When the spear was pulled out, the poor soldier fell to the ground while spurting blood profusely from his chest. The two men who witnessed his death couldn’t react in time because their minds were still frozen in shock from seeing Bern’s explosive death. As such, another died when the spear was thrown and stabbed through his throat.

  The last one remaining didn’t look at his ally’s corpse, but at the one who threw the spear.

  “You…?” [Soldier]

  “Yeah, well, I was obviously suspicious. Of course it’s me.” [Ryner]

  The red-haired, drunken man said in a deep voice. He was definitely sober as he stood tall and spoke clearly.

  “I said I was going to kill you all, remember?” [Ryner]

  “That voice… It, it’s you… You’re…” [Soldier]

  The surviving soldier, who was the one Ryner joked about being married to, shakily pointed at him.

  “I’m Mindo Buzzness.” [Ryner]

  After giving out a fake name, Ryner pulled out the spear from the corpse’s throat and faced the door.

  “You were just… Your voice was coming from that thing… Like you were at two places at once… That’s not p-.” [Soldier]

  “It was a recorded message.” [Ryner]

  There were screams and angry yells resounding throughout the mansion after the explosion. Footsteps could be heard approaching the office. Of course, Bern’s death was heard by every single person living in the mansion.

  “You blew Bern up…” [Soldier]

  The shaken man who witnessed the A rank’s death murmured, almost in a daze.

  “You blew him up.” [Soldier]

  “That bastard killed my friend, the black-haired man. He deserved it. It’s my revenge. Revenge, get it?” [Ryner]

  Ryner emphasized the last part without facing the remaining soldier that saw what he did. He knew that he didn’t have the will to fight. The man’s hands were shaking and his eyes were darting about. Perhaps seeing someone blow up from a bomb that was stuffed inside them was too much for him. Otherwise, it might be because of how cold, sharp and ruthless Ryner’s eyes currently were and he knew better than to jump to his death.

  “You people picked a fight with me and want to hunt me down. Then, I, Mindo Buzzness, a red-headed, eyepatch-wearing guy with a scar on his right cheek will face you all.” [Ryner]

  Once Ryner was done needlessly describing his current features, he intently stared at the door. Behind it were several armed soldiers that were getting ready to storm the office. Just as they were about to make their move, he stabbed his spear through the door. The sound of someone’s death groan could be heard as his chest was pierced. Then, while Ryner firmly held his weapon in place, he kicked the door and sent it flying, knocking back every man that was unfortunate enough to stand behind it.

  “Wh, who is this guy?!” [Soldier]

  “Our uniform?! He’s one of us?!” [Soldier]

  “Dumbass! Of course he’s not one of us! We need to kill or capture him! Capture if you can, but just attack him! Magic users, forward! Magicians, support with long-range spells!” [Soldier]

  “It’s too cramped to use magic here! We’ll hit our own men!” [Soldier]

  “… MAGIC USERS, FORWARD!!!” [Soldier]

  Once someone shouted orders, the fight began in the hallway. The soldiers charged at Ryner, but none of their attacks could reach him. Although he was surrounded, Ryner easily warded off their blades with his spear as he deftly spun it around. Using the extra reach his weapon provided, he parried incoming strikes, rotated and swept a soldier off his feet with the end of the pole. Then, he slashed the throats of two enemies and stabbed his spear downward and straight through the back of the man that was knocked on the floor.

  “What is this guy?!” [Soldier]

  “H-he got three of us in three seconds!” [Soldier]

  “He’s definitely a magic user!” [Soldier]

  “Don’t panic! Hold the line while I go fetch reinforcements and my armor!” [Soldier]

  “You’re going to go get your armor NOW?!!” [Soldier]

  “I don’t wear my armor in the mansion!!” [Soldier]

  “NO ONE’S GOT ARMOR ON RIGHT NOW!!!” [Soldier]

  While chaos was spreading through the ranks of the uniformed soldiers, Ryner was taking out anyone that tried to kill him. More enemies came from both sides of the hallway, but that didn’t change the course of the battle. The situation was becoming grimmer as men kept dying from getting slashed, stabbed, punched or kicked. Moreover, Ryner was purposely giving them gruesome deaths as if putting on a bloody show.

