The torn sky poured darkness.
It wasn't smoke.It wasn't clouds.It was a black mist, thick as lead, descending upon the world with insatiable hunger.
At first, it seemed harmless, almost ghostly.But when it touched the skin of the living… the nightmare began.
A bird dropped from the sky.Its feathers disintegrated mid-air, flesh twisting, eyes bursting.Seconds later, it rose again—but it was no longer a bird.It was a winged abomination with exposed muscles, broken screeches, and hollow eyes.
Then came the deer.Then the dogs.Then… the people.
Those without power, without training, without awareness—were the first to fall.The unawakened.The ones who lived in ignorance of the real world.
Transformed.Twisted bodies.Erratic movements.Tongues of shadow dangling from shattered jaws.
Zombies.
Not from fiction.Not from films.These were real.And far, far worse.
Telecommunications were still up.Satellites, for now, held steady.
In the command center of the fortress, multiple screens showed live broadcasts from all over the globe.
—Tokyo… has fallen, —one of the technicians muttered, voice trembling.
The feed showed a city of lights now swallowed by blackness. Crashed vehicles. Mutating bodies. Creatures crawling from sewers and subway tunnels.
—London's burning.—Moscow is lost.—Santiago… is holding, but the mist has reached the outskirts.—New York… cut off.
Every report was another wound.
The world, all of it, was falling.
And while mighty nations collapsed, Diego's fortress stood.
From atop the walls, the first monsters could be seen.
They didn't come as an army.They came like a tide.Mindless.Relentless.Hungry.
And behind them… the mist.
Diego watched in silence.
His mother stood beside him, bow in hand.His father, sword at his waist, eyes hard.Matías, still young, held a light spear with a resolve far beyond his age.His grandparents flanked them.And behind them… hundreds of men and women who had trained, awakened, and shed weakness in preparation for this day.
They were a community.A family forged through discipline.
And today… they were a bastion.
Diego raised his voice.
—Not everyone is meant to survive the end of the world!But you—YOU were trained to conquer it!
A roar surged across the wall.Swords, spears, bows, and shields lifted as one.
The gates sealed with seven magical locks.Barrier runes ignited.Marksmen took position.
The battle… had begun.
The first wave fell easily.They were slow. Unorganized. Predictable.
But for every one cut down… three more took its place.And behind them came bigger beasts.Stronger.Smarter.
Claws that carved through stone.Maws that screamed in forbidden tongues.Bodies that regenerated within the mist.
Diego activated Nefertari's Pendant.A barrier of pure water encased him.A creature lunged——and evaporated before it could make contact.
—Matías, with me.—Right behind you, brother!
Rodrigo was already in the fray, blade ablaze with fire.Grandmother Berny projected glimpses of possible futures, guiding the archers.Grandfather Patricio channeled energy into the walls, reinforcing the seals.
Each of them…a pillar.
But the mist did not stop.It touched trees. Stones. Animals.Twisting everything into nightmares.
And it crept closer.
Diego knew this wasn't the end.It was the beginning.
The apocalypse wouldn't fall in a single day.It was a war of attrition.A trial of spirit.
And as bodies dropped…As the mist neared the wall…As beasts with black wings and flaming tongues crawled from its depths…
Diego drew Excalibur.
The blade shone like a newborn sun.
—Today we fight!Today we resist!Today we prove this land still has protectors!
And the battle roared.