized that he would not have time to evolve a second time before the island emerged. Even if he reached level thirtieth right now, he wouldn't risk trying to do it.

He didn't know how long it would take. Maybe the process would be faster this time, but probably a lot longer. Wain didn't want to risk it. 

He was sure his powers were enough to handle almost any enemy in the human world.

Crackling.

Wain climbed up the ledges like a rock climber and pondered the current situation.

'Hmm, perhaps only someone with a Legendary Soul and a Seal of Darkness could compete with me. Though, I'm not sure anyone but me could reach such a level so quickly in the World of Darkness.'

Whoooosh.

Wain made one last dash and was on top. He looked around and saw a familiar sight, dozens of ruined buildings, broken streets, dried blood on the roads, and hundreds of scattered things. It was the face of chaos and panic.

Click.

He pulled out his compass and determined his direction. He needed to go left. Wain decided first to find the last part of the map and then go for the Faceless Aristocrat Mask. 

Wain was sure that he would have to go through an even tougher challenge to get the fourth form, and he wanted to be fully prepared for it. 

Wain thought that the third part of the map might be in Dungeon, which meant he could get good equipment there.

Also, Wain wanted to get used to Forgotten Monarch's Sword. He had never used this sword in combat before.

'Hmm, I wonder what organization runs the south? How strong are they? The south is the main tourist center of Overion, so when the apocalypse began, there were many people here, more than anywhere else. Theoretically, there should be many strong people with unique souls.' Wain pondered, looking at the skyscrapers in the distance.

The tallest buildings were near the beach, and the farther away from it, the lower the houses were. 

A few kilometers away from the tourist center, there were disadvantaged areas where it was hard to survive before the apocalypse. These were the slums.

These places were never shown to tourists, and no one but the locals came here. In fact, it was typical for a city full of skyscrapers to have slums, ruin, and poverty underneath.

Since such areas were unflattering, people have pushed aside and tried to hide them to avoid spoiling the city's image and losing profits.

"It seems unlike other parts of the city in the south, the situation is unusual..." Mumbled Wain looking at the massive walls in the distance.

They were made of trash, scrap metal, pieces of stone, and various planks. 

The wall was high and quite large. Despite the bad materials, it would be difficult for monsters to get through them.

When Wain saw the wall, he realized that there was no one leader in the south like in other places. There were two main organizations. 

One was located in the disadvantaged neighborhoods or slums, and the other was among the skyscrapers near the beach.

Of course, the tourist district was in an advantageous position. There was more food in the tourist district, and the skyscrapers were a pretty safe haven. People could hide there and think about surviving.

Zombies couldn't get into such places, and neither could weak insects. Also, in the tourist district, there were a lot of stores, which meant a large variety of equipment with which to resist monsters.

In the slums, the situation was many times worse. There, people had to fight not only with monsters but also with each other for food and water.

'Eh... An apocalypse is a terrible event for everyone, but instead of people coming together to solve a common problem, the situation only worsened. 

I'm sure people are killing, betraying, and robbing each other every day in these places. In fact, this place makes me feel a little nostalgic...' Wain thought, looking at the dirty streets of the slums.

In such a place, Wain spent the first years of his life. His life, like that of most people, was not easy. 

He had to go through many hardships and horrors even to come close to such a concept as 'normal life.' It was an ordeal in which hundreds died.

Wain knew better than anyone how hard it was to survive in such places and how ruthless people lived here. He had experienced firsthand all the pain and bitterness of betrayal and betrayal.

"The road to the top is really hard... Many people are jealous of the rich and famous and want to be in their shoes. However, these people don't want to take the same path to achieve their goals. They don't even think about what many have gone through to be where they are..." Wain muttered, looking out at the horizon.

Wain knew that to gain power. Someone first had to go through pain and suffering, forging one's thorny path.

It seemed too cruel to him because now he was glad it had all happened to him. Otherwise, he would not have become who he was. However, Wain realized that he would never have wanted to walk his old path again.

It showed how high the price for the power was.. Wain didn't know if it was worth it or if he would have the strength to go through it again without knowing the end result.