Chapter 2: Chapter 2: The Apocalypse

It had been way too long since Athena witnessed the apocalypse lay ruin to her world. She could still remain what started it all. She was in class back then, and all of a sudden, half a dozen students in the classroom suddenly collapsed and started screaming. The teacher and the other students, mortified, tried to help them, but when they tried to seek help from other classrooms or from the authorities, they quickly discovered a horrifying truth. 

This wasn’t just happening to the students in their classroom. This was happening everywhere. To everyone.

Students. Teachers. Police officers. Soldiers. Governors and officials. Doctors and nurses. Prison guards and inmates. CEOs and janitors. Young and old. Male and female. Rich and poor. 

It didn't take long before the changes started taking place. The first were the eyes. Always the eyes. Athena remembered, even after so many decades, watching her best friend’s eyes turn red as if all the blood vessels in her eyeballs exploded at once. And then it was the skin’s turn to change. More specifically, to rot. Beneath the rotting skin, the flesh and bone alike would shift and evolve. A thin layer of carapace would grow over the skin while bones would protrude out of the human bodies like weapons. 

Within minutes, these poor people were no longer the same human beings their friends and families knew. They have become bloodthirsty monsters. Beasts who were governed by nothing more than the basic instincts of satiating their hunger. Predators who wouldn’t hesitate for a second before digging their teeth into the flesh of everyone beside them, in some cases including each other. 

Vigilance and other factions referred to these monsters as Mutants. 

At the earliest stage, these mutants can easily overpower a normal human civilian. Their powers will grow as they devour more flesh that allows their bodies to evolve even more. These various evolutions often make the mutants even more deadly predators.

Athena was obviously no stranger to mutants, but as she watched the woman who she had called mother for the past month shift into a mutant, her brain froze for a second. Was she really this unlucky? Just one apocalypse wasn’t enough for her? She had to go through two? What should she do? Go through the same process again, build an empire from the ground up, and then hopefully not get stabbed in the back this time? 

Either way…it seemed like her short break was over. 

Letting out a quiet sigh, Athena started moving. Fighting in melee wasn’t really her thing. She was the summoner. She was the strategist and the tactician. Grabbing a sword and plunging it into the neck of her enemy was too basic for her. She would rather watch her enemies be stabbed in the back by her spies or be publicly beheaded by her executioners. Still, that didn't mean she couldn’t lift a blade herself. Despite the position she had reached, she was still a survivor who lived decades in the apocalypse.

Athena quickly circled around into the kitchen. By the time she came out, she was holding onto the biggest and sharpest kitchen knife she could find. Unlike in her previous life, she didn't waste time trying to call 911. Instead, she went in right for the kill before the body could fully transform. 

She didn't scream a battle cry or a loud curse. She didn't need these trivial actions to boost her own morale, and the enemy she was facing was incapable of being intimidated. War cries would be better reserved for sentient foes. 

Athena’s knife went right into her mother’s neck before the woman even fully became a mutant. She had noticed a thin layer of carapace forming around the woman’s arms and legs, but there wasn’t any protection at the neck. The knife hacked a large opening at the neck, but the mutant was still struggling. These beasts were much more difficult to kill than human beings. Athena was prepared. With all the strength she had, she hacked the neck a few more times before finally severing the spine of the woman. Two more hacks completely removed the head. 

Mutants were known to be able to recover from severe injuries, but Athena has never met a mutant who could survive a decapitation. 

As the mutant’s body collapsed, Athena finally let out a breath of relief. It had been a while since she had to kill anyone herself. To be honest, she never enjoyed any of this. She had met many who saw gory killings as an entertainment, but it had always been a chore to her. 

Now that the threat was completely neutralized, Athena sat down on a nearby sofa, trying to process what was happening. So…a month after she somehow ended up here in this world, the apocalypse happened? That was…not too surprising, actually, given what Vigilance knew about the apocalypse.

The day one fifth of mankind turned into flesh-devouring mutants would forever traumatize an entire generation of inhabitants of Vigilance. It was no surprise that the scientists, alchemists, and wizards in Vigilance have attempted to find out what, or who, was responsible for all the horror. They were able to come to a conclusion.

