Conqueror of the Time Apocalypse

Chapter 3. The Slap of Arrogance: Punishment for a Petty Traitor

“Stop right there, piece of trash! This area has been claimed by the Central Sector Savior faction!”

The shouting voice broke through the noise of the raining blood drops soaking the asphalt road towards Block C-4. In front of Maxwell stood an emergency barricade made of luxury car wrecks and road barriers. About twenty people armed with long-barreled guns and iron pipes stood with arrogant expressions.

“Saviors? Who are you saving besides yourselves, Baskoro?”

Maxwell stopped exactly ten meters from the barricade. He recognized the leader in front. Baskoro, a former assistant manager at the law firm where Maxwell used to work insignificantly in the past. A sycophant who would later sell secret information about the human headquarters to the demon army just to exchange for status as a high-level slave.

“You? Maxwell the intern? Hahaha! How did you survive this far? And you recognize me? Good, at least you know who your master is now!” Baskoro laughed loudly, brandishing an electric baton that crackled blue.

“Master? Even in a hundred years, you would still be a small mouse trembling under my feet, Baskoro,” Maxwell replied flatly. His eyes glimmered with a thin golden light that only he could see.

“How dare you talk like that! Hey, you guys! Break both his legs and take the watch he’s wearing! It looks like expensive loot from scavenging!” Baskoro ordered his men.

Two burly men, former port thugs who now felt like apocalypse heroes, stepped forward swinging iron pipes.

“Don't you want to run, kid? This pipe can crush your bones in one hit!” mocked one of the thugs.

“Run? From a bunch of dead men who haven't even realized their death?” Maxwell asked back, his tone so cold that it made the thug shudder for a moment.

“So arrogant! Die!” The thug swung his iron pipe with full force towards Maxwell's head.

Maxwell didn't move an inch until the pipe was only five centimeters from his temple. With precision that surpassed normal human capability, he tilted his head slightly to the right.

*Sleb!*

His hand moved like lightning, grabbing the thug's throat and using the opponent's body weight to slam him onto the asphalt.

*Thud!*

The man's head hit the concrete with a horrible sound. Fresh blood sprayed out, but Maxwell was not hit by a single drop. He stood tall, still with his hands in his pants pockets.

“One,” Maxwell said briefly.

“Bastard! What did you do to my friend?! Hey, attack together!” yelled the other thug, now with a face full of mixed anger and fear.

“Wait! Back off! Let me handle this!” Baskoro jumped forward, his electric baton glowing brighter. “I just received a blessing from the System! I am Awakened Class D: Electro-Slinger! Taste the power of a god, trash!”

Baskoro fired a small stream of electricity from the tip of his baton. To normal eyes, the attack was very fast and unavoidable. However, in Maxwell Sullivan's eyes, the stream was merely unstable energy particles moving on a very predictable trajectory.

“Absolute Knowledge, identify energy flow,” Maxwell whispered mentally.

*Subject uses unstable Mana. Transmission point is at the base of the right thumb pressing the manual switch. Attack frequency is 50 Hz. Moving two degrees left will cause this attack to bounce into the puddle of blood under the subject's feet,* the system voice answered instantly.

Maxwell shifted slightly to the left, with perfect precision.

*Zzt! Boom!*

The stream of electricity missed Maxwell, hitting the puddle surrounding Baskoro's barricade. Because this blood rain had high mana conductivity, the electrical current turned back and electrocuted all of Baskoro's men standing in the puddle.

“Arghhh! My body! It’s hot!”

“Baskoro, you idiot! You shocked all of us!”

“Crazy! Help! My heart stopped!”

One by one, Baskoro's men fell, convulsing with foamy mouths on the wet asphalt. Only Baskoro was still standing because he wore insulated rubber boots, although his face was now as pale as a corpse.

“H-how… how did you know?” Baskoro stammered.

“That’s the difference between someone who possesses power and someone who was merely given a toy on loan, Baskoro,” Maxwell said as he stepped closer.

“Don't come near! I have a pistol! I have authority from the Emergency Government!” Baskoro pulled a 9mm caliber pistol from behind his belt, his hand shaking violently.

“Which Emergency Government? The one currently fighting over seats inside the underground bunker three hundred kilometers from here? Or the Emergency Government led by Colonel Handoko, whom you will betray two hours from now to get medicine supplies for yourself?”

