I swung my blade across to get the blood off of it, before sheathing it and turning back towards the others.
"We must run...it vexes me to admit it, but we do not stand a chance against those creatures. They number in the tens of thousands, and with so many of our best Adventurers already gone...we simply have no hope of subduing them. No, even if we were at full strength, I would not be confident," Said the king, as we all quickly began heading back to the castle.
I noticed and realized something as I watched where all the different plumes of smoke were coming from.
"The areas that were farther away from the Forbidden Zone were the ones that got bombed...they didn't bomb the areas closer to it, so that...so that the Zombies can add to their numbers," I observed grimly.
Damn it, they had really planned this out. We quickly turned back and hurried towards the castle.
We soon reached the castle grounds, where the guards were in an absolute uproar. Adventurers were escorting surviving citizens into carts and carriages, as people ran all around in a panic.
"You must all leave immediately," King Aurich said to our group, "You are our guests, it would be a disgrace to our nation if we let you die. Please, ready your carts and carriage, and head for the gates at once. Please do not argue...I must insist."
Instructor Trocuelo looked hesitant for a moment, before nodding reluctantly, shouting at the drivers to ready the transport.
The prince and the two representatives soon arrived and got into the carriage, while the rest of us squeezed into two of the carts.
"Wait, where's Persia?" I asked, noticing that Azyl and Fuo were also missing.
"Oh, oops...I forgot to call them, they're all still in the guest wing of the castle, Persia was resting-," Responded Instructor Uensh sheepishly.
Damn it, you seriously forgot to call them down, you stupid id-!?
...ugh, calm down...no time to waste.
"You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up with Persia and the others! Hurry, before it's too late!" I instructed, dashing into the castle.
I glanced back as I entered...good, they were leaving.
I could always catch up on foot, but the carts wouldn't be able to get away if the Zombies managed to get close enough to swarm them, they needed to leave immediately and get as far a head start as they possibly could. They began moving towards the gates, as did a few of the Goldway carts carrying their civilians.
I continued heading into the castle, making it to the guest wing before long, and headed for the room I'd been staying in.
I swung open the door, and sighed in relief.
Persia was asleep on the bed, and Azyl was sitting on a chair by the window, supposedly keeping guard...though he was also asleep.
"Wake up, you two! We gotta go!" I exclaimed, clapping my hands loudly.
Azyl's eyes slowly cracked open, as I gently shook Persia's shoulders. She opened her eyes and yawned, looking at me sleepily.
"Hey...we need to get going, this place isn't safe anymore," I informed her softly, "Can you walk? I'll carry you on my back if you're too tired-."
"I'm fine, I'm fine! You're being overprotective, I feel okay, just a bit fatigued," She insisted, standing up and swinging her arms to prove it.
"Alright, if you insist," I sighed with a smile, stroking her head.
"What's going on?" Inquired Azyl sleepily, walking up to me while rubbing his eyes.
"The Forbidden Zone was taken down, the Zombies are on the loose. We need to get out of this country ASAP," I replied, getting straight to the point before strapping on a couple of pouches that were carrying stuff like spare knives, needles and poisons on either side of my waist.
His usually lazy expression morphed into one of shock, as did Persia's, before they both nodded grimly and followed me. We searched and soon found Fuo in one of the other rooms, quickly explained the situation to her, and the four of us headed out of the guest wing.
As we began heading for the exit, a loud explosion sounded from somewhere inside the castle.
"That sounded like...it came from the throne room," I realized, as we stopped.
"What should we do?"
We can't afford to waste any time...
"We have to keep going...depending on the situation outside, it's going to be tough even saving ourselves, let alone anyone else. That's the kind of threat we're dealing with here. Come on...let's go," I replied, turning towards the exit.
"I can't say I like that...but I suppose you're right," Agreed Fuo reluctantly.
We headed out of the castle...to the sight of utter chaos.
