Limitless The Strongest Revenant

Ignorance made the world a dangerous place. It was only when mankind learned and adapted to the world that we progressed. The earliest example of this was when man learned the seasons.

It was only when humanity learned how to prepare for winter that they began to create a sense of normalcy. By taking advantage of the abundance of spring, man learned to cultivate the land and live off it.

Slowly but surely, man gained knowledge that allowed him to rule the entire earth. Of course, the opposite has happened in today's society, but that is beside the point.

While knowledge and wisdom have certainly allowed humanity to progress, the lack or misuse of either leads to misinformation and ignorance.

This was why, instead of progressing, my country was currently so bored out of its mind that it invented 52 genders and removed women from the list. It was expected to be born ignorant, but not to die ignorant.

I became a Reaper knowing literally nothing, and I suffered for it. Fortunately, the girls and Hellsgate itself thought I knew all I needed to know. From the situation of the Reapers, to matters of {Fates}, to even how to make a living in Hellsgate.

And even if I didn't know everything, I certainly knew more than when I started.

That was the trap I never wanted to fall into. Thinking you already knew everything you needed to know.

Frank Smith was the worst example of that belief made flesh.

He never left Phoenix. Nor did he really make anything of himself. Yet the man believed he knew everything there was to know about life and acted as if he did. His ignorance and misguided opinions ended up biting him in the ass more than once.

In contrast, Earl Simmons had the mentality of a student. He knew he didn't know much. So, it didn't matter who he talked to, he learned from them. This allowed him to respect everyone simply because he treated them as teachers.

As someone who had seen both of their lives, I knew which example I wanted to follow. I knew about the North American Battlefront. But what I knew was little. I had yet to participate in an actual defense for one. And I had yet to join an assault team.

"I am still ignorant," I muttered aloud.

But fortunately, I had the tools to fix that problem. I had the Sirens, who brought a variety of backgrounds and knowledge, Exa, my dutiful AI, and Hellsend.

Any one of them could serve as my teacher. Be it the scoundrels from Asia, the traitors like Isolde, or those from various professions.

All I had to do was decide that I needed to learn, and there would be nothing to stop me.

"Right, I don't have to stay ignorant."

Looking at Exa's summary of the situation on the battlefronts, several things stood out.

For one, it was the disparity in the number of Reapers present. North America had 7,500, which was the midpoint of the zones.

Only three zones had more Reapers. Asia, which had a ridiculous 59,400. Africa with an impressive 17,600. And finally, Europe with 9,400.

In contrast, three zones had fewer Reapers than my home continent. South America with 5,500. Antarctica with 5000. And Australia with a pitiful 600.

"Exa, how the hell can Australia have only 600 Reapers? How many people does that continent have?"

[My lord, it is only in U.S.-based education that Australia is treated as a continent. To the rest of the world, it is called Oceania].

"Well, how many people live in Oceania?"

[My Lord, the current census for 2023 has given Oceania a population of 46,109,212 or about 0.58% of the world's population].

"A population of 46 million only produced 600 Reapers?"

[Yes, this ratio is actually higher than the rest of the world. In Australia alone, there is one reaper born for every 76,848.]

"How the hell is that higher? Asia has 59,000!"

[Asia has a population of 4,927,748,740 or 61.56% of the world's population. Their standing force of 59,400 means that they get one Reaper for every 82,958 humans].

"Is the ratio similar to the rest of the world?" I asked nervously.

[Yes. All seven battle fronts combined only have a standing reaper army of about 105,000. This is out of a population of 8,106,651,841. This, of course, does not include rogues and slaves.]

"..."

Lilly's words echoed in my mind again.

'John, do you know how many people joined your enlistment? It was twenty thousand. That was all the entire world could produce for a month. Each day over 80,000 dies. That is over 2.4 million people in a month. Yet despite our best-efforts July only had 20,000 who accepted the terms to join the reapers.

And just like with your case, out of that 20,000 only 200 survived the first night.'

How the hell are we supposed to win this war? Reapers have been dying by the hundreds every day. I even killed two hundred a week ago. As if that were not enough, the Sirens massacred over a thousand rogues.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

And yet, despite being outnumbered, the Reapers still were fighting back. I could only think of how fierce the frontlines were.

Humorously, the worst of the Seven was not Australia, which had the fewest Reapers, but the North.

I then tried to look up the continent on the web. I learned its name as part of world geography and that it was like the North Pole.

"Huh? Why is it in the south? Didn't Liv call her home the Kingdom of the North?"

Perhaps my biggest surprise was that the North was actually in the "South" of the globe. But aside from its strange name, it was the fifth largest land mass in the world. And I was supposed to rid this place of the undead.

"Exa, is Australia also in danger of being invaded? How can you manage with less than a thousand reapers?"

[No, my lord. Australia is relatively stable considering the current situation. Although they are the fewest in number, they have a human population of 46 million to replenish their numbers. And their front line is only at level 22, the amount of ground they have to defend is the least of the seven battle fronts.]

I see. Even though they only have 600 Reapers, the fact that 46 million people live and die in their battlefront allows them to continue. In contrast, the North or Antarctica may have 5,000, but they have no people to support them.

'As the battle raged on, we lost more and more ground. Eventually we no longer even had a single city remaining. We forced our population to become reapers, so we didn't die of starvation. Nine years down the line, our civilization lied in ruins while the dead still prowl the continent.'

The North in particular was already in its last throes. The 5,000 they listed was it. There would be children, women, and non-combatants in that number. With men in the minority because they would be the first to die.

"..."

[Do not worry, my lord. Australia, due to its extremely harsh circumstances, is producing perhaps the strongest reapers of all the battlefronts. So, if we talk about pure combat power, 600 Australians are the equivalent of 4,800 in Asia].

"What? How is that possible?"

[My Lord, Australia is known as the land of berserkers. The creed of its Revenant, His Majesty Peter Vujicic the Merciless. "Victory in madness, salvation in death." Due to their small numbers, in game terms, each Australian would be considered a hero unit. They have one of the highest death rates, but those who survive become fearsome warriors.]

"How do they achieve such combat potential?"

[My Lord, each battlefront has a specific combat tendency. Australia's {Fate} revolves around the theme of "crippling overspecialization." Where they choose one field and specialize in nothing but that field.]