cp1

The first chapter

 A pale young boy was standing in front of the cathedral. He had been standing there for hours waiting for someone. Suddenly the paladins parted ways and a priest came into his view. He also noticed that the priest was empty handed.

The young man's fears came true when he saw the priest come and announce the accursed words.

"No food for today" 

The young man and the people behind him could only helplessly watch with deadpanned eyes as the priest went into the large stone-cathedral.

The pale boy whose name was Valerious could only sigh as he could not eat today. He was starving for a week already. The only reason why he and others like him were even alive was due to the blessing present in the air cast by the saintess.

This was a common occurence among people like him. They had to work every day and could only hope to get some food. If they didn't work and rebelled like some always did, they were sent out of the walls to die. Valerious however, was sighing for an entirely different reason.

It was because he was going to die today. The reason for his death was not starvation. Nobody actually dies of starvation in the outer sector anyway. It was because he was one of the rebels and one of the youngest criminals of the all outer sectors.

The only reason why he sighed was that he wanted to taste food at least once before he died today. Reality was still cruel on him as he did not get to fulfill his last wish before his death.

Valerious crossed the muddy streets and sat down on one of the dry grounds he could find. He had a few hours before his executioners came for him and some others living in this outskirt who were either mad or were sentenced to go out of the walls to die.

He was just pondering something when an old man sat beside him and said.

"You got some match sticks young man?"

Valerious opened his eyes and looked at the old man who was wearing criminal clothes just like him. The old man was familiar to him as he saw him almost daily after work.

The old man was unique as he kept a finger sized dried up stick with him all the time. When Valerious asked what it was, the old man just shrugged and said that it was road to heaven. Valerious never believed that a road to heaven was present in a finger sized stick that was kept by an old man like him. Valerious answered to the old man after a full moment of silence.

"Do I look like I would have matchsticks with me? I don't even have a day to spare anymore."

The old man looked at him and repeated the same words he said every day.

"Everything is possible young man!"

Just like that the old man started to pester the young man in front of him like he did every day.

Valerious did not mind the old man. Maybe it was the reason why he was still sane in this insane world. The old man would lecture him on various things and would say anything he knew.

Though it would all become meaningless as Valerious was going to die today, he still looked at the old man and brought something from clothes.

The old man suddenly stopped blabbering and looked at him with stupor. The old man knew that the thing Valerious was holding right now was not only hard to get, but also considered blasphemous to keep in the outskirts. Fire was banned to be lit in the outer sectors.

The only sources of lights in the outer sectors were the dimly lit street lights made of moonstone blessed by the church. The night in the outer sector was eternal as it was always covered with clouds with some sort of blessing from the saintess.

What Valerious was holding right now was a lighter which was in a good condition at that.

"Where you got that from?"

"Stole from an infected corpse"

Valerious said as if he went to a park. The old man stupefied as he was, shifted his gaze and looked ahead with somberness.

"Quite lucky that you survived it"

"We are gonna to die anyway."

Valerious said while fiddling with the lighter he acquired, but the old man just shrugged his words like he always did.

"Who knows, we might just survive"

"Nobody has actually survived it"

Valerious just sighed as if he had given up on hope.

"What is the difference between those moving flesh outside and us?"

"We don't make sounds like 'bwah-bwah'."

The old man started laughing as if he had not uttered a deadest humor of the day.

As Valerious ignited the lighter while fiddling with it, his eyed reflected the spark. If one looked at him, they could see that he had black eyes and black hair.

Valerious finally got tired of playing with the lighter and just tossed it towards the old man. The old man quickly grabbed the lighter lest it got drowned in the little mud nearby. He whistled as he read the letters written on it.

"Northern Blaze"

Lighters were made in the northern continent, and were used to get sold illegally in the eastern continent that they were living in before the world war happened.

There was a west and a south continent as well. The communication between the continents had stopped since nearly two decades ago when the world war stopped.

 Valerious was quite lucky to acquire something so rare, but there was no hint of happiness in his gaze. There was just emotionless silence.

The silence was broken when the old man lit the stick like thing he always held like a treasure.

Valerious never understood why the old man wanted to burn it when he treasured it so much.

After the tip of the stick was burnt, the old man just blew off the fire. Valerious was a little curious as to what the old man was trying to do.

He just saw as the old man brought the finger sized stick to his lips and took a puff. Valerious initially assumed that the old man was going to eat it, but became even more curious after seeing his actions. This was the first time he was seeing something so bizarre.

