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Chapter 59 - GUILT

In the realm of the Vine zombie's memories, Spotting each other, Megan and Adam approach one another, realizing that they are in the Vine Zombie's memories. Together, they witness a woman entering a kitchen with a sink brimming with dirty dishes. While washing the dishes, the women pauses to gaze at her wedding photo featuring her and her husband, reminiscing about their joyous past. Soon after, her husband returns home with his second wife and three sons. The three boys play around with their food, and one of them tosses a rice ball that lands in the kitchen, where the first wife is still washing dishes. The second wife, observing the situation, rises and proceeds to pick up the rice ball. Without hesitation, she hurls it at the first wife's back, then approaches her, remarking that, given her inability to have children, she should at least do her cleaning job properly. Despite the humiliation, the first wife picks up the rice ball without a word of complaint and disposes of it in the trash bin.

Attempting to shove the second wife, Megan passes through her, prompting Adam to clarify that they are merely observers within the memories. As the night unfolds, the first wife continues her cleaning duties, while the husband tucks his sons into bed. On the front porch, the second wife, three months pregnant, indulges in a cigarette, venting her frustrations about giving three good children to her husband and contemplating the benefits of having one special child with the potential of the government giving them money. The husband enters his room to change his clothes, and the first wife embraces him from the back, expressing her desire for the second wife to be less harsh to her. The husband suggests that maybe if she could have children with him, she might earn the second wife's respect. Seeking solitude, the husband steps onto the side porch, while the first wife bows and exits without complaining. Meanwhile, the second wife dozes off in her chair outside in the front porch.

Megan and Adam then sees a hooded man with a crown symbol on his back approaching the sleeping second wife. Megan rushes towards the man, attempting to see his face, but darkness shrouds it. The hooded figure touches the second wife's neck just as the husband spots a zombie approaching his home from the streets. The zombie then bursts through the window, entering the room where the husband's sons are asleep. The husband reacts quickly and crashes through glass doors, falling into his room just as he is about to reach the door he spots another zombie leaping onto the side porch. Engaging in a struggle, the zombie attacks the husband, creating chaos in the room. Simultaneously, the first wife proceeds down the hallway leading to her husband's room. However, she halts upon hearing the front door slowly creak open. Turning around, she sees the second wife crawling in. Suddenly, the screams of her three step sons emanate from a nearby room. Shockingly, the second wife lunges at the first wife, who employs her arm as a shield against the impending bite. Realizing the second wife has transformed into a zombie, the first wife forcefully propels her backward, sending her into the living room and then tossing her into the kitchen after receiving a couple of more bites.

She seizes a wooden chair and forcefully smashes it into the second wife, causing the chair to shatter upon impact and leaving her stunned. Quickly, she grabs a kitchen knife and repeatedly stabs the second wife's head until she succumbs. Collapsing onto her back, she gazes down the hallway, hearing her husband's cries for help. As her eyes gradually turn grey, signaling her transformation into a zombie, an intense desperation to protect her husband ignites magic within her eyes and chest. Vines sprout from her hair as she extends her hand toward her husband's room, shooting vines into the room and annihilating the approaching zombie before it can bite him. Witnessing the transformation of his first wife into an A-Star zombie, the husband rises to see a nearby door breaking open, revealing a zombie and his three sons-turned-zombies. They, too, lunge at him, leaving the husband in shock as he falls onto the floor. However, before the zombies can inflict harm, numerous vines swoop in, eliminating all the approaching threats. Tears stream down the husband's face as he grapples with the overwhelming emotions of the moment. Turning to his first wife, he expresses that she possessed such magical abilities but couldn't even protect their family at all. Moving to the kitchen, he embraces his lifeless second wife and continues to weep. The first wife utilizes her vines to heal the cut wounds on the husband's back.

Back in reality, the woman skillfully dispatches approaching bandits with her assault rifle, and Nakao quickly grabs her from the back, seeking cover as they narrowly evade the bullets fired by the bandits ahead. Nakao admonishes the woman for her recklessness, but then the women spots a bandit sneaking close by at the RV—this bandit, the one who was forced to guide the Berry group to the bandit base. Pulling out a pistol, the bandit takes aim, and in a selfless act, the woman pushes Nakao out of harm's way, taking the bullet to her chest and collapses onto the ground. Nakao, filled with emotion, screams at the sight of the woman's bleeding wound. Just before the bandit can target Nakao, Nhia emerges from the bus, delivering a forceful blow to the back of the bandit's head with a cooking pan, rendering him unconscious. Rushing to the woman's side, Nakao pleads for her to hang on, and the woman requests to be taken to her husband, indicating a nearby flower tree. Nakao nods and assists her to the nearby flower tree, where the woman rests with a contented smile. Meanwhile, Kiren skillfully dispatches bandits with his hammer, blocking bullets with his shield, while Mai supports him with her machine gun from the RV.

