Chapter 35: Ch 24: Victory, Getting stronger

The stone door crashed down with a deafening boom, pinning the mushroom-headed creature beneath its immense weight. The ground shook, and dust billowed into the air, obscuring the battlefield for a moment.

The white-haired figure, O’Brien, stood a few paces away, his chest heaving and his transparent scales shimmering faintly under the dim light. He stared at the door, his claws flexing as a grin spread across his face.

“Didn’t know I could do that,” he muttered, his voice tinged with excitement. He felt a deep drain on his card essence reserves and thought, I can probably manage one or two more of those.

The fleeting instant that he managed to act on primal instinct made his blood boil, feeling the waves of spiritual energy in the air respond to him, successfully pinning the creature down.

But the creature wasn’t done. Its bloodshot eyes glowed with fury, and its mushroom cap pulsed with a sickly light. With a guttural roar, it began to thrash, its immense strength causing the stone door to crack and splinter. O’Brien’s grin faltered for a moment as he took a step back, his instincts screaming at him to act.

“Haha, let’s go. Haven’t had enough, me either!” O’Brien felt his blood boil as he egged on his opponent, his scales glowed with dull light of his light grey ash card essence.

As the door shattered and faded away leaving nothing, the creature surged forward, bloodied, its movements unnaturally fast. Its mouth opened wide, and a beam of searing energy erupted from its maw, cutting through the air like a laser.

O’Brien’s instincts kicked in before he could think. He raised his hand, and a grey and gold magic circle flickered into existence. From it emerged four pale grey sickle beetles, their translucent carapaces gleaming like polished metal. They darted forward, forming a ghostly shield between O’Brien and the beams.

The energy slammed into the beetles, their apparition-like bodies dissolving some of the attack but not all. The air crackled with heat, and the remaining energy shot past them, forcing O’Brien to dive to the side. He felt another drain on his card essence reserves after the summon and his mind churned, Perhaps i can manage to do that once more but that’s it, these natal magics drain an impossible amount of card essence.

Thanks to the high quality of his natal card, O’Brien already had monstrous card essence reserves as an initial stage Card Apprentice, surpassing even Mary Rose who had a White Silver natal card and was also two sub realms above himself but even he could hardly support casting any more spells.

His mind quickly snapped back to the battle, the mushroom head was now beyond pissed and its muscles wriggled in fury. Its thick tail covered in cuts waved furiously though the air.

The abnormal growths on its torso pulsed, and another beam shot out, this one from its side. O’Brien’s eyes narrowed, and he gestured sharply. The beetles split, two intercepting the new beam while the others lunged at the creature’s flank. The monster roared in frustration, its tail lashing out to swat the beetles away, but the insects were too fast, dodging and sinking their mandibles into the creature’s flesh.

They exchanged several blows, the apparition like creatures softening many blows with a few pure physical strikes even passing straight through their semi-solid bodies. O’Brien’s eyes narrowed seeing this.

O’Brien didn’t wait for an invitation. He lunged forward, his claws extended and his scales shimmering. The creature turned to face him, its movements unnaturally fast, but O’Brien was ready. He ducked under a swipe of its massive arm, his claws raking across its side. The creature howled, its blood—a thick, black ichor—splattering the ground.

But the fight was far from over. The creature’s mushroom cap pulsed again, and this time, it released a cloud of spores. O’Brien’s instincts screamed at him to retreat, but he stood his ground. Two beetles buzzed around him, their bodies intercepting the spores before they could reach him. The corrosive spores ate away at the beetles’ carapaces, dissolving the apparitions into nothingness but they bought O’Brien enough time to act.

He summoned another stone door, this one smaller but no less imposing. It materialized above the creature and slammed down, pinning it momentarily. The monster thrashed, its strength immense, but O’Brien was already moving. He felt a significant drain on his reserves and thought, That’s it for my card essence. One last push with the remaining beetles.

He leaped onto the creature’s back, his claws digging into its flesh. The creature roared, its tail whipping around to dislodge him, but O’Brien held on, his scales deflecting the blows. The last two beetles, though battered, joined the fray. They latched onto the creature’s limbs, their mandibles tearing into its flesh. The monster’s movements grew sluggish, its strength waning under the relentless assault.

O’Brien saw his opening. He raised his claws, the grey and gold hues of his powers shimmering around them, and brought them down with all his strength. The creature let out one final, ear-splitting shriek before collapsing, its body twitching as O’Brien madly clawed at its flesh ending its short time on this earth.

O’Brien stood over the lifeless creature, his breathing ragged, body in shambles but his eyes alight with excitement. He looked at his hands, the claws retracting and the scales fading, and let out a low laugh collapsing to the ground.

