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Chapter 1: Prologue: The Judgement

The day everyone looked forward to came in the most horrifying, devastating, and unnerving way. Humanity came to the brink of extinction as nearly half of the human population all over the globe met their end. Not to mention the destruction it inflicted on every corner of every land it touched. They call it "The Judgement". It was initially anticipated as a typical astronomical event of a meteor shower closely passing through Earth but, for some apparent reasons, the trajectory of the cosmic rocks was lined directly to our planet which caused mass destruction way more destructive than we could ever imagined. Over hundreds of thousands of celestial boulders entered Earth's atmosphere and impacted its very grounds. Records state that the largest meteor that hit the planet was as big as former Greenland which cratered what we called Antarctica.

 The event caused the world to seem burning from the outside for such a long time. The destruction was so vast even most of the government-owned properties including on the ground and underground were mostly not safe either. From the sky-touching establishments to the ground drilling facilities, they were never safe from the devastation. Most of the things that humanity built were burnt down to crisps it's as if history is repeating itself a few billion years back when monstrous reptiles lurk in the lands. It seemed that no one would be alive after the Earth's downfall but, the rest who lived used what remains of the technology to survive. After a few centuries of terror and uncertainty, humans who lived through the hell-like era came out and started to rebuild what where severed by the tragedy. Gathering all knowledge present from roughly thousands of survivors, they were able to rebuild a system. A system that they can cling to for them to eventually recover fully while having the unsightly event be kept in history. The system was turned into a practice and from practice spawned into law then finally from law creating a nation. Systems produced five(5) major nations. Nations that will lead the new era and the new civilization which will be an epoch in the world's history.

 The first nation established from the North was the Grand Britain which was led by a King. Next is the New America from the West which is led by a President. Third is the Proud Russia from the East which is being governed by a Prime Minister. Fourth is the Noble Asia from the South-East which is led by an Emperor and lastly, the Gallant Africa from the South which is governed by a Chieftain. Nations that the only goal is to survive the harsh environment. It may sound easy to be protected by one of the nations but it wasn't. Having their common goal of survival at their hands, they formed an alliance that vowed to support every nation who is in need. Trades and sharing of intel are some of the few things that occurred to secure their trust in one another. However, Death through natural causes started to rise. Instances through famine, severe illnesses, and infestations are some of the many that occurred. Due to the lack of resources, the somehow balanced connections of the nations were severed. One nation started to attack the other making the other nation strike back. Everyone started to see blood on their lands may it be from a friend or a foe. And so the warring era started to emerge. Another hell-like era was forced to be relieved by the survivors and their beloved predecessors. Another tragedy this time, was not caused by celestial bodies but by mortal hands. As the war that was triggered by the leading nations broke out, small villages that were just starting to grow their own systems weren't able to escape the tide and were forced to join the battles which led them to choose whether to build an alliance with one of the five nations or to defend their own. Unfortunately, the villages that chose the latter part met their atrocious demise even after they've given their all with their fights.

 Numbers of months and years passed and the victor as to which nation would favor the war was still far from certain so desperate measures were discussed, planned, and about to be put into action. A scientist from one of the nations once said, "Barbaric tactics is not the only way to snatch our victory in this God-forsaken war.." Using a dignified tone which indicates that he had something up on his sleeves. "We have to outsmart our adversaries!" He finishes. A concept was put onto the table and considering the vast knowledge and advancements in technology present at the time, the idea seems to be possible. Researchers ran a series of experiments and tests to accomplish the very concept they wanted to achieve. An idea that will forge the next generation of war machines. Machines wouldn't need to use actual weapons like guns, cannons, grenades, and all other lethal tools to face their battles. These studies focus on basic human abilities and how to enhance them which can be used as leverage towards victory. The obvious choice for a human ability to be enhanced is strength which is very essential to smash the enemies' defenses and pulverize their offenses.

