Zombie Apocalypse System

Chapter 14: Planned Invasion, Total Failure

... a blast of golden energy instantly split the sky over the Mount Salak crater!

BOOOOMMMM!

A single strike from Axel’s iron pipe—which had been Critically enhanced a thousand times over—landed squarely on the crystal dragon's main snout. The sound was no longer just an explosion; it sounded like the world was being forcibly torn apart. The dragon's ten heads suddenly went rigid, then slowly began to crack until they finally exploded into millions of black jewel shards that evaporated instantly into the air.

"Drop dead, you overgrown worm! You want to play with fire with me? Go learn from an exploding stove first!" Axel landed casually on the still-smoldering crater floor, slinging his iron pipe over his shoulder like a laborer who had just finished a massive contract job.

"Axel! Hey, do you hear me?! Get back here now, you idiot! It’s a trap!" Abby’s voice shrieked through the intercom in Axel’s ear, so loud it made him wince.

"Geez, Abby! Turn down the volume a bit, I’m going deaf here! What’s the big deal? Are you scared of being left alone at home?" Axel replied casually while picking up the remaining intact dragon crystals.

"Scared, my ass! Look at the radar! The Global Lord Alliance are all bastards! While you were busy playing around with that dragon in the crater, they sent their entire battle fleet to surround our Fortress! This is a planned invasion, damn it!" Abby screamed, even more hysterical now. The sound of consecutive explosions could be heard in the background of her voice.

"Huh? Are you serious? Wow, they’ve got some nerve backstabbing me like that. Especially right after I just showed them a mountain disappearing," Axel narrowed his eyes, his gaze turning cold.

"It’s more than serious, Axel! Their missiles have been raining down on our plasma shield for a while now! I almost had a heart attack looking at the numbers! Thousands of anti-matter missiles per minute! Get back here right now or I’m locking you out!"

"Alright, alright, relax. I’m coming back now. Hold your breath, Abby." Axel closed his eyes for a moment, focusing on the coordinates of the Fortress command center. "Conceptual Critical... Long-Range Teleportation, One Thousand Times!"

WUSH!

In the blink of an eye, the scorching scenery of the Mount Salak crater transformed into a cold command room filled with hologram screens. Axel appeared right beside Abby, who was busy typing on her keyboard like a woman possessed.

"Damn it! You scared me! Can’t you show up without the gale-force winds?!" Abby protested while fixing her messy hair, though her eyes remained glued to the screen. "Look at that! The external monitors! Our Fortress looks like a ball of fire because of their missiles!"

Axel looked at the main screen. Sure enough, the Jakarta sky was no longer visible, completely filled with explosion smoke and missile flashes. Thousands of explosions occurred on the surface of the Absolute Fortress plasma shield, creating a non-stop thunderous roar.

"Man, it’s a real party out there. Like celebrating New Year’s in hell," Axel muttered as he walked toward the large window. He saw that his blue plasma shield was still perfectly calm, without a single scratch. "But why is my shield still so steady, Abby? I thought you said we were surrounded?"

"Of course they can't break through, you moron! But the problem is, the vibrations are making my servers overheat! I have to work overtime just to stabilize the energy flow!" Abby pointed to an energy graph that was fluctuating like a roller coaster. "They brought ten aircraft carriers, Axel! From the west, east, north—they’re everywhere!"

"Ten aircraft carriers? Wow, they’re really splurging. Aren't they worried about the cost?" Axel laughed cynically. "Abby, you still have those bee drones we made last night, right?"

"I do! Ten thousand units are ready in the left-wing hangar! Why? You want them to sting those carriers?"

"Exactly. But not just a normal sting. I want you to release them all now. Let me add a little spice to them," Axel placed his hand on the drone control console.

"Okay! Bee drones, out! Launching in 3... 2... 1... BEEDRILL MODE ON!" Abby slammed the enter key.

From small openings in the fortress walls, thousands of tiny drones—each only the size of a fist—swarmed out at insane speeds. The drones flew in a formation that looked like a black cloud swirling in the sky.

