Reaper's Resurgence - Book 2 - Chapter 45 - Mercenaries (Patreon)

Alexia

I slaughter my way through the undead without any real trouble. Mostly because almost all of the undead are only mid to high Tier 1, with just some of their commanders being low to mid Tier 2. So it ends up being a rather simple task.

That commander’s comment irks me though. The guy was obviously trying to save his own skin. What little skin a blighted one has that is.

It’s pretty obvious the Lich King’s been keeping tabs on me. I can tell that much just from the movements of the undead wherever I go along with the fact that he’d have to be a complete imbecile not to.

A king doesn’t become a king through stupidity after all, much less a Class S Lich King.

He’s been keeping tabs on me ever since I entered the Dimensional Block. All the way till he entered that dungeon of his to level up, probably in an attempt to reach my level.

Which is good, considering I need him to be at the level cap.

On that note, after finishing off all of the undead and slowly walking to the front gates of the human city where the strongest human is, I open the current leaderboards with a frown.

[Dimensional Champion Leaderboard]

[#1 Isabella d'Aragon – Level 250]

[#2 Alexia Knight – Level 250]

[#3 Lucas Nightshade – Level 250]

[#4 Alexander Frost – Level 250]

[#5 Ignivara – Level 250]

[#6 Artorius del Argon – Level 250]

[#7 Ethan Silva – Level 250]

[#8 Sartorius – Level 250]

[#9 Vallius Karan de Volt Hellmouth – Level 250]

[#10 Voltari – Level 250]

At this point all of the people on the leaderboards are at the exact same spot in terms of level. Although likely different points in meeting their requirements for ascension.

The positions of the leaders changed as well, and I’m not the #1 person on the leaderboards anymore. Not that I didn’t already know that earlier. Ethan’s mother beat me to the level cap after all.

A pity.

Then again, there’s one advantage weaker Class species do have over higher Class species like us.

They have easier requirements for ascension.

So I wouldn’t be surprised if the Hound ended up being the first to reach Tier 3. Just because he’s the only Class A species in the top ten.

I sigh at the sadness of losing my number one spot. But considering that the Ancestral Dragon is hundreds of thousands of years old, maybe even millions of years old, it makes sense that she’d eventually eclipse me.

She is the oldest dragon alive after all.

Once I reach the front gate I find the human I negotiated with earlier looking rather nervous. Which has me frowning.

Not hard to guess what’s wrong.

The very instant she sees I’m close enough, she walks up and bows slightly while saying, “I apologize Lady Reaper, but we do not have any Authority Shards or Magical Ore.” She rises again from her bow but keeps her head lowered with deference. “All of it was taken by the leaders of the city who ran to other cities during the battle.”

I raise an eyebrow at that second part.

The first part was something I predicted might happen. But the second part…

“Your leaders suck,” I bluntly state, making her flinch before I ask, “What about materials?”

She shakes her head again without a word.

“Taken by the leaders of the city as well?” I ask, and she nods her head this time. So I sigh and cross my arms. “Well that’s a problem.”

The woman noticeably sweats out of fear before I identify her, seemingly making her sweat even more.

{Arlaine dex Val – Class: Sky Blade – Level 162}

Interesting. An epic class.

“Lady Reaper, may I suggest a way for us to pay off our debt?” the woman asks with clearly spoken words, not showing any of her fear in her voice whatsoever. Which is rather surprising to say the least, but also impressive.

“Speak,” I tell her while silently beginning to tap my foot.

“Lady Reaper, if it would benefit you, I would like to offer ten years’ worth of my mercenary company’s services to you,” the woman, Arlaine, says, finally lifting her head to meet my gaze directly. And even if she does flinch slightly at whatever she sees in my gaze, she manages to hold firm anyways with a determined look on her face.

Interesting.

“Your mercenary company?” I prod her for more information.

So she starts talking. And in the end I find out that she leads a mercenary company consisting of over one thousand mercenaries, all of whom are at least Tier 2 in strength, with the vast majority being at the bottom of Tier 2. It also turns out that they don’t work for the city and were only defending it out of honor. To save the lives in the city.

A rather uncommon mentality to have both before and after the Reset.

Although it also helped the fact that the undead would eventually go after them anyways.

What I find the most interesting is her drive though. She is afraid of me, that’s obvious. But she’s also trying to help out her mercenary company and bring them benefits while finding a middle ground.

After all, working under me means that I’ll end up bringing them back to Dimensional Block #108. Which means leaving the undead-ridden Block behind.

I look behind her at the mercenaries trying to look menacing on the walls of the city but failing to when I notice a few cautiously glancing our way and immediately jerking their head away when they see me looking back. Then I identify several of them, finding them all to be the levels she stated.

So I turn back to her and directly state, “I’ll be staying in this Dimensional Block for a while longer and personally have no use for you myself. But you can work for my sister when I finish with my business in this Block and bring you back.”

Everyone within earshot immediately lets out sighs of relief or pent-up breaths that have me raising an eyebrow.

“Thank you, Lady Reaper,” the leader of the mercenaries says with another bow before asking, “May I know when you plan to leave?”

I look her in the eye and answer honestly, “No idea.” And without expanding on that answer, I ask, “Do you have a map of the area?”

Because I could use a map.

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