Celes gazed upon the imposing creature’s towering form with bated breath. Despite it being so far away and not placing any attention on herself, her hair stood up, its aura was just that terrifying.
‘It's recovered fast. Too fast!’
The spiritual energy within the atmosphere has increased compared to months ago but it was still not enough to support that thing’s caliber of power yet there it was, leisurely releasing its power as it slammed down different sources of metal into its throat.
In all things, nothing was absolute and there were exceptions to every rule. The Bronze Giant was a part of the giant race who primarily fought relying on their bodies. They didn't rely on harnessing supernatural energy from the outside world, instead, it was their pure physical strength against the entire world.
The Bronze Giant was an outlier amongst giants in that it fed on metal, New Roselee had nothing of not an overabundance of metal from buildings, cars, light posts, and the like. In the absence of an environment rich in spiritual energy and with shackles placed on their bloodlines, consuming metal was a very effective method for this race of beings to recover the strength of their bloodline. It was no wonder it recovered to such a height a mere few months after the Last Days began.
“Let's go. We'll take the long way around.”
Celes solemnly averted her gaze from the creature, even at her peak she didn't dare easily provoke a Red Steel Grade Giant. They were amongst the pinnacle of combat power within the Red Steel-grade or Lord-ranked Bloodlines. They even had a trace of the ancient titan’s power hidden in their veins, they were not a force to be reckoned with.
Celes swiftly maneuvered through low-lying buildings atop Sapphire, careful to not attract any avian-type creatures, especially that thing.
Each area had its share of disasters within the New World whether natural or man-made. For New Roselee, these came in four forms.
The mutant Crows in the sky, headed by the Three-Headed Demon Crow, Astare.
The South City Coalition of Monsters consisted of five activated card monsters who were working together known as the Grim Reaper Five.
There was also the New Canine Master Dogs led by the Sentient German Shepherd dog that called itself Felix Humanbane. Dogs were the most common pets for residents of New Roselee and after mutating they turned into dangerous monsters with very few able to restrain the wildness in their blood.
The dog calling itself Humanbane awakened an ability to command its brethren and created a fearsome herd of over a thousand dogs. This was the situation now as Celes knew the pack would grow to over ten thousand in the future.
This was a danger she was able to stop but unfortunately despite her efforts and that of her team, they were never able to find Felix Humanbane and could only watch as his kennel of mutant dogs grew stronger.
Lastly, of the four major dangers of New Roselee were the goblins, they had invaded the city almost en masse through various portals and massacred residents en masse, fortunately, this was a danger Celes managed to snuff out as she slaughtered more than half of the goblin population since the apocalypse began.
The remaining dangers consisted of the likes of the Bronze Giant and other activated card monsters that would later leave the city as it had nothing that interested them and most migrated to areas better suited to their habits and with denser spiritual energy.
Unfortunately, thanks to the <
Thus adding to the hidden dangers outside of the city.
Suddenly, a wanton commanding voice caught her attention.
“Look what we have here. Little pissants aren't you, trying to worm yourself into Old Buck’s food and medicine reserves. Well, it seems I have to punish you then right? It's nothing personal mate just… have to send a message to the rest of the would-be greedy fuckers yea?”
“T-This isn't yours. We found this supermarket! The piece of the skyscraper hid it in the shadow and rubble all this time! No one else has been here, you're only saying that after you saw us come out with our bags!”
She heard a soft delicate voice like that of a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl shout out.
“Kathy, Shhh~!”
“It's Iron Bull Buck.”
Several voices seemed to try and contain the girl.
“Well, I won't deny that little one. The point still stands, whether or not I know of its fucking existence, it's still fucking mine ain't it. From here to that rickety old shoe store owned by some fuck all dead old family, that's besides the point. Point is, you're in for a lot of pain. Don't worry though, I won't kill ya, part of the message is living to tell the tale.”
A bulky fellow covered with muscles and a tanned reddish color of skin twisted his thick ginger beard with one hand as the other rested on his dirty wife beater. The man gestured to his seven subordinates who held various makeshift weapons including Minnie's own favorite, a barbed baseball bat.
The group consisting of mostly young teenagers with two adults immediately went pale as they began pleading for mercy to no avail. The main rebellious little girl was still indignant and shouted a few curses to her companions' dismay.
Celes had seen enough and flew over with Sapphire.
“You can go.” She spoke to the group of youths.
