At the center of the bridge.
The Blooming Human Carcass paused.
It stitched eyes stared down at the teacher.
The woman smiled through tears.
Her hands remained clasped together in prayer.
"Praise the Enlightened Moon..."
"Call Upon Salvation"
The Nightmare slowly extended one of its pale arms.
Slowly.
Toward her.
The teacher gasped.
A pure joy appeared on her face.
The arm grabbed around her body.
Then another.
And another.
Like flower closing it's petals.
The Nightmare spoke.
Its voice echoed within reality itself.
"̴͈̰̜̤̳̩͔̣̬̙̇́̃́́F̸̨̨̦͚̈́̊̂͋̍͑̍̓͘̚i̴̡̧̹̫̯͊͂̆̓͂̐̃̐͠n̶͔͛͊̌͌a̶̞̠̫̖̦̗̻͌̅̑̌̏͝l̸͔̰̮̈̀̈́̐͛͘ ̴̨̨̦̻̘͔̟̫̌̌̎̃͆̄͝s̵̠̗̜͖͕̈́̂̍̿͊̿͛͘͝ȃ̶̭͕͓̠̦̟͉͕͕̀̈ͅl̸̨̖̗͙̝̻̰̭̱͙̿͐̇͊͂̿̇̆̕͝v̸̨̘̩̫̦̭̲̟͐͗̈́̀͊̋̆̐͝ḁ̶̧͍͍͍̬̫̤͜͝ṫ̴̡̛̜̫̣̮̱̩̭̹͂̀̏̾͗̾̒̇͜į̸̩̤͓̄̌͒͛̅͜͝͝o̸̦͛n̶̢̤̮̲̲͙͉̐̂̕.̵̤͔̪̦̥͔͉̝̥̦͑̄̌̃̓"̴͙͕̱͠
The Nightmare open its mouth then-
CRUNCH.
CRUNCH.
The teacher been eaten.
Little by little.
Blood Splattered.
Bath the Nightmare in red.
Like a fresh bloomed red rose after the rain.
The Nightmare remained still for several seconds.
Satisfied.
Then it turned toward the school.
______
At school.
Kai staggered backward.
Then—
A notification appeared.
[Quest Completed]
Objective: 4/4 Corrupt Human Eliminated
Reward: +200 Experience
Kai blinked.
"What?"
Another notification appeared.
Then another.
And another.
[Level Up!] New
[Level 2 → Level 3] New
[Level Up!] New
[Level 3 → Level 4] New
[New Entry Unlocked]
Evangeline New
Blooming Human Carcass (Small) New
[System Update]
New Function Added: Corruption Rate New
[Warning]
Prolonged exposure to moonlight may increase corruption rate.
"Corruption?"
The word alone sounded bad.
But considering everything Kai witness.
Bad was probably an understatement.
Kai's gaze slowly rose toward the sky.
Above a smiling moon.
Appeared.
That thing hanging above the school.
Watching.
Smiling.
"Standing outside is a terrible idea."
Kai immediately walked inside the building.
"I'll observe on the window on what could possibly happening, away from the moonlight."
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
The school building was eerily silent.
Each step echoed through the dark hallways.
Blood.
Blood everywhere.
Kai's mind raced.
A B-Rank Nightmare.
Hundreds of Blooming Human Carcasses.
Unknown corruption effects.
Limited supplies.
No allies.
No escape route.
No police.
No military.
No rescue.
"The situation was beyond terrible."
"Running away wasn't an option."
"It's already night, walking outside would be a suicide."
The field was occupied.
The bridge was occupied.
The city was occupied.
"If I want to survive"
"I need information."
"Weaknesses."
"Patterns."
"Anything."
"The Encyclopedia is my greatest information gather."
"To survive."
"A direct confrontation is a suicide."
"So think."
Observe.
Gather information.
Strike.
Kai entered a classroom.
Quietly closed the door.
"The windows faced away from the field."
"Good."
"Less moonlight."
"Less risk."
"Kai sat down."
Trying to organize his thoughts.
"The Nightmare appeared connected to the rituals."
"Destroying the rituals?"
"Possibly."
"Maybe."
"Locating its weakness?"
