040 - How A Hero Dies
Author: Rytir
last update Last Updated: 2024-10-29 19:42:56
The rain that was so heavy has started to subside. There is still a drizzle that is occasionally blown by strong winds. But the cloud is still quite dense above the city, blocking the sunlight that is going to set on the western horizon.

Those three are creeping along the corridor from one faculty building to another. So many glass windows are broken apart. So is the condition of the small gardens around the building.

They find the dead bodies of Dilophopapio monsters scattered around everywhere, inside and outside the building, hanging on the broken windows, also on the fences of the second floor.

It’s hard to imagine whether Arifin was only luring them away by running around, or fighting them head on. They’ve checked on five buildings from three different faculties. But Arifin is still nowhere to be found.

“Crazy! Is this all your friend’s work?” asks Rizal.

“Who else,” replies Tony.

“Well, I just hope he is still alive,” Watt interferes as he shoves one nasty severed limb on t
Continue to read this book on the App

Related Chapters

  • Back From the Apocalyptic Future   041 - The Price of A Hoax

    Those monsters no longer approach the evacuation area due to the strong rays from the Floodlights. Yet they are still lurking around the empty buildings and the outdoor hallways waiting for the night comes. “So they don't only attack at night, huh?” asks Prof. Irwan. “It's not a matter of night or day. They just hate strong lights,” replies Tony. “Anyway, what about the situation at the dormitories?” “The floodlights around that area have been turned on. But we still evacuated everyone to the Auditorium.” “And Arifin?” “He is receiving treatment right now. They can’t be sure yet about his condition. At least, they didn’t find any wound in him?” “I believe he is just exhausted due to using his repulsive force too much.” “Repulsive force? What are you talking about?” Tony deliberately shows off his ability by releasing a small spark of electricity on the tip of his fingers. But he is doing it by hiding it from everyone else. He simply shocks Prof. Irwan a bit with it. “What was

  • Back From the Apocalyptic Future   042 - An Old Man And His Ego

    As soon as he enters the Auditorium building, Prof. Harun sees so many citizens are still alive. They look so fine like nothing happened in this university. Instead of feeling grateful, this old man’s face is only getting even more sour.“I heard those bizarre monsters only come out at night. But it doesn’t seem like it. Hundreds of people have died because of this hoax. You think whose fault is this?” asks that old man.“Who are you going to make a scapegoat for?” replies Prof. Irwan cold.Prof. Harun walks closer to the young professor. “I’ve learned that this is a hoax shared by that kid. Don’t ever think about protecting him anymore. So many people have died because of his antics.”The young professor immediately looks down. Not because he joins in blaming Arifin for the incident. But he can’t forget what he just got when he tried to call his friend earlier.He believes he has his own share to be blamed, for being too late in responding to Arifin’s warning.That old man ignores Pr

  • Back From the Apocalyptic Future   043 - Ignorance

    Arifin suddenly wakes up with a mad face, letting out his rage and releasing a strong killing intent to his surroundings. Silvy is immediately fainted by the pressure, while Grace is shaking in terror. The others are just silent with pale faces, not knowing what they are currently experiencing. And Arifin, he just stares around flatly, looking so pissed off by something. He notices Silvy laying on the other patient bed next to him. But he just thinks that the girl is sleeping, and then averts his attention to somewhere else. “The sword?” mumbles Arifin as he finds his katana next to him. “Where is the scabbard?” “Um, we’ve tried to look for it, but…” Tony replies in stammered, not even able to finish his words. Arifin then walks out by dragging his sword. He looks so weak with glazed eyes. But those adults are so terrified as he walks past them. He stops right beside Prof. Harun, and then turns his face toward that old man flatly. He is just silent there for a few moments. …. “

