Chapter 1 - Zombie Invasion
Date: October 13, 2097.
Location: Texas, USA.
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"There are just too many of these zombies, they are simply overpowering. Is a large-range blast attack going to totally annihilate them?" A young lady dressed in full-body armor and armed with an AK-47 asked.
"I don't know either. We just have to keep shooting. That's why we came here with a lot of ammunition. It's just for this purpose. To exterminate these living dead creatures until none of them are left." Another soldier replied.
Kakakakakaka!!...
Sound of rapid continuous gunfire could be heard in a faraway place in the distance.
A seasoned soldier, appearing no older than twenty-seven, leapt agilely from a military pickup truck, gripping a menacing machine gun. With unyielding resolve, he fearlessly discharged a relentless onslaught of armor-piercing bullets at the encroaching zombie horde.
The metallic symphony of gunfire was met with a guttural chorus of discontent from the undead, their ominous growls intermingling with the relentless cacophony. Undeterred, the soldier, armed with a machine gun, stood resolute in his quest to obliterate these unearthly, cadaverous adversaries.
Grrrrrrr!!
The air quivered with tension as the zombies, drawn by the percussive orchestra of destruction, bellowed in response. In an unrelenting surge, they charged towards the lone soldier, driven by an insatiable hunger for the living. Yet, the warrior, an embodiment of steely determination, continued to rain down a hailstorm of bullets, each discharge a visceral testament to his unwavering commitment to vanquishing these grotesque, otherworldly abominations.
Firing relentlessly at the furiously advancing zombie horde, the soldier found himself under an unexpected aerial assault. From the multitude of winged, skeletal zombie creatures haunting the sky, one descended with alarming speed, its emaciated form swooping down to ensnare the unsuspecting soldier in its razor-sharp claws.
In a harrowing twist, the soldier was hoisted into the air, his heavy firing guns relinquished to the unforgiving ground below. The winged zombie, with eerie grace, ascended rapidly, soaring to dizzying heights. High above the desolate battleground, the soldier dangled precariously in the creature's grip, a helpless pawn in a macabre game. The imminent threat loomed as the airborne fiend, fueled by malevolent intent, seemed poised to rend the soldier apart in the chilling expanse of the sky.
Suspended at a perilous height, ensnared by the winged undead creature hurtling through the air at breakneck speed, the soldier reacted swiftly. With a deft maneuver, he triggered a blade-shooting mechanical system embedded in his chest armor.
Swish! Swish! Swish!...
Upon activation, a dense, greyish cloud erupted explosively from the mechanical system's numerous discharge ports. Propelled by force, razor-sharp nanoblades sliced through the air, each one a miniature instrument of destruction. The barrage of armor-slicing, micro-serated blades descended upon the flying undead creature like a relentless storm of vengeful metallic fury.
The sky bore witness to a spectacle of violence as the nanoblades relentlessly and swiftly lacerated the creature's form. Innumerable cuts manifested in rapid succession, reducing the once-threatening adversary to mere fragments. The disintegrating bits dispersed into the atmosphere, swallowed by the vast expanse of the sky moments later.
Plummeting abruptly from a sixty-foot altitude, the soldier quickly produced a pneumatic-powered cable grapple gun. With unwavering precision, he targeted an abandoned, towering building that caught his attention.
Shua!
The grapple erupted from the gun's barrel, hurtling through the air before embedding itself in the building's wall, securely hooking onto its surface. Employing the cable's tension, the soldier swung gracefully to the ground, descending with remarkable speed.
Executing a slickly-choreographed forward roll upon landing, he seamlessly transformed the kinetic energy into a swift recovery, effortlessly propelling himself back onto his feet. The air crackled with the dynamic sequence of actions, each movement a testament to the soldier's agile prowess in navigating the treacherous descent.
Upon rising and surveying his surroundings, he discovered himself in a nightmarish enclave, besieged by a relentless horde of seemingly enraged zombies on all fronts.
Recalling the arm-length gloves he wore, each housing long retractable blades, he instinctively activated their blade ejection mechanisms. In an instant, coldly gleaming, razor-sharp blades projected forth from the gloves' ejection ports, ready to meet the impending threat.
Despite the gravity of the situation etched on his face, the soldier harbored no thoughts of evasion or retreat. Unyielding in the face of adversity, he surged forward, a fearless and resolute figure. Devoid of fear and caution, he propelled himself towards the encroaching zombies, his every step echoing a defiant challenge in the midst of the gruesome surroundings.
Closing in, he executed a swift slide across the ground, unleashing the twelve-inch titanium composite blades projected from his gloves with precision. Targeting the zombies' feet, he methodically sliced through their legs, creating a strategic opening amidst the encircling threat. In a position of severe disadvantage, he deftly carved a path to escape.
