God Of War System : Apocalypse King

CHAPTER 12: A GOD IN THE EYES OF THE SCOUT

The two-kilometer journey felt like traversing a frozen hell. The silence of Banyuwangi City was far more terrifying than the screams of the undead in Bali. Their every step echoed between the silent buildings; every gust of wind sounded like a whispered threat.

Satria walked in front, a crowbar gripped tightly in his right hand. His posture was alert, his head constantly moving, scanning every window, alley, and rooftop. Behind him, Cindy and Abigail walked close together, while Andy maintained a distance of several steps at the very rear, his face steeped in the shadows of anger and shame.

Every confident stride Satria took was a slap to Andy. Every time Abigail glanced at Satria’s back with a look of admiration, an invisible knife pierced Andy's pride. He hated this. He hated looking weak, being the one who needed protection, and what he hated most was that the gratitude he should have felt had instead turned to poison in his heart.

"Just wait," Andy thought, his eyes fixed on Satria's back. "Your luck will run out. And I'll be there when you fall."

"Stop," Satria suddenly hissed.

Everyone instantly froze. Satria raised his hand, signaling them to press against the wall of an electronics store whose glass lay shattered.

"What is it?" Cindy whispered, her heart pounding.

Satria didn't answer. He closed his eyes for a moment, activating his new skill.

[SKILL ACTIVE: EAGLE EYE]

The world in his view shifted. The street ahead, hundreds of meters away, was now clearly visible, as if he were looking through high-precision binoculars. He saw the large intersection they had to cross to reach their target building. And there, he saw them.

Not one or two. Dozens. Maybe over a hundred.

The undead wandered aimlessly in the intersection square. Most were the slow-moving walkers they had encountered in Bali, but among the crowd, Satria saw at least a dozen skinny figures moving more nimbly. The Runners.

"The road ahead is blocked," Satria said quietly, deactivating his skill. "A massive horde at the intersection. We can't get through without attracting all of them."

"Should we find another way?" Abigail suggested, her voice trembling.

"No time," Satria replied firmly. "That building is our only hope. Detouring will take hours, and the risk is the same. We have to break through."

"Break through? Fight all of them?" Cindy asked incredulously. "That's suicide!"

"Not fight. Get past them," Satria corrected. His eyes swept the surroundings, his brain working fast, analyzing the environment. "We need a distraction."

His gaze stopped at an old sedan parked across the street, near a small, defunct gas station. A crazy but brilliant idea formed in his head.

"I have a plan," Satria said. "The three of you, get inside that store and hide. Don't come out, don't make a sound, no matter what happens. Understand?"

"What about you?" Cindy asked anxiously.

"I'll clear the way."

Without waiting for a reply, Satria ran across the street, his movements swift and nearly silent. He reached the sedan, forced the door open, and began fiddling with the wires beneath the steering wheel. A few seconds later, the car engine sputtered to life with a loud cough.

VROOM... VROOM!

At the intersection, dozens of heads simultaneously turned toward the source of the noise.

Satria got out of the car, picked up a large rock from the roadside, and then slipped toward the gas station. With all his might, he slammed the rock into the operator booth window, shattering it. He stepped inside, hit the emergency button to activate all the gas pumps, then pressed the lever on one of the hoses until gasoline streamed onto the asphalt, creating a slick, black puddle.

After that, he returned to the sedan, wedging the gas pedal down with his crowbar, and aimed the steering wheel straight toward the gas pump. He pushed the car from behind, giving it an initial momentum.

"What is he doing?" Abigail whispered from inside the store.

The car moved slowly, then faster. Satria let go and immediately ran to hide behind a wall.

CRASH!

The sedan slammed violently into the gas pump. Sparks from the metal collision met the gasoline fumes.

BOOOOOOM!

A massive explosion shook the entire street. A giant fireball soared into the sky, engulfing the gas station and several nearby cars. The sound of the explosion was like a church bell in hell, calling all its congregation.

The entire horde at the intersection now turned and moved in unison toward the source of the blast, lured like fish to bait. The street ahead of them was now open.

"Now!" Satria shouted from across the street. "Run!"

Cindy and Abigail immediately rushed out of hiding, running as fast as they could to catch up with Satria. Andy, though hesitant, was forced to follow.

They sprinted across the intersection the horde had just abandoned. Thick black smoke from the fire billowed high, providing them with a little camouflage.

---

ON THE ROOFTOP OF AN OFFICE BUILDING...

A skinny man in a leather jacket lowered his binoculars. His face was tense, filled with awe and disbelief. He had just witnessed the entire event from above.

"Rizal, you have to see this," he said to another man who was guarding a plume of smoke.

"What is it, Bima?"

"Someone survived down there. Four people. And their leader... I don't know what to call him. He just blew up a gas station to distract hundreds of the dead."

Rizal snatched the binoculars from Bima's hand. He aimed them at the smoky intersection. He saw four figures running through the chaos. One man in front, moving with unnatural composure amidst the apocalypse.

He watched as the figure paused briefly, let the other three pass, and then easily crushed the heads of two lingering Runners with a metal bar. His movements were efficient, brutal, and flawless. There was no panic. No hesitation. Just cold execution.

Rizal swallowed hard. "That... that's no ordinary man," he muttered. "Look at the way he moves, the way he controls the situation."

Below, Satria had just finished off the last Runner blocking their path. He stood for a moment in the empty street, surrounded by fire and smoke, his back straight, defying the dead world.

Seeing the scene from a distance, through the lens of his binoculars, only one word came to Rizal's mind.

"That... that was like a God of War."

---

BACK ON THE STREET...

They finally reached the lobby of the office building. The automatic glass doors were shattered. Satria retrieved his crowbar from the skull of the last Runner.

[EXP +50]

[EXP +50]

Cindy and Abigail were gasping for breath, adrenaline still pumping through their veins.

"We... we made it," Cindy said, leaning against the lobby wall.

Andy stood behind them, staring at Satria with an increasingly complicated look. The explosion, the strategy, the way Satria executed it perfectly... all of it only widened the chasm between them. Andy didn't feel admiration. Rather, it was confirmation. Confirmation that as long as Satria existed, he would never be anything more than a shadow.

Satria ignored them. His eyes were already scanning the dark lobby. "Don't celebrate yet," he said, his voice returning to its cold tone.

"The smoke is coming from the roof. That means we have to climb twenty floors."

He pointed to the row of elevators at the end of the lobby. Their lights were completely dead.

"And we'll take the stairs."