Everything went to hell ever since those damned spires dropped somewhere deep in the south and high in the north. Sergeant Harrison watched in horror as marines were torn to shreds by all the zombies around the army base and no one could muster any resistance. Anything run by electricity was dead, explosives kind of worked, but their force was massively diminished, and the same problem was with guns. The bullets exited the chamber, but their penetrative power was inconsequential.
He saved himself by grabbing a fire axe and hacking down the wounded zombie currently biting the face off of private Irvine and that was how he earned his first card.
With the choices presented, he picked a random rare and gained something called Purifying flames which proved devastating against any undead, but had a downside of one minute cooldown time.
Luckily, with the help of other marines, they have managed to clear their whole base and we're now preparing to face the massive zombie blocking their main entrance.
Sure, it looked imposing, but they, drunk on new powers and commanded by the base commander, engaged the enemy, expecting an easy victory.
Rain of ranged abilities fell on the giant, gouging small chunks of its massive bulk and burning the skin right off while they laughed at its slow speed. Unfortunately, before they understood how ineffective their assault was, and how fast it could gain momentum, it was too late and the giant charged through their ranks, decimating everything it touched.
Harrison reacted fast enough and hit it with the Purifying flames as it ran by. Watching the golden flames cling to its back, slowly burning all the fat away was satisfying, but the panic among the other marines was spreading fast. There was no stopping it, and even with a giant hole in its gut and its back scorched to the bones, it continued to charge around, crushing everything in its path.
The second charge of flames hit on the left arm and the third on the right knee. Harrison wanted to go for the head, but his ability only had a two-meter range and he didn't dare come any closer. What pushed him to take the risk was the commander calling for retreat moments later, and Harrison took his last opportunity, dashing in and successfully sending the golden ball into the side of its head.
By that time, the whole body was a mess of burnt flesh and exposed bones, and that hit finally finished it off, creating a shining blue ball shot right at Harrison's chest, and making the whole world stop once more.
[Congratulations! You are the second in this world to overcome the zone guardian.
Rewards: A choice between two remaining unique modifications for a single-use card Create shelter, and Fate is increased by 2.
Note: Create shelter card is guaranteed to drop from every zone guardian killed during the first month of the apocalypse.]
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Michael's group thought themselves ready to challenge the massive beast standing in the middle of the street. He begged them to be careful, and fight smart, but they only laughed, calling him a coward.
Now, out of twenty-five people, only he, his sister, and a burly guy named Robert were left. After engaging in combat and coming out short, they have found a horrible truth. Anyone who attacked it was unable to get further than a hundred meters away. Trying to do so would hit them with a bout of sickness which was getting worse the further away they got.
"Liz, listen to me," Michael yelled, "I'll stall it here for a couple of minutes, you run to the second floor of that construction site and get ready to drop the palettes right on its head." Turning to the bulky guy holding a massive sledge hammer he added, "Rob, you will finish it off with your ability. Now go!" And he ran out using his stun ability to slow it down.
Michael was running around the unfinished parking lot, trying to buy as much time as he could. His ability had a half-minute cooldown, but after every use, it lasted shorter and shorter.
"Michael, I am ready," Liz yelled from the second floor, standing on the edge with two pallets heavily stacked with concrete bricks right next to her.
He would have to lure it to run into the foundation wall under her and time his stun perfectly to make it out of there. "Ok, when you hear the crash, drop the right palette down. I'll make sure it's on the correct spot."
Robert watched Michael make the final turn and run right under the spot Elizabeth was waiting at.
Gods, that guy has balls of steel… and we called him a coward.
He watched as it picked up speed barreling right at him and as it got ten meters away, he raised his hand and shot out a pulse of silvery light and prepared to dive the moment it got stunned. The thing was, it didn't get stunned anymore and continued forward.
C'mon, dodge…
He watched the momentary fear in his eyes, which shifted into grim determination as he stayed on the correct spot, waiting for the monster to hit him. It collided with the wall in a loud smack and two seconds later was slammed into the concrete floor by the massive weight landing on its back.
Now or never, Rob thought, rushing in and bringing his hammer high above his head.
Earth-shattering blow!
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The hammer fell down like a meteor, landing perfectly on the monstrous forehead and making it explode like a melon, leaving behind only a wet spot and a web of cracks all over the floor.
A moment later Rob was hit by a shining blue ball and a frozen colorless world.
[Congratulations! You are the third in this world to overcome the zone guardian.
Rewards: A remaining unique modification for a single-use card Create shelter called Create Inexorable advance shelter, Fate is increased by 1.
Note: Create shelter card is guaranteed to drop from every zone guardian killed during the first month of the apocalypse.]
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Ishikawa Hitomi worked as a covert bodyguard for the Torvald family's young master ever since she was old enough to fight and he was but a little boy. Unfortunately, after the passing of his grandfather, the late patriarch Tangi Torvald, she was delegated to be a maid and given tasks like preparing breakfast or walking the young master's dog.
