She stood elegantly in front of the approaching zombies, her back facing the innocent family behind her, as if she alone was the wall between life and death.
With a deep breath, she reached behind her and pulled out the sword resting across her back, the blade catching the dull light of the ruined street as a faint sneer curved her lips.
"Don't you know any bad people you're supposed to attack?" she muttered under her breath, her voice laced with mockery.
From the corner of her eyes, she caught the movement of more of them, dragging their lifeless bodies toward her.
"Jacob, keep them safe," she said, her tone calm as though she wasn't standing before a hundred walking corpses.
Her fingers tightened around the hilt, and she leaned closer. Then, she whispered something to the sword that no one else could hear.
Then, without hesitation, she dashed toward them, and in a blink, she was already in the middle of them.
"Come to me, you lifeless monsters."
Steel clashed against rotting flesh as she moved through the swarm, swinging her blade skillfully, her steps steady, almost graceful despite the chaos. One fell with its head split into two, then another headless zombie, and then many more, their bodies dropping around her like broken puppets.
Instead of spreading out, the zombies from every corner began to turn—drawn to her, as if pulled by something unseen.
Her friends, who had been fighting desperately just moments ago, stopped and sighed as the creatures abandoned them one after another, all heading toward Elena… only to meet their end the moment they got close.
It was as though they were walking straight into death.
"She's doing it again…" Jacob sighed, his voice filled with admiration as his eyes fixed on her figure, surrounded by the monsters.
"She's creating time for us to escape! Let's go!" Norah shouted, urgency rising in her voice as she grabbed the man's arm.
"What about her?" Jacob asked, his gaze lingering, unwilling to move.
"What about her?" Norah sneered, turning to him with sharp disbelief. "Don't you get it? She wants us to leave!"
Without waiting for another word, she pulled the man and his family along, leading them out of the abandoned streets while the sounds of battle echoed behind them.
And in the distance, Elena remained in the middle of the swarm… cutting them down as they came, one after another.
....
Jacob's face snapped to the side as a sharp slap landed across his cheek.
"You fool!" a woman spat, glaring at the rest. "Didn't I tell you not to let her risk her own life to save you guys again?" she yelled.
Norah rolled her eyes. "We wanted to wait, but she insisted..."
"Shut up!!" the woman roared at her. "Cowards!" she sneered. "She must marry the Duke's son next week! With that, we will be rich enough to buy more instruments to kill these monsters."
"Mom?" Norah frowned. She didn't like the fact that they would be using the money they were supposed to enjoy themselves to save people.
The woman in a simple velvet gown raised a brow. "If we don't do that, how will they believe we didn't marry them for money?"
"Meanwhile, you did?" Jacob smiled bitterly, and the woman frowned.
"What do you mean?" she snapped. "Your friend loved Sebastian so much, and the boy did too. Marrying him is only natural—"
"Where is Elena?"
The voice came from the entrance, deep and controlled, yet carrying a weight that made the air turn heavy.
Everyone froze.
The man who stepped in didn't need to raise his voice to be feared. His presence alone was enough to silence the room, his sharp gaze sweeping across them as if searching for something… or someone.
Norah instinctively straightened, while Jacob looked away with a sigh.
The woman recovered first, her expression tightening as she shot Jacob a glare before pointing at him. "Ask him."
Jacob rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Stop giving me that look," he said to him.
The man's gaze darkened. "Where is she?" he asked again, glaring at Jacob.
"Relax, she'll be fine," he said, and patted his shoulder.
The words only made things worse. "She'll be fine?" he asked in disbelief. "That's what you're telling me?"
The room fell into a suffocating silence. Before anyone could speak again—
"Stop." The voice came softly from the entrance, and all heads turned at once.
There she was.
Elena stood by the doorway, her face calm but stained with the aftermath of battle, traces of blood marking her clothes as if she had just walked out of a storm. Yet her expression remained composed, almost indifferent, as though none of it mattered.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Sabestian's eyes softened. The tension in his body stilled, but the darkness in his gaze didn't disappear as he took a step toward her. "You're hurt."
Elena blushed and wrapped her hands around his neck. "You came," she whispered and hugged him tight. Sabestian kissed her forehead and sighed. "Yes, come," he said, then grabbed her hand, pulling her away from the living room.
Elena smiled and glanced at Jacob. "Hi, Jacob!!" she waved. Jacob nodded and smiled. "I'm glad you are back," he said.
Elena's smile faded the moment she noticed the red marks on his cheek. She looked at her mother in displeasure but followed her boyfriend.
Sabestian took her out of her small house and shut the door. "Your mother agreed on the marriage," he said.
Elena smiled happily. "Yes!!" She had been dreaming about marrying him for years, and it finally happened.
Sabestian looked at her for a while and placed his hand on her head. "I'm proud of you, honey." He ruffled her hair. "You saved two million people from zombies." Then he brought out a rose hairpin. "Remember the weak-hearted girl you saved from the hospital?"
Elena blinked several times. She had saved countless children at the hospital.
"She said you saved her and her mother from the zombie nurses..."
"Ohhh!! Betty..."
Sabestian chuckled. "She asked me to give you this as an appreciation."
Elena gasped as she collected the beautiful hairpin that was worth a lot of money. "Wow..."
"She's the only child of her parents."