Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night

While Zane was facing a serious decision, one that could potentially have grand results to his growth, or could very well lead to an early and unexpected demise. He was not the only one faced with such a difficult choice.

Maya had been watching the girls and their growth for some time. Elena, Olivia, Angelica, Madison, and Lily had grown rapidly in a short amount of time. Together, they were an effective team. And by now, they had slain enough Horde Kings for each of them to have three skills.

In addition to this, they were all level 35 with matching equipment. This meant that the bottom ranking Horde Kings at Tier I were no longer a threat to them. Initially, they expected a retaliation of forts from the undead.

And though there had been a brief assault on Gravestone. The siege came to a swift and sudden end when the undead were recalled. Though humanity didn't realize it yet, there was not a civil war among the undead. One that was occurring on a global scale.

They had no time to bother with the remnants of the Human Race. Because of this, Elena and the others could act with impunity against the Undead. Even Bartholomew, whose horde had been thinned substantially, had no mind to pay a visit to Gravestone. They were but thorns in his side, when Lilith was using him as a weapon to hold off the undead from rival cities.

The ruins of the Reno/Sparks metropolitan area became flooded with undead from other parts of the world, all trying to bring down Bartholomew, who was considered the Guardian of Lilith's western frontier.

An honor he most certainly did not desire. This made things difficult for the human survivors living in the area. With those small settlements in Gator Swamp, Golden Valley, among others being either overwhelmed and devoured in the chaos, or forced to flee to the safety of New Reno. Whose power and strength had grown considerably over the last few months.

Currently, Elena and the others were hanging out in the bunker. Once more over a long and hard day's work of slaying monsters. They were gathered together and expressing their worries about Zane. Who had not messaged them in quite some time?

The reason for being was pretty simple. He was actively escaping from pursuers, or caught up in some other dangers. But they did not know this. Even so, their worst fears were voiced to one another, especially after the craziness that was happening in the area recently.

"Do you think Zane is alright? I mean, if Northern Nevada is embroiled in such chaos, what do you think is happening where he is? Is this a global phenomenon? Or is this just some bad luck we all have here in the local area?"

This concern was voiced by Madison, who was immediately responded to by Olivia with some words of comfort.

"I'm not sure, if I'm being honest. But Zane will be fine wherever he is. I'm sure he's just really busy at the moment, and hasn't had the time to send us a message. Remember, unlike us, he doesn't require any sleep. Knowing him, he hasn't taken a break since the last time we chatted with him!"

This was the line of thinking that the girls used to comfort themselves over Zane's lack of communication with them. And because of this, they all sighed silently to themselves and finished off their alcoholic beverages before turning in for the night.

Once more forgetting Maya was there, watching and listening to everything they had said. Once the girl was alone in the darkness, she sighed and responded, not that anyone could hear her words.

"That boy has his hands full. I have done everything I can for you my son. But whether or not you accept this opportunity, despite its risks, is up to you. Good luck Zane…"

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Zane had finally come to a decision after thinking it through for a very long time. If he spent a year with Tabitha, collecting the blood crystals in the skulls of her petrified Horde. His power even with the absurd scaling of experience required in the leveling process, would no doubt increase to the status of Tier II Horde King, and potentially that of A Tier III Horde King.

There was, of course just one problem with this. Would Tabitha remain sane throughout the entire year he spent with her? And if not, how long would she remain so lucid? She would be dangerous to deal with if she eventually became crazy again like when he first met her.

Especially since she would have no memory of their deal, or at least presumably that would be the case. Sure, he could send Gwen to the void in order to avoid a violent act of jealousy on behalf of the crazed Horde King. But even then, there was no guarantee he could keep Tabitha from harming him if she suffered another mental breakdown.

Even so… The rewards were well worth the risk. He could easily catch up to Gwen and the others. Although their power would largely stagnant as they could not consume blood crystals. This was a chance for him to prove he was worthy of leading Gwen and Evilyn. Even if it meant Eliza and the others would have to play catch up after he finally left Seoul.

After taking this all into consideration. Zane sighed heavily and looked upon Tabitha who was watching him with curiosity while waiting patiently for his answer.

"I accept your gracious offer of protection. But just for so long as it takes me to consume all the Blood Crystals that your petrified Horde has to offer me!"

Tabitha smiled and nodded her head in approval after hearing Zane's words. While Gwen appeared mortified, she wanted to say something, but Zane silenced her by shaking his head. In the end, Tabitha welcomed Zane to her domain with a solemn promise.

"So long as you are within the limits of my domain, I promise you, Zane, that nobody will be able to lay a hand on you. From this moment forward, until you decide to leave of your own volition, I will protect you from whoever, or whatever decides to harm you. Welcome to the city of Seoul… Or what remains of it."

With this, Zane would spend another year walking through the streets of Seoul, where he would collect 10 million blood crystals, and consume them in a bid to gain more power. While at the same time, the war between the Horde Kings would rage in the background, consuming anything unfortunate enough to get in the middle of it.

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