 The very first research took place deep within Grand Britain that if the tests were successful, the tide of war would be in their favor. As the extensive experiments took place, they finally got a serum that contained the enhancement properties that supposedly maximize the strength of an individual. However, due to the risk of its use, the head of the research faction decided to test these serums on an enemy prisoner whom they captured during the war. Dozens of deaths were inevitable to most test subjects due to the serum not being compatible with their gene construction but surprisingly, since a number of adjustments were made, a prisoner was made positive in completely linking to the properties of the serum. As theorized, the prisoner manifests an increased amount of strength. Then, the enhanced ability of the prisoner was agreed to be called "Anomaly" for its official and scientific use. For Great Britain to take advantage of their work, the prisoner was sent to be strongly hypnotized and fight as a machine for their sake.

 However, during these intense experiments and research in Grand Britain, spies from other nations sneakily worked their way into their facilities and got a hold of the precious information that they planned to use to conduct their own research under their own mother nations. A few years passed and as planned, the enemy nations were able to produce their own machines to have leverage in the war. The first to replicate Grand Britain's war machine is Proud Russia which was infused in a prisoner from Noble Asia. Next was New America with a Gallant African host. Then, the Asians and Africans followed. So, just right before Grand Britain steadily had the advantage of the war, as predicted by most, the victor was yet again unseen. Military forces from different nations were again close if not equal. One troop may win a battle but the others will not. Desperate, scientists who pioneered the study from Grand Britain were eager to push themselves to their own limits to once again have the victory be in their favor. A prominent scientist said, "We must do what's yet to be done, we must reckon what's yet to be reckoned, and we must see what's currently unseen." He said with the utmost conviction. And so, a series of researches were conducted once again hoping that the scientists would strive for more.

 The efforts of the scientists paid off because, after several years of effortful research, they made another batch of Anomalies with an enhanced variety of human skills. They were able to replicate the serum for strength and as its base, few other serums were produced. They were able to enhance the ability of sight to see what occurs from miles away. Then, next to be released is the enhanced ability of hearing which also serves as a built-in radar. Finally, speed was also a product of this research which is crucial to breaching through enemy lines without being noticed. Again, these were tested on enemy prisoners who eventually got a compatible host. Having three new Anomalies in their hands, Grand Britain's victory is expected to be carved into stone. But, even though Grand Britain has incredible scientists with their wits, spies from other nations are as great with their talents in stealth. The Anomalies were yet again copied by the enemy nations. It seemed that the war would never end. Even though one nation gets the upper hand by their breakthroughs, other nations will be ready to barge in and copy the results and make it their own.

 Hundreds of bloodshed years passed and generations to generations grew, someone finally went against the whole war and motioned to end it. Luckily, everyone was persuaded and supported the act. The Crowned Emperor of Noble Asia was the first to express his distraught with all the brawls that were happening everywhere, especially on his land. Talks with the leaders of the nation were made possible and these leaders unanimously made a truce to end the warring era and start to live in peace. Little by little, the battles stopped to arise and the nations started to flourish together with their bonds. The Anomaly research was shut down in every facility the five nations have. The living hosts of these Anomalies were brought back to their families and then were euthanized to avoid fear from the people or them running havoc. This judgment was opposed by many but eventually was agreed upon.

 Decades of joyful living were slightly disordered by an unknown phenomenon that was witnessed almost everywhere in the world but the controversy didn't last long and everyone went to their safe and peaceful lives. On a typical day in all of the lands, a shock wave was felt traveling across the winds that briefly made the trees dance and the clouds blown away fast. Rumors spread that a bomb was dropped or a storm was coming but nothing was confirmed. Since it seems that it didn't affect anyone or anything negatively and since it only happened once, the talks about this phenomenon died out. Months later, news starts to spread about unknown individuals running havoc like being possessed by an evil spirit and some of them die due to resistance from the military or police. Some say that these individuals eventually die after running crazy. Hundreds of questions started to circle these events but no one seemed to be aware of what was happening even the major nations couldn't wrap their knowledge with what was happening or that's what they wanted their citizens to think.

 What is happening?