The Systemic Lands (Dark Progressive LITRPG)

There was no airship waiting for me. I closed my eyes and let out a sigh. Michelle and Captain Francis could both be dead. My home was gone. The original location had no one there along with the backup location. The Crystal Vortex had been lost once again along with my two teammates.

The soldiers had died as well, but I wasn't attached to them like I was to the airship, Michelle, and Captain Francis. I felt old, very old and very tired. I kept going while the people I worked with died or left one after another.

That was the way I had always wanted it. The pain in my heart was immense, but I didn't shed any tears. My eyes didn't even get moist. I always knew this was a possibility. Since my teammates were no longer here, that meant my enemy was out there somewhere. Waiting and ready to strike me at any time.

Well, I would wish them luck. After my most recent trip, I stocked up even more on my health insurance and fully topped off my airship. 300,000 (+0); Mind-60,000 (+0); Spirit-105,000 (+14,000x3); Perception-60,000 (+0); Aura-60,000 (0); Regeneration-60,000 (+0); Endurance-60,000 (+0); Absorption-60,000 (+0); Sense-60,000 (+0); Channel-60,000 (+0) for a total of 295,000 total stat upgrades, or 885,000 after my meta-point.

More energy was never a bad thing. Now that my skills could be powered up by putting more energy into them, I needed more energy for stronger super attacks. Also, more than my health, energy represented how long I could last in combat using Air Burst. It would also increase my grinding speed, which was now the most crucial factor going forward.

It was no longer a sprint against my enemy, it was a marathon. There was no one else with me. I had started alone due to my weakness. And I was alone again due to my weakness. I couldn't protect my people. "DAMMIT!" I shouted out loud. I hoped that the Avatar died in whatever happened. At least that would warm my heart.

I absolutely refused to die before her. If I knew I was going to die, I would make sure I would drag her down with me and I hoped my teammates shared the same sentiment. I wouldn't risk giving that order, but I could cultivate a general dislike for that horrible, nasty woman.

Or maybe my enemy captured her and now they would annoy each other to death, similar to how the Astrologer dragged down the Divine Empress. Let my enemies fight each other. The scary part was, since I was the most reasonable person out of all these crazy individuals I had fought, I was the best option for team ups.

There was one last place I could check. A final emergency hold out location set up in the city of New Kochi. If anyone survived there was the option to leave a message at a dead drop. While all these preparations might have been considered excessive by some, after all the nonsense Clarissa and I had been through, there were no major objections.

If I checked and there was nothing there. That would be the last shred of hope officially gone. I went back and forth in my mind as I considered both options. In the end it was better to know than not know. That would be another three days of travel there and back, but it was worth it in my mind.

"Emperor!" I heard a shout and saw a soldier rushing in my direction. Several of the level 5 monsters were chasing him. A survivor! I quickly leapt off the airship and killed the monsters and the soldier was breathing heavily. I didn't bother picking up the point crystals. I scanned him and there didn't seem to be anything off about him, but I couldn't be too careful.

"Challenge phrase seven, the sun shines," I said out loud as he steadied himself on one of the larger boulders in the shatteredlands.

"But the rose will wilt," he replied after only a second of hesitation. He also made the right-hand sign, and I made the correct counter hand sign. I relaxed at that. Correct pass phrases would be given out under duress, but the hand signs were the second layer of identification.

"Let's get back to the airboat," I said. The soldier nodded, and I carried him up, bridal style into the air boat and set him down. I gave him some water as he got his breathing under control. "What happened?"

"Sabotage. There was an explosion in one of the engines, crippling our speed, after you had left. Less than a day later there was a major attack," he explained. "Michelle was directly countered. The high level summons never emerged in battle." That was not good.

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"The traitor Jacob, launched an aerial assault with summons of his own. The crew responded with our summons and cannon fire. It…it wasn't enough," he said heavily. "Jacob landed and it was a blood bath. We were no match for him. I was manning one of the upper cannons on top at the time and heard the screams."

"The Crystal Vortex then suffered a massive explosion, completely destroying what remained. I think the energy storage was detonated. I managed to survive the crash with five others from the upper gun crew. The enemy airship came down to the ground in the distance. I saw the enemy for a brief moment, male and Chinese, I couldn't tell you any more than that," he said. My mind raced, trying to piece togeather who it could be. There weren't many options.

