The morning dragged on, long and awful. The four women exchanged glances—already wide awake from the endless wait, and now, O’Brien’s seriousness had settled over them too. Like a sickness they couldn’t name.

  They could name other things, though. Things they had lived through firsthand, thus acquiring knowledge. For them, these past months weren’t spent as fragile vases tucked away in the RV, hiding in the shadows while O’Brien shielded them. Far from it. They had carved out their own roles, moving more independently, his once ear grating lectures had shifted into something else—now, he only acted as a rough buffer between them and forces far beyond their level.

  They had the experience and skill set now to gauge situations and judge the severity of incoming dangers. Roya had already been at that level, simply heeded by her unfamiliarity with the new world and its denizens, but she quickly got up to speed under O’Brien’s less than delicate wings. After she achieved that milestone she patiently taught the other girls as well. Even Lea was now decent at wielding a gun and knife. They were a seasoned team now.

  Jules looked over at Lea as they subconsciously shivered in unison hearing O'Brien’s grim declaration. The pair’s relationship had grown closer since they first banded together, the two forming a close duo within the group of four women.

  This relationship was built on their close encounters with death and many screw ups that resulted in their own heavy injuries and also the loss of lives they tried to save; many of these situations involved packs of sickle beetles.

  Such were the outcomes of their first set of ambitious rescue drives, they failed miserably driven by only ideals and ambition. Lacking what was truly necessary for survival in these perilous times. This carried true in their live combat trainings headed by O’Brien. Who, as they all knew, wasn't one to care about minor flesh wounds. He wouldn't act unless they were in legitimate grave danger.

  Before, they thought he didn't care about them and secretly wanted them to die, to leave only Rose to accompany him.

  But on the keen insights of Roya and the biased Rose, ever the benevolent observer behind her permanent rose tinted corneas. They realized he was always in control of the situation and was simply not acting because they were never in any mortal danger. The few instances he did act were in such perilous situations. He also disappeared mid training several times, likely to redirect or kill approaching monsters that they couldn't handle.

  At first they were resentful of his rough training style but they were better for it months later. Now they could very well operate on their own, as he started his sporadic bouts of extended midday naps intertwined with the occasional two vacation days, and so they did.

  They felt inadequate in such a world and couldn't afford to sit on their asses all day whenever they felt like it. After several discussions, they got his permission to operate nearby without a safety net, whenever he was whimsically struck to do nothing for a day or two.

  Which was why the four women understood very well what a nest of sickle beetles entailed. They had fought against these entities countless times.

  These were no longer the fragile newborns they first encountered at the beginning of the end. No, they were stronger, tougher, faster, more numerous and most importantly, they could now use poison and other racial abilities that slightly varied amongst different collections of beetles.

  Facing an army of those creatures, they stood no chance. Their individual improvements since the dawn of the New World had made significant progress but they still were a great distance away from handling such sheer numbers of transcendent creatures. Especially with the leader-level bugs mixed within the riffraff of soldiers and female grunts. Each encounter with those hadn't turned out pretty even with O’Brien at the helm.

  “Are we going to take the long way around? Give up on it?” Roya, the de facto leader of the girls and honorary deputy leader for the entire group solemnly asked. Her cigar hadn't been lit in minutes and she was so enraptured she forgot to reignite its soothing embers.

  Her question wasn't groundless.

  Evasion. This wasn't a shameful act in the New World, even for the strong there was always stronger. This was what they typically did when facing the occasional elite monster, for they had indeed crossed paths with some abnormal freaks since the Last Days began, even O’Brien didn't dare go near them.

  Fortunately, as O’Brien had informed them, that caliber of being was focused on finding good hibernation spots until they could recover naturally or prioritized devouring similar type monsters who would provide adequate nutrition. Human flesh was only attractive to Tier Zero cannibalistic creatures (Common-ranked Bloodlines), higher class beings were disinterested.

  O’Brien remained silent in thought, slowly rapping his fingers against his tabletop. He went over every angle of information he had gleaned from their cursory scout of the target area. Several images flashed in his mind. The size of the nest, the number of drones and soldiers, the quality…

  Wait, the quality!

  Using that there was a bit of hope after all.

  “No. Based on what I've seen, they are in the midst of preparing the location for the Queen's arrival. Meaning she's not there yet. This could be an opportunity.”

