Chapter 20 — The First Spark
That night, under the Tokyo sky ripped apart by flashes of distortion, a plan was born from within the ruins.
Ziza sat cross-legged in the middle of the subway station, which had now transformed into a nest of roots and undead. Facing her were Riven and a few people she had managed to recruit — defectors, losers, outcasts left behind by the Nexus and the corrupt world system.
These people, though few in number, had one thing in common: they thirsted for change.
Ziza opened the meeting with a low voice that echoed throughout the room.
"You all know why we are here."
No one answered, but their eyes — full of scars, full of anger — spoke volumes.
"We are not just surviving anymore," Ziza continued. "We are going to burn this system down to its roots."
She pointed to a rough map scratched onto the floor: the Nexus power structure, their operational centers, and the mutation energy distribution network.
"First," Ziza said, "we need to destroy the source of their power."
Riven added, "Core Stations. Where they gather mutation energy from all over the world. There are five in Tokyo alone."
Ziza nodded. "Destroy one Core Station... the world will feel the crack. Destroy five... the Nexus will begin to crumble."
But this wasn't just about destruction.
Ziza knew, if they only relied on brute force, they would be defeated. The Nexus had armies, technology, and minor gods who could summon destruction in an instant.
What Ziza needed was a shadow war — cunning attacks, sabotage, infiltration.
"Starting tonight," she said coldly, "we are not soldiers. We are a sickness. We are a virus. We will seep into the body of this old world... and eat away at it from the inside."
A small cheer erupted. The eyes of those gathered lit up with a passion that had long been extinguished.
That night, the first move began.
Under dark cloaks, Ziza and her force infiltrated one of the Core Stations — a magnificent tower towering over the Shinjuku District, a center of Nexus technology and military power.
The building was heavily guarded, full of sensors, drones, and armed troops.
But Ziza didn't come through the front door.
In the shadows, she summoned her new power.
With a single whisper, roots of darkness crept underground, splitting concrete and steel, emerging in unguarded corners.
The guards began to sense something strange — walls that seemed alive, floors cracking without cause. Then, in seconds, the attack began.
Plant undead creatures broke through the floor, dragging the bodies of the guards into the darkness silently. They fought not with rage, but with the coldness of death.
Ziza herself stepped into the Core Station, her eyes reflecting the red light of the newly triggered alarm.
[System Warning!]
High-Level Zone Detected: Shinjuku Core Station
Risk: Extreme
Reward: Potential Nexus Stability Decrease -15%
Ziza smiled thinly.
The more dangerous, the greater the effect.
She and her small team planted organic explosives — root bombs designed to detonate and spread spores of death that would destroy the Nexus mutation energy from within.
Everything was going according to plan.
But before they could escape, a specific alarm sounded — a higher, more piercing tone.
Ziza looked up... and saw them.
The Nexus special forces, clad in white-gold armor and carrying high-caliber magic weapons: The Paladins of Reclamation.
One of the Paladins, a tall figure with a glowing spear, stepped forward. Their voice echoed throughout the room:
"In the name of the Nexus and the Heavenly Order, you are sentenced to absolute extermination."
Ziza took a deep breath, her wild smile growing deeper.
"In that case..." she said softly, raising her hand.
"I will introduce you to a new world."
And the battle that would change everything began.