BXBX NOVEL Chapter 327 326. The Final Setting.
***
[The "neutral" are revolting.]
[World shall fall into a state of panic.]
[Constellations are able to converse with the recipients.]
[AN UNDEAD APOCALYPSE SHALL BEGIN, FOLLOWING THE WILL OF THE NEUTRAL.]
[Extinction of all life is desired.]
[The Constellations and the system are blessing the world.]
[Magic power will be recognised as Ki from day forth.]
[World's Ki has increased exponentially.]
[THE FINAL SETTING IS BEING UPDATED!]
[The final stage is initiated forcibly....]
DING!
[The "FINAL" System updated.]
[Call out "Status window" to check your stats.]
[According to the will of the creator.]
An undead dragon that towered over an entire city appeared out of nowhere and launched its breath—a stinking, gooey breath that seemed to be oozing out the devoured souls. It fell directly on top of the southern corner of the Daemor kingdom, which is ruled by Queen Zu'e Cerr Daemor.
SLOP-!
Nothing much happened even after the breath landed on the ground, except for burning through things in its way due to the breath's acidic nature.
Taking a deep breath, a man with brown hair and eyes opened his mouth. "Status window," he mumbled, and abruptly, he felt an excruciating pain in his lungs as if somebody was piercing thousands of needles into his lungs. Veins popped out on his limbs as they turned green soon after.
"Gukh... guh...." Unable to even groan in agony, he fell face first on the ground with a subtle thud as he saw many next to him follow along as a wave of thuds cruised through the city in the borders.
DING
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[Player information]
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Name: Lee (deceased)
Age: 28
Sponsor: ----
==
Title: ----
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Skills: [Basic Axe arts level-1], [Persistence level-1]
==
Overall stats: [Stamina level-2], [Strength level-3], [Agility level-1], [Ki level-1], [Physique level-1]
====
ZZZT-!!
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Name: ---- (Undead)
Rank: F
====
"Grrr...."
With an anguish-filled groan, the body that had just died woke up in a strange zombified manner—no, it literally had turned into a zombie, which could be derived from its pale skin, blood-dripping gaze, drool-dripping open mouth, hunchback, and strange, stumbling way of walking.
Together with it, every dead body that was around him also woke up, zombified, as they walked, bumping into each other and biting each other to death to satiate their hunger as they continued to walk, following the alluring scent of life that seemed to be millions of kilometres away.
It wasn't just the Daemor kingdom; all seven of them were suffering the same fate, together with the empire. Ten city-sized undead dragons attacked each kingdom, while 32 undead dragons attacked the empire, all while being under the control of a single hooded figure.
The breaths of the undead dragons were parasitic, as they inflicted the living with the undead parasites that were turning them into zombies. The billions of people that survived under the kingdom were turned into millions in a blink of an eye, and the powerhouses under the kingdom's labels were also turned into undeads before they even began to fight back. Those that survived began to fight back, but not against the dragons who were spreading the parasites but against the parasites infected living beings, who tried to "eat" everyone that had the alluring scent of life.
The royals panicked as the solution for such a situation didn't exist, except for the emperor, who had a complicated but calm expression on his face.
"Deploy the AT's!" The emperor, Ortharious, commanded, and by the next instance, with a strong gust of wind, a humongous mechanism activated outside the palace gates as a massive door planted into the ground slid off to the sides, and with the loud marching sounds, millions of expressionless soldiers walked out a gate, wearing sturdy sets of armour suited for war.
Before the rulers next to Ortharious voiced their dissatisfaction and doubt, "Initiate the counterattack before the empire falls entirely." Commanded Ortharious in a authoritative tone, speaking to his pocket system that was connected with other complex system that was under the empire's control.
[Yes, your majesty.] A voice sounded through his wristband as the expressionless soldiers, the ATs, began to attack the zombies that were rushing towards the gates of the imperial palace.
At least ten undead dragons surrounded the palace, where Ortharious was, as if they knew exactly where he was, but they weren't attacking; instead, they just flapped their bat-like humongous wings to stay in their designated positions, waiting for something to happen.
BOOM-!
Abruptly, the isolated room's door busted open as a handsome, shoulder-length, red-haired man with obsidian black eyes walked in with a calm and composed manner. Walking towards the emperor, he bowed respectfully.
"I would like to escort you to safety, your majesty, and your highnesses." The man said he was none other than the emperor's most trusted aide, Atman.
"Very well." Ortharious nodded his head, agreeing, and the other rulers also nodded their heads, their questions pushed to the back of their minds.