“You on the other hand, I think it's time someone gave your ego that beating it's been desperately wanting.” She spoke to the tanned ginger-haired man.
His subordinates had already scurried behind him upon seeing the beautiful mythical creature appear ridden by a heroic beauty.
“Oh my. You're her ain't ya. That chick the city's been talking about.” The ginger fellow didn't seem perturbed and sported a smile while cracking his neck but in the next moment, a metallic clanking sound echoed as he transformed into a bull. Unlike O’Brien, he did a full transformation.
Celes watched as a four-meter-tall black bull with a metallic sheen and thick muscles charged at her with a very wide leap. She easily moved out of the way. He followed up with several attacks that all missed.
“Now that's no fun missy. I expected you to be more daring with a little more fight in you. I guess the rumors are worth fuck all. You're just some little girl trying to put on her big boy pants.”
The ginger-haired man undid half of his transformation to jeer at her. Celes responded with several flame snakes springing towards him but he managed to tank most of the blows.
“Weehew! Damn, that's crispy.”
He coughed out several puffs of smoke.
Sapphire immediately dived towards him, her talons covered in flames, the sound of their collision was like metal scraping against metal, there were even sparks created. Celes added a few stabs with her rapier as well but his skin was even tougher than the previous White Crown Baboon King. The Baboon King’s defense had layers of thick elastic muscles like tires but this distasteful ginger head had literal steel muscles.
Celes recognized his natal card, [Green-Eyed Iron Bull], it was known for its defense and temper. Oddly enough, it was a herbivorous creature seen in the grassy plains of the New World.
Their clash continued for several minutes with no party gaining an advantage.
‘I still haven't recovered from our previous intense battle, the same for Sapphire.’
Celes inwardly cursed as the standstill continued.
“Well, I think we've had enough of that. Blue Bird, why don't we go our separate ways yea? Peace and all that.” The agitating voice continued.
“I think not. In a battle of endurance, I'll win. Transformation cards consume a lot of energy when fully transforming, although afterward the consumption is lowered during battle but it's still a decent amount, I imagine you're nearing your limit.” She scoffed at his attempt to diffuse the situation.
“Right you are, but my men are the ones who have a gun, figuratively speaking, to the heads of those kids ain't it?” He continued.
Celes swiftly turned behind her and indeed it was as her bulky bullish enemy said, his subordinates had seized the opportunity to capture the team of youths and held them hostage.
“What's that to me?” She coldly replied, her expression unchanged.
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But her heart dropped when she saw him undo his transformation and start to clap joyfully.
“Right you are love, but I've heard of you. And you're the type of snowflake that doesn't let things like crying children suffer ain't that right? Let's call it a day. I'll slowly back up, we'll take one of the kids until we're halfway that way and then we'll let him go.”
Celes clenched her fists, to think she had been so careless to have this sleazy fellow with the leg up on her.
Her flames raged around her but disappeared after a few seconds.
“Tread carefully, you said you know me right? Know this, harm a hair on their heads and by tomorrow you and your fellow sleazeballs will be belly up in the sewers like dead fish.”
She declared, her voice laced with killing intent.
“Whoa there love, let's have some decorum now. Tell you what, I'll throw you a bone and tell you something nice. They're gunning for you y'know. You've been making big moves for a while now and the rest of us ain't stupid, you're just inches away from your territory forming a straight line throughout the entire city cutting east to west. The next step is obvious for all to see now isn't it.”
A cunning light flashed in Buck’s brutish visage.
Celes’s calm expression stiffened slightly.
“I don't understand what you're talking about.”
She uttered indifferently.
“Sure you don't.”
He responded with a cocky smile. She then alertly watched as he carefully escaped and released his hostages.
She was familiar with this two-bit gangster. Buck Rhyce. A different category of scum. Though he had his merits as well. In a sea of bad decisions and exploitative territories, many willingly went under his rule in comparison to the other ruthless and inhuman scum that called this city home.
He was brutish and a mouthy fellow but this was merely his outward demeanor, he was actually quite intelligent and filled with guile. He had managed to survive years after the apocalypse and the destruction of New Roselee just like she had. He even managed to upgrade his natal card to the next rank. He was a foe even Celes took seriously.
She quickly chased after him and his men after they released their hostages but as expected, they were long gone into the complicated labyrinth of tunnels that were under the city of New Roselee.
