Disclaimer: I own nothing and all things in this fanfic belong to their owners. Rossterteeth, Oreo47 and the respected artists (If I do use their work) respectively.
AN: Hello guys Mustafa here, I am glad that I am drawing in visitors now but I would appreciate them giving reviews at the very least. As their word is what helps me to improve my writing. Now If you find my story fascinating than give me a follow. Looking back to my first chapter, It may or may not go under a rewrite as I am fast forwarding the world building segment to reach the Markus arriving in remnant part. Know without a further a due, let's start this chapter with a bismillah.
Markus sauntered towards the door while adjusting his gauntlets and booting up his E.V helmet with a light hum. He already guessed who the person behind the door was due to his senses being boosted by his unique E.V helmet. Opening the door, he was met with the sight of his current mentor, Yazid and 2 bodyguards flanking him, which were from his force.
The man or "Jinn" as some theorise to call him, stood upright straight with his gloved hands by his side. He adorned a black stockman hat, a dark overcoat with a silver chain going around his black shirt which was a part of an openable silver round shaped locket in his left charcoal pant pocket. He had two silver Deagles inside the gun holsters of a utility belt around his waist, with ammo for It. A silver sword in It's sheath was on his back as well.
The only "Normal" parts of the man ended there as his physical appearance like a face or skin for that matter was by definition pitch black or void less to be precise as light refused to pass through his non-covered bodily features. Among his unordinary aspects was that, he seems to be giving off a foot-wide area of shadow on the surface he was standing on and said area of shadow could stop light from going in or out as well. If he focuses hard enough than he could cast shadow which stretched all over the room, making him a necessity for stealth ops.
Moving onto his eyes, they looked like the eyes of an E.V helmet with the same crimson stained glare however he didn't have said helmet on and give off the light naturally, which unnerved people even more while also increasing his supernatural factor. It honestly felt like a Jinn was trying to make himself detectable to humans by being forced to wear clothing which would help him getting recognised more easily or else he would have been a mobile shadow with two red eyes poking out.
Aside from that, he had the ability to "teleport" to areas at will and would only pop in and out during dire situations. Aside from that he was the leader of a force known as 'The Inspectors', a paramilitary force who were designed to scan and scrutinise the military and civilian populace for early signs of possession by more dangerous and experienced demons praying on very important people and evidence of betrayal by working for the Black Hand or showing inability to do your job properly If valid reasons are provided. The force is composed of inspectors who have the same appearance as Yazid himself while obviously wearing the basic body armour on with E.V helmets.
They are a secretive bunch who have recording devices and tracking equipment along with weaponry, which have anti-possession or blessed rounds chambered into them for CQC encounters as well. They have ties with law enforcement and the military, which allows them to stay in the know and muster up enough manpower and intelligence to crack down upon unsuspecting targets with the help of local soldiers and police officers.
'Cough,Cough'
A sound of someone clearing forcibly coughing soon broke out Markus from his thoughts as he regarded the men in front of him.
"Aslamualikum to you all, sorry for keeping you waiting like that. I have a tendency of letting my thoughts go wild every now and then. Hope you forgive me."
Yazid merely shook his head and said "Waslam and nonsense mister Obsidian, a man like you has much to think about with the position you are in however I advise you to follow me to the meeting room immediately, we have much to discuss about as your training has completed under my mentorship." His voice smooth yet echoed at various sentences.
Speaking of his training, Markus's training mostly consisted of improving all his senses with the help of his E.V helmet. As of right know he could attain all the features of the E.V 5 helmet with out putting It on for a day or so but would later face head aches and dizziness. Yazid also helped Markus in identifying and neutralising traitors or people who would bring harm to him, improving his social skills and focusing on the destruction of his enemies more efficiently. This led to Markus becoming more like a viper who would dispatch his enemies with extreme force and agility which was really not expected of a 220-pound man to do so easily, while also better assessing the situation and expanding his tactical choices as well.
The group left Markus's quarter after exchanging more pleasantries with one another and made their way out of the 2 storied barracks facing Masjid-e-Nabwi, which was converted into a military headquarters while allowing some civilians to enter. Along the way to the meeting room, Markus exchanged pleasantries with the soldiers and civilians he met while an armed foot convoy escorted him.
Gazing around the city with snow falling here and there, Markus could feel a sense of calmness with the sea of red eyes around him and off to the distance, the city lights shone brightly into the dark with military check points along the city, directing the traffic and flow of the populace while casting an aura of security around them as well. Occasionally he could hear the roar of engines and turbines from the passing military jets and helicopters flying overhead.
