Despite the Ratkin, despite the hordes, despite the multitude of other races and monsters, it turned out our greatest enemies were the men and women beside us.

Wilfrid Pember - Historian- The Start of the Apocalypse

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The wind hissed and spluttered, rousing Silas from his sleep. The sounds softened to a muffle in the next moment as the window was shut, its hinge protesting noisily. His eyes widened and his drowse cleared, but he stayed still; a light sleeper from his days on the streets, he knew it was best to continue acting asleep when someone sneaked around you, at least until you could be certain of their intent.

Then again, he had nothing of value on him, so there was only one reason someone would break into his bedroom in the night. Under the blanket, he edged his hand towards the axe on the bedside table, knowing he had perhaps a handful of seconds to act. He had an accurate idea of how far the intruder was because of his enhanced hearing.

As they crept into his reach, he sprung up and swung the axe into their chest. The intruder reacted instantly, leaping back and eyeing him with a dagger in her hand; the curtains had been left ajar, so he had discerned it was a woman from her faint moonlit outline. Infusing his eyes with mana, he realised it would be an easy fight from the plethora of red spots on her body.

He breathed out some of the tension knotting his muscles and spoke, “You should stop now - I don’t want to kill you.” He wasn’t a monster to sink so low, although this belief was put into question as he recalled Angela’s torn up corpse from the tutorial. Now wasn’t the time to debate his morality, however, and he made the flash decision to disable his intruder before she could do him any harm.

She appeared to seriously consider his plea as she dropped her dagger. “Fine,” she said in a fittingly shifty voice. He knew who it was from that: Ruby Baker, the Assassin who had joined the village alongside Grace.

The realisation worried him, but he didn’t let his emotions show, even in the darkness. He moved closer, fully aware of what she was up to, and baited her sudden but not-so-surprising sneak attack.

She swerved the hidden dagger up, almost lodging it in his neck, but he grabbed her arm before she managed and twisted it in one smooth motion. Simultaneously, he booted her shins and sent her sprawling down. Shrieking, she tried to struggle and squirm out of his grasp, but he put to an end to that by smashing her head into the floorboards.

“Who sent you?” he asked in a cold, detached voice. His grip dug into her skull, causing her to sob from the pain.

“I…” she answered in between frightful gulps of air, “I… Grace… S-she sent me.”

“Why?” he asked, pressing harder but letting go as she screeched. A bubble of shame burst inside him at his cruelty, but he silenced it by branding her as scum in his mind. If he hadn’t been fast enough, she would have murdered him in his sleep and taken away everything he had worked for. “If you answer my questions, I’ll let you go. Free.” He didn’t know if he would, but he hoped it would make her talk.

Desperate, she seemed to regain her fleeting breath and with it some sense. “She had an argument with Lazzaro and wanted you to be dealt with.”

“What do I have to do with that?” he asked, but his mind answered the question in the next moment as he recalled his statements the day prior. He had said he would stand with Lazzaro in a fight for mayorship. “This is about being mayor, isn’t it?”

Ruby nodded meekly.

“What did they argue about?”

“How to spend the credits from the horde. They disagreed and Lazzaro refused to give any ground, so she snapped,” the Assassin said, her voice growing softer. She likely knew what he would ask next.

“Is he dead then? Is Lazzaro dead?” Silas’s chest tightened.

There was a clear tone of regret as she spoke. “She told me to kill him, then you.”

The ethereal hand over Silas’s heart gripped - considering Ruby was here, he had his answer already. “And Iris?” If Silas had been made a target because of proximity with the aged mage, there was no way the little healer hadn’t been.

Detecting the instability in his voice, Ruby rushed out an answer. “She’s safe, she’s safe, I swear. I only knocked her out and took her to Grace.”

Within the village, he had spent the most time with Iris and Josh, so it was relieving to hear she was alive, at least. Remembering the Riverside’s citizen list, he checked it and noted Lazzaro’s name was indeed gone with Grace’s now showing up as the mayor. Iris still showed up though. He closed it and abruptly struck Ruby with stunning force, ensuring that she stayed put while he found a cord of rope. He tightly secured her wrists to his bed frame and fastened her feet together.

Maybe it was foolish to keep her alive considering she had murdered Lazzaro and had attempted to murder him, but he didn’t feel like dirtying his hands at the moment. Perhaps that would change once he learnt the full extent of this coup, but right now he had better things to do. She would simply have to await his judgment.

