Akhil stared down at the smoking zombie body.

It deflated like a balloon, and all the muscle's disappeared in an instant. The corpse returned to the image of the Ronald he had remembered... barely. He looked like a grotesque corpse that had been pulled out from the earth, and an offensive, putrid smell quickly hit Akhil in the nose. His nose wrinkled from the terrible scent.

'That bastard is constantly looking for a way to cause trouble' Akhil gnashed his teeth, eyes flashing with anger as his thought trailed back to the source of the problem... Mask!

Taking a deep breath, Akhil ignored the corpse and turned his attention to the ongoing chaos. His clones were managing their assigned tasks, but the cacophony of fear and shouting indicated widespread panic. He launched himself toward the commotion where the bulk of the remaining zombies were contained by the makeshift defense line.

The sight that greeted him was confirmation of his earlier thoughts on the new balance of power. The humans, bolstered by Ronald's earlier rhetoric and their own belief in their military might, had positioned soldiers with modern firearms at the forefront.

"Fire! Focus on the head!" shouted a military officer, his face pale with sweat.

The soldiers unleashed a steady barrage of automatic fire. The bullets did hit the zombies, but the effect was negligible. The infected Level 50s and 70s staggered briefly, their thick, necrotic flesh absorbing the kinetic energy. They roared in annoyance rather than pain, their momentum barely checked.

"It's useless! The armor piercing rounds aren't working!" a soldier shrieked, dropping his weapon and scrambling backward as a Level 70 infected lunged forward, its claws easily tearing through the barricade.

The confident human soldiers, who had boasted of their military supremacy just hours before, were utterly terrified and left defenseless against the monsters.

Their sophisticated guns and modern tactics were failing miserably against the system-enhanced durability of the zombies.

In stark contrast, the handful of adventurers who had answered Ben's call were faring much better. A small group of mages used fireballs to cauterize wounds and slow the infected, while a warrior with enhanced strength managed to cleave a zombie in half with an axe energized by Mana.

Their unique abilities, powered by the system, were the only things effectively causing lethal damage.

Akhil didn't mind the spectacle, focusing instead on efficiency. He, Ben, and his two clones moved through the fray, surgical and devastating. Clone Two, supported by Ben, carved a path through the main cluster, while Clone One reappeared, confirming the three runners were neutralized, and immediately joined the main fight.

Akhil personally intercepted several charging zombies heading for the terrified soldiers, dispatching them with swift, clean strikes from his Blood Sword.

Swiish! Swiissh!

"Clear the area!" Akhil yelled to the panicking soldiers. "Fall back and protect the civilians! The adventurers will handle the combat!"

Under Akhil's brutal efficiency and the strategic coordination of his clones, the tide began to turn rapidly. The zombies, despite their high level and resilience, were systematically dismantled.

Although most of the adventurers didn't have the best of weapons, their abilities made up for most of the loss... Within minutes, the last infected corpse fell with a heavy thud. The sudden silence was absolute, broken only by the whimpers of the civilians and the heavy breathing of the surviving combatants.

Akhil surveyed the scene, his gaze lingering on the destroyed weapons and the terrified faces of the conventional soldiers.

'Their lack of effective weapons is paralyzing,' he thought. The adventurers were strong, but their common gear couldn't pierce the high-level defenses consistently. They relied entirely on system-granted skills and raw ability scores.

It reminded Akhil of his earlier struggle. The Blood Sword was powerful, but it was a skill-based weapon. If they had access to system-level equipment—weapons forged with Mana and specialized materials—the regular adventurers could have handled this entire situation without needing his full intervention.

The thought turned his mind to a specific class. 'Blacksmiths.'

He stared at the remnants of the fight, the shattered concrete and the defeated soldiers. He realized that the new era wasn't just about levels; it was about the infrastructure to support those levels... He could clearly remember the difficulty he'd faced fighting with Samxon, that alone was enough to show just how much a simple weapon could boost someone's abilities.

'I need a proper weapon, too,' Akhil admitted to himself. The Blood Sword was amazing, but it was an extension of his own Blood Essence.

