All Chapters of THE GHOUL RISING: Chapter 21
- Chapter 30
68 chapters
CHAPTER 21 — LORD OF THE DEAD
The earth suddenly begins to tremble, almost making me lose my balance. I look toward the mountain in the distance. Smoke pours from its peak. As I watch, the summit explodes. Red light spills into the sky as lava fountains upward. The villagers see it too. Panic ripples through the crowd. Screaming. Running. Chaos. The system appears. [TIME LIMIT: ONE HOUR.] [EVACUATE ALL VILLAGERS OR FACE CONSEQUENCES.] I scan the area quickly. The village sits in a valley. The mountain is maybe three miles away. When that lava reaches the valley floor, it'll flow straight toward us. But there, beyond the village. Maybe a mile away, lies the ocean. Can I actually stop a volcanic eruption with water. An idea forms. Insane. Possibly impossible. But it might work. Time to test it out. I need a shovel. Or something to dig with. But these people don't speak my language and I don't speak theirs. How do I— I mime digging. Exaggerated movements, pantomiming scooping dirt. The villager
CHAPTER 22 — THE MESSENGER'S FIGHT 1
I materialize back in the wasteland, gasping. My lungs still burns from the residue smoke with my broken body protesting in every movement, but fortunately I'm alive. Thanks to the penalty zone that saved me……..though barely, I'm able to get back with a renewed plan. And a new talent. The timer in my vision pulses urgently. [TIME REMAINING: FOUR HOURS, FORTY-SEVEN MINUTES.] Less than five hours to kill the titan. I need to hurry up and get it over with. Despite everything like fear and worrisome battling inside my mind, I'm feeling nothing more than adrenaline rushing all over me like water gushing out of a tap. I can't wait to try out my new toy. I need to find where to anchor it and hopefully, it will give me a chance destroy it to be able to defeat the messenger once and for all. I don't know if I have the time to learn how to be able to to use my new perfect talent of mine work. I only know how to summon but do I need another word to command them? I look at m
CHAPTER 23 — THE MESSENGER'S FIGHT 2
I decide to keep my soldiers that are most important in this fight which are the Queen and the Wasps to maximize firepower, because now, the game's on. The titan is close now. Maybe three hundred yards from the wall. I can see protectors on the ramparts, weapons raise and firing. But it does nothing to slow it down, let alone stop it. "Wasps," I call. "Lift me." The swarm responds immediately. They swirl around me, working in concert. Their combined strength lifts me off the ground. It feels bizarre, like standing on a platform of buzzing insects, but it works. We go higher and higher until we are at the same level with the titan's face. I can feel the cold surge sip through it. Like it's giving me a warning sign before it does something. If not for this ability, I would have cower to the side. Scratch that, I wouldn't even dare to go near it in the first place. "Queen, listen to me. I want you to target the left side while I take the right." I forgot to check if
CHAPTER 24 — HUNT ULTIMATUM
I land hard on the ground, legs shaking as I pant heavily. "I did it." and chuckle. "I really defeated it." Who would think that I will be capable of defeating an enemy as big as that? Like David facing Goliath, only that this one is twenty times bigger. My thaumaturgy stat hits zero and my undead vanish, dissolving back into shadow. The cores return to my spatial ring automatically. Silence falls across the battlefield. Then, from the walls, a sound. Clapping. It starts slow, then builds. Hundreds of people, mostly soldiers and protectors, all applauding. Cheering. Even the drones that fly above my head make noises that sound like celebration too. I look up and see Commander Hayes. And behind him are people coming up to take a sneak peek at me. Why are there more people here? Are civilians also among them? Shouldn't they be evacuated incase their city eventually fall? Guess they either overly trust their military or that they have the survival instinct of an ant. Two tra
CHAPTER 25 — THE BLACKMAIL
Brixen has been staring at me for the past ten minutes. Not blinking. Just... staring. It's getting uncomfortable. "What?" I finally ask. His jaw tightens. "How long have you been lying to me?" I blink. "What are you talking about? I haven't—" "Don't." His voice cuts like a blade. "Don't insult my intelligence by pretending. How did you defeat that titan, Jid? How did you control infected to fight for you? I saw it. Everyone saw it." My stomach drops. Of course he saw it. Anyone that's been on the wall clearly saw how my undead soldiers attack. I was too focused on defeating the messenger that I totally forgot about the witnesses. "Man I'm famished. Got anything in here?" I gesture at the military quarters. "Don't change the subject. Answer the question." I look around. The room is standard for someone that wants to live a simple life but like they say 'walls have ears' . "Not here. Take a walk with me." He follows without another word. We walk in silence