The atmosphere of the people had turned serious with a slice of gloominess sprinkled in there, after the cataclysm event most people had went into depression and despair due to black magic but trips to important religious sites and mosques, helped calm people's nerves down a bit and got them working as well. Said religious sites were immune to the influence of the Black Hand, which consisted of the witches arrival Vortexes, spewing out demonic spirits which would possess the dead and would bring them to life with varying degrees of intelligence and strength, not only that they also started poisoning and destroying the local vegetation and wildlife to the point that the planet had entered an ice age. Crops and other necessities were something which required contant duas and other protections to work properly or else starvation would be an issue.
Anyone who died and allowed their body to fall into the hands of the black hand or away from a purified or religious site. Would have their souls tormented for varying amounts of times until they would become corrupted and join the Black Hand and be brought back by them. If said soul was in presence of a combat Imam. Then said Imam would allow their soul to rest peacefully by using duas known only to them, to guide their spirit.
This led to people thinking It was futile to defy the Black Hand and as such revolted against the Next Gen rule but a quick and lethal response from the military would always quell said response before It could get out of hand.
Approaching the sacred Mosque. Markus was always astonished to see the size and look of It. The Ottoman artstyle and architecture of the structure had various beautiful flower themed paintings plastered everywhere with certain pillars and walls being gold trimmed and complemented by a dash of green. The outer walls were light brown in colour with 20 archway doors on every side of the Mosque, allowing entry from multiple green dome which housed the body of the holy Prophet, Muhammad and the 4 rightly guided Caliphs of Islam, was found in the middle of the mosque with 10 minarets accompanying It in a square shaped formation to voice the Azan. This was a huge contrast to the western styled housing and hotels surrounding It.
The Giant umbrellas in the court yard were closed up due to It being night time. Various floodlights and other decorative lights illuminated the courtyard and casted a white hue to It thanks to the fog from the weather. The lights revealed 1000s of Muslims with plain white Kurta shalwar praying, eating and chatting away with all age groups. The soldiers were patrolling the courtyard with some of them being off duty and in military fatigues. If you focused hard enough you could find inspectors stalking through the crowd.
Markus saluted and exchanged pleasantries with any military personal or civilian who came towards him, as he was idolised by nearly everyone due to his heroic nature and fearlessness. All in all, it felt like a grand place to be and had an aura of sacredness booming out of It. Markus started making towards the centre of the mosque, which was cornered off from the public due to various attempts of defiling sacred graves and points of interests of the mosque from various natural and super natural means and only allowed a handful of monitored pilgrims in.
After passing through multiple check points and scanners. He was brought into a war room which was filled to the brim with various intelligence officers manning machinery and communication devices with up to date news of the war. The dimly lit nature of It was making for a grim yet serious atmosphere. Markus was ushered to a meeting room through a door, which housed various commanders, generals and previous mentors as well. The other unique person of interest Markus had failed to mention was the current general of the 'scout corps' and the wife of his 2nd mentor. Lailah Shazar. She is a woman who likes to joke around and keeps a happy go lucky type of attitude instead of the general grumpy attitude of her husband, she has a quick mind and her information gathering skills on both small and large scale levels had made her a ripe candidate to be the general of the scout corps.
The scout corps mostly had light armoured troops in camouflaged cloaks, going deep inside enemy territory to gain as much information as possible with things like enemy tactics and other vital information and is generally composed of women and blind people due to their ability of sharpening the rest of their senses. Which also compose of detecting the undead spiritually as well.
Everyone in the meeting room regarded Markus with a salute before Yazid spoke up." Alright everyone, as of right know we are getting reports of the amount of undead increasing and will likely attack from the north and East, what is the estimated status of the enemy forces attacking us?" He said while turning his head toward Lilah.
Lailah rose up and gave her report. "My men estimated a force of 2 million about to be ammased. They are said to be compromised of 10000 Chimeras which can punch through our fortifications with ease, a new type of possessor has also been spotted which can make the nearby undead more resistant to blessed rounds and practically immune to traditional weaponry and the best part is that the witches themselves have been spotted stepping into the field with D. surrounding them as well. These D. are displaying varying amounts of tactics and strategies and is projected to fight like a super human army due to some of them being heavily experimented on with witch craft and other dark sorceries. Giving them varying degrees of mutations as well."
"What is their estimated arrival time?"
"I would say a year and a half or 2, If we are lucky. Knowing our luck, I except them to be on our asses in a year." Gaining a few chuckles from the others.
Yazid turned his gaze towards Abdullah "Can we survive an attack like that, Abdullah."
With a shake of his head, Abdullah reported."We won't be able to hold off an attack like that without stopping the flow of refugees, I suggest that we draw our enemies inland to setup suitable and efficient defensive positions that won't collapse." He said while stroking his well-trimmed beard.