Zombies were all over the palace grounds, it looked like a few of the Goldway carts had left, but the ones that were left...all the people that were in them were now Zombies. We were the only living humans in sight around here.
It looked like a few of the Zombies were the Goldway Adventurers. I didn't see the king anywhere...he might have been caught up in the explosion we heard coming from the throne room.
"This is...awful," Muttered Fuo, staring in horror at the lifeless corpses and the Zombies that had been human only a matter of minutes ago.
With no more living humans for the Zombies to chase, they swiftly turned their attention to us.
...not good.
There were so many of them, trying to escape along the ground would be like trying to cross a river without getting wet. In that case...
"Let's run along the roofs of the castle, and then atop the buildings in the slums! Let's just hope that these things can't climb," I suggested warily, slashing off the head of a Zombie that had charged at us on its own.
The others were quickly to agree to my suggestion as more Zombies began running towards us. Fuo fired a few arrows to keep them at bay, and we hurriedly scaled up the castle and began heading in the direction of the gate that would lead us to the path back home.
As we reached the end of the castle roof, we had a sea of Zombies below us and nothing to step on.
"Any bright ideas?" Inquired Fuo, looking at me.
They were all looking at me...
"You know, you guys could try coming up with something too. Hmm, let's see...Az, could you float us out of here on a giant block of ice or something?"
"No, I've tried but I can't float my ice or water if I'm in direct contact with it. I wanted to be able to float around on an ice bed...I'd put a blanket on it to make it comfortable, and just move around while lying down, that way I'd never have to walk...but the moment I get on it, it doesn't float," He shook his head with a shrug.
A bit more information than I asked for, but whatever.
"I see, it's the same as Earth Magic in that regard, huh. In that case, could you make some tall and wide ice columns that we could use as stepping stones to walk on above the ground?"
"Hm...yeah, that's possible. Here I go," He answered affirmatively, creating a long row of ice pillars ahead of us in a matter of seconds.
"Hey, make the surface of the tops of them rough and coarse, dying by slipping and falling down to the Zombies would be a pretty awful way to die. And are you good on Mana?"
"Yeah, I've still got plenty left. Good call on the surfaces...I'll make sure we won't slip," He said, creating bridges between the ice columns and adding railings to the sides of both the columns and the bridges, "And don't worry about the ice melting, I've made it so that it won't start melting for a while."
This...was even better than I had asked for.
"Wow...now it's a straight, easy path, we don't even have to jump...Az, I am so glad you ended up coming with us on this trip," I grinned, as we hopped onto the top of the first ice column and ran forward across the ice bridges and columns ahead of it.
We were several meters above the ground, well out of the reach of the Zombies, and there was no way they could climb up either, the lengths of the columns were perfectly smooth.
Azyl's control and detail were absolutely incredible, we were seriously lucky to have him here. We would have been completely screwed if he hadn't been here.
"...my Ice Magic feel so insignificant right now," Sighed Fuo, frowning.
"Yeah, yeah, you'll have all the time in the world to mope and feel inferior once we're back home, for now focus on running," I replied, urging her to keep going.
We soon reached the end of the ice road.
"Here goes," Said Azyl, extending it by creating more bridges and columns.
That had been around five hundred meters...it was going to be a while before we'd reach the gates.
We kept going, closing the gap bit by bit. The Zombies were following us on the ground...looks like they can sense the living humans that were nearest to them, instead of relying simply on sight or sound like in most movies. Maybe they're attracted to Mana?
...
...
As we were halfway through the slums, the sights below us continued to grow more and more gruesome. Dead bodies were strewn all over, puddles of blood scattered all across the area...
"Don't look down," I instructed, noticing Zombies chasing after a screaming man.
Some of the slum residents were still alive, but they wouldn't be for much longer...
Ignoring my warning, Fuo looked down, freezing up as she saw Zombies grab onto and start chomping down on a group of desperately struggling children, as they screamed in terror and pain, their cries turning deep and monstrous as they slowly transformed into Zombies themselves.
