System Breaker: Surviving Apocalypse with Nine-Tailed Kitsune-Chapter 16: Unexpected Reunion

"Entrance fee is one rift shard!" The broad-shouldered man in front of the only exit leading into the central station hissed.

Damon watched impatiently as Victor tried to get them through.

"But I’m from Central Station. I was one of the first ones here. I only stepped out to look for food!"

The two guarding men exchanged a long glance at one another.

"Then what about this one? I definitely don’t remember some moron walking around with a fox on his shoulder!"

"Isn’t Central Station a public space?" Damon suddenly joined the conversation.

"Public space?" The guard repeated the words.

Then, after a moment of pause, the two guards burst out in laughter.

"P-Public space he said! Ha!"

Damon frowned. ’These idiots are in charge of guarding this place? Perhaps we should’ve stayed out there.’

After leaving the message for Ivy at the crossroads, it took them a whole day and night of travelling through the city outskirts until they finally reached the South Court Station, which was one stop away from Central Station, and the only way into it.

The journey went better than Damon would’ve expected, especially with Victor trailing behind, stumbling into everything possible and causing so much noise that every undead human in the city probably heard him.

"How about this..." one of the guards began, still chuckling faintly under his breath, "Instead of charging both of you, I’ll just charge the fox guy over here."

Victor looked at Damon with an apologetic look, his posture had visibly shrunken under their denial of entry.

"They don’t look too strong..." Kitsune’s voice purred in Damon’s head like a demon incarnate.

’I’m not gonna go around killing people at random,’ Damon cut her off. ’Besides, I’m quite interested in seeing the whole relic market thing.’

After a long moment of silence, Damon summoned a single rift shard and threw it over to the guard before walking past them without waiting for approval.

"Pleasure doing business with ya kid!" the guard called after him, his eyes glistening with excitement.

At the same time, Victor hurried to Damon’s side.

"I’m sorry. It wasn’t like this before I left... I don’t know what happened," he mumbled under his breath.

Damon didn’t answer, and instead, he simply waved him off. He could tell the guards were trying to pry on newcomers, but he didn’t want to cause any trouble, at least not before seeing what the whole central station is about.

Soon enough, the dimly lit tunnel opened up to a platform.

People walked around with makeshift weapons and armours, patches of leather wrapped to their limbs and torsos as if they could provide protection against the monsters outside.

They, however, didn’t linger on the platform for long and began ascending the countless stairs leading to the commercial floor, where Victor had said everything was.

It was only when Damon climbed the last step, his breath growing slowly ragged, that he understood what his scrawny companion meant by everything.

Countless makeshift stalls stretched everywhere around them. Many sell canned food or bottled water, while the rest sell common necessities like toothpaste or mundane clothing.

"Impressive, isn’t it?" Victor asked as they moved deeper into the market.

Damon didn’t reply, his eyes locked onto the stalls in the near distance, where ordinary weapons and armours were laid out, people haggling prices.

’Two for one!" 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"Fifty per cent off on all weapons!"

Damon would’ve scoffed at the words, but his attention was completely stolen. His eyes wandered even further, where at the end of the line there were a few stalls that looked far sturdier, actually built with care and holding items that shone even from the other side of the hall.

’Relics!’

He recognised what they were immediately.

But before he could go toward them, a sudden silence struck the hall. It lasted for no more than a second before a commotion erupted on the other side of the hall, followed by nervous shuffling of those who were standing near market stalls, rift shards in hand.

"It’s... It’s the leader!" Someone shouted.

Most people hurried toward a group of four, each armoured in weapons and armour that were certainly relics. A few that didn’t hurry to meet whoever the leader was seemed to shrink in size, as if trying to remain unseen.

Even Victor, who had been focused on giving Damon a comprehensive tour just a moment ago, had turned toward them, his eyes lit with awe.

’The leader?’

Damon turned to study the group.

There were two men, identical faces, both broad-shouldered and wearing knight-like armour, heavy plates of metal protecting their upper and lower bodies. One of them held a battle axe while the other held a hammer.

’Twins?’ Damon lingered for a moment, only now realising that he had never seen twins before in his life.

Then he saw a young woman, no older than he was. She had short black hair and wore a thin armour with only a sparse set of metal plates protecting her vital points. At her side, attached to a belt, was a thin, silver rapier. The way it shimmered under the dim light of the hall made Damon certain it was a relic.

Finally, his gaze shifted toward the leader, who was now surrounded by a crowd of people, and his body froze.

Unforgettable light brown hair, a sly smirk which most people hated and a pair of golden eyes which often melted that very hatred.

’Kade?’