THE ZOMBIE SYSTEM-Chapter 65 - 64: Abyssal Commander

"Reality bends to my will. Your dimension submits."

The voice spoke in harmonics that bypassed hearing and struck directly at consciousness. Above the dimensional tear, something that defied human perception emerged like living shadow given terrible form.

The demon commander’s arrival sent shock waves through both physical and magical planes. Windows throughout the central district exploded simultaneously. Street lights burst in cascading sequences. The air itself screamed as natural laws bent under pressure from an entity that operated by different rules.

Leon felt his system interface flicker wildly as the creature fully manifested. Error messages scrolled past faster than he could read. Power readings spiked beyond measurement. His twenty spectral warriors had already collapsed, but something strange was happening to his core abilities.

"Elise, can you still heal?" Leon asked urgently.

She tried channeling her evolved magic. Green light sparked for a moment, then recoiled as if burned. "Something’s wrong. My power won’t stabilize near that thing."

The basement walls vibrated with each of the commander’s footsteps three blocks away. Dust rained from ceiling cracks that spread like spider webs. Leon’s mother pressed against the far wall, her newly awakened perception screaming warnings about approaching death.

Hunter communication networks crashed as the commander’s presence corrupted magical frequencies. Emergency channels filled with static. Coordination crystals shattered in guild headquarters across the city. The careful defensive plans that had kept Armathor’s hunters organized dissolved into chaos.

"All units, report status," Director Voss’s voice crackled through dying communication systems before cutting to silence.

Iron-fang squads found their enhancement magic failing. Sanctuary healers watched their divine power flicker and die. ARES mercenaries discovered weapons that had functioned for decades suddenly refused to activate. Only the most basic equipment continued working.

Panic spread faster than physical destruction as hunters lost their primary tool. F-rank civilians had lived without interfaces their entire lives. A-rank elites who depended on constant system feedback found themselves blind and helpless.

The commander’s form defied human perception. It shifted between states of existence, solid one moment, ethereal the next. Sometimes it appeared as towering shadow. Other times as writhing energy that hurt to perceive directly. Reality couldn’t decide what the entity actually was.

Leon pressed his hands against his temples as psychic pressure built behind his eyes. The commander wasn’t just physically present. It projected mental force that pressed against every conscious mind in the city.

Weaker-willed civilians collapsed in the streets. Children screamed and couldn’t stop. Adults stared at nothing while their minds tried to process something beyond human understanding. Only hunters with strong mental conditioning remained functional.

The entity spoke through multiple voices simultaneously. Each word echoed from different directions, creating harmonies that shouldn’t exist in three-dimensional space.

"Where is the vessel? The one who channels death without corruption?"

Leon’s blood went cold. The commander was searching for someone specific. Someone who could "channel death without corruption." That description matched his necromantic abilities perfectly.

His system interface flickered but remained functional. While every other hunter in the city lost their connection to magical systems, Leon’s power stayed stable. The realization marked him as unique in ways he didn’t understand.

"Why isn’t my interface failing?" Leon wondered aloud.

Elise looked at her own dead system display. "Because whatever that thing is, it’s connected to your power somehow."

The truth hit Leon like ice water. His zombie system wasn’t standard hunter magic. It operated by different rules that aligned with the commander’s nature. That alignment protected him from the psychic disruption affecting everyone else.

But it also meant the commander could track him.

His undead servants, rather than growing weaker in the commander’s presence, began manifesting with greater clarity. His warrior zombie materialized without being summoned, spectral armor gleaming more brightly than ever before.

"Master," the zombie spoke in Leon’s mind. "The darkness calls to us. Power offers itself freely."

Leon felt the temptation. Raw necromantic energy flowed from the commander’s presence like water from a broken dam. He could create armies of undead with a fraction of his normal manna cost. Power beyond his wildest ambitions waited for him to claim it.

But that power came with corruption that would transform him into something inhuman.

"No," Leon said firmly. "We don’t take gifts from demons."

The commander began moving through the city with purpose. Its passage left reality distorted in ways that would take years to repair. Street stones melted and reformed into patterns. Metal twisted into shapes that glitched into dimensions.

Guild coordination broke down completely as interface malfunctions spread. Squadron leaders found themselves unable to contact their units. Emergency protocols designed around magical communication became useless. Hunters who had trained for coordinated operations devolved into isolated individuals fighting alone.

Elise attempted her healing magic again. This time, instead of recoiling, the green light darkened to purple at the edges. Her evolved abilities adapted to the commander’s presence, drawing power from the same source that fueled Leon’s necromancy.

"It’s working," she said with surprise and fear. "But it feels wrong. Like I’m channeling something I shouldn’t touch."

Her healing now carried whispers of death magic. Not corruption exactly, but connection to forces that existed between life and death. The evolution she’d experienced in the medical center was accelerating under the commander’s influence.

Leon’s mother watched the interaction with her newly awakened perception. "Both of you are changing. The thing out there isn’t just hunting you - it’s calling to something inside you."

The commander’s psychic voice reached every conscious mind in the city simultaneously. Reality bent around its words, making them impossible to ignore or forget.

"I sense you, vessel. Your power resonates with mine across dimensions. You cannot hide from what you truly are."

Leon grabbed his head as the voice pressed directly against his consciousness. Unlike the broadcast to everyone else, this message was personal. Targeted. The commander was speaking to him specifically.

"Your evolution exceeds our predictions. Mortal magic touched by primordial forces. You walk between life and death without losing your humanity. Fascinating."

The entity’s attention focused on Leon’s location with laser precision. He felt its awareness pressing against the basement walls like physical weight. The commander knew exactly where he was hiding.

"Come to me, vessel. Your evolution awaits."

The psychic call wasn’t just communication. It was compulsion that pressed against Leon’s will with irresistible force. His feet began moving toward the basement stairs without conscious decision. The commander’s voice promised power, knowledge, and understanding of abilities he’d never fully grasped.

"Leon, don’t listen to it," Elise warned. But her own evolved magic responded to the commander’s presence with hunger for greater power.

His mother stepped between Leon and the stairs. "That thing wants to use you for something. Don’t make it easy."

The commander’s laughter echoed through dimensional barriers. "Resistance is expected. But inevitable. You carry fragments of our realm within your soul. That connection calls you home."

Leon fought against the compulsion, but each word made resistance harder. The commander wasn’t threatening his family or promising destruction. It offered understanding. Answers to questions about his powers that no one else could provide.

Why did his zombie system work differently than normal necromancy? Why could his undead evolve intelligence and personality? Why did death magic respond to his will without corrupting his soul?

The commander promised explanations for everything.

"Your dimension holds many vessels, but few survive the initial awakening. Fewer still resist corruption long enough to reach their potential. You are... unique."

Leon realized the commander wasn’t here to destroy everything. The invasion, the monsters, the coordinated attacks - all of it was designed to locate him specifically. The entity had torn through dimensional barriers not for conquest, but for recruitment.

"I seek fellowship, not domination. Your evolution benefits both our realms. Come willingly, and I will answer every question that haunts your dreams."

The psychic call reached Leon directly, bypassing his conscious defenses and speaking to the part of his soul that hungered for power and understanding.

"Come to me, vessel. Your evolution awaits."

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