There were many, many dimensions out there. The Earth in which Vigilance was a part of was just one of them. Some of these dimensions had gods who regularly fought each other for control and gave out blessings to their worshippers. Others held hundreds of worlds, each occupied by countless trillions of demons and monsters who regularly preyed on each other for sustenance and strength. Each dimension had different power levels. In the extreme case, a foot soldier in one dimension could be a god in another. A champion in one world who could break planets with the snap of their finger might be ant in a higher world. 

In the past, there was a natural barrier between Earth and the other dimensions. Due to some reason, maybe even just because of the passage of time, this barrier had been gradually deteriorating until it became too weak to keep the energy from other dimensions out. Like how heat tended to go to places with less heat, energy also had a natural tendency to flow from stronger worlds into weaker worlds when possible. 

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As energy from extremely powerful foreign dimensions flowed into Earth, it made contact with the inferior inhabitants of Earth. 

This was good news for some and terrible news for many. On one hand, this energy rapidly accelerated the evolution level of all inhabitants of Earth while making possible things people could previously only dream of. The lucky few who reacted very well to the energy would become known as the Gifted or the Blessed. They would essentially gain superpowers. Even for the majority of people who didn't become the Gifted, their strength, speed, life expectancy, and health would all significantly improve over time. 

Yet this blessing came at a grave cost.

According to the calculations made by Vigilance, around one in five people on Earth was, for lack of a better term, allergic to this energy. They reacted extremely poorly when the barrier broke. Their minds were erased in the rapid evolution process, and while their bodies did become stronger than most of the humans at the time, they were no longer the same people they used to be. They no longer had any higher intelligence. All they knew was to acquire and devour as much flesh as possible to get the energy and nutrients required to keep evolving. Keep growing.

These beings would be known as the mutants. They would be one of the main threats to humanity in the early stage of the apocalypse. 

Athena sighed. She should’ve known. If the barrier was in place, there was no way in hell her consciousness could’ve entered this world. She should've seen this coming a long way away. Yet she naively thought she could actually enjoy a life of peace and comfort. How foolish of her to think she deserved any of that.

So what should she do now? Athena knew there was only one answer. As much as she despised what happened, she wasn’t going to just end her own life or roll over and die. That just wasn’t in her. 

Well, it seemed like she was doing the apocalypse all over again. Thankfully, this time, she was much more prepared than last time. 

For one thing, this time, she knew how to summon at the beginning of the apocalypse.

Athena got back up and walked to the beheaded body of this body’s mother. To be honest, she did feel a little apologetic. She took over the woman’s daughter’s body, pretended to be her daughter, and now cut off her head. Shaking her head, the apologetic Athena reached a finger into the body’s neck wound and started drawing a number of complicated symbols and runes on the living room floor around the corpse. 

The process took her a few minutes, and by the time she was done, she got back on her feet. After a moment of preparing herself, she initiated the summoning ritual for the first time in this new world. 

Even though she was all too familiar with the steps, she still felt a little anxious. After all, she was no longer the titan of Vigilance who had numerous resources and armies at her disposal. She was alone and unprotected. Even with all the knowledge she had, a stray bullet could end her life. A good summon could greatly improve her chances of survival. 

All of a sudden, an odd looking structure composed of stones took form beneath the mutant’s body. It was just large enough to hold the body. Not an inch too big. Not an inch too small. As Athena whispered a few words, crimson blood started dripping down the stone surface of the structure. It was a seemingly terrifying sight that only made Athena smile. After all, it meant the ritual was going as expected.  

The structure holding her sacrifice was simply known as the Sacrifice Altar. An ordinary name that didn't do any justice to the immense power of the altar. The Sacrifice Altar was what made summoning rituals like this possible. Among its many capabilities, the Sacrifice Altar was able to lock onto entities who were interested in the sacrifice and transport a piece of the entities’ consciousness to the offerer of the sacrifice, thereby setting the tables for a possible transaction. 

Of course, the Sacrifice Altar didn't work for free. It would take a cut of the sacrifice, with the cut increasing the more of the Altar’s services Athena used per summon. 

A few seconds went by before a figure suddenly appeared on the other end of the altar. When she saw the figure, Athena raised her eyebrows. It was…a Greek Hoplite. A man dressed in full bronze armor and wearing a bronze helmet. He was carrying a large concave shield in one hand and a spear in the other. A short sword was strapped to his side. 

Hmmm…a hoplite fighting for a summoner named Athena. Fate truly loved irony. 

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