Doomsday Pillars

10 hours after the battle has started.

The sun was about to set in the western horizon, indicating the arrival of dusk. However, this is still unable to make the zombie horde stop, as seen from the thousands of zombies who are still attacking the Sydney Gate relentlessly. These zombie hordes are truly like a heavy rain that never stops, intending to flood the entire land.

"F*ck! When will this nightmare end?" shouted one of the seriously injured soldiers lying on an emergency clinic mattress, coughing up blood while the others around him who were in the same state could only nod their heads or let out a small grimace in agreement.

One of the medical personnel who saw this scene could only sigh in silence, while continuing to treat those who were seriously injured. The soldiers across the battlefield have valiantly defended the defensive line, fighting the zombie hordes that kept coming like tidal waves for 9 hours, risking their lives to protect those who they hold dear..

But unfortunately, one third of the troops have already fallen victim to this battle, died at the hands of the zombies, while another third are seriously injured and unable to fight again in the near future. Currently, the three important defense points are completely dependent on the Sky realm fighters, holding back the zombie horde that comes continuously.

The Sky realm fighters were spread out on the three places, with around 1 hundred on each of the two bridges and 5 hundred in the Sydney Gate's defensive line.Even though the situation in these three locations are equally difficult in facing the zombie hordes with their limited number of fighters. Thanks to the Spirit Barrier, the situation in the Sydney Gate looked better than the two bridges.

Prime Minister Malcolm visited the front lines to examine the current situation. He prepared his heart not to be taken aback by the terrifying sight, but seeing it in person was completely different compared to just imagining it.

"What the hell is happening?" shouted the minister, clenching his fists.

"Minister, please calm down." said one of the minister's confidants.

Malcolm pointed his fingers at the sea of zombies, "Calm down?! How can I?" He loudly spoke as he turned the other way towards his officials, his gaze sharp. 

Profanities leaked out of the minister's mouth, showing how frustrated he was at the moment. "Can someone tell me, why the f*ck they come without stopping??! How can these motherf*ckers keep coming?! There must be over a million zombies there!!"

"M-Minister, please calm down. We'll find out as soon as possible." One of the officials said nervously as they hurried away, looking for various kinds of reports that could help them depict the cause of their current situation.

Reports from scouts on the beach found that more and more zombies were arriving from all directions towards the Sydney city. Seeing the report, Malcolm's hand that was holding the report shook and he felt as if he was about to pass out. "Can someone get Colonel Arief here?" Malcolm said lifelessly.

A few minutes later, a middle-aged Asian man in military clothing who was covered in blood entered the room and immediately approached the prime minister. "Did you call for me, Mr Prime Minister?" asked Arief calmly.

Giving the reports on the table to Arief, Malcolm stood up and asked the man. "What is your opinion about these reports, Colonel Arief?"

Arief glanced at Malcolm when he heard his question as he read the reports. "Well, I have my own speculation."

Hearing that, the minister's eyes shone. He then opened his mouth. "Really, Colonel Arief? Care to tell us about it?"

"I have a suspicion that there is a stage 5 zombie in the zombie horde that is leading and controlling them." said Arief calmly.

Hearing the speculation, made Malcolm's body even more limp as he fell back into the chair and lifelessly covered his face with his hand.

"We should have evacuated from the start!" said Malcolm, sighing loudly.

"And going to where?" Arief sneered. "Anywhere on this continent isn't safe as long as that stage 5 zombie is still alive."

"So, what should we do? We can not hold this situation any longer!" Malcolm asked.

Arief was silent for a moment, thinking about the solution.

"Send all the elite fighters to break through the zombie hordes and kill the stage 5 zombie."

"Will you do that for us, Colonel Arief?" asked Malcolm, eyes shining.

"No. I don't have enough men to break through the zombie hor-."

Malcolm replied quickly to Arief's words. "You can pick whoever you want from the Australian fighters and I'll assign them to you."

Shaking his head, Arief refused the prime minister's offer while saying. "Sorry, Mr. Prime Minister. But, I need Sky stage Magus to help me."

Nodding his head reluctantly, Malcolm could only sigh at the fact that they were truly lacking manpower. Arief who saw the minister's spiritless attitude suddenly said,

"Mr Prime Minister, seeing the current situation, I advise retreating and defending the line using the barrier. We can't let more casualties occur."

"We will do as you advise then, Colonel."

They then quickly passed on the order of retreat to the soldiers, with those who were badly injured moving first. The soldiers slowly but surely began to retreat to where the barrier was, while the two monoliths stationed on the left and right of the previously defended line had been removed and moved onto the bridges. With that, all access to Sydney city is finally covered by the Spirit Shield.

Arief did not know how long the barrier would last, but the main purpose of retreating behind the barrier was to let the fighters rest for a while and regain their strength, while those who were injured could heal themselves. After all, the Earth realm and Sky realm fighters had fairly good body regeneration power. Malcolm hoped that after a few hours of rest they were ready to fight again.

Arief visited the front line, right near the barrier, and watched how the bluish light of the barrier being rammed and attacked by the stage 2 and stage 3 zombies relentlessly. He walked over to the standing monolith that was continuously releasing bright light and swept his hand over it. 

Foreign letters came out of the monolith and entered his mind. Some kind of complex calculator popped into his mind, showing the foreign letters. Even though Arief could not read the letters, he somehow knew what they meant. It shows that the barrier can only last 12 to 14 hours more. Seeing these numbers, Arief sighed with relief. He was sure Alex would be arriving at Sydney Harbor within that time.

Arief passed on the information to others and it made them feel much better. More than half of the remaining soldiers finally decided to rest after the long battle. But not for Arief, he decided not to rest and stay awake because he felt something was going to happen.

It turned out that his hunch was right. At midnight, 16 hours after the fighting began, Arief saw a strange disturbance occur right where the bridge that was destroyed on the south side was while he was on patrol. He could see thousands of stage 1 zombies walking into the river and throwing themselves into it.

Arief immediately woke up the Sky realm fighters and guarded the area around the riverbank as they watched the strange behaviour of zombies. In less than an hour, a bridge made of zombies connecting the two sides of the river was formed and zombies started crossing the bridge. Dozens of stage 3 zombies are seen crossing the bridge, stepping on the bodies of the stage 1 zombies.

Those who were with Arief were shocked and dumbfounded when they saw this scene. They really do not understand how the zombies can use strategy in battle. When he saw that sight, Arief was very sure that there must be a stage 5 zombie among all the hordes.

A fierce battle immediately broke out in that place. The black zombie has a large figure with extraordinary strength and high regeneration ability. Seeing that they would face these dozens of monsters, normal fighters would definitely be terrified. Luckily, everyone Arief brought in were elite fighters and they fearlessly started attacking when the zombies were by the river.

Arief swiftly took out his large sword and started slashing the black zombies in front of him. Meanwhile, not far from him, Colonel Angus can be seen cleaving the black zombie in half using his giant ax artifact on the river bank. 

The two colonels took the lead and fiercely killed the zombies in the vanguard. As others saw how their colonel was annihilating the zombies left and right, they began to feel their spirits burning, making their attacks becoming more and more ferocious.

The fighting on the riverbank continued and did not stop until the morning sun rose. As the first rays of sun shone on the land, Arief saw a familiar ship entering Sydney's South Bay. 

The Fatahillah destroyer.

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Written and Directed by Avans, Published by W.e.b.n.o.v.e.l, 

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