The Zombie Tournament

Prologue : A man's death

Two young men were sitting near the banks of the river. It flows down in calm motion, enshrined the colorful Koi fishes beneath the canal’s stream. Close to the pristine water’s body, the kingdom's farmers were busy harvesting their crops of the month. Sweet potatoes, as everyone might agree, are the most popular fruits of their labor in this season. Some of them would be eaten for the short-term happiness of low-income families in the village and reserved for future season, while rest of them will be coined for taxes and government's need to supplement afterwards.

(drap-drap-drap)

“Ah, it’s father!”

The eldest of the two got overjoyed when a horse gallops to their small country. His short red hair waves as he runs to the commotion’s whereabouts. The shorter one amongst them, his younger brother, follows the lead in sluggish pace from the back. 

(tap-tap-tap)

Unfortunately, as to the tiny ones, his brother wins the battle and stretched their distance to be too overwhelming for his legs. It strains, hurting his joints immediately before he could even screams. However, as being a man should be brave and strong, crying is never be a solution that he would bring to the problem anytime soon.

No other way but a loud call-out could fare better in his favor, thought the younger one as he endured the constant hit of aches down his calf. 

(tap-tap-tap)

He curls his palms to put an increase on the sound, before laying a big one to the mouth, “Wait for me, Zeno!” He shouted, hoping for his brother to stop and propping him up soon after. Alas, the red-hair kid received none of the message at all. He sprints much faster every second, bouncing across the tiles in-between the sweet potato’s field without leaning his mind to everything behind. 

(tap-tap-tap)

A short distance of kilometers later, Zeno arrived to the place where the old man and his ride stood. He opens his two palms in delight, hugging his father's leg in advance over the right flank of their spot.

“Father! I’m waiting for you to return!” 

Zeno yells to the man up above. The horse are two times bigger to Zeno's height, so having the feet of his old man is more than enough to be noticed. 

(Drop!)

He holds his breath when the man before him dropped a foot to the ground. The two eyes beam as the sun reflects gold-tinted armor of his chest. The stallion nods to the kid upon him, as if the beast could communicate its feelings towards Zeno under casual vibration of its ears.

His father pats Zeno two times above the head,” I’ve come home for you, my son. Where’s Sanna?”

“Staying behind me as always, father. He needs training to be strong.” Zeno replied. 

The old man, in respond to the show of strength from his son, removed his helmet and smiles.

“Verily, I’ll give you two a lot of exercise tomorrow, don’t worry.” He said before giving away the upper-side of his defense to Zeno in advance, “For now, carry this helmet for me, okay?”

“Right-o!”

Zeno jogs in jubilation, now with the golden helmet in his palms to carry forward. It’s quite heavy for slightly-muscular arms of the near-seventeen young adult, as the hefty weight of its metals creates a hill down his sleeves. The old man’s two-and-a-half meters height towers many warriors in his ranks with an abnormal size of skull upon the torso. For his head to be adorned in steels, a mouthful of talent was required to bring craftsmanship into the helmet, carried the entire city’s blacksmith to offer their prime collection to the trade.

(bam!bam!bam!)

A stomp from the old man’s feet and the earth shatters down below. He never sprint under the tightness of his protective vest. Being the most feared of the man during the battle, his radiant Greatsword emits a frightening aura to every single adversaries he comes up against. It was smelted under the alloy of gold, carved and shaped into being by Mount Naida’s savant technologies of weapons-making. The bearer would sense an intense vibrations from its center while wielding its iron hilt, as the golden sword chews their enemies’ apprehension in every step of his might. Those actions are proven to be crucial for its wielder, for the beating heart of the Greatsword increases his abilities and vigor to the war in an instant.

(tap-tap-tap)

A few minutes later, the younger ones turned up to his father’s position and laid down a smile. The Old man, as he waited for the other son to arrive for so long, handed down the golden armor for the young man’s hand to carry onwards.

“Here, Sanna. Be careful out there, will ya?” The old man blurted before brushing his son’s wavy hair for comfort. In advance to his way on carrying of the golden armor, Sanna grins to the old man.

“Okay, daddy.” He answered.

