The Alchemist turned pale as she shuddered and tried to scream.
"Hiiiik-."
"Gruuooghhh!?"
Even after I stopped the Alchemist from making any sounds, one could still hear shouts. It was the Medicine King.
Old enough to chew out the Sword Saint despite being his friend, this old man who seemed to think it was only acceptable to view young people as naive and immature, screamed like he lost his marbles.
"Run away! Run away! I've never seen anything like that even in the Silicon Valley! Waaaah, We're going to die! The world is coming to an end!"
"This is a world that has already been destroyed you know?!"
I quickly took out the Holy Sword and cut off the nearest zombie. Unlike the martial arts genre , I had seen movies and drama of the zombie genre quite often, and so thanks to that, I was able to face my opponent(s) directly on the 13th floor. And now after all that experience, my blade instinctively flew towards the zombie's neck.
-Keeeuuuugh!
The zombie's head growled even as it soared into the air. The headless body also swung at me, swinging its arms and legs. Damn it. Is it a type of zombie that would only stop moving after its brain is destroyed? That was the worst case.
"Let's get out of here first!"
"Yo-You bastards who are you!?"
Finally, the two people we saw earlier noticed that we were there. The old man of the Righteous Sect and the woman of the Demonic Cult looked in our direction, and they were astonished upon glimpsing at our party, just like we were surprised to see the zombies.
"… Hey old fart. It seems that the eyes of the great me have turned up strangely. They see, not just one, but four living people. Is the King of the Underworld calling for the great me?"
"That's, that's what I see, too. Maybe because you've provoked me first by calling me a retard, I feel as though I really have become retarded."
"You should run away, too!"
I rushed to carry the Alchemist on my back.
"And please tell us where to run to while you're at it!"
Both of them looked at each other.
"Oh, my world. It really is a living person, old thing."
"Maybe we're already dead and looking at the scenery of the underworld…?"
"Then probably one of the two things happened, either you and the great me died and we went to paradise together or we fell into hell together."
"I don't think this body, which has served righteousness and honor as the Murim Lord, will go to hell, so it's probably paradise. However, there are no peach trees, no fairies, and there is an abundance of jiangshi in here. And above all, you are here too, aren't you? It'll be very odd if this is heaven."
"Then this must be reality, not a dream."
"So these people are innocent?"
"At least the warmth of their bodies doesn't seem to resemble the cold of the jiangshi."
Maybe they had figured out that we were already fleeing from the zombie infested area, the Venomous Snake took care of the old man of the Righteous Sect and I was carrying the woman of the Demonic Cult, while they went on chatting in peace.
"Where the hell are you guys from?"
The woman from the Demonic Cult looked up at me curiously.
"So you're mastering the miraculous Footwork. Are you perhaps children of the Sae-Wae ? Are the orangs still alive in the periphery?"
"We are…"
I didn't understand exactly what Sae-Wae meant, but I had an inkling. She must be asking if we're from a place outside the control of the Righteous and Demon sects. When I was thinking about what to say, I heard a sound from the back that relieved my worries about giving an answer.
-Kkikik, keeeek!
-Ooohoohooh!
They were zombies. They ran after us in full swing, probably after setting their bodies back in order.
Wouldn't it be more accurate to say they were jumping?
What kind of zombie was so lively that it skipped ten meters with every step? I should have said "flying" instead of "running." The sight of hundreds of zombies flying like a swarm of seagulls gave me both shock and horror.
"Wh, what?!"
The Venomous Snake was astonished as well.
"What kind of zombie flies in the sky?!"
"It's a Qingong Skill invented by the great me. I borrowed it from the lowlives of the Land of Mystery and improved it."
The woman of the Demonic Cult trembled.
"Look at that. They've gone beyond the Extreme Qingong Skill (路雪無癌) and even reached the point of Walking the Air (達空虛道)! Are they not the elite of the Demonic Cult who were taught by the great me? They are true demons because they have not forgotten their martial arts even in their death."
"Ho-Hold on."
I said, even if I only understood the approximate nuance of the sentence in a flurry of bizarre words, I still heard something that couldn't be overlooked.
"They don't forget their martial arts even after they die?"
"Huh? Perhaps you're in the dark about things because you're a child of the Sae-Wae."
The woman of the Demonic Cult tilted her head.
"If a strong person becomes a jiangshi, their Martial Arts spread. Isn't it common sense?"
"I've never heard of such a thing being common sense!"
Oh, my God. Zombies who use martial arts!
If it were a comedy, I'd laugh it off, but now it was not a comedy genre, but the world of genuine martial arts genre . It wasn't the time for jokes.
