“Final plan? Just what’s that supposed to mean, exactly?” Jaco asked. He had already leaned forward, his expression filled with curiosity.

Evelyn glanced his way. “It’s more Levi’s own plan than the Chosen’s as a whole. I’m not sure how many are fully aware of what it is, and even I only learned about it by accident. But his real goals go far beyond just gaining Levels by any means necessary.”

“Go on,” Noah remarked from his seat.

The other people present also waited for the former Chosen to explain herself. At the same time, Sam looked like she wanted to say something in turn, but seemed to be holding herself back for the moment. Then after taking another deep breath, Evelyn continued.

“The rest of the Chosen Few are exactly how they present themselves. They’re just a group of killers that just want to kill for the sake of gaining as much EXP as possible. Levi’s the only thing really holding them together under an iron fist. If he wasn’t there, they would have all turned on each other long ago,” she said.

Jaco noted how some energy had now returned to the redhead’s speech. It could have also just been his imagination, however, as the rain was starting to lighten up. So her words might just seem to be more forward now that the rain wasn’t covering it up as much.

“But Levi is different from the other Chosen. He’s far more…” Evelyn trailed off.

“Ambitious,” Sam added. “He’s been like that for as long as I can remember. Ever since he was younger, Levi was always good at seeing the bigger picture and thinking ahead. That kind of mindset is a big part of why he excelled at school. Along with basically anything else he ever tried, though that was also just him due to being talented at practically everything.”

Huh. I think this is already the most I’ve heard Sam openly talk about her brother, Jaco thought to himself. At the very least, it was definitely the most she’d spoken about Levi in front of him.

He had already been recently brought up to speed on the fact that the Chosen Few’s leader was actually Sam’s younger brother. Though even after learning this for the first time himself, Jaco hadn’t pressed it as an issue. And to be fair, he could certainly understand why it wasn’t a topic she would want to openly bring up.

“And he knew it. So even before the Apocalypse, it made him full of confidence and at times a bit of an ass,” Sam went on. “But it was only after that he eventually went full mask off and showed who he truly was. So I can believe that he probably has some grand plan for the Chosen. Or at least it’s grand in his mind, anyway.”

Evelyn shook her head. “Grand would be… one way to describe it. But I want to say that it was during the last time that me and my team met with Levi. After the meeting though, I-”

“Wait a sec,” Alex interjected. “Instead of just moving on, what was that you just said? Am I the only one that maybe thinks that this meeting shouldn’t just be casually skipped over?”

“Alex… does make a point. From the context, I imagine this major plan you want to discuss was something that took place after this meeting. But I think we can and perhaps should discuss this first,” Noah agreed.

Evelyn slumped back into her seat. Though the surface had already started to become slick with mud after the last few minutes of exposure in the rain, she didn’t seem to react to it. Jaco just sighed as he otherwise remained silent and observed the back and forth.

He was personally still more curious to actually learn about the “final plan” of the Chosen. However, Jaco felt forced to concede to the fact that this was ultimately a discussion about Evelyn’s involvement with the Chosen Few. The direct mention of a meeting with their leader wasn’t something that could so easily be glossed over, after all.

“Alright,” Evelyn said with a noticeably smaller voice. “It was a check-in. Levi mandates that everyone in the Chosen regularly report back to him, or whenever he just decides to call for them.”

“And what does he check for, exactly?” Noah asked as he massaged his left temple.

“Progress. He was practically obsessed with knowing exactly how each member progresses. How many Levels they gained since the last meeting. How many kills it took for each Level Up and the average Level of everything you defeated. Whether we were gaining any new Abilities or had any other other changes to our Classes. And…” Evelyn hesitated for a few seconds. But before anyone could prod her, she then continued on her own.

“And if killing people versus monsters made any difference in Experience gained. Levi wanted to know every detail possible. Even if others within the Chosen Few normally wouldn’t care for tracking everything, he made them do it anyway. Like I said, he was practically obsessed.”

“That does sound like Levi,” Sam admitted from the side.

Noah gave her a small nod. “Alright, that’s good to know. With that, I think we can now go back to Evelyn’s original point. Unless anyone else has anything they’d like to add or ask about first?”

The leader of the camp looked around. Jaco simply shook his head, as others also affirmed that there was nothing else they wanted to say. So with that now settled, Evelyn was able to return to focusing on what happened after the meeting.

“Afterwards, we were meant to leave until the next check-in. But instead of immediately heading across the city with the others with me, I decided to stick around that area. It was just on a whim, but they went on ahead and I was going to catch up later. Then as I was there, I heard heavy stomping. The kind you can never unhear once you hear it for the first time,” Evelyn said.

“The Minotaur,” Jaco quickly responded. His eyes had already become narrowed. Bringing up that monster couldn’t be a coincidence, could it?

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“Yeah. I immediately got out of its way and hid. But then I noticed the direction it was heading toward. It was the same way I had just come from. So I decided to follow it from a safe distance, by sticking to the rooftops of nearby buildings. Then I watched as it stomped right into the same building we’d been in. And right outside, almost as if he was waiting for it, Levi was standing there,” she explained.

Sam leaned forward to interject, but was stopped as Noah reacted by raising a hand. He then shook his head. The indication was clear. For the time being, they should just let the former Chosen keep talking before interrupting.

“The Minotaur then stopped right in front of Levi. Then the two of them… talked,” Evelyn said.

Jaco’s eyes immediately widened. While the Minotaur had shown itself to be more intelligent than the other monsters, not once had he considered it to be capable of speech. Not human speech, at the very least. Yet according to Evelyn’s current testimony, that assumption was now being proven wrong. She then continued to speak as her hands started to visibly shake.