New Roselee once had a different name and was a city that existed for several decades. The underground tunnel system was layered from different time periods and was a complex labyrinth with its ecosystem that would later form a second world called the ‘Undercity’. It was next to impossible to find someone after they disappeared using the tunnels so Celes simply gave up pursuit.
She turned to the released captives. Their youthful demeanor and expressions revealed their immature ages. But she also saw some wariness in their eyes.
‘That’s good. That means they'll survive for longer.’
She asked in concern, “Are you guys alright?”
They slowly looked at each other before replying, it was the outspoken young girl from the start.
“Yes we're okay, they didn't draw any blood.” She said boldly, a strong will hidden in words beyond her age.
Celes nodded and asked a few more questions.
The group explained that they had taken refuge in the cafeteria of their private middle school at the start of the apocalypse. The school’s excellent facilities had provided them with enough supplies to last a year, but two weeks ago, a gang invaded, claimed the school as their territory, and forced them out. Since then, they had been moving carefully from place to place, scavenging for food and searching for shelter.
“It hasn’t been easy,” one of the adults admitted. “There’s a weird bat-like monster that crawls like a dog—it took a few of us. Then there was a plant creature that camouflaged against concrete. We didn’t even see it until it was too late, it swallowed four of us whole. We started with our entire class, but now… there are only twelve of us left.”
Tears welled up in the girl’s eyes, the memories too painful for someone so young. A pang of pity stirred in Celes’ chest, and she reached out to reassure her. “Don’t worry,” she said calmly. “The scarier ones will leave soon, and the less scary ones will be exterminated. This, I promise.”
Celes had been focused on securing a strategic point in the city’s center, forming a direct line to assert her dominance over the city and capture it in one fell swoop. Now, the time was approaching to expand her reach as planned.
She had chased the Baboon King into enemy territory, making this area unfamiliar ground. So, she was far away from her sphere of influence.
That was why she questioned the group. She wanted to know which factions controlled this region. Buck’s earlier warning had also sharpened her vigilance.
It was never wise to assume others were fools. It seemed her enemies had caught on to her movements and were likely preparing countermeasures against her and her base.
This could prove troublesome, especially in light of new card masters popping up.
Celes made her decision.
She would follow the group home and gather more intelligence for the planned city takeover.
She opened her mouth,
“Do you know of any other survivors in this region?”
The young girl wiped away her tears, “Well, there's three. There's an apartment complex to the south of the school with a lot of people but they only let in their own. They're the only ones the gangs don't bother but we heard that'll soon change. There's a big company further beyond them but the former workers formed a gang. There are two shelters nearby as well but gangs already have overtaken them.”
The young girl seemed to struggle to think about any others but was drawing a blank.
One of the adults chipped in, “The largest gatherings unaffiliated with gangs are a mall somewhere in the east of the main street, an amusement park further east, and a former government office to the southwest. We've been trying to get to them but the distance has changed, it's like the land has grown.”
Celes held her smooth chin deep in thought.
“What gangs do you know that are causing trouble?” She asked after a while.
The two adults looked at each other and informed, “Well the Three-fingered Judges control five entire streets a few blocks from the school, Tres Noches controls several city blocks farther north. The New Humans control the Leslie Tower and its surroundings. Black Glove controls the underground parking lot beneath the ruins of Hotel Green Sycamore. The Galaxy brats…”
Celes heard a long list of names that she wasn't familiar with for a variety of different areas. Her expression grew darker the longer they went on.
“...Finally there was that bunch led by Buck. He was a part of Black Gloves before but he had a fight with them and split off recently.” They concluded their explanation.
‘The situation is far more dire than I had expected.’
Celes couldn't help but sigh, she had expected the gangs to take control but they seemed to have near total control this far east of the city centre and her own sphere of influence.
“The Black Gloves like to have a dog race with shackled women that they reward with meat but it's all a lie, they only rarely give them meat, and most of the time they kill them afterwards.” One girl broke into sobs as she recalled someone close to her.
“The New Humans are even worse, you're not allowed to look at them otherwise they will dig your eyes out, they also have a grudge against government workers and made it their goal to wipe out as many as possible, everyone is fleeing from their area.”
“The Galaxy brats are awful as well, they are teenagers but they have sick fetishes to put everyone on leashes and have them crawl on the ground and bark.”
As if gaining an outlet through the mystical maiden riding a Phoenix, everyone began to pour out the horrific stories they heard that kept them up at night, some had suffered firsthand by the gangs or knew of those who had.