Being an experienced warrior of the castle, he knows of the two son’s capabilities in a short glance to their muscle. Sanna is capable to haul ten kilograms of his father’s advanced golden armor, but mostly using his rearmost power to bolster such enormous package in one shot. He has no brawn beneath the forearm. A little effort on the biceps would tear down his will to fight. Nonetheless, Sanna has no broad shoulders to boast, underpinning his very potential to lay a battle against the enemy of Numonia.

In other words, no career in being a mecha-horse rider or an axe thrower for Sanna, and the old man acknowledges it in full since the day he was born. 

It is all in contrast for Zeno, the proud captain of country’s prominent school of swordsmanship in the city. He could withstand 7 years of survival challenge under the extreme weather of Numonia. In other day, He beats down three people at once in a melee contest, smacking them all without breaking a sweat to the battle. Much more from that extent, Zeno’s feat also goes far and wide to the deployment of tactics, as his exam score supersede the entire generation of warriors at the time.

His father’s hopes and dreams lies before Zeno’s eyes, that is for certain.

----

“Deino, you’re home!”

The old man’s wife welcomes him within the warmth of their fireplace. She’s cooking stew for tonight’s dinner, made of goat’s sirloin meat and the bottom of its thigh. For their special day, Zeno and Sanna has caught the most valuable of them all in a pack of climbing ones from Mount Naida. The group usually lick gold as their way to find minerals, therefore coating their flesh in golden-colored muscle fibers as a result.  

(Tang!)

The diamond shield reflects light across the room as Deino placed it in the corner of their small hut. His true name’s engravings glimmer for the two young man’s admiration and joy. It spells “Deino Gunnar, A knight and Valor of the City”, with many textures and motifs to spend across the edge's line. 

It's such a desire for your name to behold within the piece of the city’s national treasure, that is for sure, because the city would recognize his status of military leader in immediate fashion. 

For the General’s role to be filled, The old man has to triumph against political turmoil of the royals at first. He competes alongside Zamona Sulain, an agile axe-wielder and supreme blood-sage practitioner of the city. There are supporters of Zamona amongst the left side of the table, with sponsor of Deino Gunnar on the right by identical amount of people down to vote him in absolute determination.

Therefore, it laid an answer to the stalemate, which settled in a duel to gain honors over all of the city residents. They did it under the whole kingdom’s supervision at “Nadera”, capital city of gore and bloodbath in Numonia. For the outcome? many man witnessed the absolute control of Deino Gunnar’s rampant way of battle. He splits Zamona’s axe into half and forcing the man to surrender in advance.

(chomp!chomp)

“How’s the food, sweetheart?” Deino’s wife gleefully asked to her husband. Before her man could even answer properly, she scoops another to his plate.

“Thanks, Mia.”

They fed themselves out in such a pleasant night. It's contained with fun and games for them since their father won a surprise skirmish from Thalsmia, the neighboring kingdom filled in envy of Numonia’s wealth and prosperity. No harm for six months, at least, because the plotter have to boost themselves up in force for awhile.

"How's the-"

(Boom!)

Out of the blue, a white beam emerge off their window after the explosion occurs. Luckily, Deino was agile enough to conceal Mia under his burly arms before it shines against them, as he knows a nuclear bomb has been dropped to their city a few seconds prior. Zeno, being aware of such matters as well, has been able to snatched his brother and taking cover under Deino’s diamond shield before radioactive particles pierced their skin in an instant. 

(zuuuu)

Then, It disappears all of sudden. Somehow, no strings of pulse happened to their wake. In custom to nuclear missile, as a mushroom fireball has vented up to the atmosphere above, it should be common for following shock waves to occur.

But something should be happening under their nose.

A seasoned knight of the realm feels something was wrong from the beginning of the beam. A hint of shiver down his waist, muscle tissues gone stiff, a flow of saliva down his mouth, all started in a second afterwards.

“Argh!”

The man has fallen to the ground. He grovels in pain of something unknown, but incapable to contain the hurting ache under the harrowing sequence of his growl.

“....”

Before long, the screams vanished, gone out of trace from his body soon after.

“Are you okay, dear?”

Mia posed a worry to Deino’s state. Without further ado, a motherly instinct tells Deino’s wife to assist. She checked on his noiseless figure to locate on the issue, tending wounds that appear, only to find the knight’s bodily change has begun.