It was a chilling sight.
The Zombies could run faster than an average human, and they appeared to have an iron-like grip, once they grab onto you, getting them off of you won't be easy, let alone doing so before they bite or scratch you.
"Wha- what...is this? Are we...a-are we really just going to just stand back and watch as children are killed and turned into monsters!?" Cried Fuo, slumping onto her knees as her expression turned into one of conflicted anguish.
...we really don't have time for this, we needed to keep moving. The sky was beginning to darken too.
She looked like she was about to break, unable to handle the horrendous sights below us...not good, I need to snap her out of it.
"That's why I told you not to look down! Face it, if we go down there, we'll end up just like them, sure we might be able to take out a few of them, but there are tens of thousands of them, maybe even a couple hundred thousand with the new additions, we would barely put a dent in them before they add us to their ranks, and that's being optimistic. That's the harsh reality of our situation, this isn't a fight, it isn't kill or be killed...it's run or be killed, we're nothing more than prey in this situation! So don't look back, and definitely don't look down, just look forward, and keep running!" I yelled at her, pulling her back on her feet and pointing her forward.
"This is...this is a nightmare. O-okay...I'll run...," She said shakily, her breathing getting ragged.
"Let's keep moving, we need to get out of this country before too many Zombies reach the gates, and before it gets too dark. The gates are probably open, I doubt everyone in the carts would have taken the time to close them as they left. Az, how much Mana do you have remaining?" I inquired.
"I've used about...half of it so far. Should be enough to get us to the gates. But not too much further beyond that, I don't think."
Half, huh. Too bad we don't have a way to replenish our Ma...wait a second.
The others turned back as I stopped running, as the realization hit me.
"Uh, guys...remember the Mana Orbs we were given when we embarked on this trip? Please tell me you filled them with Mana to use as backup reserves," I inquired, both dreading and hopeful at the same time, as I waited for them to answer.
"The what- oh, those! I completely forgot!" Replied Persia, her eyes widening in recollection after looking initially confused.
"Same here," Sighed Azyl.
"I had overlooked them too, they aren't a tool that I've ever used before so I forgot that I even had them," Added Fuo, "And you?"
I reached into the pouch on my left and opened it, taking out the orbs.
"Well, I didn't do much better...I managed to fill one during the first day of our journey, but after that, I, er...forgot, so two of them are empty."
I left out the fact that the reason I'd forgotten was because I had been stressing out over Persia for most of the rest of the journey. She must have realized that, because she sheepishly mouthed the word 'sorry' to me.
Well, there was nothing we could change about it, so we continued moving. Before long, I spotted something below us. It looked like...a cart.
Looks like the Zombies had swarmed it, and based on the scuffle marks around it, the people inside the cart had struggled before turning into Zombies.
It didn't look like one of our carts, so the victims were probably Goldway citizens. The horse that had been pulling the carriage was alive, trotting across the Zombies, who ignored it. So they only go after humans, I see.
We continued to move, as the gates finally came into sight with the sun about to set.
"H-hey...aren't those...?" Fuo trailed off shakily, her eyes widening in shock.
"Hey, I said don't look down-...!" I began, cutting off as I followed her line of sight.
The area below us was filled with scorch marks, a pile of dead, or technically incapacitated, Zombies, and...a few familiar faces.
Three, to be precise.
Standing in the middle of the incapacitated Zombies was a Zombie with a familiar set of horns on his head...Instructor Trocuelo.
Misen's spear was lying by his feet...he must have borrowed it to fight the Zombies.
And the other two were Bom and Mijy, what had already been an awful trip for them had ended with them being turned into Zombies, huh...they had probably died cursing their luck.
The others were all staring at them in shock...seeing the corpses of people you know moving around unnaturally was more than a little unsettling.