As they walked, none spoke for a few minutes, though it was awkward for the five rulers. Ortharious and Atman didn't seem to feel that kind of atmosphere surrounding them as they walked with calm expressions on their faces.
"Explain the situation outside as we walk, Atman." The emperor commanded.
"Yes, your majesty. The situation outside isn't looking very good, as the people have turned into undeads, killing off everything in their way as they rampaged almost everywhere, except for a few hundred kilometres around the palace. It's like a stampede, your majesty. A very calculated and precisely targeted stampede." Atman reported.
"Why do you think so?" Ortharious asked, hearing the thoughts of his aide.
"Your majesty, our palace isn't really targeted, but everything the palace rules over is." Atman reported his suspicion, but except for those words, nothing more came out of his mouth, before
"The noble households have sent their private armies to the battle without even realising the fact that their actions—their actions of growing their own hidden private armies—are considered treason. Those that have sworn their loyalty to the empire have sent a few of their knightage orders to support the palace; of course, the Dukes, the Marquises, and the Counts have also arrived in the palace and are currently waiting for your majesty in the throne room." Atman reported.
"...." Realising how dire the situation was, the emperor, the kings, and the queens frowned, drowning themselves in their thoughts.
"No, order them to start counterattacking and tell them that I'll meet with them outside the palace." Ortharious commanded.
"By your order, your majesty." Atman said and disappeared from the spot. Noticing Atman's actions that could be considered rude, the rulers glanced at the emperor to see what he would do now, only to notice the proud smile on his face that indicated how proud he was to have such a competent and authoritative aide by his side.
"He knows how to act in these important times...." Ortharious mumbled under his breath.
"Isn't he just a rude brat?" Marcia mumbled out loud involuntarily. As she pointed out, Atman's actions just now were rude, as anybody that had lower status than the emperor had to be respectful to him—not just respectful but overly respectful.
And the rest of the journey to the outside continued in silence.
*
Walking out of the palace's corridor, the emperor, the kings, and the queens rushed towards the garden, where Atman was reported to be with the nobles.
"Gra!" Roared a luxuriously dressed zombie that pounced on the emperor, who didn't even flinch, from the tree it hid behind.
BAM-!
And abruptly, a red flash appeared in blur and punched at the zombie in the face, rescuing the emperor in the nick of time.
WHOOSH-!
BOOM-!
The luxuriously dressed zombie was shot out towards the palace wall like a wet rag due to Atman's punch. "Haa... haaa. I apologise, your majesty." Atman said this amid his big gasps of air. He had many tares on his clothes, a few bleeding scratches here and there, and his slightly wet hair was dishevelled, sticking on to his handsome face. He was a sight that both Zu'e and Marcia were unable to take their gazes off.
"It's alright, what happened?" Ortharious asked without noticing the gazes of Zu'e and Marcia.
"I brought the nobles outside, and soon after, a knight that protected the Duke began to behave strangely, but I was stopped by the Duke when I tried to check on him, and before long, he turned into a zombie and bit the nobles, who got infected by the parasites and became undeads. They pounced on me, but I was able to fend them off in a nick of time; if not, I too would have been inflected. I apologise for my lack of attentiveness, your majesty." Atman said this and bowed respectfully to the emperor, holding his right bicep.
"Is that so? I'll go check the spot; you heal yourself in the meantime." Ortharious commanded and walked towards the garden, as Zu'e and Marcia stayed behind with Atman.
"We'll help you, Atman." Zu'e said with a subtle hint of blush.
"Thank you, your highnesses. I apologise for showing such a pathetic side of myself." Atman said with a bow.
"N-no, no, it's quite alright. You can just call me Zu'e; even though I'm the queen of Daemor Kingdom, I'm not really married." Zu'e spoke with many hidden meanings in her words.
"M-me too." Marcia also played along.
"Yes? Ah, is that right? Your highnesses are amazing; to rule over a kingdom alone, your highnesses are just awe-inspiring." Atman complimented them, not really understanding their implications.
"Hmm, hmm." Nodding in contentment, both Zu'e and Marcia glanced at the naive and innocent Atman with an understanding gaze.
"He's my type." Zu'e whispered at Marcia, who whispered back the same words as Zu'e at the same time.
"Come, let's go. We'll do things we haven't done before, since we don't really know if we'll survive for long anyway." Zu'e said, making her well hidden intentions clear, dragging Atman towards a small house at the end of the garden as she glanced back at Marcia with a meaningful smile that turned into a predatory grin that matched Marcia's.
BOOM-!
BOOOMMM-!!
And soon enough, before they even reached the house, loud booms began to resound. Estimating the distance from the sounds, they could tell that the sounds were from outside the palace, so they hurried before their time came.