The four of them headed toward the school cafeteria, their cautious footsteps muffled by a heavy silence. As soon as Nir crossed the threshold, the foul stench of death struck him—a sickening mixture of rot and clotted blood that choked the stagnant air.
Nir stopped abruptly, speaking in a tone that brooked no argument:
"We have to clean this place first... we can't stay amidst this decay."
The two girls nodded in unison, their tongues paralyzed by fear:
"Understood."
Everyone set to work, struggling to erase the traces of the disaster, until a bone-chilling scream tore through the silence. Nir ran like lightning toward the sound, finding one of the girls collapsed on the floor while Aika tried to comfort her, her own face filled with helplessness and grief.
Nir asked, his anxiety rising:
"What is it? What happened?"
Aika answered in a stifled voice, her red eyes shimmering with tears:
"She found her little brother's body... it was under one of the smashed tables."
A heavy silence followed, weightier than the school walls themselves. Nir looked down at the small, lifeless body, then said in a low voice tinged with sorrow:
"I see... I will bury him myself. My apologies are not enough for the fact that you had to see this."
Hours passed like eons until evening arrived with its bleak shadows. Nir, wiping his exhausted face, said:
"Sleep now. I'll take the first watch."
The girl with the curly hair whispered tremulously, "Okay..." while Aika approached her brother and asked:
"Will you be alright? I can take over for you."
Nir gave her his false, reassuring smile:
"Don't worry. Just sleep for now and gather your strength."
Nir sat in the darkness, watching the faint reflections on the window glass as the wind rattled the frames violently.
(It's good we found enough canned food to last for days... but for how long? Damn it... I have to move, but my body is demanding rest, and sleep is crawling toward my eyelids like a narcotic.)
Outside, a danger of a different kind lurked. A distorted arachnid creature climbed the walls with agile precision, whispering in a hissing voice:
"Humans... humans... where are you hiding? What a beautiful building... I'll turn it into my private nest... Heh heh heh."
Inside, Nir's mind began to surrender. His thoughts blurred as he drifted into a daze:
(Am I going back to that cursed hospital? No... I just want to see the sea... and the jellyfish... Aika? Are you there?)
Then, he fell into a deep sleep, unaware that he had just opened the door to death.
Nir woke suddenly hours later, panic thumping in his chest:
"I fell asleep! Damn it... the girls... where are they?"
He searched the area frantically but found only faint, small footprints. He ran toward their sleeping quarters only to find the first shock: the beds were empty. When he pulled back the covers of Aika's bed... he found a pillow carefully arranged to deceive the eye.
He froze in place, whispering with a shiver:
"I'm dreaming... this must be a nightmare." He slapped himself repeatedly until his face burned red, but reality remained unchanged.
He bolted through the dark corridors, throwing doors open until he found her; the girl with the brown braids, hanging like a cocoon in sticky spider silk. He approached, whispering:
"Can you hear me?" But she was a corpse trapped in a coma.
Suddenly, a voice came from behind him, cold as a graveyard:
"Finally... the little one wakes from his slumber."
Nir turned to face a monstrosity he had never seen before. Her upper half was a beautiful woman with sharp, dark features, while her lower half was a massive spider pulsating with glowing blue neon stripes.
Shaping his gelatinous sword, Nir shouted:
"Who are you? And where is my sister?!"
The creature laughed wickedly:
"Easy now... is that any way to welcome a lady like me?"
(A lady? This is madness!) Nir thought as he lunged at her, but his sword bounced off her hardened carapace.
She said mockingly:
"Did you think I was like those insects you killed? Those were humans who turned... we call them the 'Saba.' As for me, I am of the Fros... monsters born to be at the top of the food chain."
The fight broke out with ferocity. Nir barely dodged her lethal strikes while she pursued him with hysterical laughter.
"Give up... your energy is unique. You'll be a far finer meal than that girl I devoured."
Nir gasped:
"Which girl?!"