If I had to guess what had happened...Zombies must have gotten pretty close to swarming the carts, and Bom and Mijy probably got dragged out of the moving carts...and to prevent everyone else from suffering the same fate, the instructor must have stepped out and held the Zombies at bay to buy the others enough time to escape.
His head turned upwards towards us, his now lifeless eyes staring up as he began hungrily moving towards us, joining the massive swarm under us that was slowly but surely growing bigger and bigger.
"Let's...let's keep moving...the gates are less than a kilometer away now," I urged as I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to turn my gaze forward and continue running.
...
...
Not long after that, we finally reached the walls. The gates were wide open, so as we neared it, Azyl continued to extend our icy path past it. We had made it out of the country border...but we still had a problem.
Plenty of Zombies were already outside the walls of Goldway, a few hundred at least, and that number kept increasing. And then there were the Zombies that had been following us all the way from the castle, their cluster below us numbered in the several thousands.
Not sure exactly how much, but with just the four of us here, it hardly made a difference whether there were five thousand or fifty thousand...after a certain amount the exact number stops mattering, and can be simply summed up as 'too many'.
As for us...Azyl looked pretty drained, not only had he been using his Mana for hours but he was also not used to this much physical exertion, and we'd been running non-stop...he was breathing pretty heavily as he sweated profusely.
Persia's breathing was ragged, she had already been sapped of energy after that explosion and looked heavily fatigued, sweat pouring down her face and arms.
Fuo appeared physically fine, but she was mentally at her limit, she wasn't handling the horrific sights below us very well. I'd say she was still holding onto her sanity, but only just barely.
I was pretty worn out myself, I had used up a load of my Mana during my exhibition match, not to mention that I had to regrow two full limbs immediately afterwards. There were a few scattered Zombies ahead of us too, and they were now turning back and walking towards the mob of groaning monsters clustered below us, clawing and reaching up at us.
"So...now...what?" Panted Persia, wiping sweat off her brow as she stared hopelessly at the sea of groaning monsters below us.
"I'm down to a fraction of my Mana...I can't keep this up for too much longer," Azyl informed me, his knees buckling as he tried to catch his breath.
"Hang on, let me think...," I replied, sitting down, the others gratefully following suit.
We could rest up and then continue once Azyl's Mana is restored, but...if we do that, we'll just end up leading and spreading out the Zombies further and further.
Wait, maybe we could...
"Az, could you use water to push the Zombies back in through gates and then use ice to seal up the entrance, or maybe freeze all of them at once?"
"No, I don't think so...I don't have enough Mana for any more large spells, and even if I did...it would take a lot to generate enough water to push that many of them...I could probably handle a couple thousand at most...but I'm pretty sure there's a lot more than that below us. Same with freezing them, I might have been able to do so to an extent if I had all my Mana, but like I said, I'm down to a small fraction left," He replied, shaking his head.
I guess even he had his limits.
I couldn't blame him, the number of Zombies below us made the army of white-robes that had attacked us look completely insignificant. And the cluster below us was just a small part of the total...who knows how high the number of Zombies roaming inside the country actually was right now.
I wracked my brain, thinking of all the possible solutions we could use in this situation...there were almost none...but it wasn't quite impossible just yet.
"Persia, will you be able to use Propulsion?" I asked her.
"Um...yeah, I think so. I'm a bit woozy, but I haven't actually used any Mana today, so I should be able to use Elemental Magic just fine."
"Alright...Azyl, do you have enough Mana to create an icicle big enough for all four of us to fit on?"
"I guess so, but I told you, I can't float ice that I'm on-."
"Fuo, can you use Skate?"
"I suppose so...I've recovered about a quarter of my Mana since my exhibition match."
"What about you, Az?"
"Well, I can create ice under my feet just fine, but whenever I've tried to use Skate, I just lose my balance and fall."
Alright, let's see...I rapidly began brainstorming possible solutions with our remaining resources...hm, we would need a bit of luck to pull that off, but...yes, that could work!