He proceeds to advance toward the boss. The boss, perplexed by the sudden cessation of the vine zombie's attacks, shouts at her to continue attacking the Berry team. However, the vine zombie remains unresponsive, caught with Megan in Adam's magical connection. Abruptly, the boss is struck by Kiren's hurled shield, leaving a cut on his cheek. Enraged, the boss seizes an assault rifle from one of his bandits and unleashes a barrage of bullets at Kiren, who adeptly summons his shield back for protection. The bandits redirect their gunfire towards Kiren, providing Mai with an opportunity to target those who are exposed and out of position with her machine gun. Seizing the moment, Kiren hurls his hammer, shattering the boss's rifle and momentarily stunning him, resulting in a bleeding forehead. Witnessing the boss vulnerable and advancing, several bandits move to shield him. In response, Mai continues her assault, mowing down numerous bandits attempting to protect their leader. Exhausting her ammunition, Mai hastily reloads her machine gun.

Kiren charges toward the heap of bodies, and the boss emerges brandishing a machete. Engaging in combat, Kiren adeptly uses his shield to block and simultaneously counters with his hammer, leaving the boss's face bloodied. The boss feints an attack, and as Kiren attempts to counter, the boss anticipates, countering Kiren's move. Undeterred, Kiren adapts, using his shield to strike the boss in the stomach, pushing him back and stunning him. Seizing the opportunity, Kiren delivers an upward strike with his hammer, slicing open the boss's chest, followed by a hit under the boss's chin, splitting the skin of his chin and his bottom lips open in which causes profuse bleeding. The boss collapses to the ground as Kiren prepares for a finishing blow, the Adam's magical connection with the vine zombie abruptly breaks, creating a loud distraction that catches Kiren's attention.

Adam falls backward into the magical barrier within his flower tree, while Megan slowly rises, expressing her intention to share a comment with the vine zombie. However, the vine zombie's attention is captivated by the boss lying in a pool of blood on the ground. Filled with rage, she lashes out at Megan, using her vines to fling her away. Megan crashes to the ground, surrounded by armed bandits, and quickly employs her wind magic with a kick to deflect the incoming bullets. Meanwhile, Kiren is struck by numerous vines, hurtling him into Rune's flower tree. The vine zombie employs her vines to pull the boss towards her. She holds onto him and initiates a process of healing magic, tears stream down her face as a multitude of vines envelop them, forming a protective sphere. However, before the sphere can fully close, the vines begin to tremble and exhibit instability to finish the sphere. Fixing her gaze onto Adam's flower tree, the vine zombie sees it rapidly blossoming with thousands of flowers, casting a vibrant array of lights.

Within in Adam's flower tree, Adam slowly works his way out to break the spell. Gand's voice echoes in Adam's mind, suggesting that he could have already dispelled the spell if he hadn't absorbed his darker self. Adam, shifting in discomfort, asserts that he will never forget the agony he endured, and holding onto that pain motivates him to keep on living. Gand advises him to channel that anger to break free. Adam's eyes gleam with magic, causing cracks to appear all around the magic barrier. The barrier then erupts, showering Adam's flower tree with numerous black petals. Adam thrusts his arm into the flower tree, unleashing magic, which extends to all the other flower trees holding his friends. These flower trees commence vigorous shaking. Adam conveys that he has done what he can, leaving the rest to them to break free. Summoning his bat, he leaps towards the vine zombie.

The vine zombie employs her magic to pull a flower tree from behind the house towards her. The flower tree emits a magical blast that Adam intercepts. Ten additional flower trees are then pulled towards the house, forming a protective barrier around the vine zombie and the boss. Suddenly, Jean's flower tree erupts in magical energy. Jean emerges, covered in lots of hair and partially transformed into his monkey monster form. Drenched in purple magic in his eyes, he wrathfully dispatches numerous nearby bandits, leaping towards the house and slicing down a flower tree that was charging up an energy blast. Simultaneously, Ezzy breaks free from her flower tree, surrounded by her flames. The flames intensify as they engulf Rune's and Simbad's flower trees, causing both to break free as well. Simbad yells in pain due to his flames on his butt, Rune and Kiren shield themselves from the fiery onslaught. The flames around Ezzy continue to expand uncontrollably. Ezzy says that she can't stop it, her heart pounding loudly, and fears she might explode in flames like her mother at this rate. Witnessing this, Megan rushes over, but before she can reach Ezzy, she notices the flower tree next to the women and Nakao beginning to stir. The flower tree charges up a magical energy blast, and despite Nakao's attempts to escape, the vines immobilize her. She gazes at the radiant light of the charging flower, anticipating its imminent release.

