"That's right! The bait doesn't have to be alive. We can make our own zombies."
No one besides the two knew where this discussion was going. All they needed to know was that Jasmine felt that the oddball's suggestion would work. With Jasmine's vote of confidence, the tension in the group began to ease
Ailetta and Jas had discussed Ailetta's abilities back in the dorm. This was partly why they had an easier time surviving before they began incorporating others into their group.
Ailetta also chose the summoner class, except she decided on the darkness element and the unpopular skill of lesser reanimation. Instead of a spirit, she contracted with a slime-like creature resembling a ball of tar. With the slime, she could inject it into a dead body, essentially bringing the body back to life. In reality, the corpse was being controlled by the slime, so she could only have one zombie at a time for now.
Due to the low level of her reanimation skill, Ailetta couldn't control the corpse of a creature or person higher leveled than her, nor could she use their skills. However, the zombie still proved useful as a meat shield during the initial struggle, benefiting her and Jas greatly. Unfortunately, they couldn't rely on the skill forever. One, they ended up scaring one too many females in the dorm, causing one or two of them to run away to their deaths. And, because the zombie being used was a person people knew, it caused a lot of emotional problems for people that knew that person.
After Jas gave her approval for Ailetta to proceed with her idea, she could be seen skipping to one of the corpses. A small frown appeared on her face, but then she put on a solemn expression before attempting her spell. There wasn't a chant, and at this point, no one knew if making a chant would assist in casting spells.
The surrounding people watched in astonishment as a dark glob materialized and made its way into the body of the headless male. They held their breath as the corpse twitched and then slowly stood on its feet, causing massive panic throughout the onlookers.
"C-Connor? No….NOOO! What are you doing to him? You freak!"
One of the males charged at Ailetta, having to suddenly mourn his friend's death was already more than he could bear. Seeing his friend's corpse further being manipulated broke his remaining sanity, channeling all of his grievances towards the caster. However, even though the others also felt conflicted by the change, they valued their lives more as they banded together to stop him.
Ailetta wasn't the best when it came to social cues, especially because of her habit of having tunnel vision regarding whatever she's doing or talking about at that moment. So to say she was surprised and fearful of the student's outburst wasn't a lie.
It took a while to calm him down, but during that time, the buzzing noises returned. No one knew why the creatures, or whatever they were, wouldn't leave them alone. Were they being hunted for sport, or were they being killed for food? If it was the latter, then shouldn't the ten people from earlier be enough to satisfy them? The most level-headed of the group thought through every possibility, hoping that any little bit of information could help them get out of this mess.
"Mark… I can't say I'm 100 percent sure of this, but either there are more of these things out there then we believe or… they are only eating our heads… Maybe with Le (Ailetta), we will be able to know for sure, but if there's more than we can handle, then the only thing we can do is make a run for it."
Most of the time when she talked to Mark, she would talk to him with a tone that suggested that he also had a say in the discussion, but not this time.
Mark was aware of this, and even though he now believed himself to be invincible, that didn't mean his sister was.
Jas and Ailetta carried on with the plan, having the headless body travel a distance away from them to tempt the unknown creatures out into the open. Even though the creatures seemed to only be attracted to their heads, Jas still believed that they would pursue the body, given that they immediately attacked anyone who attempted to flee. They would probably do whatever they can to prevent them from leaving even if the 'zombie' was missing a head. Well, that's what she was hoping for; otherwise, she doesn't know how many people they would lose before they find out what they are fighting.
BUZZZZ!
The buzzing noise indicated that the creature was on the move again, approaching the direction of the zombie. As the noise grew further, they caught the sound of another buzzing still nearby. This confirmed that there was at least more than one, yet they didn't have time to think about that.
"I-IS THAT A…A BUG??" One person shouted, but there was no reply. All eyes were fixated on the identify of the unknown creature.
What appeared was a monstrous insect that closely resembled a branch, with the lower body of a leaf. The size of it was inhuman, standing easily over 6 feet tall. But it wasn't just its size that instilled fear in the students; It was the overly large eyes that, even though focused on the zombie, also seemed to bore into them, its predatory eyes unblinking all the while. What made that stare so dreadful were the two menacing scythe-like blades it wielded for hands. Even from a distance, its claws appeared deadly, and it wasted no time in proving their fears right.
When it approached the zombie, its triangular head tilted left and right in confusion. The other creatures that lost their heads never recovered, but this one did. Even though it felt the head was more nutritious, it wouldn't let the rest of its meal run away. It swiped towards the zombie in a grabbing motion, and when it latched onto the figure, everyone noticed the reanimated body's arm being sliced off with little effort, frightening them even more.
By now, most, if not all of the students there, knew what they were dealing with: a praying mantis. Yet, only one person there knew that they didn't know the true danger of the creature.