"Okay, here's what we're going to do, pay close attention! First, we sit here and wait till all the Zombies ahead of us gather below us, these things are like moths to a flame, and we're the only flame around right now. Once there are no Zombies in front of us...Az, create an icicle that we can all fit onto, and then once we're on it, shoot it as far forward as you can, as fast as you can, like an arrow. I'll attach several strands of wire between you and I, that way you'll get pulled along with us when you launch the icicle. Ideally, I'd have wanted you to float the icicle all the way back while the wire keeps you attached to me, but I'm guessing you don't have enough Mana to pull that off. Once the icicle lands, we get off of it and run like hell. I'll carry Az and use Lightning Boost. Persia, you carry Fuo and use Propulsion, think you can manage that?"
It would have been ideal if we had another Wind Magic user. A Flight user could probably carry one person while flying, and while Propulsion couldn't float or maneuver in the air like Flight can, it could still move its user in mid-air in a more linear fashion.
Unfortunately, Persia wasn't going to be able to carry three people by herself.
"Yeah, I'll try," She nodded, blinking as a bead of sweat rolled down to her eye.
"I don't want to be deadweight-!" Fuo began to protest.
"You said you only have a quarter of your Mana recovered. Once you've recovered a bit more, you can swap positions and be the person who's carrying instead of the person being carried. The instant we land, we can't stop running even for a moment, so let's do it in shifts, all four of us are drained in one way or another, be it fatigue or low Mana levels," I reasoned, getting back on my feet and replenishing my Mana using the one Mana Orb I had filled.
We began preparing to put my plan into motion. As the Zombies ahead of us joined the swarm below us, Azyl created a large icicle, in a smooth, streamlined shape, with grip handles along the top for us to hold onto so that we wouldn't fall off. The three of us hopped onto the top, after I firmly attached wire around both his and my torsos.
"Here I go," Said Azyl, raising a hand.
I held onto a handle firmly, and braced myself. I need to plant myself on this thing and make sure I won't fall off, otherwise the wire attachment could backfire and I could end up falling off the icicle along with Azyl instead of pulling him along.
The icicle then shot forward like a rocket, and at a rapid speed. I felt a firm pressure around my abdomen, good...that meant that Azyl was being pulled along with us.
Like an arrow, the speed of the icicle soon tapered off, and began heading for the ground.
We braced ourselves for impact as the tip of the icicle reached and stabbed deeply into the ground. Alright, we had successfully launched and landed. Now to run...
We quickly jumped off of it as I cut off the wire around me and caught Azyl before he could hit the ground.
Holy crap...that had been a good six hundred meters of distance, in less than ten seconds no less. The Zombies were beginning to turn forward and run after us, but we had gotten an absolutely invaluable head start.
It's now or never...!
"Alright, guys...this is our only chance, let's go!" I exclaimed, propping Azyl up on my back as Persia did the same with Fuo.
"Sorry about this," Apologized Azyl, as I carried him on my back.
"No worries...we only made it this far because of you, after all," I shrugged in reply.
Wasting no more time, Persia and I shot forward at our full speeds, in the direction of the road that would take us back to the Rustlands, as rain began to pour down from the clouds above us.
The Zombies chasing after us slowly began to reduce in number as our rapid speeds quickly increased the distance between us and them. If we could shake them completely by the time we reach the road, we could continue to move forward without a worry.
We were almost there...
Yes...we had made it...we had-!
Persia suddenly collapsed, tripping and falling to the ground, struggling to get back up.
"Persia! What's wrong!?" I yelled out, stopping and going back to her.
The Zombies were slowly closing the gap between us and them.
"I...don't know," She gasped for air, large beads of sweat pouring down her face.
Her eyes were struggling to stay open, and he body was shaking like a leaf...
She was too fatigued to move...she must have felt that she could manage since she had all her Mana left, but she had completely used up her physical energy, which had already been dealt a heavy blow after the Blood Crystal knocked her out.
