"Bastard!" Nathan groaned. His adrenaline surged, and his heart stopped.
Everything rested on this moment.
'I'll die.'
If he let his guard down now, he'd die.
He crossed his forearms in front of his body.
THUD!
The demon slammed into him.
"Coughh…"
All the air left his lungs.
Crack!
His arms twisted in strange ways, shattered.
"Aghh…"
His body slid backward, forced from the impact.
Pain assaulted him, but his frown only deepened.
But strangely, the demon soared into the sky, not pressing to finish him.
Strength gathered in Nathan's legs.
Swoosh!
He leaped forward.
Thud!
A hand grabbed him.
Several more followed, pinning him to the ground.
Rotting hands.
"NATHAN!!"
Gerold screamed, but in vain.
'I'll die…' Tears streamed down. Nathan realized.
The demon threw him among the zombie horde, and with his arms broken, he couldn't set himself free.
He'll die. No! He'll suffer a fate worse than death.
"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Horrendous screams broke out. Nathan's screams.
The zombies were eating him alive.
Tearing his flesh and hair, pulling out his ears, peeling the skin off his face.
By the second, the screams grew inhumane.
'Let me die,' His mind screamed, but only a wet gurgle left his throat.
The zombie tore his throat, tore his vocal cords.
He was choking on his own blood, trying to fill his lungs with air, but only blood drowned him.
Although his screams died, his agony deepened.
Then…he died.
The same thought lingered in his dying mind.
'There is no hope in this world.'
'Gerold was right.'
…
Screeech!
The demon let out a cry, announcing its victory.
Gerold glared, his eyes spitting fire.
But no words left his mouth. No words could satisfy his fury. Nor could it provoke the demon.
He could only swallow his rage.
"Come at me, you bastard." His teeth creaked.
But although his fighting spirit was burning, his face had turned pale. His body was reaching its limit.
Swoosh!
Suddenly, the demon lunged downward.
It grasped two zombies, one with each claw, and soared again.
Swoosh!
It threw the zombies at Gerold.
"Come!"
Gerold roared.
But the demon was already descending with the zombies, straight at him.
"Impenetrable defense!"
His shield let out a weak light.
Swoosh!
The demon suddenly changed direction,
It charged at Mateo.
"Hmph!"
Gerold scoffed.
Swoosh!
He threw the shield forward, at the two incoming zombies meant to hold him in place.
"MATEO!!!"
He stormed towards him.
"YESS!!"
Swush!
Mateo's body ignited.
"AGHHHHHHHH!"
His screams tore the night.
But the demon slowed. It hesitated.
"I'd rather burn myself to death than let you play with us!!"
Gerold caught up to the demon.
Thud!
A punch landed on its head.
But it soared up immediately.
THUD!
A zombie flew.
A zombie out of nowhere, slamming into the demon.
Its body swayed in the air.
Scre?
It looked around, confused.
"Where did that come from?"
Liam looked in the direction the zombie flew from.
The entire battlefield froze.
Even the zombie halted.
Gerold raised his guard to the maximum. All hope vanished from his heart.
'Something even more monstrous has arrived.'
He could only judge by the reaction of the battlefield.
"SCHRIIIK!"
The demon let out a shriek. A shriek of a terrified little rat.
Swoooosh-shluck!
A blue streak flashed.
"Wha…"
Before anyone could react, the zombies before them split in half.
Green blood poured out and rot drenched the air.
Gerold and the others froze.
Swush! Swush!
Two more streaks flashed.
The heads of the zombies opened in half.
Dead brain matter flowed out.
Swoosh!
The butchered-up zombies flew aside.
As if an invisible force forced them aside, opening a path.
Then, from the distance, a figure emerged.
A child.
The demon trembled.
It no longer looked at Gerold, nor Liam.
Its entire attention rested on the child approaching.
Kai.
.
.
.
"As Kai emerged, the demon tried running away, but it couldn't. Thus, it decided to take us down with it."
"It managed to kill Mateo…"
Gerold paused.
"And as it lunged at Liam, I pushed him aside…"
"He saved my life…" Liam lowered his head, glancing at Gerold's lump.
His fists tightened.
"But he lost his arm. His shield-wielding arm."
The room fell silent.
Vincent gulped hard.
His pupils trembled, and his eyes watered. But no one noticed. He hid it well under his frown.
"If not for those damn zombies…"
Liam cursed.
"I'm sorry,"
Vincent lowered his head, not daring to look at them.
His heart palpitated.
"It's not your fault." Gerold shook his head, trying to sound reassuring, but his voice came out unconvincing.
And so did his expression.
His eyes were glued on Linda, who finished bandaging his arm, at least what remained of it, a lump.
Vincent secretly stole a glance at his face.
"It is my fault."
His nails dug into his flesh.
But once again, Gerold shook his head.
"It's the fault of the demon."
'What you don't know, Gerold, it's…'
"If only I hadn't…"
Vincent paused.
'If only I didn't start the apocalypse,'
"If only I didn't leave you,"
He thought one, but entirely different words left his mouth.
"At that time, we all agreed for you to pass the message. It was important."
"It could've waited…"
"Besides…" Gerold interrupted. "Even if you were there, nothing would've changed."
He looked at Livia.
"We need to reassess the danger the demons pose. At least these initial demons."
Livia nodded.
They knew the demons they were facing now were only weaklings.
Why?
They didn't know.
But they did know that the more time passed, the stronger demons emerged from the tower.
"Either we have underestimated them…" Livia muttered. "Or they are evolving."
"Both situations are bad." She added.
"I think this should be addressed at the next Group Leaders meeting," Gerold proposed.
Livia nodded.
"We'll discuss this later; for now, you need to rest."
He had not slept for a long time, and with what he suffered, exhaustion piled up.
"Here."
Livia pulled out a syringe.
"Don't waste precious medicine on me."
"You experienced extreme psychological shock."
She flicked the needle she attached.
"This will help you sleep better."
"In this collapsed world, what have we not seen yet?"
Gerold smirked mockingly. It was ironic. What has this world not delivered to him?
Livia said nothing.
She injected the medicine into his arm, and they left the room, leaving him to rest.
Gerold lay in the bed, staring at the ceiling with his eyes wide open.
With his remaining hand, he felt the lump.
The medicine was still present. He felt no pain. Only numbness, and the emptiness of missing a significant part of yourself.
The effect of the sleeping medicine kicked in quickly, and he drifted into sleep.