CHAPTER 176 – HUMANITY’S FINAL SANCTUARY
LYSANDER FARADEISS
"Fast Travel Complete," announced the Windwalker AI in a smooth, mechanical voice. As the hum of the engines faded, I made my way to the deck. The sight before me was breathtaking: the last human city, Mariegold Cape, now known as the Final Sanctuary of humanity in this timeline, sprawled along the coast like a shimmering oasis. The city stretched across an impressive two hundred and seventy thousand square kilometers, its skyscrapers glinting like sentinels against the horizon. Despite its vastness, only a few million people inhabited this refuge, the survivors of a once-thriving civilization.
The rest of humanity had succumbed to disease and starvation, the dire consequences of the relentless wars ignited by Gazelle Lockwood over the years. Now, I stood here with a singular purpose: to finish what had been started and bring about the extinction of humankind once and for all.
A sudden crackle of static interrupted the silence, resonating through the Windwalker’s radio systems. “I see you, Lysander,” came a voice, synthetic yet familiar. It was Arthur.
I retrieved my phone and connected it to the radio frequency, allowing me to converse with my old friend for perhaps the last time. “Arthur,” I said, a smirk tugging at my lips. “It’s so nice to talk to you like this, old friend.”
Arthur's voice, though mechanical, carried a weight of emotion. “I don’t know what you’re trying to achieve by reverting to your old ways, embracing the role of an evil god. You've been massacring humankind, the very race you swore to protect. You even wielded Regression Magic to save them, and now you’re tearing apart everything you’ve built over so many years.”
“You’re one to talk, Arthur,” I said through a gritted smile, my anger simmering beneath the surface. “All you’ve ever done is hide and scheme in the shadows. It’s time for you to face the consequences of your sins.”
“The Dragon Lords are the real enemies, Lysander. Don’t forget that. They’re the ones who shattered our future—humanity’s future. As long as the Dragon Lords exist, humanity can’t move forward and thrive.” Arthur’s voice was laced with disdain. “So come, join me, oh Foreign God. Together, we can crush the Final Dragon Lord. Together, we can bring down Hiraya Misteltein.”
“I don’t need to protect humanity. I don’t need to save the world. All I want is to protect Hiraya from devilish bastards like you,” I replied with fierce determination.
There was a pause, tense and charged with emotion. Then Arthur laughed, a harsh, mocking sound. “Hahaha! So you remember the Previous Timeline now. I don’t know what that goddess bitch did to brainwash you again, but it doesn’t matter. I’ll defile her myself once more, just like before.”
“You’re the one who’ll be defiled this time, Arthur. Prepare yourself, because I’m coming for you,” I laughed, feeling a surge of adrenaline.
With my draconic hand, I crushed my phone, abruptly ending the conversation with my former friend. Then I unfurled my black wings, the leathery membranes casting shadows over the city below, and ascended into the sky above humanity’s final sanctuary.
My rainbow-colored third eye opened, shimmering with an otherworldly brilliance. As I activated my Elform, I felt the natural energy in the air begin to swirl around me. The sweet breeze of the wind caressed my skin, and I steeled myself for the coming battle, anticipating the metallic scent of blood in the air.
“This is the last Necross Ascension,” I muttered to myself. My third eye glowed brighter, casting a kaleidoscope of colors across the sky as I intoned the incantation: “Erect, my undead army.”
As my words echoed through the air, thousands of tombs began to manifest, encircling the Final Sanctuary like a grotesque halo. The earth trembled as the tombs erupted from the ground, revealing millions upon millions of undead soldiers. From those freshly dead, their flesh still clinging to bone, to those who had long since decayed into skeletal forms, my army rose in unholy unison.
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The mass of zombies surged toward the city entrances, a relentless tide of death. Skysoldiers, stationed at the gates, immediately opened fire with their assault rifles, the staccato sound of gunfire ripping through the air. Bullets tore into the undead ranks, tearing limbs and shattering bones. Human mages joined the fray, their staves weaving intricate patterns as they unleashed torrents of fireballs and lightning bolts, devastating the front lines of my zombie horde.
