72 Days after the infection.
It's a city in ruins, with destroyed vehicles and cracked concrete floors. The tall buildings shrouded in a thick haze of smoke. The sky was shrouded in gray-black clouds, and with each step on the ground, tiny dust flew.
The ghost town, which already looked empty, was welcoming visitors. A group of about twenty people, adding some life to the dead city. They armed themselves with weapons. The world where humans were once able to live comfortably was gone and since that day…
They must fight for their life…
Each of them wore a gas mask, and one of the men approached a broken car and removed his mask, revealing his weathered middle-aged face. A Western European male with a dense beard that hadn't been shaved in who knew how long. His hand stroked the car surface, thick dust staining his leather gloves. It's been too long since any living humans visited here.
"There's no 'them' here, keep on alert." With a strong tone of leadership, he instructed the group behind him.
'They' were a non-human species. No, they were once human beings, but now, 'they' had become an existence that all humans feared.
"Damn. I haven't seen the sunlight in over 50 days since the Judgement Day. How long will this mind-numbing terror go on? Captain, how far is it to get to the Vatican?"
"Not that far. Our mission is almost complete."
Judgement Day.
Different religions and cultures had different names for that day. That day, humanity was shrouded in an eternal gloom when 'they' were sent to every corner of the world. Along with mankind's most horrifying weapon called a nuclear explosion. Radiation and virus were the two things that ravaged the world. It made the world even colder and unforgiving.
Now, ordinary people couldn't survive in this world, they were even useless than livestock. No, maybe they did have some use. Because in this cruel world where humanity had fallen to the lowest of the food chain, to survive, there was some human who uses their own kind as food.
The captain of this team understood. Law is a luxury because there's no more countries in this world anymore. The three world major alliances were destroyed. Except for the UK, which still survives, but the rest of them were on the brink of destruction. In this world where you can't ensure your own safety and survival, no one had the luxury to talk about justice and morality. No matter what, surviving is the only important thing they had to do.
"I don't remember Italy being hit by a nuclear attack." The last team member at the end of the line looked around. "The enemy here should pose no threat to us."
They were holding guns in their hands, but they trusted their hands more than their guns. This was 'their' hunting ground, and a human couldn't dare to set foot here without getting harmed.
"Stay on guard." The captain just ordered and put on his gas mask and continued to move forward.
After walking for some time, a figure suddenly appeared on the empty street. The captain made a gesture to stop and raised his gun to point it at the figure. 'They', or infected life forms, were no different from corpses and would never stand on the street without smelling a living person. Higher-level evolved bodies were faster and more destructive, with all sorts of special abilities. They were the existence that posed the greatest threat.
But as the team tensed up inside and slowly approached, it felt like they had been tricked. It was a girl…a girl who didn't belong in this cruel and cold world.
Amidst the city that was covered in haze and dead silence, a girl stood alone. The male in the team couldn't help but whistle. After all, they were private mercenary teams, they were born and raised as brothers. They didn't have the military's obedience or discipline. The captain was also stunned. He carefully observed the girl's appearance. Two floppy ears twitched above her long silver hair. Donned in jet-black medieval armor, burgundy eyes stared at them. The captain's shock disappeared and was replaced by fear and tension.
"Retreat!!!" Even though the team had survived an unknown number of zombie frenzies and strangled an unknown number of powerful mutants, the captain chose to retreat on the spur of the moment after seeing the other team's appearance clearly!
"Damn it! It's that frost demon…" Not only the captain but the other members of the team also recognized the young woman.
"Shouldn't she and her legions of undead still be wreaking havoc in Great Britain? What brings her to Italy? Is it possible that her target is the Holy City? Are these guys really planning to wipe out the human race?"
The cause of all things…the beginning of all causes. One night, two months ago, the Judgment Day came. That guy told everyone in the world about what would happen. He has been called many things. Madman, demon, criminal, terrorist. But, his true name is…vampire!
He had brought a surprising gift to humanity. The virus and nuclear explosions that turned the world into a barren wasteland. He had succeeded. Today, two months later, all humans had to fight with those terrible infected lifeforms. While the weak ones turned into bait for those monsters, while the strong ones gathered together to survive while they worried about being a bait tomorrow. No matter what, the world had changed. The only safe areas left in this world were the Vatican in Italy, and some other places, where humans could walk freely. However, the jaw-dropping fact was this all was not just caused by a lone man, but a whole organization that pushed humanity to the brink of extinction!
The young girl in front of them was one of the members of this organization. The most impressive thing was that a month ago, a few skeleton dragons that only existed in legends and legions of resurrected undead had destroyed a safe zone protected by an A-rank Esper. Making everyone remember her terrifying existence. She was the Lich King…
Just as the group chose to retreat, another pitch-black shadow descended from the sky! Landing right in the middle of the team. A man wearing a black jacket and hood. After seeing the man, the captain's throat choked, his heart had completely dissolved into despair. Today must be a bad day! Why did they have to meet this guy?!
This captain was an A-rank Esper. Theoretically speaking, once upon a time, an A-rank Esper held the title of the strongest. But the man in front of them had killed 5 A-rank Espers.
"There's no escape!"
Frost began to spread across the ground, the streets were completely frozen. The rest of the team chose to fight for their survival. But…
"Stay away!!!"
The tentacles tore the flesh, staining the gray world. His arm turned into a jet-black tentacle wrapped around a flashing azure lightning bolt.
We have to fight! That's the only way we could survive!
That was the new rule engraved in their consciousness as a human struggled in the doomsday.
....
Ten minutes later.
Alex's arm returned to the normal state. He looked at the bloody mess of bodies that were dripping with blood and ice.
"What did Lucius want ?" Alex rummaged through the bodies while looking at Arthas, who was walking towards him.
"Master…" after a moment's thought, Arthas pointed to the corpse of the decapitated captain. "It seems that one."
"....."
Alex approached the captain and held a strange rock in his hand. It wasn't a rock, Alex scrutinized the object in his hand, it contained inexplicable energy. An azure glow surrounded the rock, and in the middle of it was something like a lock. To know its secrets, you need a key.
Hand it over to Lucius? The man who caused it all? Alex looked at the deserted city.
He understood. Once he started, there's no turning back.
But it doesn't matter, he never liked this world anyway. The Black Light virus didn't just infect humans, but also created a new intelligence race like Alex…
So, given enough time, the world will restart.
But now, it must be destroyed first.