Baskoro's eyes widened, nearly popping out of their sockets. “H-how do you know Colonel Handoko's name? That plan... I just thought of that plan in my head! You… you're a mind reader?!”

“I’m not reading your mind, Baskoro. I just know every dirty move you have made and will make. Do you want to know what it feels like to be punished by someone who knows every single one of your hidden sins?”

Maxwell infected Baskoro with a massive killing aura. The mental pressure felt like a mountain pressing down on the small man's shoulders. Baskoro fell to his knees, the pistol in his hand feeling as heavy as a thousand tons until he couldn't pull the trigger.

“Mercy, Maxwell! No, I mean Mr. Maxwell! We're old friends, aren't we? We worked in the same building! Please don't kill me!” Baskoro screamed while trying to kiss Maxwell's shoe.

“Friends? Friends don't push their colleagues towards Scavenger Dogs just to gain five seconds to run, Baskoro. Do you remember the incident in front of the building elevator three minutes after the system started? You pushed the old security guard toward the monster just so you could get into this limousine first.”

“That… that was for survival! The world has gone mad, you know that!” Baskoro defended himself with feigned tears.

“The world might have gone mad, but you were always a demon from the beginning. And my punishment for a demon like you isn't a quick death,” Maxwell said.

Maxwell snatched the pistol from Baskoro's hand as if taking candy from a toddler. He broke the trigger with his bare hand and threw the remaining frame into a pile of trash.

“You mean… you won’t kill me?” Baskoro asked, a glimmer of false hope appearing in his eyes.

“I don't need to dirty my hands for a rat like you. Look behind your barricade, Baskoro. What do you hear?”

Baskoro turned slowly. From the darkness of the alley behind him, low growling sounds and scales scraping against concrete began to sound louder. Hundreds of Scavenger Dogs were heading towards the commotion and the electrical light he had just created.

“Monsters! The monsters are coming! Help! Open the gate! Take me with you!” Baskoro screamed, trying to grab the edge of Maxwell's jacket.

Maxwell brushed away the hand with disgust. “Your gate is closed. You are the perfect bait while I continue my journey to Block C-4. Enjoy your last moments being the main course.”

“Maxwell! You bastard! You’re worse than those monsters!” Baskoro screamed desperately as the first monster leaped out of the darkness, tearing his shoulder with a single bite.

Maxwell turned his back, easily jumping over the concrete barricade as if the laws of gravity didn't apply to him.Behind him, the hysterical screams of Baskoro and his men mingled with the sound of tearing flesh, but none of those sounds caused Maxwell to slow his pace.

Johan, who had been following at a safe distance, finally ran closer after witnessing the silent slaughter. He looked at Maxwell with a pale face.

“Master Maxwell… you… you know everything about him? About Colonel Handoko too?” Johan asked with a trembling voice.

“Information is the strongest weapon in this world, Johan. If you want to survive with me, never hide a single malicious intention in your mind, because I will know it even before you say it,” Maxwell replied without turning around.

“Y-yes, Master! I understand! I swear loyalty only to you!” Johan swallowed hard, imagining what would happen if he betrayed him.

“Good. Now we've reached the border of Block C-4. Johan, ready your axe. Up ahead, there aren't just small-fry monsters like those dogs,” Maxwell said, pointing towards the half-ruined elite apartment building.

“What's there, Master?”

“Wraith. A spirit-type monster immune to physical attacks. And if we're five minutes late, the woman I'm looking for will turn into one of them,” Maxwell replied, quickening his pace until his shadow vanished into the bloody mist.

They entered a quiet, ominous area. Luxury cars were parked haphazardly, some still sounding irritating alarms. Maxwell stopped in front of a silver Rolls-Royce covered in thick black fluid.

“That's the car! Viana Enderson is inside that apartment building!” Johan shouted, pointing at the destroyed lobby.

“Don't shout, idiot. Do you want them to rip your soul out?” Maxwell scolded in a low, commanding tone.

“Sorry, Master… I see a large black shadow hovering there,” Johan whispered, trembling as he pointed to the third floor.

“That's a Shadow Wraith Grade 3. The gatekeeper for my main target. Absolute Knowledge, is she still alive?”

