Normality gone (1)
A cool wind blew pleasantly over the hides, the sky was cloudless with bright sunshine, and the Foster house was as hectic as ever.
Michael and Sully were running around laughing while Tyler was spitting all his anger on this invincible boss he couldn't even touch. Light cooked with his father while his mother prepared the table as best she could.
Once the meal was ready to be served, they gathered to enjoy it, chatting and joking.
Light was silent for a moment and watched them all with a smile. It was one of those rare and pleasant moments that he could savor when his classes and his work as a waiter allowed it. Juggling college and his part-time job wasn't easy, and all too often he arrived late, to the point of missing important events like Sully's party.
Only his mother received him when he came home because she did not feel comfortable and did not sleep until all her children were gathered at home. She was a strong and pleasant woman that even cancer couldn't seem to break.
It was for her that Thomas worked overtime at the office and that Light managed as best he could to pay his own university fees.
The doctors considered that his case was hopeless but no member of this family could bring himself to such a thing and even less to accept defeat. She was strong, she would certainly heal, they were totally convinced of that. There was no reason not to.
As they continued to eat, the large golden screen with black writing appeared right in the middle of the table and sent a shiver of dread through the poor Light.
His family members began to shed tears and writhe in pain as chains and a bone stake pinned him to his chair. At that moment then came out of the shadows a gluttonous demon with a sickening smile who grabbed all five of them to slowly push them into his mouths while the young man screamed at him to stop, struggling with all his might.
Blood and organs splattered in all directions in front of the helpless young man's eyes who just screamed with tears in his eyes.
The demon then swung the table against a wall and opened its ventral mouth to show the tormented prisoner the lacerated faces of his loved ones who began to blame him for their deaths and those of everyone in the building.
Hands suddenly came out of the ground to catch him and he could recognize a few faces among the many undead including his three friends who called him guilty and a murderer trying to pull him towards the abyss of darkness where lay myriads of rotting corpses screaming his name. A vision of horror so intense that he woke up screaming his terror.
Sweaty, breathing jerky and eyes full of tears, he realized he was in a hospital room.
"A nightmare." he whispered, putting his right hand over his eyes.
His body was unscathed, free from all forms of wounds and bruises. He felt fine and felt no pain. If he weren't still wearing his bloody and torn clothes all over the place, he might have hoped that everything he had seen before was just a bad dream.
No sooner had he sighed with fatigue than a handsome thirty-year-old man with hair black as night and eyes whose hazelnut color seemed to turn deep red entered the room.
The man wore an elegant black suit topped with a custom military coat of the same color and as he walked towards him, Light could feel an overpowering aura emanating from him.
"I see you finally woke up! And it looks like you're already in great shape, that's perfect!" he said before sitting down on another bed so he could face him.
"Can I know who you are?" Light asked suspiciously.
"No need to panic like that! My name is Xen. It was I who found you and brought you here." he explained with a broad smile.
"I see." murmured the pensive young man. "If I'm still alive, that means you had to kill that monster right?"
"Huh! You do not remember? You are the one who killed that demon."
"Me?..." when he whispered that, images flashed through his mind to show him how he had unleashed his frenzy on the disgusting creature.
"That thing pierced me with one of his attacks. I had a gaping hole right in my abdomen, so how did you treat me?"
"The system have apparently stopped the bleeding and then one of our healing mages took care of the rest."
"System? Healing Mage? What the fuck is this?!" Light questioned with a lost air that evoked an amused laugh from the thirty-something.
"Apparently, I'm going to have to explain everything to you from the beginning." he said before holding his chin to think.
After which, he began his explanations, starting with the change that the world had just undergone.
The world they all once knew had been shattered and transformed by the Dragon into a new one where chaos and desolation already reigned. All the continents had collided and a super-powerful force had then manipulated them like a potter with his paw to create a single and unique island lost in the middle of a sea of darkness.
Humanity had lost 80% of its population in the process and the remaining 20% found themselves placed in a town, a city large enough to accommodate them all. Outside the human city, reigned all the terrifying creatures left by the Dragon to continue the massacre of poor Humanity.
All this had taken only half a day and it was around nine o'clock at night that the Dragon withdrew in the blink of an eye, as mysteriously as it had appeared.
As they fled and struggled to survive, Humanity received an electric signal throughout their beings inviting them to use the system entrusted to them and great was the surprise when these poor fragile human beings were able to defend themselves against dark creatures using magic and medieval weapons, things only seen happening in manga and webnovels.
In reality, the game Zero Humanity turned out to be a kind of preparation for the murderous Apocalypse because everyone who had already started a game was the only one who could use extraordinary abilities and defend themselves against the enemy.
The others, on the other hand, were classified as viewers and all they could do was turn to the players and hope for their support.
A powerful artifact also appeared in the middle of the city, a savior crystal. According to the information entrusted by the system, this huge block of crystal emerging from the depths of the new world was a protector against the Vortex, the amalgam of darkness surrounding the island and trying to devour it.
The artifact created a protective barrier over the whole island so that the darkness would not destroy it, but the protection did not prevent dark creatures from living on the island and wandering around the city trying to conquer it.
The protection of the crystal became an obligation for all humans, players or viewers, because their lives all depended on it.
The dark creatures had every intention of harming them as much as possible and destroying the crystal to end it once and for all. This is why the best mages established traps all around the artifact as well as the city, the latter was also surrounded by magical walls to maximize security.
On the same night after the Dragon's demise, players gathered to form a guild and the choice for the title of master fell on one person, the player Titania.
This player was distinguished from the others by her composure, her impressive leadership skills and above all her overpowering because she was already at level 77, which made her the most powerful human being in this chaotic world.
Thus, all the players without the slightest hesitation decided to follow her and the guild then received the name of "Celestials Beasts", just as the city was named "Avalon". Throughout the rest of the evening, they had to get rid of the last creatures still present while taking care of the rescue.
Even if the city was gargantuan, it seemed obvious that they would all need more living space and the threat of the creatures present on the island was not to be taken lightly.
The Celestial Beasts had to imperatively begin expeditions of conquest to extend their territory and especially to return the favor to these abominations who had dared to attack them.
Light was hugely surprised by it all. He would never have imagined that things would turn out like this, let alone that this system, which he once thought was just a joke from the developers, would be such an incredible asset.
Even if the world had just collapsed, even if the human race found itself so diminished, a glimmer of hope had just appeared all the same. Humanity could rise again and survive the Apocalypse.
<Midnight has arrived >
<!!!! Warning message!!!!>
<The First Blight will soon strike>
<Estimated level to hope to survive:30>
<Estimated time before the Scourge arrives:2 days>
<Countdown starts>
<Remaining time:47 hours 59 minutes 12 seconds >...