Come On, Im Just Mundane Human!

Antarctica.

Present Time.

The Chain of Nightmares had accelerated the rate of Gate manifestations, and its influence had begun to affect ordinary humans. An unusually large number of young people were falling victim to the Spell in Antarctica, and even those well beyond the usual age of infestation were now succumbing to their First Nightmares.

As a result, the number of newly awakened Sleepers in Antarctica had surged.

That was why Driver was carefully cataloging every Sleeper who returned from their First Nightmare. She needed to investigate the numbers. How many survived, their genders, occupations, ages, and more. The data could reveal patterns. And patterns meant answers.

Then she had to update the resident registry as well. Countless soldiers had died and many Awakened warriors, too. But at the same time, new people were appearing: those who wanted to fight, those who had been infected by the Nightmare Spell and somehow survived.

So Driver was constantly adding and removing entries from the database, adapting to events as they unfolded in real time. That's why she hadn't slept in three days.

But that wasn't the only reason.

She sighed, sipping lukewarm coffee with a trembling hand, eyes bloodshot and wide as she stared at the screen. A screwdriver rested in her other hand.

"Fuck this shit! Damn it! Damn it all!"

She cursed, kicking the table out of her way. She was practically locked up in the basement like some overworked gremlin.

Behind her, the screen flashed red as alarm signals blared to life.

For a moment, she remained still, setting her cup down with a sigh. Her drones had located a swarm of Fallen Nightmare creatures lurking in the deep sea, right along the possible evacuation route. That could be a problem.

"Now... what to do..." she murmured, her voice calm but her eyes gleaming.

A sweet smile spread across her face.

Meanwhile, Isaac stirred from the bed nearby, yawning and rubbing his eyes, only to freeze in place when he saw his lover grinning menacingly while staring at a big red button.

"...Oh no," he muttered. "Not again."

His eyes widened in disbelief as he jumped out of bed, silently begging his Aspect to grant him one of his usual strokes of ridiculous luck, to stop what he was seeing.

But alas, he wasn't fast enough.

Rachel pressed the button, and the screen lit up with a red warning.

"Launching Oxygen Destroyer in Amundsen Sea, Western Antarctica!"

Isaac blinked, horrified and than let out tired sigh as he watched how bomb was dropped in ocean. At first nothing happened, screen showed them calm ocean but than water shook and it felt like something sucked water from deep, collosal vortex started swallowing everything and than it burst out.

Sea dyed red as in thousands of abomination's died. Oxygen Destroyer broke down oxygen atoms in water, liquefying serpents and destroying all life in the blast radius.

"Rachel... What have you done?"

She yawned, stretching before grabbing her cup.

"Destroyed them. I fucked them up!" she said with a grin, then took a sip of her coffee—only to grimace.

"It's gone cold… Shit."

Isaac sighed. What did he expect? It's not like he didn't know. Klaus, Diego, and Rachel were the same in that way. Piss them off enough, and they'd nuke your ass out of pure spite.

****

Noah watched calmly as his undead clashed with the nightmare creatures swarming out of the Gate.

They looked like orcs from some game, hulking brutes with durable, powerful bodies. The giants wielded massive clubs, their leathery brown skin stretched over thick muscles. Two enormous canines jutted from their mouths, and their long, tangled hair whipped in the wind.

Noah sighed, sending more and more undead into the Gate's maw.

At this point, he was unleashing his entire legion of the dead.

Flying, hornet-like undead buzzed overhead, harassing the orcs from above. While they were currently only meant to distract, they were far more dangerous than the undead swarming the ground.

From Noah's left, the hounds joined the battle. Their flesh mangled, bodies torn and pierced from their past lives as nightmare creatures. Now, they were part of his legion.

They lunged at the orcs, ripping into them with claws and fangs. One orc grabbed two hounds and smashed them together like ragdolls.