At first, she hated every moment of it and even considered running away, but having nowhere else to go and the risk of being placed on the families' blacklist, she did what she had to and tried finding joy in the little things. Today was the day everything would change.
She was asked to take the midnight shift patrolling the northern part of the compound and little after four, the sky tore itself apart and all lamps winked out. At first, she thought it was a solar flare, something she watched a documentary about, but when the same crack formed right next to her, her old training kicked in and she grabbed her switchblade and attacked.
The zombie, pulling itself through, was ineffectively cut along its arm and upon noticing it having no effect, Ishikawa used her whole body and delivered a devastating kick instead. It was pushed back, colliding with the compound wall, and before having time to retaliate, another crushing kick landed right on its face, pinning the head between the tough boot and the brick wall.
It took one more kick for the rotten skull to give and make the whole head explode in a shower of brain juice.
[Congratulations! You have delivered a killing blow to your first foe and are awarded the Apocalypse deck and one starting card.
Each common enemy killed has a small chance to award new cards which can be slotted in or traded with other deck holders, so go out there and fight unless you want to fall behind.
Note: Saying Apocalypse deck will bring it out.]
She wanted to back away, but her body stood still, completely immobile.
[Congratulations! You are the second human in this world to overcome their first foe.
Rewards: All choices of your first card have one tier higher rarity, and your Fate is increased by 2.
Note: Another one bites the dust.]
[Make a choice!
Pick one from five random rare cards or gain one random epic card.
Note: This card can not be traded to anyone else and is locked inside your ability slot until you decide to destroy it.]
Staring dumbly at the floating texts, she had no idea what any of this meant but thought that something epic should be always better than something rare.
Give me the epic thingy!
[Great choice! Generating a random epic card.
You are now the proud holder of {Grim Harvest (E)}
Good luck with your adventure.
Note: Don't forget to open the Apocalypse deck for more information.]
It took some experimenting, but soon she figured out how to use her new card, and damn if she wasn't impressed. Once every ten seconds, she could extend her slash outward, forming an impossibly thin, one-meter wide wave of black energy, and sending it flying in the direction of the cut she made.
Cutting the zombies at their waist didn't prove lethal, but quick thinking made her change tactic and cut vertically, slicing them into two neat and very dead halves.
Taking it upon herself, she continued alongside the wall, killing everything in her path and clearing most of the side behind the main manor when others called out to her to join them.
Over the following hours, it became more and more aparent, that the current patriarch Matsuda Torvald and his two sons got unlucky draws and were weaker than the average of their group, shaking the foundation of their superiority and leadership.
Ishikawa lied about the rarity of her card, saying it was only rare, but it was obvious she had the best card among them and funnily enough, their second strongest was the old man Ogawa, majordomo and head of intelligence.
Her annoyance at their constant attempts to diminish and belittle her only grew, when she obtained her second card but was forced to give it up and let the patriarch have it instead. She wanted to refuse, but seeing the jealous faces made her reconsider and not give anyone a pretext to get rid of the most dangerous individual among them.
All of this led to the fight with a bulky giant of a zombie, standing in the driveway into the compound and the problematic aftermath.
After a couple of minutes of her, Ogawa and other ranged specialists slowly guiding the monster around the decorative garden and lotus flower pond, they carefully cut and blasted it apart. The problem was Matsuda's oldest son, who after the monster collapsed ordered them to stop attacking and proceeded to walk towards it, attempting to earn the finishing blow himself.
Sadly, the monster wasn't as helpless as everyone thought, and even laying down was able to whip out its massive hand, tossing one of the decorative stones towards the incoming man. His father could only watch in horror as both his son's plans and his head were crushed in front of him and the kill went to the damned maid Ishikawa who sent a translucent line into its neck which finally severed the spine.
"Who told you to resume the attack?" He shouted in rage. "We were clear that the finishing blow was to be saved for one of us, not someone like you!" Pointing at the guards and Ogawa himself, he continued, "Surround her, and if she refuses to hand over the card, kill her. We do not tolerate those who can't follow the orders to the letter."
She knew what she did was a mistake, but the death of that fool and her mounting resentment pushed her to act, and now she would need to think her way out. "Apocalypse deck."
There were two new cards. One, called Create shelter and the other, in a blue border, was called Increase Vitality. "I got something strange called Create shelter, but I don't know if I can give it away."
"Oh? Well, maybe we can try to take it from your headless corpse. Do you think that would be possible?" Ogawa spoke in his typical soft voice, taking a step closer.
"Wait, wait. I'll try to bring it out." And she willed the card into her hand, but to spite them, she immediately used it. It crumbled into silvery pieces and blinded everyone with a beam of light, which she used as a cover and bolted through the driveway and out into the wild streets of Tokyo, leaving the Torvald compound and the inert pillar behind her.