  • Back From the Apocalyptic Future   044 - Andrew's Making His Move

    The man isn’t conscious while sitting tied to a chair. They didn’t tie him that tight. It’s clear he won’t be able to stand up due to the deep wounds Arifin left on his both thighs.Even the wounds only received minimal care, and only were wrapped in bandages just to prevent infection. Nothing more.Ronald pats the man’s cheek so many times to wake him up, until the man wakes up in aghast with a terrified face.“Aaah! Please, don’t kill me!”Ronald scrunches up his face, thinking that this person might have been tortured for interrogation. However, there are absolutely no signs of torture on the person.“Where? Where am I?” asks the man looking around cluelessly.Hannah comes to Ronald and whispers. “Could it be that he was unconscious when they brought him here?”Ronald then unties the man. “Can you get up?”“No way! That kid punctured me on both of my thighs.”A moment later, two of their friends come to inform them that they have secured one of the trucks which belonged to those fa

  • Back From the Apocalyptic Future   045 - My Back

    That self-entitled soldier is just a mercenary. He has no burden to be loyal to the people who hired him. So, there is no reason for him to keep anything a secret at this point.“We are just mercenaries. Our client is the people from The Defiance Atlantis. They gave us those devices to identify people who were affected by the meteor’s radical radiation like you.”“And for what purpose?” asks Andrew.“It’s not our policy to ask the motive of our client. The order is simple, to take these people to a place they had facilitated, where these people will be treated. But before accepting this request, we had already learned about the emergence of awakened soldiers. I didn’t know what this awakened thing before, until I saw that kid with the white hair. And, you!”“And about The Defiance Atlantis?” Asks Andrew by taking his face closer full of intimidation.That man immediately shakes his head fast. “I’m just a lackey in my organization. One thing that I know, The Defiance Atlantis consists

  • Back From the Apocalyptic Future   046 - The Bounty

    In the meantime, the cops are now conducting a brief investigation over the death of the two guards that Andrew killed. Their first suspect is the fake soldier that these people held captive, which no longer be there at the moment.Yet they had also learned from Prof. Irwan that the man was badly injured, and there’s no way that man would be able to harm anyone.Henry examines the destroyed chin of one of those dead guards. “I couldn’t think of any ways to inflict this kind of damage to someone.”“The best I could think of, you heat a metal baseball bat so hot, and then use it to hit him,” Nathan speculates. “But why would anyone go that far just to kill while one can simply use the normal way.”Henry shakes his head weakly. “It’s like he was cremated. But how are you going to cremate someone locally like this. Only his mouth and jaws are gone, while the rest of his face still looks normal?”“It must be the work of that freak!” Prof. Harun accuses.“Hey, hey! Don’t start it again,” Pr

  • Back From the Apocalyptic Future   047 - Discordance

    It seems like the leader of this troop is quite able to identify the weapons and also the trucks that Henry and co. currently taken. “Who are they?” mumbles the driver. “Just stop the car! Let me go there!” says the troop leader. That one troop leader, with two lines scar on his chin, leaves his truck and takes only four of his men to approach Henry and the others. Nathan approaches them and greets flatly. “Excuse me! Are you soldiers from the national army?” “Yeah, my name is Parjo, the captain. I heard there are evacuation centers around this area. Am I lost?” “No. This is one of the evacuation centers in this city. Sadly, there were monsters’ raid yesterday. We could only save a few people. Now we are back here just to make sure if there are still any survivors.” “So?” Nathan shakes his head. “We haven’t found anyone so far.” That man named Parjo turns his attention back toward his friends for a while. After being silent for a moment, he asks Nathan to lead them to see the

  • Back From the Apocalyptic Future   048 - The Real Monster

    Parjo issues a few of his men to look for those people. They drag one of the citizens to lead the way, the one citizen who has been so vocal so far.The discordance becomes chill, since there’s no longer the need to continue the debate. Those self-entitled soldiers already get the people who have been exposed to the meteor radiation.The few citizens who tried to protect them can only show their discontent looks to the traitors. Well, it’s hard to judge them as traitors, since they are the majority by a huge margin.“Hey, you forgot about someone here!”That voice attracts people’s attention. One of them points out about Grace, who has been confirmed to have experienced awakening.Grace looks in panic, glancing around like she is being surrounded by predators. She feels like she has been trapped in the wrong ecosystem. In fact, those people have been trying to distance themselves from Grace since the beginning, thinking that she will bring harm to them.One of those soldiers comes to

Latest Chapter

  • Back From the Apocalyptic Future   

    121 - Give Me Your Soul (Extra)

