The Wastelander

by Tipsy Wanderer

  “I knew letting you join us was the right choice.” Slyfox felt both envy and jealousy. The kid could very well end up becoming stronger than both him and Mad Dog! “The company’s taken a heavy hit. It’s gonna be real hard for us to recover from this… but if you can reach the Bloodsoaked Queen’s level of power, we can just go and conquer a different wastelands outpost. In the future, we’re gonna be the bosses! Fuck begging for scraps.”

  Conquer an outpost? Cloudhawk had never even considered this option. His dream had always been to leave the wastelands!

  As for becoming as powerful as the Bloodsoaked Queen? Cloudhawk didn’t think that was very likely. Exorcist staffs were the lowest-level relics a demon hunter could use, while the Bloodsoaked Queen was most likely a high-level demon hunter!

  Cooke was dead. Woola was dead. They had lost far, far too many people.

  There was no need to bury the corpses of the dead, because no matter how deep they buried them the corpses would still be unearthed by wild animals. This reality was simply how things were in the wastelands. They were wastelanders; they lived in the wastelands and died in the wastelands, and when they died, they would naturally return to the wastelands in this fashion. The survivors briefly mourned the dead. Then, they departed.

  The twelve surviving mercenaries had all suffered heavy wounds and the injuries were beginning to take a toll. Even worse, many of the wounds would probably become infected. It could be said that the situation was quite dire. There was no way they could stay here; they had to leave as soon as possible.

  Slyfox and Mad Dog led the mercenaries out of the gorge… and when they walked out, their gazes froze.

  A tattered, wastelands-style airship hovered in the air above the ruins up ahead. No one knew when the airship arrived, but every single mercenary recognized it… and Cloudhawk had seen it once as well. This airship belonged to the rich employer who had employed them multiple times in the past.

  These were the ones who had issued the mission to kill the rat king!

  A look of fury flashed past Mad Dog’s face. “These sons-of-bitches. They completely fucked us. I should tear a few of their fucking heads off!”

  “Don’t move!” A strange look was on Slyfox’s face. He thought quickly, then said, “Don’t let them notice us. We need to leave immediately!”

  “Leave?” One of the mercenaries shouted angrily, “We got killed out there on this mission. We gonna walk away without even taking our pay?”

  Slyfox whispered in response, “That’s the problem. The intelligence report was completely off. I’ve looked at it from every perspective and the only answer is that they were TRYING to get us killed.”

  Mad Dog was shocked and enraged. “Are you saying they sold us out?”

  “Yeah. They sold us out!” Slyfox was clearly beginning to panic. “We need to go right now. Otherwise, we ain’t gonna make it!”

  The mercenaries slowly began to realize the gravity of their situation. When they had first received the mission, they had all been puzzled by many of its irregularities. Right at this moment, they heard a low, bestial growl ring out: “It seems you aren’t as stupid as I thought you were.”

  Cloudhawk was badly startled and the other mercenaries all turned pale as well.

  A dark human silhouette stepped out onto the sands. It was a tall, muscular man dressed in black leather. Not an inch of his skin was exposed to the elements. He wore a black breathing apparatus that looked like a long-billed bird’s face, and was connected to all sorts of wires and tubes. Rough, ragged breathing could be heard from behind the mask and a few streaks of white mist belched out of the mouth opening. It made him look like a freak who had the face of a bird.

  It was him! This outfit was too distinctive. Nobody who saw this man would ever be able to forget him.

  The mercenaries couldn’t help but take a few steps back. A grim look was on Slyfox’s face as he asked, “Why?”

  The man dressed in black leathers cast a cold glance at them, his features hidden by that bird-beaked breathing apparatus. “I liked working with you as well, actually. You are pretty strong for wastelanders… which makes it all the more unfortunate that my master intends to annihilate Blackflag Outpost. You are an obstacle, and so I’ll have to trouble you to die for me.”

  Blackflag Outpost! He belonged to the same organization as the leader of the sweepers who had just attacked the outpost!

