Chapter 36: Zombies
Long and fast steps of a person that seemed to be leisurely running echoed through the cave. Damped air, tinted with something ominous, something that hinted of a hidden meaning beneath the veil of darkness reeked a smell that made people's heart feel heavy. The terrifying coldness as if there was no warmth left in this lightless world added fuel to the heavy atmosphere.
Tak.Tak.Tak.
Like the bass of an opening melody, as if someone was dancing in a silent ballroom alone, the footsteps echoed to a beautiful rhythm.
Then…
"Kuaaakkkk!!!" A heart piercing scream shattered the temporary silence and the peaceful rhythm out of nowhere.
Long golden hair fluttered in the wind, glittering in darkness as if they were made by combined stars.
Slash!
[You have slayed a Zombie human E-]
[Core energy +0.1]
[Sub-authority:
A body fell to the ground after being cut in half. Kyriaki waved her sword and adjusted her stance with a poker face. Her golden yellow eyes, like a fancy vivid yellow diamond shone with a ruthless light.
A half a second passed, Kyriaki disappeared, leaving behind a blurry afterimage from where she stood as a few more zombies threw themselves at her with burning screams.
The next second, she appeared over their heads.
Cadmus' Dragon Slayer turned into a long Whip blade and flew towards five zombies at once like a slithering snake.
[You have slayed a Zombie human E-]
[Core energy +0.1]
[You have slayed a Zombie human E-]
[Core energy +0.1]
[You have slayed a Zombie Elf E+]
[Core energy +0.3]
[You have slayed a Zombie Lion Beastman E]
[Core energy +0.2]
[You have slayed a Zombie Halfling E]
[Core energy +0.2]
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The monsters were sliced to pieces and fell apart in a blink of an eye. Kyriaki gracefully landed on the ground, her confident gaze was fixed on the holographic compass in her smart watch.
West.
She was still heading west.
Her destination was the mid-boss room of this first dungeon. After clearing the first, she'd have to clear the second dungeon as well for the reason that it was an annoying double dungeon.
Usually, the boss room is located in the middle when it comes to trap gates that are connected to double dungeons.
Since she found herself in the east, she had to go west in hope of reuniting with her team.
"Grrrrr" A raspy growl brought her back to reality. Kyriaki spun her Whip-sword around without even looking.
"Raaarrrrr!!!"
"Kyaaaakkkkk!!!"
"Graaah!!!"
"Harrrr!!!"
Furious snarls and screeching roars overlapped with one another and soon died down. The sound of the notification bar that only she could hear resonated with her ears.
Kyriaki refrained from pausing her advances towards the center of the dungeon. She went astray when the tunnels only had one path. Sometimes she went south west, sometimes she went northwest. Some more times she had to go back and choose other tunnels because some lead her back to the east or completely to other directions.
Right now she was walking on a tunnel that was leading her to the northwest. She had to grit her teeth inwardly as she walked in silence. Due to some unknown reason, she couldn't find a tunnel going straight to the west where the center was. The closest one was this northwest tunnel.
Just when she was considering breaking the dungeon walls with her sheer force, her passive skill
The silhouettes were similar to Humans. It might be zombies or it might be something else. Kyriaki's eyes gleamed dangerously. Her short feet speed up her pace. She soon reached the end of the tunnel, stepping into another dark cave.
"No, no…please. Please Levana, save me." A sobbing voice, wet with tears and fear echoed in the massive cave.
Kyriaki lowered her head. There were two sections to the new cave, like two floor-like platforms. One above and the other below, separated by about ten meters height. Kyriaki was standing on the upper floor. Her view was clear as she watched from above.
Below Kyriaki was the second section of the cave. It looked like a narrow path with a wall on the side and an abyss pit on the other side. Surprisingly, her eyes couldn't see the bottom of the pit.
Kyriaki tilted her head and observed the boy who was hanging on the edge of the path with difficulty. He would have fallen into the bottomless pit if not for the spike on the edge he held onto.
'This is interesting.' Kyriaki summoned her drone camera with a different kind of gleam compared to a moment before.
The drones were for capturing her twin brother's adorable moments, so she carried it everywhere. But today the purpose of it felt a bit different.
"Please save me…I-i was wrong!!" The boy—Ethan, begged the girl who was standing before him with blank eyes. His bloody appearance with wounds all over looked pitiful.
"...what did you do wrong, Sir Ethan?" The girl—Levana asked, her grey eyes seemed to tremble ever so slightly.
