Beyond the Apocalypse

"Is everything all right?" Freya’s gentle voice cut through Vlad’s introspection, pulling him back to the present as they both rode atop Fafnir’s fiery head.

"Everything is excellent," Vlad finally replied, a broad smile on his face.

Though Freya did not truly grasp the content of his thoughts, she chose to trust his assurances. Returning his smile, she let the tension in her shoulders ease and turned to watch the passing clouds.

Fafnir, the Depravita of Envy, continued to cut across the sky at a startling speed. Despite his enormous size, he handled the air currents with agility that belied his bulk.

Their flight did not last long. Before either Vlad or Freya had time to say much, the sprawling shape of Xaos City rose into view. From a distance, the metropolis seemed like a patchwork of concentric rings, each walled section teeming with life.

Vlad’s eyes widened as he realized the city had evolved considerably during his absence of over a year. Every ring bristled with new fortifications, watchtowers, and roads. Even from high in the sky, he could see streams of people moving purposefully along the walls. Their hurried steps and guarded glances made it clear they still believed a war raged on.

’Overlord must have kept the victory a secret, waiting for my return,’ Vlad thought, recalling that Overlord liked orchestrating big announcements so they would resonate more powerfully. It explained why none of the usual celebrations had been broadcast to the city. Indeed, the tension in the streets suggested that citizens were unaware of the Leviathans’ downfall.

Soon, the layout of the concentric rings became clearer. The outer ring, the city’s main defensive perimeter, was now fully controlled by the military. Everywhere Vlad looked, he spotted troops drilling on vast training fields. Barracks, armories, and even small factories for weapons stood pressed close to the high walls. Millions of soldiers might be stationed here—ready to shield the rest of Xaos City should an invading force dare strike. The entire ring bristled with an air of readiness as if the Leviathans appeared at any moment.

A bit farther in lay the middle ring, housing the bulk of the city’s population. There, innumerable buildings lined broad avenues. Vlad noticed a scattering of schools, training facilities for advanced techniques and professions, and large factories that churned out supplies day and night. Yet something gnawed at him: there appeared to be no parks or open plazas for fun. Every resource, he realized, must have gone toward the war effort. The Leviathans had been a threat like no other, pushing humanity to its limits. In that scenario, art, leisure, and recreation would naturally take a back seat to survival.

"I can’t hold that against Overlord," Vlad told himself silently, though the absence of normal comforts for the people pained him. He knew that once peace was undeniably confirmed, new projects might finally bring color and joy back into daily life.

At the mountain’s heart, Vlad glimpsed the final ring, more imposing than all the rest. Towering above everything else was the Xaos Tower, which, in his memory, had been formidable but not nearly so gigantic. Now it soared over five hundred meters tall, runic inscriptions aglow along its walls. Arcane matrices shimmered around it, pulsing with living energy. Even Vlad found it challenging to interpret the swirling glyphs that covered the structure. Evidently, Overlord had worked tirelessly to expand the tower’s capacity and self-evolving code.

Although the notion of Overlord becoming ever more self-sufficient gave Vlad a momentary sense of unease, he put that aside, focusing on the cluster of massive factories flanking the tower. Their scale rivaled entire districts, each devouring monstrous amounts of energy to produce cutting-edge weapons, armor, and sophisticated mechanical devices and drugs.