“Not bad,” he said, his voice filled with satisfaction. “Not bad at all.”

As he revelled in his newfound power. A glowing rectangular light suddenly appeared catching his attention.

“Hm?”

***

Time passed and the baleful moons were high up in the night sky, their lights intertwined as they descended to earth forming tricolored moonlight in several areas. Like the atmosphere was some kind of glazed glass reflecting and magnifying light.

In other places the lights of one or two moons was dominant, such was the case of the current location that mainly had the light of the silver moon peaking into cracks within the building. The silver light beat away its peers calling this land its own.

The previous corridor was a mess of rubble and debris, the walls cracked and the ceiling partially collapsed from the earlier fight. Dust hung in the air, the tangy smell of blood and the faint hum of a broken fluorescent light flickered overhead.

The moonlight did not reach this deep underground.

Rose, Roya, Lea, and Jules stood near the subdued enemies, their voices low as they discussed what to do.

“We can’t just kill them,” Rose said, her voice trembling but firm. “They’re scared, just like we were when this all started. They’re trying to survive, just like us.”

Unlike their previous scummy human foes, these people were different, they were merely on different sides.

Roya crossed her arms, her expression calm but edged with practicality. “Rose isn’t wrong. But we need to think about this carefully. O’Brien won’t be swayed by emotions.”

Roya let out a deep sigh, in fact she lied, in her view Rose was completely wrong. Sparing one’s enemies was practically a sin. This was lesson learnt with blood.

Nevertheless, she would aways support this naive and pretty friend of hers. At least with herself present, she could save her lovely red headed friend from the blunt of the repercussions of her benevolent naivete.

Once she too was quite similar to O’brien, despite her father’s warnings to not become like himself, as an adult she ended up just the same. A cold mechanical killing machine, and after being ordered to kill innocents young and old on many occasions, her humanity all but perished. Once she wondered what was even her purpose in this life, her heart empty. Rose was the one who brought back her humanity allowing her to feel once more.

Dying her dark world with color, in fact, Rose was her first ever friend as she never had a normal childhood, after over two decades she had come to realize that the things she saw on TV were mostly fake… until she met Rose.

So even though she disagreed with Rose in her head, her mouth followed her heart unable to add insult to injury as her friend struggled helplessly at a crossroads of her beliefs.

She wouldn't admit it but she was glad O'Brien was there, not just for the hard truth but he could also check and balance her friend's naivete which might get her killed or taken advantage of normally.

One of the enemies, the man with a fresh scar across his cheek, seized the opportunity. “Please,” he begged, his voice shaking. “We didn’t mean any harm! Our base… we have running water, doctors, mechanics, former officials, military men and weapons, well preserved food… everything you could possibly need. You could join us! It doesn’t have to be like this!”

Roya’s gaze sharpened. “Sell yourselves better,” she said coldly. “When he gets back, you’ll need to give him a reason to spare you. Make it good otherwise he won’t bother.”

Jules suddenly scoffed, “That bastard, if only he wasn’t such a turd.”

Still despite her words she agreed with Roya, for the time being they were reliant on O’Brien and while they might be able to survive on their own, this would create new problems and place them in unknown dangers, furthermore, it would be foolish to leave the side of knowledge and resources in such a precarious period.

Jules knew this, so did Rose and Lea, their only hope to save their enemies relied on convincing O’Brien.

Though she wasn’t too keen on it really. Jules caressed the spots where her bullet wounds had freshly healed and couldn’t help but be stingy with her words. She looked over to her enthusiastic aunt accompanied by her lively and disheveled twin, the blonde beauty Lea and knew she couldn’t say anything towards their defeated enemies.

The loving and naive duo were truly a match made in heaven and very troubled at the moment unable to see that half their team already deeply stood against their ideals.

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The man swallowed hard, his eyes darting between the women wearing various expressions. “Our leader… he’s collecting those magic cards, you know like yours. He’s got a whole team of people with powers, they all listen to him, he’s very powerful and they’re always looking for more cards and people. If you come with us, he’d… he’d probably give you some when you join, only you blessed ones can use them after all. It's clear as day those things are the future. I think they are trying very hard to figure them out. We also have a system in place, its been a short time but everyone listens, the ordinary folk will help you out with anything you want, anything! You won’t have to lift a finger! There’s also ah…”

The man continued rambling grasping at straws.

Before anyone could respond, the sound of footsteps echoed down the corridor. O’Brien emerged from the shadows, his body battered and bloodied. His transformation had faded, leaving him human—and visibly badly wounded. His clothes were torn, his skin even paler from blood loss, he had areas of mangled flesh with exposed bone and his breathing labored. Yet, his amber eyes burned with a cold, unyielding intensity.