"Now it’s my turn. Conceptual Critical... Drone Mass and Explosive Power Reinforcement, One Thousand Times!" Axel whispered softly.

Instantly, the tiny drones changed color to a metallic black with glowing red tips. Their speed suddenly increased a thousandfold until the sound of their engines caused the glass on the enemy aircraft carriers to crack from the sonic waves alone.

"Get 'em, Abby! Target their main engines!" Axel commanded.

"You don't have to tell me twice! Look at that—drop dead, all of you!" Abby grinned with satisfaction as she watched the monitor, seeing the bee drones pierce through the enemy carriers' shields like they were tissue paper.

BOOOOMMMM! BOOOOMMMM!

One by one, the Global Lord aircraft carriers exploded in the sky. The drones swarmed into the engine rooms and detonated simultaneously. The massive ships that had been so arrogantly surrounding the fortress were now tilting and falling like flies sprayed with bug spray.

"Hahaha! Look at that, Axel! Lord Ares' carrier is about to crash into the sea! Take that, you General in a nightgown!" Abby shouted with joy, clapping her hands.

"It’s not over yet, Abby. There are still three carriers with thick shields to the north. Looks like they’re drawing energy from a system core," Axel narrowed his eyes. "They’re starting to fire their laser cannons. Watch out!"

SHUIIIIINNNNGGGG!

Three massive red laser beams slammed into the fortress shield simultaneously. This time, the fortress actually shook violently, nearly knocking Abby off her chair.

"Uh oh! Our shield is down to 80%! Axel, those are molecule-shattering lasers! We can't just sit here!" Abby panicked again, her hands busy searching for counter-attack coordinates.

"Patience, Abby. Let them feel like they’re winning for a second. I’ll just head down there myself to wrap this up quickly," Axel started walking toward the balcony exit.

"Eh?! What are you doing?! It’s still raining bullets out there, you idiot!"

"I need a little exercise. I’m getting stiff just sitting around. You watch the Fortress; if anyone tries to get near the bottom gate, just use the fusion cannons," Axel winked at Abby and then jumped from the five-hundredth-floor balcony.

"AXEL! YOU’RE FREAKING INSANE, YOU BASTARD!" Abby screamed from above, but Axel was already out of earshot.

Axel plummeted at an impossible speed. Mid-fall, he clenched his right fist. "Critical... Body Density, One Thousand Times!"

DUMMMMMMM!

Axel landed right on the deck of one of the enemy carriers firing the lasers. The impact instantly punched a hole through the meter-thick steel deck. He stood in the middle of hundreds of mercenaries whose faces had turned deathly pale.

"Hey, it’s pretty crowded here! Is there a party? Was I not invited?" Axel greeted them while brushing dust off his shoulder.

"It’s Axel! Shoot him! Kill him now!" a commander shouted from the bridge.

"Shoot me? You sure? The bullets might start crying," Axel smirked. He swung his iron pipe horizontally just once. "Critical... Steel-Cutting Wind Slash, One Thousand Times!"

SYUUUUUTTTTT!

A razor-sharp wave of air pressure erupted from Axel’s iron pipe, slicing everyone and every cannon on that deck into two clean pieces. The aircraft carrier was literally cut like a hot knife through butter.

"Insane... just one swing?" muttered one of the surviving soldiers, his legs shaking so hard he peed his pants.

"Not enough? Okay, I’ll give you a special finale," Axel pressed his palm against the deck floor. "Conceptual Critical... Engine Core Destruction, One Thousand Times!"

KRAAAAKKKK! DUAAARRRR!

The massive aircraft carrier exploded from the inside, splitting into two large sections that plummeted downward. Axel leaped into the air again, catching a missile that was flying toward his fortress. He straddled the missile like he was riding a horse and steered it back toward the next carrier.

"Hey, Abby! Look at me, I’m riding a rocket!" Axel shouted over the intercom.

