Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Takanosu.
October, x785.
A couple of hours have passed since the group of six escapees reached the faculty office of their school. Since then, they found the keys they were looking for, rescued another small group of survivors, and made it to the magic vehicle. However, just as they were ready to pull off, a second group of survivors came running out of the school as well, hoping to get a ride out of this hell hole.
Meanwhile, a young blonde woman with an exaggerated hour glass figure was watching the hole exchange from atop the highest building in the town, the clocktower, with a euphoric smile on her face.
"Ooh~~~! Can you feel it, Monokuma?" The young woman, Junko Enoshima asked in a sultry tone. "All the despair! Isn't it just to die for?"
"Yeah, it's great." Monokuma, the half black and half white talking teddy bear in Junko's arms, replied happily while watching the two groups from the school. "Oh, and that man is adding to it."
As Monokuma spoke his last sentence, he saw the only adult among the second group of survivors kick a student who fell and asked for his help. As a result, the male student shouted loudly, drawing all the zombies over to himself before he was ripped apart by the undead abominations.
"Mmm~~~~~~! The despair that boy must have felt in his last moments…" Junko whispered while she released Monokuma with her left hand and began caressing her body. "I'd love to feel such despair myself."
Before Junko could enjoy the feeling too much, however, her head snapped in the direction of one of the town's entrances.
"God damn it!" Junko shouted. "What are they doing here?"
"Does that mean that someone got away?" Monokuma asked as he looked in the same direction as Junko. "I mean, I put up the anti-communication barrier just like you told me to."
"No, I don't doubt you, Monokuma." Junko said, using her left hand to caress Monokuma's head. "I know you followed my orders to the letter. Either way, it doesn't matter how word got out about this town. Because they are here, it's already a partial failure."
"Does that mean it's time for us to leave?" Monokuma asked.
"Yes, we should go." Junko replied with a nod. "As much as I'd like to make that bitch from Fairy Tail pay for getting between me and Zeref, now is not the time for us to fight."
With that, Junko glared in the direction of the approaching cherry-red magic vehicle one last time before she disappeared from the top of the clock tower.
Meanwhile, inside the cherry-red magic vehicle, the Escalade, Elicia was rolling up her window after pulling her right arm back into the vehicle with a pout on her face.
"How did she notice us?" Elicia said unhappily. "More importantly, why did she run away?"
"I don't know about the answer to the second question." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "As for the first, there are a lot of ways she could have known we were here. But she's not why we're here, this time. Instead, we need to put down this infectious dark magic."
"I know…" Elicia muttered. Then, she got her expression under control. "So, how do you want to do this?"
"The first thing we need to do is make sure none of these things have gotten out of the town." Alfonzo said, receiving a nod from Elicia in return. "So, I'll let you out at the town's entrance. Then, I'll drive around the city with [MPD] extended as far as I can and take out any I find. After that, I'll create a giant wall around the town."
"That sounds like a plan to me." Elicia said with another nod. "And while you're doing that, I'll head into the city and rescue as many people as I can while taking out every one of those undead I come across."
"Right." Alfonzo said with a nod of his own. "But you need to be careful. You know what desperate humans can be like, right? And they are definitely more dangerous than mindless zombies."
"Yeah, I really don't wanna kill any normal humans if I can help it." Elicia said in a downcast manner. "But I'll do what I have to. It would be better than just leaving them tied up in a situation like this."
"Yeah, it's not their fault their town ended up like this." Alfonzo said in agreement. "But this isn't exactly like HOTD, Lici. I wouldn't be surprised if there were undead animals, too. So, be extra careful."
With that, Alfonzo pulled up to the entrance of the town, drawing the attention of a horde of zombies. At the same time, both Alfonzo and Elicia noticed there was a barrier erected around the town, too.
"What is that?" Elicia asked while frowning slightly.
"I'm not a hundred percent sure, but it feels like a communications jamming barrier." Alfonzo replied. "But I've never felt one this big. ON top of that, we could only feel it once we got inside."
"It was probably Junko." Elicia said with a frown.
"I wouldn't put it past her." Alfonzo replied. "Knowing that they wouldn't be getting any back up, that would definitely cause a lot of people to despair."
"Anyway, I'll take care of these zombies." Elicia said as she took off her seat belt. Then, she leaned over and kissed Alfonzo on the cheek. "If I find anything, I'll flare my magic power. You shouldn't have any problems finding me like that, right?"
"Even if you didn't do that, I'd be able to find you, Lici." Alfonzo replied with a smile.
Smiling in response, Elicia opened her car door and climbed out of the Escalade. Then, after closing the door, she faced the town entrance and shot her threads into buildings on either side of the street.