Rose’s eyes widened in shock as she took in O’Brien’s battered form.

“Lea!” she said, her voice trembling. Was she seeing things? O’brien of all people was actually beaten to this extent.

Roya’s eyes also widened in disbelief. That thing did feel dangerous, it was that dangerous?!

This scrooge actually met his match? Jules was surprised.

Lea stepped forward, her habits taking over as her hands glowed faintly preparing to tend to O’Brien’s wounds. “Let me take a look, it looks serious.” she said, her tone professional but concerned. She also had a hidden agenda, after healing him perhaps he would be more agreeable to sparing the captured foes.

O’Brien waved her off, his voice rough but steady. “I’m fine. What’s this?” He glanced at the subdued enemies, his gaze sharp despite his condition. He had overheard the last part of their conversation.

The enemies froze, their eyes widening as they took in O’Brien’s miserable appearance. They exchanged uneasy glances, silently weighing their chances of fighting back. But the memory of the mushroom-headed creature’s strength—and the fact that O’Brien had survived it—made them think twice.

They had actually come here several times before as O’Brien’s group surmised, they also saw the mushroom headed creature in action as it decimated another scavenging group and a horde of sickle beetles in under a minute respectively. They were well aware of its horrors.

O’Brien noticed their hesitation and felt a flicker of disappointment. If only they’d tried to fight, he mused. It would’ve made things simpler.

More people meant more problems, he only needed one alive to interrogate. The rest could join the faded bloody mist that were once their comrades.

Rose seized the opportunity, her voice trembling but hopeful. “They’re scared, O’Brien. Just like we were when this all started. They’re trying to survive, just like us. Killing them won’t solve anything.”

Her watery eyes seemed to reflect the old image of O’Brien, the one she knew before he became a stranger. She was desperate unable to think of a way to surely sway him.

O’Brien’s eyes narrowed, but the faint hint of satisfaction in his expression didn’t fade. He was quite happy with his new abilities discovered in the midst of battle.

Those posh leaders from those powerful bases like Blue Phoenix had good reasons for having such a strict training regime for their new recruits.

He had scoffed at them when he first heard of it but now he was wiser for it.

If the circumstances were different then it would have taken much longer for him to know he could execute such feats through his natal card.

Still being in a good mood didn't change his beliefs.

He turned to the quivering enemies.

“Survival means eliminating threats,” he said, his tone icy. “They made their choice when they pulled the trigger.”

Roya stepped in, her gaze still curious about his deep injuries but she didn’t ask, instead she added,

“Rose speaks from her cuddly heart but what she says does have some merit. If their base is as good as they say, it could be worth checking out. But we’d need guarantees. Trust isn’t exactly in high supply these days. You like collecting cards right? If its true what they say, then it could be worth your while. They seem to have a large enough base to allow for it, bigger than others we've made exchanges with to this point."

Other than the initial dark history in the basement where the women were attacked in their sleep and held down by old ladies, they had made several exchanges with different groups since then but no one has surpassed that initial group in terms of the quantity and quality of offerings.

Roya saw that O'Brien was disappointed but not too surprised with each exchange.

“It’s highly unlikely that they can match even a portion of my current card stock, even yours combined would be a surprise.” O’Brien shook his head. The girls between them especially after days of hunting had over two dozen cards to themselves. A wealthy stock in the Last Days for just four people.

"Wait,” Lea suddenly looked at the scarred man, “How many superpowers did you say your base has?”

“Uh.” The man gulped nervously, O’brien’s baleful presence weighing down on him but he still managed to reply, “About a dozen… i think?”

Lea pressed on, “And how many people were in your base at first, at the very start?”

O’Brien had mentioned how rare Blessed Ones were so if the numbers didn’t add up, it might help tilt the balance.

Before the man could answer, O’Brien interrupted.

“You think? Why do you think? You should know?”

His choice of words were curious indeed.

The man with the scarred cheek spoke up again, his voice shaking but desperate feeling O'Brien's lingering bloodlust prickle against his skin, “Please, spare us!.... I uh, well the elite team only listens to the leader I hear, I’ve never seen them act, the ex-military maintains order under the command of the deputy leader. There are rumours that the team under the leader are all superpowers but many think its just propaganda to deter the public.”

Suddenly, realizing what he said, the man wished he could swallow those words and slap himself, instead of padding the power of their base he actually reduced it. But O'Brien was intrigued instead and not deterred.

“You said they mainly gather cards and you all have a similar mission yes? how many cards do you think are in your base?” O’Brien’s pupils flickered with a mysterious light.