Celes heard not only of several new gangs that didn't exist in her time but also their twisted acts of violence, depravity, and torture that others suffered at their hands.
‘There’s a lot. Too much. I didn't expect that my influence would cause even this.’
Celes's blood ran cold at the revelation. It had to be known that months had passed since the apocalypse began and some gangs were bound to have been swallowed up or destroyed yet there were still over a dozen of them this side of their territory.
“Even at our current place, there's a trio that taxes our loot. They're just some good-for-nothings who got kicked out of a gang but they're muscular and one of them has a gun. We can't do anything against them.” One smaller girl had just wiped her tears but her face quickly became wet once more.
Several youths and one of the adults tried to comfort her.
“Let's go. I'll help you get home.”
The group seemed to find her trustworthy and let down their guards around her. She helped them collect some more loot in their bags, then took out a storage card and wiped out all the shelves.
“Wow, Miss Fairy! How did you do that? Magic?” A young girl about ten or eleven years old tugged at her sleeve.
Celes chuckled, “Yes magic, maybe one day you can do magic too.”
“Really?!” The young girl beamed and went over to her friends excitedly claiming she could do magic as if she had grown up instantly.
Celes let out a small smile at the girl’s antics, then she felt the vivacious child tugging at her sleeve, eyes filled with quiet resolve.
“Miss, can we leave a bit? There might still be hungry people. If they come here thinking it's their savior, but then find it empty... they’d be really sad.”
Celes blinked, taken aback. This was the same fiery girl who had hurled curses at Buck’s team just hours ago. To think she had this kind of thoughtfulness within her as well…
She was about to nod when one of the adults stepped forward with a wry smile, giving her a polite half bow and then gently led the girl aside. They spoke in hushed tones, the adult’s voice patient but firm, the girl’s fingers clenching into her ragged clothes. When she returned, her eyes were downcast, her tiny hands trembling at her sides.
“…Can we leave just one bag? Or maybe one or two of everything?” she whispered, voice unsteady but resolute. Her eyes which were glued to her shoes rose up to meet Celes’s gentle gaze. “We have to eat too… We don’t know when our next meal will be. It doesn’t make sense to leave too much and then go hungry later.”
Her words wavered, thick with emotion, but she didn’t take them back. The adults around her watched with a mix of pride and sorrow, their faces etched with the pain of forcing a child to grow up too soon.
Celes parted her lips, wanting to offer comfort, to shield her from this burden—but she stopped herself. She could delay the truth for a little while, but reality would catch up eventually. It was better she learned now before hunger and desperation made the lesson crueler.
In the end, Celes didn’t release any of the stock she had stored in her card. Instead, they carefully placed a small portion from the bags they had already taken, a compromise between kindness and survival. Of course, this was after she reassured them that the rest was safely stored within her card for their sakes, ready to be handed over when they reached their hiding place. The little girl Kathy stood still, her gaze locked on the supplies they left behind.
She didn’t cry or yell. Not anymore.
And that, more than anything, was what made Celes’ chest ache.
They quickly left under the guidance of Sapphire who tickled the little girls' and boys fancies. She had to speak several times to calm their excitement to avoid creating too much noise in their advance through the streets.
They met several monsters along the way but they were easily taken care of either by herself or Sapphire. Close to dusk, they nearest the group's hiding place.
Just then, a tiny figure lodging a heavy cloth sack, perhaps filled with food and clothes with the apparent weight and dirty cloth peeking outside the opening, she slowly approached them with slow and shaky steps. The only problem was, the sack had fresh blood soaking the left side, dripping down.
One of the children seemed to recognize the tiny figure.
“It's little Charmaine! We've finally found you! You and the others disappeared soon after we escaped from the convenience store. Why are you logging that heavy thing around?”
One of the girls spoke to the tiny figure, it stopped revealing a dirty and youthful face belonging to a girl six or seven years old.
Celes saw her expression and her hand gripped tightly to her rapier, something was off about the little girl. Her eyes… weren't normal.
The others were unaware however, they all seemed concerned about the little girl and offered to help carry her heavy load but she shook her head in denial.
“It's not heavy!” She screamed, “It's my mother.”
Celes felt her heart stop for a moment. The same was true for the others. The faint indentations of an arm and head pressing against the surface of the cloth sack only now dawned on them. They belonged to a human body.