  In other words, he was a servant of the demon. His target was the demon hunter… the Bloodsoaked Queen!

  45 Wipeout

  The rat king, despite its power, hadn’t been able to wipe the mercenaries out. This result was outside of the black-garbed man’s expectations. The mercenaries truly were more powerful than he expected. Still, it didn’t matter. Things were still manageable. How much of a threat could these battered, injured, and broken-down mercenaries pose?

  The mission had been a scheme from the very start. It was a scheme aimed at the Blackflag Outpost and against the Bloodsoaked Queen. They had already begun preparing for a full assault against the outpost!

  The elite guards of Blackflag Outpost had already suffered heavy losses. The Tartarus mercenaries had been backstabbed and half-destroyed. The Bloodsoaked Queen’s injuries had yet to heal.

  The situation was far grimmer than anyone in the outpost believed. Blackflag Outpost was facing the end days.

  Right at this moment, a few dozen figures appeared in the area around them. These warriors were all dressed in classic wastelander “outfits”. They wore rough helmets made from a mishmash of leather and metal, and their faces were half-covered by protective visors which helped block out the sand. They were primarily armed with firearms and longbows. It was a superbly outfitted wastelander squad and they had all come from the airship. That meant they were the man in black’s subordinates.

  The man in black said in a very sincere and gentle manner, “How would you prefer to die?”

  “Cut the bullshit!” Slyfox lifted his pistol up and fired a shot at the man in black! The powerful recoil from the shot caused Slyfox to stagger a few steps back, but a thumb-sized hole appeared in the man’s chest. “You can die first!”

  The shot had hit! Was the man dead? The mercenaries could hardly believe it.

  The shot had been at point-blank range and Slyfox had used one of his most powerful bullets. The shot had struck the man in his vitals and left a huge exit wound. By all rights, no human should be able to survive a shot like that.

  All of these factors combined should’ve meant that there would be no question about the results… but they were in the wastelands. In the damnable wastelands, nothing was impossible. Nothing was absolute. Common sense was often in short supply here; otherwise, how could a freak like the rat king have arisen?

  The man in black didn’t fall. He didn’t scream. He didn’t shake in pain. He didn’t seem to even notice that he had been shot… and not a single drop of blood emerged from his wounds. He just stood there, continuing to stare at the mercenaries.

  A strange chill crawled up the spines of the mercenaries. It was like Slyfox had shot an immobile block of wood that felt no pain at all.

  “Are you surprised?” That hoarse voice rang out from behind the man’s strange breathing apparatus. He slowly pulled the black glove off his left hand, revealing something that did not look like a human hand at all. Several black tentacles squirmed out of his “arm”, flexing and tensing like whips. At the end of each tentacle was a sharp, knife-like bone.

  This creature was no normal human. It was a freak, a monster!

  Mad Dog drew his machete and charged straight forward. “Let’s see if you are still so cocky after I chop your ass into pieces!”

  The man in black swept out with his left arm, the five tentacles coiling around each other as their bone-blades launched attacks from different directions. Mad Dog had to frantically hack right and left in order to defend.

  Slash! A wound appeared on Mad Dog’s right shoulder. Slash! Another wo
und appeared on his upper thigh. Slash! Mad Dog was nearly disemboweled!

  “Stop fighting and run like hell!” Slyfox bellowed as he hurriedly fired two more shots at the man in black. One bullet struck the man in the chest, while the other hit the man in the head. The second shot shattered half of the man’s mask, piercing his skull and sending him staggering backwards. The man in black pressed a hand to his head, letting out a low growl. Clearly, this freak was only vulnerable in the head… but even a perfect head-shot hadn’t been enough to immediately kill him.

  The wastelander warriors were beginning to close in on them. If this fight continued, they would quickly end up surrounded. All of their foes were armed with long-distance weapons. If the mercenaries let themselves be surrounded and shot at from afar, there was no question that they would all die.

  Cloudhawk and the mercenaries hurriedly ran over to support the badly-injured Mad Dog and frantically began to flee. By now, the man in black had managed to once more rise to his feet, a bullet in the palm of his hand. The wound in his head was slowly healing and his flesh was visibly regenerating across his face.