"I-i apologize! I'm sorry for everything I did! Yes! I was wrong for intentionally bullying you at EESOP! I-i was wrong for making other people force to pick on you too!! Ah! That's right! Adam did it too!" Tears continuously fell down his cheek as Ethan screamed in fear. "I'll make sure he gets punished too! Huh, Levana? Will you help me? Please…I-i don't want to die."
"Is that all you did?" But Levana seemed to have no intention of helping him.
"H-huh?" Ethan looked up with genuine fear.
"I asked, is that all you did? You think I didn't know you were about to push me from here? If I didn't step sideways, I could have been the one to cry and beg right now."
"..." At Levana's stern response, Ethan went silent. Then he slowly bowed his head. The struggles to overcome death that had been present on his face was covered by the darkness.
"Please…" he sobbed, now more quiet yet still pleading to her like a weak mortal worshipping a god. "Please…I was wrong. Please save me."
'Wow…what is this shameless weekend K-drama?' Kyriaki unconsciously summoned a popcorn bucket she prepared for Kyrios and slowly began to enjoy the sight with an amused expression. To her, who only saw the situation from the middle, it looked very dramatic.
Levana started at Ethan with clenched fists. Her hardened expression was unlike her clumsy and cheerful expression she displayed before. It almost looked like someone who had had enough of nonsense.
"Ahh.. please, please. I won't do it again." Ethan's voice made Kyriaki nearly burst into laughter.
She had seen this kind of people a lot in her past life. Weak mentality but full of arrogance, thinking they are better than others. But when a situation arises, they crumble and beg like mere insects.
Crack.
Just then, the rock spike Ethan was holding made a crackling sound. Ethan held his breath and Levana's eyebrows twitched. Kyriaki leisurely brought popcorn to her mouth, watching the scene with increasing interest.
Crack…crack.
"Ahhh…Ahhh!!! No, no, please…" Ethan panicked. He struggled with all his might to crawl back to the narrow path while crying like a madman.
Crack! shatter!!
The spike broke from his maddening struggle. Ethan began to fall down in a quarter of a second. Kyriaki tilted her head with a faint smile.
'So in the end, she's taking her revenge?'
Kyriaki didn't blame her. Although revenge was not something she understood well, she thought she had no right to judge a victim who was punishing her abuser. If it was Levana's decision to abandon Ethan out of resentment, Kyriaki could cover for Levana when needed.
It was what she thought…
'But I guess that's not necessary.'
Before half a second passed, Levana's hand automatically grabbed Ethan's. It was such a fast movement that Kyriaki inwardly admired this little assassin's skills.
"Ugh." But it seems a male of similar age was still heavy for her.
Levana gritted her teeth and pulled Ethan up with all her might. Her knees dug deep into the dirt around her. Her black & white track suit that got directly touched by dust and soil surprisingly never got dirty.
A struggle that felt like forever came to an end after dozens of minutes of Levana's help. Meanwhile Kyriaki did nothing as she observed them like a cat observing her new toy.
Ethan barely managed to crawl up, panting like a wild dog after running away from a lion pride. However the moment he came up and released Levana's hand, she lost her balance and leaned forward.
"Huh?" Levana made a dumbfounded sound.
It wasn't that Ethan pushed her like she said before. It was more like Ethan's final force made her body unbalanced. Still, there was something else Kyriaki caught on the spot.
There was so much time for Ethan to catch Levana if he wanted to, but he just cared for himself and looked away from Levana despite knowing exactly what was happening.
Levana made a regretful expression, as if she immediately understood what Ethan was thinking and what was happening to her. In the next moment, darkness swallowed her whole, like a shadow monster slowly devouring its prey.
Kyriaki rolled her eyes at the soap opera level dramatic scene.
'What a cliché.' She couldn't help but think.
A second passed.
"Sigh…" Kyriaki threw her popcorn away and jumped into the bottomless pit without hesitation, as if she was about to dive into a pool in a summer villa for fun, without any sense of danger.
Swoosh!!
Ethan, who was panting while staring at the darkness that swallowed Levana instead of him, widened his eyes when a golden ball fell from above. He immediately noticed the unique golden mist that surrounded the ball.
Flap!
And the sound of wings flapping followed.
Flap. Flap.
In less than ten seconds, a golden dragon hatchling emerged from the dark pit, carrying a grey haired elf with her sharp claws. Ethan crawled backwards at the sight.
"H-how…"
All of this happened in a flash of light that both dark elves couldn't grasp their own situation. Kyriaki gently put down Levana and gracefully landed on the ground. Her golden scales glowed in the dark like a second sun.
