"Avalon, Vermonth, Caesaveryth, and Greystone are still holding up. There are signs of movent as well as faint human mana signatures. There have also been fires burning at night. It is faint, but it is there nonetheless." Gilead said.
Cain frowned, "How do you know it's humans? What if the Devils are trying to lure us in?"
Gilead shrugged, "If they wanted to do that, there are way more efficient thods. Don't you think?"
Cain sighed, "I guess you are right. I guess that doesn't leave out much options, does it?"
Gilead shook his head.
Cain's gaze stayed on the canvas. His voice ca low.
"Which one's in the worst shape?"
Gilead took a mont, then tapped a dot near the southeastern ridge of Aderra.
"Caesaveryth. Originally, it was a fortress city. One that has stood like that, since before the thousand year war, even. Now, those walls are obviously gone with most of the defensive structures half-collapsed. I think they were reinforced with magic, but sothing large must have hit it— multiple tis too. But there are fire lights that burn around the central region of the city."
Cain had made a lot of {Demon's Eye}. Although they didn't accelerate quickly, they could eventually move faster than missiles after hitting their maximum speed, crossing large distances in matters of days.
Even better, their optical reach was rather impressive, aning large swathes of land could be observed all at once.
To make sure the situation was constantly being monitored for changes, Gilead had left a single {Demon's Eye} in positions he considered important, such as above the ten Cities of Aderra.
Cain nodded slowly. He let out a yawn,
"And the best?"
"Greystone," Gilead said. "It was built around a mountain, so maybe that played a part? Plus, the natural elevation makes it hard to reach. From what I could tell however, they've made use of magic to seal off the main valley. Only the gods know what is down there. Other than that, there seem to be a decent number of survivors. There is minimal Devil presence in the surrounding area too."
Cain looked thoughtful. He didn't say anything for a while.
"Next?"
Gilead continued.
"Vermonth is in the plains. There's lots of open space so it was perhaps difficult for the humans to survive. Still, because of this, there was a lot of land the large farming companies used to grow food for exchange. Now, however, the outskirts are blackened. It has turned into a field of rot, if you would..."
Cain humd. "Food, huh..."
Food was a rather important resource in this world. For them, their main source of food were Mutant Beasts and foraging on Redscale Island.
He was silent for a minute. Then he asked,
"What about Avalon?"
Gilead's expression tightened.
"Avalon... I couldn't see much. It's constantly covered in a low-lying mana fog, making visibility poor. But the readings coming out of it were stable. Much more stable than the others, I reckon. There also wasn't any signs of Devil Essence."
Cain raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that suspicious?"
Gilead pursed his lips,
"Suspicious, you say? I guess that's one way of looking at it, considering we don't know much about its current conditions. Maybe we send a {Demon's Eye} into the fog to take a look?"
Cain scratched the edge of his jaw. His fingers drumd once against the chair arm.
"You said Zoan makes five. That ans you could say we are the largest confird gathering point left."
Gilead nodded again. "It would seem so."
Cain leaned forward, elbows on the table.
"If we assu an average population drop of fifty to eighty percent in those cities after Armageddon... what do you think that leaves us with?"
Gilead was quiet. Then he said, "Maybe five to ten thousand in each. Tops. Could be much lower."
Cain clicked his tongue. "So, best case— fifty thousand. Worst case— less than half that."
He looked down at the map again.
"This whole damn continent used to be ho to millions."
Gilead didn't respond.
Cain's eyes drifted from the mountains in the east to the coast in the west. Zoan was pinned like a scar near the lower edge of Aderra. From here, he could see the spread of ruined land. Red X's scattered like thousands of bloody clots in the world.
He folded his arms together and leaned closer against the table, his voice rather low,
"We'll need three things if we're going to make this work. Resources. Roads. And reach."
Gilead frowned. "Elaborate."
Cain held up a finger.
"Resources first. Materials, food, workers, engineers. Basically, a ton of manpower. If those cities are still holding out, they might have so of what we need."
He held up a second.
"Roads. From what I can tell, we can't rely on the stability of the {Spatial Gate} and the anchors. With this much chaotic energy flying everywhere, it's too unstable for that. We might need to create actual routes. Secure ones."
Then the third.
"Reach. We need to make contact. That's tricky, given the Devil problem. But if we can't open communication, none of this matters."
Gilead nodded. "You're not wrong. But I'll say this now: we don't have the strength to split our forces. If we start sending out parties, they'll need protection."
Cain leaned back, arms folded. "All this can be accomplished by a single squad. Or perhaps even a single person."
Gilead sighed,
"There you go again. I will pretend like I didn't hear anything."
Cain chuckled,
"It should be fine. If I encounter any trouble, I can zip out of there just fine."
Gilead shook his head,
"As a leader, your safety is the most important thing to—"
Cain shrugged and cut him off,
"No. None of that. I'm willing to do a lot of things, but at tis like this, I believe there is need for drastic action."
Gilead imdiately began sweating,
"This isn't a great idea. It won't —"
Cain cut him off again, this ti, with a sharp chuckle,
"This is why I won't be embarking on this wonderful quest alone. I'm already making preparations to draft a team. And you, Gilead the Guardian, are the first mber. Congratulations."
Gilead froze for a mont.
Then he shook his head,
"Why say that like it's a good thing?"
Cain grinned,
"I hear complaints but no refusals. So is that a yes?"
Gilead leaned back and folded his hands,
"To tell you the truth, I'd rather we take things slowly. But we do not have much ti on our hands. So..."
He smiled,
"What do you think?"
Cain chuckled and stretched his arm out,
"Here's to hoping we don't die without graves, I guess..."
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