Apocalypse Bringer Novels & Stories

Behind her, Below-Prayer opened wider. Divine names peeled from the little shrines under the freeway and flew into its mouth like moths. The Well Spirit shrieked. The Stove God cursed in three dialects. The system gave me an option so bright it hurt to see. [Total seizure authorized under wartime necessity.] [Targets: all dead contracts, Daniel Hart, minor gods in collapse radius.] [Projected result: Underworld Court rank increase.]

The vehicle he'd seen as prey only moments ago now, under the watch's warning, looked to him like some abyssal beast with its jaws thrown wide open. "I'm going to die here?! How is that possible?! "I have two Level 6 Apache attack helicopters! I have a Level 6 missile interceptor vehicle! I have over two hundred elite war machines! I could face a tide of a hundred million zombies and still walk away! "What in the world is hiding inside that motorhome?!" A bead of cold sweat rolled slowly down the side of Dennis's face. For the first time since becoming Gigatron's guild leader, he felt the chill of death itself.

Handwriting from twelve years ago — the strokes heavier than they were now, the flourishes drawn wide and loose, like someone who wasn't afraid of wasting paper. I turned to page twelve. A layout diagram of the bunker. Seven bunks, one incubation unit, the storeroom at the end of the hallway, the concrete-sealed door nearly two feet thick. In the bottom right corner of the diagram, a note in my own handwriting: "The apocalypse has to feel real. Push the heat up, make the water filthy — let the audience practically smell it. Rotate the insiders every season, keep one genuinely unwitting participant — protects the ratings." After "genuinely unwitting," there was a note in parentheses. Just one

I picked up the journal on the table, turned to a pristine new page, and wrote the first line. [Apocalypse Year One, Day One. Weather: Clear. [I await the fading of crises and chaos, when all things wake to a rebirth.]

A voice that seemed to echo through the bones of the world, deeper than the mountains, darker than night: “Blood Heir… the world will burn. And you… will fall first.” The shockwave hit, throwing me backward. Rocks and debris tumbled around me. My silver light flared violently, my wolf howling. Theodore surged forward, golden aura blazing, holding me steady. I realized with bone-chilling certainty… This was no longer a battle. This was apocalypse. Energy from the ancient force surged directly toward us. The silver light around me flickered violently. My wolf snarled. Theodore’s golden aura blazed, but even together, we could barely stand.

His hands were shoved deep into his pockets, physically restraining himself from touching me. "I have run the Apex Bloom for seven years, Lolita," Franco began. His voice was a low, gravelly vibration that sent a familiar, heavy heat curling through my stomach. "It was designed with a singular, unbreakable architecture. A crucible. You throw the elite into the dark, and you let the pressure crush them until only one diamond remains. Every single iteration before this ended the same way: one victor, and a trail of liquidated corpses." He took a step closer. The space between us evaporated. The scent of sandalwood and something distinctly, electrically masculine wrapped around me.

"No. I saw him for who he was when he led the thugs to break down our door. If we'd let him in, the three of us would probably be dead by now." Mom wiped her eyes and took my hand. "You did the right thing, Flint. This world has changed, and we just need to survive." I felt a massive weight lift off my chest seeing Mom and Dad finally harden their hearts. In an apocalypse, kindness was the quickest way to get a death warrant. Again, the system chimed. "'Human Fishing' mission successfully completed! Calculating rewards… "Congratulations! Rewards include a small-scale nuclear fusion generator, a high-pressure water cannon, an indoor soilless hydroponic lab, and three top-tier cold-resistant c

Jane was the first to react, cursing at me, “You bitch, what nonsense are you spouting—an ability? Go die!” David immediately turned to Victor with forced respect. “Mr. Kane, my nephew has a fever. He’s probably about to awaken an ability too. Please kill Apple and avenge my son! Our whole family will follow you to the death and do whatever you command!” “I can die right now.” I looked Victor straight in the eye. “No one knows how many years this apocalypse will last. But I can promise you this—you won’t find anyone else who can give you clean water as quickly as I can.”

I couldn’t just sit here. I couldn’t hide while they fought for me. Shoving the door open, I stepped into the hallway, my breath catching in my throat. The house was eerily silent now, but outside—chaos. I moved to the door, gripping the frame as I looked out. Bodies. Everywhere. Some torn apart, others motionless in pools of blood. My stomach lurched. What the hell was happening? Then I saw him. Abaddon. He was in the center of the carnage, moving like a storm, like a force of nature. Faster than any man should be able to.

Hayley had analyzed long ago why Scott's base was doomed to fall. But she had to admit that when Scott's war machine first ignited, it was the most terrifyingly powerful force of the early apocalypse. The apocalypse demanded extreme centralization. Only by compressing human strength into a single will could people fight back against it. Scott was exactly that kind of madman, someone willing to sacrifice everything for absolute control. And as for people like that, Hayley's feelings were very clear.