[Velmorra Federation - Gravepoint City]
Pain hit first. A scorching, twisting agony in his gut made him want to double over and vomit.
Then...
Breath.
Deep and sharp, like inhaling for the first time.
Elias's eyes snapped open.
The sky overhead was nothing like he remembered. Not the ash-choked mess over the Red Zone. Instead, a clear, wide sky glowed with the soft gold light of the sun going down.
And the air? Way cleaner. No burning metal, no rotting flesh.
"Where the fuck am I?"
He tried to sit up—and froze.
His body... it wasn't his.
It was stronger. Bigger.
Muscles rolled under his skin like they had their own power source. His hands were larger, rough but steady.
He staggered to his feet, the world spinning around him.
The place was a wreck.
Broken wooden furniture. Blood smeared across the cracked marble floors.
A shattered mirror hung on the far wall, the glass sharp and jagged.
He staggered to it, catching his reflection and froze.
Looking at himself, he couldn't help but think... holy fuck.
The guy he was now?
Some kind of monster in human skin.
Tall as fuck—had to be at least 6'5.
The chest was like a wall, hard and solid. Shoulders so wide they made him wonder if he'd have to turn sideways to get through doorways.
His arms were roped with muscle, veins standing out in jagged lines like battle scars. His skin was a pale, ghostly tone, but it looked almost metallic in the light, stretched tight over his hard frame.
He touched his jaw.
Square. Sharp.
A brutal kind of handsome. The kind of face that could either kiss you breathless or break your fucking jaw, depending on the mood. A long jagged scar slashed down one side of his throat, disappearing beneath his collar.
His hair, black as sin, fell in messy waves around his temples. And his eyes, when he caught a glimpse of himself reflected in a cracked piece of metal, burned a deep, unholy red.
And holy mother of fuck—
He shifted and felt something heavy between his legs.
"Jesus," Elias muttered. He grabbed at himself through the ripped combat pants he was wearing. The size of his new junk pressed against his thigh. It was huge, like something you'd read about in a dirty magazine.
"Well... fuck. This body's built for trouble," he thought with a wolfish grin.
The moment he smirked, a chime echoed through his mind.
---
[System Online.]
[Host: Elias Kael Uploaded Successfully.]
[Current Vessel: Vark Draven — Sovereign-Class Zombie.]
[Initiating Status Screen...]
> Name: Elias Kael (Vark Draven)
Race: Sovereign-Class Zombie
Level: 1
Tier: Low Feral Zombie (Unique Variant) Evolvable
Health: 1500/1500
Strength: 300
Agility: 250
Intelligence: 220
Endurance: 350
Libido: 500
Corruption: 0%
Morality Sync: -2%
> Abilities:
Devour Core (Active)
Regeneration (Passive)
Sovereign's Presence (Passive)
Elias blinked, stunned.
A system?
Vessel?
Vark Draven?
He clenched his fists, feeling the monstrous strength thrumming inside him.
Who the hell is that?
The name 'Vark Draven' stirred something deep and ugly... something not his own.
The name sounded dangerous.
"What the fuck did I wake up into...?" he muttered.
Another notification flickered across his vision:
> > [Special Trait Detected: Berserk Potential (Locked).]
[Warning: Berserk Mode may trigger upon high Corruption or Mortality Desync.]
[Recommendation: Stabilize Corruption to prevent loss of control.]
Elias narrowed his eyes at the messages.
He wasn't stupid.
The world had ended because of monsters like the one he had just become.
But even so...
Even trapped in a dead man's body...
Even half-zombie... half-something else...
He was still Elias.
And he wasn't about to let this world swallow him whole.
Gritting his teeth, he stepped away from the mirror, scanning the ruined building.
The first step was to survive.
The second step is to figure out what the hell this body could do.
Third step...
Find others...
And maybe...
Save whoever was left to save.
But first...
Elias heard a notification again.
[Warning: Vessel carries lingering instincts and urges. High Libido detected.]
[Advised: Seek regular release to avoid Berserk status.]
Elias coughed out a laugh.
"Regular release, huh? Fucking hell, even the system wants me to fuck now."
He clenched his hands, feeling the pure, strong power buzzing under his skin.
This body was a straight-up weapon. A machine made for war and survival and...other very sinful things.
And it was very, very far from where he'd died.
Looking around, he realized he was standing on the outskirts of what used to be a church. The ruins of the sanctuary stretched across the land, covered in thick vines and broken stone.
A ruined city sat in the distance, hidden under a misty, grey haze.
It was definitely not the Red Zone.
Not anywhere near Haven Base.
He was all alone.
No military. No friends. No Lira.
Just him... and a whole lot of unknown.
"This is fucked."
A shuffling sound made him whip his head around.
He wasn't alone after all.
Three figures stumbled through the ruins toward him. Zombies... but not the mindless, rotting kinds he remembered.
These ones had armour pieced together from old SWAT gear. Their eyes glowed yellow, not dead white. They moved in jerky, twitching steps—half instinct, half memory.
Evolved.
They were Ghoulspawn
Tier-1 zombies, with dull grey cores. Not that powerful...
Elias's lips curled into a nasty grin.
His fingers curled into fists, eager. Hungry.
The system chimed again.
---
[New Objective: Prove Dominance.]
[Optional: Devour Zombie Cores to Increase Power.]
---
Elias cracked his knuckles.
"Time to see what this new dick-swinging body can really do."
He charged without hesitation.
Fast—faster than any normal person could move.
The first zombie barely had time to lift its rusted machete before Elias grabbed its skull in both hands and crushed it like a rotten melon. Black blood sprayed across the ground.
The second tried to slash at him.
Elias ducked low, sweeping its legs out from under it. Before it could hit the ground, he stomped down, driving its chest into the broken concrete with a sickening crunch.
The third one, a little smarter, tried to run.
Elias grinned wider.
"Oh no, you don't."
He closed the distance in a flash, grabbed the thing by the back of the neck, and ripped its head clean off.
He stood over the twitching bodies, blood steaming on the broken ground, his heart pounding like a drum.
The system chimed again.
---
[Core Fragments Detected.]
[Would you like to Devour? Y/N]
---
"Hell yes," Elias growled.
He knelt, placing his hand over the nearest corpse.
A black, swirling mist rose from the body and sank into his skin. It was cold, electric, crawling up his spine.
---
[Core Devoured.]
[Strength +10]
[Agility +5]
[Endurance +5]
[Corruption +1%]
---
"Fuck yeah," he muttered, feeling the new strength pulse through his limbs.
He repeated the process for the others, growing stronger with every core he devoured.
Each core made the hunger grow.
Each one made the line between man and monster blur a little more.
But he wasn't worried, not yet.
He was alive.
He was powerful.
And this rotten fucking world had no idea what was coming for it.
He lifted his head when he heard something.
A faint noise... soft, careful footsteps in the ruined halls outside.
Someone was coming.
[END OF CHAPTER TWO]