Zombie Apocalypse System

Chapter 18: System Unrest, Planetary Scale Invasion

...and gripped the pulsing fusion core inside his heart cavity, but the overflowing golden energy from Axel's body instead burned that shadow hand into space ash that scattered in all directions!

"Damn, you think your scrap metal hand can touch my heart?!" Axel spat into the void, his eyes flashing wildly as if he had just swallowed the sun. "I'm the Architect, you idiot! You want to delete me? Come here, I'll delete your existence from the server first!"

The giant soldier roared, its voice no longer thunder, but a digital distortion that pained the ears. "SUBJECT AXEL... SYSTEM ERROR... MUST... BE... RESET..."

"Reset my ass! I'm the one who's going to reformat this whole crazy system!" Axel clenched his fist, triggering a golden energy explosion that caused the shadow soldier's body to crack into a thousand pieces. "Conceptual Critical... Total Data Deletion a Thousand Times!"

BOOOOMMMM!

The giant shadow exploded into pixel particles that vanished into the darkness of outer space. Axel panted, staring at his hands which were still shaking violently. Below him, the Earth looked so fragile, covered by thousands of purple portals that began spewing monsters far crazier in size than yesterday's dragon.

"Axel! Hey, do you hear me?! Get back here now, you idiot! My radar literally exploded!" Abby's voice shrieked over the intercom, filled with a panic Axel had never heard before.

"Take it easy, Abby! I just finished beating up the sky's security guard!" Axel shot down, piercing the atmosphere like a golden comet. "What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost!"

"Worse than a ghost, Axel! Look at the bottom monitor! This isn't a local attack anymore! The entire planet is surrounded by portals!" Abby screamed, her voice trembling violently. "The system is truly enraged because you parried the laws of nature earlier! The notification says... 'Planetary Scale Invasion'!"

Axel landed with a loud thud on the balcony of the Absolute Fortress, creating a small crater in the steel floor. He immediately ran into the command room. There, Abby stood in front of thousands of hologram screens, all blood-red.

"Look at this, Axel! Look!" Abby pointed to the world map. "Abyssal Portals are opening over New York, London, Tokyo, all the way to the South Pole! Thousands of Abyssal Legions are descending! The system doesn't just want to kill you; it wants to level the entire planet so you have nowhere to hide!"

"Crazy... is that Big-Eyed Boss really going all-in?" Axel narrowed his eyes, looking at the millions of red dots filling the radar. "He wants to play a galaxy-scale gang-up?"

"This isn't just a gang-up anymore, Axel! This is a purge! Look, Abyssal Lord monsters are appearing on every continent!" Abby pressed the zoom button on the screen. There, skyscraper-sized creatures in pitch-black armor began destroying the remaining major cities. "Our satellites are picking up nonsensical energy signals. Every single one of those monsters has power equivalent to that ancient dragon you tamed yesterday!"

"That's good, then. It means there's more material, right?" Axel smirked, even though cold sweat trickled down his temples.

"Is your brain seriously broken?! It's just the two of us, Axel! Even if you have a million times the critical power, how are you going to hold off millions of monsters across the world at the same time?!" Abby slammed the command table in frustration. "Our fortress is strong, but if the planet is destroyed, where are we going to live?! In the clouds?!"

"Calm down, Abby. Take a breath, let it out. Don't let your lungs explode from anger," Axel patted Abby’s shoulder gently. "Do you hear the system sound inside our fortress?"

"What sound? Just the doomsday alarm that's been noisy this whole time!"

"No. Try listening carefully. There's a new frequency entering our fusion reactor," Axel pointed toward the core energy indicator that suddenly turned pure white.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: ANOMALY TOO LARGE. SYSTEM EXPERIENCING LOGIC FAILURE.]

[EXECUTING EMERGENCY PROTOCOL: FORTRESS EVOLUTION DETECTED.]

"Huh?! Our fortress... is evolving?!" Abby stared at the screen, agape. "Axel, what did you do to this building now?! Why is the structure suddenly expanding automatically?!"

"I didn't do anything, Abby! It seems the effect of my 'Conceptual Critical' earlier spread to the entire fortress structure when I parried the attack from the laws of nature," Axel chuckled, though he was also surprised. "The system can't delete me, so it tripped over itself. Now our fortress is considered a 'Counter Server' by this world!"

"Counter Server?! You mean this fortress now has the same authority as the doomsday system?!" Abby immediately busied herself typing again, her eyes sparkling wildly. "Wait... you're right! I can access their portal paths! Axel! I can hijack those portals!"

"Hijack them how? Can you close them?"

"I can't force them shut, but I can change their exit coordinates!" Abby gave the most cunning smirk Axel had ever seen. "What if I force all the monsters about to descend across the world to come out at a single point?"

