Amazon Apocalypse: Chapter 53 (Patreon)

I gathered my things while Sakura and Bridget dozed in either arm. When I was finished, I undid the bonds around Sakura’s wrists and ankles and slowly slipped out from between them.

The two shivered, their naked skin vulnerable to the cool air now that they no longer had so many vitality levels. After some thought, I pushed the two of them together so they lay wrapped in each other’s arms.

It was a poor substitute for being there for them myself, but if I was lucky, I’d be back before they woke up. I threw a blanket over both of them for good measure.

I made sure to add the two of them to my party as well. They deserved their share of the experience I was about to harvest.

“I’ll only be gone a little while,” I promised the two sleeping women. Bending down, I gently kissed Bridget and Sakura’s foreheads. I was glad they were asleep. Despite having already given up all their levels to make this happen, I knew they’d want to come with me.

From here on out, the fate of humanity rested on my shoulders.

I made a quick stop by the Obelisk, using some money from my account there to buy a few odds and ends. A tough jacket, new pants, a sword and scabbard from the local blacksmith, and a pistol and holster. It was easier than checking the clothing stores around the city for stuff in my size. I even bought back a few of my leftover Mana Bombs, making a mental note to figure out who decided it would be a good idea to swipe the leftovers and list them for sale. I wasn’t sure if I’d punish them or offer them a business partnership yet.

My cut of the proceeds from prior sales as settlement owner were enough to cover the expenses, though my accounts would be drained dry after this. Not that it mattered. When this was over, Sakura and I would return to my Farmhouse for a few weeks at least. Perhaps Bridget, too, if she still wanted to go. My account would rack up some additional taxes for me in my absence.

I returned to the woods outside of Crownhill. Warp Step let me cover ground fast, and I kept a steady pace. Last time I’d brought my truck along, but that was because there were others with me. This time, I was traveling alone.

Despite being on foot, I was nearly as fast as my truck could go, considering the dense brush and winding off-road path we’d traversed to get to the Wolfmen’s lair last time.

I traced the muddy tracks left in the ground. They were just one sign of many left over from our last attack and disastrous retreat. Perhaps I should have done this from the start. The world had changed with the integration. Maybe building a team and attacking together was the wrong move.

If the Alpha Wolfman had taught me one thing, it was that a single champion with overwhelming power meant more than entire armies. It was up to me to be that champion of humanity, whether or not I wanted the position. Someone had to rise to the occasion, and right now I was our only option.

I spotted bones along my path. I hoped they’d belonged to a deer or some prey animal from one of the other worlds, but I let out a sigh when I saw the size of the skull. Human remains. Just one more victim among many. The Wolfman camp wasn’t much further.

Anticipation gripped my heart. They wouldn’t be doing this to anyone else after today. From the smallest cub to the strongest elite, I planned to end every one of them.

I listened and heard distant growls. The Wolfmen used to talk to one another in their own primitive way, but their transformation into Chaosborn Lycans had lessened that trait. So now it was little more than snarling and growling. They were tearing into a late afternoon lunch right now, barking like a pack of feral dogs as they fought over who got to gnaw on the bones.

My plan was simple. Draw out the Alpha Wolfman, just as before. But that meant I’d have to find him first.

I skirted around their sloppy fortification attempts surrounding the craggy mountainside caves they called home. I didn’t see him anywhere. I circled the camp twice more, but I still saw no sign of him.

That was less than ideal. It meant the Alpha Wolfman was either inside the caves or he was out hunting. I didn’t like either outcome. I couldn’t go into the caves without wiping out the entire camp. And if the Alpha Wolfman was out hunting, he was probably hunting humans.

I needed more information, or at the very least, something to draw him out. I settled on the tactic that had worked last time. I started picking off a few of his packs.

Chaosborn Lycan (Level 14) x3

This was exactly the sort of thing I’d brought the pistol for. I hoped these Lycans associated gunfire with humans and humans with prey. This was the bait, and I was the fisherman.

I took a steady breath, let out a breath, and fired at the nearest group. They were tearing into what might once have been a man, hunched on all fours with teeth bared.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

I shot off three rounds quickly, making no attempt to hide their direction or my location. The first bullet missed, but I received a notification before I’d even finished firing.

Your Pistol proficiency has advanced to level 2!

Your Pistol proficiency has advanced to level 3!

Your bonuses to reload speed, weapon handling, bullet damage, and accuracy have increased.

I had done little with a pistol, and yet here it was, advancing before I’d even emptied my clip. So the unique racial trait I’d picked up, thanks to my evolution, was already making itself known.

I didn’t have time to empty my second clip since the Lycans were nearly upon me by then. I used Warp Step to put some extra distance between me and them and then Power Jump to escape into one of the nearby trees. I settled into a tree branch just as the Lycans pounced on the patch of ground I’d been standing in a little while ago.

