Cherreads

Chapter 55 - Dusk of the Planet of the Apes

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"ROOAAARR—!!"

A deafening roar erupted across the sky like thunder splitting the heavens.

The entire forest trembled.

Trees shattered like twigs under an invisible force, and dust and debris blasted skyward in a cyclonic surge.

Rocks were torn from the earth and flung like missiles in all directions.

In that instant, the battlefield was thrown into utter chaos.

CRASH! CRACK! BOOM!

The bulletproof glass of armed helicopters and military Humvees exploded inward.

Soldiers who'd moments ago been systematically slaughtering the last of the apes suddenly screamed—blood spurting from burst eardrums.

Some dropped their weapons and clutched their heads; others vomited as their organs spasmed violently from the sonic shockwave.

One after another, they collapsed like wheat before a scythe, felled by a power they could neither see nor comprehend.

"Buzz… buzz…!!"

Even Caesar, bloodied and barely conscious, felt his chest cave under the pressure.

His eardrums throbbed, his vision blurred, and he coughed up dark blood.

But it wasn't the pain that froze him in place.

It was the shadow.

Towering above the forest canopy, blotting out the last of the sun, was a silhouette so vast it defied logic—a living mountain of muscle, scale, and power.

Its head alone was the size of a battleship.

Metallic silver scales shimmered like liquid chrome.

Each footstep flattened trees and sent tremors rolling across the landscape.

"Wh-What is that thing?!"

"Is that a... dragon?!"

"It's Miraluz. Oh god, how is it even here?!"

Panic surged through the ranks of the human soldiers.

Those who weren't dead or unconscious stared up in helpless terror.

The monster's presence was too overwhelming—its shadow made rifles feel like twigs, tanks like tin cans.

They couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't even scream.

Then came the shrieking.

SCREEEEE!!!

From the clouds above, a swarm of shadows dove down at supersonic speeds—so fast they seemed to appear out of nowhere.

Their cries pierced the air, high and sharp, like glass shattering in the mind.

Pterosaurs.

Hundreds of them.

Camouflaged with the hues of the forest, they had gone unnoticed until now.

Now they descended like phantoms: Pteranodons, Dimorphodons, and at the center of the formation—the majestic and terrifying Quetzalcoatlus, wingspan stretching wider than a city block.

They weren't just flying. They were attacking.

SWOOSH—KRAK!

One after another, they tore into the Apache helicopters with merciless precision.

Beaks and talons sliced through fuselages.

One Dimorphodon punctured the rotor of a Kiowa scout and sent it spiraling into a fireball.

Another pterosaur drove its beak through a pilot's chest before leaping into another assault.

Then something unthinkable happened.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

From the backs of these airborne terrors, they leapt.

Dozens—hundreds—of medium and small land dinosaurs dropped from the skies like thunderbolts:

Therizinosaurs slashed through steel and bone with six-foot scythe claws.

Carnotaurus rammed vehicles into crumpled heaps.

Allosaurus bit down with bone-crushing force, tossing armored soldiers like rag dolls.

Velociraptors darted in coordinated packs, flanking and ambushing with surgical speed.

Dilophosaurs opened their frilled necks and spat venom into screaming faces.

And the smallest but deadliest: swarms of Compsognathus released arcs of bioelectricity, forming a field that disabled vehicles, radios, and even weapons.

"T-they're airborne units?!"

A surviving officer screamed as a Carnotaurus leapt from above and flattened his entire squad in a single crushing stomp.

It was no longer a battle.

It was slaughter.

The mountain division—elite, equipped, and hardened—was reduced to chaos in under ten minutes.

Military formations shattered like glass under a hammer.

Commanders couldn't get orders out fast enough before being ripped apart.

Explosions and fire blanketed the forest.

"FALL BACK!! RETREAT!! HEAD TO THE BAY!!"

The few who survived ran for the coast, throwing away their weapons in raw panic.

Bullets were useless. Mortars ineffective.

The battlefield was now ruled by monsters born of an ancient age—reborn through some unknown, terrible evolution.