  He suddenly spoke with a thoughtful smile. An opportunity yes, but like a two sided coin, danger was engraved on the opposite face. A significant danger. O’Brien settled down after desperately squeezing every bit of information concerning sickle beetles and a Monarch's Ascension from his faded memories. While the finer details of the monarch path wasn't known to him, he had met brood type monsters and passed through the peripherals of a few monarchs in his day. The words of his team leaders at the time replayed within his mind.

  Exhaling lightly, he turned to the girls and posed a question, “Now I'll give you a choice, well it's the same as usual, you keep what you earn and there will be a small cut of the resources as well, varying on your performance. The difference this time… is that I can't guarantee your life.”

  The grim statement prickled their hearts, they had faced what seemed to be certain death on many occasions these past few months, all the while their lazy and disinterested chaperone was never quite this serious nor was he so caring towards their well-being, with the exception of one perhaps. For him to make such a heavy statement, it could only mean that the situation was that dangerous.

  “Well, are you ready for a real challenge? This time the stakes are higher. There are various factors at play with the nest, but it's not that there's no way to obtain the special resources, it just involves stirring up the pot is all. Creating Chaos. I won't explain the finer details to you since you wouldn't understand but know this, it can only be worse than I expect not better. If you value your lives, you can hide out in one of the temporary bases before I get back.”

  O’Brien stretched his weary bones as if to oil his greasy joints, just the periphery of the target area was swarmed with displaced monsters expelled by the beetles’ takeover, slaying and escaping from these creatures for several hours took a toll on even him. He glanced over at the deflated Lucas collapsed on one of the sofas and tossed him a drink. Without his help it would have taken longer for them to return; he also had other plans involving Lucas.

  ‘This one should prove very useful for my plan. I guess I'll dangle a few carrots for him to taste.’

  The sickle beetle queen would be weakened after producing the first of the royal bloodlines and generals. It was the perfect moment. She would be at her weakest, weak enough for them to pose a legitimate threat.

  Otherwise there was no way as measly Tier 0s for them to hope to slay a Tier 2 Transcendent Being, two great realms their superior, with an army at her behest.

  Still, it was a plan with much preparation involved and he couldn't do it alone. For others this might be a weak moment of fleeting desperation, the limited scope of their individual capability enlightening them to the benefits of a reliable team, in the face of benefits they might reluctantly accept the formation of a team for the greater good but for O’Brien this was not the case.

  He had always known the benefits of a team, hell he was a first hand beneficiary of them on many occasions in the days of the future past.

  With that being said, he saw his need for others as merely a need for suitable tools for a difficult job. Not the necessity for companionship, travel, adventure, wealth and survival as was once the case. Humans were social beings, they overcame difficulties together and were stronger in groups, this was an immutable fact that couldn't be downplayed.

  A good team needed understanding, trust, and a clear division of roles and authority. This was a breeding ground for emotions and connections. And also weakness, a teammate might know you better than you do yourself, this was a tight grip on the string of demise they could use to unravel you. Like a good doctor well versed in medicine would also be an expert in poisons, such was the case with a good teammate making a formidable enemy.

  O’Brien had resolved to never put himself in such a vulnerable position ever again, creating a weakness for himself that enemies could exploit.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  In fact, what the three girls may not know is that they could no longer leave his side, unlike their initial situation at the start of the apocalypse. They knew far too much about him even though he hadn't explicitly informed them of such. They had accompanied him long enough to soak in an assortment of information that could form a sharp knife in a hand ready to wield it.

  Raw frontal combat was the universal staple of the New World but not for humans. Many notable figures of the human race were schemers who plotted their enemies' downfall without ever coming face to face with them even after orchestrating their death. The most notable schemer even usurped his leader who was thought to be untouchable, a being on the same level of Celes the Blue Phoenix but he fell just the same. He had thought he was in full control right up until the moment he wasn't.

  O’Brien was not foolish enough to let such a handle escape his control, he had learnt from his own mistakes and others, although to be fair he did warn the girls of this earlier on, though he reckoned they probably forgot with all that had happened since.

  Jules whispered to her aunt, “Dangerous? that freak face with a second face for the back of its head as tall as a tree or that angry giant white rhino that bashed everything that moved weren't dangerous to him but he's saying this is dangerous?”

  Rose solemnly nodded to her niece, “Indeed, back then he didn't seem too alarmed at our encounters with those two creatures and we simply distracted them and escaped but we almost died and lost a few limbs in the process. Around those two were mounds of corpses of humans and aliens that crossed their paths and none had escaped, we were likely the first.”

  She got goosebumps just thinking about those two creatures. Just looking at them you could tell, they were an entirely different class of beings.