"Everyone, we have to go, NOW!" Jasmine ordered before taking off in the direction of the cafeteria. The urgency in her voice spurred everyone into action, as most, if not all of them, were already afraid of what they saw. They gladly took that moment to chase after Jasmine, who offered them a way out. They weren't sure they had enough confidence to fight the creature if they were told to. Even the more competent of the group didn't want to take the chance.
Mark was displeased with Jasmine making the decision all by herself. 'It's just a bug! What are we running for?' He berated them inwardly but still chose to follow in their footsteps. With his stats, he easily caught back up with his sister.
"Jas, what the heck are yo-"
"Not now, Mark! Those things… they are able to think! This isn't something we can handle right now!" Due to her panic state, she struggled to phrase her words properly. It's not just that they were able to think; it was the way the mantis processed its thoughts that terrified her.
Even if they somehow killed it, at what price would they have to pay before they succeeded and what about the other one? She would rather assume the worst and speculated that these things were planning their attacks. That terrified her more than the absurd speed they showed they were capable of.
Mark wanted to argue, "Of course they can think!" But before he could, the buzzing sounded again, accompanied by the constant screams that never seemed to end.
Thump!*
Some of the more jumpy students turned back when they heard an object slam into the ground behind them. Those who didn't were already aware of what the sound could be, and when they heard the screams, they were glad they didn't stop; if anything, it made them run faster.
Another person was taken out, but the head wasn't retrieved as it could be spotted a few feet from the person's body. The mantises were more focused on stopping their prey from running away than they were on eating their heads.
Bodies continued to drop one after another as they ran for their destination. None of them knew the exact number of people they had lost, and no one tried to outrun the other for fear of being singled out.
"Ugh! We can't keep going like this! We should've stood our ground and fought them!"
Mark couldn't continue to repress himself as he listened to the sickening thuds echoing through the air. By now, everyone knew what it sounded like for a dead body to hit the ground with momentum.
Everyone heard his complaints, but they all chose to ignore what he said. "Fight them? We can't even see them killing us. What do you mean, fight?"
Even Jas felt her brother was more than delusional. To stop Mark from doing anything stupid, everyone decided not to entertain him as they continued to run frantically.
They were now more than halfway to the cafeteria. The constant buzzing sound continued, but for some reason, it started to grow distant before disappearing entirely.
No one noticed this until a few moments later when they had a clear view of the cafeteria.
"Huff! Huff! Did anyone notice? Huff* the buzzing huff* stopped." The once-energetic Ailetta voiced out. Now that it was mentioned, everyone was prompted to scan their surroundings. Not only did they no longer hear the buzzing, but there was also no sign of the creatures anywhere nearby.
"Maybe… maybe we got out of their territory?" Jasmine's question hung in the air, unsure of her own words. Everyone wanted to believe Jasmine's assumption was right. The lack of a sense of danger was catching up to them, their exhaustion, their fear, everything they encountered began to hit them at once.
However, it seemed they would never catch a break. Once they began to believe they were safe, the sky above them grew dark. Normally, they would assume that maybe the clouds covered the sun, but the shade only covered them while everything else was still affected by the sunlight, causing them to finally look up.
"Ar-are you kidding me…?"
"It doesn't matter! Just run! The building is right in front of us!"
They tried to spur one another on after seeing the huge figure in the sky. It was the same vulture from before that caused Noah so much stress. Maybe the bird didn't like to target large groups, or maybe its focus was on the mantises from before. It continued to fly onward just as quickly as it arrived. Its disappearance didn't relieve them one bit. The constant appearance of one abnormality after the other left them vigilant the rest of the way until they arrived at the main doors, which were locked from the inside.
The sight of the locked doors brought a new wave of panic among the group. They banged on the doors, hoping that someone inside would hear them and let them in. By this time, the three extorters were already dead, and Henry was there to retrieve the new guest after a few rounds of thunderous knocking.
The first reaction for everyone would be to celebrate being alive, but most of the people left had lost someone on the way. And after such an emotional roller coaster, their emotions got the better of them, instead they began to cry their hearts out in fear and agony for their future.
Henry was one of the lucky ones and only experienced the terror of zombies. He couldn't understand their reactions when the group came in. He wanted to ask them until he noticed Mark raising his sword, his curious gaze pandering from Mark's gaze to the figure in question before his expression was almost distraught.
It was seeing the unhinged expression Mark wore that held Henry's curiosity the most. When he also turned to look in that direction, he noticed the spider on the second-floor landing, still feeding on Phil's corpse.
Before he could put two and two together, he noticed Mark already making his way towards the staircase, and so he hurriedly pursued.
"W-Wait! I'm telling you that's not a good idea! That spider belongs to someone that you shouldn't mess with. I'm trying to help you!"
And the transaction soon led to Noah hearing them before he emerged from the room.
"I see you still haven't learned how to listen properly, you hero wannabe."