Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night
Chapter 224: Defiance

Though Zane didn't know it, his movements were being watched for quite some time now. Not by Bartholomew, or Maya, or even the mysterious and absent mother of death. No, his movements around the Reno/Tahoe area were being watched by Gwen.

Despite being a mere Tier I Horde King, Gwen's strength was on par with that of the lowest level Tier II Horde Kings, she had decisively beaten Zane's Ghoulish Ashigaru, and sent both Lily and the man himself running with their tails between their legs.

She was a fearsome enemy to be sure, especially with Zane and his party's current level of strength. But the crazed Horde King was more interested in Zane in ways that should not normally be expressed between the living and the dead, than she was in eating his brains.

And because of this, she had been sending scouts to keep an eye on the man. Though her horde was small, it was far from undeveloped. Among the Tier I Horde Kings in this world, Gwen had some of the highest ranking undead. Only a small fraction for her forces were Walkers.

The rest consisted of Tier III, III, IV, and even a handful of Tier V undead. Though Zane and Lily had only encountered what few Tier I Undead Gwen had in her Horde. The reason for this was simple. Gwen was a rarity among her siblings, in she focused on quality over quantity.

Not only was her personal strength abnormal among her peers, but so too was the strength of her horde. The cost of having higher level undead among her ranks was the fact that her horde had to be much smaller than they otherwise would be.

Currently, Gwen was sitting in the ruins of the town, which she maintained sovereignty over. Applying lipstick to her flawless thick lips, while listening to one of her scouts, a spectral undead which specialized in espionage, speak to her about the things it had witnessed.

Zane had battled the forces of Elysium for control over Darren's former domain. Meaning he was more than willing to kill thousands of his own kind to advance his power. This was to be expected, at least from Gwen's perspective, as she and her siblings all believed Zane to be one of their siblings, a covert agent hiding among the living for reasons that only their mother knew.

In addition to this, Zane had met with the leader of Elysium, the so called Goddess Valeria, and negotiated at cease fire. Valeria quickly returned to Elysium with her host afterward. All the while, Zane continued over the course of the next week to replace the forces he lost in battle with the living.

This was rather mundane news, and Gwen quickly stopped what she was doing, and instead stared at the Phantasm with glowing red eyes. Her eyes were normally not such a color, but when provoked, they could display such an intimidating sight.

The phantasm's form vanished, almost as if the blinding light had banished it to the shadow realm. And once it was gone, she sighed heavily and returned to the mirror where she applied her makeup once more, all while commenting to herself about her minion and their uselessness.

"Unlike my siblings, I don't give a damn what big brother is up to in regards to fulfilling mother's task. I want to know what the hell he is doing with those filthy living sluts! They better not be trying to seduce my big brother, or else I will show them no mercy when the time comes to flay the flesh from their bones!"

After saying this, Gwen felt a probing thought enter her mind. This was the sign that one of her siblings wanted to communicate with her. And because of this, she let out an exasperated sigh, before putting on the act of a doting little sister.

"Big brother Bart! It's been so long since you contacted me! And here I thought you had forgotten all about your darling little sister!"

There was an audible trace of disgust in Bartholomew's voice as his voice entered Gwen's mind and communicated to her telepathically.

"Cut the crap, Gwen… This is important. You know that Darren has fallen, right? After Eliza's passing, he was isolated from the rest of us, and with Zander also gone. That means that nearly half of you have been wiped out by the living.

I'm calling upon you and your peers in the area to meet me in my domain. We will be combining our forces in an attempt to bolster our defenses against this mysterious brother of ours, and his attempts to kill us off one by one!"

Gwen sounded annoyed when she heard this comment. With Eliza, Zander, and Darren gone, all that left in the small towns and cities surrounding the Reno/Sparks Metropolitan area were the Horde Kings in charge of the towns of Incline Village, Truckee, Virginia city, and herself.

However, with Tahoe city seized by Zane, it would only be a matter of time before two out of three of her peers were taken out as well. In the end, it would just be Bartholomew and her. After all, her siblings were easy enough for Zane and the girls to take out, but she and Bartholomew were at least one step above their paygrade.

Because of this, Gwen was not the least bit worried about the future, or the fate of her siblings. She knew that Zane would come for her after he had taken out the others, and not before. And since this was the case, she outright rejected Bartholomew's demands.

"Not thanks Bart, I'm sure the others will need your protection, but I'm fine here. I have accurately gauged my mysterious big brother's strength. And he will not be a threat to me for some time. Good luck on protecting the others though, they are going to need it."

Being so blatantly rejected by Gwen was not exactly something that Bartholomew was willing to tolerate. And because of this, the Horde King which took the form of a high school cheerleader felt like her head was splitting open the next moment.

Bartholomew had applied an intense amount of mental pressure to the girl via their telepathic leak, causing her to wince in pain, and drop the lipstick in her hands. She clutched onto her head, while trying her best not to suffer mental damage from the sudden attack, all while Bartholomew's shouting voice reverberated through her skull.

"You will do as you are told, you worthless fucking wretch! I am not the same man I was just a month ago. My current power is well beyond your understanding, and if I have to drag you out of that Podunk town you call a domain by force, then I certainly will!"

It was a testament to Gwen's strength that she didn't immediately submit to the pressure of a Tier III Horde King when applied directly to her mind. Instead, she grit her teeth and endured long enough to recover where she climbed to her feet with a painful expression on her otherwise pretty face.

It was then that she shouted, both physically and mentally, in response to Bartholomew's demands. Denying him once more, while reminding him just who was backing her and her sovereignty, with a single snide remark.

"You can go fuck yourself if you think you can command me, little Barty boy!"

The moment Gwen responded to Bartholomew, she felt the immense pressure her brain was suffering from vanishing, as if it had never existed to begin with. Allowing the Tier I Horde King to sigh in relief and regain her composure, all the while Bartholomew responded to her in a reserved, albeit belligerent manner.

"You! This isn't over Gwen! Don't think that just because Lilith adores you that I will be so willing to back down the next time I make a demand!'

After this, the telepathic link between Gwen and Bartholomew was forcefully severed on the part of the latter. Causing Gwen to smirk as she made a snide comment aloud about Bartholomew's lack of guts.

"Keep chirping, little bird. Despite rising to Tier III, you are still the same frightened little boy that you have always been!"

Naturally, Gwen would go on to report this encounter to Lilith. Who was busy enough with her own machinations? Nevertheless, Lilith made time for Gwen, who was one of the few of her siblings which she actually had some form of a bond with.

And because of this, Bartholomew would come under a lot of pressure from Lilith, so much so that his plans to pool resources with the Tier I Horde Kings who surrounded him had completely and utterly fallen apart.

Leaving them ripe for the taking, for Zane and his girls to slay and conquer. Which the group would begin their plans to do exactly this shortly after Zane fully recovered his strength. But that is a story for another time.