"Those children are of the Demonic Cult, which have been taught directly by the great me. If you take lessons from the great me, your body will react to killing intent even when you go to bed. Huu. It's great to see the Qingong Skill being used even if it's by corpses."
"Huuuh! They're catching up! They'll catch up to us like this, you Munju idiot!"
The Medicine King on the back of the Venomous Snake screamed. The Zombies, who rose into the air, descended like ferocious hawks, and the Medicine King almost tore his own hair apart from the tension.
"Run more! Can't you run faster?! If I get bitten and become a zombie, I'll bite you first!"
"Fuck, where is the brat who brought these oldies here, huh?!"
The Venomous Snake squealed.
"And why am I surrounded by oldies behind and in front of me while you are surrounded by two women?!"
"We are about to be torn to shreds getting hit by the zombies' martial arts, does that matter now?!"
"We're about to die. What else could matter more?"
Shouted Bae Hu-Ryeong who was shielding the rear on my behalf.
-They're Zombies! Zombies!
What kind of bullshit was this?
"Weakness!"
I said to the woman of the Demonic Cult.
"Don't they have any weaknesses?"
"If you cut off their heads, they will stop moving."
"Not that, something easier to manage!"
In fact, I was prepared to die at this moment. That would work on a normal zombie perhaps. But the story was very different if the world was full of zombies who were even able to use martial arts. Not only the Sword Saint, but it was also the same with the Witch and the Heretic Questioner, I was worried that I might not see a clear angle ever after handpicking all the star members we currently had.
"Um."
The woman of the Demonic Cult nodded her head.
She raised her finger and pointed over my shoulder.
"When the sun shines, they stop."
"...!"
Indeed. It was simple when you think about it.
The scene where zombies started to close in on us, and the scene where they flew in with a Qingong technique, were so shocking that I couldn't think around those facts.
"Nameless maiden! And also the Alchemist!"
"Um."
"…Yes?"
The witch-like woman answered in a nonchalant voice, and the Alchemist answered in a rattling voice. I focused the Aura on my arm.
"I'm sorry, but I'll cast you aside! Please land on your own!"
"Um."
"…Yes?"
And threw the woman and the Alchemist as far away as possible, with all the might of a javelin finalist in the Olympic Games.
The woman made no sound when she flew away. She just dropped headfirst on the snowy field with a thud. The Alchemist, on the other hand, fell with a piercing scream. The snowfield she fell into was engraved with a large (大) embossed letter.
"Sorry!"
I apologized one last time and then stopped.
Looking back, hundreds of zombies were rushing in.
-Keuuurgh!
-Kiiiiik!
-Oooooh!Keuooo!
I got goosebumps all over.
I have fought with zombies on the 13th floor before, but they were different from these ones flying like mosquitoes in the sky. To be honest, I was a little scared.
-I'm going to die!
For some reason, Bae Hu-Ryeong was delighted.
-I never thought I'd see a zombie die because of a real zombie again! Ah, good! This is the moment when I check one wish off my bucket list!
Did that old man make a bucket list even after he became a ghost?
"Not yet,"
In the middle of the snowfield, I faced a group of zombies.
"I'm not going to die just yet!"
I pulled the Holy Sword of the Goddess out of its sheath.
Striking the teeth of a proud zombie nearest to me and looking at the flesh of the zombie who was previously frozen, I hurriedly spoke into my mind.
"Shiny!"
[Shiny answers the call of the warrior.]
'Shine!'
Paaaaaaaaahhhh!
Fragment of the Constellation. The Holy Sword; the first Idol I owned out of the five sister swords, radiated light. The snowfield reflected the light and everything shone brightly.
And I realized that I had a talent for naming. It was indeed the right choice to give Shiny the name "Shiny".
-Uhhhhhh!
-Geuooo.
Ooooohhhh…
They stopped.
Zombies seeing the light of the Holy Sword stopped midair in unison. All of them fell to the ground like mosquitoes that were hit directly by a bug spray. Because they did not break the fall, the snow that covered the snowfield was drilled with holes like a honeycomb.
"heuoook!"
The Medicine King, who had been caught by a zombie, groaned. The zombie hardened as it was gripping the Medicine King's white hair.
"A-Am I alive? Do I get to breathe again? If it weren't for that bastard Marcus, I wouldn't have come to the tower. Curse my fate…"
"Is everyone alright?"
I didn't let my guard down. It was not yet over. The dark clouds had not receded from the sky, and the ground was still dark.
The only light around us was the brilliance being emitted from the Holy Sword of the Goddess.
If the light goes out even for a moment, those fearsome Zombies would resume their activities.
