A technomancer's journey in an apocalyptic world

Ryan huffed as he killed a lamprey lookalike that had tried to attack him from behind.

"Brother, you have been killing many creatures left and right, and the water is getting bloody because of it, so who knows what creature might get attracted to here."

"You are right, sis, and I am almost at my limit, though luckily, I have almost finished my work here."

Ryan dived back into the water, where he began to place the last piece of his machinery that would stop the beast.

Xuelong appeared by Michalina's side as she spoke, "Did he finish his work?"

Michalina nodded as she spoke, "Almost he is now working on the last one."

A large grin broke on Xuelong's face as she spoke, "Then I am not too late."

Michalina frowned at her words as she spoke, "Your Holiness, you are not late for what?"

Xuelong let out a sigh of content as she spoke, "For this."

Michalina looked in the direction Xuelong was looking at and saw Ryan climbing out of the water.

Ryan had removed most of his clothes and was only wearing a swimming trunk.

Both Xuelong and Michalina ogled at his wet body shamelessly, and their breath hitched as Ryan shook his head to get rid of water from his hair.

As Xuelong watched the beads of water travel down Ryan's abs, she purred out loud, "Yummy, I like it."

To which Michalina could not help but nod subconsciously in agreement.

Ryan stepped out of the water, and after drying himself with a towel, he changed to his previous attire.

'Now, the only thing left is to lure the creature, but how to do it safely?'

Ryan suddenly felt as if someone was watching him, and as he turned, he spotted his sister along with Xuelong, who waved at him.

Ryan waved back towards them while Michalina whispered back to Xuelong, "Remember our deal."

Xuelong smirked back at her as she spoke, "Of course I do."

As Ryan reached them, he spoke with a huff, "So, how was your day?"

Xuelong shrugged as she spoke, "So so, nothing special, but have you finished with your work?"

"Almost, the boat is the only thing left for me to make."

"I see."

"Though, I still thing it is highly unsafe."

Michalina nodded in agreement as she spoke, "Of course, it is, brother, and that is why I will be the one to drive it."

Ryan quickly protested against the idea, "Of course not, Sis, amongst all of us, I am the one most suitable because if something happens, and I end up getting eaten, I can force it to regurgitate me or at least kill it from inside with my powers.

Michalina was about to protest, but Ryan's stomach protested in hunger, as Xuelong spoke with a smirk, "Well, why don't we discuss it after some meal."

Michalina nodded in agreement as she spoke, "True, I am so famished."

A few minutes later, the group found themselves sitting on a log, and each of them held giant leaves with roasted seafood and coconut flesh in them.

'The roasted mixture of various kinds of seafood sure tastes nice.'

"I hope the food is to your liking."

Ryan looked towards Lance as he spoke with a smile on his face,  "Absolutely, though I hope others have already eaten."

Lance nodded as he spoke, "Yes, Your Holiness."

"Good, good."

With that, Lance gave a bow before he made himself scarce, leaving them to finish their lunch.

As Lance was out of earshot, Ylerias began to speak, "So, Ryan, who is to be the decoy?"

"I vote for me."

Michalina sent a stern glare at him as she spoke, "Absolutely not, brother, you are too important to take such a risk."

"Maybe, but if worse comes to pass, I can use my powers to tear my way out of it."

Ylerias shook her head as she spoke, "That maybe true, but that is the epitome of being reckless, and how do you know that something strange might not happen?"

Xuelong nodded as she spoke, "I concur with them, as there are so many things that can go wrong, like the creature bit your craft, and it blew up, or it has acidic breath that melted you before you could act."

"I can say that something similar could easily happen to you all."

Xuelong nodded as she spoke, "True, but you are more important.", as Ryan tried to protest, Xuelong stopped him from speaking as she continued, "Please, think about what kind of harm your sudden death would cause."

"Excuse me.", a voice suddenly came to their ears, drawing their attention.

Ryan quickly recognized him as he spoke, "Ah, you are Lieutenant Kason Robinson, right?"

Kason nodded as he spoke, "I am, though first I would like to apologize for accidentally overhearing your discussion."

Ylerias waved him off as she spoke, "No problem, we were not being discreet about it, and also, what can we do for you?"

"I want to volunteer to be the decoy."

Ryan almost spat out his food as he spoke with an incredulous look on his face, "What?! But, why would you?"

"You have the power to help and heal our world, and as such, I wish to help you."

Ryan sighed as he spoke, "I see, let me finish my lunch, and then we can discuss about in great depth."

A few minutes later, Kason stood in front of Ryan and his group as Ryan had just finished telling him details of the plan.

"So, Kason, can you do it?"

"Of course, I am used to sailing a boat, and as such, I can do it."

Ryan frowned as he spoke, "I see, then I will take my leave to work on the boat."

A few hours later, Kason stood in front of a catamaran that he was inspecting in great detail.

"So, what do you think of it?"

"An excellent boat."

"And do you think you need any extra features?"

Kason shook his head as he spoke, "No, I think this is perfect, so how soon should we begin?"