  He stabbed a soldier through the throat and pulled his spear upward, ripping the head off from the neck as blood gushed out like a fountain. The decapitated head was kicked in someone’s disturbed face like a soccer ball.

  He caught another by the throat and bit his ear off before using him as a shield to block an incoming sword. Then, he drove his spear through the meat shield and the attacker.

  He stabbed a foe through the stomach from the back and lifted him over his head, displaying his skewered form for all to see as the groaning and dying man slowly slid down the pole of the bloody weapon. Then, he vigorously swung his spear and sent the victim limply crashing against the wall, which left a red stain.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  While the one-sided fight was underway, the soldier that was spared was seeing it unfold in the office before his eyes. He weakly sat on the floor and watched as his allies all tried to kill Ryner, or Mindo, but failed. The red-haired man wasn’t even moving from the doorway and stayed in his view, as if he wanted him to witness it all.

  Ryner moved like a flowing whirlwind and relentlessly fought off all opponents. He delivered a high kick to the side of a soldier’s face which buried it in the wall. Then, as four swords simultaneously came down on him from both sides, he ducked and used the length of his spear to block three while he caught the one in front of him by the blade using his bare hand. As he stood up, he pushed the three swords away and pulled the one in his hand towards him along with the wielder.

  The soldier stumbled past him and suffered a roundhouse kick in the back, which caused him to knock into his allies. Using that opportunity, the eyepatch-wearing man stabbed his spear into the stomach of the other soldier that had attacked him. This time, however, he didn’t pull it back and under everyone’s gaze, he froze him.

  This stopped his opponents from attacking him as they turned their eyes on the ghastly spectacle.

  “J-Jack is…!” [Soldier]

  The man known as Jack was being frozen little by little as frost crawled over his body. His skin turned cold and pale, his blood froze in his veins and his eyes lost their light. Once he was dead, Ryner swung his spear and threw the rigid body to the foes behind him. The corpse shattered on impact. Those hit by it stared with wide and shaky eyes at the frozen bits and pieces of meat.

  “That just now was magic…” [Soldier]

  “W-wait, look at the spear! There’s weird frost covering the blade!” [Soldier]

  “… An Artifact? It’s an Artifact… It’s an Artifact!” [Soldier]

  As the soldiers murmured and yelled at each other, their words fanned their own fear and anxiety.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me! On top of his crazy strength, this guy’s got a magic spear to boot!? There’s no way we can take on a monster like him!!” [Soldier]

  “(Artifacts are really popular. They got scared way faster than I thought. Maybe I should have held back some more.)” [Ryner]

  The soldiers of Jadistro that were part of Tenneb’s private army were mostly mercenaries on his payroll. They weren’t a real army that held unity or conviction. They were only there to keep the town under control because that was where the underground auction for elves took place. Most of them only did what they wanted all day long and held no real loyalty to their employer. They had gotten used to pushing the townspeople around and having their way with them. The occasional fights were won by either their numbers or by their A rank captain.

  In short, they had grown a bit too used to being strong.

  As such, when faced against overwhelming odds, they chose the logical course of action.

  “Screw this! I’m not getting paid enough to fight this monster!!!” [Soldier]

  Once someone shouted out his thoughts and ran away, others did the same. Soon, many turned tail and ran. As they escaped for their lives while screaming, a few stayed behind. They chose to face Ryner.

  Gritting their teeth, they held their swords in their trembling hands and glared at the opponent with fearful eyes.

  “S-s-surrender!!! You’re, you’re going against the soldiers of Jadistro! Its protectors! T-T-Tenneb’s army!! DO YOU REALIZE THAT!!?” [Soldier]

  One brave soul shouted because of arrogance and pride great enough to beat his fear and rationality. Ryner didn’t heed his words and calmly walked towards him.

