The journey to Elysium was not exactly a long one. Though it could have been traversed much quicker if Zane had gone by his lonesome. The fact that the women by his side demanded to accompany him on this diplomatic visit meant that Zane was forced to drive them with the armored Humvee. A vehicle that took hours to arrive at the final destination.
When they gazed upon Elysium, it was as if they had entered a fantasy world. One far removed from the realm of Earth and its reality. The walls had tall, and spiring towers which were laid out every few meters. Towers which were filled with members of the Cult's militia, who no doubt protected the city from any outside threats.
Whether it was the walls themselves, or the towers which pierced the heavens, everything was elaborately crafted, no doubt from materials scavenged from the undead, and refined in the various buildings which were granted by the system and its settlement management feature.
Unlike Gravestone, which was built around the ruins of an old-world city, and thus, its walls were less than methodically planned. Elysium was built entirely within the new world. Located strategically within the Sierra Mountainside, it not only had access to critical resources like fresh water, timber, and stone. But it also was designed with defense against the undead in mind.
The city was built like a concentric castle. With three walls, each of varying size. The outer most wall was the shortest in height, but the largest in terms of area between it and the next of its kind. This territory was primarily filled with large swaths of agricultural land. Farms and ranches took up the bulk of the areas constructed here. But there also existed small towns built around them.
In fact, Zane was surprised to see that the depth between the entry gates, which they passed through without incident due to the invitation letter he had received, and the next wall, was well over ten miles in length.
Of course, after passing through the farmland, and seeing a large amount of crops being grown, and animals being raised for their pelts and meat. Zane and the girls eventually made their way to the second wall without incident.
Once inside the second wall, which stood quite a bit higher than the outer wall, and had a moat around it, much like the outer wall had, Zane found that this area was far more urbanized. And no doubt was where the majority of Elysium's population settled.
The area was filled with fachwerk style houses, shops, and factories that looked as if they were straight out of Medieval Germany. Or one might dare say a stereotypical fantasy town. The streets were paved with cobblestone and were highly organized. In a way that Gravestone simply wasn't.
Shops were hawking all kinds of goods. Whether it was food, equipment, or simple oddities, either scavenged from the wasteland, or built themselves from scratch. One thing was certain, the quality of life in Elysium was significantly higher than that of Gravestone.
Children ran through the streets without the slightest care that the world outside the walls which surrounded them was a desolate wasteland filled with undead monsters that would want more than anything to tear the flesh from their bone.
And parents ran after their children, similarly free of such worries. It was only after seeing such a carefree environment that Zane was starting to understand why Valeria was worshipped as a goddess by the people who settled beneath the safety she provided.
Elysium was a proverbial paradise in a wasteland of a world filled with death and suffering. Even Zane had to admit that his previous notions of Gravestone being self sufficient, and better off than anyone else in the world, were thoroughly shattered by what he saw when visiting Elysium.
And he was not the only one. Angelica, who hid her facial features with a white hooded cloak, looked around in astonishment. Feeling quite inadequate towards the so called Goddess who could provide such a utopia for her followers, while all she could do was to heal the sick and the wounded.
"No way! I'm not letting Zane go in there by himself! This is clearly a trap of some kind! Sure, he may be able to take care of himself in a fight, but what if... What if she drugs him? Have you ever thought of such a possibility?
I mean, there's a million ways this can go wrong, real fast! I won't let him go alone!"
Both women's perspectives were equally valid. It would be an enormous risk for Zane to take, especially if Valeria was really connected with Lilith after all. If she dared to appear before him, any strength he may have would be completely and utterly meaningless.
Lilith was a monster that Zane could not contend with on his own. The only problem is, he had not alerted the women in his party to what Maya had warned him about. They did not know the extra level of risk that was involved.
And because of this, Olivia threw in her lot with Angelica, forgoing the perceived danger as being worth the risk. And advising Elena to put her emotions aside and think about this matter rationally.
"Elena... I understand your feelings. Hell, we all do... But Angelica is right... Look around. I mean, this place is untouchable, even by the undead.
It's why it exists here! There have to be things we don't know about, things that are protecting them.
Things that we could really use! I know it's risky, but I think it's a risk we have to take. We can go and speak with the locals, and try to find out more information, while Zane speaks with Valeria. I'm sure Zane can handle whatever she may be plotting against him.
Olivia's words made sense and normally would be enough to convince Elena. But every nerve in her body told her something horrible was waiting inside for Zane. Something he would not be able to deal with on his own. And that terrified her.
Still, the glances the other women gave her were enough peer pressure to force her to back down. And thus, Elena walked up to Zane, and grabbed the back of his head, where she kissed him, blushing as she broke away, and in doing so forced him to make a promise.
"Promise me you will come back to me in one piece, alright? Promise me!"
Zane chuckled, and patted the girl's crimson hair, and in doing so caused the young woman to pout, as he assured her that he would indeed return to her in one piece.
"I promise... You all go and find out what you can about this place from the people in it. I'm going to go have a chat with this so-called goddess..."
After saying this, Zane walked past the guards who were waiting patiently for him to finish his discussion, and entered the castle grounds, where the gates shut behind him.