“Weapons free!” a skysoldier shouted, his voice barely audible over the cacophony of battle, as bullets sprayed relentlessly into the advancing undead.
“Fireball Barrage, go!” a mage commanded, sending down a rain of fiery meteors that exploded amidst my skeleton army, reducing many to dust and ashes.
Despite the relentless assault, my necro-army continued its advance. Undead soldiers were fragile, vulnerable to modern magic and weaponry, but sheer numbers were on my side. My forces outnumbered the defenders a thousand to one, a grotesque advantage born from the impure resurrection of every human killed since the war's inception. The battlefield was a churning sea of chaos, but I held the upper hand, determined to overwhelm the city with my relentless legion of the dead.
My zombies rampaged through the city, a relentless tide of death and decay. They ran with unnatural speed, crawled with grotesque determination, and leapt at the humans with feral hunger. Once they reached their prey, they tore into them, biting and ripping flesh from bone with savage glee. The air was filled with the screams of the dying, their cries for mercy echoing across the skies of the Final Sanctuary like a mournful symphony.
“Aaaah! Noooo!” a human mage screamed as ten zombies descended upon him, dragging him down in a flurry of gnashing teeth and clawing hands.
“Last mag! Make it count!” shouted one of the skysoldiers, passing his final bullet to an ally before being overwhelmed and torn apart by the ravenous horde.
Tanks and trucks rumbled into action, their engines roaring as they plowed through the ranks of zombies, crushing them beneath their wheels like brittle twigs. The undead fell like bowling pins, helpless against the might of human machinery. But the tide of zombies was inexorable, their sheer numbers overwhelming the vehicles, swarming them with bones and rotten flesh until the tanks and trucks were immobilized, trapped beneath the weight of the dead. Soon, the zombies found their way into the vehicles, clawing and tearing at the humans within.
Overhead, helicopters and airships rose from the heart of the city, their rotors slicing the air as they attempted to flee or fight back. I smirked at their futile efforts, knowing they were already doomed. My third eye glowed with a brilliant, ominous light as I pressed a hand to my chest.
“Activate Necross Pulse,” I commanded.
In an instant, my body transformed into the gargantuan Necroblaze Dragon. I spread my massive wings, and the crystals embedded within them blazed to life, unleashing searing nuclear lasers that cut through the sky like fiery blades, obliterating the airships and helicopters in explosions of flame and debris. With a roar that shook the heavens, I summoned nuclear magic, charging my mouth with crackling blue flames before unleashing a devastating blast that razed the city, leveling it to the ground in a cataclysmic wave of destruction.
This was like the incinerations of humanity I had wrought before. It might seem unbelievable, but slaughtering humans becomes easier over time. Taking innocent lives becomes as simple as eating a peanut. Yet, even as I wrought this devastation, a part of me still felt the weight of guilt and despair, lingering in my heart like a shadow that could never be erased.
When the skysoldiers and human mages had been defeated, my undead soldiers surged through the city like a dark tide, scouring every building and leaving no stone unturned. They swept through the streets with a relentless, mechanical efficiency, mercilessly killing every living human they encountered. The air was thick with the cries of the innocent—the terrified screams of children and the desperate wails of women echoed through the city, a haunting chorus of despair and suffering that filled the night.
Despite the carnage unfolding before me, I felt a cold satisfaction. Everything was proceeding smoothly, just as I had planned. Yet, a part of me remained wary, knowing that Arthur would not be easily defeated. He was a cunning adversary, and I knew he must have some trick hidden up his sleeve.
Suddenly, my elven ears caught a sound from the heart of the city, a voice crackling over the distant chaos.
“Activating Artificial Vesryn Pulse!”
The words reverberated through the air, setting my senses on high alert. The atmosphere seemed to shift, charged with a strange energy that prickled across my skin. Whatever Arthur was planning, it was about to unfold, and I braced myself for the unknown threat that was about to emerge from the heart of the city.