Chapter 511 make my own heaven. [2/2]
I didn't know if the people of Hellsend became reapers willingly. But for me, I personally made the decision. For the rest of my harem probably not. Except for Bella and Robyn, five of my girls had Reaper blood in them.
But we were already here. And while things were not perfect, my life was definitely better than it had been as a human. The Bible was always very clear about the fact that far more people would go to hell than to heaven. Maybe Hellsgate was the reason?
'Speaking of. It might be a good idea to find out who Bella and Robyn's Reaper parents are.'
Phillip laughed loudly at my words again and grinned manically.
"As expected from my lord! Please tell me how you want to proceed? As the owner of a new battlefront, you have full authority to turn as many people into reapers as you wish. Provided you can support them."
"The support in this case is that the place where they will reside must be protected from malice, correct?"
The monocled bastard didn't answer, just nodded. His smile was that of a demon who had just swindled some poor sap out of all his wealth.
Ignoring Phillip, I began to think. My criteria for getting reapers would be simpler. Those whose lives as humans were so fucked up that they would rather start a new one by turning into reapers. The world, and life in general, has never been fair.
There were a lot of people who were good, they just needed help. I thought about that a long time ago. For one thing, when Lilly said that the Reapers were outnumbered, I was already planning how to strengthen the humans. But before I could, Cynthia interjected.
"Oy Scammer, you forgot to mention something. How will my lord hold a recruitment? I can understand how we would move to the 24th floor. But what about the trials? I almost didn't make it through mine!"
"Yes, mine wasn't easy either. Only about half of us survived! What is the point of turning a human into a Reaper if they die in their first battle anyway," Connie added.
"Since I was part of Administration, I was privy to the details of every enlistment. Simply put, hardly any of the Reapers from the last decade turned into Specters. So His Majesty decided it was better to focus on quality than to lower the bar."
"Mr. Phillip. Are you saying that the abysmal survival rates were intentional? My Lord's batch was particularly bad, right?"
The monocled bastard nodded his head and bowed.
"You guessed right, Mrs. Deryck. His Majesty decided to imitate Australia and try something different. In previous years, he had taken the Asian approach, and while Reapers were plentiful, their quality was extremely poor.
"So he deliberately placed two Rank D's as bosses. Anyone who could survive against both would be a force to be reckoned with. The Undead Brute would test their will and combat skills. The undead stalker would test their ability to react to unforeseen situations and their intellect."
When Yvonne, Cynthia, Connie and Lucrecia heard the heavy reasoning behind my own enlistment, they began to babble like schoolgirls.
"GYATT! PATRON! YOU AND THE SIRENS ARE THE GOAT! Period! I knew I wasn't just faking it! OMG!
How did you even survive fighting a Brute and a Stalker in the same night? It must have been amazing! No cap!"
"A Brute and a Stalker? My enlistment only had a single Rank E Undertaker! I would have died if I joined in July! Who ever heard of Wraiths taking down multiple Rank Ds?"
"Holy fucking shit... No wonder Limitless and the Sirens are way too powerful! You fought them as a Wraith, right? Just like me now? Limitless! How did you do that?!
Give me the scoop!"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
"Most impressive. His Majesty the Invincible's foresight and judgment are astounding. It may be true that only a few hundred have passed. But out of such a gamble, the lord and six of the Sirens all came out of such an impossible trial! I should tell Vincent."
"Indeed. Many criticized His Majesty specifically because out of the 20,000 potential Reapers, only 200 survived. A survival rate of 1%. Much more, since His Majesty allowed the Fortune 500 companies to sponsor their own Reapers. Despite all the toys they brought, they were all of little use," Phillip criticized harshly.
I remembered the special groups. One brought a flame tower, another had a large flare gun, and the last had what looked like night vision goggles. all of them heavily armed.
Originally, I just thought David was a fucking bastard. Since I didn't have any other enlistments to compare to, I didn't know if mine was difficult or not. I assumed everyone had the same experience.
Phillip's words were true, however. The skills we needed to take down the Brute and the Stalker were completely different. {Carry}, {Resist}, and {Rewind} allowed us to overpower the large beast. While {Eat}, {Listen}, {Perceive}, and {Code} allowed us to kill the Stalker.
If my girls and I had not come together, we would all have died. I didn't try to think about it too much, but so many people died that night. As someone who wanted to run a battlefront, it was a fucking colossal waste of potential.
But in terms of results, it gave birth to me and the Sirens. And by extension, it gave birth to Hellsend and our Saint Division.
"The only other battlefront with such terrible numbers is Australia, where they usually have 0.5%. However, in just one week, my lord, you have not only vindicated His Majesty's heartless decision, but you have also proven that quality still beats quantity," Phillip gushed with pride.
"I see. Then, as the owner of the 24th floor. I will also decide how high to set the barrier."
"Yes, my lord. However, you should know that more Reapers would force you to accept more malice in order for them to have space to move in. Right now, depending on how many zones in the 24th floor you want to defend, the number of active and reserve Reapers would also differ."
A floor for a single continent had 28 zones. I would need at least 28 Phantoms to defend them all. I already met that requirement, but the number of floors was high. Higher than anything I had ever attempted on my own.
If floors after the fiftieth contained flying undead, we would have to use anti-aircraft tactics. In addition, according to Isolde, undead past floor 20 were already using items. Just as the E level undead were not affected by the honey trap, fighting lower floors would naturally be different.
"Do I have to give an answer now?"
"No, my lord, of course not. These things require a lot of thought. Another thing you need to consider is how you want to use the 24th floor."
"What do you mean how?"
"My lord, the 24th floor is an interconnected floor. It means that the other continents have a physical bridge that they can use to move to North America. As their new king, you now have the responsibility to decide what to do with those who try to enter your realm."
"You mean like rogues?"
"Yes, rogues, illegals, invaders. Since the 24th floor has been officially removed from the North American battlefront, these decisions are yours alone. How you act will determine how North America acts with you."
"Explain."
"My lord, the battlefront tax was created so that the reapers would not remain idle. As their new lord, you have the option of not collecting the tax. However, what is to prevent rogues from using your land as they see fit?"
"Huh? I wouldn't worry about that, Phillip. Anyone who thinks they can be a lazy bum under my rule is fucking retarded. Hellsend should have proven that by now. My rules are simple. If you live with me, you fight.
If not, you die," I declared with a wild grin.