Kyriaki lifted her long neck and looked down at the two elves in silence. Her Golden yellow slit pupils gleamed with unknown emotions. Ethan shivered in fear at the dragon aura Kyriaki radiated.
"Ahh.. that's-that's not what it looks like—"
—Enough— Kyriaki's cold voice flowed out in mental sound waves.
—I don't need your pathetic excuses. If you can't make peace and work together like a team, I might as well just let you die alone— Her voice conveyed a clear ruthless command filled with indifference. —Do better, don't make me repeat myself—
A cold warning, like an ice cold sea, reached both elves like tidal waves. They couldn't breath as if they were facing a formidable foe that could not possibly belong to this world.
It felt ancient, like time. And uncanny, like the space. A terrifying and awe-inspiring sensation that cannot be ignored.
If the dragon aura was like this now, how much would it grow when it transformed into
It was unimaginable.
However the feeling of being suffocating didn't last long as Kyriaki's body transformed into a human after the golden mist ended. She was once again wearing an EESOP track suit with the help of her smart watch.
She chanted the name of a light element spell.
For the first time, the elves could clearly see their surroundings better. Until now they had to use their nano-tec suits that emitted a soft glow and the flashlight of the smart watch to reflect light using ribbon like canyon walls.
Kyriaki glanced at the two elves who were frozen stiff and turned around with effortless elegance that always made her appear graceful and authoritative. Few light orbs floated around her like fireflies, making her look like a beautiful painting.
With a swoosh, she made a long jump and landed on the upper floor where she was previously standing. The light orbs followed her, and the camera drones flew towards her and disappeared into particles as she tilted her head.
There was another tunnel entrance a bit far from the tunnel she came from.
Kyriaki looked at the holographic 3D compass and headed towards the tunnel which showed the south this time. Since she was walking towards the northwest all the time, she had to change directions to find the center.
Meanwhile the two elves just stared at her blankly.
"Aren't you coming?" The detached voice of Kyriaki brought them back to reality.
"C-coming!" Levana jumped up and landed on the spot where Kyriaki previously landed with great difficulty. Then she ran towards the golden hatchling who didn't even look back once. She heard the sound of footsteps belonging to Ethan following her, but she ignored it, just like Kyriaki ignored both of them.
For a while, no one spoke.
Only the sound of three children walking behind one another could be heard.
"By the way, how did you two meet? This is the northwest. I'm certain you both have a compass, no?" At Kyriaki's curious question Levana smiled faintly. Her grey eyes seemed to have half given up.
"I had to run away from Poison pythons and I unknowingly went north east instead of east. And then…" Levana trailed off as if she didn't want to talk about it anymore. Kyriaki nodded without questioning further.
"We have to find the other three soon. I'm not worried about Eucee and Prince Erik, but Sir Adam is different." This time Levana nodded in understanding.
"He's a coward. I hope he won't die so easily." Kyriaki smirked at her words. It seemed that the clumsy Levana wasn't such a push over after all.
"You want him to die horribly?" She asked.
"I want him to pay for his sins in his death." Levana immediately replied.
"So a little horribly after all."
"Well, I guess so."
"Aren't you getting too reckless? Wishing for your teammates to die."
"I'm not a saint, nor am I a protagonist from a heroic novel. I hold grudges too." Levana shrugged her shoulders. Perhaps due to the shock of nearly dying, her clumsy way of speaking had decreased significantly.
"Understandable." Kyriaki's lips curved into a smile.
Although sometimes she saw soap operas and K-dramas through the lives that surrounded her, she understood the cause was due to the culture and lifestyle of people who live in this world.
Constantly facing monsters and hostile races to survive and training physically and mentally to grasp power that guarantee survival had made the people view a different kind of world from an ordinary person of 21st century earth.
While the two girls were chatting leisurely, Ethan shivered as he heard the cruel and cold comments they shared. He had already forgotten he had played death games with his fellow classmates before, and even attempted murder a while ago.
The conversation where two girls shared their killing intent like they were talking about weather was enough to make him tremble in fear like a newborn lamb.
Ethan rubbed his goosebumps rising hands. His steps absurdly came to an end when Kyriaki paused her walk.
"??" Question marks practically floated above the two elves when it happened.
They watched their team leader tilting her head adorably, the smile on her lips seemed strangely dark. Ethan took a step back when suddenly, she revealed her dragon eyes again. It appeared that she was using
Then a faint hungry groan leaked from the dark tunnel that looked like twisted ribbons.
"Grrr…"
Kyriaki smiled brightly.
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