After entrusting his dungeon and family to Rosa and Gawain, Carn activated his sentry gargoyle mode and teleported northeast, beginning his long journey toward New York. In this mode, Carn covered a staggering one kilometer every second, blinking through the fabric of space and time without spending a drop of Aether.
However, even the most experienced travelers encounter missteps. A minute into his journey, Carn accidentally materialized in the middle of a daycare center.
The room froze as stunned children and their teacher turned to stare at the figure. Their awe quickly morphed into terror, and they scattered, screaming and running for safety.
Carn sighed, relieved that the brief encounter hadn’t delayed him further. To avoid similar mishaps, he adjusted his rhythm. Slowing his teleportation speed to 500 meters per second or 30 kilometers per minute, Carn double-checked each destination before blinking again, prioritizing both safety and secrecy.
After 40 minutes of calculated travel, Carn arrived atop a skyscraper overlooking the Hudson River. From this vantage point, he surveyed the chaotic scene below.
Across the river, fearless zombies and skeleton warriors walked into the water, attempting to cross to New Jersey. On the shore, marines and local hunters deployed heavy artillery, firearms, and explosives to halt the advance. The undead that were incapacitated or destroyed drifted downstream, swept away by the river’s current toward the Atlantic Ocean.
Carn’s expression darkened as he realized the mistake that the humans had made. The discarded corpses and surviving zombies posed a serious threat as their remnants would likely infect sea life, mutating fish and other creatures into abominations under the Lich King’s control.
Determined to prevent an aquatic catastrophe, Carn teleported south, following the current until he landed on the crown of the Statue of Liberty. From his new perch, he scanned the waters with his Aether senses.
As he had predicted, thick miasma spread through the seawater, and distressed marine life swirled in panic. If they were left alone, all oceans and seas in the world would become a new dead zone.
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Recognizing the scale of the problem, Carn raised his hand and channeled an advanced holy spell, sacrificing 1,000 gold marks. A golden light erupted from his form, expanding in a colossal radius of 10 kilometers. The beacon penetrated deep into the ocean, its purifying energy obliterating undead creatures, eradicating the miasma, and neutralizing the virus infecting the waters.
But Carn wasn’t finished. Turning his attention to the Statue of Liberty herself, he infused her with an additional 1,000 gold marks and 1,000 silver marks. The monument began to glow as holy energy and Aether seeped into her structure. Her copper-green surface transformed into radiant gold, and her lifeless eyes lit up with divine rays.
The statue came to life, stepping gracefully down from her pedestal. The once-symbolic torch in her hand ignited with real holy flames. The newly awakened guardian turned her gaze northward, toward the battlefield.
The Statue of Liberty had transformed into another gargoyle!
Lifting her torch, the statue summoned thousands of blazing fireballs into the sky. These fiery projectiles swirled upward, gathering ambient holy energy from the environment. They grew larger, condensing into massive golden meteors.
The sky above Manhattan turned a dazzling gold as the meteors began their descent.
.
.
Sergeant Dan, an augmented hunter from the Marine Division, crouched behind a concrete barricade along Port Imperial Boulevard. The stench of gunpowder and burning flesh filled the air as he wiped sweat and grime from his face, gripping his M4 carbine. Only one magazine of mana rounds remained.
Chaos raged around him. The undead had crossed the Hudson River, breaching the first line of defense.
Dan cursed under his breath. If only these were the slow zombies of movies and stories, none of these disasters would have happened. Unfortunately, these monstrosities could leap 10 meters and sprint faster than Usain Bolt.
To make matters worse, the undead had intelligence. Skeleton soldiers sacrificed themselves, forming a grotesque bone bridge over the Lincoln Tunnel. Sprinting zombies used the makeshift structure to cross the river, while skeletal birds, which emerged from a rift in Central Park, harassed their military drones and sometimes kamikaze’d them.
"Reloading!" shouted Private Tong from Dan’s left while he fumbled with a fresh magazine.
Dan popped up from behind the barricade. His gaze locked on a zombie breaching their line. He fired a quick burst, and the mana rounds punched through its skull. It collapsed in a heap, but five more surged forward to take its place.
"Fall back to the third perimeter!" Captain Leroy bellowed from ten meters away, using the same barricade for cover. "We can’t hold this position!"
Dan’s stomach churned. He had seen the map. The third perimeter was the final line of defense before the undead would flood into New Jersey.
"We’re not going to make it," Tong whimpered, "This is the end of the world!"