As the sliding motion came to an abrupt halt, he initiated a dynamic maneuver, kicking his left leg with precision. The force propelled him into a clockwise spin on his back, seamlessly transitioning into a backward roll that culminated in a headstand. Swiftly, he pivoted from this acrobatic display, pushing himself upright with the strength of his arms. The air crackled with the intensity of his movements, a ballet of blades and agility in the face of overwhelming odds.
As the blades seamlessly retracted into their ports, he swiftly unveiled two custom-made triple-barrel pistols, each unleashing contact-explosive shells with thunderous force. The upper bodies of the zombies erupted into chaotic disarray, akin to tomatoes crushed beneath the brutal force of a savage barbarian.
Vrooom!!
A distant armored military jeep thundered onto the scene, callously plowing through the path of zombies. Ruthlessly smashing the undead aside, it arrived in front of the battle-seasoned soldier who fought fearlessly amidst the relentless onslaught. The cacophony of explosive shots and the mechanical roar of the approaching jeep painted a vivid tableau of chaos and salvation in the grim battleground.
"Maxmillan, jump in!!" One of the three soldiers in the jeep urgently shouted, their rescue mission triggered by the sight of him being carried away by a winged zombie creature.
With a nod of gratitude, Maxmillan swiftly retrieved a wide-area frag-burst destroyer grenade, unhooked it, and hurled it at the encroaching zombies. The explosive device unleashed a destructive force that promised chaos. Without delay, he dashed into the waiting jeep, closing the door behind him.
Vroom!
The jeep roared to life, swiftly departing from the impending devastation. As it accelerated away, the air resonated with the promise of a cataclysmic event. The large-area devastation grenade Maxmillan had deployed would soon unleash a torrent of energized solid-matter particle projectiles and super-heated kinetic blast waves, transforming the battleground into a chaotic symphony of destruction.
Boom!!
The moment the vehicle surged forward by eighteen meters, a deafening explosion reverberated, unleashing a violently churning, colossal cloud of searing hot blue flame. It billowed skyward with an enraged intensity. The devastating shockwave, born from the powerful blast, momentarily lifted the rear of the jeep a few feet above the ground before forcefully slamming it back down as they sped away.
"The zombies are overwhelming. We're evacuating, and air support is on its way. Bomber planes will join us soon to obliterate these unearthly horrors," one of the soldiers urgently conveyed to Maxmillan.
Continuing at a furious speed, they suddenly faced an unprecedented threat. A massive zombie, taller than a four-storey building, with eyes radiating a subtle intelligence, suddenly materialized in front of them. The undead behemoth executed a long-distance jump from over thirty meters away, introducing a new dimension of peril to their already chaotic escape.
Grrrrrrr!!!
Immediately the colossal zombie appeared before them, it unleashed a rage-fueled roar that seemed to shake the very sky. Fixing its enormous gaze on the armored jeep, it emitted another earth-shaking bellow before clenching its massive right hand into a formidable fist, poised to strike the vehicle with formidable force.
Yet, before it could execute this devastating blow, Maxmillan snapped everyone in the jeep out of their initial daze. Recovering with remarkable speed, he shouted at them, dispelling the stunned stupor induced by the horrifying skeletal monstrosity before them.
"Get out of the vehicle, now!"
The door swung open, and Maxmillan lunged out of his seat, hitting the ground. The others, swiftly recovering from their dazed states, followed suit.
Bang!
The colossal zombie's fist struck the armored jeep with such ferocity that it crumpled instantly, flattening to the ground under the massive, earth-shaking impact. The force of this tremendous blow exerted an overwhelming pressure that caused one of the heavy tires to explode violently. The resulting airborne tire became a lethal projectile, hurtling with tremendous force and tragically claiming the life of one of the soldiers.
Simultaneously, the others, including Maxmillan, faced a barrage of perilous projectiles. Metal splinters and glass shards were flung like deadly shrapnel, piercing through the air with a lethal velocity. The aftermath of the zombie's colossal strike painted a grim tableau of destruction, with the survivors left grappling with the wounds inflicted by the merciless onslaught.
Believing it had pulverized its victims, the colossal skeletal zombie strode away, roaring triumphantly. Continuing into the distance with a menacing purpose, it callously crushed both zombies and soldiers underfoot as it advanced. Indifferent to the writhing undead and the remnants of human resistance, it moved forward, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
Gnashing his teeth with such intensity that they felt on the verge of shattering, Maxmillan grappled with the searing pain engulfing his entire body. A lengthy shard of glass had ruthlessly pierced through his thigh.