The Zombies were five hundred meters away and quickly closing in.
What do we do!?
I could carry her and let Fuo carry Azyl, but the speed of her Skate wasn't fast enough to outrun the Zombies, especially when weighed down by another person.
Sure, I'd probably be able to get to safety with Persia pretty easily if I sacrificed them, but Persia probably wouldn't be happy with that...and honestly, neither would I.
In that case...there was only one solution...
"Az, quick...put up an ice wall, it doesn't have to be too tall, just make sure it's thick and wide enough to keep them at bay for a bit!"
He nodded and created a wall of ice about three hundred meters behind us, stopping the Zombies from advancing. But it won't be long before they either break through it or get around it.
I walked over to Persia and knelt down in front of her. I ignored the prickly feeling in my eyes and the lump in my throat...I need to keep my emotions under control, I can't let myself hesitate or second-guess this.
"I-I'm so sorry...I'll-I'll be back o-on my feet in a second, I just...need to get my legs moving again!" She cried in frustration, he legs straining to get up but unable to stand upright.
"Hey, it's okay...everything's going to be okay. You're going to be just fine, I promise," I interrupted, grasping her face in my hands, bringing it close to mine and looking into her eyes with a sad smile.
"Wh-why are you talking like you're about to do something stupid...Kuro, what's with that look, what are you-?"
"I love you," I cut her off with a kiss, before she slumped in my arms as I pricked her arm with a needle coated in tranquilizer fluid.
The rain was starting to get heavier now...
"Fuo, use Skate...carry Persia on your back. Az, you use Skate too. Form the ice below your feet and since you can't maintain your balance, have Fuo hold your hand and pull you along so that you don't fall. Fuo, just focus on moving forward, meanwhile Az, keep an eye out for monsters, you should have enough Mana left to keep them at bay, right? Go, I'll hold these things off," I instructed them.
"No, think of something else. I can't do that, Kuro-," Began Azyl in protest.
"Please, I'm begging you!" I bowed my head in desperation, as the raindrops pelted down on us harder and harder, "We don't have time to argue, so go, now! Please, Az, Fuo...get Persia to safety. No matter how we slice this, all four of us aren't getting out of this alive, someone has to stay behind and buy time for the others to escape. Instructor Trocuelo probably realised the same thing, and sacrificed himself to buy time for the others to get away. I can either stay here and you three escape, or I could escape with Persia and let you two die. Those are our only options."
They stared at me in conflicted silence for a moment.
"I hate to say it...but you're right," Fuo reluctantly relented, as a massive flash of lightning erupted across the darkening stormy dusk sky.
The ice wall was beginning to crack, and a few Zombies had made their way around it.
"But...you'll die-," Azyl started to say.
"Hey, give me a little more credit than that, Az! Don't write me off just yet, who knows, maybe my Healing Factor is Zombie-proof. Get going already...I don't plan on dying that easily, I'll take care of these things and be right behind you. I've had fun getting to know you better over the last few days, Az, let's meet up back in the Rustlands and get high or something...one of these days. Now go...and don't look back. Go!"
My pleas finally got through to them, the ice wall shattering as they turned around and ran for the road leading back home, as the howling Zombies began charging at me from three hundred meters away and closing in.
Persia was on Fuo's back, who had a grip around Azyl's wrist as she activated Skate and slid forward, pulling him along with her.
I sighed in relief as a remorseful grin played out across my lips.
Good...they should be able to get away. Heh, half a year ago, I'd have never even dreamed of doing something like this.
Now then...
I turned back to face the rapidly approaching hoard of Zombies, as the rain came hammering down around me, the crimson dusk sky quickly darkening as the sun had nearly set and dark rain clouds filled the sky.
As another flash of lightning and thunder erupted across the sky, I gritted my teeth and yelled out at the top of my lungs...
"Alright, you goddamn monsters...come fucking get me!"
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Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism! Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.