  “I-I told you to surrender!! Surrender!! I’m a soldier of Tenneb!! A soldier of an earl!!” [Soldier]

  Only a few steps separated them, so he stood right in front of him, right in front of his trembling sword, in a few seconds.

  “W-why aren’t you obeying me? E-everyone o-o-obeyed me…” [Soldier]

  The soldier said in a weak and rather tearful voice as he thought back on the many times that he ordered the townspeople around for his amusement. Having the men act as clowns, having the women serve him, and if they disobeyed, he would beat or kill them. His friends did it too. Everyone did it.

  In Jadistro, the blue uniform they wore made them kings.

  “S-stop!!” [Soldier]

  And yet, the one before him ignored his words and silently pushed a spear through his heart.

  After Ryner quickly eliminated everyone that chose to stay, he looked at the cowering soldier he spared that was still sitting on his butt in the office. Ryner walked up to him, which caused him to shiver violently in fear, and spoke in a deep voice.

  “This is my warning. The warning of Mindo Buzzness. Remember it.” [Ryner]

  Afterwards, he knocked him out with a punch and began pursuing the soldiers who ran away. This time, he didn’t hold back and used his life force to run at superhuman speed, catching up to every single one of them. Ryner ignored the screaming servants that were also making their escape and cut down every person that donned a blue uniform.

  It was a horrifying scene of men running away in fear of death itself. It wielded a spear that robbed their bodies of warmth and held enough strength to crush a person’s skull.

  Soon, all the blood curling screams and frantic footsteps disappeared like they never existed. The servants ran away and escaped into town. The soldiers never made it past the door. Those who tried to jump from the windows were caught. Those who succeeded had either a sword or some random object thrown at them which pierced their heads.

  Standing in the middle of the hallway and drenched in blood, Ryner once more confirmed that there was no one else but him in the mansion. His spear, which was the Artifact that he took from the bearded triplet in the forest, was covered in frozen blood. All around him were corpses littering the bloody floor. Each of them had a terrified expression on their face.

  Ryner stared at them all, as if taking in the surroundings, and grandly puked.

  He emptied his stomach, wiped his mouth and walked on. He had to put away his disguise, secured a couple of horses and meet up with the elves waiting in the small forest outside of Jadistro. So, first off, he would need to wipe away all of the blood on him.

  “I’ll have nightmares about these guys after this.” [Ryner]

  Ryner muttered as he thought back on all of the terrified men he cut down as well as Bern. The A rank captain became a bomb so that he would leave a large impact on the selected witness’ memory. That witness was the soldier that Ryner spared, the only one still alive in the mansion. Planting explosives inside people and turning them into meat bombs was not something Ryner enjoyed doing, just like killing.

  That’s why he sighed tiredly and scratched the back of his wig-covered head.

  “… Damn I’m cruel.” [Ryner]

  “There’s no need for such a blatant lie.” [Elf]

  Suddenly, he recalled the words of the elven woman that he rescued.

  “You don’t actually feel anything watching those corpses.” [Elf]

  Those words echoed in his head, causing him to freeze in place and stop walking.

  “Crap, those elves can definitely read minds.” [Ryner]

  He said as resumed his march and considered how he would get out of the mansion without being spotted.

  On that day, a massacre occurred in the mansion of the governor who controlled Jadistro. After an explosion was heard, an unknown assailant started killing people left and right. Although the servants escaped unharmed, the soldiers had all died except for one. From the testimony of the frightened, sole survivor, the attacker was a red-haired man who had an eyepatch over his right eye and a large scar on his right cheek. The motive for his attack was because they had killed a friend of his and he wanted revenge. He caused an A rank magic user to blow up while screaming in pain and possessed a magic spear of the ice element.

  Using the shivering soldier’s description of the felon’s physical features, a wanted poster was made and distributed throughout the Stornith Empire. This case not only affected the order and peace of the empire, but the authority of the aristocrats. After all, during the chaos, governor Isecke, the representative of Earl Tenneb, died. Moreover, said earl was believed to have been found along with four other nobles whom he had ties with in a secret room of his basement when the mansion was searched after the commotion.