"[Thread Magic: Catapult Launcher]." Elicia chanted as she launched herself towards the center of the horde of zombies. Then, before she made contact, Elicia started spinning at high speed while releasing threads from all over her body as she continued to chant. "[Thread Magic: Loosening Spool]."
At he same time, Alfonzo pulled off to complete his own part of the plan.
Then, like a drill, Elicia's threads ground apart all the zombies in her path. ON top of that, many of the zombies around her were also cut into pieces. Unfortunately, parts of the ground were sliced through as well. But considering the state of the town, she doubted anyone would make a fuss about such a small amount of damage.
Eventually, Elicia landed in the middle of the horde. Then, she extended her threads from her fingertips and spun in place once again. By the time she stopped, there was a thread wrapped around each of the zombies' necks, though they were still ambling towards her.
"[Thread Magic: Thread Guillotine]." Elicia chanted as she contracted the threads at high speed.
In the next instant, all the zombies heads shot up into the sky with geysers of blood. At the same time, Elicia created a [Thread Cocoon] around herself to make sure that no blood got on her or her clothes.
"Eww! Dealing with the undead is so gross." Elicia muttered as she brought down her [Thread Cocoon]. "Cleaning up this whole town is really gonna suck."
As she spoke, Elicia scanned her surroundings with her eyes. At the same time, using her [Magic Power detection], she inspected the town more closely.
"Let's see, there looks to be a shelter on the opposite side of the bridge on the east side of the town." Elicia muttered to herself. "Oh, there's another place where people are gathering on this side of the bridge, too. But it's on the west side. And if things are the way Fonzie and I think they are, one of those places should be the Takagi mansion. The other should be where the knights are gathering people. But since I've never been to this town, I don't know which is which."
*Boom!*
Reaching that point, Elicia side flipped to the right. And in the place where she once stood, there was a zombie with its right fist sank wrist deep into the ground.
"It looks like Fonzie was right." Elicia muttered as she looked at the zombie. "Some of these zombies are a lot stronger and faster than the others. The good thing is that we can tell them apart by how much magic power they have."
Once again, Elicia was forced to evade. However, instead of flipping away, she simply sidestepped. At the same time, she wrapped the zombies legs with her threads. Then, she cut them off using the same method she used to deal with the rest of the zombies.
"I'm guessing the ritual that created these zombies managed to awaken their magic power." Elicia said as she looped some of her threads around the zombie's neck. "They probably never awakened their magic power before all this happened. Either that, or they were just like Marin, who didn't even know she was using magic before she met us."
Cutting off the zombies head at the end of her monologue, Elicia looked towards the rest of the town. Then, she shot her threads at the tallest of the nearby buildings.
"I guess we'll never find out which it is." Elicia said to herself as she vaulted to the top of the building. "More important is finding the survivors and killing all thee undead."
With that, Elicia started racing across the rooftops towards the closest untainted magic power signature while dealing with any undead along the way.
Meanwhile, the two groups from the school were all seated into the magic vehicle, which was about the size of a tour bus, with Shizuka driving.
"So, where should we go?" Shizuka asked as she continued to drive through the streets of Takanosu.
"Before we decide on a destination, I think we should choose a leader." A fragile looking man with straight black hair, yellow eyes, and wearing a black, pinstripe suit with a white shirt, a yellow tie, a jeweled tie clip, and brown shoes said with a friendly, non-threatening smile on his face. "As they say, too many cooks in the kitchen can spoil the broth, right?"
"And let me guess, you think that leader should be you, right, Shido?" Rei said in a tone that hid none of the disdain or hatred she held for this Shido.
"Naturally." Shido, or Koichi Shido, said as he stood from his seat, stepped into the aisle of the magic vehicle, and spread his arms. "As a teacher, one who has been tasked with molding the minds of young adults, and leading them to greater heights, it is only natural that I should lead."
As Shido continued his speech, a ripple of magic power was released from the jewel on his tied clip. As a result, most of those riding the magic vehicle fell into a daze. At the same time, they started hanging onto Shido's every word.
'Ha! Once I've got that little bitch under my control, I'll show her the consequences of denying me.' Shido thought to himself as he continued his speech, appealing for his place as the group's leader. 'And when I'm done with her, she'll realize that just being held back a year in her studies was nothing compared to what I have planned for her.'
Meanwhile, Saeko, Takashi, Saya, Rei, Kohta, and Shizuka felt uncomfortable. Though, as inexperienced as they were, they could not understand why. But they were definitely not in favor of naming Shido the leader after having such an uncomfortable feeling accompany his words.
"You can talk all you want." Rei said once Shido's appeal came to an end. "But I'd rather die than have you lead me in anything. Especially after seeing you sacrifice that boy to save your own sorry ass back at the school."
"Then, perhaps we should put it to a vote?" Shido asked, his friendly smile cracking for an instant. "What do the rest of you think?"
