Lowly Ascent

Soldiers began to have mental breakdowns; they would rip out their hair, cry, and some even reverted to the fetal position, while others had their minds regressed to childlike states, unable to handle what had just happened.

The mental battle was lost, and the soldiers lost all their morale; those still sane ran for their lives.

Similar to the rest, Cain and Luna stood there. Luna was unresponsive, and Cain was in even deeper despair. Not because they had lost, but because the White One was still alive and not even damaged; he couldn't accept it.

Cain needed the monster to die; he needed to kill it. His mind too was slowly breaking down, and now, his thoughts only revolved around killing the thing who had killed his father.

He loaded the ballista and began to fire upon the leader of the Walking Corpses.

Instinctively, the creature raised its hand and grabbed the black-tipped arrow. At this attack, it narrowed its eyes on Cain. However, it then seemed to be, confused? 

It felt, familiarity. Staring at Cain, he felt this human was one of his own. But why was he attacking him? Wasn't he his king?

In a split second, the zombie was off the ground, hanging from the tower in front of Cain's face. 

But Cain wasn't flustered, his rage was burning all his other emotions.

"Die!"

Cain, still not in the right mind, drew his Yurombi. He swung at the monster, but the daggers couldn't even penetrate its skin.

The White One then realized that, unlike the others, the person in front of it was still alive. It didn't make sense. How was this creature still alive and not rotting? Was it like him?

Unfortunately, the monster had more pressing matters, simply deciding to let Cain go, he was weak anyway.

The White One raised his finger and pointed at Cain; a sharp, concentrated mass came out of his fingertip and passed right past Cain, grazing his cheek.

Then it left, back on the track of war, destroying the walls with a wave of its hand like the God of destruction. Next, it continued to lead its army onwards, deeper into the city, towards its target.

Cain was frozen in place; he couldn't believe…he couldn't believe he was so weak; he couldn't even leave a scratch!

'How….how! Am I worth nothing?! I can't even leave a mark?! What have I been training for?!'

But his trance was quickly broken as a thud shook the floor. Turning around, Cain's mind broke. 

He couldn't take it anymore. Not again, he couldn't lose anyone else!

Before him, lying on the floor, was Luna. Her chest leaking blood.

Her heart was destroyed by the concentrated mass the White One had sent out of its fingertip.

She had tears in her eyes, weeping as Cain approached; he was wobbling, with his mouth gaping open and eyes wide in horror. He fell to his knees as tears flooded from his eyes, almost crying crimson.

"Luna? Luna! No, no, no, this can't happen, it can't. LUNA! LUNA!"

She stared at Cain, tears flowing. She raised her hand as she caressed his face. Her eyes dimmed, her face went blank, and then her hand fell to the floor, turning cold.

Not a word was spoken, but before her eyes became blank, they had a small spark; the spark was of relief.

Luna was happy Cain was still okay.

Nothing was transmitted except their gazes. Cain understood her gaze, but he still refused, he still couldn't handle such an end. 

…

Even though many in the city had died, there were still survivors, hiding, being ignored, or injured. 

Thousands of people were still alive throughout the city, some trying to leave and run away, others helping each other for a better chance in this hell.

But they all heard the same thing, something they would remember forever: a wail, a raging cry.

It was…chilling, and almost inhuman. Even so, they could tell, they didn't know how, but they could tell.

Whatever the source was, it was in immeasurable pain.

Echoing throughout the city, throughout the world; the anguished sobbing cries of a broken man silenced everything.

It was as if the world was repaying him for taking the one he loved, the last thing he had left.

The world was held a somber silence.

But it wasn't long before the crackling fires and horrid cries of dying men resumed once again.

Yet Cain's cries went on, in a watchtower now encased in red mist, just looking at it sent shivers down one's spine, as if a monster was hidden in the sanguine haze.

Inside this mist was a man, holding a corpse. The man wailed with all his might, his green eyes dyed red like the mist him.

His entire being was filled with rage.

The man's mind was fracturing, and his body slowly melded with the mist. Finally, his cries turned to screams. The mist was evaporating his body, and with this process, unbearable pain. 