"Axel, be serious for once! I’m stressed out here holding off their cyber attacks!" Abby snapped back, though she couldn't help but laugh at Axel’s antics on the monitor. "Take out the carrier at coordinate 0-9! That’s the one that’s been the loudest!"

"Copy that, Queen Boss! Launching!" Axel kicked the back of the missile to boost it. "Critical... Thrust Speed, One Thousand Times!"

WUUUSSSHHHH!

The missile shot forward like a bolt of lightning, piercing the bridge of the target carrier and exploding in the main control room. Axel jumped off just before the missile detonated, floating casually in the air using the energy thrusters in his boots.

In less than fifteen minutes, the once-mighty Global Lord fleet had become scattered wreckage in the Jakarta sky. Black smoke was everywhere, and the remains of the ships crashed onto empty buildings below.

Axel landed back on his fortress balcony, his breathing as steady as if he had just taken a light stroll in the park. He entered the command room to find Abby leaning back in her chair, fanning herself with her tablet.

"How was that, Abby? Clean, right?" Axel asked as he looked for a water bottle.

"Clean is one thing, but those gold coins from your conversion earlier fell everywhere, Axel! I have to send out scavenger drones to pick them up one by one!" Abby grumbled, though her face looked immensely relieved. "But man, they really failed miserably. Ten aircraft carriers gone in an instant."

"That’s why you don't mess with the Architect," Axel gulped down his water. "So, any survivors?"

"There’s one General whose ship you sliced. He landed in an ejection seat in the fortress front yard. My bee drones already caught him," Abby pointed to a small screen.

"Good. Bring him here. I want to ask a few questions," Axel sat at the command desk, waiting for his first prisoner.

Shortly after, the command room door opened. Two bee drones dragged in a man in a military uniform that was tattered and covered in soot. He was shaking violently when he saw Axel and Abby.

"Mercy... mercy, Lord Axel! I was just following orders!" the General cried out, immediately dropping to his knees in surrender.

"Relax, Mr. General. I’m not going to eat you; your meat is probably too tough anyway," Axel smirked coldly. "I just want to know one thing. Why were you all so desperate to attack my fortress when you already knew what I’m capable of?"

"We... we were forced, My Lord! The Global Lord Council was threatened by the 'Genesis' faction! They said if we couldn't get the Fusion Core tonight, they would activate the 'Mass Purge' protocol!" the General sobbed.

"Genesis again? Wow, they really are a persistent shadow faction," Abby frowned. "So, what was their final plan if this invasion failed?"

The General went silent for a moment, his body shaking even harder. His eyes bulged with terror as if he were seeing a ghost. "They... they don't need a fleet of ships anymore, My Lord..."

"What do you mean?" Axel asked, his tone dropping low.

"They... they just activated a forbidden ritual beneath the Mount Salak crater that you destroyed... they used the residual energy from your explosion to awaken something older than this system itself..." the General’s voice was barely a whisper.

"Awaken what?! Speak clearly!" Abby barked.

"The Ancient Dragon... the 'Abyssal Calamity'... A dragon that can swallow entire continents in a single breath... and now that dragon has awakened and is flying toward..."

Suddenly, a deafening roar echoed from the distance. It wasn't a normal roar; it was a sound that made the entire glass of the Absolute Fortress vibrate violently, and the energy sensors on Abby’s tablet instantly exploded into flames.

"Axel! Look at the northern radar! Something the size of a mountain is moving toward us at supersonic speeds!" Abby screamed, pointing at a screen that now displayed nothing but blood-red.

Axel ran to the window, his eyes fixed on the horizon. There, amidst the black clouds, emerged a gargantuan creature with a wingspan that nearly blotted out the Jakarta sky. Its eyes glowed a deep purple, and every time it flapped its wings, the buildings below were instantly leveled to the ground.

"Damn... is that dragon really that big?" Axel muttered, his hand automatically gripping his iron pipe tightly.

The General, still on his knees, began to laugh hysterically like a madman. "You’re too late! The dragon has awakened! This world is truly ending, and you won't be able to..."