"Where?"

"Right in front of our fortress's cannon muzzles, you idiot! You want to harvest, right? I'll give you a planetary-scale monster buffet!" Abby shouted enthusiastically, her fear replaced by a lust for battle.

"Damn, Abby! You really are my most genius right hand!" Axel slapped his palm. "Do it! Move all those portals to the front of the fortress gates! I'm going to make it 'Rain Materials' today!"

"Okay! Phase Shifting initiated! I'm syncing your critical energy to our satellites!" Abby slammed the execution button. "Hold your breath, Axel! This is going to make the Earth shake!"

DUMMMMMMMMM!

The entire fortress shook violently. In the Jakarta sky, thousands of purple portals that were previously small suddenly merged into one giant black hole that covered the entire horizon. From inside that hole, millions of Abyssal Legion monsters began falling like heavy rain.

"Whoa... it's really crowded, huh," Axel walked toward the outer balcony, staring at the sea of monsters filling the streets below the fortress. "Hey, you Abyssal runts! Welcome to Axel's slaughterhouse! Are you all ready to become gold coins yet?!"

From the ranks of monsters, a giant four-armed knight emerged, riding a black dragon whose eyes breathed purple fire. A name appeared above his head: [GENERAL VORAX - ABYSSAL LORD].

"ARROGANT HUMAN... YOU HAVE CHALLENGED THE WILL OF THE GODS... TODAY, YOUR FORTRESS SHALL BECOME YOUR TOMB!" Vorax's voice shook the steel structure of the fortress.

"Tomb? Gross, you have terrible taste, old man," Axel jumped from the balcony, floating in the air with overflowing golden energy. "Do you see the towers on top of my fortress? Those aren't just decorations for photos."

"ATTACK! DESTROY EVERYTHING!" Vorax swung his giant sword.

"Abby! Now! Give them an opening greeting!" Axel shouted into the intercom.

"Ready, Boss! Sentinel Plasma Railgun... Overload Mode! Critical... Thousand-Fold Chain Shot!"

BRATATATATATATATATA!

Ten cannon towers at the top of the fortress fired blue lasers mixed with Axel's golden aura. Every single shot that came out suddenly split into a thousand light projectiles in mid-air. The Jakarta sky suddenly became bright, brighter than daytime, as millions of plasma bullets rained down on the monster legion.

"Hahaha! Die, all of you! One bullet for one monster, with plenty left to spare!" Axel laughed wildly while charging toward General Vorax.

Vorax tried to parry with his four swords, but Axel's iron pipe—which had now taken the form of a divine spear—hit him with nonsensical force.

"Conceptual Critical... Thousand-Fold Absolute Armor Destroyer!"

KRAAAAAKKKK!

Vorax's black armor, which was said to be impenetrable, shattered into pieces. His dragon mount shrieked in pain as its wings were burned by Axel's golden aura.

"What?! How can a mortal power pierce an Abyssal blessing?!" Vorax's eyes widened, purple blood spurting from his mouth.

"Mortal? You're still underestimating me?" Axel grabbed Vorax's giant neck with one hand. "Listen here, Mr. Vorax. Here, 'Abyssal' is just the name for a new type of trash I'm going to recycle."

"Axel! Watch out! There's an anomaly in the middle of the portal!" Abby screamed over the intercom. "Something bigger than that General is trying to force its way out! The energy pressure is damaging our shields from the inside!"

Axel turned toward the giant portal in the sky. There, a giant blood-red hand, ten times larger than General Vorax, began tearing at the edges of the portal. A thick smell of sulfur and death reached Axel's nose.

"Damn... what is that now, Abby? The hand alone is as big as our fortress!" Axel frowned, releasing his grip on the dying Vorax.

"That's... that's the 'Abyssal Monarch'! The supreme leader of the Abyssal Legion! The system really sent the final Boss in the first wave?!" Abby's voice was almost gone from shock. "Axel! We can't hold that! Our cannons aren't strong enough to hurt him!"

"Not strong enough? Abby, did you forget? We have the Fusion Core and dragon blood!" Axel shot back to the top of the fortress. "Abby! Open a direct energy path to my hands! I'm going to use a technique I've never tried before!"

"What technique?! Don't be crazy, Axel! Your body could be destroyed receiving that much energy!"

"I won't be destroyed! I'll 'criticize' my own body's durability!" Axel landed on top of the main reactor at the peak of the tower. "Hurry, Abby! The hand is about to touch the fortress!"

The giant red hand began to grip the side of the Absolute Fortress, making a harrowing metal screeching sound. The entire fortress tilted several degrees. People inside the underground city began screaming in fear as a massive earthquake struck.