Then I took aim with my finger, a weapon that I’d grown much more comfortable with lately.

Pointing, I fired a Mana Bolt. Then another. Unlike the bullets, which sank into the Lycan flesh without accomplishing much of anything, these Mana Bolts cut holes the size of my fist in the side of every target.

Your Caster proficiency has advanced to level 25!

Your bonuses to mana efficiency and spell damage have increased.

I began a second barrage of spells before the Lycans realized they were up against a far stronger foe than they thought. All three Lycans died one after another before they could even figure out where I was shooting them from.

The experience was just a few more drops in the bucket for me, but from my party menu, I could tell Bridget just gained a level. The System seemed to count their contributions to the kills a little more favorably than I would have thought, considering they weren’t even here. Perhaps it could take their recent sacrifices into account for experience calculations.

At more than double their level, these Lycans didn’t stand a chance against me, not in melee combat, and certainly not with spellfire from afar. They were done for the moment. They became my targets.

I moved on to the next group of Lycans. I conserved bullets this time, firing only two shots. Unlike before, both bullets hit. The gun already felt steadier in my hand, as though I was back at the peak of my game when I tried to shoot regularly at a gun range.

The sound of gunfire echoed off the trees and boulders littered around the area, and this time, five Lycans came instead of three. I lured them a little further away from the group before picking them off with spellfire from a tree.

So far, so good.

One by one, the Lycans broke off from the pack, charging toward the source of the familiar sound. With their impressive regeneration, the bullets didn’t do much on their own, but with my current level advantage, my spells were devastating.

I got a little bolder with my attacks, so I drew the sword I’d brought along to save mana. I’d rather like the first one I used, and I wanted to see if I could rack up sword proficiency as fast as I could pistol proficiency.

Your Sword proficiency has advanced to level 13!

Your Sword proficiency has advanced to level 14!

Your sword handling speed and dexterity have increased.

The Lycans made good targets, and if they would come at me in small groups, I might rack up another level before the Alpha Wolfman showed up.

Or at least that was what I’d been hoping for. But even if the Lycans had lost much of their intelligence with their transformation, they were smart enough as predators to know when something was wrong.

As I watched the pack, the first Lycan threw his head back and let out a chilling howl. It only partially resembled that of a wolf now. But there were chilling undertones that suggested more to the howl beyond the perception of mortal ears. Like the Lycan was calling out through darkness and silence as much as crisp afternoon air.

The Shadows of the Chaos Wolf were the fastest to react. They separated from the Lycan hosts they’d been clinging to like parasites and slinked from one shadow to another. They didn’t like lingering in the mid-day sun, and I suspected existing amid too much light was damaging for a being of pure shadow.

All the shadows were headed in one direction, though. And as soon as the Lycans stopped howling, they followed. All of them directly toward me.

I grimaced. Nipping off a few of these guys was a good experience and a way to pick up extra proficiency levels and a bit of charge on my ultimate ability. But fighting all of them at once would be suicide. I might have been able to take them all on, but not without expending so much mana and so many of my abilities that I’d be helpless when I finally came face to face with their alpha.

“Come on, big guy, where are you...” I muttered to myself as I jumped to the ground and started putting more distance between the Lycans and myself. Perhaps if I could draw the entire pack away, I really could risk checking out the inside of those caves.

But then a howl pierced the air, louder and more menacing than all the others. It came from afar, near the outer regions of Crownhill. There was a small campground by the lake in that direction, if I remembered correctly. They’d been too far from the city for me to reach when I was gathering forces for our first attack on the Woflmen. But now I didn’t think anyone’d be left of that group.

Ahead, I spotted a small hill. It was more of a giant boulder, really. Whatever world the Wolfmen had come from had been a rocky and mountainous place. Before the integration, I suspected they lived in a world covered in ice and glaciers churning up great stones each winter.

The hill stood apart from the dense forest; its peak was sharp, jagged, and taller than the highest trees in the surrounding forest. It would no doubt provide a better vantage point than any other in the area. From its top, I’d be able to see the Lycans coming for me and hopefully catch sight of the Alpha Wolfman. Then I could figure out how to separate him from his pack and deal with him before I returned for the rest.

Sure Step helped me find handholds against the sheer rock, and the raw power of my strength let me haul myself up arm over arm in the blink of an eye.

I hauled myself over the ledge at the top and immediately felt a chill run up my spine. I let myself drop, and an instant later, shadows and gnashing teeth tore through the air where I’d been a moment before.

“Human...” The Alpha Wolfman snarled.

I pulled myself up again, jumping and twisting to land on the far edge of the hilltop. Apparently, I hadn’t been the only one who’d thought this would make a good vantage point. The Alpha Wolfman had planned on using it to look for me just as I had for him.

<Author's Note>
Alpha Wolfman just seems like a better name than Servant of the Chaos Wolf, so I'm just going to stick with that even though the name has technically changed.