Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night

Chapter 196: The Goddess vs the Saintess

While Zane and the girls began searching for another Tier I Horde King to eliminate, Gravestone continued to slowly but surely expand. The ruins of Carson city slowly but surely became reclaimed. With the settlement's walls being pushed further and further outward, encompassing new portions of the small city that had once been the Capital of Nevada.

The residents of Gravestone began to level up quite rapidly, not only through their own gains in battle against the hundreds of thousands of undead monsters which plagued the ruins of Old Reno, but also through the spoils which Zane and his party gained, and distributed to them.

Though Zane himself was the highest level among humanity's awakened warriors, or as far as he was aware. What with his level being twenty-five, the women by his side were not far from behind. With their levels being all the same at 21.

As for the residents of Gravestone, their levels were much lower, and on average, it now seemed to be around level 10. Making them capable of defeating up to Tier III undead if they were careful, and plotted accordingly.

With Zane and his girls, as well as their rather exceptional abilities, Gravestone now ranked among one of the most well defended human settlements. But should the dead wish to reclaim the ruins of Carson City as their own, there would be little they could do to resist.

After all, the overwhelming number of undead in Reno alone, if forced to march on Gravestone, was simply unbeatable as far as humanity in its current state was concerned. Yet Bartholomew did not move recklessly to crush New Reno, nor the other surrounding settlements like Gravestone and Gator Swamp.

The same could be said for most Horde Kings. It was almost as if annihilating humanity was not their primary objective, but rather to raise a stable and manageable population of humans to feast on at their leisure.

This was, at the very least, what Zane had suspected to be the Horde King's primary reason for not outright finishing off what little remained of the human population. And while Gravestone continued to develop in its own ways, Zane's enemies among humanity began to make their own moves.

By now, the spies sent from both the Remnant and Elysium had successfully identified Zane as being the one who had murdered their missionaries and scouts. At the same time, they also uncovered the identities of the various women in his party.

Currently, the Goddess of Elysium was reading a report while sitting alone in her personal quarters. Well, she was not entirely alone, as the same attendee of hers, the one with the pale skin, and the white shawl which covered her facial features, was as usual by her side.

The look on the Goddess's face was one of dissatisfaction when she saw the image of Angelica, which had been taken from her spies in New Reno after they visited the gravestone for some "healing."

While the goddess depicted herself as a kind and altruistic invidual, one who was humanity's only hope for survival and stability within this chaotic wasteland. In reality, she was far from as charitable and selfless as she presented herself to be. In fact, her true nature was quite the opposite. That being selfish, vain, petty, and vindictive.

For there to exist another with her powers, or at least another who was not directly under her control, one that recognized her as the goddess she proclaimed herself to be. Well, this was simply intolerable. And at the moment, she was looking at the image of such an individual.

It would be one thing if her rival in the west was an old hag. But Angelica was truly beautiful, and in a way that was very different from the Goddess of Elysium. The difference between the two women was like that of an innocent, and kindhearted girl from next door, and that of a party girl that you would meet at the club.

This was so blatantly evident that even the Goddess felt enviable towards Angelica's innocent appearance, which was only exemplified by the priestess like equipment that she wore. Despite dressing like that of a nun, the Goddess of Elysium knew that beneath her clothing, Angelica had an incredibly sinful body. Something that contrasted greatly with the woman's more pure image.

Meanwhile, the Goddess of Elysium dressed as if she were a Greek fertility goddess, not like that which was depicted in history, but rather like the hyper revealing interpretation most commonly found in modern fantasy. And yet, despite her slutty appearance, the Goddess of Elysium clearly did not have the same assets that Angelica so brazenly tried to hide beneath her modest robes.

It was as if these two healers were the direct opposite of one another in a way that the Goddess found to be utterly infuriating. Because of this, the Goddess couldn't help but tear the photo of Angelica apart, an act which caught the gaze of the attendee next to her. Needless to say, the envious cursing that followed was also perplexing.

"Fucking bitch! Who the fuck does this little slut think she is!?! She looks and acts like such a pure maiden, but has such a decadently sinful body beneath it. She is so full of shit! I mean, honestly, look how old she is? She's old enough to be a college senior!

With a body like that, I bet she was absolutely ran through by all the frat boys on campus. To think that she is now playing the part of the virgin Mary simply because she awakened powers similar to my own! It is simply insulting!

No! It's not just insulting, it's an outright challenge to my authority as the goddess of humanity!"

The attendee looked over at the goddess with a pitiful gaze. Though she didn't say anything, the goddess spoke to her as if she had, becoming even more flustered as she did so.

"No… She didn't outright say she was a virgin.... But the way my spies spoke of how she acted. It's as if she was too innocent and pure to exist in this rotten world, let alone the one that proceeded it!

I refuse to believe such a kindhearted, and altruistic individual exists in this world! You would only find such a woman depicted in some novel targeted towards desperate teenage boys! Such women don't exist in reality! No, she is lying, and is hiding some kind of sinful past, just like the rest of us! I just have to find out what it is! Then we will see how beloved this so called Saintess really is!"

Once more, the attendee to the goddess did not speak. Instead, she pulled out another file from the folder and pointed to it. It was a picture of Zane. The man looked quite menacing, which was in contrast to Angelica's almost saintly presence.

The attendee tapped the photo thrice, and looked at the Goddess straight in the eyes, something that caused the allegedly all-powerful goddess of Elysium to shiver in fright and look away as she spoke once more to her servant as if the silent woman had said something to her.

"I… I understand, and I apologize. I have gotten too fixated on that little bitch. You're right, this man is a far more important target. Though young, he appears to be quite capable, capable enough to slay my missionaries with ease. And that is not an easy feat.

Not to mention his equipment seems high level. If I had to guess, this man is at least level 20. And his gear should be of Rare quality, if not Epic. If he is really level twenty, and has such high quality equipment, then I dare say none of my crusaders could stand against him.

He is a real threat to us, isn't he?"

The woman standing next to the goddess nodded her head in silence, but once more the Goddess acted as if she was speaking to her, and thus was startled when she repeated back what she thought she had heard said.

"What? You want me to withdraw my agents from New Reno? Why? This doesn't make any sense! If he is really such a threat to us, then we cannot let him live! Let alone allow him to freely develop without our interference!"

Despite the logic in the Goddess' words, there appeared to be an almost murderous gaze in the attendee's eyes, causing the Goddess to bow her head in a servile manner while acknowledging her orders.

"I understand…. I'm sorry, I misspoke, please forgive me…. I will have my agents withdrawn from the area at once. But you should know that if my agents have taken notice of this young man's actions, then those bastards from up north will have done the same. And if that is the case, how long do you think it will be before they send their own agents to deal with him?

I mean, if they haven't done so already?

The mysterious attendee did not say a word, and simply departed from the room in silence. Causing the Goddess to sigh heavily in relief. It was only after she confirmed that the woman was gone did she reach into her desk and pull out a flagon of wine which she drank from, gulping down large quantities of the alcoholic beverage in between breaths, as if she was dying of dehydration.

Once she had finished drinking the bottle, she wiped the red liquid from her lips before looking back at the photo of Angelica. Which she had torn into pieces, where she expressed her thoughts aloud in an intoxicated tone.

"Fucking bitch!"