  They were all burned to death, but no one could really identify the bodies. The only way they knew for sure was because of a conspicuous message left on the floor in red paint.

  REVENGE

  TENNEB AND HIS FRIENDS’ PARTY

  On that day, Mindo Buzzness became a criminal in Stornith that was wanted dead or alive for the crime of murdering five nobles as well as multiple other homicides.

  I'll put the bonus short stories here after I'm done posting the elf chapter since they take more time. They'll also be in the compilation. So, posting the elf chapter next.

  Spoiler: Memory from fragment Knight

  The white knight swung her sword left.

  The white knight swung her sword right.

  The opponent she was fighting dodged her strikes nimbly and threw in his own attacks. Raising her shield, she blocked and diverted the blows that could pulverize any man. Luckily, their full body armor protected and strengthened them beyond human limits.

  Her opponent delivered a brutal kick to her stomach. Even with her heavy armor, she was knocked back and her feet slid on the ground from the impact. She examined the knight before her once again after gaining some distance. His grey armor was bulkier and thicker than hers, especially the feet that had small wheels at the soles. Three pipes came out from both sides of his torso and expelled hot steam. Afterwards, they slid back under the steel plates and the metal knight readied his sword.

  The spectators around them were cheering and shouting in joy. The two knights were in a huge arena that could hold a thousand spectators. The sky was blue, the sun was warm and the cheers were deafening. Those who came to watch were excited to witness knights fighting from so close. It was an event that was held to show off their strength and it always attracted a lot of attention every year. Even the royal family was watching the matches from their special seats.

  The woman in white armor found it annoying, but she needed to participate because it was part of her duty. Also, it wasn’t a waste of time since the results would affect the rankings amongst the knights. The winner of these matches would have their strength recognize and surely climb up the ladder. That was what she aimed for.

  Her mission was to be the greatest knight in the country. It was her sole goal in her current life.

  After looking up at the sky where an aircraft resembling an armored blimp was floating over her head, the white knight readied her sword, raised her shield and resumed the match.

  Spoiler: Memory from fragment Knight

  Putting on the highly expensive knight armor was rather complicated.

  All of the men wore body tight uniforms as they stood in the large workshop. Once preparations were complete, the blacksmiths brought them to where their armors were and helped them suit up. They first wore the inner armor before attaching tubes to their backs as well as their necks. Then, as the “fuel” was being injected, the external armor was put on piece by piece using specialized tools and magic diagrams.

  It was the same for the mysterious knight that always hid his face. Even now, while everyone was suiting up, he arrived fully clad in steel armor. It wasn’t like the ones that the knights received. It was just made of plain steel, but it served its purpose. No one could see his figure under that bulky frame.

  Making his way to his station that was separated by walls and curtains, the knight took off his helmet to reveal the face of a black-haired woman underneath. After shedding the steel shell, the old blacksmith helped her put on her specially-made knight armor.

  The internal, light armor that seemed to be made of leather and patterns of steel lines covered her whole body except her head. Three big tubes like firehoses were attached to her back, along her spine. As various fluids from three containers were being injected into the suit, the old blacksmith began putting on her white armor over the internal one. With each piece, more of these fueling liquids were injected and bonded to the armor as if they had a mind of their own.

  Afterwards, he disconnected the three tubes, attached the back plates and carefully connected another tube at the back of her neck. The woman first wore a mask that covered her nose and mouth and gave the old man a thumbs-up. Then, the contents of the fourth container flowed through her suit and filled every nook and cranny of her armor. She took a deep breath while her eyelids twitched. Multiple purple strands like worms could be seen crawling over her sclera. After closing her eyes that were unfocused and opening them, they faded away.

  With the process complete, the old blacksmith disconnected the tube, covered the back of her neck in white armor and put on her helmet. While at it, he complained about her long hair that was tied up, but she sarcastically said that it couldn’t be helped.

  Women were expected to look pretty, take care of the house and support their husband, not go into battle while lying about their gender.