With that, the students that came with Shido all cheered excitedly. They had all been caught by the effects of his [Charm Magic], after all. Meanwhile, those who escaped with Rei could only look on dumbfoundedly at how fervent Shido's supporters were. Even the students they saved just before leaving were no exception.
'What is going on?' Shido asked himself as he completely ignored all the students who voted for him. 'How are they resisting my [Charm Magic]? Does that mean they all have more magic power than I do? Impossible. Father had me trained as a wizard from a young age. Even if I have very little talent as a wizard, there's no way a bunch of kids could have more magic power than me. And then there's Marikawa. She's such a dunce. There's no way she should be able to resist, either. Still, I've definitely won the vote. So, they'll most likely fall in line. Unless they want to be cast out from the group.'
"Well, it looks like the overwhelming majority of the votes have gone to me.' Shido said, rebuilding his friendly smile as he approached the magic vehicle's driver's seat. 'Now, why don't you take us to the--- Whoa!"
*Screech!*
Before he could reach Shizuka, however, she stopped supplying her magic power to the vehicle. As a result, it screeched to a halt.
"To be honest, if Mr. Shido is going to be the leader, I'd rather get eaten by those nasty zombies." Shizuka said in her normally ditzy tone. "I mean, you've always made me feel really uncomfortable. And as soon as you thought you were the leader, that feeling got even worse."
Hearing that, Saeko, Takashi, Saya, Rei, and Kohta looked at Shizuka with disbelieving expressions. Meanwhile, Shido, after regaining his footing, scowled scornfully. However, before letting his anger get the better of him, he switched his expression back to a friendly smile.
"Does that mean you plan to leave the group, Miss Marikawa?" Shido asked in a tone filled with mock concern. "You're a trained healer. And the students will definitely need you and your abilities at a time like this. Can you honestly say that you could abandon them over something so inconsequential?"
Despite her ditzy personality, Shizuka did take her role as a healer quite seriously. So, when Shido made that point, her resolve began to weaken.
"Stop trying to guilt trip her, Shido." Rei said, the disdain in her tone even more apparent now. "We both know you don't give a flying fuck about the students. You only want her to sate your lust. And I would know that better than anyone. Not giving into you is the reason I ended up held back a year, after all."
Immediately after hearing Rei's outburst, Saeko, Saya, and Shizuka all looked at Shido with disgusted expressions. Meanwhile, Takashi, who had defended Rei from Shido's clutches and ended up being held back as well, looked at him with hatred only second to Rei's. Kohta on the other hand, did not know what to say or do. But he did know that if he had a magic gun, he would probably put a bullet between the slimy teacher's eyes right now.
At the same time, Shido's expression had transformed into one filled with malevolence and hatred as he glared at Rei.
"Fine, if you can't accept the outcome of the vote, then we should split up here." Shido said menacingly. "But we'll be keeping the magic vehicle.
"And why the hell should we let you have it?" Takashi questioned threateningly.
"Because, if you don't…" Shido said as he raised his right hand. A moment later, as an orb of [Darkness Magic] gathered on his palm, he continued with a madness-ridden smile on his face. "I'll destroy the whole vehicle. Then, no one will have it. On top of that, the noise will definitely draw those undead creatures here."
"No way, he's a wizard." Kohta muttered in surprise.
"Damn it…" Takashi groaned while clenching his fists around his cudgel.
"And this is the kind of man you've elected to be your leader?" Rei asked as she shifted her gaze to the other students. "Now, you can all see what kind of---"
Before Rei could finish, she noticed the worship in the other student's' gazes as they watched Shido remove his mask. On top of that, all the female students, on top of looking at Shido with reverence, had no small amount of lust in their gazes.
"You really are disgusting." Rei said with such vitriol that the interior of the magic vehicle felt as if the temperature had dropped. "You actually used [Charm Magic] to gain their trust. You know what? I don't even fucking care about the magic vehicle anymore. As long as I can get as far away from you as possible, you can have it."
With that, Rei opened the door to the magic vehicle. Then, with her mop handle in hand, she wasted no time leaving. Following Rei's example, Saeko, Takashi, Saya, Shizuka, and Kohta also disembarked while looking at Shido like he was a steaming pile of human garbage.
Dispelling the [Darkness Magic] on his palm, Shido stomped up to the front of the magic vehicle, took the driver's seat, and wrapped the S.E. Plug around his wrist.
"Damn those bitches!" Shido shouted as he started supplying his magic power to the vehicle. "Sooner or later, I'll have them all. Then, I'll make them watch as those two boys are tortured right in front of them. After that, I'll have my way with them."
*Screech~~~~~!*
With that, Shido drove the magic vehicle away, leaving the group of six standing on the side of the road. On top of that, the squealing tires from Shizuka's stop and Shido's exit had drawn quite a crowd of undead to their locat