The Sovereign Necromancer: System of the Dead

Neo-Lagos was split into two worlds. The Island belonged to the Hunters. They lived under giant blue shield arrays that kept the monster raids out. The Mainland belonged to everyone else. It was the place where the garbage and the blood washed down.

Tobe Okafor scraped the floor with a stiff wire brush. His fingers were raw. His lungs burned from the chemical spray he used to melt monster tissue off the roads. He was twenty-one, but his back ached like an old man's. He was a Cleaner. He had no magical awakening, no special stats, and no future.

His smartphone buzzed against his thigh. He pulled it out with slippery, wet rubber gloves.

The text was from the central public ward.

[Alert: Daily payment for Amarachi Okafor is short by 45,000 Naira. Life support will drop to emergency reserve status in twelve hours.]

Tobe swallowed hard. He looked at the supervisor sitting inside a warm armored van nearby.

"Sir," Tobe said, walking over to the window. "The payroll text just came. I only got thirty-five percent of my weekly cut."

The supervisor didn't look up from his screen. He was playing a mobile card game. "The guild took a hit during the swamp raid on Monday. Insurance fees went up. Everyone takes a cut, Tobe."

"My sister is on an oxygen machine," Tobe said. His voice didn't shake, but his chest felt tight. "I cannot take a cut."

"Then find another line of work," the supervisor said, rolling the tinted glass up.

Tobe stood under the yellow streetlamp. He wanted to throw his metal brush through the van's window. But if he got locked up, Amarachi would die before sunrise. He needed money now.

His phone vibrated again. A different name appeared on the screen.

Chiamaka: Tobe. Meet me at the Lekki Gate three entrance. Now. I talked to the logistics manager. They need an extra porter for a high-yield recovery run. It pays 200,000 Naira cash.

Tobe breathed out. His heart rate finally slowed down. Chiamaka was his fiancée. She had awakened as a C-Rank Tracker six months ago and joined the Vanguard Guild. She promised she would help him pull Amarachi out of the Mainland public wards. This was her proving it.

He tossed his brush into the storage bin and ran toward the transit lines.

The Lekki Gate station was bright enough to hurt his eyes. White stone floors, glass pillars, and security guards with automatic rifles stood everywhere.

Chiamaka stood near the steel security turnstiles. She looked different in her grey and gold Vanguard uniform. Her hair was tied back tight. She didn't look like the girl who used to share a single plate of rice with him in the Mainland slums. She looked clean.

"You're late," she said when he reached her. She didn't hug him. She looked past his shoulder, checking the crowd.

"The buses are slow tonight," Tobe said. He reached for her hand, but she adjusted her leather equipment belt, moving out of his reach. "Chiamaka, thank you. The hospital was about to turn off her machine."

"Don't thank me yet," she said. Her face was stiff. "This is Chief Segun’s personal run. We are clearing a private zone inside an S-Rank rift. You stay behind the shield line. You don't speak. You just gather the crystal fragments. Understand?"

"I know the rules," Tobe said.

A group of five high-level Hunters walked through the VIP gate. In the middle was Chief Segun Alao. He wore heavy black armor with gold plating around the neck. He was the owner of Vanguard Guild, one of the richest men in Neo-Lagos. He looked at the line of seven porters like they were plastic bags.

"Check the weight limits," Chief Segun told his assistant. "If anyone slows down the exit pace, drop the load. We have forty minutes before the rift shifts."

The porters strapped heavy iron crates to their backs. The straps cut into Tobe’s shoulders immediately, but he welcomed the pain. That weight meant 200,000 Naira.

They walked toward the rift. It looked like a tear in the air, spinning with black oil-colored light over a concrete platform. Tobe took a deep breath and stepped through behind Chiamaka.

The world went silent for a second. Then, the smell of iron and ash hit him.

They were inside a vast cave. The ground was gray stone, covered in cracks. Up ahead, three massive wolf-like creatures with bone plates on their heads turned toward the noise.

"Form the wall!" Chief Segun ordered.

The Vanguard Hunters moved fast. Swords flashed, and blue magic circles lit up the dark walls. The wolves didn't stand a chance. They fell within two minutes, dissolving into black dust and leaving shiny blue stones behind.

"Porters, move!" the assistant called out.

Tobe dropped to his knees, scooping the heavy stones into his iron crate. He worked faster than the others. He kept his eyes on the ground, doing his job perfectly.

Then the stone walls groaned.

A heavy impact from above threw Tobe onto his side. The iron crate slammed against his back. A massive shadow dropped from the roof of the cave. It was a giant creature made of fused bone and rotting muscle. Its chest held a glowing red core.

"An asymmetric variant!" the front-line tank driver shouted. His iron shield split down the middle as the creature struck it.

"Retreat!" Chief Segun said. He didn't hesitate. He didn't try to save his low-level guards. He ran straight toward the glowing exit portal.

The group turned into a frantic mess. People ran over each other. Tobe tried to stand, but a running porter hit his shoulder, sending him rolling back toward the monster. His boot caught in a deep crack in the rock.

"Chiamaka!" Tobe shouted, twisting his body.

Chiamaka was ten yards away, running toward the exit. She heard him. She stopped and looked back. Her eyes were wide, full of something sharp and cold.

Tobe reached his hand out. "Chiamaka, my foot is stuck! Help me pull the strap!"

Chief Segun grabbed Chiamaka’s arm, pulling her toward the portal. He looked back at Tobe, then at the giant bone monster closing the gap. A nasty smile crossed the billionaire's face.

"We need a distraction to reset the gate lock," Chief Segun said. He looked at Chiamaka. "Your boyfriend just volunteered."

Before Tobe could blink, Chief Segun stepped forward and drove his heavy iron-shod boot directly into Tobe’s right knee.

The bone broke instantly with a sharp snap.

Tobe gasped, the air leaving his lungs as his leg bent sideways.

Chief Segun didn't look at his face. He hit the left knee next, crushing it into the stone. "Good luck with the cleanup, Mainland boy."

Tobe lay on his stomach, his face pressed against the cold stone. The pain was like liquid fire running up his spine. He looked up at Chiamaka, his hand shaking on the dirt. "Chiamaka... please."

Chiamaka stared at his ruined legs. She didn't reach for her tracker blade. She didn't call for help. She looked at Chief Segun, then back at Tobe.

"The guild promised to pay for my brother's school, Tobe," she said. Her voice was flat, devoid of any warmth. "You can't help me anymore."

She turned around and jumped through the glowing portal. Chief Segun followed her, hitting the manual release switch on the outside.

The glowing blue light of the portal went dead. The exit was sealed.

Tobe was left in the pitch dark. He could hear the heavy, slow scraping of the bone monster's claws coming toward him. His fiancée had sold him out for a school f*e. His legs were crushed. His sister was going to die alone in a dark room.

A wild, burning rage filled his head, overriding the agony in his legs.

If I get out of here, Tobe thought, his fingers tearing into the stone until his nails split, I will destroy everything they love.

The monster loomed over him, raising a heavy spike of bone to end his life.

[Ding.]

A clear chime sounded inside his ears, freezing the monster mid-swing.

[System initialization initiated.]

[Host genetic code matches the Underworld Core.]

[Awakening Class: Sovereign of the Dead.]

A smooth, mocking voice spoke directly inside his brain.

"Well, look at this mess. They really left you in the dirt, didn't they? Do you want to lie there and die, or do you want to make them bleed?"