Erik got Astrid to back away immediately. He couldn’t afford to lose her. With his meagre amount of golds left, every unit counts. The Shadows didn’t follow. They stopped moving before disappearing without a trace. The question marks went with them.

“Dell?” Erik called out after a closer scrutiny of the surroundings. Nothing stood out as far as his unit could tell. But this was limited to her line of sight. Astrid could not see very far since the entire town was shrouded in darkness. “What just happened? Where did they go?”

[The Wall is in a state of flux. Shadow cannot fully enter this world]

“Yet…” Erik dreaded. From what he had overheard, the Wall was some sort of barrier that protected his world from the darkness lies beyond. The Wall was being weakened, allowing monsters to cross over. “What happens when the Wall completely breaks down?”

[Uncertain. It has never happened before]

“You mean to say that the demon you hailed from had never seen it happened before,” Erik pointed out thoughtfully. Dell only knew what his predecessor knew thanked to hereditary memory, but that didn’t mean those memories convey the whole truth. While he trusted Dell, he didn’t trust what Dell trusted.

[That is correct]

Erik nodded and restated his question. “What do you think will happen if the Wall completely breaks down completely?”

There was a moment of silence. It was difference than before. This time, Dell wasn’t trying to access a foreign memory imbued since his birth. This time, he was thinking.

[I am… unsure what will happen… but the inhabitants on this world will perish if they haven’t already fallen to the ravenous hunger of the Shadows. There are things out there that even we don’t want to bring attention to]

“But we, you mean the demon race?”

[We preferred to be called Hellion]

“Cool, Hellion it is then,” Erik responded, smiling. “Anyway, how do I avoid the Shadows? Staying in the dark?”

[That will only get you and your units killed, Erik. Shadows is at their strongest in complete darkness. Any kind of illumination will weaken them and distort their form]

“Huh? Didn’t you say they sought out light and warm?” Erik asked. “Why would they seek out things that weakens them?”

[Shadows are mindless and driven by hunger]

“Where there is light, there is food,” Erik muttered and looked at the crowded hospital. He shivered at a thought. “How long do you think the Wall will hold them back?”

[A day, could be less. It is uncertain without seeing what is attacking the Wall]

“A day,” Erik repeated and stared at the hospital full of people. It was impossible to stop whoever or whatever was tearing down the Wall in such short amount of time. The Shadows would come for the buffet. It was a certainty. “Shit…!”

[You cannot save them, Erik Summers]

“Are you saying I should leave them?” Erik asked. Frustration grew within him. It was mostly directed at his current strength. If only he was stronger. If only he had more time. “I can’t do that, Dell. If I do that, what makes me different than Lance? What makes me difference from any of them monster? I don’t want to become the very thing I want to fucking kill!!”

The abyss enveloping the two Grassland tiles suddenly churned. A faint echo was heard. It sounded like a voice. Several more distant voices could be heard, crying, wailing. Then utter silence. The abyss became like it was moment before.

[How interesting]

“What?” Erik investigated the darkness as his rage subsided. He could see something moving within the abyss. His heart raced. “Is the Shadows here?”

[No. This is something else.]

SS screamed got Erik’s attention. He looked down as she stared at the edge of the tile before turning invisible. At the tile’s borders were shadowy figures, humanoid in appearance. There were at least a hundred of them. Some pressed against the boundary of the tile, unable to pass through.

“What are they…?” Erik zoomed towards them to get a closer look. He immediately recognized some of them. He had only seen them once, but he could not forget. “Are they?”

[Apparently]

Erik swallowed as he found the girl he first saw in the morgue. She was no longer a corpse, but she wasn’t exactly alive either. From the ethereal glow of her body, she was a spirit. These were all the souls he had absorbed. They didn’t just disappear. They were here, in his inner world.

“What do they want?”

[A place to stay. There are now new structures available. You should have a look at them. One might be of interest to you]

Erik steered his eyes from the masses of people. Their eerie glow appeared to dim. It was not a good sign. They were disappearing back into the abyss, swallowed up by his darkness. He selected his free tile to open the construction window. It took a moment to appear. Aside from Headquarter, Barrack, and Armoury, there were now the Market, Townhall and most interestingly, Settlement.

[Settlement allows the creation of housings for these spirits. If their needs are met, they in turn will generate golds. Aside from the initial investment, higher tier will produce more golds but consumes more resources per cycle]

Erik was speechless. He desperately needed a good way to generate some golds. A gold mine would be the best, but sadly, there was no way to get one. He was willing to steal from jewellery shops and rob banks. Their golds were insured after all. It wouldn’t harm anyone except the insurance firm. But that method was only temporary. Settlement was more permanent.

With new structures available to build, Erik had to rethink his current strategy. He was going to get the Armoury with the second tile to give himself some sort of an ace in the hole. The ability to stash and summon weapons in his hands was better than a Barrack. Training units would be ideal in most cases since they could have special abilities or magic, but their cost and upkeep were too much bear with his economy non-existent.

And seeing how the ethereal masses were fading and disappearing into the darkness, Erik settled on the Settlement for his second tile. The selected tile glowed before semi-transparent grid appeared. It spread beyond the initial tiles and covered over the tile with Headquarter as well.

[Congratulation. You just designated a Settlement area. You can now design the layout]

“Why do you talk like that, Dell?” Erik questioned.

[I am rephrasing what appears my mind. It is in Hellion]

“Oh…” Erik murmured. That was new. He would like to know more, but there was a pressing matter at hand. He looked at the grid, finding that it was roughly 1 square meter each tile. He selected one tile and another window appeared. It was empty aside from the info saying he had 1 square meter selected. With his eyes at the screen, he tried select another square, but it deselected the first. The screen remained unchanged.

“Okay, I got it,” Erik said and selected multiple adjacent squares. The window showed he had a total of 4 square selected. An icon of a wooden shelter appeared. Its cost was 20 woods. Since there were enough woods, he commissioned its construction. The amount immediately deducted, and a timer appeared on the square. It was counting down since time in the inner world and outer world were in sync.

Six more wooden shelters were commissioned after the first. It was all Erik could afford. And as soon as the first shelter was erected, a couple of people managed to pass through the barrier surrounding the tiles. The moment they did, their ethereal glow vanished, and their body gained colours. Once all shelters were up, he found he had 14 people living in the Settlement area.

While Erik couldn’t interact with the people, he could select the wooden Shelter. Doing so brought up a small window, giving insight on some information.

Selected: Wooden Shelter [Upgrade]

Occupants: 2/2

Foods: -2

Golds: +2