  Spoiler: Memory from fragment Knight

  Staying cooped up in her house all the time was impossible, so she had to go out and walk around the street every now and then. Greeting people and showing her face was an important job to keep her current lifestyle. So long as her neighbors believed that she was a slightly eccentric, but normal person, then it would be easier for her to move around as she liked.

  That was why she was currently exchanging small talk with other housewives. They chatted about their day, complained about their mischievous kids and gossiped about someone’s unconfirmed romance. The woman with sleepy-looking eyes nodded along to everything they said.

  When one of them commented about the lack of care for her black hair, she only gave a vague response. Then, everyone jumped on the topic and told her to be more mindful of her appearance or her husband would run away from her. After all, her beige dress was getting discolored and the white apron she wore on top looked worn out.

  From there, they talked about her husband’s work and how proud she must be that he was a knight. Then, the talk derailed as they went from asking how powerful he was on the battlefield to how strong he was in bed. Again, she only gave them a vague response.

  Luckily, before things got more awkward, the attention of the housewives and every other citizen was caught by one of the aircrafts in the sky that resembled a blimp. Seeing them fly around wasn’t rare. However, its horribly damaged appearance told everyone that its expedition might not have been successful. The citizens all worried about the brave men that were part of that group.

  The woman with eyes of different color watched the aircraft that was barely flying straight while wondering if the company of knights she was a part of was going to be sent out on a mission soon. If it were, then she might have to face whatever did that.

  It was a great way to climb up the ranks.

  Spoiler: Memory from fragment Knight

  Being married was useful.

  Simply by wearing a cheap ring on her left ring finger, everyone thought that she was someone’s wife. That social status gave her a certain degree of protection. People believed that she was the woman of a powerful and mysterious knight who accomplished many valorous deeds. As such, no one really wanted to mess with her. Thanks to her fake marriage, she could avoid most problems.

  Most of them, anyway.

  The female knight stared at the troublesome man with half-closed eyes. He kept rambling on about how she should accompany him for a bit since it was a woman’s duty to support a man. In exchange, he would treat her to a meal because he had some money on hand. Perhaps, because of such a social worldview, that was why he didn’t back off despite the wedding ring on her finger. He believed he could talk it out with her husband later and explain that he only spent a few hours going shopping with her. One could say he was a brazen and courageous man, or an extremely shameless idiot.

  Truth be told, he was just an extremely shameless idiot.

  Most of his explaining to her husband would involve intimidating by way of showing off his big biceps and thick chest. Knights were only great because of that special armor that only they had access to. So, once they took it off, they were ordinary men.

  And he was a man amongst men.

  There was no way he would lose to an unarmored knight.

  That was how his mind reasoned it, at the very least.

  He completely didn’t think it possible that he would get arrested.

  Or that the woman standing in front of him could break his spine in two.

  Spoiler: Memory from fragment School

  The whole class stood in front of their respective desks with a large, opened case on top. Neatly stored inside were various parts of body armor. The instructor at the front spoke in a loud voice and told them that they shouldn’t be sitting while studying the standard protective armor of the army.

  Armor that they would be wearing very soon.

  He spent some time telling them about its defensive capabilities, the exoskeleton that supported the wearer’s movements and the boosters that gave their jumps an extra reach. He explained how to wear it, how to power it up, where the battery cell was and what they shouldn’t do to avoid a stupid death.

  Of course, since they all had different powers that manifested differently, their gear and equipment would be tailored to them. In Ryner’s case, he couldn’t have any boosters on the back because of his power.

  The instructor warned the high schoolers that although their armor was state of the art and that it could stop bullets and knives, it often wouldn’t do much good against their monstrous enemies. Some had teeth harder than steel and jaws strong enough to crunch through armored vehicles. Others were as big as mammoths and could easily trample them to death. The nastier ones spit acid or possessed tentacles that could tear people to pieces.

  The creatures that came from another dimension were powerful. Their assault was relentless and their numbers unending. Science couldn’t beat them. But, that was why kids born with supernatural powers were sent to schools specialized for them. So that they could be taught to fight at an early age and enroll in the army right after high school.

