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Chapter 10 - INJUSTICE

Barbra enters the room where Adam is sleeping and places Kiren's hammer on a table. Approaching Adam, she gently rubs his forehead and sympathetically utters, "Poor child, no one should ever experience the pain you've endured." As Barbra's hand touches Adam's chest, a magical glow emanates from her hand. Closing her eyes and focusing, she projects her spirit into Adam's chest, finding herself in a pitch-black area. Suddenly, a radiant light appears, revealing a shimmering tree that transforms the darkness into a grassy field.

Perplexed, Barbra walks towards the tree and encounters someone using magic to heal Adam beside it. To her surprise, it's an older version of Adam. The older Adam explains that they are fortunate as healers still exist in this realm. Confused, Barbra inquires about the place they are in, and the older Adam reveals that it is a deep realm within Adam. He also emphasizes the urgency for Barbra to do her best to save Adam. Suddenly, a shining, glowing ball descends from the tree. It is Gand, who affirms that they require Barbra's assistance as their powers alone are insufficient to save Adam. Barbra expresses her curiosity about their identities, and Gand reveals himself as a deity connected to Adam, emphasizing Adam's crucial role in an upcoming future war. Barbra mentions that Old Berry town also needs Adam. She then places her hand on his head, delving into his mind.

Barbra finds herself gliding through a realm with countless magical strings tied up. She observes thousands of knots and utilizes her magic to untie them, causing the strings to fade away. While continuing her journey, Barbra senses something amiss and discovers numerous strings coming toward her, entangling and restraining her. Determined, she channels her magic, quickly untangling the strings around her body. However, the strings attach themselves to her skin, causing immense pain. Barbra, enduring the agony, places her hand on her chest, declaring that she will save Adam at any cost, even if it means sacrificing herself. Channeling more magic, the glowing strings tighten and pierce her body. Barbra's form begins to flicker, on the verge of fading away.

Amidst the turmoil, Barbra notices a Wolf mask approaching from a distance. As it nears her face, a beam of magic emanates from the mask, flooding her with immense power. The strings around her body begins to fade away, dispersing throughout the realm. Barbra observes the Wolf mask also fading, leaving her bewildered to what just happened. The realm shakes momentarily, forcefully pulling Barbra out of it and back into her physical body in reality. Exhausted, she falls to the ground, breathing heavily. Gradually, Barbra regains her composure, noticing Adam rising from the bed and gazing out the window. Introducing herself, she assures him that she is there to help him recover. Adam remains silent, pointing at the TV. Responding to his gesture, Barbra switches on the TV and inserts a movie tape to keep him company. Sitting beside him, she expresses relief that Adam is making progress. Adam's attention then turns to Kiren's hammer on the table. Approaching it, he gestures toward the hammer. Barbra explains that Ezzy left it behind to help Adam remember his friends and family. Adam's eyes begin to glow, and his memories with Kiren, Megan, Duke, Frank, and Leona flashes in his eyes. Adam slowly utters Kiren's name. Filled with excitement, Barbra exclaims that his friends are in danger and they need him, especially Kiren, who needs his hero. After contemplating for a moment, Adam picks up the hammer and heads towards the window. Curious about his actions, Barbra tries to intervene but is too late. She watches helplessly as Adam jumps out of the window and walks towards Old Berry town.

In the prison, Rune is eliminating numerous police zombies while making his way towards Cameda. He skillfully evades a lightning strike from Cameda's baton, retaliating with a swing of his own. However, Cameda effectively blocks it using a makeshift shield made of human flesh. Cameda counters with a thrust from his lightning baton, striking Rune's chest and delivering a shocking blow. The impact sends Rune flying backward, but he quickly recovers and continues dodging the lightning strikes, which wreak havoc on the prison fences and structure. Using the building's side as a springboard, Rune deflects another lightning strike.

In that moment, Rune senses his magical powers returning to his body. He concentrates his magic around his weapon, causing small sparks of magic to emanate from the blade. Rune acknowledges that his magic powers haven't fully returned yet. Despite blocking and evading Cameda's lightning attacks, Rune is unable to reach him. Suddenly, a massive explosion occurs at the prison doors, interrupting the battle between Rune and Cameda. Emerging from the smoke, Ezzy appears and shoots her rifle at Cameda, who defends himself with his shield. Ezzy explains that upon hearing that Rune was left behind, she hurried to the prison as quickly as possible. Unbeknownst to her, police zombies on fire approach from behind. Ezzy swiftly turns around and dispatches them with her gunfire.