"Tomorrow at dawn."

"I see, so do you mind if I spent some time familiarizing myself with the boat."

"Not at all feel free to do so, and if you need anything, do not hesitate to contact me."

Ryan let out a yawn as he moved towards his aircraft, and when he boarded it, he found himself face to face with a scowling Michalina.

"Why did you allow him to pilot the boat, brother? I could have easily done it."

Ryan sighed as he spoke, "I know, but I did not wish for you to be out into such a risky position, and it might sound hypocritical, but you are my priority compared to rest of them."

While Ryan was having a heart to heart chat with Michalina, Lance was looking into one of the many machines created by Ryan.

"Lord Stormborne, what do you think about the new apostle?"

Lance frowned as he spoke, "Bizzare, his powers are so bizarre, unlike the others I have seen."

Lance paused for a minute before continuing, "Did you feed them?"

With a fearful nod, Lance's subordinate replied, "Yes, I did, my Lord, but the Apostles had ordered us not to feeding them."

"Yet, Lord Ryan turned a blind eye while I was giving those orders, and if only those fools would realize their folly."

The next day at the crack of dawn, Kason drove his motorboat a few kilometres away from the island, waiting patiently for the beast to appear.

"Brother, are you alright? You look a bit tensed."

Ryan looked towards Michalina as he spoke with a sigh, "I am a bit tensed sis, we are going to hunt the largest creature we have ever seen, and so many things could go wrong."

Michalina squeezed Ryan's shoulder as she spoke, "I know you will be victorious at the end of the day."

Ryan's radio crackled as Kason's voice came to his ears, "I picked it up on the sonar, it is coming, get ready."

"Ok, stay safe."

Ryan quickly switched the channel as he barked out his order, "Everyone, take position."

Kason had dubbed the motorboat with the name 'Hunter', and he was currently driving it at a lazy pace while his eyes were glued to the sonar and radar, keeping an eye on the beast.

Kason could feel his heart hammer in his chest as the beast drew closer when all of a sudden, he pushed the throttle hard as 'Hunter' lurched forward with great vigour.

The creature attacked 'Hunter' directly under it, but it narrowly missed it because of Kason's quick timing.

Lance stood on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea as he prayed for Kason's safety.

His heart nearly stopped as he saw the giant maw of the beast erupt from under the surface of the water, narrowly missing Kason, and he was not the only one as apparently from the numerous gasps from around him.

An intense cat and mouse chase began between the Kason and the beast, with quite a few close calls for Kason.

After a few minutes of intense chase, Kason successfully lured the creature into Ryan's trap.

The creature slithered through the gorge, chasing after Kason, and when its head was about to emerge from the other side, Ryan struck.

The gorge was very narrow, barely enough for the creature to slither through, but under Ryan's administration, it has become deadly.

Hundreds of steel hooks and pikes suddenly erupted, which latched onto the creature piercing its skin and flesh and thus halting its movement.

An earth-shattering scream erupted from the creature while Ryan activated the next part of the trap, 'guillotines'.

Pneumatic Guillotines, to be precise, dropped on the creature with their chainsaw blades that cut through it like a hot knife through butter.

While Ryan was busy cutting the beast into various pieces, the rest of his groups were not far behind.

Ryan had created a couple of Rail Guns, which were being operated by teams of twos, while Xuelong was using her handheld ballista.

They targeted the creature's head as they bombarded it with their attacks.

The creature did not give up its struggles as it suddenly sent a powerful jolt of electricity.

Unfortunately, its attempt turned out to be in vain, as all it managed to do was recharge the Rail Guns faster and make the guillotines sharper and deadlier.

Lance winced upon seeing the sea of blood erupting from the creature like a geyser out of control.

"That is brutal, so this is the power of the new Apostle."

Lance did not turn to look at the speaker as he spoke, "It is the power of the Chosen of the one who Ushers the Beginning and Heralds the End."

Ryan let out a sigh of relief as the light left the creature's eyes as it lay dead.

Xuelong was the first to approach him as she spoke with a dazzling smile on her face, "We did it, Ryan."

Ryan smiled back at her as he spoke, "True, we di..."

Ryan's voice choked as he spoke with disbelief, "No way, it is not possible."

Meanwhile, Xue Okeániosi stood on top of the bow of one the largest ships in his armada.

A frown slowly began to form on his face as he stared at the island on the horizon.

Xue took a deep breath before he bellowed out his next set of orders, "Change course, we are going to make our way to that island."

His words had an immediate effect as the armada changed their course towards the island at the horizon.

One of Xue's subordinates approached him as he spoke, "Sir, the sea near that island seems to have been dyed by blood."

Xue nodded as he spoke, "It is, but my heart is poining towards that direction."

"What if there is something dangerous out there?"

"Then we will turn tail and run, for it is unwise to fight a losing battle when you can survive and grow strong."

"True, Your Holiness, though permission to use those idiots we picked up as a decoy."

A large grin formed on Xue's face as he spoke, "Permission granted."