Facing the Zombie King, he needed more options, more durability, and equipment tailored for the extreme scenarios yet to come.

He knew what his next priority had to be. He had to find a way to stabilize the city and then seek out a skilled individual capable of forging high-tier, system-recognized equipment.

"Larry," Akhil called out, turning to the assistant who was cautiously approaching him. "Get these people secure. We need to talk about rebuilding this city, and where we can find a blacksmith."

Just as Akhil was speaking to Larry, the clear sky above the ruined administrative block was pierced by the whine of twin hover engines.

As he looked up, Akhil's brows furrowed with surprise.

Seth and Langdon arrived with serious looks etched onto their faces. They landed swiftly near the podium, but their expressions of grim anticipation melted into a feeling of immediate relief as they surveyed the scene.

"Akhil! Thank the gods!" Langdon exclaimed, rushing forward, though he stopped a respectful distance away from the Blood Clones. "We got the news about the riots, the interruption, and then... the thing happening here. We made our way to the city immediately, expecting the worst."

Seth looked around, his eyes wide. "That was fast work. Did you—did you manage to contain it? We were told it was a widespread infection!"

Akhil took a deep, stabilizing breath, dismissing the two Blood Clones with a thought. They dissolved instantly into crimson mist that rushed back into his body, giving him a brief, painful jolt of Blood Essence recovery.

"It's contained now," Akhil confirmed, rubbing his temples to clear the lingering exhaustion. He quickly narrated the events.

Annoyance was evident in his voice, particularly when describing the man in the mask. "That Titan of Discord is worse than I thought. I have absolutely no idea what he's trying to do."

"Ronald is... gone, then," Langdon muttered, looking at the rapidly deflating corpse nearby with a mixture of shock and morbid curiosity.

"Yeah, I had to kill him" Akhil said curtly. "He was strong, and worse he was intelligent."

"It's good you managed to deal with the issue. And we have more to worry about now." Langdon said letting off a sigh.

"What do you mean?"

"The other districts have finished the second scenario... Now all districts are ready for the third"

The air went still as his words sank in, Akhil's expression grew grim, "So the major sub-scenario will start soon..." He dragged a long sigh. "All the more reason why we have to be prepared"

Akhil let the gravity of the situation settle, then turned his focus to his new priority. He looked directly at Langdon.

"We need to talk about how to prepare for this.... Things can escalate at anytime and if that happens we have to be ready. That said, I watched your soldiers today," Akhil stated, his gaze unflinching.

"Their conventional weapons are useless against Level 50+ threats. If we want any chance of defense, we need to outfit your people with proper gear. System-grade weapons."

Langdon nodded slowly, accepting the harsh truth. "We know. The foundries we have can barely produce standard steel, let alone forge items capable of dealing consistent damage to the monsters."

"Exactly," Akhil pressed. "Which brings me back to something you mentioned before: blacksmiths. Do you have any within the Coast City, or anyone connected to the system capable of crafting high-level weapons and armor?"

Langdon's initial relieved expression hardened again, replaced by a deep, troubled frown. He glanced at Seth, who avoided his gaze, then back at Akhil.

He took a slow, visibly difficult breath. "Akhil... there's something you need to know about the blacksmiths. After our meeting in the forest, me and Seth went out to locate the three of them....."

, r

The tension in the air thickened, heavy and cold. Akhil waited, expecting to hear about high prices or impossible demands. But the fear in Langdon's eyes was something else entirely. It wasn't about negotiation; it was about tragedy.

"What is it?" Akhil demanded, sensing something wrong... Their faces couldn't be like that just because of a high price, could it?

'Or perhaps, they managed to find out who the titan actually is?' Akhil's eyes lit up with expectations as he desperately waited for Langdon's reply.

Langdon rubbed his jaw, his voice dropping to a gravelly whisper.

"Well, the three top-tier Blacksmiths—the only ones alive with the ability to forge anything worth using. When we got to them we realised that they were....."

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