Some way or another, he had to shift his focus away from Zerin, or else she would cause his head to burst from anger.
He might not be feeling physically tired after all the fighting, but the mental strain was real. He needed to distract himself or else things might really take a turn for the worse.
"Why are you following me?" He didn't beat around the bush and directly asked, a slightly cold look in his eyes.
There was no need for them to follow him all the way here. They weren't driven away like him, or labelled as monsters. What caused them to come to such a dangerous place in the dead of the night? Moreover, Jackie… this girl seemed to have special status as well.
Hmm, a core member of the Alliance.
Although he didn't have an exact idea what the Alliance was, it was definitely not a simple organization.
Moments passed as Xavier waited for his answer. With each moment, the look in his eyes turned even colder.
Jackie and Millie didn't even look in his direction, completely avoiding eye contact, neither speaking. Their reaction was understandable; after all, the world they knew had crumbled. Not just that, they had watched their friends and families die right in front of their eyes.
However, Xavier wasn't in the mood to care about any of this. He needed answers.
"Damn it all."
In frustration, he kicked a piece of stone. Bang! Like a bullet, the stone flew through the air, hitting a giant iron pole in the distance. Thud! The pole crashed, sending sparks everywhere.
This scene not only attracted the nearby monsters but also caused both Millie and Jackie to come out of their dazed state.
Jackie looked at the sparking pole, then back at Xavier, her face turning slightly serious.
"Avoid making too much noise, or you might attract the eyes of elves living somewhere around here…"
Her voice was plain and slightly resigned, as if she had given everything to fate. Her aura had completely transformed; if earlier she looked cold and detached, now she looked like someone who had given up hope.
Xavier didn't care about her mental state. In his mind, a single word reverberated—elves! A species from fantasy and magical books.
"Elves! What are elves doing here… more importantly, how do you know all of this…?"
By the end of his words, Xavier was trying his very best to control himself.
It was at this moment that Millie, who had been following along like a zombie, finally showed a reaction. Her eyes turned toward Jackie with a questioning look.
"Jackie, the least you could do is answer his questions."
Jackie fell silent for a moment, then finally, after another breath of time, she started to speak.
"Even the Alliance is not sure why, but after the apocalypse started, multiple portals leading to foreign worlds opened. All sorts of species started invading Earth, and from the information that I managed to gather, the area around Fort John is occupied by the elves."
Xavier's expression darkened slightly when he heard the mention of portals and alien races invading. To some extent, he was the one responsible for this. If he hadn't crushed the Scroll of Sacrifice, none of this would have happened.
Just as he was about to start blaming himself for the situation, he hurriedly shook his head. No, I didn't do it on purpose. It was just an accident. How would I know there was some Abyssal-level being manipulating things in the dark?
As soon as his thoughts reached this point, his emotions calmed down.
There was silence for a moment, everyone digesting the implications. The surroundings were completely blanketed by pitch-black darkness. The only sources of visible light were the flickering electric poles and burning vehicles scattered all over the place. However, unknown to them, compared to a few moments ago, the number of these flickering lights seemed to be increasing at a fast rate.
Xavier was too busy thinking about all sorts of things to notice this. After a moment of silence, he asked, "What is this Alliance that you keep mentioning? I've never heard of something like this before the apocalypse…"
Hearing Xavier's question, Millie's eyes also flickered. Millie and Jackie could be counted as good friends, but even then, this was her first time hearing about such a thing.
Jackie let out another sigh and finally came out clean.
"It is an organisation formed by people who knew about the coming apocalypse…!"
Kekeke, didn't I tell you… This world of yours is definitely sold to some outer space merchant. All those people in power must have already escaped to some outer shelter, enjoying their lives, while people like you suffer.
Zerin mocked without hesitation.
Xavier was too shocked to pay attention to the Demon Queen's mockings. Although Zerin had mentioned something like this, at that time, he found it difficult to believe—why would the authorities hide such news? But now, hearing the same words from Jackie's mouth, a fellow human being, he had to believe those words.
Now that he heard the answer to his question, Xavier started regretting even asking it.
He was better off not asking. Now he was even more pissed.
"Why didn't you tell others? Why was this info not made public? So many lives could have been saved, so many that would not have been separated!"
Jackie could feel the look of anger mixed with betrayal. She shook her head and sighed again.
"Why do you think this information was withheld? It was actively promoted. There were signs all over, but people either didn't care or simply ignored them."
"Signs? What do you mean by signs, goddammit? Anyone from the government could have simply come out and addressed the crowd… this disaster could have been avoided…"
Just then, Zerin's words from before reverberated in his head.
The world sold to outer space merchants!
Don't tell me she wasn't playing with my mind but telling the truth!
With how Jackie's expression turned slightly complicated, Zerin's words seemed true.
He was about to ask more questions when suddenly his danger sense tingled. He could feel multiple presences getting closer to their location.