Sekou moved back swiftly as a zombie lunged at him.
The sound of a bullet rang in his ears as he blasted the head of the zombie with a gun.
Before he could celebrate or at least release the tension in his shoulders, he was attacked by another zombie.
He fired another shot.
And another.
And another.
Just shooting one zombie after another until the gun made a click sound.
Sekou still didn't abandon the gun but swung it at the enemy.
There was no hesitation in the fluid movement of his arms,
both hands grabbing the middle of the gun and swinging it forward with force.
The gun completely crushed the zombie,
yet Sekou did not have the leisure to observe it and neither did he have the awareness to notice something wrong.
His mind was full of slaughter.
Because only through the death of those around him will he be able to see his daughter.
To hear her laugh again.
To see the smile on her face.
To hug his only comfort left in the world.
For all those reasons, I am willing to abandon my rationality and descend into the madness.
The stakes escalated and one side was eventually overwhelmed.
The survivors who had been in a horrible mental state before the battle were quickly dealt with by the rabid zombies who had no fear of death but only the endless surge to kill.
But there was one man who was stopping them from completing their earnest instinct.
Sekou faced the remaining horde alone.
The weapon he previously used was discarded, and a metal rod stabbed fiercely into the head of the closest zombie,
followed by a punch from Sekou that drove the zombies at the forefront back.
Seizing the brief space,
Sekou did not relent but threw the last bit of mangled metal into the head of a zombie and picked up another weapon from a dead body.
He swung it mercilessly at a zombie that got too close and punched the one that was about to sink its teeth into his skin.
After that, Sekou grabbed the head of the zombie biting his thigh and squeezed it.
Amidst the bulging hands, Sekou managed to burst the skull of the zombie until it let go,
then threw the body behind him casually to block the zombies that wanted to sneak attack him.
It wasn't that the zombies suddenly became intelligent
but that the growling sounds the zombies made were coming from all around him.
Just locating them by sound would be impossible.
In the silence of the day, a brave lone man fought against a group of zombies.
His expression was fierce and his body was covered with the blood of humans, zombies, and finally himself.
Time passed by,
but to Sekou it felt like he was trapped in a nightmare that lasted an eternity.
It was just kill.
Pain from getting injured.
Kill.
Pain.
Kill.
Pain.
Pain.
The killings finally stopped and only the pain remained.
Sekou took a deep breath.
His eyes swept across the silent garden full of corpses.
Then he looked down at his body, which was covered in injuries so severe that most of his skin had been torn off.
Then he said not a word and walked to the gate.
His steps were steady despite the large amount of blood that would stain the ground beneath his feet.
With an expressionless face, he made it to the gate.
There he saw his little girl staring at him with tears in her eyes.
Sekou's calm face gradually distorted and he rushed forward.
He threw a punch at the gate, but it did not budge.
Sekou instinctively understood that he couldn't get out.
But just because his brain was telling him one thing doesn't mean he was willing to accept it.
Why should he accept it in the first place?
I have struggled so long just to let my daughter live a better life.
So why should I stumble at the last moment and leave her to face this cruel world alone?
NO... no.
I refuse to accept it.
I, Sekou, refuse to accept it.
After all, why should I—
Sekou threw a punch, his fist that was ravaged by the zombies struck the gate.
The sound of his daughter's anguished wails filled his heart.
Why—
Sekou kicked the gate, his daughter's wails reminding him of the cold knife that he used to stab his wife after she turned.
Why—
Sekou used another leg to deliver a kick, his heart clenching from the resonance of his daughter's sorrow.
Tears flowed down his eyes just as much as on the day his daughter was born.
Why. Why. Why.
I... I... I don't want this to happen.
I can't bear to leave her like this.
I truly can't... I don't...
Sekou sobbed hysterically on his knees, a hand pressed to the gate where the little girl was standing.
Sekou felt like he was in an endless sea of despair.
A hand reached into his chest and tore Sekou's heart out.
Sekou did not die even with his heart ripped out, laying quietly in the hands of the Principal.
Instead, he was still on his knees looking at his daughter.
His pupils dilated so as to allow as much light in as possible.
Light to see the image of the dark-skinned woman whose figure lay quietly behind his daughter.
No one else seemed to notice her or to see her.
But Sekou saw her as clearly as on the day they got married.
It was his wife who was smiling at him with open arms.
"Nia, never forget that Mom and Dad love you and will always love you," Sekou spoke in a hoarse voice.
He had a gentle smile on his face as his body collapsed to the ground.
His hands raised up as if to hug the transparent figure of his wife that appeared in front of him.
And eventually those hands lay powerlessly at his side just as the light in his eyes followed after the transparent figure,
to descend into the sky, promising to continue his duty as a father and watch over his daughter.
Nia, who was sobbing before, was now silent.
But the tears that slid down her face never stopped, and her red eyes stayed on her father from the moment he came to the gate till now.
That was because the little girl saw something amazing.
Her father became a ghost and joined her mother to float up into the sky.
And in that blue sky was an odd sight.
There were two little balls of light resembling stars joined together.
Nia felt that the twin stars made her feel less lonely.
But that couldn't erase the feelings of loss and sadness.
Luo Feng, on the other hand, was feeling furious, and his gloomy expression showed it fully.
"Why?" Luo Feng spat.
"Why did you kill all these people?
Why did you have to kill Sekou so brutally when he was already about to die?
Why did you trick me into leaving just to leave me alive?"
"Tch, he really was a good sacrifice," the Principal clucked his tongue and crushed the heart completely.
"Unfortunately he couldn't transform at the last part.
I guess love really does conquer all." The Principal studied Nia curiously.
"Answer me!" Luo Feng hid Nia behind him and shouted at the Principal.
"I have already told you a hundred times, it was the voices that commanded it," the Principal said helplessly as he pointed at his skull.
"Did those voices tell you to kill all these people?" Luo Feng asked sharply.
"I think you have a certain misunderstanding about me," the Principal started to explain calmly.
"First of all, I was not told to directly harm them—"
"Then why..." Luo Feng interrupted.
"I was merely told to create a situation for the misery to occur," the Principal continued on.
"I have never for once lied about anything.
All my actions were naturally sincere because I wanted to sincerely guide them to this point," the Principal swept his arms around him.
"After all, misery and despair are in an equal relationship with hope—one cannot exist without the other."
Luo Feng trembled as he looked at the madman that revealed his true nature for the first time.
It was both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.
Familiar in the sense that the feeling of sincerity he radiated on a daily basis was brighter than ever.
But also unfamiliar because the true purpose of his sincerity was both disturbing and eccentric to the point of madness,
step by step dragging one into the abyss.
"Alright, it has been a pleasant time and I will see you very soon," the Principal disappeared just as mysteriously as he appeared.
"Wait—" Luo Feng wanted to stop him, but he had already left.
Plus he just got a string of messages:
[ Main Task failed ]
[ Hidden Task unlocked — Kill the Principal ]
[ Hidden Task 2 — Stop the ritual ]
Luo Feng looked at Nia and felt the journey ahead was quite long and hard.