Target status Viana Enderson: Cornered in a private vault room on the fifth floor. Oxygen supply remaining 2 minutes 40 seconds. Six Wraith units are attempting to breach her manite defenses, the system replied in Maxwell's mind.

“Just over two minutes? Looks like I'll have to show off a little today,” Maxwell mumbled. He pulled a gold coin from his pocket—loot from the previous giant which he converted into a utility item.

“Master, how do we fight them? My axe won't be useful against spirits!” Johan asked frantically as two black transparent figures started descending from the lobby ceiling.

“Step back ten paces. And don't close your eyes. You need to learn how to hunt ghosts,” Maxwell said with a sharp grin.

Maxwell threw the gold coin into the air. Before it fell, he struck it with energy emanating from the Ancient Sovereignty Ring on his finger.

“Light Divergence: Holy Cleansing!” Maxwell shouted.

The coin shattered into thousands of golden light particles that exploded like fireworks in the lobby. The light wasn't just illumination; it contained purifying energy that burned every Wraith it touched. A high-pitched screech filled the air, painful to anyone who heard it.

“W-what was that? Light magic? Isn't that supposed to only be gained after one year of the apocalypse?” asked Johan, wide-eyed in astonishment.

“Those rules were made for ordinary humans, Johan. And I am the rule itself,” Maxwell replied coldly as he walked through the lobby debris, now clear of enemies.

They climbed the stairs at lightning speed. On each floor, Maxwell efficiently destroyed obstacles with movements so efficient it was as if he were dancing in the middle of a storm of destruction. Finally, they arrived in front of a thick iron door marked "private vault."

The door was already dented inward, showing that the physical strength of the Wraiths was immense, even though they were non-physical entities.

“Viana Enderson, open the door or you'll turn to dust along with that disappearing oxygen,” Maxwell shouted while striking the iron door with the back of his hand.

“Go away! Whoever you are, leave this place! I have explosives!” the woman's voice from inside sounded weak but still carried the arrogant tone typical of a conglomerate family.

“Those explosives will only kill you faster than the monsters outside. My name is Maxwell Sullivan, and I am the only reason why your fate won't end miserably today,” Maxwell replied with an undeniable tone of absolute authority.

“Sullivan? I don't recognize that name on the world's elite list!” Viana countered from behind the door, though her voice now sounded full of doubt.

“Of course you don't recognize it, because in the future, I will write your name on that list as a shield for my kingdom. Now, get out or I'll break it down myself!”

Creak! Boom!

Maxwell didn't wait for another answer. He used his foot to slam the door's locking mechanism right at the weakest point indicated by his Absolute Knowledge. The ten-centimeter thick iron door flew off as if it were made only of paper.

Inside the dim, stuffy room stood a beautiful woman with clothes torn in several places but still appearing elegant. Her face, pale from lack of oxygen, looked at Maxwell with a deep mix of fear, awe, and skepticism. That was Viana Enderson.

“You… you destroyed the strongest vault door in the world with one kick?” Viana asked, gasping for breath.

“Save your surprise for bigger things out there, Viana. My time is limited. Do you want to stay here and rot, or are you willing to surrender your loyalty to me and watch how this world bows beneath our feet?” Maxwell asked, stretching out his hand enveloped in an aura of sovereignty.

Viana stared at the hand, then at Maxwell's eyes, as deep as the ocean. She felt a strange pressure, as if this man in front of her was the only certainty in the midst of this newly destroyed world.

“Who are you really, Maxwell Sullivan?” Viana whispered, her fear beginning to give way to burning curiosity.

“I am the owner of your future,” Maxwell answered with a faint, mysterious smile. “And starting today, your personal history has just begun anew under my banner.”

Viana hesitated for a moment, but when she heard monster sounds again from the corridor behind Maxwell, she grabbed his hand. Something that felt like an invisible bond crept from Maxwell's palm into her soul.

“Good. The right choice,” Maxwell said, pulling Viana to her feet. “Johan, watch our backs. We're getting out of this dump right now.”

“Yes, Master!” Johan replied enthusiastically, now proud to be on the winning side.

“Viana, welcome to the team. Don't disappoint me, because the punishment for failure on my side is much more painful than death by monsters,” Maxwell whispered right into Viana's ear as they started walking out of the room.

Viana could only nod slowly, her heart pounding not from fear anymore, but because she realized she had just sold her soul to a figure far more dangerous than the apocalypse itself.