Apocalypse System: I Evolve by Devouring Everything

The Architect of Hell

"Damn it! System, abort! I said abort the self-destruct!" Jonathan screamed, clutching his head that felt like it was about to explode.

[Authority denied. Illegal synchronization detected. Initiating core destruction countdown: 10... 9...]

"Hahaha! Look at your face, Jon! Panicking, huh? Watching a weapon turn on its master is the best show in town!" Reymond laughed maniacally, his mechanical voice grating harshly through the building's blaring alarms.

"Rey, let Emma go! She has nothing to do with us, you bastard!" Jonathan tried to stand, but his knees slammed back onto the metal floor.

"Nothing to do with us? This kid is a witness, Jon. And in my new world, witnesses are just trash that need burning." Reymond tightened his mechanical grip on Emma’s neck. "One more move, and snap, your sweet little sister's neck becomes a cracker."

"Jon... run..." Emma gasped, her face turning blue, eyes bulging from unbearable pain.

"Shut up, brat!" Reymond slammed Emma’s back against the cracked glass wall.

[Countdown: 6... 5...]

"System! I don't care if you explode or whatever, but give me the power to kill this rusty tin can right now!" Jonathan roared, veins on his neck bulging, his eyes turning a wild, deep purple.

[Warning! Overload Protocol Detected. Redirecting self-destruct energy to motor nervous system...]

"What?! What are you doing, Jon?!" Reymond flinched as black steam began rising from Jonathan’s pores.

"I'm dragging you to hell with me, Rey!"

Jonathan launched himself. His speed surpassed anything he had shown before. In an instant, he was in front of Reymond. A raw, powered punch slammed into Reymond’s steel chest, denting it inward.

CRASH!

"Ugh! Damn it! What kind of strength is this?!" Reymond was thrown back, his grip on Emma released.

Jonathan caught Emma’s limp body before she hit the floor. "Em? Emma! Wake up, Em!"

"Cough... Jon..." Emma coughed violently, sucking in as much air as possible.

"Stay behind me. Don't move an inch, understand?!"

"Jonathan... you really have a death wish!" Reymond got back up. Wires sparked from his dented chest, spewing electricity. "You think you're the only one with new toys? Activate Overclock Mode!"

Reymond’s machine body suddenly expanded. His mechanical arms elongated, transforming into spinning chainsaws that sliced nearby desks into splinters.

"I'm not scared of your saws, Rey! I've seen monsters scarier than your face!" Jonathan stood tall, his energy sword reappearing, but this time it wasn't pure purple—it was black with blood-red streaks.

"Shut up! Die!" Reymond charged with roaring saws.

CLANG!

Metal met energy. Sparks flew everywhere, igniting the carpet and scattered documents. Jonathan held back the saws with his energy blade, his arms shaking violently under the machine’s weight.

"What's wrong, Jon? Too heavy? Your energy is running low, isn't it?!" Reymond pressed the saws harder.

"Running low? I feel fuller than ever, Rey! Full of the desire to see you die!" Jonathan kicked Reymond’s machine stomach, then sliced off his opponent’s right arm.

"AAAAAARRGGHHH! My arm! You... you'll pay for this!" Reymond stumbled back, clutching his mechanical shoulder spewing black oil.

"Pay with what? Your life? That’s too cheap!" Jonathan gave him no room to breathe. He attacked again, slicing Reymond’s machine legs until the cyborg collapsed to the floor.

"Wait! Jon! Don't kill me!" Reymond screamed in panic as the tip of Jonathan’s black sword hovered right before his remaining human eye. "I have info on 'Project Alpha'! You saw the girl in the tube, right? She's the key to everything! If I die, that tube explodes and you'll never know her real identity!"

Jonathan glanced at the tube containing the woman who looked like Sienna. "You think I care? Whoever she is, she's not my Sienna!"

"But she IS Sienna, Jon! The real Sienna! The one you knew... the one who betrayed you... that was a clone! A failed lab product!" Reymond laughed insanely through his pain.

"What?! You're lying! Don't try to mess with my head again, Rey!" Jonathan grabbed Reymond’s collar.

"I'm not lying! Ask your system! Why did it synchronize with you? Because your DNA is a match for the girl in that tube! You were made in the same place, Jon!"

Jonathan froze. His world spun. "System... is what he's saying true?"

[Data Locked. Synchronization Level Below 80% to Access Project Information.]

"Damn it! Everything is locked!" Jonathan punched the floor.

"Jon! The building is collapsing!" Emma shouted suddenly.

The rumbling from the roof grew louder. The giant creature that had crashed onto the roof finally broke through the concrete floor. A massive, black-furred leg with razor-sharp claws crushed the desks near them.

"What is that?! What kind of monster is that?!" Reymond turned pale, trying to crawl away with his one remaining arm.

"That's... a high-level 'Cleaner'! System, info!"

[Target Identified: Void Stalker (Level 25).]

[Win Probability: 2%.]

[Suggestion: Immediate Evacuation.]

"Two percent?! You always give me impossible numbers!" Jonathan grabbed Emma’s hand. "Let's get out of here!"

"What about me, Jon?! Help me!" Reymond begged with a pathetic face.

Jonathan paused, staring at Reymond with a deadly cold gaze. "Remember when I begged for help on the wet asphalt? What did you say? 'I don't want cheap blood on my shoes'. Remember?"

"Jon... that... that was a joke..."

"Well, now I'm joking too. Goodbye, Rey. Hope your machine parts taste good to that monster." Jonathan turned and ran toward the shattered window.

