Chapter 54 Trauma Plays

Leon's strategy for subjugating the thousand super humans waiting to run to the Sanctuary was simple. He would create demonstrations of power that were so horrifying that people would forget they had the power to defend themselves.

Many wouldn't be able to wield such a strategy; Leon Traxler wasn't one of them.

"Hey lovely." Leon smiled as he met up with Lindy on the way to the barrier.

Lindy turned bright red but then smiled and wrapped her hands around her back in an adorable fashion.

The orange moving trucks, pickups, and buses did u-turns and then backed in slowly. The drivers in the moving trucks got out, unlatched them, and opened up the doors.

It looked like a human trafficking operation.

Every retrieval team member, the fighters and defenders riding in the back of the pickup trucks, hopped out and stood in a line.

Only Mindy and Kira kept in the trucks. Leon was protecting Mindy, and Kira was a wildcard that mainly acted as a seatbelt if Mindy's sister showed up.

Leon didn't have time to let the two have a reunion, so he needed Mindy to stay put.

Once he, Lindy, and Caitlyn were together, he checked the time.

—

Event Start: 0:03:12

—

"Three minutes left. That's more than enough time to assess the situation." Leon thought aloud.

He scanned the area and took mental notes about the situation.

Thousands of people were lined up on the highway leading into Paradise Road, neatly organized into orderly airport-like rows by red, blue, and green barrier walls.

It was conveniently organized but problematic because they couldn't protect everyone standing so close to one another. An area of effect spell would kill all three groups at once.

"Oui! Quit fuckin' annoyin' us ya fuckin' freak!" The man with a scruffy beard yelled with a bloodred face. After yelling at Leon, he got completely ignored, and it was pissing him off something savage.

"Yeah… here's the thing…." Leon said quietly while walking up to the barrier to face the man.

The man's eyes narrowed with killing intent, waiting with an intimidating face while Leon got up close.

"The thing is, you need to shut the fuck up." Leon said with cold eyes.

The man behind the barrier's face twisted into a mad rage when Leon told him to fuck off.

"I'm gonna fuck you up, kid!"

"Oh, yeah? Are you going to do that with your leg wound? You look like you're on your period."

Ding!

A notification flashed in front of the man's eyes.

[Sanctuary has blocked an attack]

"Hey, what the fuck did you just do to me?" He roared.

"I pointed out your glaring weaknesses and your temper problem." Leon replied with a smile.

[Sanctuary has blocked an attack]

The man's eyes trembled in confusion. He turned around to face all of the women around Leon with shaky eyes. Each of them looked just as relaxed as Leon.

"Yeah, so here's the thing. My power damages enemies when I expose their weaknesses." Leon said, twisting the truth with a devilish gaze.

"Those notifications tell you you'd be dead right now if this fancy barrier weren't protecting you."

"I-I don't believe you." The man said in a quivering voice.

"Ah, so you're the stupid type that pokes the bear that's eating them. I'm surprised you're still alive."

[Sanctuary has blocked an attack]

The man's eyes trembled. "W-Wait, you can stop. I didn't know better."

"Hoh? It seems that you're also mentally weak and easy to break when you feel helpless." Leon laughed, "I didn't expect you to be a self-righteous Becky."

[Sanctuary has blocked an attack]

Leon was eating the demonstration up. Each notification left the man increasingly broken.

Since he was the most aggressive and loud-spoken, watching him crumble terrified the people around him more and more.

In truth, Leon's skill—Savage Clapback—had an unknown lethality. But when even a minor diss gave an arbitrary number, it became horrifying.

Trauma. Fear to attack. That is what Leon Traxler sought to wield.

He couldn't suss out the weaknesses of a thousand enemies by himself. But people stopped thinking about that in the face of such fear.

It was simple psychology, and people like Leon were masters of it.

"I-I…." The man quivered.

"Need to shut the fuck up." Leon reiterated.

The man hushed down and let Leon continue.

"LISTEN UP!" Leon yelled.

"If you hadn't noticed, no beasts outsiders to the sanctuary can be on this road!"

The lines of people's ears perked up. That was the point of confusion that the man sought to solve for them, and they were all interested.

"That tells you one thing! We're FROM THE SANCTUARY!"

Confused excitement ripped through the crowd.

"We survived and got to the Lemmox Sanctuary yesterday, and now we've brought busses, moving trucks, and pickups to get people there safely today!" Leon announced.