As Cameda prepares to unleash a lightning strike from his baton, Rune intervenes, engaging him with his weapon. Cameda manages to block the attack with his shield, but the shield becomes stuck to Rune's blade, rendering him unable to retrieve it. Cameda then strikes Rune in the stomach with a lightning bolt, sending him skidding across the ground in agony. As his magic gradually reawakens, Rune points his arm towards his weapon, causing it to glow magically and sever the shield in half. Cameda is bewildered by what just happened when Rune's blade pierces his stomach. Rune attempts to employ his magic to make his weapon cut upward, but Cameda stops the blade with his hand. Rune continues to endure the shocks from the lightning strikes. Meanwhile, Ezzy approaches Cameda from behind and strikes him on the head with her rifle, which shatters upon impact. In response, Cameda shoots a lightning bolt at Ezzy, but she manages to dodge it and retaliates by tossing a grenade at Cameda. The resulting explosion propels both of them away, with Cameda crashing into the prison building and Ezzy rolling in front of Rune.

Rune coughs up blood but slowly rises to retrieve his weapon, while Ezzy coughs slightly and gets to her feet. Together, they observe as the human flesh surrounding the prison converges towards the spot where Cameda crashed. They witness Cameda emerging from the building, with all the flesh merging into him. Cameda declares that he can sense Rune's hidden potential, but it is currently too slow to manifest, suggesting that Rune may be a future beacon of hope but will fail in the present. Cameda grows significantly larger and conjures a larger baton. Taking a deep breath, Rune focuses on the magical energy swirling around him. Ezzy remarks that to defeat Cameda, they must target his heart and brain. Rune whispers to himself, beseeching his magical powers to return.

Transformed into a giant, Cameda charges with a massive riot shield. Rune rushes forward with his weapon, striking against the shield, causing their magic to clash. Summoning all his strength, Rune screams as he cleaves the shield in half. At the same time, Ezzy throws a smoke bomb in front of Cameda's face, causing him to step back, disoriented, and unleash a torrent of lightning strikes from his baton into the smoke. Emerging from the smoke, Rune swings his weapon and slices Cameda's right eye, resulting in blood splattering across Rune's body. In retaliation, Cameda strikes Rune with a powerful blow from his hand, sending him crashing to the ground and coughing up blood. Surprisingly, Rune manages to survive the attack.

Ezzy rushes towards them, but Cameda strikes his baton downwards, which Rune blocks with his weapon. Cameda forces Rune underground and bombards the ground with a barrage of lightning strikes erupting from his baton. Ezzy skillfully dodges the lightning strikes that are coming out of the ground, employing her parkour skills to navigate towards Cameda. Determined, Ezzy states that she will keep fighting until she saves her family. She tosses a flashbang in front of Cameda, temporarily blinding him and causing him to drop to his knees. Seizing the opportunity, Ezzy throws her remaining three grenades onto Cameda's giant head, creating a massive explosion and leaving a gaping hole. Cameda screams in pain as he swings wildly with his baton. Despite his injuries, Cameda underestimates Ezzy, who skillfully evades his strikes and jumps into the hole in his head.

Landing on Cameda's shattered skull, Ezzy uses her knife to tear it open. Writhing in agony, Cameda clings to his head while Rune emerges from the ground and swings his blade upwards, slicing off Cameda's vest. Rune then stabs his weapon beneath Cameda's chin. Cameda forcibly removes Rune, causing him to crash to the ground. Rune's body is heavily injured, marked with burn marks. Ezzy tears open Cameda's skull, but her knife shatters in the process. With a powerful scream, she plunges her hands into Cameda's brain and begins tearing it apart with sheer strength. Cameda desperately tries to remove Ezzy's grip by digging his fingers into his own head. Sensing an opportunity, Rune assumes a battle stance, preparing for his decisive move. He whispers to himself, hoping to rekindle the power he once possessed. In a swift motion, Rune leaps forward with incredible speed, slashing into Cameda's chest and causing a torrent of blood to gush out. He narrowly avoids a lightning strike from Cameda's baton and severs Cameda's hand. Filled with rage in his eyes, Rune charges forward, stabbing Cameda's still-beating heart.