This had gotten Markus to butt in to the conversation "You do know that we are potentially endangering our industrial and agricultural sectors by doing so right?". Markus saddened behind his mask due to the state of the vegetation of the word and the collapse of the ecosystem all together. Meaning It was too long that he saw something fluffy and adorable, like a dog, cat or a goat. Children did fill that void however.
The annual harvest was barely scraping by as well, thanks to the rising population and influx of refugees and the war effort hogging materials left in right as well. The military was for the most part well-armed and trained but this new threat mixed in with the witches would throw them into a pickle alright.
Abdullah, merely scoffed and said "What do you propose boy and for the last time It better not be bat shit crazy." Earning some laughter from the others.
Feigning offense, Markus replied with a playful smirk. "Come now Abdullah, charging head first into certain doom and destruction is my motto. Besides If you see my battalion's survival rate than It is a sound tactic for the likes of me but with that aside, I would like to conduct surgical strikes on the location of the witches and cut off the heads of the snake."
"Like that will achieve anything, you do know that the witches are replaceable as well right due to their numbers doubling practically doubling after the cataclysm? It's the sole reason why there are so many undead in the first place ?!" Abdullah asked in an irritated voice, with nearly everyone turning their heads towards Markus.
This new piece of information caused Markus to blink a few times. As sudden realisation donned on him that he had forgot to read the file. He raised a hand sheepishly behind his neck and answered with a cough. '' I may or may not have forgotten about that fact but thank you for reminding me."
The statement was followed by stares of disbelief by nearly everyone in the room as the head of the infantry corps , Kyle Crane spoke out. "You have killed 7 of the damn things already! how the hell can you forget about something like that?".
"Well excuseeee me but my schedule consists of stabbing things, getting munched on and clawed at and making sure the dead, fucking stay dead and don't come to bite me in the ass later! As you can see It's a painful schedule" Markus retorted with irritation creeping into his mind. He had a short temper and an even a shorter duration of said temper whenever It would creep up as he knew how to supress his emotions more easily thanks to Yazid.
A minute later Markus had cooled off and was about to apologise but Kyle had other plans as he regarded Markus with a glare. "Even still, my men fought side by side with you in bringing those sluts down while making sure you stayed safe in your suicide charges, hell my own brother took one of them with him as well when you charged in there head first without a care in the world".
The answer had struck a bundle of nerves as Markus deeply remembered the gruesome scenes of horror of the mutilated bodies of the soldiers that fought side by side him in bringing the witches down, even though Markus suffered the same death inducing wounds that they did. The resolve and quick-thinking Markus showed made sure that he didn't shared their fate and instead got stronger and showed more tolerance to pain to the point that lesser abominations or weakened Chimeras can't even harm him. The man in question operated in missions which had no hopes of survival or help reaching him. His "Suicide Charges" were the main reason people and soldiers a like came crawling out of hopeless situations.
"Perhaps they should have stayed away from the frontlines and turned their uniforms in because you damn well know there was no way we would had survived, if we didn't show the balls necessary to complete the damn mission. Perhaps a quick trip to the frontlines instead of an air-conditioned office should change that?" This statement was followed with instant regret as Markus knew that Kyle was a brave man, who had lost the ability to fight due to him being injured to the point he couldn't fight anymore. Markus saw the man's face flare up with anger with a sense of hostility in the air.
Before he could respond Yazid intervened with a twisted and livid tone. "ENOUGH! Cease your endless prattle at once, I will not stand the both of you belittling one another with petty insults. Our enemies are amassing a force which could wipe us out with ease, we have ran out of time and as such require... some off worldly reinforcements". He answered with his tone returning to his smooth one.
The new piece of information had set forth a wave of confusion on the inhabitants of the room while replacing the tension as well, with some of them gawking at the man like he had been an alien hiding amongst them.
"Yo-You mean angels?" Markus asked with a hint of excitement in his voice.
"No, NO, those beings were always here as they protect us every now and then due to their numbers . They are only visible and interactable to the bearer of the mark of the Mujahideen i.e you but the rest of you can catch glimpses of them with your E.V helmets If you focused hard enough. Don't bother by the way as they don't really interact with you and generally ignore you, aside from that however this is information meant for Markus's ears only." With that everyone except for Markus and Yazid filed out the door.
"Now Markus, I will be sending you to a world where many mysteries and trials await you. The sentient of It are fighting off a threat very similar to our own yet the true evil we need to destroy resides in their world if we wish to stop this madness but you will have to have faith in me and your lord."
Placing a hand on Markus's forehead "By the will of Allah, Markus Obsidian is to be allowed transit to remnant with due haste, give the boy safe passage O Angels!".
With that a white vortex had engulfed Markus before he could even comprehend what was happening and reduced his world to darkness.