Cheers rang out in the crowd of anxious people.

"More specifically, just the women! The female candidates and survivors!" Leon clarified in a booming voice, "That's it. So when this barrier—"

"Wait, what the fuck!?" One man screamed.

"Didn't you just learn anything? If you think we're risking our lives to save someone that can't learn from the deaths of others, you're a fucking idiot."

Ding!

[Sanctuary has blocked an attack]

Leon grinned internally when he saw the man begin panicking. He was pleased knowing his power accepted petty, childish clap-backs.

The likelihood his last diss would tickle the man was low. But right now, it was a god-like weapon, making all of the men tremble.

"Did it happen to you too?" A man asked.

"Y-Yeah, it did." He replied with shaky hands.

Trauma. Fear reinforcement. Create a demonstration; reinforce it with an action. After a concept is seeded, even a small demonstration magnifies in power.

"Once again!" Leon yelled.

Pandemonium broke up, and people began panicking.

"Fuck me. EARPLUGS!" Leon yelled at the top of his voice.

The forty women in the retrieval team and forty drivers pulled out cotton balls or earplugs procured by the support team that morning.

The type meant for beast people were different and strange to look at. However, they all worked well enough. Leon hoped.

"Ready!" Quinn yelled from the back.

Leon turned to Caitlyn and Lindy, who put theirs in with grinning faces.

"[Yoink], God's Voice." He said with an evil grin.

He turned around and motioned for people to cover their ears with their hands. Everyone complied immediately.

Leon didn't know what would happen. Higher levels beget stronger powers, and God's Voice was the latest of Caitlyn's skills to unlock after destroying a ten-mile city strip and killing every candidate within it.

"LISTEN UP!" Leon said softly.

All 2035 candidates and survivors dropped to their knees.

Leon looked back to see the status of his teams. To his surprise, everyone was shockingly fine. As party members, it automatically lowered his voice.

Those he had spoken to were less affected than those who had just arrived. It seemed that the closer an ally, the less it affects them.

Caitlyn and Lindy were disappointed because, as harem members, it only sounded like he was talking into a microphone. Therefore, they didn't get to see what it did!

Leon chuckled at his idiocy, thinking a high-level attack would harm his allies.

"HA HA HA HA HA."

The chuckle caused the waiting candidates and survivors to wince in pain.

Leon found it amusing, but he knew it took up a lot of mana. While they had mana recovery potions, they were surprisingly rare, and his team members would likely need them.

Caitlyn had to keep up a barrier if necessary. It no longer had a cooldown time or a time limit and could stay up as long as she had mana.

However, while she had a lot of mana, it constantly repaired itself after attacks. There were a thousand people that could attack. It wouldn't last long if they didn't keep people in check.

"WOMEN CANDIDATES, BUSES. FEMALE SURVIVORS COME AFTER. MEN LEAVE ONCE DRIVING. RUN AND MAKE IT IN TEN MINUTES. NO RISK OF DEATH IF CIVILIZED." Leon whispered as low as possible.

"DON'T COMPLY, PEOPLE DIE INDISCRIMINATELY. LOTS OF PEOPLE. NO WARNINGS."

He instantly negated the power after that.

—

Event Start: 0:00:9

—

"You there!" Leon said to a woman up front, "You're the first to go. So when the barrier releases, get moving!"

She nodded hesitantly.

Leon turned around and nodded to the women in the buses and moving trucks. They opened their doors and stepped out to help with the coordination.

"Hey, Tricksie. I really want to see your power. Can you use it on the first person that acts up?" Leon asked casually.

"I'd~love~too." Trickie sang.

—

Event Start: 0:00:01

—

The gods released the barrier. The instant that happened, men rushed forward in a mad sprint.

THUD!

A wall of men smashed face first into Caitlyn's Heavenly Barrier.

Only one man escaped and ran to the left to avoid the wall of women.

He wore a button-up shirt, khakis, and short brown hair. The sharp stubble on his neck indicated a lifetime of shaving daily but putting it aside in the apocalypse.

The man didn't want to fight. His blue, bloodshot eyes held nothing but desperation and a will to survive.

That's all he wanted.

So when he made it through the barrier and the wall of women didn't look at him, he thought he was saved.

"I might make it!" He whispered under his breath.

"Awwwww! Where are you going? Don't you want to play?" A voice asked playfully.