Post-Apocalyptic Dispatch Society

Chapter 9 The OP Celas

Boom!

Rhizen unleashed his Homing Feathers in every direction, clearing the Aberrants slamming into the dome. Some parts of the dome had already begun to develop cracks.

Their side was steadily being overwhelmed by the horde as all areas of the dome were being attacked.

As for the over two thousand survivors, they looked at everything nervously. At this time, Rhizen hovered in the air before them, announcing aloud, "Everyone! Please hear what I have to say."

He then paused for a second, observing that the fearful gazes of everyone were trained on him, clearing his throat as he spoke, "The enemies we face are called the Aberrants. They are somewhat similar to the zombies you have seen in movies, but they aren't undead creatures. They are creatures that had mutated and evolved thanks to the Blood Rain."

"Coming into contact with them would cause you to become corrupted and as you had probably seen many times by now, you too would become an Aberrant like the rest." He said, noticing the expression of fear permeate strongly through everyone, sighing as he continued, "But, as long as you remain in this dome, you'll be safe. There's a mysterious power here that can purify your corruption and ensure you remain human. But…"

He trailed for a couple of seconds, pausing for a dramatic effect before stating, "As you can see, we are short-staffed. At this rate, we'll be overwhelmed."

He then extended his hand, pointing at Felix that took off to the air and hovered beside him, "He's Felix, a survivor just like the rest of you. By consuming a Fruit of Purification, he obtained a power that can protect him in this apocalypse. Similarly, everyone can get one too."

"We can?" A man with reddened eyes wiped his tears, staring in hatred, shouting at Rhizen, "Those Aberrant bastards! I'll kill them all!"

He had lost most of his family. Thankfully, he somehow managed to save his son, even though his son had lost his legs in the rescue.

Though, a lean Society Member approached the child and began to slowly regenerate his limbs, allowing the red-eyed man to find solace for a moment.

And now, he wished to seek revenge to cull the hatred in his heart, one at the despicable creatures that collapsed his world overnight and the other at himself for being weak enough that he was unable to protect his family.

"Yes, you can!" Rhizen nodded, landing before the red-eyed man as he handed him the lemon-like fruit. As it was produced by the Tower of Purification, it was called colloquially the Fruit of Purification.

The red-eyed man swallowed it as he awakened a power soon after, sighing as he felt the horn growing on his forehead. He then slowly approached the edge of the dome, condensing a sword as he lashed out, unleashing a beam of energy that cut through an Aberrant.

Upon seeing this scene, everyone else was convinced as they all consumed the Fruit of Purification, awakening to their respective abilities.

The majority of their abilities weren't anything special. Only those like Felix obtained powerful abilities.

The Tower of Purification expended all the Fruits that it had grown, for a moment turning weak. It was apparent that the corruption wouldn't leave this chance as suddenly, a massive four-legged creature drilled out of the ground.

It spanned a whopping length of 20 metres, possessing tough legs that seemed capable of breaking through the toughest of steel. It had a wide head, thick enough to cover the girth of his body, also protected by a hard skull armour.

The armour glowed with a mysterious radiance, one that seemed dedicated to breaking through defensive encampments.

Upon seeing it, Rhizen became nervous, thinking, 'Do I have to use it now? Already?'

Snort!

The four-legged Aberrant exhaled a breath of turbid air as it opened its mouth and gobbled up some nearby Aberrants before unleashing a terrifying shout, causing the soundwaves to ripple out.

The soundwaves slammed into the dome, causing its surface to ripple too.

"Kyak!"

"What's that?"

"My ears?" The inhabitants within the dome shrieked in pain as they clutched their ears which had begun to bleed in response.

Black smoke began to gush into the bodies of some as the corruption had surprisingly seeped through the barrier and affected them.

In response, Rhizen could only grunt as the Tower of Purification slowly purified the bodies of everyone. The Society Members were fine as they were protected by the Celestial Armour, but their expressions were pale too. After all, in the part of their armour covering the ear, cracks had begun to form.