“About four dozen or so i think, the leader does like to take them out and look at them but i’ve never been close enough to see him do it.” It wasn't the scarred man but a woman who answered this time. She held the hands of her other female companion who had peed herself from fright.

This figure was an estimate on their part, the very upper limit they could think of.

O’Brien tapped his chin.

Still weighing his options until suddenly he remembered something, other than the places he visited and where he dropped the girls in the Genesis Card Fall, there were three blindspots he couldn’t make it to that had high quality cards.

The European City of Monvec was truly a treasure trove, he wouldn’t be surprised if it was top three in the entire world… no, with his own natal card in the mix and even the Yellow Gold grade card, it was undoubtedly the wealthiest card fall of them all. He had chosen well for his starting point.

Thinking of the first group of survivors who he fleeced who had an upcoming appointment for awakening their card pool apertures, he posed a question but before he could, Lea spoke first.

Still worried that O’Brien was leaning towards killing them, Lea once again urged, “You mentioned something about profit before right? How so?”

The other man who was scared stiff managed to reply, “Yes, medicines are allocated as wages like food and such. As the suppliers we get a cut when certain people use cards as an exchange from other shelters, this place is still a secret and only we know about it since most of the survivors from here made it to us. So it's been profitable."

He didn't explain that such situations were rare however, though it was something they all wished for on each return journey. The leader rewarded them handsomely whenever someone desperate wanted medicines for cards.

Medicine exchanged for cards…

O’Brien asked another question.

“In the vicinity of your base. An old rusty clocktower about seventeen stories high, a new amusement park with marshmallow mascots and signs or the glass statue of King Alonso. Any of those nearby?”

The group looked at each other before the scarred man spoke up once more as the lead representative, “Uh, the statue and amusement park are nearby.”

O’Brien nodded to the women, “Tie them up and bring them along. We’ll rest for a day or two and when you have chosen your practice method and gotten started we can pay their little base a visit.”

A smile broke out on O’brien’s face but the onlookers felt a chill creep up their spines seeing this and couldn't manage to breathe easy

‘I hadn’t expected much more from my fleecing endeavours, I was just about ready to leave after a little while, the city was broken and scattered, any more really high quality cards were all but out of reach and hopeless, If their base is really near those two landmarks, intact even, then i might catch myself a few White Silver and Red Steel grades if i’m lucky.’

The women might be numb to the value of cards being quite spoiled due to his presence but he had most certainly not forgotten.

Lea and Rose were so overjoyed that they tied up the men and women with smiles on their faces much to their captives' chagrin.

Roya looked at the fading back of O’brien thoughtfully. Jules was half-bedazzled.

‘Does this douche actually have a heart? No, i must be overthinking, he must have some evil machinations in the works.’

She refused to believe that this particular leopard could ever change its spots.

***

New Roselee.

Celes turned to Old Wheeler and his group who were accompanying them back to their base.

“Are you sure you want to come with us. As you saw before we might have a tendency to get into dangerous situations.” She solemnly asked.

“Huhu. Who do you think this old man is? It’s clear why we had to take care of those green skins, that pile of bones makes my teeth grind even now. We were struggling to find good food anyway, from what that feisty girl with the mind control abilities has said, you have a lot of food in stock.” Old Wheeler massaged his beard with a chortle.

Celes smiled reaching out her delicate palm, “Welcome to the team.”

“Ha! To making a stand in this New World!” The powerful dwarf’s huge hand held hers like a giant holding a newborn.

They shook hands with comical but thick enthusiasm.

The so called mind controller watched on with a smile.

Suddenly, some yellow spongy crystals growing from a rusty broken pipe caught their attention.

“Celes is that?” Minnie cried out in surprise.

“It is.” Celes sported a smile, after a hard battle blessings had come their way.

Ores bred by the New World were beginning to surface. They already had a few black primrose petals and a few material cards from the Genesis Card Fall so quite a bit of cards could now be activated legitimately with this new ore in the mix.

'Finally, it's been like fighting with all my limbs tied up relying on just Sapphire and overclocking cards, there are no more cards able to be overclocked and the previous ones are still in the cool down phase. It's timely rain.'

Once meeting certain requirements, cards could be activated without the relevant materials, something both O'Brien and Celes did often but this rough method not only damaged the card's integrity but also made it useless before its cool down period ended, which typically extended from weeks to months.

A steep price to pay in such sensitive and turbulent times.

“Quickly! Harvest it all and get a move on, I’ll teach you how to use it when we get back. Although it can be used to activate the [Rock Shield], [Tunneling Rat], [Scout Golem] & [Earth Spike] cards. They also have a even better use for our next step. So hold off for a bit on activating your first cards!"

Celes peered across her hardened team, “It’s time to get stronger.”