Blood Nemesis-Chapter 106: Sacked

The cleanup crew was rushing, dragging the charred carcasses of the mana beast. A few meters away, over a clean area, the reporters had placed their cameras on tripods, capturing the image of the gate and the destruction around it. Occasionally, they would stand in front of the cameras to speak into them as if someone were living inside.

Oliver sat on the edge of the crater, in a new, clean tracksuit, observing everything that was happening around him.

It was late into the night. The sky was pitch black due to the lack of moonlight. The broken lights on the buildings around were being quickly replaced, once again regaining the glow of the city.

"Humanity can adapt to anything."

He commented in a daze, watching everything.

The world had changed quickly after the emergence of gates. Many died. Many fought to live. Many disappeared. And yet, through all the troubling times, humans persevered with nothing but their grit and wit.

Although the transition from a peaceful world to one of death and destruction was sudden, they adapted to the situation quickly and survived.

"Supposedly, death in a battle was not normal in the past. Most people used to live till their eighties and die of natural causes. Now, even kids fight for survival. Every day, hunters and heroes die. And it has become the new norm."

*Scoffs*

"Why did I never notice we were going down a path to absolute destruction? To an apocalypse that we cannot avoid."

Oliver couldn’t find a reason at all. As a person born during the chaotic era, his thoughts were skewed a little and had made him believe that it was all normal.

"I am certainly not as smart as I think I am," Oliver muttered, gazing at the undulating colorful gate in his view.

In the thirty-meter deep crater, many people were hurriedly working, doing their jobs to make ends meet.

If a monster escaped from the gate, some might die. Human life was that short and feeble.

As he observed them, he asked himself what he would do if he had remained as powerless as they were. After all, he was once a weak child who wanted to end everything, not by destroying the world, but by taking his own life.

"Fortunately, I am just as stupid as I think I am," Oliver muttered, dazed.

"Yeah, I agree." Achara walked up to him from the side and sat nearby.

They were sitting on a foldable chair.

"Hm?" Oliver lifted his head and smiled at her. "Well, I agree too." He said.

For some reason, Oliver’s voice carried a gentle pull. Achara, who wanted to tease him, couldn’t find the right word to say at that moment.

She nervously looked around for a second and said with a hint of hesitation.

"Although you are stupid, you have what it takes to be a true hero."

Her words quickly woke Oliver up from his useless thoughts.

Hero?

Me?

Oliver found it hilarious that she said that. Slowly, his lips curled up into a smile.

"Why do you think so?" He asked.

"I saw the video. I saw how you desperately fought to save those people. If you can’t be a hero, who can?"

Achara was in her twenties. She was technically older than Oliver, but not by much. However, in reality, when he combined his age from his previous life, he would be twice as old as her. So, in his eyes, she was the inexperienced one.

When she asked, "If he can’t be a hero, who else can?" Oliver almost burst out laughing. If she knew what he had done in his past life, would she say the same?

He considered it a mistake she made due to her less experience in dealing with people.

"If I am the benchmark of what a hero should be, this world is soon going to die. So, don’t say stupid stuff like that. Now that I think about it, you are stupider than you look. We went on two missions, both times, you fell unconscious like a damsel in distress. Your opinion is not trustworthy enough."

Oliver sent some pointed words at her.

However, Achara was not offended. She was used to the thorny words Oliver Thorne says.

So, she shrugged her shoulders and met his gaze.

"But both times, you saved me. See, actions speak louder than words."

"Well, I thought it would look nice on my resume if I saved you. Hence disproving your conjecture."

Immediately, Oliver checked the validity of her words and shot them down, dismissing them as nothing more than her wishful thinking.

"If you trust people this easily, it will come to bite you in the back someday." He added.

Achara smiled, seeing his protest.

"No one saved my life twice. So, I didn’t trust you easily." She said and shut up.

She had said everything she wanted to say about that topic. His actions were indeed more trustworthy than his words.

"...Hey, is it your agenda to make me a hero or something?" Oliver took a second to think and asked.

Unlike Achara, he was not the kind to trust anyone.

Meanwhile, Achara ignored him and turned to look at the gate. She suddenly noticed an unnatural flicker in it. Squinting her eyes, she stood up.

Oliver also noticed it.

Achara leapt into the crater without a second delay. Oliver followed her.

Something was certainly coming out of the gate. But there was no way to know what it was.

’It could be a mana beast or the damned Fist King.’ Oliver said in his mind and closed in on the gate.

"Oliver, you should stay back," Achara warned.

"I don’t die easily."

Oliver said and ignored her.

The clean-up crew noticed the abnormality and quickly backed away while the soldiers armed themselves. However, no one was really afraid because of the presence of the Thunder Emperor, somewhere within the military camp.

*Wumm*

With a humming sound, something suddenly stepped out of the gate. The gate twisted and turned, revealing a human leg.

Just after the leg, the torso came out.

It was a man.

No, half a man.

His body was littered with blood stains and bruises. One leg and one arm of the person were missing. And in its stead, there existed illusory translucent white appendages that served the same form and function. It looked like he was severely injured. However, even then, he had a cold, disdainful smile on his face.

"Ha ha." He laughed.

"It cost me an arm and a leg to get them." He shook the makeshift snake leather sack he was carrying.

With a clang, it revealed five pale blue gems, the same ones that once adorned the Cerulean Cobra’s head.

However, the moment he did that, a Thick sturdy tooth, as big as an entire Mech, came out of the gate to stab him.

Fist King, who just came out of the gate after surviving who knows what kind of terror, calmly side-stepped, dodging the long fang.

"Not today, snake." He said and calmly walked away from the gate, towards Achara and Oliver, totally ignoring the monstrosity that wanted to squeeze its head through the gate.