Chapter 29

" you said even if we all come together, it's not assured if we can beat up Daniel? " The crystal golem asked for the third time .

" Yes" Clide responded exasperatedly

" How is that possible?, no explain it to me . I and Daniel faught before , and as far as I could tell we are evenly matched!"

" No you weren't, he wasn't taking you seriously at all." Kayden responded in place of Clide .

" It isn't that Daniel can beat us all at once , it's just that ' we' can't defeat him. Then there is Jay and Eric who awakened with Mavis . Out of the three , Jay is the weakest, but even he is too difficult to go up against . Eric is the strongest of the group , we'll die if we fight him , it's an almost certainty.from the very beginning , that loner has been a problem."

" How can they be so overpowered we are five and they are three , and you are telling me it'll take all of us performing at our peak to get one?. How did they become so strong soo quickly?!"

" What I'm interested in is how we are weaker even with Clides guidance. ?" Janice held her head with her human hands.

" What do we do ? " Janice asked Clide.

In the group she could be considered the leader , but she has to pass her questions through Clide his power put him at the top of the decision making pole , if not for his lack of combat capabilities he would have been the perfect candidate for leadership in their ragtag group of surviving students.

" If we apologies sincerely, not only would we reduce the number of our adversaries, we may also gain allies ."

" Not happening "

" What? why?!" Mavis spoke out in her cute voice . She was anti violence, so this suggestion was right up her alley.

" I can't forgive them ! ....Can you ? .....They left us for dead! , listen to Clide! They are Soo strong it'd take us all working together, and we might still loose to just one of them! .....If they stayed how many of our classmates would still be alive ?! Huh? ! "

Mavis curled up into a ball and begun to cry because of how Janice yelled at her . She has a very weak character.

" Calm down " Kayden the almost 10 meter tall humongous four armed red giant boomed at Janice as he picked up the lolli in a single palm of his. And the booming wasn't intentional , from his perspective they all were ants.

" I agree with Janice we can't forgive them.... . I can't forgive them!.. And I will make Daniel pay for Connor's death !."

Emily the crystal golem said .

" Then we can only get stronger, and come back when there is a chance." Clide added with a sigh.

He wasn't as charged as Janice and Emily about the abandonment. he didn't understand why they had to be left behind, but if making up would give him a good place to rest and survive,then why not ? Unfortunately his group was against it.

" We can attack them by suprise, split them up at take them out " Emily said only for Clide to give her the look that said

'are you stupid?'

" The success rate is 3% out of 100% give up . " Even Janice was realistic , Clides power didn't give you wrong answers, the worst it did was make it unclear to you . if you deviated even after confirming, you were a certified fool. But maybe, just maybe one could achieve the impossible? If they strategized deeply enough?

" But in the meantime let's pay a visit to the shelter they visited .I have a feeling, we'll find something interesting " the grin was supposed to be casual, but the canines and facial structure just made it menacing.

–––

Daniel and Jay were noticing a lot more melovus each mile they crossed . The population of these extra terrestrial beings was probably more than the native population of terra at this point.

Many lives were lost in the first day of the apocalypse alone, and many more subsequently. Most to the bugs , but some to the manifestated humans, and others to accidents.

It was already coming to the third week of the apocalypse, and Daniel could now tell why Eric didn't take the military seriously.

Even though they were still in operations, you couldn't help others when you yourself were in deep shit. The HQ was probably reserving the resources for their own survival, you also couldn't use nucs , rifts were everywhere , not just one location. They didn't cluster but spread out .

Daniel hates to admit it but humanity was loosing,and quickly.

Super humans may seem common as most people Daniel met with recently were superhuman . But truth is , superhumans were common because baseline humans were dying.

They got to the building,

Daniel figured they had to name it. It couldn't be called ' building ' all the time .

Around the single building was a flat plain as far as the eye could see with bits and pieces of ruin scattered all over . Melovus clamored around the building , but gave up when their efforts seemed futile. Daniel and Jay stepped into the warm embrace of the internal structure, letting out a relieved sigh .

" Nice isn't it " a familiar voice was heard .

Jay instantly put up an energy shield instantly, and Daniels feet took off the ground as if he was about to ascend . Eric's power could affect the ground

" I'm sorry " Eric knelt down onto his knees

" Bullshit!" Jay added ." I call bullshit! Is this one of your tricks to let us let our guard down , because if it is , you are failing!" Jay's anger seemed to affect his power, because the barrier begun to vibrate Soo hard it made a peculiar sound , like very fast moving insect wings.

" Strange , after almost killing us , why show your face here?, " Daniel asked arms folded feet off the ground .

" My response to finding out one of my biggest secrets was out was to put it back to before it was spread . I wasn't in the right state of mind at the time."Eric got back on his feet his nature bleeding in slowly.

He wasn't a naturally apologetic person. It went against his nature , he and Daniel were alike in soo many ways , one being , they were arrogant .

" So what has changed ? What conclusions have you come to now that you've had the time to think seriously."

Daniel didn't trust Eric one bit. The point where they diverged in similarities was honesty. Daniel was a brutally honest person. He almost never lied , and if he did it was in the form of misdirection and not misinformation. But Eric didn't have said standards.

" Where are the others?!" Jay demanded Eric to know where the denizens of the building were located .

" They are safe on the third floor , I don't want them to hear what I'm about to say to you two."

" He's telling the truth , they are all there , but I can't tell if they are well. " Daniel confirmed for Jay .