  Human weapon.

  It was another name that some called them by.

  Otherwise, they were also known as freaks.

  Spoiler: Memory from fragment School

  They were basically VIPs.

  They were brought to the school to boost the students’ morale and help them better themselves. The strategy was to spur the students to become the best soldiers that they could be by having them meet “celebrities”. The plan came from someone in the higher ups, so the VIPs couldn’t complain and had to do what they were told.

  Frankly, it was frustrating to some. They were the best of the Knight Corps, yet they had to do something akin to babysitting. Others smiled and waved, enjoying the attention and popularity they were getting. Those who weren’t in either camps just followed their orders and watched over the students in the training field. The Knights would give these Cadets some pointers and even spar with them. Needless to say, all of the matches always ended in their overwhelming victory. Mere Cadets didn’t stand a chance against them.

  Things were going as expected. The guys stared at the strongest Knights with glittering eyes while the girls sighed in admiration. When they could, they would bombard the veterans with various questions about their battles or about their personal lives. The most popular thing that was asked though was the infamous battle ten years ago.

  Were you there when it happened?

  What was the swarm of monsters like?

  Although it was an old event, nobody had forgotten about it. However, the reason wasn’t because of the tragedies that it produced, but the tragedies that were avoided.

  Tragedies avoided thanks to an individual, still unknown ten years later.

  That was why that question was asked over and over again.

  Do you know who the Dark Knight is?

  Spoiler: Memory from fragment Zombie

  Ryner carefully walked through an alley, making sure that nothing noticed him. Turning a corner, he saw the street which caused him to stop, crouch down and slowly back away.

  It was crawling with infected.

  He was currently inside a mid-danger zone. In this area, the undead were greater in numbers compared to a low-danger zone. But, that also meant that the chances humans had time to plunder every supplies was lower. As such, Ryner had come to these more dangerous parts of the city to scavenge for food, clothes and anything that could keep him alive.

  Still, seeing the street packed with rotten and groaning bodies that were slowly shuffling about made him wonder if it was such a good idea. He looked around to find a way to get on a building’s roof.

  At that moment, a mutated monster passed by in the crowded street. Ryner hurriedly shifted back a bit more while carefully peeking from the corner.

  It was a man that was crawling on all fours while spewing red gunk from its mouth. The reason it couldn’t walk straight was because of the giant zit filled with white pus on its back. That dome was actually bigger than it and caused it to clumsily move at a slow pace.

  When Ryner saw the infected, he found it a shame that it was surrounded by so many undead. Killing it and harvesting its pus would make for a good biohazardous weapon. He had seen that substance melt people down like acid. Moreover, these types of mutations were easy to deal with. So long as he kept his distance, they could be taken down in one hit. After all, they were basically moving bombs.

  He just had to pop its zit.

  Spoiler: Memory from fragment Zombie

  Scavenging.

  Every day, Ryner would scavenge the ruined city and bring back whatever he found useful to his hideout. It was an apartment in a building complex that was located in a rather safe zone with few infected. His place was on the higher floors and off the ground where the undead roamed. Moreover, it was big enough for him to store all of the supplies he secured during his trips through the city’s streets.

  This time, along with food, water and other items, he took out from his backpack several books. The first one was some girl’s diary. Skipping to the end, he found that she recorded the first few days when the dead started walking.

  The second one was about mechanical engineering. The world’s technology was familiar to him, but there might be some finer points that he didn’t know of. That was why he grabbed the tome.

  Finally, the last one was about cooking. It was useless to him.

  So, using a box cutter, he cut a rectangular hole through the several hundred pages. Once he was done, he placed a semi-automatic handgun along with a magazine clip inside and closed the book. Then, he placed it on the shelf of his bookcase in the living room, which was where he kept his other books.

  Afterwards, Ryner organized and went over what he had stocked up. The canned food, the water bottles, the medicine, the clothes, the tools, the miscellaneous items and the weapons were all there, placed in various places around his apartment.

