Shock

The crime level increased, and the government started to use the Ascender prisoners in the frontline. This slowed down the Golden Civilization's advancement, but humanity was lacking more Knights and the powerful Grand Knights to repel the enemy's offensive.

After the lapse of a few weeks, the United States lost most of its territories, only having left the states in the frontier with Mexico. Chaos unfurled in the US Army, their Ascenders deserting. Their aim was to go back home to take their families far from the horror of war.

But for some Ascenders, it was too late. They only could see from afar how the lands were colored by a mix of black and red, an uncountable number of giant crosses disturbing their sights. The crosses were made of human bodies, joined together by wires piercing each part of the emaciated corpses.

Broken bones, pieces of organs, and flesh. It seemed like everything in a human body was ripped apart and joined together.

The soldiers could hear wails of pain coming from the crosses, unlucky ones who were still alive. If one were to focus on them, you could see a horrifying expression on their faces, their lifeless and despaired eyes asking for a quick death.

The deserters could not help but kneel, tears in their eyes while asking the remains of humans in the crosses for forgiveness. Their cries mixed with the grievous wails of the doomed.

After a few days, some Ascenders even completely lost the ability to speak. Their throat was dry of yelling, their hearts aching of remorse. If they could turn back time, they would not have left the army. They would keep fighting, giving all of their strength to humanity. But it was already too late.

Whereas some Ascenders left, swearing revenge, other deserters could not bear the pain and made their own Heart Core explode. The explosion released all the stored Stellar Energy of their abilities, killing them and slightly affecting their surroundings.

The world was in shock, and the broadcasted images from the TV were not helping either. Humanity was seeing how Washington DC was burning, a city that was a symbol of power in the world.

The flames could be seen from kilometers, obscuring the skies and making the entire city be in the shadows. The streets were turned into a blood pool, with pieces of human flesh and organs scattered throughout the concrete. A person could not walk around the street without stepping into a piece of a human body.

Not a single building was in an entire piece. Some residential zones were all destroyed, with only the foundation being visible. Other residential zones had immense holes in the walls of their houses, showing the decorated but ruined interior to the outside. The structure of the few tall buildings was no longer together, split into pieces around the ground.

At the time the reporters turned the cameras toward the Washington Monument, the viewers had sweat dripping from their foreheads. Some people even had their eyes turned red. But after seeing the new location the camera was focusing on, all of them had their faces turned white, aghast.

The famous and worldwide prestigious White House could not be found anywhere. The safety of the President of the United States was unknown.

From all around the world, the people watching the live streaming were trembling during the entire broadcast, thinking that maybe they were watching a gruesome war movie. But they knew in their depths that what they were seeing was real. The city burning, the streets fully packed with blood and flesh, and the enormous crater where the White House would be. All of this felt surreal to the people.

A day later, the Earth Alliance announced their disbanding. The given reason was that the defeat of the United States of America was a fault of the poor decisions of the Alliance. They also reported that the joint alliance army was going to be given back to each country in an effort to fight better against the enemy.

But the truth behind the disband was that after the fall of one of three giants, the European Union pressed China and Russia to give back their troops. The European countries did not trust the way these two superpowers could rule the Earth Alliance.

The disbanding of the Alliance made the people more afraid than ever, provoking protests all around the world. They were afraid of this action provoking a faster demise of humanity.

Intense clashes between the Ascended Police and the Ascenders civilians were being broadcasted on every TV channel. Each day, the protests were more violent, and the clashes were more fierce.

It was a matter of days for the first few casualties to appear, and it turned even more ferocious after the first blood was shed. The unrest increased to a dangerous level, forcing the governments to use their own army against the protesters, as a show of strength and power.

In modern first-world countries, this action was a success. The powerful Ascended Army, filled with strong Ascenders, made the protesters feel fear. The turbulence was slowly decreasing.

But other countries did not have this good luck. Their army was fewer in number, and their Ascenders were of less quality. This made the civilians overthrow the unprepared soldiers with their abilities.

Each day, there were reports on TV about new civil wars erupting around the world. The governments of poor countries were being overthrown, and new factions were appearing.

Like this, solely after a month, a new country was made. As a result of the civil wars in Africa, a joint effort from the most powerful factions and nations on the continent stopped the conflicts in the regions, annihilating the other factions. The leadership of each force declared the establishment of The United Coalition of Africa, UCA.

The United Coalition of Africa held most of the African territories in their power, and it was governed in the form of a democratic council.

The council had several seats, which belonged to each faction and nation of the continent. Each person living in the new country was given the option of voting for three seats of all of them, and the seat to choose was free for each individual.

The future rulers of the council were chosen from an anonymous list, detailing all the promises of each candidate. And it was forbidden to release the identity of each one.