It was apparent that their armour would give in if the four-legged creature roared a couple more times. And in a matter of seconds after the roar, cracks began to develop over the barrier, continuing to seep further; the corruption gushed in from the cracks that had spread deep enough.

"C-Celas…? W-Why is that here?" Felix lost his cool as he collapsed to the ground, trembling instinctively.

"When did it appear?" Rhizen asked in a hurry.

"A year before my death. It destroyed the city that the entirety of humanity had taken shelter in. We had begun to survive by then and were feeling confident in paving a way for the future…until it attacked. Within a day, from a city with a million residents, only six survived." Felix said in despair, "It's infinitely worse than a Titan Aberrant. It's practically a walking disaster."

'No wonder it's capable of cracking the Safety Dome with a mere roar.' Rhizen thought, shouting, "Wall Squad! Begin preparations!"

A dozen Society Members took off to the air before positioning themselves throughout the border, similar to a clock.

Immediately after, they each brought out a pearl pillar, each spanning a height of two metres and weighing weigh less than ten kilograms. Followed by a collective grunt, they plunged the pillar into the ground in their respective positions, watching the pillar grow in size immediately, reaching a height of twenty metres and surpassing dozens of tons in weight.

Boom!

Like a tree rapidly sprouting branches, tendrils gushed out from two sides on each pillar, spreading in the direction of the nearby pillars, creating the shape of a dodecagon. The branches crashed amid their travel and grabbed onto each other like a pair of hands, rapidly joining together to form a wall.

The individual branches connected with one another, smoothening out until there were no boundaries before thickening in response. Moreover, what resembled roots gushed into the ground, erecting a steady foundation as the walls proceeded deep underground.

External Item—Castle Wall!

The walls formed the shape of a dodecagon, gaining a breadth of ten metres as they soon turned into a sturdy fort. And the pillars forming the nodes were the items brought out by the twelve Society Members.

The power system of the Society Member consisted of a pocket space in their stomachs, like a tumour, called the Origin Space. It was where their Nacre was stored.

This was akin to a dimensional space in that Mutated Beasts could live here.

Stage 1 was where they started at, a power level where they could only rear one Mutated Beast. Each Mutated Beast allowed them to unleash a certain power. Those at Stage 2 could rear two Mutated Beasts, so on, and so forth.

After this was the number of horns growing on the Mutated Beasts. The greater the number of horns, the more potent the Apocalyptic Art unleashed using them.

Those from the Post-Apocalyptic Dispatch Society called themselves Mystic Humans while those from the other worlds—that began to use their power system—were called the Horned Humans.

Depending upon the Stage of a Mystic Human, the maximum horns of their Mutated Beasts varied. For a Mystic Human at Stage 4, the maximum horns of the Mutated Beasts he/she reared could only be four.

The higher the Stage, the stronger one was. And in their Society, Rhizen was one of the strongest, being one of the three Mystic Humans to have reached Stage 9.

This meant that he reared nine Mutated Beasts and could wield nine Apocalyptic Arts. And since the size of his Origin Space grew in accordance with the increase in his Stage, Rhizen's Origin Space could fit a small town inside.

Unfortunately, only Mutated Beasts could live there.

The only other substance other than a Mutated Beast that could be in the Origin Space was an External Item.

External Items could be considered as a bound artifact of a Mystic Human that grew in power alongside them.

Rhizen's External Item was called Pearl Buck, the Tower of Purification that allowed them to survive in this apocalyptic world. External Items were strategic tools that could change the game structure of wars.

Unfortunately, a Mystic Human could only possess one External Item. Horned Humans cannot possess an External Item.

Upon seeing the Castle Wall being completed, Rhizen heaved a sigh in relief, for it gave them a better layer of defence.

After all, the safety zone's barrier became linked to it, slightly amplified in strength while the walls now faced the brunt of the impact from the horde.

But, all these measures would only work against the horde and not the Celas that the Apocalypse had sent personally to crush them.

And hence, Rhizen had no other choice but to face it head-on, exiting the dome as he rained down attacks onto the Celas, thinking, 'Do I need to harness my Luck already?'