Humiliation... A simple word, but one that carried with it the hatred of countless living beings throughout the years.
That was what humanity suffered on its last day...
Everything happened at a dizzying speed, but it also stretched into perpetual agony, depending on the perspective. Those who watched from a distance witnessed how a field of exquisite flowers was crushed, torn, and spat upon in a matter of seconds.
But for those who lived through that torment, every minute stretched as if they were years of nightmare.
It all began on a day filled with promises of joy, at a beautiful wedding where friends and family gathered, happiness filling the air. Without a doubt, it was the most anticipated day for the protagonists of this event.
All that was left was to wait for the bride to arrive at the altar to seal the ceremony.
No one, not even in their most horrifying nightmares, would have imagined that instead of the radiant bride, a gigantic creature standing at ten meters tall covered in a rocky gray shell adorned with enormous, sparkling, and translucent gemstones of various colors along its body would appear.
Its limbs extended beyond what nature allowed, sinuous and serpentine.
Its eyes, with dual pupils, were crystalline, hypnotic, and its jaw overflowed with long, sharp white teeth, exuding a strange blue fluid. Confusion seized those present, but it was soon replaced by unspeakable terror when they realized that in one of the creature's appendages was the head of a woman, the bride.
Screams filled the place, only to disappear within minutes, leaving behind a river of blood and scattered fragments of flesh.
This nightmare was not limited to that wedding, as horrors of various kinds unfolded in every corner of the planet. The lighter scenes involved pyramidal ships of intense red destroying entire cities with terrifying beams of light, exterminating hundreds of millions of human beings in the blink of an eye.
The most terrifying part was witnessing how alien creatures of all kinds delighted in hunting humans of all ages, without mercy.
In the eyes of these abominations, humans were mere prey who only knew how to run, scream, cry, and plead in vain. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that hell seemed like a cozier refuge in comparison.
Schools, universities, multibillion-dollar corporations, nursing homes, mansions, and impoverished neighborhoods all filled with mountains of corpses.
The world was dyed red in a fleeting and heart-wrenching moment.
...
Kraynnor didn't know when, but tears filled his eyes. Seeing his race being used as the feast of a bunch of monsters was too heart-wrenching.
The people around him fell silent, not knowing what to say. Some even began to doubt if it was some grand-scale prank. However, even if it were a joke, it was too terrifying and cruel.
What were Kraynnor's emotions at this moment?
At first, he felt disbelief, followed by sadness, and finally, a fierce rage he had never experienced in his entire life!
Boom!
Suddenly, in the sky above the city of Caelum, one of the gigantic pyramid-shaped ships appeared out of nowhere and fired a beam of light, which was barely contained by an energy barrier that extended across the entire city.
Unfortunately, the barrier began to show cracks immediately.
How could the city have this defense? The answer lay in the vision of a mad scientist who, a century ago, had turned Caelum into a fortress capable of withstanding even a nuclear bomb explosion. In addition to the energy barrier, the city was equipped with powerful weapons designed to repel any enemy.
Of course, when it came to any enemy, it referred only to threats within the planet Earth, unrelated to extraterrestrials.
No one knew for sure why this man had been so obsessed with weaponry, but being the son of one of the most influential figures of the time gave him the power to carry out his projects without anyone daring to contradict him.
At least, this gave Kraynnor time to conceive a highly complex plan that could take centuries to complete or even never be completed due to its tremendous difficulty.
But he was willing to try, even if it meant sacrificing his life in the process!
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Those damn invaders would pay for this, sooner or later!
The chaos was horrifying; people were screaming in panic, the sound of car accidents, and the roar of powerful weapons firing at small spaceships that emerged from the mothership and entered through cracks in the barrier, killing every human they encountered on the various streets.
Additionally, from numerous hatches throughout the city, legions of robots and androids that had previously served in service roles emerged like an endless torrent. Despite lacking firearms in their limbs, they employed their own bodies as projectiles, launching themselves from the tops of the towering buildings in Caelum toward the ships in a desperate attempt to halt the enemy's advance.
Others acted as human shields, fighting to protect as many civilians as they could. However, the overwhelming firepower from the opposing side was simply insurmountable, and they were annihilated in successive waves.
Kraynnor pressed on amid this disaster. His sole objective: the Genetic Reserve.
A place where the genetic information of billions of human beings was stored, including the most outstanding geniuses of the last three centuries.
Upon arrival, the colossal glass building was already abandoned. Not long ago, everyone had fled due to the savage war ravaging Caelum, and even the few service androids had joined the machines fighting the numerous ships in the sky.