  And now that he had more supplies, he decided to increase and maintain his arsenal.

  He made gunpowder.

  He made Molotov cocktails.

  He made smoke bombs.

  He made explosive grenades.

  He sharpened his blades.

  He cleaned his guns.

  He counted the bullets left.

  Eventually, he had to turn in for the night. The sun was about to set. So, Ryner made sure that the windows were barricaded and blocked, the door was securely locked and his escape route was cleared. Then, he just needed to wait for dawn without being found.

  It was going to be another sleepless night.

  Spoiler: Memory from fragment Zombie

  A woman’s voice coming from the earpiece asked Ryner his current situation. He stopped, crouched down and looked at his watch. The black screen lit up and showed not the time, but a numerical value as well as a red arrow that pointed straight ahead. Using this function that showed the way and distance, Ryner told her that he was almost there.

  The application that the woman on the phone programmed made finding his way through the city a bit easier. It would have been better if he had gotten some weapons as well, but the group of female survivors didn’t like him enough to share their precious guns with him. The two sides were cooperating, but they weren’t exactly comrades. Putting it bluntly, they were making use of each other.

  That was why Ryner was out shopping for them and in return, the survivors would give him what he asked.

  Still, the woman on the phone was rather friendly, despite how her group distrusted men. Although, Ryner wished that she would stop reminding him to get her some good booze every ten minutes. Besides daily necessities, his shopping list also included things like makeup, skincare products and children’s toys.

  There was a lot to grab to keep a group of individuals alive. To get all of these items, he had to go to a certain location that was pretty much infested with zombies.

  The mall.

  Spoiler: Memory from fragment Zombie

  Surrounded and outgunned, Ryner had no choice but to obediently raise his hands in surrender. The bunch that he was dealing with had short temper and not the friendliest welcoming. If he made the wrong move, a firefight would ensue, which was not what he wanted.

  One of the men that were aiming his gun at his head asked him a few questions. During the tense interrogation, the others kept their eyes on him, mostly on his gear.

  Ryner had quite a few items that they could take. There was a revolver in his leg holster, his clothes were of good quality and his backpack actually had a shotgun in a remodeled side pouch. Moreover, although it was a bit on the thin side, they got themselves some fresh meat.

  It was a good catch, one that these survivors hadn’t had in a while.

  As the interrogation continued, some impatient voices kept asking why they couldn’t just kill the stranger. People seemed just about ready to pull their trigger. Those who didn’t have guns were stroking their machetes in anticipation. They all eyed the object that they wanted to take. Some wanted the shotgun, others the backpack. There was also someone whose stomach growled.

  In this volatile atmosphere, Ryner calmly repeated that they shouldn’t fight and that they didn’t have time for this. Yet, no one paid attention to his warnings.

  As a result, they couldn’t react properly when a pack of infected suddenly attacked them. During the chaos, Ryner quickly escaped, shooting down any human and undead in his path.

  Making contact with this group of survivors turned out to be a bad idea. Then again, in the wasted city, there were some that could be reasoned with, and some that couldn’t.

  Still, Ryner couldn’t just leave empty-handed. So, he took a car that they managed to modify and reinforce. Besides, it didn’t look like they were going to need it anymore.

  Spoiler: Memory from fragment Zombie

  Having managed to escape from his pursuers, Ryner looked at the room that he ended up at. Various antiques were carefully stored around the tidy and well-lit place. It was just like a museum.

  The person who owned the building was probably a fan of history and possessed a varied collection. Besides clocks and paintings, a few firearms were stored behind glass cases. There were blunderbusses, muskets and pistols. Furthermore, every gun was a well-maintained replica capable of firing. Moreover, primer, bullets, gunpowder and other supplies were also on display.

  The museum looked more like an armory to Ryner, which was rather useful considering he lost his weapons before his escape. He needed to get out of enemy territory and it didn’t look like he could sneak past detection.

