SL: Chapter 712 – Day Unknown 1 – A Full Reset

We showed up in the middle of the night at the city entrance. The fact we had run across blue slimes on the way here was incredibly concerning. There were very few places with blue slimes in their level one zone. There were people coming back from the level 1 zone from around the city. But they didn’t have good equipment and were clearly low leveled. I stopped a group of four men and two women.

“Greetings,” I said while looking them over. They appeared to have western features and light skin. Not Asian, which ruled out a lot of locations in the Systemic Lands.

“Um, are you okay?” one of them asked.

“Just some minor injuries. I will get a regeneration no problem. My companion and I were wondering about the name of this city? Is this East Bastion or possibly Normandy?” I asked, making an educated guess.

“Um, you come from another city?” one of the men said. “You got past the monsters?”

“Yes. You seriously don’t know about any other cities?” I asked. They shook their heads and I looked at Clarissa who shrugged slightly and then back at the group. “What nation or country did you come from?”

“I don’t see why we should tell you-“ I moved and gripped the man by the throat.

“Perhaps things weren’t clear. I ask the questions and you answer. What nation or country did you come from?” I asked while holding the man up in the air to the side.

“The US, let him down,” one of the women said.

“Impossible. Only Truth and Purgatory are connected to the US,” I replied and looked at Clarissa.

“A full wipe?” she suggested as the man kept struggling and his companions looked on nervously.

“With Purgatory’s defenses? They might have had issues, but the city shield held out before. It should have held out again,” I replied.

“Well if things got bad enough and no one activated it,” she replied. I let out a long suffering sigh. “I know. It is exhausting. And no, I am not rebuilding everything.”

“I wasn’t about to ask you to, but a full reset, how annoying. I wonder how widespread it is? Oh and there are no airships,” I said with a frown.

“That will be annoying. Having to travel on foot,” Clarissa said. I tossed the man I was holding away from me as he frantically scrambled away, gasping for air.

There was some shouting from the group but I ignored them and set off again, with Clarissa next to me. I could have gone faster, but for now we were teamed up. We reached the city center and there was a gang trying to extort crystals from people.

I ignored them as I moved towards one of the pillars. “You can’t just come here. You have to pay the fee.”

I flicked my hand and two beams struck the man in the center of his torso. He exploded in a white flash, into tiny chunks. “That is my fee. I am Michael. Now don’t bother me,” I declared loudly as people screamed and ran away.

“That brings back memories before all the stupid people died,” Clarissa said casually and I couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

“I know right. Seriously, thinking to extort me, their Emperor,” I said and I put my hands on a pillar. I could access the store. I let out a sigh of relief. I had been slightly worried about that. I purchased a regeneration right away. Health insurance for the win. Clarissa was also checking the store. It was a basic store. No city had a basic store anymore.

“Well, that is concerning,” I replied.

“It appears this place was reset. Most likely Purgatory. The monsters were familiar on the way in. I didn’t want to say anything. But…a full reset,” Clarissa said.

“All those invested points, lost,” I replied.

“I was thinking more about the people. Even if the government was falling apart, it was still a government. It is just exhausting to think about all the work I did that has been lost,” she said. I purchased basic clothing and began to change out of my rags. Clarissa did the same as well. I noted people watching fearfully from the basic buildings around the plaza.

That really did bring back memories. “We try and get back to your hidden bunker?” I asked her.

“Yes. Your airship should be there and my people know what to do. The problem is that it is on the other side of the Systemic Lands, it is going to be a hike to get there,” she said.

“Don’t remind me. We have to go West for a long distance. At least the reset only appears to have been for one arrival. One of the neighboring governors should show up,” I said.

“Unless it was a much wider reset. The sphere was impacting the eastern half of the Systemic Lands the previous time. But now Purgatory is reset. Michael, what if it wasn’t just this city but a large portion of the Systemic Lands?” she asked me nervously.

“We weren’t gone that long. We need more information first,” I said while my thoughts drifted to Michelle and my mother.

“Um, sorry to bother you, but would you be willing to talk?” an older gentleman walked over towards us. I looked at Clarissa and we both sighed at the same time. Dealing with new arrivals was a headache neither of us wanted to deal with at this time.

“This is the Systemic Lands. People show up due to the Almighty System. Kill monsters to get points, to get stronger, to kill stronger monsters and get more points. There are other cities. Kill idiots who try making a scam like the thugs were doing. Oh, and I am Michael, the strongest person in existence. If you bother me I will kill you,” I explained.