Nhia skillfully maneuvers the RV and crashes into the flower tree, redirecting it's blast skyward and narrowly rescuing Nakao. Mai responds by unleashing a barrage of machine gun fire at the flower tree. Despite Nhia's attempts to drive the RV away, the vines wrap around it. In a desperate plea, Mai calls out for Michael. Finally breaking free from his flower tree, Michael quickly kicks the flower tree with lightning magic, releasing a surge of energy. Roaring with exertion, Michael generates a storm of lightning that obliterates the flower tree and reduces it to ashes. Exhausted, Michael collapses in front of the RV. Witnessing Ezzy's body glowing red, she urgently instructs everyone to distance themselves as she's on the brink of exploding. Ignoring the warning, Megan employs her wind magic to approach Ezzy. With a swift cut from her blade, she draws blood from her hand and tosses it towards Ezzy. The blood splashes onto Ezzy's face, calming the flames around her and causing her to collapse onto the ground.

Megan falls to her knees, small flames flickering on her back and shoulder. She turns her attention to Kiren and Rune just as Jean approaches them from behind. Recognizing Jean's purple eyes, she issues a warning to Kiren and Rune. Rune manages to turn around in the nick of time to deflect an attack from Jean, but the force sends him hurtling deep into the forest. Confused by Jean's sudden aggression, Kiren questions his motives. Jean turns to Kiren, revealing that he is seeking revenge for all the riders. This revelation hits Kiren hard as he realizes that it's Henry's voice, and he barely manages to block Jean's attack with his shield before being sent flying into the forest. Simbad calls out Jean's name as Jean rushes towards him. Simbad attempts to defend himself against from Jean by hurling rocks with his magic, but Jean's power proves formidable. As Jean swings his katana at Simbad, Megan intervenes just in time, using her sword to block the attack. The impact sends Megan and Simbad flying, crashing onto the RV and causing it to tip over.

Jean chuckles, his voice now bearing Henry's tones, and he sprints towards the RV. Michael rises, summoning his lightning magic to immobilize Jean, but his magical reserves deplete quickly. Seizing the opportunity, Jean impales Michael's heart with his katana. In Henry's voice, he recalls Michael as the one who harmed his father, Volk, vowing to finish the job this time. Jean kicks Michael off from his katana and prepares for a fatal strike to Michael's head. However, Nakao intervenes, firing her pistol at Jean, though the bullets barely affect him. Unfazed, Jean declares that if Nakao desires to be the first to die, then so be it. He seizes Nakao by the neck, lifting her and hurling her forcefully to the ground, shattering her body armor. Jean then thrusts his katana downward, the blade's tip penetrates Nakao's chest but stops. In a surprising turn, Jean's other hand clutches onto the katana's blade, blood dripping from his fingers. One of his eyes flickers back to normal as Jean asserts that he won't let Henry use him into killing his friends again. Mai and Nhia exit the RV, Mai screaming out Adam's name in distress.

The house lies in ruins, with Adam having just obliterated all ten flower trees. The vine zombie appears fearful of Adam, but their attention is drawn to Mai's voice. Adam halts his confrontation with the vine zombie and turns to investigate. He rushes towards Jean, pinning his head to the ground. Jean, with Henry's laughter echoing, claims to be back for a rematch. Confused by Henry's quick return in Jean's body, Adam tells Mai he'll handle the situation with Jean. He suggests that if they wish to finish off the vine zombie then the time is now since she is weaken. Adam tosses Jean deep into the forest, and gives chase. Mai then sees Megan with a bloody head, rises and she walks towards the weakened vine zombie. She expresses that she still has something to convey to her. The boss, recovering from his injuries, rises and retrieves a pistol from a deceased bandit. He advances towards Megan, intent on killing her. However, a vine wraps around his arm, and he turns around to see the vine zombie shaking her head, signaling him to stop. Enraged, the boss shoots the vine zombie in the shoulder, runs over to her and kicks her down to proceeds to harm her more. Megan tells the boss to cease, but many vines envelop the area around the vine zombie and the boss, forming a sphere. Megan leaps onto the developing vine sphere, using her arms to break through the thickening vines. She manages to breach enough to see the boss shooting the vine zombie's body. Once again, she pleads with the boss to stop hurting his wife.