Then, grabbing hold of a nearby APC, it roared and began crushing other hounds with it like a mad titan with a club. The other orcs, noticing their leader's example, started grabbing APCs as makeshift weapons as well.

Strange. Why did the random orcs have weapons, but the leader didn't? It was a curious detail. But Noah didn't care enough to dwell on it.

Because in the very next second, the dead orcs rose from the ground and turned on their kin, attacking from behind.

Now the nightmare creatures were besieged on all sides, slaughtered like lambs. Every horror that fell was added to Noah's legion, and without hesitation, turned their weapons against the ones they had once fought beside.

They would fight until there was nothing left of them until they were ripped apart, bones shattered and flesh scattered. And when their broken bodies could no longer move, Noah would discard them without a second thought.

Maybe he could throw the useless corpses at the government. They loved making spelltech and weapons out of nightmares, after all... Hmm. No, he shook his head. There's no way in hell he'd give them anything.

Instead, he tossed the unusable remains into his enchanted bag. Ascendancy could make use of them just fine.

With a shrug, Noah turned his eyes back to the battlefield. Only the orc leader was left alive, a towering brown giant, soaked in gore and breathing heavily.

Calmly, Noah walked up to the beast.

Then, without a word, he grabbed its face.

The orc leader raised its arm to smash him to pieces. Noah ducked just in time to avoid the punch, then grabbed its arm as well.

Both the orc's arm and face began to rot. Flesh started falling from its body, leaving only bone and a decayed skull in his hands.

Noah sighed, walking back as he assessed the aftermath of the battle. Then he began collecting the souls of the nightmare creatures into his soul sea. As corrupted and dark as they were, their souls were still useful.

Now... he fused the souls together. Strength, density, and resonance. he refined the essence until it trembled with power. Then, using Guide of the Damned, he channeled the fused soul construct into the orc's rotted husk.

The dead orc leader trembled and slowly rose from the ground. Towering over Noah, it lifted the APC like a weapon… then knelt before him.

"Too weak for a Fallen Tyrant… Even after fusing so many souls, huh?"

Once the souls were fused, they became something akin to a chimera. Though not of flesh, but of essence. Still, while the soul was powerful, that didn't mean the body it inhabited could match it. Sure, it gained a few new attributes and abilities, but nothing particularly noteworthy.

Noah had specifically chosen the souls of other orcs for synergy. If he had used random ones, they would have broken down and dissolved into raw soul essence... a complete waste.

****

Berserkers under Diego's command were stationed in East Antarctica. They were the main fighting force, which was why, out of the remaining 150 mobile suits, 100 had been allocated to Diego's company.

Their mission was to protect one of the Government citadels in East Antarctica.

But the situation wasn't as promising as it looked. More and more soldiers were falling under the relentless waves of Abominations, and the constant whisper of nightmares was eroding their focus.

Timothy was one of the soldiers fighting under Diego's banner. Raising his sword, he carved his way through the horde of Abominations, holding the line with grim determination.

His unit was deployed on the front lines because they were equipped with mobile suits, tasked with stopping the advancing nightmare creatures.

But despite their efforts, it didn't feel like they were winning.

Timothy cast a glance westward and saw a massive explosion erupting in the darkness.

Diego was locked in combat with the Gate's Guardian and couldn't assist them for now.

There was another issue too. Even though Driver had given them the tech to see in the dark, the soldiers were still adjusting to it. Their movements were stiff, not as fluid or instinctive as they should have been.

Timothy cursed, blocking the snapping jaws of an Abomination. The creature bit into the metal arm of his suit, its drooling, feral face twisted with madness.

He laughed bitterly, then headbutted another creature and grabbed it by the throat. A hidden blade sprang from his arm, piercing through the beast's skull. With a grunt, he hurled the twitching corpse into the swarm to slow them down.

"Come on!" he laughed. "I'm just a mundane human, you dumb cunts!"

He smirked, activating his flamethrower and unleashing waves of fire. The other Berserkers followed suit, and soon the dark night blazed with flame along the front line.

