Lowly Ascent

Cain walked into an office building, an office building that belonged to his Merchant Group.

Many people were awed by his appearance. Cain's disappearance had caused the business to fail, and many workers quit.

The only ones still in the building were there to collect their things. Cain, walking through the main doors, was a surprise to them.

He ignored everyone and headed up to his office.

A passerby standing outside saw Cain and immediately left into the busy streets.

...

Cain entered his office and immediately went to the side of the room where he had a bookshelf. He took out a book, and behind it was a switch.

He turned it.

Click

Cain moved the bookshelf to the side. Behind it was a small closet holding Cain's possessions and the money he had earned, which could be said to be a small fortune.

He took his belongings, which included some virus vials, tissue of the undead, and the weapons he couldn't bring with him on the mission to the mansion. Cain closed the secret compartment and went over to his desk.

Then, he started to destroy everything that could be connected to him.

In the middle of this, the door to his office was busted open, and Targan stomped inside. His face was red with anger, and his teeth were grinding, making an unpleasant sound.

"What did you do with my sister?!" Targan demanded.

Cain didn't take his eyes off what he was doing and responded, "She's fine, with a close friend I would say. Maybe more? Depends on how useful he is to her."

"What are you talking about? Tell me where my sister is!"

Targan ran over to Cain and saw what he was doing. Cain's hands were working fast, ripping papers and throwing them into a trash bin that had a growing fire.

The Young Master's face turned confused. "What are you doing? Wait... Are you destroying evidence of yourself? You're running away!"

"Just leave. Your sister will come home soon," Cain said calmly.

"Answer me, Cain! Don't make me hurt you!"

Cain stopped and sighed to himself. "Why do I even try? You're all slaves anyway. It doesn't matter if I kill you or not."

Targan heard Cain talking to himself, and his rage grew. However, it was quickly extinguished when he saw Cain's look of pity as he reached behind his back.

The next thing Targan knew, he was on the floor. He had fallen backward, and his stomach was opened. He didn't even have time to process what had happened before he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder.

Targan pivoted to his side to find Cain crouched beside him, plunging an evil-looking dagger into his shoulder blades.

"Haah... I guess I should make a message out of this towards that bitch and that apprentice of mine. People always need a line they know they can't cross." Cain said coldly.

Targan was still processing the situation as his flesh tore, and he cried out in anguish.

"Don't worry, I had to experience this too, so I know what I'm doing. Trust the process."

...

After Cain was done, he took his belongings and headed out.

'I can run to Free City in a few days or so on foot, but I still have poor stamina. My new body hadn't been augmented yet in that way. Only viruses carry over since I successfully used them to change my DNA...'

With his current stamina, Cain would have to take a few breaks on the way. Although his physique was higher on average, it was nowhere near inhuman for people living in Netherane, unlike his physical defense.

So, he ended up buying a horse and left the city, leaving everything behind and entering the world unburdened.

...

Anders had long since woken up. Alex and the rest had explained they were leaving Barch. He wished them well but he had unfinished business.

Anders was staying.

He had already connected himself with the Garsh family because of Rebecca, and he had to accept this outcome.

The first thing he did was take her home to see her brother. On arrival, however, they were told that Targan had left the mansion and gone to Cain's offices, as Cain was seen there.

Anders immediately feared the worst and took the carriage over to the offices with Rebecca. When they got there, the local law enforcement had the building blocked off.

Thanks to her status, Rebecca got herself and Anders into the scene of the crime.

Anders feared what Cain had done to Targan, while Rebecca thought Targan had killed Cain and had a giddy smile plastered across her face.

Upon entering the office, Rebecca's smile froze, and Anders's face lost color.

The officers left, not wanting to get involved. Rebecca immediately lost her mind at the scene before her.

Behind Cain's desk, a mangled corpse was hanging above the ground. The corpse's skin was flayed, and pieces of flesh were hanging from the ceiling, dripping blood.

It looked like a butcher's shop. Rebecca didn't even have time to cry or weep for her brother as rage enveloped her. She began to trash the room in a rage, screaming about what she would do when she got her hands on the perpetrator.

'Not a care for her brother....hatred sure is powerful.'

Anders simply stood there, looking at the corpse. He knew that with this, his master was gone.

However, he steeled himself to become stronger and take the monster's life that used his master's face.

...

Cain stopped his horse on the outskirts of a grand but devastated city. He tied his horse to a tree next to a pond and entered the destroyed city through the North gate.

When he crossed the gate, he looked up and saw an insurmountable wall that reached a height he couldn't calculate.

He changed his gaze to inside the city. He passed under the gate and saw the dead walking the streets. He remembered how the living used to walk these streets, but the memory quickly faded, and he returned to reality.

Cain spent his time scavenging. The information he acquired from Victor stated that the devices he would trade with the Kingdom were hidden in some rubble inside the city prior to the deal.

He spent around a day searching before he found a crate with the Empire's sigil. The meeting would take place in three days. Cain believed that Victor planned to go to this meeting himself, seeing as he never had another agent meet him.

Cain planned to complete the deal with the Kingdom so he could get the item they were handing over to the Empire.

He was far more interested in an item the Empire asked for alone than a bunch of high-tech devices. He didn't even look in the crate to see what they were.

He knew much about the meeting during his takeover of Victor's body. He found that he could slow down the process of overwriting the body to search for some of the victim's memories.

It would only be bits and pieces and no memories older than a year, but Cain found it helpful as he could see some things Victor did in his free time, including his thoughts at the time.

He learned that Victor wasn't as crazy as he seemed, and it was, in fact, a mask he wore to appear so.

Victor was a very cautious and logical person who had a soft spot for his children. He found the mask of insanity to be a good all-around defense for himself and his children.

This wasn't surprising, Cain saw Victor's face before he killed him, it was that of someone with rationality.

But what Victor did have was a twisted mind, when it came to torture.

Through the memories, Cain could feel Victor's excitement and pleasure when he tortured him.

'He either never uncovered his true self, or his mask of insanity ended up affecting him.'

As Cain dragged the crate to the meeting place, he imagined what a sick person Victor would be if he didn't restrict his prophesized 'true self'.

Cain imagined that Victor would be a sick freak who tortured innocent people for fun if it wasn't for his position in the Kushen family as well as having offspring.

Cain eventually dragged the crate to the proper location and waited as he slept on it, waiting for someone to come.

The part of the city he was in was the slums of the Northern outer ring. It was close to the inner ring and had more organized crime here before the siege. The number of zombies was lower too.

...

After three days, Cain heard footsteps and sat up. He watched as a group of five walked up to him. They wore black cloaks and had their faces covered.

"Are you the representative of the Empire?" One of them asked.

"That's me," Cain replied, smiling as he walked up to the figure who had spoken to shake hands. The figure quickly backed away, appearing weary of Cain.

"Fine, we'll do it all seriously. Got the item?"

The figures looked at one another before one of them took out a box and handed it to the leader. The leader then handed the box to Cain.

"We will also do as the Empire asks. Blaming the Union won't work for long, so we are open to what you have planned."

Cain studied the box, he stopped paying attention to the lackeys as soon as he was handed it.

"Yeah, yeah, take the crate of toys and go. I still have some stuff to do here," Cain said, as he walked away and headed towards the center of the city, while the figures walked off.

The deal was complete.