She placed a finger to her chin in loathsome thought:
"The one who thought pillows would hide her... how naive!"
The rage latent in Nir's veins exploded, and he screamed at the top of his lungs:
"The only naive one here is you!"
Nir noticed a weakness at the joint between her human and spider forms. He lunged with all his weight, and with a single strike charged with all his hatred, he severed her rear section.
The monster shrieked with an ear-piercing pain:
"You traitor!"
He replied with a coldness that killed every spark of mercy within him:
"There are no rules in hell, you old hag!"
He tore her body apart until her movement ceased, then drove his sword into her skull to end her existence.
Nir ran like a madman opening doors, searching for a single glimmer of hope... until he reached the final room. There, Nir fell to his knees.
He saw Aika's body torn apart, the eyes that once overflowed with intelligence extinguished forever. In that moment, the Nir the world knew died.
(Here... the last human part of me died. I searched for the others, only to find death had beaten me to them all. I am alone now in this monstrous world... fighting only because I don't know how to die.)
The memory snapped at the sound of the wind in the abandoned shop. He returned to reality, facing the new Fros monster standing before him, as if completing a chapter of a never-ending hell.
The monster's raspy voice pulled Nir out of his dark memories. The creature approached with slow, rhythmic steps, preceded by the scent of death, saying mockingly:
"Hey, you... why so distracted? Are you giving in to your fate that easily?"
Nir muttered in the depths of his mind, his eyes gleaming with a cold light behind his glasses:
(I've planned for this moment for a long time... not to face you here, but to escape your trap.)
In the blink of an eye, he raised his hand. The silver gelatinous substance responded to his command, splitting the air to open a shimmering silver portal like a liquid mirror. He stepped inside immediately, vanishing from the spot before the monster's limbs could reach him.
In the next moment, Nir was standing on the roof of a skyscraper, where cold winds whipped through his white hair. He leaned down to pick up his necklace from the ground, breathing deeply to calm his racing heart.
He said in a calm tone tinged with confidence:
"Did you really think I didn't expect this? You won't catch me that easily, you Fro monster..."
But his words were cut short by a familiar voice, full of malice, coming from directly behind him:
"Where do you think you're going, you rat?"
Nir turned with lightning speed, his eyes widening in shock:
"What?! How did you get here so fast? I should be miles away!"
The monster let out a disgusting laugh that shook the rooftop:
"Fool... did you think your teleportation would stop my instinct from tracking you? Get ready... I haven't tasted fresh meat in three days, and you look delicious!"
Nir froze for a second, then gathered his strength, whispering to himself a final decision:
(It seems there is no escape... confrontation is the only way to survive.)
Suddenly, a silver liquid glow engulfed Nir's body. The gelatinous substance began to coat his limbs, transforming into his "Silver Armor Form," giving him a majestic appearance that reflected the moonlight. An absolute silence fell for a few moments, as if time had stopped before the explosion.
Then, before either could move, the air split with a sharp sound like tearing silk. The monster fell to the ground... but it wasn't a pounce. It was a lifeless corpse, sliced into two equal halves with surgical precision.
Nir stared in stunned silence as black matter leaked from the monster's remains:
"What... what just happened?"
From behind the vanishing remains of the monster appeared a girl radiating power and confidence, standing with a lethal grace as if born for battle. Her long, dark purple hair was tied neatly in a high ponytail, and her blue eyes shone with a serious focus that pierced the darkness.
She was wearing:
A short-sleeved white shirt that highlighted her agility.
Black, practical shorts for fast movement.
Thigh-high socks and sturdy combat boots.
In her right hand, she gripped a short sword made of crystalline blue water, while a swirl of flowing water surrounded her like a living shield.
She smiled calmly as she looked at Nir, saying in a tone heavy with meaning:
"Hello, Nir... did you miss me?"
A faint smile—the first in a long time—formed on Nir's lips. He whispered her name as if reclaiming a lost hope:
"Serayn..."