These were Awakened Nightmare Creatures but for mundane humans, they were just as deadly as higher-ranked horrors. One mistake was all it took to die.

Still, Timothy pressed forward, pushing back the swarm and barking out a command.

"All available Berserkers, use essence shields! They're closing the distance—we need to hold the line!"

Transparent shields materialized from their arms, glowing with a soft blue light. Barely visible, but effective—they did a good job absorbing the blows of the oncoming beasts.

Side by side, the soldiers locked into formation, forming a solid line. Like a moving wall of steel and will, they began pushing the Nightmare Creatures back. Behind them, Awakened with sorcery-type aspects and archers continued the assault, cutting down monsters with spells and arrows from afar.

Other mundane humans operated Mobile War Platforms (MWPs)—giant humanoid machines standing roughly six meters tall. There were also smaller variants. These exoskeleton armor suits allowed non-Awakened soldiers to confront even Awakened Nightmare Creatures on the battlefield.

However, MWPs were still inferior to what Driver had developed. That was why the Berserkers were placed at the frontlines.

Equipped with essence shields, spelltech cannons, flamethrowers, and rockets, the Mobile Battlesuits—simply known as MBs—were vastly superior in terms of armament and performance. Their exoskeleton armor was far more durable, built to withstand devastating blows from powerful enemies.

Although smaller in size compared to MWPs, the MBs were deliberately designed that way to maximize mobility, flexibility, and adaptability in combat.

The Berserkers held the line and managed to push the beasts back, though more and more continued to spawn from the Gate.

Each MB was equipped with its own AI system to assist the pilot in combat operations. That was another major advantage the soldiers of Chaos Ascendancy had. Honestly, Driver was a genius.

Normally, these AIs didn't have names, but constantly referring to them as "artificial intelligence" felt awkward. So the soldiers gave them names. Timothy's AI was—perhaps unsurprisingly—named Optimus Prime.

"I'm happy to report, sir," the Prime said in its calm, robotic voice. "Category 2 Gate on the east side of the Citadel has been closed. All nightmare creatures that emerged from it have been successfully neutralized."

Timothy heard the mechanical voice in his ear. Of course, he could have chosen a different voice for the AI, but he stuck with the classic mechanical one—for obvious reasons.

"That's good news, bro!"

He laughed, launching a salvo of rockets at the advancing beasts. But Optimus Prime wasn't finished. Its voice dropped to a solemn tone.

"But I also have bad news. The entirety of our vanguard stationed in the east has been wiped out."

Timothy froze for a moment, his grin fading. His expression darkened as he fired rocket after rocket, followed by essence blasts from his spelltech cannons.

"Damn it all!"

His brothers and sisters had died…

Fuck!

Timothy kept fighting, fists clenched tight, slashing through the beasts with cold, murderous fury. They died protecting humanity. An honorable death, they never turned their backs on the enemy.

But still... it burned.

"Kill them all, guys! Wipe this land clean of those scum!"

The other Berserkers laughed and roared in response, diving into the fray with even greater savagery.

To the government soldiers and warriors of the great clans, they seemed insane.

What's there to laugh about? They were dying out there! An entire unit just got wiped out—how could that be funny?!

But the Berserkers didn't care what outsiders thought.

Their director had taught them one thing above all: There is nothing more enjoyable than crushing your enemies beneath your feet.

"Unload everything you've got! Burn them down! For the glory of the Chaos Ascendancy!"

***

Hah! Who said mundane humans weren't cool!? Huh? I've told you guys, mundane humans are way cooler than any Awakened! So let's go! Indomitable human spirit! RAGHHHGRRH!

Heh, jokes aside, our boys are running wild like they just found the last slice of pizza. Seriously, someone call a referee before this turns into a WWE match.

Anyway, I'm curious, do you guys like this kinds of chapters?

Aaand, That's it for now. Enjoy and remember, stay mundane, stay awesome!

***