"After that, us survivors raced away, engaging survival protocols. Unfortunately, three died due to monsters, and then, Henry, he sacrificed himself to lure the monsters away from me, while I hid. I couldn't get to the edge of the zone, and had to bunker down inside a large boulder I had cut out and I have been suppressing my energy as much as possible for the last several days," he said tiredly.

"Did you see any other survivors?" I asked.

"No. They would have had to leap off the airship to have survived and the crash was quite violent. We didn't stick around, in case the enemy was looking to finish us all off," the soldier replied. Michelle or Captain Francis might have survived the initial crash, which was why the person came down with their airship. Leaping off of it, would have created distance from the crash.

The soldiers had only survived because of how weak they were. Either going unnoticed or not even a concern, right away, allowing them to escape. All those people, and only one was left.

"Your name?" I asked. Since he was the last survivor, I couldn't just keep calling him the soldier in my mind.

"Dylan, sir," he said. I could see the hope in his eyes as he looked at me. I wonder how long that would last. The people picked for my personal guard were the die-hard fans that never wavered. I would always appreciate their loyalty no matter what.

"Well, it is just us it looks like. And you are now Captain Dylan," I said.

"Captain?!" He sounded surprised and then a few seconds later realized what I meant. He was the last soldier standing. He was now officially my airship captain based on the chain of command. The vows for my personal guard were for life. While it was tempting to dismiss him, it was never a bad thing to have help from a minion.

"Orders?" he asked.

"Rest for now. We are headed to a secure rendezvous point to see if either Michelle or Captain Francis survived," I said. Since one person survived, I wanted to have some hope that one of my teammates survived as well.

"Yes, ser," he said and went into the tiny cabin that just had two beds. This air boat didn't even have a kitchen, shower, or sink. That was why I didn't like small airships, there was no source of water. But they were much cheaper to operate. I would have to purchase some barrels of water to bring with me once we reached New Kochi.

I considered Dylan. Keeping him around was like keeping a pet. The main benefit was having someone to talk to so I wouldn't be lonely. If I truly wanted to be efficient with him, I would leave him in a city to gather information for me.

The uniform would have to be changed out as well. Since I was going into hiding, having one of my personal guards in uniform with me, would give my identity away. I turned the air boat to the South and set off at maximum speed. At least I could refill the gas tank quite easily on such a small air boat.

After sleeping for a couple of hours Dylan woke up again and had to use the bathroom. That involved rotating the airship around, so the rear would block the wind, and then going over the side. It was embarrassing for both of us. Since I needed to be at the controls and ready to respond to any of the flying monsters just in case one got close. He then had to use a sponge and the last of my water to wipe himself off and rinse his hands. I had him throw the sponge away off the side of the airboat.

"Feeling better Dylan?" I asked him.

"Yes, ser, much better," he replied. "If I may ask, what is the long-term plan?"

"Grind up more points. Repeat that over and over again, while occasionally collecting information to see if the enemy has shown up." Also, Clarissa would be keeping her spy network active or building one. There were locations that I knew I could go to in specific cities to get information. It would still run even if the Empire disappeared.

While the sphere had set things back quite heavily, Clarissa was incredibly efficient. Also, the locations and procedures varied from city to city, but they wouldn't change. Since the sphere had just killed people, and hadn't compromised them, there was no need to change all the security procedures for the information network.

"We aren't going back?" Dylan asked and I shook my head.

"No. If you want to resign, you have until the next city to decide," I said. I wasn't going to keep someone with me who was unwilling.

"No. I gave my word, and I will keep it. Also, I believe in you Emperor Michael. If anyone is going to get us out of this hell, it will be you," he replied. The last loyal soldier was going to stick with me. Even after all these disasters, I felt touched by the loyalty. A dark part of me wondered how long it would take until he died like all the others, joining the trail of corpses that lay strewn behind me.

Even after all of that, Dylan wanted to keep sticking with me. I didn't know if he was insane or too much of an optimist. Or he just might not have anything else to believe in. It wasn't that crazy, since I was the strongest person in the Systemic Lands.