Simultaneously, Ezzy continues to dismantle Cameda's brain with her bare hands. Cameda collapses lifeless as Ezzy emerges from his head, her body drenched in blood. Rune falls to the ground, exhausted, and Ezzy joins him, affirming that they have succeeded. Curious, Rune inquires about Ezzy's name. She reveals that her short name is Ezzy, but her real name is Elizabeth. Rune expresses his gratitude for Ezzy's assistance, stating that he's glad she helped him. Suddenly, they both rise to their feet, witnessing Cameda's body convulsing as it transforms into a mound of human flesh and slides away. Confusion fills Ezzy's mind as she tries to comprehend what just occurred. Rune calmly states that Cameda is not dead. Shortly after, Ezzy opens the basement door of the prison, revealing a vast hallway filled with an array of military weapons. Overwhelmed by the sight, tears of joy stream down Ezzy's face. Recognizing the significance of this discovery, Rune declares that he can sense Cameda heading towards Old Berry town and emphasizes the urgency of saving the others. Ezzy quickly begins gathering as many weapons as she can, while Rune takes a deep breath, still bearing the wounds from their previous battle.

Shortly after, the prison bus arrives at the courthouse in Old Berry town. The police zombies escort the six prisoners, including Kiren and Michael, out of the bus. To Kiren's surprise, he sees the courthouse being enveloped in human flesh as Cameda opens the doors. This confuses Kiren, as Cameda was left behind at the prison. Cameda warmly greets the zombies in the vicinity, and as they enter the courthouse, the human flesh around court house fuses with them.

Meanwhile, Michael notices a piece of human flesh sliding towards Cameda, merging with him. Cameda remarks that his other half wasn't sufficient for Rune and Ezzy. Using hand signals, Cameda summons numerous SWAT police officers who emerge from the courthouse, guarding the area. The police zombies then usher all the prisoners inside, lining them up on electric chairs for the entire audience to witness. Michael and Kiren are seated on the right side of the court, the last in line.

Scared, Kiren scans the room and notices numerous well-dressed zombies sitting on the benches, watching intently. When Kiren turns around, he sees a judge zombie. Cameda approaches the front and signals for the doors to close, prompting silence among everyone present. Cameda informs the judge that these criminals have killed many police officers and asserts that death is the only fitting punishment for them. The judge zombie smiles and concurs. The prisoners desperately plead for their lives to be spared.

Speaking out, Kiren asserts that they are all delusional, emphasizing that this world is no longer the same and that they haven't killed anyone but the undead. Cameda looks at Kiren and proclaims that indeed, this is no longer the old world—it is his world now. Cameda then addresses the judge, stating that he has a witness who can testify to the criminals' murders of his police officers. Will steps forward to the witness stand, surveying the room.

He reveals that he was with the Berry community, searching for their missing friends at the prison. A conflict broke out between them and the police upon arrival. Will struggles to respond, torn between protecting his friends and Cameda. He ultimately states that this criminal justice system is even worse than the previous one. Cameda is surprised by Will's words, as he believed they had discussed this matter back at the prison.

Will continues, expressing that Cameda is merely seeking a beacon of hope among humanity, individuals who will stand up against injustice, as he himself could not be that beacon in his lifetime. Cameda signals to the police zombies, who seize Will. In his final words to Cameda, Will asserts that the world does not need to understand his pain and that he should have remained the person he once was, capable of leading humanity during these trying times instead of becoming what he feared most—a biased and delusional justice system.

Cameda becomes enraged and signals for the police zombies to escort Will outside. He then looks at the judge and inquires about their thoughts on the situation. The judge zombie decrees death for all criminals, prompting cheers from the zombie crowd. Cameda smiles and summons a button, materializing it in his hand. With a press of the button, Cameda initiates the electrocution process, causing the first prisoner on the left side to be shocked to death. Watching in terror, Michael and Kiren witness the horrifying sight. Michael, attempting to find solace amidst the imminent danger, remarks that at least he didn't die as a coward. As the next prisoner succumbs to the electric shock, Kiren's realization of his own powerlessness without Adam sets in. He acknowledges his inability to become the hero he aspired to be. Desperate for salvation, Kiren unleashes a loud cry, pleading for someone to rescue them. The fourth prisoner receives a jolt of electricity, and Michael, next in line, prepares himself for the same fate. Kiren gazes upon Cameda, whose delight in their suffering is evident. As Michael's turn is about to arrive, he experiences agonizing pain and bids a heartfelt farewell to Kiren. Writhing in excruciating pain, Michael's anguished cries fill the air as the electric chair delivers its merciless shock. Overwhelmed by fear, Kiren comprehends that he is next after Michael's demise.