He promptly equipped himself and headed out into the lashing rain with haste. The moons shone brilliantly in the night - all nine of them with different shades. They lit his way as he walked over to Grace’s home, keeping himself to the shadows for as long as possible. Once he reached the area, which had been taken over by her group, he saw their entire faction was alive with voices and laughter and cheering.

He attracted more attention here as people recognised him and followed after him, likely knowing what he was up to. Silas didn’t attack any of them as he figured they were just curious for the fight to come, and most of them even appeared excited at his appearance as if readying for live entertainment.

Eventually coming up to the Valkyrie’s house, he simply waited outside; several people had already rushed ahead of him to warn of his coming. He didn’t have to wait long before the woman of the night strode out, studying him with cold eyes, body poised to strike like a viper. However, on seeing his lack of action, she relaxed and chuckled mirthlessly.

“I was hoping my pet would make short work of you, but here you stand,” she called out. “The question is, why are you here, Silas?”

He glared at her, spear slowly turning in his hands like a spitroast, as she answered for him.

“Number one, you’re here to jump off the sinking ship and onto mine. Well, let me tell you that you’re more than welcome to do so. Number two, you’re here for some fun, and I’d be happy to indulge you if that’s the case.” She grinned coquettishly and winked. “Number three, you’re here for some fun,” she repeated, her grin turning maniacal as a fervent glint entered her eyes, “And I’d be happy to indulge just the same. So, which one is it, Silas?”

“I’m here for some fun, of course,” he replied, spear still turning in his hands.

Hearing his words, Grace beamed as brilliantly as the moons themselves. She waved her lackeys back, motioning them to form a wide circle around the duo. She raised her slender sword, her scored shield. “I knew you wouldn’t disappoint.”

Silas shuffled forward, a thin layer of mud pulling at his feet. Activating Weakness Vision, he saw hardly any lit regions on her body and the few there were she covered with her shield. Still, he had no doubt he would win.

She abruptly charged at him, breaking him from his thoughts. He lunged in turn, breaking her momentum as spearpoint smashed into shield. He followed with a swing, which she ducked while dashing into his reach.

Opposed to the idea of letting her come close enough to strike, he lashed out with his spear, whacking her forcefully with its shaft. It wasn’t enough to stop her as she bit down and forged on. He slipped away, attempting to make space, but she swiftly followed, her figure shining brighter and brighter until it near blinded him.

Floundering back, he did his best to duck and block her attacks, mostly failing as she struck as quick as lightning, moving at a blistering pace while piercing through his defences. Despite this, she didn’t go for any critical blows and instead decorated him with cuts as she played with her meal.

Wounded, he finally lost his balance and tripped over. Half-expecting to die then, he was surprised as she stopped her advance. He squinted up at her through the blinding light - he had known she glowed while fighting, but he hadn’t expected for her to shine this bright - and saw pure glee on her face.

“Is this it? I thought you would fuck me harder than this, Silas,” she said with a savage smile.

Her lackeys roared with delight at their leader’s dominant show of power. The ruckus had brought more and more of the village out, swelling the crowd massively. Although a handful of newcomers supported Grace, the majority of them watched the scene anxiously, whispering amongst themselves.

“Is she going to kill him? What will we do for the next horde, then?” asked one villager to another.

One of her lackeys heard this and turned around. “Nothing, we’ll all be safe,” he said, his face glowing. “In fact, we’ll do better than ever. Look at Grace: this is the power of a true leader.”

They nodded to his overbearing attitude, not wanting to invite trouble on themselves. Internally, however, they knew nothing good would come of her victory as her views on non-fighters were well known.

____

Zhang Bao, the Barbarian, was originally a mixed martial artist from China. He completed the extreme tutorial with flying colours and went onto to form Jinzhou on Idroa. Although he describes himself as a drunken reveller, others have described him with all the qualities of a cruel tyrant. Fortunately for Jinzhou, he appears to lack an interest in power and has instead religiously applied himself to alcohol and slaughter.

He is one of the notable persons who have waged war against the Drakkar instead of the Ratkin. This is made more catching by the fact Jinzhou is holding its own against the dragonmen, primarily due to the efforts of Zhang Bao and Hou Yu, the Artificer. Due to an incident in a nightclub, the two titans have had a frosty relationship from before the Apocalypse, but it has only further soured following another incident where Zhang set fire to Hou’s dwelling in a drunken stupor.

This led to…

Stefan Sommer - the Chronicler - Heroes and Villains of the First Age