Hearing what Atesh had just said, the survivors couldn’t help but look at each other in confusion.
Seeing some of their expressions, Attie could tell that some of them were quite unhappy with what had just happened while others were fearful of the consequences of rejecting the proposal.
Landing in front of them, Atesh waved his hand as they all felt mana wrap around their bodies and gathered them in front of him.
“Seems like some of you are unhappy. We’re not tyrants so you can still choose whether or not you want this chance. Those that don’t want this chance can leave and I will promise I won’t harm you.” Atesh smiled as they cast gazes of doubt towards his direction.
In this new age, it was hard to trust anything a person would say so their belief right now was that the moment they turn around, Atesh would kill them all.
Seeing that they’re still doubting, Atesh shrugged his shoulders since it was up to them if they wanted to come.
If they don’t then neither he nor anyone else would force them to come to Asharia.
“If you want this second chance come to the castle. If not, then leave.”
Turning around, flames surrounded Atesh’s body as he disappeared from the area.
Looking at one another, a few of the survivors looked at the castle and started to walk towards it.
However, the moment they started walking, one of the survivors drew their blade and aimed it at their backs.
“Take another step and I’ll end you. Did you forget the service our Queen has done for us? We were chosen by her. The benefits, the protections, you dare throw it all away right now.” He warned as his mana flared around him.
“Monti, open your eyes. Our Queen clearly doesn’t care about us as people. She just wants results. If you don’t bring her results, how many times do you think you would have been reset by now?” One of the survivors asked as the one called Monti gritted his teeth.
“But she still saved you!” He howled back.
“She saved us but she also enslaved us! She might have been a saviour for you but for the rest of us, each day is filled with the fear of being reset. All of our connections, emotions gone with a single flick. You don’t know how scary it is to go through it since you never experienced what it was like! What do you do when your wife forgets who you are!? What do you do when you realised you had a family before but you cannot recall their names or faces?! I had a son Monti! A son! But now I don’t even remember anything about him! All I know is that I had a son and that was because of a single entry on my record!” One of the survivors gritted his teeth and dashed up to Monti.
Lifting him up by his collar, the man pulling his head back and headbutted Monti.
“Open your eyes god damnit! This world has gone to sh*t! What’s the point of surviving if everything precious to me is wiped from my memory! I had lost my goal for god knows how many times! I’d rather force my way out than stay in that city for another week. Had it not been for the contract that we were forced to sign when we arrived, do you think any of us will still be around!”
Spitting out some blood, Monti grabbed the man by the head and reversed their positions.
Slamming him against the ground, Monti regulated his breath.
“What if the new Queen is worse? What if you don’t even get a chance to die if you wanted to! If you lost a goal then find a new one! Why are you so attached to the past anyways!? Everything we knew of the world has changed. So what if she resets my memories of the past. I’d rather look forward anyways.” Monti glared as he stood up.
“I dare you guys to find the new Queen.” He warned as his mana flared.
“Monti.” A voice called out as he turned around.
*BANG!!!
Receiving a punch across the face, he stumbled back as blood started to drip from his nose.
Narrowing his eyes, he could see Farun extinguishing his cigarette.
He was a tall man with short brown hair, a blade scar could be seen from his jaw down to his collarbone.
“Shut the f*ck up man. You have chosen to stay with her while most of us don’t want to. If you force us like this, we’ll fight you too. You made your choice and we’ve made ours.”
Furrowing his brows, Monti clicked his tongue.
“Fine.”
He knew that Farun could fight him to a standstill but if he included everyone else here, he would definitely be defeated.
Retracting his aura as well as weapons, he watched as Farun led most of the people towards the castle. Those that stayed behind and looked towards Monti.
“Let’s go back for now. We’ll need to report that we were stopped by another tier 6. You guys shouldn’t say anything. I’ll take the blame for this one.” Monti sighed as he walked away.
###
Arriving at the castle, Farun could see two giant mechs guarding the gates while Atesh was waiting for them with a small smile.
“Welp seems like this is less than what I expected but no matter.” Atesh smiled.
“If you don’t mind me asking, are there any contracts that we need to sign?” Farun asked as Atesh shook his head.
“Nope. You just need to follow the rules properly. If not, you’ll be punished accordingly. You don’t need to do anything else.” Atesh shrugged as some of the survivors started to murmur.
“Are you sure? This sounds too good to be true.” Farun narrowed his eyes.
“That is indeed the truth. If you want, we can send you to the city now so that you can see what it’s like personally. If you still don’t enjoy it, we can send you to any spot you want and won’t interfere with you.” Atesh smiled as Farun frowned slightly.
It was too good to be true. There were no free meals in the world after all.
Taking a deep breath, he decided to risk it.
“Can I talk to your Queen?” He asked as Atesh paused for a moment.
“You want to talk with my mother?” Atesh asked.
“Yes.”
“It’s fine Attie, they have their concerns so it’s understandable.” Shiro called out with a smile.
Hearing Shiro’s voice, Atesh glanced back and nodded his head.
Stepping aside, they could see a white haired woman stepping out of the castle.
Seeing her, some of them immediately recognised who she was since they haven’t got a reset yet. However, they didn’t want to say anything just yet since they might be wrong.
“What is it that you wished to talk to me about?” Shiro asked with a small smile.
“Why are you doing this? Providing free space like this isn’t beneficial to you at all. So why do so much for people like us?” Farun asked.
“Hmm I’ll tell the truth. All of you have clear enough souls that allow me to determine that you can be ‘good’. Those with darker souls are eliminated since there is still a limit to my mercy. I don’t require anything from you since just living in the city will help me with my power. The anchor empowers the Queen. I suppose you can say that I shouldn’t filter life through a yes or no method like this but, this is the new age. Even if I can monitor everything that happens, I’m not risking the lives of those that are following me or my trust ones with hidden variables of darker souls.” Shiro narrowed her eyes.
Hearing this, Farun nodded his head.
Since if she was really giving away ‘free meals’ she would have allowed everyone to live except for the tier 6’s that were there to attack the castle.
Is it true that you’ll give us a choice though?”
“Of course. If you are unhappy with what you see, you are free to leave. You have my promise on that.” Shiro nodded with a smile.
“I can’t speak for everyone but personally I want to see the city for myself.” Farun said as the survivors started to agree.
Nodding her head, Shiro snapped her finger and opened a portal.
“There will be someone to guide you around the city. If you want to leave, contact me through him and I’ll teleport you to somewhere that you want to go.”
One by one, they made their way through the portal.
Once the last one had walked through, Shiro closed it before looking towards the craters in the distance.
“Perhaps I should fix this before I go.” Shiro muttered.
Waving her hand, green energy wrapped around her palm as the ground started to shake.
The charred surfaces started to regain their lustre as the ground repaired itself along with the forest.
While this was happening, the crest above them changed to Shiro’s crest and the zone started to change. Since Nimue was also a Pseudo demi god spirit like Iziuel, the zone started to match her element.
