We reached the level 3 zone just as nightfall hit. It was mistlands thankfully and we set down. Michelle needed to rest and put the Infinite Block away. It would suffer from the lack of energy in these lower level zones. Better to not lose or degrade one of our trump cards.

Captain Francis took charge and set up a watch, with two on duty at all times. He would also be on watch as well. “Get me at midnight. While I am sure you can all handle level 3 monsters, let’s not take risks,” I said.

“Yes Emperor Michael,” he said, and I frowned. To keep using my title or not? As Captain Francis secured the perimeter, I considered that question. Hiding my title could give me an edge. Using my title, would either make me appear like a bragging idiot, or very confident.

“No titles from now on,” I said as we all stat in a circle except for the two soldiers clearing out the local monsters and collecting crystals.

“Really?” Michelle asked me and I nodded.

“It is better to keep information hidden,” Fiyaz said.

“Regardless, for now no titles. No giving out information we can’t afford to. The bruising?” I asked the last part at Michelle and the soldier I had grabbed. They both confirmed the life potions had helped them out and I nodded at that. There would be some bruising, but no internal injuries at least.

Looking around, there were nods, but also a general sense of weariness. I looked back at the jungle, goodbye Crystal Vortex, the other member of my team that had been lost. You carried me well for a long time. Your next incarnation will be even better, and also more expensive.

The night passed uneventfully. The next morning we set off towards the Northwest, which seemed where a city was located based on the zone levels. When we entered the level 2 zone and still hadn’t run into anyone, I was surprised. Did they have another calamity over here that wiped everyone out?

I could get maybe not having people grinding level 3 zones, but a level 2 zone, should have people out here fairly quickly. Even people with no stats could take down level 2 monsters. It was nothing too concerning in terms of fighting once you learned about the monsters. Even then you could work up towards that level.

It made me wonder what was happening out this way? The sheer lack of people was highly concerning. We kept traveling into the level 1 zone even as it got dark. We would reach the city just before dawn. The fact there were monsters in the level 1 zone was even more concerning and my paranoia meter went off the charts.

The calamity was a massive wave of energy from what I had learned, not a super beam. Something had happened to the people on this side of the Systemic Lands. Once I saw the city in the distance, the tension only increased.

What could cause such a loss of life? I had been using my Sense stat trying to spot anyone, but I didn’t see a single person. Well at least the new arrivals should be around. If even if they were missing, I wouldn’t know what to do.

There were towers at the wall, which showed the city hadn’t been reset, but no people. “I will go first,” I said as we came to a stop outside the city.

“Should I deploy monsters to scout?” Michelle asked me. I considered that question and then nodded.

“Yes. Check all angles, slow advance to the plaza. I will take point. Francis, please have your team protect Michelle,” I told him, having to remember not to use titles.

“Yes Michael,” he replied. I gave him a nod. I went through the gate checking for any ambushes. It was a key ambush point. I was mentally ready for anything to occur. But nothing happened. The city was well laid out from what I could see and the clear path forward to the plaza.

“Michael, there are houses with stuff in them. But there is dust,” Michelle told me as we cleared the gate. That was highly concerning. Something had killed everyone off without damage to the city or the buildings. Purchased buildings wouldn’t automatically fix themselves. There was a repair cost.

“I am going to try something. Get your summons spread out and observing,” I told Michelle who nodded at me. I began to manipulate the energy in the air, taking my time.

“ANYONE HERE!?” My voice echoed across the city in the pre-dawn air. “Anything?” I turned to Michelle who shook her head.

We continued to advance to the plaza. I kept getting more and more nervous about this ghost city. We reached the plaza and saw numerous buildings. Some of them had a bit of damage, but not much. I called out two more times, but there was no response.

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“This isn’t right,” Fiyaz said while looking around. I agreed with him. I went over to one of the store pillars. The city was level 4, which was very respectable. There were some cities buildings purchased, but no obvious clues. I got a restoration, and the rest of my team did as well.

“Michael, I suggest we consider falling back and returning with a stronger force and air power,” Captain Francis suggested. I shook my head.

“No. Something attacked us. And something killed all the people here. Even the new arrivals. We need to remain-“

“Movement!” One of the soldiers called out and pointed. We all spun and saw a young man come out of a building. He had to be a teen, or around that age. He looked afraid.

“Fiyaz,” I said, and the man gave me a nod. He went over to the youth. They began speaking in Hindi. They then came back to us.

“His name is Dharma,” Fiyaz translated. “He was with the last batch of arrivals five days ago. There was no one in the city. People began to disappear very quickly. He doesn’t know about anyone else who is alive, and hasn’t seen what is doing the killing.” I frowned at all this information.

