Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night
Chapter 236: Howdy

Jett had died very quickly, perhaps because he was terrified that Zane had slipped past his defenses without making a single hint that he had done so. But Zane shocked himself with his speed. He had moved so swiftly in the attack; he felt it was basically impossible for anything to stop him from launching an attack.

He knew, of course, this was nonsense. A Tier II Horde King could easily match his speed, or would even prove superior in such regard. And because of this, Zane calmed his racing thoughts while looking at the blood crystal, which appeared in his inventory.

The system had auto looted Jett's corpse, and like usual, the rewards of his efforts were found in the inventory page which clearly displayed the large and golden Horde Crystal which belonged to a Horde King.

But there was something else that Zane noticed as well. Not necessarily in the inventory page, but rather in the sections of his system dedicated to Horde and Settlement management. By killing Jett without taking care of his Horde First, Zane had usurped control over the undead that had previously been bound to the local Horde King's will.

Instantly filling the ranks of his Horde, which was previously missing 5,000 undead. However, the town of Truckee had roughly 19,000 undead within it, and because of that, what remained of them were immediately garrisoned within the newly recovered settlement as they could not fit into Zane's horde.

These undead could be instantly transferred between settlements which Zane currently held to act as either defenders or laborers. This was most definitely a new discovery, one that Zane wanted to fully explore. That is until he remembered his mother's advice.

Because of this, he decided to shelve this new feature, and instead rush towards his next target. With Zane's current speed, the 57 miles between Truckee and Virginia city was fully crossed in a matter of minutes.

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Jett's sudden death sent echoes across the hive mind. The Horde King's were all connected in such a way that they knew when one of their own was killed. It was an instantaneous and physical reaction. And because of this, the Horde Kings were immediately stirred.

There had been no movements detected within Gravestone, suggesting that Zane and his party had set out on the hunt. The spectral spies, which kept a close eye on Zane's whereabouts, had not found no trace that the man had left his settlement.

So how? How did Jett die, and without sending word about who his attacker was? There was no way that a Horde King, even one at the bottom of the Hierarchy such as Jett, could be killed in an instant. It was simply impossible!

Because of this, Zane could hear the panicked discussions in the back of his mind, that were being held between the Horde Kings who were trying to figure out just who and what had killed their brother.

Zane, of course, had more important things to worry about, and instead found himself in the dusty old wild west village that he had once visited in his youth during an elementary school field trip.

It had been over a decade since he was last in this small town, if it could really even qualify as such. Less than a thousand people lived here full time, and it was more like a tourist attraction than an actual human settlement.

Virginia city was an old mining town from the 1800s. And had pretty much kept the whole "wild west" shtick even in the modern era. Though his memories of his time spent here during his early childhood were fond. Zane had no care or concern for such things.

Instead, he walked the streets, as if he were some kind of drifter calling out the local sheriff. His presence very clearly became known to the local Horde King. Whose Horde was so small that his siblings barely considered him as such.

Of course, the moment Lawrence saw that Zane had intruded upon his meager domain, he immediately connected two and two together. Warning his siblings that Zane had escaped the sights of those who were supposed to be watching him, and were gunning for the heads of Jett and himself.

Zane, of course, heard this warning, but did nothing about it. Rather, he immediately equipped his two sickles and held them by his wayside in a cold and menacing gesture. Jett's blood had yet to be cleaned off of them, dripping onto the ground in a grotesque and intimidating manner.

Lawrence was an undead that fully bought into the wild west shtick of the town he made his domain in. He wore a modern take on "cowboy" clothing, and even had an 1873 "peacemaker" revolver stashed away within his holster.

The undead cowboy spit out the chewing tobacco that was in his mouth, and pulled down his poncho, revealing the bronze star pinned to his shirt, while talking to Zane as if he was straight out of the movie tombstone.

"Howdy Partner! Normally I would be more welcoming of visitors, but it seems that you have stumbled into this here town with less than friendly intentions. And as the sheriff of these parts, I'm going to have to politely ask you to leave…"

Zane scoffed when he saw the undead playing the part of a wild west sheriff. I mean, really? Honestly, what pray tell was the point. Zane did not speak a word. He had, after all, no intentions of humoring this zombie by larping as an old western rustler.

Instead, he immediately launched his attack, vanishing into thin air and reappearing before the local Horde King with his weapons drawn, launching a strike directly for the man's neck like he had done to Jett earlier in the night.

Lawrence, however, wasn't stunned, nor petrified into standing still like Jett had done. Instead, he moved just as quickly as Zane, taking a step back, while drawing his six-shooter and firing off a bunch of shots at Zane's location.

Of course, Zane was now faster than a speeding bullet, and instantly dodged the oncoming projectiles as if they were moving in slow motion towards him. Before ultimately reappearing once more in front of Lawrence, launching another attack at the undead monster with a vicious flurry of slashes.

Lawrence was in the middle of reloading his weapon when Zane attacked, and had suffered several lacerations to his arms and chest, as he just barely made it away from the man trying to kill him. His coagulated oozing out of his fresh wounds as he finally finished his reload. Commenting on Zane's abilities as if he had not clearly been bested in the exchange.

"I reckon that you have recently undergone some kind of transformation. You're good, real good, I'll give you that. But unfortunately for you, I'm just a bit better!"

Lawrence raised his revolver and pointed it towards where Zane had been when he was talking to him and fired all six shots in the span of a single second. Unfortunately for him, that was Zane's after image.

And before the local Horde King had time to react to this, Zane had already gotten behind him and severed his head. The undead cowboy's decapitated head hit the ground before his body did, rolling out of its unique hat and onto the blood stained dirt with a look of astonishment in its eyes.

Zane responded to this by licking the blood off of his blade, before making a snarky remark about the man's overconfidence.

"You should have come at me with your natural abilities, and not a fucking revolver…. You died because you were stupid enough to stick to a gimmick, rather than fight me with your full strength. Fucking idiot...."

There was no doubt about it. Among the lower level Tier I Horde Kings, Zane's powers were supreme. He had just been playing with Lawrence the entire time they dueled, only deciding to end the matter once the undead cowboy began stroking his own ego.

However, with these two strikes in the dead of night. Zane had accomplished two things. First and foremost, he had gained the last two blood crystals needed to grant Angelica and Lily their second skills.

And by doing so in such a covert and rapid manner, he had struck fear into the hearts of the Tier I Horde Kings. Zane was no longer someone to be looked down upon. He was capable of silently taking out the lower rungs of the Horde Kings without any assistance.

Ultimately, Lawrence's death which came minutes after Jett's sent the other Horde King's into a state of panic. Especially Batholomew, who had essentially lost all support in the region other than Gwen.

As for the crazed undead cheerleader, she was looking forward to Zane's return to her territory. After all, he was now at a level of strength, or would be soon enough, where he could properly play with her. And she had a sneaking suspicion about her mother's intentions that gave her hope for a future beyond her second death.