    Meanwhile, in Westerpark. It’s a place that used to be a famous picturesque working-class neighborhood in Amsterdam. But it has been wrecked havoc by the alien monsters, and not so many people are still alive there right now. But there is still one beautiful mansion standing tall on one hill, with high concrete walls protecting that 2 hectares area. In fact, there’s only one family living in this area consisting of only four people. There is one underground lab right below that mansion. And there is one man in his white coat looking so desperate in front of his personal research book. “No, this is not what I want,” he cries slowly, grabbing his yellow hair in desperation. He leaves his desk, approaching one monitor which displays the work of his supercomputer in doing some kind of simulation. Not too far from that monitor, there is a unique wavy dagger with an asymmetrical shape being displayed in a glass case. That scientist only comes to observe the DNA splicing simulation being

  • Back From the Apocalyptic Future   

    120 - The Night Vigilante (Closure)

    Arifin also takes a glance at the other one who hasn’t done anything so far, which is Luis the lizard man. That man has grown his tail quite long, and no longer wears any pants at the moment. But his face is so pale, feeling intimidated by just Arifin’s gaze. Even right now, that man isn’t noticing that the bottom part of his body has turned into its beast form. He just turns by instinct, due to the danger he feels after watching how easily Arifin bullied Zaw Min. “So, you are going to turn into a cold-blooded reptile now?” asks Arifin as he prepares to handle that man, who used to be a hitman for the mafia. “But, what’s with that pitiful face?” “Ah?” Luis is shaken from his reverie, and only realizes that all the bottom part of his body has turned into the lizard legs and one big and long tail at his butt. “Well, I haven't had any big expectations from you since the beginning,” continues Arifin as he keeps walking intending to take his leave. At first, he did have an intention t

  • Back From the Apocalyptic Future   

    119 - Disappointment

    Those three are just the exact three men who betrayed Arifin in his previous life, especially Zaw Min and Jaidee. Just seeing their faces is already enough to provoke Arifin’s madness which helps him enter his Trance State.“Hey, Zaw Min!” calls Luis as he slowly turns his two hands into the shape of a lizard. “They said we only need to hold him down for an hour. We can’t kill him because the Colonel wants him so bad. Isn’t this an insult?”“Not really! I also want him to join us. You just don’t know what this man is capable of,” replies Zaw Min, who is currently looking so excited to see Arifin for the second time.“Cih! We can’t kill him, huh!” grumbles Jaidee with his annoyed face. “Then, let me handle him myself. It won’t be good if you accidentally kill him with your sabers.”“Stop bickering, you weak ass! Come anytime you want!” Arifin interferes by showing his mad face.Those words effectively make Jaidee so furious. He immediately demonstrates his skills in unarmed combat as a

  • Back From the Apocalyptic Future   

    118 - A Reunion

    He can’t simply tell that to Colonel Fermin. Because he doesn’t want to be seen as ridiculous any further.But then when he goes outside, he finds a few soldiers are lying on the ground. The situation becomes hectic as there are a few evil spirits infiltrating this medical area.Thankfully, those three shamans, even though they are not combatant-type of awakened people, they know some ways to repel those evil spirits. After all, they are not too many, since the corrupted aura that Arifin releases is somewhat weaker than usual.For the next two days, few dedemits and evil spirits keep coming during the night. Only in the next morning, Arifin is back to his consciousness.“Oh, you are awake?” One nurse approaches him and checks his condition.“Where am I?” asks Arifin as he tries to get up.But the nurse forces him to stay on the bed. “You've been unconscious for more than two days. You should just rest until you are completely recovered.”“Two days?” mumbles Arifin.He then checks his

  • Back From the Apocalyptic Future   

    117 - He Is Cursed

    Mike looks up, and sees Dr. Cohen hovering in the air in his beast form. And the one who just hurt Mike’s chest, Marcus, is currently perching on a branch.“That accent? An American?” asks Mike.“Yes, I’m an American,” replies Dr. Cohen nonchalantly.“Which means you are the people from the Defiance Atlantis,” Mike continues.“Hohohoo! You guess right for the second time. And guess what, our organization highly values beast-type awakened warriors like you. Why don't you join…”Mike doesn’t even let him finish his words. He jumps so quickly after running on the tree trunk, and catches Dr. Cohen off guard.“So fast,” mumbles Dr. Cohen as he holds Mike’s right hand who has stabbed his chest right on his heart.Mike makes a turn and throws Dr. Cohen to the ground. As he lands, three of Dr. Cohen’s men immediately cover their boss.“Javier, we have to buy time to let Dr. Cohen recuperate,” issues Roberto.Both Javier and Marcus intend to attack, but Mike just stands there by releasing a su