“That about sums it up,” Clarissa added on as she finished getting changed. “A shame we can’t get a shower with this place reset.” I had cleaned myself up with purchased water, but it just wasn’t the same as a proper shower. I had grown used to my comforts.

“Um, could you help us, maybe?” the man asked.

“No. Go away or I will kill you, last warning,” I said. He quickly ran away as I began to purchase a pack.

“Really?” Clarissa asked me while I looked at the portable store in her hand.

“Oh. Habit you know,” I replied with a shrug. “Thinking about the map, there should be a tower near the connection point both halves of the Systemic Land that I cleared in the past. We can check the zone to confirm this isn’t another instance as we check cities. I am thinking Esperanza then New Beijing. After that the Forbidden City, then straight to the zone with the cleared tower,” I said, planning out our route.

“If the Forbidden City has been reset, then everything would have reset,” Clarissa said and I nodded at this.

“Exactly and checking the tower position will confirm if this a different location. The towers are numbered out of 40 and we had 2 fully upgraded cities, Purgatory and The Abyss. Or at least I did. I should have 10 towers as well. Oh, the stupid sword of Ascalon had a tower as well, we can check on that as well, near New Kolkata. Should let us get a fairly clear picture of what has occurred,” I said.

“Looking at things, I would guess these people have been around for more than 10 days. Look at the amount of trash,” Clarissa pointed out. “Also, you can sense more people?”

“Several hundred. More than 20 days at the very least, could be 40. If we were gone for that long, could be some kind of time effect. Did you notice anything when testing the rainbow dimension?” I asked.

“No. Absolutely nothing,” Clarissa replied.

“Complicated and annoying. All those wasted points and I am talking about the points spent on people as well,” I said.

“It is what it is. We just have to accept it and move on. Just another disaster in a series of them. This place truly is Purgatory or Hell. Doing the same things over and over again,” Clarissa muttered angrily. She took a lot of pride in building up a stable and working government.

I could understand that. All those lives, all that effort, erased like it hadn’t even mattered. “It is odd we came out near Purgatory,” I said.

“Not that unlikely. It is a central location, and the sphere showed up in this area before,” Clarissa said and I nodded at that.

“You think we caused this with our assault?” I asked.

“If we did, then it is still better than the alternative. The outcome is just a bit more depressing than I had hoped for,” Clarissa replied, and I nodded at that. It truly was.

“Truly is Purgatory, my naming sense is spot on,” I said.

“Enough chatter, let’s start running. I will need to rest once we reach the Forbidden City. I don’t have your stupidly high stats,” Clarissa said.

“No problem,” I replied with a grin. Just as we were about to leave, a case of terminal stupidity showed up.

“You think, you can kill one of my boys, and just leave?” a tattooed thug held a sword along with several other thugs with weapons. I pinched the bridge of my nose. These people just didn’t get it. I also didn’t want to mess up my clothing.

“I killed your boy with a single hand wave, exploding him. You honestly think those weak basic weapons can hurt me? They aren’t even Magnite. What a joke,” I said with exasperation.

“Get him!” I just stood there. The thugs swung at me and literally bounced off or bent when striking my body. They did absolutely nothing.

“Having fun?” Clarissa asked over their shouting.

“Just wondering what kind of brain illness they have,” I said.

“Well don’t play around forever. I want answers and it is a long trek,” she said. I nodded at that as a sword stabbed into my face and deflected off. I moved my hands to deflect other blows that would have hit my clothing so they didn’t get ripped up.

“I am Emperor Michael!” my voice was projected across the entire plaza. “And you dare even look at me, let alone strike me. Die for your insolence!” I moved out of the way and then hit all the thugs with the smallest annihilation attack possible. Even then it was like using a bazooka to kill a mouse, complete overkill and it made a mess.

Clarissa moved out of the way as body parts and viscera went flying everywhere. “At least you didn’t melt them.”

“I try to practice humane killing. I am not the Divine Empress reveling in suffering and cruelty,” I said as body parts rained down where we had just been standing at. At least my clothes remained spotless. That was going to be my goal while investigating to see how strong my stats were and push myself. I wouldn’t let my clothes take any damage including getting scuffed up in combat.

“Fair enough. Let’s get moving,” Clarissa said, and we set off leaving behind a lot of terrified people.