  No wonder this freak wasn’t afraid of bullets! He was a terrifyingly strong recovery metahuman. You had to kill him instantly; otherwise, his wounds would recover in an extremely short amount of time. The sweeper leader who led the previous assault against Blackflag Outpost had been a control metahuman who was freakishly strong… but today, they encountered an even greater freak.

  How many subordinates like them did this “demon” have? Cloudhawk had no idea! What about the Bloodsoaked Queen? Would she be able to survive this fight?

  Still, this wasn’t the time to be worrying about the Bloodsoaked Queen. If the Tartarus mercenaries were fully staffed and in top physical condition, they might be able to give this freak a good fight. Now, however, they had no chance at all… and the man in black had a few dozen fully armed warriors reinforcing him!

  Cloudhawk ran up ahead while helping to shoulder Mad Dog. Slyfox was in the middle, while three of the mercenaries served as the rearguard. The mercenaries frantically ran up a slope, unable to see what was on the other side. It seemed like there was an extremely sharp cliff up ahead, but there was nowhere else for them to run.

  As the man in black chased after them, he suddenly slung out his right tentacle-hand out towards them. It tore through the air like a blurred shadow, reaching towards the mercenaries.

  The sharp attack came at incredible speed, forcing two of the mercenaries to stop, pull out their weapons, and turn around to defend. However, they were each only able to block two or three attacks before the tentacles managed to pierce past their defenses, leaving giant gaping wounds in their necks as the bone-blades severed their windpipes and arteries.

  The two mercenaries collapsed on the hilly terrain, unable to let out as much as a final scream. They pressed their hands to their necks, unable to staunch the spurting blood. After struggling for a few moments, they stopped moving.

  The man in black didn’t move that quickly, but given the shape the mercenaries were in, it was going to be virtually impossible for them to shake him.

  “That’s a cliff up ahead!” Mad Dog howled angrily, shaking off the supporting hands of Cloudhawk and the other mercenary next to him. He was completely covered in wounds and the one on his chest was especially deep. His innards were visible to the naked eye. “Run! All of you, run! I’ll stop them!”

  Mad Dog knew that his wounds were too heavy. He chose to die in combat, fighting to his last breath!

  “We’ll help out!” Three of the surviving mercenaries came to a halt, looks of determination on their faces as they said to Slyfox, “Slyfox, Boss, run!”

  The man in black was simply too strong and had numerous reinforcements. It was impossible for all of them to escape; if they tried, they’d simply die one by one!

  What they had to do was sacrifice a few to buy the others some extra time. The strongest close combat mercenary was Mad Dog, but he was in such a sorry state that there was no way he could stop the man in black all by himself. The three who chose to join him in his final stand were all some of the most talented mercenaries in the Tartarus Company; if they all worked together, they should be able to survive for a minute or two.

  Everyone knew that there was no chance of victory here. In choosing to stay, they had chosen death.

  “I fucked up everything else in my life, but the best decision I ever made was to become friends with you, fat ass. In the past twenty years, we built up this company and tore through the wastelands. We drank, we killed, we fucked women… I enjoyed the hell out of it all!” Mad Dog stared at the wastelanders closing in on them, but a peaceful look was on his ugly, savage, blood-soaked black face. Ignoring his wounds, he lifted his machetes and charged towards the enemies: “This life was worth it! I’ll meet you in the next!”

  “Being part of the Tartarus Company has been the greatest honor of our lives!” The other three mercenaries followed right behind Mad Dog. “Mad Dog! Let’s die together and party together in the afterlife!”

  They weren’t as legendarily strong as Mad Dog, nor were they as skilled and talented as Slyfox. However, they had loved following a pair of such illustrious wastelanders. They had fought together, they had adventured together… and today, they would die together. What was there to regret? If they could choose to redo their lives, they would still choose to join!