  • Back From the Apocalyptic Future   

    116 - The Ritual's Premature Ending

    Right now, all the dedemits and evil spirits begin to look mad like before. However, they no longer hunt Arifin, but only the people who have been marked as the target.Some flesh tendrils also crawl to the building, and then pull so many female employees from the second floor, including Naomi.“Dr. Cohen, help me!”Roberto frees her and the other female employees by cutting all of those tendrils. But all of them who have been bitten, are now in the similar situation as Arifin. Their wounds are leaking the corrupted aura, which makes all those demonic creatures so eager to kill them.“Dr. Cohen! What should we do now?” asks Javier half-shouting. “We can’t stay here forever.”It’s not that hard for Javier to deal with the dedemits. But the evil spirit, he can’t even touch them until now. But those creatures have been stealing his life force every time he tries to hit them.There are some balloons made of viscous membrane popping out on that throbbing flesh. It then explodes like pus of

  • Back From the Apocalyptic Future   

    115 - Name Your Sacrifice

    The kid then turns silent, waiting for Arifin to reply to his offer. He even draws his ear closer, as if provoking Arifin to plead.Arifin knows that the Grace she loves has already died in the future. And she admits that he hasn’t been that close with this current Grace either.They are still like strangers so far, and he never thought of getting close together with her like in his previous life. Because he doesn’t want to put her in a life full of danger.But he can’t just ignore her after knowing she is still alive. More than Andini, right now saving Grace is much more important to him. At least, to pay back what Grace did for him in his previous life.“Please,” he mumbles with a low voice.“What? I can’t hear you,” says the kid with a kind of childish manner.“Please, help me!”The kid chuckles again with an amused face. “Sadly, I’m just an illusion. There’s no way I can harm them. But that kris can. All you need to do is stab the kris to the ground, and tell the kris what you tru

  • Back From the Apocalyptic Future   

    114 - Ask My Help

    Arifin looks so confused, mixed with desperation which starts to resurface in his eyes. Meanwhile, Dr. Cohen is just observing from above, grinning devilishly as he controls Andini’s mind and body.Oddly enough, the other four beast-type awakened soldiers are trying to make the dedemits busy with them, and prevent them from getting close to Arifin. But Javier, as he finds an opening with Arifin is still occupied by Andini’s oddity, slams Arifin’s from the side with his shoulder.>That last collision has left some cracks on two of Arifin’s ribs. He coughs up blood, and his physical condition is also dropping to 14 %.Dr. Cohen flies lower and starts persuading Arifin once more. It’s clear he really has great interest in Arifin and doesn’t want to kill him. He doesn’t care that much that all the facilities that Defiance Atlantis built for him in this place are destroyed, as long as he gets Arifin to join him.“Why? Why Arifin, why? Yo

  • Back From the Apocalyptic Future   

    113 - Stabbed In the Back

    Four floodlights have also fallen due to the chaos created by these unstoppable demons. More than half of the guards have died too. Those four beast-type awakened warriors have no other options but to help protect the few guards who still survive, while still keeping track of Arifin’s action.As they are busy in that chaos, a few people come out of the building through the main hallway. It attracts Arifin’s attention, and finds Jack and Rizal taking the ladies from the same group as Grace. But there’s no Grace amongst them.“Jack, where’s Grace and Andini?” asks Arifin as he intends to approach them.But his left leg is held down by one dedemit which has lost its legs. He just destroys the dedemits head by kicking it once.“Watt is still inside trying to get them out,” shouts Jack from afar.“What takes him so long?”“Unlike these people, their rooms are locked,” answers Rizal.Their conversation catches Dr. Cohen’s attention. That’s when he learns Arifin’s real reason why he is so in