Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night
Chapter 235: Die for me, will you?

Zane spent the rest of the day following their little powwow at breakfast, upgrading the gear that his party members used. After all, they were quickly approaching level 25, and by Zane's estimates, would reach that level within a week at the most.

Thus, the focus now was to upgrade their gear to an appropriate level, befitting their recent rise in strength. Luckily for him, he had acquired a vast amount of materials, blood crystals, and random loot drops over the past few weeks of grinding.

Enough so that he could sell a portion of it all in the store feature of the system, and in doing so, acquire the resources he needed to upgrade the girls' gear to the recommended level to combat Tier I Horde Kings with.

And it was because of this that he spent the day making sure every single piece of equipment in his party was at least Epic quality, and level 25 to match the girl's own equipment. Zane had even upgraded his own gear so that it matched his current level, which was thirty.

It was a costly sum, and not something Zane could do very often. But his gains were enough to cover the price which needed to be paid. With Zane's previous horde of 2,500, and his additional 2,500 horde limit gained by mastering his skill [Dead Man Walking] Zane's horde Limit increased to about 5,000.

But that was not counting his upgraded equipment. If one were to include the benefits gained from the upgrades, Zane could now field a Horde the size of 7,500. Which was definitely on par with the lowest level Horde Kings. There was just one difference: his Horde was of significantly higher quality.

Regardless, Zane did not immediately move to acquire more undead, nor did he attempt to raise the ranks of those he already had to the maximum level they could be, which was Tier V. Instead, after the day was over, and night fell. Zane had other plans in mind.

Once all the girls had gone to sleep, choosing to turn in early for the night because they were still anxious about Zane's condition, Zane snuck out of his room with his entire set of gear equipped.

The moment he left the room, he damn near startled himself as he found Maya waiting in the hallway for him, while smirking. Zane took a deep breath to calm himself before scolding the girl, or should I say the woman disguised as a little girl.

"God damn it mom! You scared the shit out of me! Can you not?"

Maya broke out into a giggle, where she then approached Zane with her hands playfully held by her back. She knew exactly what Zane was up to and was quick to comment on it.

"Going out and taking care of the other two Horde Kings that lie on your path to reuniting with Gwen, are we? And being so covert about it nonetheless? Why not tell the girls and have them tag along? Unless you are planning to test your might?"

Death had seen right through Zane's actions. That was exactly what he had been planning. At least ever since he truly became a Horde King in his own right. After all, power now emanated through his veins, despite the blood being as still as a rock.

He could tell that the +5 boost to all his attributes catapulted him well beyond his previous capabilities. Even without his horde by his side, Zane felt he could truly 1v1 a Tier I Horde King and emerge victorious. Or at least a Tier I Horde King on the lowest rungs of the hierarchy.

Naturally, he wanted to test this theory, but to express this desire to his companions, well, it would only cause them to worry even more than they already were. And because of this, he sighed heavily and stared at his mother, who currently took the form of a little girl and spoke his thoughts aloud.

"I can't hide anything from you, can I?"

Maya slowly circled around Zane as if inspecting his person, and after a short while of doing this she finally stood still, silently nodding her head in approval before expressing her views on his capabilities.

"I believe your decision is most wise. By now, the others should all be on alert, especially after your recent revelation that you can hear them speak to one another. No doubt they have already made plans to prepare for your arrival. In fact, I know all too well that they have.

If you march into Truckee and Virginia city in the same manner that you have been, so boldly announcing your appearance with that giant hunk of metal you call a HuNovelFireee, they will ambush you before you even have time to call upon your Horde for reinforcements.

But to sneak into their domain and take them out while they least expect it. That is a bold plan, but a wise one… It's a damn good thing I gave you my cloak, or else even with the rest of the gear you wear, you would not have the stealth rating to avoid detection from the likes of a Horde King.

So, if I were you, I'd move quietly and swiftly. Do not hesitate and show no mercy. And when you are done with your first target, do not return here to celebrate your victory. Immediately move to your next prey and take them out before they even have a chance to react.

You are, after all, faster than that hunk of junk you ride in when you are alone, and since you are now a full-fledged Horde King, you need not worry about stamina. Good hunting my son…."

After saying this, Maya left Zane alone to his own goals with a smirk on her adorable little face, rounding the corner towards her quarters, before outright vanishing into thin air. Zane paid no heed to this, rather he immediately left the bunker to do as Maya advised.

---

Truckee was a small town in the mountains of California, built around the lake and river it was named after. Prior to the outbreak of the undead virus, it had a population of around 16,000 people. Today it was infested only with the walking dead.

Its Horde King, like Eliza, had been a middle school student prior to his demise and resurrection. But unlike Eliza, he was a boy. Jett was dressed in what appeared to be a baseball uniform while standing within the center of his domain looking out into the distance, towards where Elysium lay.

After all, humanity had built one of its largest settlements in the post-apocalyptic area within the backyard of his own domain. You could say that the town of Truckee was the only domain of the undead now standing between two of humanity's most powerful settlements. At least those west of the Rocky Mountains.

Elysium had been making moves recently, sending scouting parties into Jett's domain. Something that had been a constant source of annoyance. As he was forced to personally send them running back to their home. Yet right now there was not the slightest sign of human life anywhere nearby.

Things were quiet, too quiet, not even the sounds of crickets could be heard in the background. He suspected that the Crusaders of Elysium were about to make a move against him, and because of this, the young boy scoffed before condemning humanity for its foolishness.

"Perhaps if this was a month ago, I would be frightened by your movements. After all, your strength was definitely enough to challenge not just me, but some of my more powerful siblings. But unfortunately for you, you morons actually decided to bleed your army dry in a pitched battle against your own kind.

And we both know that you humans can't recover such significant losses in such a short amount of time. You are not like us in that regard after all… So show yourselves before I decided to no longer play nice with you all!"

Zane was surprised that he had been detected. It was not because Jett could see him, or even hear him, for that matter. No, Zane's movements had been perfect. There were no signs he was in the area at all.

Rather, what gave him away was the local wildlife, or the lack of it. Zane's aura of death was so strong that even the crickets fled in fear for their lives. And Jett had picked up on that, thinking perhaps it was an elite force of Elysium's assassins hiding in the backdrop, foolishly thinking they could take him out.

However, the young Horde Kings' eyes widened in shock and despair when Zane revealed himself out of thin air with his blades drawn. It was as if the Grim Reaper himself was standing before him. Jett quickly pointed his finger at Zane, yelling at him as if fear had overtaken his wits.

"You! You shouldn't be here! You can't be here! Stay back!"

Zane smirked, taking joy at the sight of the undead displaying fear towards him. He swung his twin sickles in a rotation that allowed them to clash together, and in doing so, causing sparks to fly from the colliding of their blades, all while he continued to aggress towards his target.

It was only after this menacing gesture did Zane finally speak to his prey, giving him a message that was as haunting as his sudden appearance.

"Our mother sends a message…. Die for me, will you?"

Jett tried to contact his siblings in a last-ditch attempt to warn them of Zane's shift in tactics. But when he tried to speak to them, all that existed was nothingness. Because before he could even do so, Zane had made his move. The last thing that registered in Jett's brain was his body falling to its knees before crashing to the ground, all without his head attached to it.