"JONATHAN! YOU BASTARD! DON'T LEAVE ME!" Reymond’s scream was drowned out by the Void Stalker’s roar as it began devouring his machine body alive.

Jonathan hugged Emma tight. "Hold on, Em! We're jumping!"

"What?! Jon, this is the tenth floor!"

"I won't let you die! Trust me!"

They jumped out the window just as the Void Stalker destroyed the entire floor. In mid-air, Jonathan used his system energy to create a temporary gravity cushion.

"System! Activate Domain Alpha: Safe Fall!"

[Insufficient Energy. Using Vitality Reserve...]

"Take it all! Just keep us alive!"

They slammed onto the roof of a parked container truck with a loud bang. Jonathan felt like his bones were crushed, but he immediately checked on Emma.

"Em? You okay?"

"Ouch... dizzy, Jon. But nothing feels broken," Emma answered, wincing.

Jonathan tried to stand, but his vision blurred. Fresh blood trickled from his ears. "Good... cough!"

"Jon! You're bleeding so much!"

"It's fine... just a little tired..." Jonathan looked back at the building they just left. It was now collapsing entirely, swallowing all of 'Project Alpha's' secrets and Reymond along with them.

But amidst the falling debris, Jonathan saw something impossible. The tube containing the woman who looked like Sienna wasn't destroyed. It was floating in the air, carried by advanced drones belonging to 'The Cleaners'.

"They took her..." Jonathan muttered.

"Who, Jon?"

"Sienna... or whatever her name is. They don't want that secret lost."

Suddenly, a voice from behind them put Jonathan back on high alert. "Stop right there, Subject Number 00."

Jonathan turned slowly. Standing before him was an old man in a pristine white robe that contrasted sharply with the surrounding chaos. The man held a staff tipped with a massive Alpha crystal.

"Who are you? Another one of Reymond’s goons?" Jonathan asked, readying his dimming energy sword.

"Reymond was just a small pawn thirsty for power. I am the architect of what lies inside your body, Jonathan," the man smiled calmly. "Call me Professor Silas."

"Architect? So you're the one who made my life hell?!" Jonathan moved to attack, but his legs suddenly paralyzed.

[Warning! Override Signal Detected. Alpha System under External Control...]

"What the hell?! I can't move!" Jonathan’s eyes widened.

"Of course. I wrote the base code. Did you think that system was truly yours?" Silas walked closer, looking at Jonathan like a collector admiring a rare antique. "You are a very interesting prototype. You survived forced evolution without completely losing your human consciousness. Very rare."

"Let go of Jonathan, You Evil Old Man!" Emma tried to hit Silas with her bag, but Silas merely waved his hand, and Emma was thrown five meters away, knocked unconscious.

"EMMA!" Jonathan screamed. "Bastard! I’ll kill you, Silas!"

"Save your anger, Jonathan. You'll need it for the next phase." Silas pulled out a syringe filled with silver liquid. "Your current synchronization is only fifty percent. Let's see what happens if I force it to one hundred percent in a single injection."

"Don't... don't do it..." Jonathan struggled, but his body was completely locked by the signal from Silas’s staff.

"This will feel like being burned alive from inside your cells. But don't worry, if you survive, you'll become a god. If not... well, at least I get good research data."

Silas plunged the needle into Jonathan’s neck.

"AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!!!"

Jonathan’s scream pierced the terrifying silence of the night. The once-stable purple light suddenly exploded into an energy storm that shattered the container truck beneath them. Jonathan’s body began a horrifying mutation; his spine protruded to form a sharp armor, and his skin turned as hard as black steel.

[FORCED SYNCHRONIZATION: 85%... 90%... 95%...]

[WARNING! HUMAN THRESHOLD EXCEEDED!]

[FINAL ALPHA EVOLUTION: THE OMEGA PREDATOR.]

Jonathan’s vision turned blood red. He no longer saw the world as a place to live, but as a collection of genetic data ready to be devoured.

"Now, be a good boy and destroy those 'Cleaner' troops for me," Silas ordered with a satisfied smile.

Jonathan stood up. He was now over two meters tall with incredibly dense muscles. He turned toward Silas. But in his fading mind, one name still echoed.

"Em... ma..."

"Forget the brat, Jonathan. She's irrelevant to a new species like you."

Jonathan slowly raised his hand. A massive black energy ball formed in his palm, but he didn't aim it at the sky. He aimed it right at Silas’s face.

"What?! You... you still have control?!" Silas’s eyes widened, his calm face now filled with pure fear.

"I... am... not... your... toy..." Jonathan’s voice sounded like the growl of an ancient beast.

BOOOOOMMMM!

The explosion obliterated the harbor area. Silas was thrown who knows where, while Jonathan fell to his knees, trying to contain the raging physical changes. But amidst the smoke, a large shadow landed in front of Jonathan.

Not a monster. Not The Cleaners.

It was a woman in full combat armor. She removed her helmet, revealing a very familiar face.

"Jonathan? We finally meet again," the woman said.

Jonathan stared at her with his remaining consciousness. "Sienna...? But you... you're different..."

The woman smiled bitterly. "I'm the real Sienna, Jon. And I came to kill you before that system truly becomes the apocalypse for Earth."

She drew a long sword glowing with pure white light against Jonathan’s neck.

"I'm sorry, Jon. But you have to die now."

Jonathan could only stare blankly at the sword tip, while a final blinking message appeared on his system screen:

[100% SYNCHRONIZATION REACHED.]

[WELCOME, KING OF DESTRUCTION.]

The sword began to descend rapidly toward Jonathan’s neck—

One second before contact...

The system emitted a long beep...

And the world around them suddenly froze.