There’s a reason nuclear weapons are forbidden in Neo-Tokara.

It’s not just because of the radiation and the long-term damage to the ecosystem, more importantly it is because of environmental contagion.

Low-ranking Ascended may not know the truth, but the fear of a Neon Beast Cataclysm was why the major factions of the world and their leaders collectively decided not to let more C Rank Ascended emerge.

But this was not the only way for the population of Neon Beasts to rise in the world uncontrollably, another way was through ADE nuclear bombs.

A nuclear bomb doesn’t just spread radiation, it also spreads ADE radiation and corruption within the vicinity where the bomb detonated.

There are multiple ways that Neon Beasts are created, and one of the most popular ways is ADE crystallization inside corrupted datastreams or energy reactors. Once created, they replicate through environmental contagion, infecting surrounding ADE fields to seed new digital-organic embryos. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

In areas of high ADE density like the Wastes, Neon Beasts reproduce rapidly through data mitosis.

And coincidentally, the aftermath of a nuclear bomb terraforms an ecosystem to meet all of the requirements above.

Essentially, the immediate aftermath of a nuclear bomb turns said ecosystem into a breeding ground for all kinds of Neon Beasts.

The blast did not end the violence, it only changed its nature.

...

Minutes after the disaster...

At first, it looked dead.

The impact zone stretched for kilometers in every direction, creating an endless basin of blackened glass and fused ruin.

The ground had liquefied and hardened into warped mirrors, reflecting a sky that was still choked with ash.

Nothing moved, nothing breathed, then the glass began to glow.

Thin veins of neon light crept beneath the surface in colors of electric blues, venomous greens, and ultraviolet fractures spreading like circuitry or like a disease through the earth.

They pulsed, irregular at first, then they synchronized like a heartbeat that was learning how to beat for the first time.

ADE corruption had taken root.

Radiation detectors, those that were installed in the outskirts of major cities and some Towns noticed it first as they began spiking irregularly.

Numbers looped, overflowed, and ceased to mean anything.

This wasn’t a fallout, it was activation as cracks spilt open across the glass plains with sharp, crystalline sounds.

And from within, something began to grow.

They didn’t crawl, they didn’t emerge, they simply assembled.

Multiple different structures pushed upward in jagged formations- half mineral, half organic, and threaded with glowing data-like patterns that flickered and shifted as if alive with code.

They resembled skeletons at first with angular frames of translucent crystal, humming faintly.

Then they moved as their limbs unfolded with unnatural precision.

Their heads formed last. It was featureless at first, then they warped and fractured into shapes that hinted at eyes, maws, and sensory organs that didn’t belong to any known biology- Neon Beasts!

Neon Beasts that were born of a nuclear disaster.

The first of them stood and unlike normal Neon Beasts, it didn’t roar. Instead, it pinged.

ZINGGGGGGGG!

A sharp, resonant tone echoed across the wasteland like a signal broadcast, and the ground answered.

CRACK... CRACK...

More cracks opened, more growth occurred, and more births took place.

The air itself thickened with particulate shimmer as microscopic shards of ADE crystal lifted, drifted, and embedded into whatever remained, from the wreckage to the corpses, including the very dust on the ground and the air.

Wherever they settled, the glow spread. And where it spread, the structure followed as more Neon Beasts were born. Rapidly.

The replication wasn’t slow, it was exponential.

A dense Neon Beast ecosystem was rising fast in the previous wasteland!

On one side, a fallen truck twitched as crystalline veins overtook its chassis, reshaping metal into something else- a grotesque monster-like truck with multiple limbs like a Spider.

On another side, a half-buried corpse convulsed once before dissolving into luminous scaffolding as its mass repurposed into another entity.

The ecosystem wasn’t recovering, it was being replaced.

And within just minutes, the dead zone wasn’t empty anymore.

It was seeding and gradually teeming with Neon Beasts!

...

Iron Reef, General Ren Nora’s office...

The valiant General dressed in war attire stood in front of a few of his high-ranking Lieutenants as he instructed in a stern voice.

"Mark the perimeter," he said coldly. "No Neon Beast should cross the second line without my command".

"Yes General!"

"Get Alphonse on the line," he instructed.

"Yes General!"

Ring... Ring...

Click!

"General". The Colonel on the other side greeted respectfully.

Calmly, Ren Nora inquired. "How’s the situation on the other side? The aircraft is in one piece, right?"

"Yes Sir, Leon survived with minimal injuries".

"The aircraft can be repaired in a few days".

"Good," Ren Nora exhaled. "I’m sending reinforcement to Canyon Hub now, work with them and make sure that the Neon Beast replication doesn’t turn into a Beast Tide disaster".

"I need you to contain it, understood?"

"Yes General!"

...

The Freegrid Collective didn’t hide the news.

Under General Ren Nora’s orders, they spread the awareness of the possible Neon Beast Tide disaster that was just triggered by the terrorists as across multiple Waste communities and Towns in the vicinity, people began evacuating.

"Move fast!" Soldiers of the Freegrid Collective urged them.

"Keep on moving, don’t stop!"

"Move in a straight line!"

"Enter the trucks and evacuate!"

...

Far away from Canyon Hub, while evacuation happened across the communities in the West and across the multiple self-sustaining Towns, Colonel Alphonse organized the containment battalion.

As the Commander of the containment operation, he stood at the edge of the glowing horizon, his silhouette sharp against the creeping tide of Neon Beasts.

Behind him, an entire column of armored units had mobilized, from troop carriers to drone swarms, to artillery rigs that were all calibrated for one purpose: Containment.

The soldiers in charge reported to their Commander.

"Colonel, the Thermal Lances are ready!"

"The Rail Cannons are ready!"

"The..."

Alphonse received all the reports calmly as his soldiers moved with practiced urgency. They had trained and drilled for scenarios like this, though they prayed they would never see it.

But it was too late now.

And then, the first wave came into view. The Neon Beasts didn’t charge, they just advanced in eerie unison as hundreds of Neon Beasts crossed the lass field, their bodies refracting light into shifting spectrums.

Their glassy eyes were filled with malevolent will.

Commander Alphonse raised his right hand and held it for a few seconds, then he pointed it forward.

"FIRE!!!"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

...

And while the containment started, for the first time in centuries, the 8 most powerful beings in the world had a meeting.