CHAPTER 26 — THE CEREMONIAL SHOWDOWN
Brixen steps forward, positioning himself between me and the reporter. His expression is calm and controlled like the corporate heir mask sliding into place. "That's a serious accusation," he says smoothly. "Perhaps you'd like to explain the symptoms of infection? The physical deterioration? The mental degradation? The fungal growth?" He gestures at me. "Do you see any of that on him?" The reporter doesn't flinch. His calmness is more unnerving than aggression would be. "I'm sure about the science. But perhaps you'd like to explain these." He produces a tablet, pressing play. Sienna's voice fills the hall: "I stab him in a fatal spot." "And which part of his body is that?" a male interviewer asked. "Right at his abdomen. I saw him drop dead cold on the floor. And made sure to confirm if he is truly dead by leaving his corpse there with the hopes that the infected will get him." "Why didn't you properly eliminate him?" "I wasn't close to anything that could light a fire
CHAPTER 27 — THE MESSENGER'S DOOR
The old factory district, that is situated at the extremely end of the city wall, is exactly as run-down as I expected. Rusted metal groans in the wind like dying animals. Broken windows gape like empty eye sockets, reflecting moonlight in jagged shards. Nature reclaims concrete with vines that smell of damp earth and decay. The air tastes metallic, tinged with rust that makes my tongue feel coated in grime. "So can I tag along?" Brixen asks as he watches me pull out the key. "Absolutely not. It's too dangerous for you." I caution him. "You don't know what might be lurking in there." "Thats why I have you." Even with this compliment, that alone can't move me. I sigh, shaking my head. "Sommy has really influenced you in the act of persuasion." "Then I guess it's working." Brixen smiles. "After, you basically do as she plea." Yes, but not letting her jump into danger like he is doing now. "Why do you want to come in?" Brixen's smile brightens. "To watch you f
CHAPTER 28 — DESPERATION PRICE
"I summon you all." The reporter watches in horror as my undead army materializes. I still have a few slots left so I awake the infected I've recently defeated, bringing my soldiers to a total of fifteen. Tier 6 infected rise from the shadows. They look like the bull I previously fought with but more primal and unpolished. I wonder how long I have left before my thaumaturgy is completely drained. The system pops up, showing me how much time I have left. [SOLDIERS SUMMONED: 15/15] [TOTAL SOLDIERS: 15/15] [THAUMATURGY DRAIN: 76/100] [TIME REMAINING: 56 MINUTES LEFT] Fifty-six minutes. That should be enough to finish this. If I'm able to level up to at least nineteen, then I can have more slots for more soldiers before I completely run out of time. "Fight," I command, pointing at the charging tier 6 horde. My undead soldiers clash with the hostile ones with my strongest ones doing the most damage. The Hive Queen uses her serpentine body to coil around thre
CHAPTER 29 — VIRAL JUSTICE
I'm sitting behind a table in a hastily-arranged conference room barely three hours after we arrived. Reporters pack the space with all their cameras and recording devices pointing at me from every angle. I lean into the microphone. "Thank you all for coming on such short notice. I apologize for the urgency, but I felt this needed to be addressed immediately." I pause, letting the tension build. "I want to discuss the lengths the Crimson Aegis Guild will go to in order to damage my reputation. Because I can no longer sit idle while they put me in harm's way." Murmurs ripple through the crowd. I pull out a tablet and hold it up. "I have a video. I'd like you all to watch." The screen shows the reporter's confession. His tear-stained face. His desperate admissions about Linus' bribes, the promotion and the promises. The room erupts. Questions fly like bullets. I hold up a hand. "Some of you might question the authenticity of this recording. Which is why—" I gesture to
CHAPTER 30 — RACING THE CLOCK
I have no clue what I'm going to do. I pace in my sitting room, so many thoughts racing through my head as I wonder how I'll go about it. There's so much I need to know about this next messenger. Where it's coming from? What it looks like? What I should be wary of it? I stare at the rolled tight dormant scroll, wondering what other important information it would have given me if I have access to them. "Uurok, How does it look?" There's no reply. "At least tell me where it is now?" Still nothing. "Uurok!" My voice echoes in the empty room. "Answer me!" The system doesn't respond. It doesn't even flicker. I grit my teeth hard enough to hurt. How am I supposed to plan against something I know nothing about? The first messenger was pure luck. I barely even survived that. And now, another one it on its way. I don't even know if it's stronger than the previous one. Is it also as huge as the first one? Or as tiny as an ant? So many unanswered questions keeps po