"Okay! I'm opening the energy valve! Three... two... one... LIMIT BREAK!" Abby pressed the red button with her eyes closed.

SHUIIIIINNNNGGGG!

A massive current of blue and purple energy flowed from the reactor, through giant cables, and exploded into Axel's body. Axel's hair turned a glowing white, and his eyes emitted a golden light that pierced the sky.

"Aaaaaaaaakkkkkhhhh!" Axel roared, feeling as if his body were being pulled in different directions by thousands of horses. But he held on. "Conceptual Critical... Thousand-Fold Godly Adaptation!"

The pain vanished in an instant, replaced by a power that felt capable of crushing an entire galaxy. Axel flew toward the giant hand that was squeezing his fortress.

"Hey, Red Hand! You want to wreck my house?!" Axel grabbed one of the giant fingers. "Conceptual Critical... Thousand-Fold Gravity and Pressure Reversal!"

KRAAAAKKKK!

The giant finger snapped in the wrong direction. The roar from behind the portal was so loud that all the clouds in Jakarta instantly dispersed.

"Not done yet! Critical... Thousand-Fold Core Explosion!" Axel punched the giant palm.

BOOOOOOOMMMMMM!

An incredibly devastating explosion of golden energy occurred. The giant red hand was pulverized into shreds of flesh and energy, pushed back into the portal. The purple portal in the Jakarta sky began to vibrate unstably, emitting sparks of black electricity.

"Huff... huff... take that!" Axel panted, floating in the air with his body still emitting steam.

"Axel! It worked! The Monarch's signal is gone!" Abby exclaimed in relief, nearly falling off her chair from exhaustion. "But... Axel, look down. That wasn't the only enemy."

Axel looked toward the ground. Even though the giant hand was gone, millions of Abyssal Legion monsters that had already descended were now surrounding the fortress from all sides. They crawled up the fortress walls like ants, trying to find a gap.

"There are so many of them, Abby. It's like they never end," Axel landed back on the command balcony.

"The system is constantly opening small portals throughout the area, Axel. It wants to drain our energy!" Abby showed the reactor data, which was slowly decreasing. "If we keep firing, our reactor will die in two hours!"

"Two hours, huh? That's enough for me to find the 'Head' of this invasion," Axel stared toward central Jakarta, where there was one portal that was the darkest and motionless. "Abby, do you see that black portal over there? I feel like there's a 'brain' controlling all of this from there."

"Yes, I see it too. That's their 'Command Center' portal. But Axel, don't go there alone! It's a trap!" Abby warned.

"I'm not alone, Abby. I'm bringing a new friend," Axel whistled loudly.

Suddenly, from the underground hangar, a golden dragon emerged, its size having doubled in a short time. The dragon landed beside Axel, letting out a low, powerful growl.

"Your baby dragon is ready for battle, Abby. Its name is 'Goldy,' right?" Axel climbed onto the dragon's back.

"Huh?! When did you name it 'Goldy'?! That's so tacky!" Abby protested, but she still smiled. "Okay, be careful. I'll provide air support with the remaining drones."

"Got it. Guard the fortress, Abby. If anyone dares to get near my chair, just 'criticize' their head," Axel pulled the reins of his golden dragon.

"I'm not you, you jerk! I can only shoot!" Abby shot back with a laugh.

Axel shot through the crowd of aerial monsters, his golden dragon breathing holy fire that incinerated thousands of monsters in an instant. He flew straight toward the black portal in the city center.

Upon arriving in front of the portal, Axel saw something unexpected. In front of the portal stood a man in a neat suit, holding an old wooden staff. He didn't look like a monster at all, but his aura was more terrifying than the entire Abyssal Legion combined.

"Welcome, Axel. I have been expecting you," the man said in a very calm voice.

"Who are you? The HR Manager from hell?" Axel dismounted from his dragon, his iron pipe ready in hand.

"You could say that. I am the 'System Administrator' of unit 04. My task is to clean up errors in this world, and unfortunately... you are the biggest error there has ever been," the man raised his staff.

"Administrator? Wow, so I'm talking to a middle manager, huh?" Axel smirked. "How about we skip the small talk? I'm in a hurry to get to dinner."

"So impatient," the man moved his staff upward. "In that case, let us see how strong your 'critical' is against the 'Law of Deletion'."

Instantly, the entire area around them turned into an empty white space. No buildings, no sky, no Abby on the intercom. Only Axel and the Administrator.

"A mirror dimension? Creative," Axel tried to move, but he felt as if his feet were rooted to an invisible floor.

"In here, your critical power will not work, Axel. Because here, I am the one who writes the concepts," the man walked closer. "First concept: 'Absolute Weakness'."

Axel suddenly felt all his muscles go limp. His iron pipe felt like it weighed a ton, falling from his hand with a clinking sound. He fell to his knees, gasping for breath.