  The enemy wastelanders began firing on them from afar. The man in black struck out with his five bladed tentacle-fingers, attacking all four of them at once. However, this naturally reduced the pressure on each of them individually. Mad Dog was able to dodge several lethal strikes in a row. Screened by the others, he charged forward and delivered a furious blow with his machete.

  CLANG!

  The man in black used his right arm to block the strike.

  Mad Dog was more than twice as strong as Cooke. The tremendous power behind his blow completely destroyed the enemy’s right glove… but the right hand was different from the left hand. The right hand was humanoid in nature, but was extremely thick and covered with what looked like an outer layer of bones. The bones were nearly as tough as steel… but when faced with Mad Dog’s machete-strike, the bones began to crack and shatter. This damage was a testament to how mighty Mad Dog was!

  The man in black was strong as well. After blocking Mad Dog’s strike with his right arm, he seized the moment to deliver three consecutive strikes from his left arm with his tentacles. Mad Dog’s chest, abdomen, and back were all stabbed.

  The mercenaries howled with rage, “MAD DOG!”

  Blood poured from Mad Dog’s lips. He summoned one final burst of energy, delivering a machete-blow to the man in black’s head and plunging it halfway inside.

  Mad Dog was completely, thoroughly spent. If he were at his normal level of strength, he probably would have severed the man’s head. No amount of regenerative power would’ve allowed the man in black to recover from that!

  But… in the wastelands, there were no “ifs”.

  Mad Dog had already done everything he could. Four shots rang out from afar and all three of the mercenaries were hit. By now, their bodies had been reduced to a visage of blood and gore, but they continued to fight with complete fearlessness, plunging their knives and swords into the body of the man in black.

  For a moment, time itself seemed to freeze. The four mercenaries had battled to the very end, until the very moment that life left their bodies!

  When Cloudhawk turned to look back, all he saw was Mad Dog’s corpse being torn apart into multiple pieces by those bone-blades. Blood and gore splattered the yellow earth and the other three mercenaries fell into that pool of blood, never to rise again.

  “Mad Dog, I’m coming too! Wait for me!”

  Slyfox knew what had happened. He knew that his friend of twenty years had just reached the end of the line.

  Twenty years. Twenty years of friendship! They had been together for so long, had faced the
brutal wastelands together. In this age of darkness, truly trustworthy friends were as rare as unicorns… but their friendship had lasted for twenty years!

  No grief or pain was visible on Slyfox’s face. Grief and pain were emotions for weaker, lesser beings. The wastelands had no room for the weak. It was the destiny of every mercenary to die; Mad Dog had simply died a bit earlier than they had planned.

  What waited for them on the other side of this hill? Sand dunes? A cliff? Life? Death? The mercenaries would never have the chance to find out.

  The man in black and his wastelanders were in hot pursuit, their bullets and arrows filling the air around the remaining mercenaries. The hill in front of them was a hundred meters away, but there wasn’t enough time. Time was a commodity and they had used it all up.

  Slyfox shouted at Cloudhawk, “Kid, run like hell and don’t turn back. Just jump down!”

  “But…”

  “Escape! That’s an order! And stay alive, that’s another order!” Slyfox gradually began to slow down as he continued to shout at Cloudhawk. “You need t’become stronger an’ tougher than anyone else. Find the fuckers behind this and then take revenge for us, got it? GO!”

  Slyfox came to a halt, as did the final surviving mercenaries. They had already decided to fight to the death.

  Cloudhawk’s mind was completely blank as he continued his headlong rush. He heard the sound of gunfire from behind him, as well as the angry howls of the mercenaries as they charged into certain death. These sounds flayed his soul like knives, the most horrifying curses he’d ever heard.

  Run! Live! Avenge!

  Ignoring all else, Cloudhawk clambered up the hill, a sense of despair and wooziness in his mind. There really was a cliff at the end of the hill, and it was massive. It was like a gaping chasm that was hundreds of meters deep that dropped at a perfect ninety degree angle. There was nothing to slow his descent and at the bottom was rubble.

  Had there been no hope at all from the very beginning? They had fought and struggled… but in the end, they had already reached the end of the line.