Without hesitation, he headed to the location where he would find his coveted objective.
Access required a password and a series of complex security procedures. However, Kraynnor simply pulled out a small USB drive, and when he plugged it in, Cognitron X-12, in its most primitive but already more powerful form than any other artificial intelligence in the world, unlocked everything in a matter of seconds.
Upon entry, Kraynnor found himself in an expansive room that seemed plucked from a science fiction set.
The walls and ceiling were covered in a shiny metallic material, and the floor was adorned with a transparent glass platform that extended as far as the eye could see.
In the center stood a towering storage column, an imposing structure with thousands of shiny compartments.
The genetic information of billions of human beings was contained in those compartments, each identified by a digital tag displaying names and numbers. Kraynnor manipulated a nearby console, and with the assistance of Cognitron X-12, he activated a beam of light that scanned and extracted the necessary genetic information.
He removed the USB drive and, upon exiting the building, was greeted by a sight that exceeded any imaginable nightmare: flames roaring in every corner, lifeless human bodies, and scattered robotic parts, whether charred or shattered. The magnificent and majestic city of Caelum had been transformed into an apocalyptic scene.
It pained him to witness the shattered remains of countless humans of all ages.
It was traumatic to observe how a prosperous city with millions of citizens was mercilessly massacred, sparing not even the youngest who were just beginning their lives...
Biting his lips until anger made blood flow, Kraynnor hurried with an expression that resembled a bloodthirsty beast to the outskirts of the city. There, he had parked his vehicle, a small submarine measuring ten meters in length and five in width, which was highly agile.
The journey was grueling as he had to dodge or hide from numerous scattered ships that were killing any humans they encountered.
He had to helplessly witness entire families reduced to ashes, crying in despair. Elderly people of his age watched impassively, aware that fleeing was futile, only to be annihilated in waves. Humanity was unprepared for such horror, even at its peak when innovative technologies emerged daily. None of that was enough to face a damn alien race that had come from who knows how many hundreds or thousands of light-years away!
Kraynnor felt overwhelming helplessness; he felt completely useless. He hated this situation, especially because this day was supposed to mark the beginning of a new era for humanity.
Why did it have to end like this...?
Suddenly, just a few dozen meters from the submarine, the ground shook violently. Looking back, he was perplexed to see a technological monstrosity emerging from the center of the city: a colossal white cannon of proportions equivalent to that of a building!
In the blink of an eye, the cannon fired a devastating beam of green energy. The lethality of the situation did not escape Kraynnor's perception, who immediately identified it as a form of unstable nuclear energy.
Such a dangerous weapon that its use threatened both enemies and allies, capable of causing the annihilation of everything around it.
Kraynnor had no knowledge that the elders of Caelum were hiding such a weapon, but even with something so powerful, he felt like a mere candle lost in the midst of a devastating storm...
Like moths drawn to the flame of a candle, hundreds of ships were instantaneously consumed by the deadly green glow. Among them, one spaceship stood out for its brilliant golden color and unique design, resembling the tip of a trident. It was flung far by the force of the impact, but before it could regain its stability in the air, other ships, by pure chance, rushed toward it and collided brutally.
A colossal explosion was triggered by the impact, instantly reducing both ships to scraps of wreckage. Miraculously, the golden ship survived and plummeted out of control toward Kraynnor, as if fate were determined to lead him to his death.
Without hesitation, Kraynnor ran with all his might and plunged into the water. This miraculously prevented the explosion caused by the impact from reaching him!
However, while gazing at the smoldering remains of the alien ship, his brain began working at full throttle, and at that very moment, he made the decision to adjust his plan. Without hesitation, defying the devastating war around him, he emerged from the water and headed toward the smoldering wreckage of the alien ship, where he found the lifeless body of a human-looking alien with red skin, three eyes, and hair of the same color.
This being stood at least two meters tall and wore a flashy golden armor that, due to the shocking crash, had been reduced to tatters.
With all his strength, Kraynnor dragged the alien's body to his submarine and, after casting one last glance at Caelum, which was already in its final moments, he plunged into the depths of the ocean.
A short while later, around fifteen minutes and several kilometers away from the city, he felt intense vibrations in the water. Upon activating a satellite camera, he silently observed how the place he had once considered his home, where his parents had raised him, and where he had dedicated his life to prolonging the existence of humanity, was transformed into an ocean of flames.
Kraynnor examined the other cameras scattered around the world, but in all of them, he found a desolate panorama of destruction and death.
The human race... had been exterminated.