  Lea’s eyes grew serious as realized the severity of what was to come, as the healer she would definitely be heavily called upon when the situation was rocky. Sweat smoothed her palm, even in those so called, not dangerous situations she struggled to care for the entire team, could she handle worse?

  Roya discussed with the girls for a while as O’Brien patiently waited. Then acting as spokesperson she asked, “What exactly is the difference between this danger and everything else we've experienced other than the obvious number issue?”

  It was clear that being outnumbered was not the main source of the danger O’Brien was hinting at, sickle beetles weren't very smart so with proper planning they wouldn't even have to face the bulk of their fighting force and could slip in, take what they wanted and leave. The common tactic O’Brien has used to separate them for his own battles as well as theirs involved taking advantage of their poor intelligence.

  O’Brien nodded inwardly praising her keen insights, “This all stems from the basis of evolution and strength in the New World. In truth, the gap between Tier 0 and Tier 1 is quite huge. Greater than even the gap between Tier 1 and Tier 2. Strictly speaking we aren't even transcendents right now. We are at most half-transcendents. Tier 1 is a dividing line for us and for other races and entities. Although, most powerful bloodlines are born as Tier 1s or higher. Us Tier 0s are the weakest set of beings, and also arguably the largest hodgepodge of various shapes, sizes and peculiarities. When an alien monster or being advances ranks they gain new abilities or strengthen their fundamentals.”

  He was actually very outspoken this time around, his explanation more comprehensive and carefully drafted to suit their state of cognizance. Which was quite out of character for him, normally he would say whatever and didn't care whether or not they understood but there was a reason for this change in behavior.

  His upcoming grand plan would need several anchor points and key leverages to be executed well, in essence, this was a strong combat force to control the tide of battle. The four women under his guidance were undoubtedly amongst the cream of the crop of humanity as it stood now. The three women were already on the level of Blessed Ones and Rose was already a powerful outlier.

  Furthermore, for all intents and purposes they were quite obedient and could be fully controlled as he wished, a fine luxury even for many powerful bases who had to delicately handle their transcendents fearful of their change of allegiance or lack of effort without profit.

  Now that he thought about it they were quite the precious resources themselves.

  Quite frankly, he needed them for his plan to go well so he had no choice but to be accommodating.

  Although Lucas was quite whipped and would do whatever he said for some strange reason that only his peculiar brain could comprehend. Lucas alone wasn't enough to go against a nest of creatures subservient to a monarch.

  “We all have our strengths and weaknesses. This fact bleeds true for aliens and monsters. Most are not all rounded, the ones that are may be difficult to handle but against some specialized foes, they are worth less that shit stuck to a boot. A smelly eyesore.” O’Brien clicked his tongue. He had encountered his fair share of well rounded alien and monster foes, raw power was typically enough to overwhelm them. Although he never achieved that standard in his previous life, others had. A well composed team could also have a similar effect which was the standard method for most in the New World.

  The only well-rounded beings closest to the ideal of perfection and possessing a matching or elevated danger level across all races as their unified bands for their indescribably formidability were all infamous and noble specimens.

  The four pinnacle races: phoenixes, dragons, angels and demons were one example of this. But these races didn't appear until much later and even then sightings were rare, they usually occupied precious resources or regions as their dens and typically wouldn't leave their spheres of influence.

  “The sickle beetle queen can barely be considered a monster of the brood nature. She wasn't originally as such. Like a clownfish switching genders she saw an opportunity and took it. The monarch path might actually be the only path available for it to reach greater heights limited by its meager bloodline. But each path has its advantages and weaknesses as I've said before.”

  O’Brien shook his head mentioning this, eyes glazing over two cards in his hands Grey Ash-grade [Blue Tailed Falcon] and Blue Stone-grade [Blue Tailed Falcon King]. A simple upgrade and clear difference of bloodline within the same race. A king was king even while young, perhaps they were a prince then. He found something to munch on and continued.

  “While the bloodline of the sickle beetle is actually quite weak, and even the queen is likely at the bottom of Tier 2’s combat ability, as a monarch she has her own strengths. One of these is creating biased soldiers for specific roles to bolster her nest. Those that act as shields, spears, leaders, porters you name it, beetles specialized for combat, support, scouting, construction and all she judges to be necessary. Unlike the ones we've met that are largely non specialized, these are far more difficult to deal with. The combat oriented ones are particularly fearsome killing machines. The command structure in the nest also much stricter, they drones won't be as stupid as we're used to, even if their local leader is killed the Queen's overlying orders will remain.”