Humans were genetically curious, and he was just another human in the grand scheme of things. Moments passed by and Valerious's curiosity was at its peak after he saw that the old man was enjoying the smoke he inhaled.

He hesitated for just another fraction of a second and asked the old man.

"Let me do it too old man"

The old man stopped as he sized up Valerious before giving it to while saying something that Valerious couldn't discern.

Valerious did not even pay attention to the old man's ramblings as he always did.

Valerious brought the finger sized stick to his lips and took the first puff of his life.

He had heard the old man say that this stick like thing was a road to heaven, if heaven exists that is.

After a moment of inhaling, valerious burst in a fit of cough and he could swear he saw the old man chuckling from the corner of his eyes.

After Valerious calmed down, he asked the old man.

"What in the god's name is this even?"

"It's a road to heaven boy! Maybe you have a lot of sins to walk it on!"

Valerious could swear that he was the most sinless person in the entire outer sector. As if to prove it, he took another puff. This time it was purely out of his ego to show that the old man was wrong.

The old man chuckled as he noticed the childish actions of the young man in front of him. Minutes passed by and Valerious felt calmer as he found the burning stick refreshing.

After a few more puffs, the old man wanted his finger sized stick back. Valerious gave away the stick back, though he did grimace a bit. Valerious turned to the old man and asked.

"What's it called old man?"

"Don't know. I forgot I guess."

Valerious found the presence of the old man oddly comforting at the last day of his life. Though, the silence was broken sooner as he could see his executioners coming his way.

…

There are 1024 sectors that are divided evenly out of a circular mass of land which is also the last stronghold of the people of the eastern continent. There is an inner circle and an outer circle which are really close to each other. The boundary of the circular land mass is made with large stone walls.

Sector 777's inner circle had one of the oldest cathedrals that stood like a monolith. There were paladins guarding the doors and servants cleaning the floors. There were some of the priests chanting ancient scriptures and healing some of the paladins.

If one entered the cathedral and opened a great inner door which is usually closed, they would find a large statue at the center of the great hall. One could see a hundred people kneeling and praying while shedding tears. There were another group of people that anyone would recognize as servants coming and collecting the tear drop before it fell down.

At the forefront of the people shedding tears, there was a person facing the statue with closed eyes and clasped hands. One could say that he was the pope if they looked at his hands which held a necklace made of white beads. He was a dark skinned man in white priest robes.

The massive door opened as paladins rushed in making way for the regal saintess to enter. The pope did not even pay attention at the commotion as he concentrated at what he was doing. The saintess who was greeted by all, went ahead and kneeled in front of the statue and then she bowed at the pope.

The pope opened his old eyes and nodded towards the saintess while blessing her like an elder would to a child. The saintess wore white robes while she had green hair and eyes. She had a pristine white skin akin to a fairy which was a contrast to the old man in front of her.

The pope opened his mouth and asked her.

"How was your operation?"

"It went as expected."

The pope nodded and turned to move to his job. The entire situation looked serene if not for one of the paladins near the pope to bring out a knife and press it against his old throat making it bleed a little. There were only a few artifacts that could affect the old man here. The paladin was holding an ancient knife.

The room descended into chaos as the other paladins brought out their weapons in a swift arc. The saintess was at the forefront with her back against the statue and hadn't predicted such actions from a paladin. Even the paladins were shocked that one of their own had chosen to betray the church in such a way.

After a moment of stalemate silence, the paladin keeping the knife on the pope's throat took out his helmet reveling his face and long black hairs while looking at the saintess.

The pope was still silent with his eyes closed as if he did not care if he died or not. If he died though, there might start a war between all the factions as the small thread of trust that has been maintained between them would be broken. Though the priests nearby and some of the paladins along with the maids were sweating buckets, the saintess looked amused by the situation as if she found the entire situation funny.

The paladin who removed his helmet asked the saintess with a loud voice.

"I want some answers from the esteemed saintess here"

The saintess narrowed her eyes a little. She gestured with her hands for the people to get out. When all the people except those who were shedding tears as they prayed in silence got out of the room, the traitor asked the saintess.

"Why are you turning normal people into mindless zombies?"

For the first time, the saintess's smirked faltered as she looked at him with confusion on her face. She thought he had come from one of the factions for creating chaos in the empire.

"What do you mean?"

The paladin raised his voice and asked in a rough voice

.

"Don't you dare act clueless! I have read the secret texts! They record how the church created the infection!"

