Chapter 967: Enemy |
Kiran's life was difficult, but he overcame all obstacles.
Nick put him in genuinely dangerous situations, but he didn't put him in helpless situations.
He could overcome all of them with wit and power.
Life was not easy.
Kiran had to flee many times and had to hide.
Sometimes, he couldn't get any food since powerful Specters were there.
During the most dangerous moments, Kiran had to fight Specters he couldn't flee from.
But in the end, he prevailed.
After six months, Kiran became a Late Newbie.
He summoned ten random humans from all over the world and dumped them in the grand hall without any explanation.
He also changed their genes to grant them night vision.
As for the Nightmare's influence, he was keeping it at bay manually.
For now.
Naturally, the humans were very chaotic and confused, but eventually, they left the hall.
Of course, Kiran just happened to be close to the halls, and he met the group.
He quickly became their guide, and he led them through the unfamiliar world.
In the beginning, all of them followed his commands, but after a couple of days, things changed.
The newcomers learned about the underground world, and their true personalities came to the forefront.
Amongst the group were three men with a certain predisposition for violence and greed.
They used their powers to extort one of the women for sexual favors.
Kiran didn't know this was going on.
In front of Kiran, the three men acted nice and compliant.
After some days of this happening…
The woman killed herself, leaving behind a note.
The truth came to light, and Kiran was confronted with what his three friends had done.
He threatened them, but in the end, he couldn't bring himself to kill or exile them under their pathetic pleading.
Kiran wanted to believe in the good of humanity.
He wanted to give them another chance.
Everything was fine for a couple of weeks.
Then, one of the other women came forward and told Kiran that they were trying to do the same thing to her.
Was she lying or speaking the truth?
Was this just revenge for their fallen comrade, or were the three of them actually doing it again?
Should Kiran believe her?
He felt helpless.
Both options were possible.
He didn't know what he should do.
In the end, he decided to investigate.
He hid and watched in secret.
That was when he saw the woman attacking the three of them with a weapon.
She had become an Early Newbie very quickly since she worked with a lot of Specters, and she would definitely win this fight.
Kiran intervened and asked what was going on.
It turned out that the woman had lied.
The three of them hadn't tried to gain more sexual favors.
She just wanted revenge for their fallen comrade.
Kiran wouldn't allow that to happen.
Every human was important in the group, and they needed to stick together.
The woman became angry at him.
"You protect us from Specters, but you're not protecting us from other humans!"
"They raped and killed her!"
"You have the power, but you're not using it!"
These words triggered Kiran's memories of the virtual lives he had lived.
He saw himself in her position.
He had been in a very similar position to her in two of the lives.
He knew how it felt.
She was right.
He hadn't been decisive enough.
He had not been fair in his judgment.
The three of them should never have received another chance.
Kiran exiled the three of them and forgave the woman for her actions.
However, he also wanted her to carry a heavier burden.
They now lost three men, and she had shown that she was powerful enough to contribute more to the group.
The woman had no issue with that.
The incident was over.
Or was it?
Three months later, two of them returned, and they were much more powerful than before.
They had managed to capture a Hatchling, and they had grown stronger.
One of them had died outside, and they blamed Kiran.
Two more people in the group died, and the woman was abducted while Kiran was out.
Eventually, Kiran found them.
He saw the tortured and battered body of the woman, and his heart was filled with regret.
This was his fault!
He should have killed them!
He had not been decisive enough!
He had all of the power, but he still messed it up!
Kiran killed the two men.
The small society stabilized over the next weeks.
Under Kiran's leadership, the group was relatively coherent and harmonious.
That was when 30 more people were introduced.
With such a big group, Kiran couldn't immediately establish his authority.
Some of the new people joined the established group, but plenty of people made their own groups.
Eventually, another incident occurred.
One of the members of another group had stolen stuff from a member of Kiran's group.
Kiran confronted the other group, and they said that they would investigate.
Nothing ever came of it.
More time passed, and more incidents occurred.
Someone in Kiran's group killed someone from another group but claimed it was self-defense.
These situations were difficult to solve.
In the end, Kiran refused to hand the person over but made a rule.
No member of his group was allowed to kill anyone from the other group.
If they were attacked, they were supposed to flee and report to Kiran.
They were allowed to disable the other person and eliminate the danger, but they were not allowed to kill.
Things became more unstable inside and outside Kiran's group.
More powerful Specters appeared.
More conflicts happened.
One of the groups was almost completely killed by an Adolescent, and the refugees joined another group.
They didn't believe in Kiran.
In their mind, he was a pushover and weak leader.
And yet, the group they fled to also fell victim to a Specter.
In the end, the remaining refugees were forced to join Kiran's group, but they didn't have any hopes.
When the same Specter attacked this group, they thought it was over.
But the Specter was promptly suppressed by a team of three people.
Kiran hadn't even been involved.
The refugees believed that Kiran's group had gotten lucky, but that wasn't the case.
They were in a relatively open space in the underground city, and they faced the most Specters.
But they were strong.
They had already withstood several attacks.
Eventually, the refugees realized something.
Kiran wasn't a pushover.
He wasn't a weak leader.
They had thought his lack of aggression when dealing with the other groups was a sign of weakness.
But that wasn't the case.
He had not been focused on the other groups at all.
He was busy training his own people and making them more powerful.
While the other groups had been in a competition and resource war with each other, Kiran had focused solely on utilizing the resources they had to counter the Specters.
Humans were not Kiran's enemy.
The Specters were his enemy.
The humans were not a threat.
The Specters were a threat.
As long as he and his group kept surviving, they would grow stronger.
The other groups didn't matter.
Only Kiran's group mattered to him.
Eventually, only Kiran's group was left.
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