  If the queen was any other creature that achieved the Second Tier of Transcendence instead of a pitiful Common-ranked Bloodline (Tier 0), then even if it was the equivalent of a 100 year old man with osteoporosis, O’Brien wouldn't dare plot against it. But its weak bloodline would affect it even as a Tier 2 Transcendent and the weak combat ability of the brood nature also worked in their favour.

  “So in exchange for being weak she can create strong soldiers?” Rose said with a hint of surprise.

  “Isn't that a bit broken then? She can just pump out an army of Tier 2’s and take over then right?” Jules murmured in disbelief.

  They looked over to O’Brien who chuckled, “No, nature has its checks and balances, even in this crazy world the law of nature remains true. As a Tier 1 Transcendent it could only create the evolved bugs you saw before which were Tier 0 or non transcendent entities, even the lieutenant level bugs commanding packs of over a dozen were rare. Now as a Tier 2, it can create truly transcendent creatures. Theoretically it can create a limitless number of them but that's never happened before, she can't create something from nothing. Not only does she need to harvest the genes from suitable monsters to act as the paternal gene, she also needs to consume enough food and incubate her eggs in an energy rich environment. Suitable areas and even food would have been rare a few months ago, now not so much but they still aren't widespread.”

  Roya finally lit her cigar and took a puff, “So when all these criteria are met she can begin breeding?”

  “Then shouldn't it be quite easy then and not as dangerous as you said?” Jules couldn't wrap her head around it, the army needed to fetch suitable specimens and food so wouldn't that leave the queen vulnerable? Shouldn't they find her and kill her now while they had the chance.

  To their surprise, O’Brien actually said yes, “Indeed now is actually the perfect time to ambush the queen… if we were Tier 2 Transcendents.”

  There was the conundrum. While this was the opportune and less risky moment to get rid of the queen, that was only for beings that were her equal. They were still little peons at this time, no matter their degree of talents and potential. In a raw frontal assault they would lose miserably.

  “As a brood mother, the queen is a real threat for other Tier 2 beings, although she can't create Tier 2 soldiers, she can create an army of Tier 1s, that's enough for any Tier 2 Transcendent to turn tail and flee. A pity, if this was a well developed time with established alien races and monsters encapsulating many geographical areas then she would never have the chance to make such a gutsy move, most brood mothers hide away somewhere and limit their nest size knowing if they grow too big they risk a unified extinction by other races. Still, if that was the case then she would have simply searched for a ‘perfect’ environment like this one then do the deed there.”

  Even if it wasn't for profit O’Brien knew he needed to nip the Queen Beetle in the bud. His advantages in a way were hers, although she didn't travel back in time, the benefits at her disposal were just as significant. Like an untapped gold mine never discovered in the modern world.

  Once she got going, her army of Tier 1s supported by the rich resources of this formative period of the New World could reach record numbers. She would be a true monarch, with an army of millions. Even as a Tier 2 being such a scary number would defeat any tribe of Tier 3s. She would render several nearby regions inhabitable as she took over.

  It just so happened that his chosen destination was within this sphere of influence. Cael Mor where the Appraisal Sage appeared with several other NPCs, an early hub of priceless information and resources. He couldn't afford to jeopardize such a precious opportunity.

  There was also something else, a monarch wasn't called a monarch simply because they ruled numerous subjects and could create or modify them at will. The path dubbed Monarch's Ascension was far more terrifying than that. Creating an army after a heavy investment of time and resources acted as feedback for a Monarch's evolution. A million was just enough for the queen to go even further. No, perhaps just a few hundred thousand was enough for her to take the third step of transcendence.

  There's no direct harm to me per se as long as I get to Cael Mor and leave as quickly as possible but I have the feeling I'll regret not killing her while I have the chance.

  O’Brien held his chin in thought, a fleeting intuition had nestled in his heart. It told him that the Queen had already done the unlikely and could perhaps continue to do so.

  If even to avoid messing with the timeline I need to get rid of her for good. Cael Mor doesn't just have the Appraisal Sage. It's known as the Town of Trials for a reason, there is a lot to be gained there. So directly and indirectly, she needs to die and her army eliminated.

  O’Brien let loose a sigh, “Looks like I save this for later after all. So be it then. I'll also need a few pawns. To uproot such a nest size people aren't enough. We need at least thirty transcendents and some grunts as well, about a hundred.”

  It was annoying but he had to do some legwork and also make a few sacrifices to create the necessary pieces for victory.