"Ho ho ho!!"

A cruel, mocking laugh echoed above the waves—unnatural, booming, and resonant.

Then, the sea itself split.

From the depths of the Pacific, four titanic figures surged forth like primordial titans awakened from the abyss.

Water cascaded from their backs like waterfalls.

Their bodies were coated in shimmering scales and armor-like hides, each movement sending shockwaves through the surf.

The Mosasaur erupted from the tide like a living tsunami, its yawning maw lined with rows of serrated teeth that could swallow a tank whole.

Giganotosaurus, taller than any skyscraper, roared with such fury that birds in the clouds dropped dead mid-flight.

Tyrannosaurus Rex, now genetically enhanced, thundered forward with eyes glowing like molten gold—its steps sinking the coastline.

And at the center, the monstrous Spinosaurus, its sail-like spine slicing the horizon like a blade, moved with cold-blooded precision.

The four dinosaur Generals had arrived.

And they brought annihilation.

The panicked human soldiers, already fleeing from the forest inferno, now found themselves cut off—wolves in front, dragons behind.

Trapped between extinction and hopelessness.

"FIRE! FIRE EVERYTHING!"

Desperate orders rang out. Heavy machine guns, shoulder-mounted rockets, mortars—all unleashed at once.

The horizon lit up with muzzle flashes and explosions.

But it was futile.

Not a scratch.

The Generals advanced through fire and steel as if wading through mist.

Shells exploded harmlessly against their hides.

Every retaliatory move—a tail swipe, a stomp, a bite—instantly vaporized entire squads, crushed armored vehicles, or split the earth apart.

In minutes, it was over.

No one escaped.

No one survived.

The serene redwood coastline had become a crimson slaughterhouse.

The air was thick with blood, oil, and burning metal stench.

Broken bodies and shattered vehicles lay strewn across the sands like forgotten toys.

Blood ran in streams toward the ocean, painting the tide red.

It was a massacre.

And in the midst of this silence, broken only by distant waves and crackling fire, Caesar lay dying.

Eyes barely open. Chest rising only slightly.

He stared blankly at the sky, the burned treetops, and the distant setting sun that now peeked through smoke and ash.

Was this... the end?

Then, the light was blocked once more.

Not by smoke.

By a figure descending from the air, slow, controlled, cloaked in silver light.

He landed gently before Caesar.

It was Miraluz.

He said nothing at first.

He only observed.

He had just arrived on the battlefield when he detected the chaos.

The result was obvious from above: a broken ape tribe on the brink of extinction, and a victorious human force indulging in bloodshed.

He didn't intervene to save the apes.

Only Caesar remained now. Broken ribs, pierced lung, fractured skull.

His life force flickered like a candle in a storm.

Yet still, his eyes locked onto Miraluz with clarity.

"Thank you..." Caesar rasped in his native vocalization, too weak to rise but still proud.

Miraluz emitted soft sonic vibrations.

Not just sound—meaning.

"Rest in peace."

Caesar blinked once.

And then, with a final breath, the king of the apes closed his eyes forever.

Miraluz stood and raised one claw.

A crater opened in the earth with a low hum of energy—no tools, no struggle.

He gently placed Caesar's body inside and covered it with soil, forming a silent grave beneath the tallest redwood tree on the coast.

A king deserves to rest in his homeland.

The surrounding dinosaurs—some still drenched in human blood—lowered their heads in solemn respect.

One by one, they began to collect and bury the corpses of the fallen apes around them.

Not as animals or warriors, but as people of the same kind.

The redwood coast became a graveyard, not just for the dead, but for an entire era.

[Ding! Mission complete: "Rise of the Planet of the Apes."]

[Reward acquired: 10 units of ALZ-114.]

[ALZ-114: Upgraded from ALZ-113, this neural stimulant is compatible with most animal classes—including mammals, reptiles, avians, and aquatic species. It drastically enhances cognitive functions such as memory, imagination, judgment, and adaptability.]

 

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