  So, for the moment, Ryner helped himself to what was in front of him. Turning into an antique thief, he broke multiple glass cases and took whatever caught his eye. He picked a few pistols, a musket with a bayonet attached and some supplies to reload his firearms. For some reason, only one pistol was a breech-loading weapon and the rest all used either the flintlock or the percussion cap mechanism. As such, reloading was going to take time.

  There was also a black powder revolver that was capable of firing buckshot which was put on a pedestal. The gun practically glowed because of the strong light from the ceiling that was shining down on it. The way it was displayed was as if it was the centerpiece of the room. A short explanation was inscribed on a plate next to it which stated that the revolver once belonged to a famous general.

  It was in working condition and it looked useful, so Ryner took it.

  After he was done borrowing various items, he began arming himself. Luckily, gun belts, pouches and bags were graciously stored around the room.

  With these weapons, Ryner was no longer unarmed. Still, he’d probably die in a straight up gunfight.

  That was why they were mostly for the horde of infected that flooded the place when the gate was breached.

  Spoiler: Memory from fragment Demon

  Shackled within a cell was Ryner in his demon form. His massive physique bound by multiple thick chains. With arms dangling on each side of his head, he couldn’t raise his knees from the ground. The tail and tendrils were tightly strapped to the concrete interior surrounding him, denying them the slightest movement.

  Far from the solitary cell that housed him was a group of people arguing. Some firmly demanded that they should kill it without further hesitation, while others reasoned that they should study it due to its eccentric behavior. Eventually, since they couldn’t come to a decision, they left to discuss the dilemma in further detail.

  However, after they had departed, footsteps echoed along the corridor as a lone figure approached the steel bars. In the dimly lit dungeon, Ryner could clearly make out her long red hair, simply because his eyes were well suited for the dark.

  Her silver pupils, illuminated by a ray of moonlight that shone through the bars above the oubliette, stared silently at the prisoner that they had captured. The familiar and distinct urge to kill that she harbored towards his kind wasn’t there. He wasn’t just another demon. Somewhere in her heart, that was how things had become.

  Complicated.

  She saw him as more than just a creature to hate, to fight and to kill.

  Why?

  That one word, that one question, escaped her lips. It was something that she wanted to ask from the moment she first saw him.

  Why did you save me?

  Her question, unfortunately, was offered silence. Ryner could only stare at her and clicked his mandibles.

  After all, he had no idea what she was saying.

  Spoiler: Memory from fragment Demon

  As the bird flew towards the tree, it noticed two figures sitting on the soft grass and next to one another beneath the shade of the tree. The one sitting next to the tree trunk on the left was a human while the other was a pitch-black demon. The human, who was a red-haired woman, kept her distance and warily watched the demon, clenching her sword that rested on her left hand. The demon on the right, who was a lazy Ryner, fixedly stared at the blue sky without sparing so much as a glance towards the human.

  Of course, he didn’t forget to keep an eye on the grim-looking woman in case she decided to attack him. But, frankly, he was beginning to wonder why she hadn’t left him yet. For some reason, she stayed seated, hugging her leg with her right hand, wordlessly glaring at him like an angry cat. As their silent battle continued, the bird atop the tree branch flew down and landed on Ryner’s left horn. Before he could react, it began pecking curiously with its beak and chirped while the other birds in the tree observed them.

  Surprised, Ryner shook his head to shoo it away, but the frightened bird only flew to the tree branch momentarily before placing itself on his horn once he stopped moving. He repeated the same pattern several times until his shoulders slumped down in surrender, and soon a handful of birds were on his horns and head. Seeing this, the woman’s grim expression changed to one of bemusement. She slowly approached him while holding her sword. But as she stretched her hand out, the birds hastily flew off as if scared of her.

  Ryner slightly raised his head up and looked towards her, which put her on guard. But, before the blink of an eye, he looked away and continued to stare at the sky. For some reason, his attitude annoyed her and without thinking, she reached out and grabbed his horn. With a jerk, the red-haired woman forced him to turn his head and look at her.

  Afterwards, she opened her mouth and got ready to speak to the demon once again.