"What... what are you doing?!" Axel tried to call his system, but there was no answer.

"I am deleting the concept of 'Strength' from your existence. Now, you are just a helpless ordinary human," the man raised his staff toward Axel's head. "Goodbye, anomaly. The world will return to normal without your presence."

The man swung his staff, which was now glowing pitch black, toward Axel's head. Axel could only stare at the approaching death with wide eyes.

"Axel! Can you hear me?!" Abby's voice suddenly broke through again, but it was very distorted. "I... I've sent... a 'Backdoor' code... to your veins... using the dragon blood... YOU HAVE TO—"

Abby's voice vanished again. Axel felt something hot flowing through his veins. The golden dragon blood he had drunk earlier began to react with the remnants of the system energy in his body.

"Concepts, huh? You said you're the one who writes the concepts here?" Axel suddenly chuckled, even though his body was shaking violently.

"What is funny?" the man paused.

"It's funny because you think I only use your system to be strong," Axel looked up, his previously dim eyes suddenly lighting up with a very strange rainbow color. "I am the Architect, you idiot. And an Architect... doesn't just write on existing paper."

Axel grabbed the tip of the man's staff with his trembling hand.

"I'm going to write a new concept in this dimension of yours... the concept of 'Authority Reversal'... CONCEPTUAL CRITICAL... REFORMAT THIS ENTIRE ROOM A THOUSAND TIMES!"

BLAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!

The white dimension cracked severely. Colors began to bleed back in, but they were a mess. The floor became the sky, fire became water, and the Administrator was suddenly thrown back, his body beginning to glitch.

"WHAT?! HOW CAN YOU CHANGE THE CODE INSIDE MY DIMENSION?!" the man screamed in panic, his face beginning to break into digital bits.

"Because I... am the owner of the future, you bastard!" Axel stood up, his full strength returning ten times stronger. "Now, because you tried to delete me... I'm going to delete you and this entire invasion of yours from the face of the earth!"

Axel raised both hands to the sky. All the energy from the Absolute Fortress in the distance was sucked into his dimension through the 'Backdoor' path Abby had created.

"Abby! Give me the entire fusion reactor output! NOW!"

"READY, BOSS! 1000% ENERGY LAUNCHED! FINISH HIM, AXEL!" Abby's voice was clear again and full of spirit.

Axel concentrated all that energy into a small ball of light that was golden-black. The pressure was so insane that the dimension began to collapse completely.

"Taste this, Administrator! CONCEPTUAL CRITICAL... THOUSAND-FOLD TOTAL SYSTEM ANNIHILATION!"

Axel released the ball of light right into the Administrator's heart. The resulting explosion was so massive that the purple portals across the entire Earth simultaneously exploded and vanished. The entire Abyssal Legion on the ground suddenly turned into golden dust that blew away in the wind.

Axel was thrown out of the dimension, landing in the middle of the ruins of Jakarta's streets. He panted, his body covered in burns, but he smiled with satisfaction seeing the sky return to normal.

"Huff... huff... it's done, right, Abby?" Axel whispered softly into the intercom.

"Axel! You did it! The entire invasion on this planet has stopped completely! You really reformatted the system!" Abby exclaimed, crying tears of joy.

But their joy did not last long. In front of Axel, the remaining digital bits of the Administrator began to gather again, forming a short message in the air.

[DELETION PROCESS FAILED. ACTIVATING 'JUDGMENT DAY' PROTOCOL.]

[ESTIMATED PHYSICAL ARRIVAL OF SUPREME BOSS: 48 HOURS.]

Axel stared at the message with narrowed eyes. "The Supreme Boss is coming physically, huh? Good."

"Axel! Did you see the message?! That's the real apocalypse! We only have two days!" Abby panicked again on the other end.

"Two days, huh? That's enough for me to add ten more floors to our fortress," Axel stood up, calling his golden dragon which was still faithfully waiting. "Abby, prepare the materials. We're going to build a trap that will make the Supreme Boss regret ever creating this apocalypse."

Axel flew back to the fortress. From above, he could see thousands of people in his fortress cheering and calling his name. He felt like a hero, even though he knew he was just a man who wanted to survive in the most cheating way possible.

Upon arriving at the fortress, Abby immediately hugged him tightly. "Don't you ever run into a weird dimension like that again, you idiot! I almost died of fright!"

"Hehe, sorry. But it was fun, right?" Axel smirked while stroking Abby's head.

"Fun, my ass! Now we have to work extra hard! I got data from that Administrator earlier about the Supreme Boss's physical weakness!" Abby pulled Axel to the command room.

"What's the weakness?"

"He can't stand 'Chaos' energy combined with pure critical.