The saintess's smirked disappeared and was replaced with a serious face. The situation was a lot dire than she had anticipated. If he really did read the texts as he had described, then he will die sooner. It means the paladin in front of her doesn't fear anything. She asked him in a somber voice.

"What do you actually want?"

The paladin answered in a hoarse voice with another question of his own.

"What is the purpose behind this madness? Don't you know that nearly 40% of our people have turned into zombies already?"

The paladin's eyes were red as he shouted at the saintess.

The hall went silent for a moment as the saintess suddenly brought her hands to cover her eyes and then the paladin heard it. He heard the muffled laughter coming from the saintess. Moments passed by and her evil laughter turned louder and she looked maniacal. She finally stopped and raised two of her fingers.

"Two reasons! That is all"

The paladin was perplexed for a moment as he asked.

"What do you mean by two reasons?"

"You heard me correct dear! There were two reasons why this madness was unleashed"

"What are they?"

"We are creating an empire and uniting everyone under the walls. We created this empire called the utopian kingdom"

"What?"

His tone was flabbergasted after hearing this world bending truth. If this truth were to spread, it might start a vicious war which would ravage the continent.

"Yes! The church created the infection centuries ago and released it when the world war ended. We did it to unify then entire eastern continent and bring all factions under one flag. We also erected the walls and divided it into sectors!"

"Why! Why such tragedy for such a petty thing! There were other ways to do it!"

The paladin's voice was increasingly drowned with despair as he said those words. How could he not when half of his family along with the family members of people in the empire got turned into zombies by the same church they trusted so much. The saintess smiled as if relishing his despair and folded one of her fingers. She then said.

"That is due to the other reason and is also the main one as well"

What the paladin heard just shocked him to his core. He couldn't believe that such a conspiracy was going on to change the continent to such a degree.

…

In the outer sector 777, the paladins in hundreds came and called out names. Some were forcefully brought, while some came out of their own violation. Nobody could hide as they could be tracked with the collars they were wearing. They could not even kill themselves as they were cursed to not do it.

Valerious along with the old man was present in the crowd that was made of people whose names were called out. Just like today, hundreds of paladins would come and take people every month. There was a notice which held the names of those who would be called out a day before they were taken.

Just like before, a hundred people were taken by the paladins. They could not resist as they were brought to a location many dreaded. Valerious saw the wall as they approached it. The great wall protected them from zombies. Though a few occasionally did manage to get by from underground, they were quickly dealt before the infection spread into the masses.

Around a decade ago, Valerious and his mother lived outside of the walls. They were allowed inside the walls when his mother was found out to have the talent to be a paladin. They lived a good life in the inner sector. Valerious remembered how his mother would always say what his name meant. The word valerious meant strong and healthy.

He used to think that his mother loved him. It all came crashing down just eight years ago when he was just a ten year old. He could vividly recall the memories like it had been just yesterday. Just when he was busy reminiscing those memories, the old man beside him started to talk enthusiastically as he looked at the walls.

"Do you know, if you go for a thousand miles straight from here, you will find oceans and beaches. I have gone there and tasted the coconuts"

Valerious has never seen what an ocean looked like, but he wasn't interested in it. After all he shouldn't expect much as he was going to die anyway.

They reached the wall and were taken to an empty field near the wall. There, their collars were removed and were replaced by another one. This time, the collars they were wearing was much lighter than the one they were used to it.

After replacing the collars, they were asked to change their clothes in the field with the one they were given with. This time though, they were given standard military set of armor the paladins used and a sword. They were given a shield which was mostly transparent. It was a retractable shield and looked to be made of frozen energy.

After the commotion settled down, a man came up towards them and released an intense aura of bloodlust. Everybody staggered and fell down to their knees wearing paladin armor. Nobody could resist the man's aura and were pressured to the ground.

The man spoke in a commanding voice.

"I am the caption of the fifth wing of the 777th legion. All of you are heinous criminals who have done atrocities. Your atrocities have been pardoned by the church and you are all given a chance to redeem yourself. You will be given the honor to die for your empire."

"ETERNAL UTOPIAN!"

"ETERNAL UTOPIAN!"

The paladins surrounding the hundred criminals shouted in a similar fashion as the caption.

The captain retracted his aura and spoke in his commanding voice once again.

"You will face the zombies outside and kill them. If not, you die protecting your homeland. You will be the forefront soldiers and will be given the flamethrowers to attract and kill them with the weakness. If you are surrounded by them, your collar will create a 10 meter radius blast."

The captain gave out an evil smile and for some reason Valerious felt some chills at that sight.