Return of the last survivor
Chapter 76: The Nation of Cayden

Similar scenes occurred with members of many squads having paid with their lives to protect their families and squad members.

Many people died during this battle, yet, humanity had triumphed. Merlin decided to hold a day of morning the next day for all those that lost their lives.

The next day, almost every single human within the sanctum gathers at the respective bases to give their condolences. Only the sickly or those who were seriously injured, along with necessary staff members for patrols, guard duty, and other essential services did not appear.

They were all waiting in the main halls of each of the 214 bases within the sanctum, a heavy atmosphere prevalent amongst them.

Merlin's projection appeared as a hologram in the centre.

"Today," he began in a solemn voice, "we have gathered here to morn for those who lost their lives."

"Let me be clear about something. I may be strong, but I am not god. When faced with an overwhelmingly large number of enemies from multiple directions, I would not have been able to save the sanctuary in time. In the end, they might not have killed me, but they would have definitely killed those I loved and cared for."

"This is also the same feeling that would have gone through every single member of the Merlin Troops yesterday. They cared not for their lives, nor for their wealth or fame. They only cared for those in their squads, and those back in the sanctum, waiting for them."

"Without these brave soldiers, I wouldn't have been able to keep the sanctum standing today. The Tier 2s coming in from the west would have easily razed the place to the ground."

"For this, I thank them." He them turned around and gave a deep and meaningful bow, just as the projections of all those who died in battle appeared.

Images of all 1429 people lost filled each auditorium.

This scene riled the emotions of all those who had lost their family members after they noticed the ones who died come back to life in the life-like projections.

Even those who hadn't lost anyone seemed to be pulled into this feeling of sadness and emptiness, along with an incredibly powerful feeling of loss.

After waiting for a few moments, Merlin spoke once more.

"Therefore, I have decided to transform. From a sanctum, to a nation. I have also realised my selfishness and childishness while naming the sanctum and the military. A lot of things will be different from now on, including the very name of the nation."

"From this day forward! A nation shall rise. A nation born from the ashes. A nation built to carry the hopes of humanity. A nation to hold the torch of the last survivors, and make it into the blazing flame of a re-ignited civilisation. A nation called Cayden."

This speech slowly began to raise the spirits of the people. The dull and gloomy mood replaced by small sparks of fire, waiting for the right tinder to allow it to burn into a blazing flame.

"Epizon is not a nation for normal people. It is a nation of fighters. It is a nation built to go against the zombies, who have tried to eliminate our race. Make no mistake, zombies are not human, and will never become human. Humans and zombies can never co-exist."

This suddenly lit up the fires of justice and passion, along with the will to survive within the hearts of all those present, and all the others watching the scene remotely on their coms.

"This will be a nation of survivors! We will not bow down and accept our fates. We will fight. Just like those who have laid down their lives today, and those who will in the future. We will keep fighting. And fighting, until every single zombie has been eliminated from the face of the Earth!"

The blazing anger, and passion in everyone's eyes was just about to burst, when suddenly, a single person began chanting.

"Cayden!"

This suddenly added the last bit of fuel needed to ignite the passion of everyone as they all joined in.

"Cayden! Cayden! Cayden! Cayden!"

This phenomenon moved like wildfire to the rest of the bases through coms calls.

Satisfied with the result, Merlin waited for nearly 10 minutes until the fervour calmed down before he spoke in a more composed manner.

"Make no mistake. This nation will not be a democracy, one that is crippled by infighting and corruption on every level. It will be under my sole lead. However, I do not intend on being a dictator. Most normal aspects will be run by a government body, and a court of law. By I will take over if need be."

"I leave you with this. If you wish to rot alone in some forgotten corner of the world then take your family and leave. I do not require weaklings. For those who will remain, I declare you officially citizens of Cayden."

With this declaration, the independent nation of Cayden was formed, coming as a great shock to many of the survivor groups who got wind of this news, as well as certain existences in the void.

"He managed to create a nation. The Supreme one no longer favours this mortal, and is more inclined towards killing him. We even sped up the specialisation of the infected, yet he used this as a stepping platform to grow even further."

"I will report this immediately. Krog, you keep an eye on the planet." Said Shem as her figure faded.