Swiftly, he tore off a fragment of his shirt and extracted a long cylindrical plastic tube containing methylated spirit. The multipurpose military belt encircling his waist housed various cylindrical storage chambers and square-shaped storage boxes, each harboring first-aid essentials and advanced self-treatment devices, facilitating Maxmillan's immediate access to necessary supplies.
With a muffled scream of highly agonizing pain, he pulled out the long glass shard that had pierced really deep into his right thigh. Then he opened the lid of the plastic tube and poured its alcoholic liquid content into the grievous wound inflicted upon him by the glass shard.
Suddenly, he felt like millions of flesh-eating ants had appeared in the wound sustained by his thigh, since the intense stinging pain that arose from that part of his body, totally enshrouded his senses and filled him with unbearable painful sensations.
The agony he endured caused large green veins to bulge prominently from the sides of his face, particularly at the temple region. His eyes turned a fiery red, and his breath became conspicuously irregular, each labored inhalation a testament to the intense pain wracking his body.
When the pain lessened sometimes later, he wrapped the piece of cloth held in his hand tightly around his thigh. He then stood to his feet after a lot of struggle and limped to where his colleagues where to help them tend to their wounds.
But when he got there, he could see them on the ground, lying in a partially dried pool of their own blood with hundreds of pieces of glass jutting out from their entire bodies.
They had been viciously killed off by the zombie's crushing attack. He was only lucky that he wasn't pelted through with glass shards like the rest of his colleagues.
Immediately, his eyes began to glisten as tears rapidly welled up in them, since these were some of the really good friends that he made at the National Elite Defense Academy (N.E.D.A), Texas.
Grrrrrrrrrr!!....
He immediately looked towards the source of that alarming direful sound and saw that more enormous zombies had incomprehensibly appeared out of nowhere. And these were even more towering in size than the one that attacked them moments ago.
Where were these things coming out from? He figured he would never be able to find out as he realized the city was losing the war.
However, amidst his despondency, a ray of hope pierced through the gloom. A supersonic bomber jet streaked across the sky, releasing a missile that descended with lethal precision. Swiftly, the jet retreated, vanishing into the distance.
BOOM!!!
A tremendously loud explosion that shook the sky and invoked the feeling that it would collapse and leave behind a pitch-black void, instantly occurred when the missile warhead impacted the solid ground.
Then a second later, a rapidly expanding sphere of brilliantly dazzling white light materialized, heralding an impending cataclysm. This luminous spectacle was swiftly followed by a towering, city-leveling wave of devastating energy, unleashing an unparalleled force that swept out with incomprehensible might. The destructive surge obliterated everything in its path, reducing structures to vapor and erasing the once-thriving city from existence.
The culmination of this overwhelming force left behind an unfathomably deep crater in the earth that stretched for a hundred thousand kilometers. The landscape, once teeming with life before the attacks of the mysterious zombies, now lay transformed into a desolate and scarred terrain, forever marked by the cataclysmic power that had swept through with unrelenting ferocity.
Chapter 2 - A New Life"Your son has no pulse again. He is dead. I am wholeheartedly sorry for your loss." A physician in the room said with unhappiness in his tone.The boy's father was quiet for sometime before he spoke in a tone that radiated sorrow. "Thank you, physician. You have done your best. I can only say it's his fate."The physician nodded his head. Then he went ahead to spread a large cloth over the boy to cover his lifeless body.Once he did so, he packed his instruments into a pouch that he came with and prepared to leave the room filled with sadness.Abruptly, the boy's mom who was held by some people, rushed in with a few others with these other people being the boy's older sisters, Nailah and Lylla Splintstone."Physician, please tell me. Would my son be okay?" The boy's mom asked with tears uncontrollably streaming down her eyes.The physician looked at the boy's father who immediately understood what the gaze meant. He then went to meet his wife and tried to hold h
Chapter 3 - FamilyOnce their mom had left, Nailah and Lylla came over to where Maxmillan stood with an incomprehensibly dazed expression in his face."Maxie, are you sure you are okay now? I don't want anything to happen to you again." Nailah, the older of the two girls, asked in a caring tone."I am fine." Maxmillan said.This time, he didn't say it in the odd way that he said it before.As a veteran soldier who had been trained to quickly adapt to every situation that he would find himself in, Maxmillan was quite swift in adapting to the unexplainably weird preternatural situation that he unexpectedly and inexplicably found himself in.Once he gave that reply, Nailah nodded her head in happiness.But Maxmillan at the moment, was having many thoughts flash recurrently within his head.Had he just transmigrated to a new world?Did his soul upon total annihilation on earth, reformed in the void and pierced through the interdimensional layer that separated their two alternate worlds to