"Uh. Yes, my face hurts a little, but it's okay…Thank you for saving me, Death King…."
"Fuck, the Medicine King, and this old fart too! I want to live my life while distancing myself from old people, please!"
The Alchemist and the Venomous Snake informed us that they were safe in their own way.
I nodded.
"Guild master of Chen Mu-mun. Please take care of the others while I kill the zombies."
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to get rid of them while they're not moving."
I aimed at a zombie with the Holy Sword.
"It's going to take some time, but it's not hard work…"
"Wait a moment. Child of the Sae-Wae."
The woman of the Demonic Cult rose from the snow.
Slowly she brushed the snowflakes off her uniform.
"First of all, I'd like to express my gratitude for saving the great me, who is a complete stranger. But if you're going to behead the jiangshi, then the great me will have to stop you."
"…Why?"
All kinds of things came to my mind.
Is there an unusual curse on a zombie if it is killed, will the curse be transmitted? In fact, few monsters are as abundant in variations as zombies. Depending on how it is set up in the world view, they can either become a trash-mob or a terrible disaster.
But what the woman of the Demonic Cult told us was something we completely didn't expect.
"Those are all the Demonic Cult's followers."
"Pardon?"
"They're the disciples and subordinates of the great me."
She was serious.
"The Great War, which was ignited by the Righteous Sect bastards, is on the horizon. We are in dire need of every individual. We can't lose more elites here when we're in a tight spot anyway."
What kind of a crock of shit was this?
Our party did not understand the woman's words. What Great War? The heaven and earth of this world were already on the verge of collapsing. There could not be any forces or men to wage war.
The librarian had said this as he guided us to the Apocalypse.
「When you open your eyes, it will be the world 10 days before Chronicles of Heavenly Demon faces a discontinuation.」
「I look forward to your wonderful ending.」
Only ten days till utter destruction comes.
I don't know how many survivors will remain in this world, but… After ten days, they'll all die anyway. Neither the woman of the Demonic Cult nor the old man of the Righteous Sect was an exception to this fate.
The two Righteous and Demonic sect people were calm, perhaps it was because they knew of this future.
"That old man…"
"The Murim Lord, master of the Righteous Sect. He's called Bu Wol-sun."
"…I've been in the Great War with that old man for three years. It's been 989 days since the war was declared. The great me and the old man swore on our respective names, and we could never get out of here until one of us concedes defeat."
The woman of the Demonic Cult gravely stated.
"All of our sect disciples have been reduced to jiangshi, but if they use the martial arts of the Demonic Cult, they will soon be demons. They're the men the great me has to take care of. Don't kill them. If you want to kill, then only pick the ones wearing priest robes…."
"Bullshit! We painstakingly raked those Elites together from the prestigious Righteous Sect!"
The old man of the Righteous Sect jumped up and down.
"Didn't you make a promise, Heavenly Demon? You and I will see the end of the Great War of Good and Evil without touching the jiangshi!"
"Promises are made to be broken."
"You wicked bitch! Then I'll also smash each of those demon jiangshi's heads!"
"You son of a bitch, the head of the Righteous Sect is going to break the bargain? You have finally revealed your true colors of being a hypocrite!"
Just as they did before the zombies started moving, the two looked as if they were going to have a life-or-death duel right away.
I was dumbfounded.
"…The world is destroyed, and you're saying that you're going to continue doing something like that?"
"The order is wrong."
The Demonic Cult woman called the Heavenly Demon shook her head.
"The whole world was destroyed on its own while we were at war."
"...."
That was to say,
The Righteous Sect old man, the Righteous Sect Lord woman, and the Demonic Cult, and the Heavenly Demon fought while putting their fates on the line. There was no problem so far. However, the sudden outbreak of the virus turned all of their subordinates into zombies.
Ordinary people would stop the war here, run away, or hide—.
"But you can't put off the game that you've already started!"
The Righteous and Demonic sects people were definitely not ordinary.
The Murim Lord and the Heavenly Demon… Even though all their men were reduced to zombies, they had no intentions of stopping the war.
Not only did they not stop, but the two still treated their men who had turned into Jiangshi as their own.
That's why the world with the Zombie Apocalypse had been suffering through a war for three years.
"The great me won't stop until we get a victory from that old man. There are still five hundred soldiers left to the great me. I will lead them and destroy him."
"That's for me to say, you Madu! I am joined by a group of martial artists who will fight against you bitches, even if they turn into vengeful spirits! I'll put an end to this tedious 989-day war!"
Yes.
It wasn't just our expedition which had no dreams and hopes.
There was no dream or hope in this world itself.