Apocalypse Baby

Everything had vanished.

And a thick, suffocating darkness swallowed Alex whole.

His breath hitched slightly as he turned in place.

His fists clenched.

There was nothing around.

Not a floor beneath his feet. Not a wall to touch. Just an endless void, black as the abyss.

It reminded him of the white space where he first met Oracle—except this felt... heavier.

Then a voice boomed, shaking the emptiness.

It came from everywhere. Nowhere. All at once.

It was the voice of the undead guide.

"Player 666, what is your image of hell?"

Alex's brow twitched.

What the hell kind of question was that?

His eyes darted around, scanning for anything—a shape, a ripple, a sign.

But the void stayed blank. Silent.

So he exhaled, kept his cool, and answered, tone casual—

"I dunno. Fire. Screams. Demons."

"Well," the voice chuckled, smooth and amused.

"I hope this meets your expectations."

As soon as the voice said that, light erupted from the abyss.

A blinding flash cut through the darkness, searing Alex's vision.

Shadows twisted, with shapes emerging from the void as the world around him began to take form.

Crack!

The ground beneath his feet splintered apart, deep fissures spreading like veins.

Molten fire surged up from below, its glow casting flickering orange light across the jagged cliffs and twisted rock formations that took shape around him.

The lava slithered across the floor, slow and menacing—like living serpents hunting their prey.

The air thickened, heavy, and choking. Acrid sulfur. Scorched stone.

The stench of burning itself.

Alex inhaled. His lungs burned.

But it was bearable thanks to [Heat Resistance].

The searing heat that would have reduced others to nothing but ash was nothing more than an irritating warmth against his skin.

He watched, wide-eyed.

Everything had manifested from nothing.

It was like watching the birth of a world.

Ash rained from the sky, drifting softly, coating the blackened ruins and crumbling pillars like an eerie snowfall.

Then a movement.

In the distance, a familiar figure emerged.

The undead guide.

Adjusting his tie with slow, deliberate care.

The undead guide then spread his arms, motioning to the burning landscape around them as he muttered—his tone dripping with pride.

"Well, what do you think?"

Alex exhaled, eyes sweeping over the hellish terrain. Molten rivers. Crumbling ruins. A sky choked with ash.

"Amazing…" he asked, impressed but then his tone changed. "But how's this going to stop me?"

The undead guide chuckled. Low. Amused.

"Well… I'm glad you asked."

Suddenly the lava churned.

Violent bubbles rose to the surface, bursting with fiery cracks.

Something was moving underneath.

A ripple. A shift.

Then they emerged.

Undead creatures clawed their way out of the molten abyss.

Grotesque. Twisted. A fusion of burning rock and rotting flesh.

One rose first.

A behemoth. Explore new worlds at My Virtual Library Empire

Ten feet tall.

Its entire body was encased in thick, molten armor, cracks in the hardened shell glowing with fiery veins of magma. Beneath, its skeletal core flickered, its ribcage like a cage trapping pure hellfire.

It took a step.

THUD.

The ground trembled beneath its weight.

Its fists—massive boulders, dripping with lava—curled into a slow, crushing grip.

Then came another.

A humanoid figure strode forward, its form wrapped in blackened, half-melted armor.

Its skeletal face was locked in a permanent sneer.

And in its grip was a blade.

It wasn't made out of steel or iron. It was a sword forged from pure, solidified lava.

The edges still burned white-hot.

Then it appeared.

A floating, humanoid figure wrapped in a swirling inferno. Flames roared around its form, their flickering light barely revealing the skeletal face lurking within. Hollow eyes burned like dying embers, watching. Waiting.

But it wasn't alone.

More abominations crawled from the fiery abyss.

A spider, its massive exoskeleton blackened and charred, moved with unsettling precision, its eight legs cracking the scorched earth beneath it.

A wolf, monstrous in size, its fur replaced with flowing molten lava, stalked forward. Its eyes, nothing but smoldering coals, flickered with an unnatural hunger.

Most of these monsters were humanoid. Twisted. Writhing.

And all of them were closing in on Alex, who stood at the center.

Mute.

Unmoving.

The undead guide spread his arms, voice laced with satisfaction.

"How about it? These are the souls of fallen players, sealed within the very magma itself. My personal creations, handcrafted in my downtime. Impressive, isn't it?"

Alex said nothing.

His face unreadable.

The guide took his silence as fear.

He snickered.

"We warned you to take the normal route, Player 666. At least then, you stood a chance to escape. But no… you just had to be the rebel."

Alex remained silent for one more second—

Then, he grinned.

"Seriously..."

Alex shook his head.

The simple motion made the undead guide's expression shift and his amused smirk faltered into a slight frown of confusion.

Alex met his gaze.

"You should have made this place a frozen wasteland."

The undead guide arched a bony brow.

"Oh? And why is that?"

Alex's grin widened.@@novelbin@@

"Because this place…"

He raised both hands.

Mana ignited, flowing through his veins like liquid fire.

The air around him rippled with energy as invisible forces locked into place.

Alex continued:

"...is about to become hotter than it already is."

Then...

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Explosions erupted in rapid succession.

Walls detonated, sending molten rock flying. The very ceiling shook, debris raining down. Blazing shockwaves tore through the battlefield, igniting the monstrous forms around him.

Flames consumed the lava creatures.

They howled, their bodies cracking, melting, breaking apart.

Some of them blasting into smithereens.

The undead guide was shocked to see so many of his creatures fall in an instant and it furrowed his brow.

A flicker of something uncertain flashed across his skeletal features before he scoffed.

"Arrogant talk. I can create endless armies of these monsters. What makes you think you possess enough strength to counter that?"

Alex let out a low chuckle.

The heat swirled around him, flames dancing in his wake.

"One thing you should know about my ability is that…"