Through it all, Cain forced himself to continue and successfully fused with the miasma.

He was only living with one thought, to kill the White One. His subconscious mind directed itself as mist, following the trail of blood, death, and destruction, to find its objective for revenge. 

For the mist-like entity had a debt to settle.

…

Inside the Union Headquarters, Edmund fought against a completely white undead.

In an ancient-looking room, he was surrounded by runes and depictions on the walls. This place was inside the deepest depths of the Headquarters.

He was defending the heart of the HQ, the room where the 1st elder resided.

Edmund was no match for the White One and was already injured. With a simple punch, his bones fractured. It wasn't long before he was on the floor gasping for breath, his consciousness slowly fading as he saw his body flood into his enemy.

With Edmund dead, the White One scoffed and pushed open the doors to where the 1st elder resided. 

On the other side was a ritual-looking room with a door at the end seemingly covered in wicked roots. In the center of the room was a brain in a jar connected to a few turned-on monitors.

An audible noise came from the monitors, slightly static. 

"Hah...seems like you finally won. I have failed my ancestors and myself, you win Numineer."

The undead looked perplexed and adjusted its throat before attempting to speak. 

"Who are you talking to, jar?"

The ancient voice chuckled. "You wouldn't understand; just know you were a pawn from the start. Destined to be manipulated like a puppet and thrown away. But weren't we all haha..."

The White One looked at the screen, then turned down and picked up the jar connected to it. 

"This is you, right? I smash this, and you die, right?"

"Correct, just kno..."

The white zombie immediately smashed the jar, leaving the floor stained in juices and splattered gray matter. 

Nonchalantly, the undead then headed to the doors that seemed to have tree roots growing from them. Then, it opened them, walking down a stairway and heading almost straight down. 

It walked down into the pitch-black abyss that the door led to.

…

Outside the Union HQ, Millions of undead had flooded the outside and were already killing everyone, destroying everything in sight.

However, they paused. They were being called by their leader. 

The horde changed what they were doing, they began to charge into the headquarters and its deeper levels, ignoring anything still alive, even the zombies still in the city flooded towards the building, heading to its depths.

Many survivors realized the danger had passed and started to loot buildings, while others tried to leave or even let out their desires before order returned.

One person, who wanted to leave and run as far as possible from this hell, finally stepped out of the Union Headquarters and limped toward safety.

He had survived by hiding in a steel locker, watching a friend of his get eaten while trying to forcefully enter his hiding spot. 

But then, the survivor saw something in the distance, something unnatural.

A giant red cloud was heading straight toward him.

Panicked, the man tried to limp out of the way, but the wind picked up, and he was eventually enveloped by the mist. 

Registering all over his body was immense pain. It was pain he couldn't even describe, the mist already deep into his bones entering his body through his orifices.

His body contorted and changed, and he felt as if some evil being entered his head. His mind was being corroded away.

He couldn't do anything, not even lift a finger; he simply felt his mind drifting away until…there was nothing left.

The red mist fully entered the body and condensed inside it; the man from before was gone, and what now stood there was Cain.

He had turned himself into a living virus, using Animum to override another being, overwriting their DNA and soul, taking over just like a virus.

He had done it, he crossed the line. He was no longer truly human. He allowed the Animum virus to override all his cells, and with it, he became a disease himself, he became a living pathogen.

Cain left his old body behind, which was now just bones and some remains; he turned his body into a living mist and then corroded another body, turning it into a copy of his own.

You might expect some response to something like this, but Cain couldn't care less about killing someone or what he had become, not anymore.

Pulling this stunt, he seamlessly broke through Grade 3 and succeeded in his endeavors of 'True Augmentation'. For he evolved into something else, human but not truly. Part of his genome had been permanently changed.

But Cain no longer had feelings of happiness or excitement, not even if he ended up killing that monster.

He was just a husk of his former self. Only checking his body for a quick second to make sure he was in optimal health to hunt.

'I lost the Zimo Bacteria, it seems whatever I just did, only Viruses carry over....It matters not.'

He simply walked into the headquarters, still burning with the last emotion he had left, the desire for revenge, wrath.