"Shut up! We hold the line!!"
An explosion ripped through the air, shaking the ground beneath their feet. Shrapnel whizzed and grazed Dan’s face. Because of the adrenaline, he didn’t feel anything.
"RPG!" Leroy shouted, pointing to a skeleton knight. A marine in the next unit fired, and the rocket obliterated the creature and several others around it.
Out of the corner of his eye, Dan spotted a black canine sprinting toward their position.
"Dog!" he shouted, grabbing Tong and yanking him out of harm’s way. The zombie canine lunged, but Dan shoved the muzzle of his M4 into its gaping mouth and fired. The creature collapsed, twitching in death.
"Keep your head on straight, Private!"
Before Tong could respond, Leroy shouted again. "Now’s the time! FALL BACK! Fall…What the f-ck is that?! WHAT THE F-CK IS EVEN THAT?!"
Dan turned toward the captain and froze. A monstrous zombie, easily ten meters tall, loomed on the opposite shore. Its entire body and limbs were stitched from dozens of corpses, yet it moved as a singular unit.
Dan’s mind went blank. How could they possibly fight that?
Then it happened.
The sky turned bright gold as if god answered their prayers. Dan shielded his eyes, squinting at the source of the light.
From the south, the Statue of Liberty glowed with divine radiance. Her torch ignited into a blazing golden flame. And then, she moved.
"Oh my God…" Tong gasped for air, and he knelt on his knees, praying to the lord.
Dan couldn’t speak. He could only watch as the statue raised her torch high, unleashing thousands of fireballs into the sky. The fiery orbs ascended like a meteor shower in reverse, before arcing downward toward the battlefield.
"DANGER CLOSE! GET DOWN!" Dan shouted, shoving Tong’s head behind the barricade and covering his own.
The meteors struck with earth-shattering force. The river boiled, vaporizing the undead instantly. Central Park erupted in golden flames, incinerating every zombie, skeleton, and the massive abomination. The ash of their disintegrated forms scattered into the wind.
Shockwaves followed, sweeping across the battlefield like a tidal wave. Glass windows shattered, trees bent, and the air itself seemed to explode in their lungs. Every soldier on New Jersey’s side silently screamed as their eardrums burst.
When the chaos subsided, silence reigned.
Dan, reinforced by his augmented body, was among the few able to rise. He surveyed the river.
They were gone. The zombies and skeleton knights vanished.
On the opposite side, all the buildings were also gone. No zombie was present in the sea of gold flame.
Finally, his gaze turned south. The Statue of Liberty stood tall as the savior of the Hudson River’s battlefield.
"God bless America."
Dan was once an Atheist. But after the battle today, he would soon convert to a religion.
.
.
Soldiers, hunters, and even civilians on the New Jersey side froze, staring at the golden spectacle unfolding before them. To many, it was nothing short of a miracle.
When the meteors struck Manhattan Island, they unleashed devastating explosions of golden fire. Each impact vaporized the undead hordes in an instant. Zombies, skeletons, and even the abominable colossus were reduced to nothing but ash, swept away by the purifying winds.
Central Park, once a festering hive of corruption and death, was now a scorched ground. High-rise buildings were leveled, leaving no room for hiding.
From his vantage point atop the glowing Statue of Liberty, Carn observed the aftermath. He had fulfilled his role in turning the tide, but he couldn’t take credit. The humans would see this as the work of god, aka the Statue of Liberty, reborn as a guardian angel. That was for the best.
The Battle of Hudson River was over, but Carn’s war was far from finished. He turned his gaze toward the heart of the invasion—Central Park.
Hovering above the rift at the park’s center were Kaim Ariel and Mordred.
They were alive after getting hit by the holy meteors.
Carn locked eyes with them. For a moment, there was a tense silence. Then, as if acknowledging his power, both Lich Kings gave him a slight nod before retreating toward the rift.
Before he could pursue, a voice echoed in his mind. It was Kaim’s voice.
"We’re not your enemies, Demon Lord Pebble. "
Carn froze, recognizing the voice as Kaim Ariel’s. Without hesitation, Carn teleported to Central Park, determined to finish what he had started.
"Kaim! Explain yourself!"
Carn appeared in front of the rift, but it was too late. Kaim and Mordred vanished into the gate, which automatically closed itself. As both liches left, Kaim parted Carn with a message.
"Instead of wasting your time on us, you should worry about yourself, Demon Lord. Don’t you understand? Humans are the source of all corruption across every world."
"…"