“That thing. I don’t know how to even describe it. But the way it spoke just sounded wrong. Like it was speaking our language, but at the same time it wasn't. It was… it was…”

“Evelyn,” Noah said with a more gentle tone. “You said that they were talking, right? Okay, so could you tell us what they talked about?”

She deeply exhaled. “Right, yes. There was only so much I was actually able to overhear. Without getting close enough to get caught, I only heard parts of their actual conversation. But I can say that from Levi’s demeanor, it definitely wasn’t the first time they’ve met. I don’t know how long they might have known each other or in what capacity, though.”

Yeah, because that’s not a screaming loud red flag, Jaco thought to himself. Nothing good could come from the leader of the Chosen Few being actively associated with the Minotaur.

“But for what I could hear,” Evelyn continued. “That monster wanted Levi’s help. I couldn’t hear the reasons why, but it was about an Angel. He was supposed to assist with locating the Angel and then informing the Minotaur as soon as he learned anything. Levi agreed to it and said something about compensation for him, but I couldn’t hear the exact words. Only that they quickly came to an agreement and then went their separate ways.”

“So not only is he a murderous bastard. He’s literally working with the fuckers that want to wipe us all out,” Jaco said. He placed his hands around the sides of his seat, crushing the material underneath with his tight grip.

Somehow, the leader of the Chosen had managed to be an even worse person than expected. There was the figurative traitor of being one who actively killed others just for their own selfish gain. Then there was directly working alongside the forces of Hell itself.

“That is… concerning,” Noah agreed. The Mage was now deeply rubbing both at his temples.

“Concerning. That’s the hecking understatement of the century. Jaco, you’re basically the only one here who actually knows what this might mean. Do you have any ideas?” Alex asked.

Jaco closed his eyes and took a moment to relax. “I have a couple ideas. But first…” he looked over at the other people in the meeting.

Of those present, Alex, Sam, Noah, and Evelyn were the ones who knew the details of his infiltration of the fortress. The couple other people here were those who had fought alongside Alex, but had not been present for those past discussions. So as they looked confused, they would first need to be brought up to speed.

“Just to make sure everyone here’s on the same page, I guess I should explain some things,” the Druid said. He then quickly began to summarize what the leadership of the camp already knew.

Of his time in the fortress and the little girl that he encountered. How he rescued her after a grizzly battle with the Minotaur, only for her to then reveal her true nature as a Guardian Angel. And once that foundation was laid, he then proceeded to give his current thoughts.

“Their goal was clearly some kind of ritual involving the Angel. I don’t know what the exact purpose would be. But when I forced my way into that pit, it almost felt like I was descending into Hell itself. That’s the only way I can really describe just the kind of evil it was. Maybe it was a literal pit to Hell to transport the Angel, or maybe it was for some other equally horrible purpose,” Jaco said.

“Well considering that this Hell we’re talking about, it was probably for something fucked up. Like if they’re not just going to kill someone that part of the army they’ve been fighting forever, I bet they were likely planning to do the most screwed up thing we can even imagine,” Alex guessed.

“Yeah, you’re probably right to assume that. But now here’s my question. Just what is Levi’s endgame here? The goal of the Demons is literally to kill us all, right? I mean all signs so far seem to indicate that. Does he think that maybe he will be spared if he acts obedient?” Jaco wondered.

“No way.” Sam shook her head. “There’s no shot Levi would ever willingly work under someone else like that. He’s always had issues with answering to authority figures. Even though he was a straight A student in class and often acted polite and nice, it was with his teachers that he occasionally did act out. After showing his true colors now, there’s no world where he’d go back to even pretending to listen to anyone else.”

“Well that just makes things even more confusing. He’s clearly more than just some arrogant bastard with a death wish. Which is exactly what makes him dangerous. But the more we actually know about the full reasoning behind his plan, the better equipped we will be to counter it,” Jaco said.

“Agreed,” Noah said with a nod, before he then turned back to the former Chosen. “ Evelyn, I realize that we’ve been avoiding the issue of what to ultimately do with you. But is there anything else you can tell us about Levi’s plans and his involvement with the Mintoaur. Anything at all?”

“All I can say for sure is that he’s planning something, something big. So no matter what happens to me, that’s what you all needed to know first. That while the other Chosen are just single-minded killers, Levi’s unknown intentions make him far more dangerous,” Evelyn said.

Jaco then opened his mouth to respond. But before he could actually do so, a golden screen appeared at the forefront of his vision.

Warning!

The third stage of the Apocalypse is imminent.

Demidemons will now be able to regularly cross into this world through the Gates of Hell.

For your own survival, seek shelter immediately.

A sudden silence quickly enveloped the immediate area. The only sound was the rain still falling down. Everyone present was simply too shocked to say anything as they read their System notifications. But after the initial moments of surprise passed, Alex was the first one to practically jump out of his seat.

“Demidemons?! Does it mean that we’re about to deal with even more Minotaurs coming over now?!” Alex exclaimed. He turned to the one person amongst them who had directly dealt with the Minotaur, his eyes wide with fear.

The Druid in question was still staring at his own screen. Just the one Minotaur had taken everything he had and then some to defeat. And had it not been for the Guardian Angel’s intervention, he would have died there and then. Simply recalling the still recent memories of that fierce battle was enough to make the healed injuries ache.

“Well… shit,” Jaco cursed. An even worse idea had already infested itself into his mind. What if, just what if, these other Demidemons were new monsters potentially even stronger than the Minotaur?

Just like that, humanity’s chances of survival in the Apocalypse had once again gone from bad to worse.