“Michelle?” I asked her and she shook her head.

“Nothing. I am still searching various buildings, but the streets and the airspace are clear,” she replied.

“Get the kid some food and water. Any luck finding the map building?” I asked.

“I am looking, but no sign. The layout is spread out,” Michelle said. A city was very big and it would take time for her summons to comb through it all. Time to do a bit of scouting on my own. I kicked off the ground and went into the air. Air Burst, gave me some more height. I spun around looking for anything with energy that was out of place or moving. I saw several of Michelle’s monsters, but nothing that stood out.

I landed back on the ground. The kid was looking at me with wide eyes. “Orders?” Captain Francis asked me.

“We remain here until Michelle finds the Regional Map building. There were no roads out of the East gate into the various zones, which shows this area is highly underdeveloped. Still, a Regional Map would save us quite a bit of time,” I replied.

“Michael, there is another concern. This buildings are owned,” Captain Francis said. I frowned for a moment, when I realized what that meant.

“The people who used to be here aren’t dead,” I replied, and he nodded. I never expected to encounter a ghost city like this, which was why I had missed that important detail. Who would leave a city like this unclaimed and why?

Our group set up at the store, while Michelle continued to have her monsters scout. “Michael,” Fiyaz called out to me, which broke me out of my dark thoughts.

“Yes?” I asked and went over to him and Dharma.

“Dharma was asking if he could come along with us,” Fiyaz said. I frowned at that. He had absolutely no stats. If anything, he was best used as bait to draw whatever was in the city out and kill it.

“He can’t keep up. Even carrying him would injure his body and kill him. Our priority isn’t helping just one person,” I replied. Fiyaz nodded at this. “However, you can tell him about points and monsters. Also buy him a sword. He might have a better time outside the city.”

Fiyaz began to translate. The kid would be bait. It took time, but after getting him a pack, sword, and some supplies, Fiyaz gave him a shove away. He looked reluctant to leave. I had Michelle send some monsters to push him out of the city.

“Ahhhh!” Michelle let out a scream and collapsed. I quickly rushed to her side. There was nothing there. All her monsters had turned to dust as well. The tethers had been cut. I checked her pulse, she was still alive, just unconscious.

Dharma let out a scream, throwing his sword to the side and ran off into the city. I felt the itch of my danger sense clawing at the edges of my mind. “There is something out there. Master-stranger, protocols,” I called out.

“Count off, one,” Captain Francis said. One by one everyone called out a number clockwise, until a soldier was last as number six. Michelle didn’t count since she was unconscious.

“Cucumber,” the soldier called out. Everyone began to list a food in the color rotation from green to yellow to red.

“Nothing,” I replied.

“Nothing on my end,” Captain Francis said.

“We need to leave,” Fiyaz said. I frowned at that suggestion. Michelle was great for covering large areas. But whatever was out there had disabled her. That was very concerning. She had techniques to stop such things from happening. The research into summoning and her skills, meant I didn’t think Michelle would struggle against an anti-summoner level 6 monster.

That meant that whatever was out there was beyond level 6. A level 7 that had followed someone back to this city? It was possible. With a level 7 monster’s behavior wasn’t sorted. There were some level 6 monsters that would pursue a slight distance from their zone, but not too far.

With the energy issues, and how a city tended to be protected by the Almighty System, I didn’t think there would be that much of a threat. So, it could be a high level person suppressing a city. But that made no sense either.

In the war with the Divine Empress, I had considered that strategy, from both me and her, but it just wasn’t feasible long term. With the dust inside buildings, whatever was killing people had been doing this for a while. It wasn’t recent. Someone or something was killing people for a long period of time.

A person would get tired of that eventually, since there was no benefit. Why would a person crush a city? Just have the people be slaves and grind out crystals? It made absolutely no sense to keep killing people. This entire situation made no sense, and now the best scout I had was down.

Whatever was out there had intelligence, taking out Michelle, before she could report back. Using some kind of attack back through the tethers to strike at her. Since she was using skill summoned monsters, that was even scarier. Maybe a higher level monster had been dragged back?

But then if it worked like the pets, it would decay over time from the lack of energy. It would get weaker and weaker. Maybe the city was cleared out and it had enough strength for short bursts of action, hibernating when it wasn’t here.

But it was day 5,035, which meant the monster was active for 5 days killing people in secret. Dharma was still alive. That was incredibly suspicious. But there was nothing off about his energy, which was nothing, since he was a new arrival, and Fiyaz hadn’t noticed anything off either. Looking around, I needed to make a decision.