Jay let out a breath , still within his now silent barrier, Jay asked Eric

" Why are you here and what do you want to say that is soo important as to move them all 3 floors up?"

" Let me begin , I Eric am a regressor . I have lived through future of the Apocalypse before, and done it twice ." Eric paused for effect .

Both Daniel and Eric were surprised.

" I had the misconception that I was the main character of the world , and that I'd be the one to save it . In my second life I lived up until my 60 th birthday and was betrayed by those I trusted . So when I started this run I was self absorbed and wanted to fuel only my growth , and the growth of my two lives mercenary leader Jay ."

Jay seemed shocked by this revelation.

" But if what you said is true, and you've been able to tell that I was a regressor from the beginning, then you are better than those I shared my life with for many years . Because they betrayed me quicker than you."

" I understand you were betrayed, it sucks , but was I the one to betray you ?" Jay asked .

" Let's not even bring that point, what's so interesting about a regressor? Is it the fact that they have future knowledge, or that they have lived longer than they appear and have accumulative experiences on how to improve themselves? , I can not think of why that should warrant a betrayal. "

Daniel spoke

" I understand their motive , imagine I said something about myself, and then you return and tell me that same story when I haven't shared it with you yet . it'd be unnerving " Jay said .

" I am as I am , I have almost no secrets "

Daniel said

" But you do " Eric answered him .

" Would you do the honors or should I ? "

Space twisted and contorted , and Daniels muscles tightened and instantly expanded . One could very well hear the elasticity of the skin being put to the test .

" Hahahahahaha hahahahahahaha hahahahahahahaha. I see ,you regressed. Let me guess , your save point has been reset to after we were separated for 5 days , interesting, very interesting!" Daniel spoke calmly but , you couldn't tell if it was true calmness or a forgery.

Jay wasn't stupid , he caught on instantly , and a shudder went through his being.

Daniel was hiding a secret , and the regressed Eric knew what it was !

" Jay, my power from the beginning has been a lie , it has nothing to do with martial arts "

The reveal was too quick , no hesitation, but the true nature of Daniels power wasn't said . But Jay felt his reality collapse. Daniel had deceived him and if not for Eric he might have continued to do so!

" You really are the smartest I've ever seen , you don't even allow yourself to be blackmailed . I guess I really lost the moment my starting point was moved . You've had from the very beginning of the apocalypse to plan everything huh?"

"How many times has it been now ? "

" 15 times now , I tried threats , killing , hostages , and almost everything, I tried blackmail last time , and now I'm trying cooperation." There was definitely more runs . Eric was lying through his teeth! This behavior wasn't born suddenly. He started by saying he assumed he was the main character. With his human intelligence, awareness like this didn't come so quickly.

" I now know why you were reluctant to use it before . Your save point or check point is progressing forward! hahahaha, interesting "

One might think this observation and the one made before were exactly the same . But they could be different. That all powerful gaze must have done something when it saw Eric , Daniel would not dare to think an insect like Eric had the ability to decieve that great being. It was like a 'fact' a ' truth' and even though Daniel felt it was weird , he could do nothing about it . Meaning if Eric hadn't regressed so early but truly died to external forces his regression abilities would occur seconds before his demise! For eternity !

Shivers , Eric really saved himself there , Daniel couldn't even wish such a 'fate' on his worst enemy!

But now that Eric had fixed the problem it was possible such an occurrence had been erased.

" It seems the more I open my mouth the more secrets I inadvertently let out " but Eric didn't seem as heated about his secrets being discovered.

" Like I said before I'm sorry , I want us all to start over , but this time there must be a clear cooperation, and no secrets ."

Jay followed the conversation just fine , he had numerous questions, but he could ask them slowly .

" There should be nothing else a secret between I and Jay " Daniel said only for Eric to snicker behind his red scarf.

" You really think so ?"

" FUCK ! " Jay yelled in frustration " how would you even know ? I would have never told anyone" Jay was really frustrated. No wonder he was betrayed.

" Let's just say there is more to my ability than I initially thought "

" You see we all lied about our abilities" Eric lifted his arms into a shrugg.

" But why are you able to regress , do you have two abilities?" Jay asked .

" Who knows?"

" I thought you came in good faith , for cooperation, no secrets and all that ?" Jay cocked his head sideways .

" How will I –" he was cut of by a suspending Daniel .

" I've had multiple theories, would you like to hear them ? "

" No , it isn't important, ...thats if you Eric make a contract between us three." Jay said he felt there was something very wrong going to come out of Daniels mouth.

He'd seen Daniel in action. If Daniel said something or asked a question, it didn't matter how you tried to fake it , it was like the answer was said, like a mind reading lie detector. Jay couldn't accept Daniel finding out the 'cause'on his own . It was different if Eric said the truth out loud , but if he lied or Daniel started asking, Daniel will hold all the cards !. He was already heavily disadvantaged out of the three.

The entire interaction was weird , it's like there was a lot said , but it was all either rubbish or had deep meaning. It had been happening for a while now.

Jay hated Eric's guts but didn't attack him on sight. The logical reasoning was that he knew he was weaker . But how was he able to control himself soon well . Why were they going to cooperate when one tried to murder them both . Even after hearing he did worse in the 15 previous runs.

Why did they skim over important information Soo quickly like it was ment to be fast paced . And why the fuck were they all saying shit !

Normal people don't talk like this ! It wasn't that they were being influenced externally , by strange powers , but the sum of their personalities created this abomination.

Compatable incompatibles .