Chapter 11- Shifting Gears
"Hah… Hah… Hah…" Rein continued running far away from the building as it collapsed. He knew that if he remained within the area of the destruction, he would possibly be crushed by one of the boulders flying his way. Running around a corner, he finally stopped as he exhaled a long breath and put Teo down.
The man looked traumatized as he stood there, completely speechless.
"S-Sir…" He eventually muttered.
Rein didn't reply as he continued breathing audibly. His hand was on his side where a stick has been lodged earlier. Due to his excessive movement and constant running, the injury opened even more and was bleeding profusely.
Pulling his hand away, he saw that it was still covered in his blood. Clicking his tongue, Rein looked up.
'Great. That's what I needed.'
"W-Why are the military attacking us… There are still living people amongst us…" Teo said as he put his hand on his mouth. "They're trying to kill us."
"What did you expect?" Rein asked coldly as he spat to the side. "They won't be able to take control of the situation any time soon. If anything, this is the smartest decision they could have made."
"H-How?"
"Killing these creatures is impossible with normal means. It's a waste of time and you might as well shoot those bullets and tank shells into the air."
"What are they, Mr. X?" Teo asked.
"They're called Undead. I still don't know where they came from, but it seems they're highly aggressive, and if they bite you, you get infected and become like them. They feed on the flesh of humans." He said. 'And they seem to evolve from it too.' He added in his head.
"Oh my god… So that's what happened to these people. How could that be?" Teo looked so distraught. Everything felt so unreal, but he tried to gather his thoughts. "What if there is a way to bring them back to normal?! Why do we kill them?"
"..." Rein looked at him for a second, silently, before he flicked his forehead with his index finger.
"Ouch!"
"Don't be stupid, Teo. I don't like stupid people." Rein said. "Those people are dead. Unless you discover a way to bring people back from the dead, it's impossible."
"..."
"Now, do you have your phone on you?" He asked.
"Y-Yes."
"Open the map, I need to check something."
"Yes, sir!"
After that, Teo handed Rein the phone. 'Hmm, let's see. The path from here to the north will be quite tricky. We will cut through several populated areas. If we take this route, we should be able to cut the distance quite a bit, but…'
As Rein tried to figure out a path, Teo kept staring around him nervously, not knowing if an Undead would approach them or not. The sound of missiles blasted in the distance, jumpscaring him every time it happened.
'I'm happy I found Mr. X. He seems to understand what's happening.' He thought to himself.
As he was like that, his eyes wandered above them casually, not expecting to see anything. That was when… His entire body froze.
"..."
The colors drained from his face as his mouth remained open in shock. Then, he muttered.
"S-Sir…"
"Hm?"
"S-Sir… A-Above you…" He said as he pointed up with shaky fingers.
Rein looked up immediately as his eyes met with those of a monster that crawled down the wall right to him with its large legs pointing at him. A large, black spider stared back at him as it suddenly opened its mouth and lunged down.
"AAAAAGH!!!" Teo screamed as he ran away.
Meanwhile, Rein clenched his teeth as he quickly summoned his sword out of thin air at the exact moment when one of the legs was about to stab him.
*CLING*
The sword clashed with the leg, making a sound as if it hit metal. Rein quickly jumped back as he created distance between them.
The spider crawled down to the ground and stared at him as it hissed angrily.
'Everything is so big in this damn world now. Even spiders.' He frowned as he channeled his energy, fueling his body with energy.
"S-Sir! You can't fight that!! You will die!"
Rein ignored Teo's yells as he dashed forward toward the monster. The creature hissed and crawled toward him rapidly.
*CLING*
They clashed violently again as they pushed each other back several steps. Then, they clashed again.
'What is this thing's legs made of?' He clenched his teeth as he dodged the other leg before it could stab his shoulder, and then kicked the monster with his leg. Looking down, Rein saw one of the rocks from the debris, so he quickly picked it up as he charged it with his Gravity Manipulation skill.
Then…
He threw it forward with all the power he could muster. The rock flew like a bullet as it slammed into the monster's face. Blood exploded from the spider as it stepped back, completely delirious and unbalanced.
Rein dashed toward it as he thrust his sword forward. The sword stabbed its eyes, drawing even more blood from it.
The creature hissed and tried to attack him before he could finish it off. However, Rein grabbed the sharp spider leg with his bare hand and dug the sword even deeper as the creature screamed until it eventually stopped and fell to the ground.
[You have killed a Level 5 Mutated Black House Spider.]
Rein's frown darkened as he looked at his hand. Since the leg was so sharp, it sliced his hand open. Throwing the leg to the side, he stared at the injury before he shook his head.
"..."
"Let's go." Rein said as he turned around, only to see a stunned face on Teo.
"What?"
"You… W-What was that-"
"You don't need to know. It's way above your pay grade." Rein replied as he pushed Teo. "Now, move. We don't have time to waste. Unless you want to be that thing's meal."
"No! Absolutely not!"
Making his sword disappear, Rein gave the dead spider one last look. He felt something off for some reason, but he didn't think much of it. There were far more important things to deal with at that moment.
The duo started moving toward the northern parts of the city. Navigating the narrow alleys and the smaller roads, they slowly progressed while Rein dealt with all the weak Undead he came across.
***
*Meanwhile, in the Temporary base*
"Violet! Violet!"
"Huh? Yeah?"
A voice spoke to Violet, snapping her out of her daze as she stopped fidgeting with her earpiece and looked up. It was a female colleague of Violet and a part of the intelligence department of the agency. Her name was Rita.
"Are you ok? Are you feeling sick?" The older woman asked as she sat next to her.
Meanwhile, all around them, soldiers and people ran in every direction, panicked. Outside, the sounds of monsters could be heard easily.
"I… I'm fine." She said as she exhaled. "Just thinking…"
"..."
"Everything happened so fast. I still don't understand what's going on." Violet said as she looked at the earpiece. 'Stay safe out there, Rein. Don't die.' She clenched the piece tightly.
"We cannot do anything. The agents are moving around, trying to figure out what is going on."
"Thank you, Rita. You're a real help." Violet said as she tapped the woman's shoulder and then looked ahead.
'But, this thing Rein told me about… This system. What is it really?'
Squinting her eyes, the panel appeared again magically.
[Name: Violet Crowfield.]