Once-glad tone of Deino’s smile shriveled into its hole. His hair wavered down in length, growing down to the bottom of his waist. The skin’s surface goes rotten in haste, yet the muscles puffing up and being stronger instead.

“Stay away from him, mom!” Zeno ordered.

(chomp)

“Argh!”

The next victim has entered the table of death. Mia was too slow to feint Deino’s overwhelming power. She has been bitten by her own husband’s might and fallen immediately down a thundering shock from the blow.

“Graaa!”

There are only two of them now. Sanna’s fragile body quivers, gone handicapped due to intense pressure of their parent’s death. He is far too weak for fighting out Deino’s trained physique on his own. In his front, Zeno stacked a brace of power into the diamond shield, attempting to do a smash on his own father’s lifeless corpse for a way out from home.

“Haaa!”

(bang!)

He bashed the beast for the first time. It stumbles a bit, but carried on standing anyway. 

"Haaa!"

(Bang)

The second, and Deino’s body been pummeled by the continuous thrust of Zeno in a streak afterwards.

“Wrap your arms to my back, Sanna! I’ll sprint out from here.” Zeno shouted to his brother as soon as they get a slipping time to fly out,” don’t let go, or you’ll be zombified, got it?”

“....”

The younger one started to clench Zeno’s shoulder tight without laying an answer to the command.

(swoosh)

Being tired waiting for their defiled enemy to catch them around, Zeno quickly run across the ebb and flow of their plummeting city. It appears that none of Numonia’s citizen could escape the fatal explosion at all, as nobody alive and awake to help them out. Zeno has to fend off zombie’s thirst from their tail, alone and having to protect his brother at the same time.

“What is that? How could he-“

(s***h)

“Ugh, damn you deadbeats!”

Zeno has to encounter dozens of the living dead by the keen edge of his blade. Some of them has their limbs swollen up, whilst the others emerged to be a speedster among many. The former boasts enormous dimension of their arms or legs, yet having no way to move around by their abnormal size of joints, while the latter shrunk to half their actual height for gaining twofold of running speed in immediate fashion.

(zuuuu! Zuuuu!)

(s***h)

The speedy beasts are dreadful against the two, but powerless to withstand Zeno’s agility in handling the blade. They are all trying to snatch them in utmost desire to bite. However, Zeno’s steel could parry them all with ease, defeating every single one within reach.

“Hyaaah! Hyaah!”

Zeno knocked out one rapid-beast and s***h its head as the corpse prompting a headbutt towards them. It surely dangerous for the two brothers to walk aimlessly this time around, especially since plenty of boosted legs zombies roaming across town and harassing them in every occasion.

(s***h! s***h!)

Unfortunately, no matter how awesome Zeno’s skill in swordsmanship was, stamina does count to the round-up of their battlefield. Numonia have 50.000 residents in estimation, so a bunch of work still needed to be done for them to purchase a ticket away from the core.

(drop)

“Could you defend yourself at this point, Sanna? I have to unleash one last shot before the gate.” Zeno pats Sanna’s head as he drops him to the ground,” without it, we’re gonna be turning into them as well. How’s your legs?”

To Zeno’s oblivious mind, Sanna has fallen to silence for some time.

“Sanna?”

(chomp!)

Zeno evaded the first trial of Sanna’s living dead state. He has been diminished in height already, growing hair to the back of his body, for himself eventually turned his hollow sight towards the last man standing in the crumbling state of Numonia.

“No, I don’t want to-“

(chomp! Chomp!)

A moral issue is on hold. For every man’s fight against the undead, one shall be perished. In this situation, most of movies Zeno has watched widely spoken for beheading Sanna by the sharp edge of his blade. A clean cut will end the corpse’s advance to chop off his flesh all at once.

(Bam!)

Zeno’s deceased father has closing in, as well. He has to defeat them both, or else....

“No time to think. I guess it’s my chance...”

(s***h)

He cuts down the pair’s legs in a flash.

“Father, Sanna, wait here. I have to brush away beasts in this city before taking you two out with me.” He muttered words to the two undead before him,” I will find a cure for you two soon, I promise.”