"Necessary."
Every possibility carried risks.
And none guaranteed survival.
Then-
"Excuse me-"
A voice interrupted Kai.
Kai instantly grabbed his knife.
The blade pointed toward the darkness.
"Who's there?"
Silence.
Then footsteps.
Slow.
Careful.
Not a monster.
A person trying not to be noticed.
A figure emerged from behind overturned desks.
Male.
Around nineteen years old.
Exhausted.
His school uniform was stained with dried blood.
Dark circles rested beneath his eyes.
The boy immediately raised both hands.
"Wait."
"I'm human."
Kai didn't lower the knife.
The apocalypse just begun yesterday.
Trusting strangers already sounded stupid.
Kai thought these person might be a corrupt human in disguise.
The boy noticed the weapon.
His expression became nervous.
"My name's Raze."
No response.
Kai continued staring.
Several seconds passed.
"What do you want?"
Raze swallowed.
"...I heard someone talking."
Kai remained silent.
The awkward tension stretched.
Neither moved.
Neither trusted the other.
Eventually Raze slowly sat down several meters away.
Far enough to avoid looking threatening.
Close enough to continue talking.
A reasonable distance.
"I've been hiding here since yesterday."
Kai's eyes narrowed.
"Then tell me what happened."
Raze's expression darkened.
For several moments he didn't speak.
When he finally did—
His voice sounded hollow.
"An hour after it begun..."
"We thought monsters were the biggest problem."
______
According to Raze—
"The first attacks happened shortly after the apocalypse."
"Monsters appeared around the school field."
"Students panicked."
"Teachers tried to maintain order."
"Many students died attempting to evacuate."
"Others died trying to protect their classmates."
"It was a carnage."
Raze stared at the floor.
"There were over a thousand students in this school."
Raze's fists clenched.
"Three hours later..."
"Around six hundred were still alive."
Kai remained quiet.
Raze continued.
"Then two person appeared."
"Both wore robes."
"Black robes with a crescent moon at the back."
"They had a smiling moon tattoo on their hand."
Kai immediately focused.
"Are they the one responsible here?"
"No, Raze replied"
"They saved people."
Raze laughed bitterly.
"At least that's what we thought."
"They killed several monsters, that threatens the school"
"They spoke about salvation."
"The moon."
"The end of suffering."
"Then they handed the teachers a papers."
"A Hymns."
"A Prayers."
"A Ritual."
"Then they left, without explanation."
"Without warning."
"Without saying where they were going."
"They just disappeared."
Kai frowned.
"And the teacher?"
Raze's face became complicated.
"She believed them."
"Most teachers did."
"The outside was hell."
"The monsters were everywhere."
"We thought staying together was safer."
"Maybe the police would arrive."
"Maybe the military."
"Maybe someone would save us."
Raze voice shook.
"But nobody came."
Silence filled the room.
Outside.
The smiling moon illuminated the school grounds.
Raze continued.
"When night came..."
"The teacher followed the instructions written on the paper."
"A seemingly a ritual."
Kai's grip tightened around the knife.
Raze nodded slowly.
"I almost joined."
"Actually..."
"I did."
Kai stared.
"What?"
Raze looked away.
"An hours earlier before the ritual"
"I killed a monster."
"A half dead one."
"So I take the final hit and killed one."
"It was supposed to vent my anger and frustration on the monster."
"And so I got my System."
"At the middle of the ritual."
"A notification appeared."
"Corruption Rate."
"At first I ignored it."
"Believing that the ritual is for our own good."
"Then my corruption rate started increasing"
"Later one of my classmate started to laugh."
"Then cry."
"So I thought something is wrong."
"Then a warning appeared."
"So left the field."
"I ran back inside the building."
"I observed from the window."
Raze voice lowered and look toward Kai.
"That decision saved my life."
A long silence followed.
Then Raze spoke again.
His eyes filled with fear.
"The moon is smiling."
Kai felt a chill crawl down his spine.
_______
Outside.
Beyond the walls.
The worship continued.
"Praise..."
"Salvation..."
"Praise..."
And somewhere in the darkness—
The Blooming Human Carcass continue its approach.
Slowly.
To Be Continued...