Chapter 4 - Old Man GarrettAs soon as he appeared outside, he couldn't help but be shocked.There was no sign of technology anywhere, it was just small houses where people lived with their families and reared either cattle or livestock. Even the roads weren't tarred. They were just bare brown earth that were blackened by some substances that he couldn't really identify what they were.He however believed that this was so because it was a town, it would definitely be different for the cities which he believed would be a hundred times more advanced than the towns.After looking around for sometime, he climbed down the long wooden stairs to their house that was elevated far above the ground and was made from well-baked solid bricks.After climbing down the stairs made from some type of hard tree wood, he headed towards their gate in the distance. And as he did so, he looked around him and saw that his parent also reared cattle and livestock, which provided them with limited supply of me
Chapter 5 - Astra Spellcraft CommanderOnce Maxmillan got home, Lenna and her two daughters were surprised that Maxmillan had quickly returned."Maxie, you didn't find your friends? Or why is it that you quickly returned?" Nailah, Maxmillan's older sister asked."Not really, big sister. It's just that I saw something. Then I returned home to inquire about it from you, instead of my friends." Maxmillan replied."Oh. Okay. So, what's it that you want to inquire about, dear son?" Lenna gently asked with a beautiful smile in her face."Mom, there is this old man I saw at the beginning of our street. He was performing magic. Who is he?" Maxmillan asked, while Lenna and her two daughters looked at one another with a bewildered expression in their faces before looking back at Maxmillan who fixated his gaze on them with an innocent look appearing in his face."Maxie, that old man is your favorite performer. You are always there to watch him perform. Have you forgotten?" Lenna asked with a smi
Chapter 6 - Magical Feats!Immediately Maxmillan asked that, Lenna couldn't help but look at him with surprise in her face, as he was speaking too intelligently for his age.Was this another miracle because he awakened? She pondered without revealing anything on her face.Before the real Maxmillan in this world died, all he cared about was play, eat and sleep. But now, she felt that things have changed monumentally, since her son was beginning to sound much more intelligent than his peers, and seemed deeply curious about things that he shouldn't be contemplating about at his age."Son, I can produce magical effects. But not up to the level of old man Garrett who is an Astra Spellcraft Commander. I am only an average caster of Astra Mystralis. So, comparing me to old man Garrett is like comparing a burning charcoal to the sun. We are worlds apart." Lenna said.She then continued with a slight smile in her face, "Everyone in this town are capable of producing magical effects. But many o
Chapter 7 - 13 Years LaterMaxmillan had grown into a fine young man with an admirably impressive physique. However, he had a problem that kept him awake most night since he was a child. And this was because of his inability to sense Astra Mystralis and enter into a state of harmony with it. So, not being able to harmonize with Astra Mystralis, greatly bothered him a lot that he couldn't leave home to go anywhere else, since almost all the kids in his particular neighborhood who had grown into good-looking adults, had become talented casters of Astra Mystralis. Besides, Maxmillan felt really bad that he couldn't make his parent in this world proud of him. Although they loved him deeply, regardless of whether he was a caster of Astra Mystralis or not, he still however felt bad and terrible. So, these thoughts filled him with nothing but sadness and caused him to feel very useless and worthless. One day while sitting outside in the verandah of their home, where he was lost in his ble
Chapter 8 - Worries and Fears"I understand mom." Maxmillan said with a smile in his face that made his mom develop a bleak feeling in her heart.He then said further, "Mom, I am going to my room to rest. We'll talk later." As soon as he said that, he left his mom's presence and headed for his room to ponder more about the next line of action that he planned to take.But not quite long, while seated on his bed and lost in deep thought, he suddenly heard gentle knocks rap against his door.Immediately understanding that this person could be anyone of his sisters, he produced a smile in his face and said, "Come in."The door creaked open to reveal Maxmillan's younger sister, Lylla. Then accompanying her into the room was Nailah with a mean look in her face, which caused Maxmillan to be befuddled.'Hope my older sister hasn't come to make trouble with me?' He asked himself internally."Sisters, what brings you to my room? Are you both here to grace this dashing majesty?" Maxmillan asked
Chapter 9 - Going for the entrance exam.In the early hours of a particular day in which the entrance exam was fixed at a venue in the Floating Lotus academy, Maxmillan, with the help of his sisters and mom, had finished packing all that he needed for his tiring journey to the faraway city."Maxie, remember. If anything goes wrong over there, immediately return home." Lenna said with a gloomy expression in her face, which anyone could tell that she was really worried."I understand mom." Maxmillan said with the nod of his head.Then he went forward to hug his mom who embraced him back with a tear bead rolling down her left cheek from her glistening left eye. She wished she could dissuade Maxmillan, her only son from going to the city. But since he had fully made up his mind, there was no point in doing so. Besides, she wanted him to be happy and didn't want to get in his way, or he might get furious at her as time goes on for causing him to be absent at the exam venue and therefore r