[You have slain a Fallen.]
[Level up. You gain 5 free points.]
After killing the last Fallen lurking in the stairwell, the two teenagers continued their descent, cautious and alert, ready to react at the slightest noise.
They were almost at the ground floor now — a floor unlike the others, which had only restrooms and classrooms.
This one was wide and open, arranged like a lounge. Students used to hang out there between classes, scrolling through their phones, reading, or playing board games.
Victor had never spent time in this place. He only ever attended classes, nothing more, nothing less.He didn't even eat in the cafeteria, relying instead on sandwiches his sister made for him.
That probably explained his thin frame.
Victor stood in front of the door, Lucie just behind him.
Usually, this place would've been crowded, which was why they were so cautious now.
He gently pushed the door, praying it wouldn't creak.
What greeted them was no different from the rest of the school — bodies strewn everywhere, blood splattered across the floor and once-white walls, and the same twisted creatures haunting the halls.Except this time, all of them were already dead.
Victor murmured.
« Someone or something came through here before us. »
Lucie frowned, her usual cheerfulness fading.
« Yeah… and judging by the way they were torn apart, I'd bet on something. »
Deep claw marks covered the gray horrors' corpses, and what was worse was their size.
« We shouldn't stay here. »
Victor said flatly.
« Let's move. »
Lucie rolled her eyes.
« Yes, sir. »
They crossed what could only be described as a sea of corpses. Thanks to Victor's pragmatism and Lucie's questionable sanity, neither of them faltered. Their heartbeats stayed calm and steady, as if they were taking a simple stroll.
But when they finally pushed open the doors leading outside, both froze.
They had, of course, looked out the school windows before, but those only faced the inner courtyard and adjacents buildings.This was the first time they saw the world outside.
Their hearts both skipped a beat.
The city was in ruins. The once-towering buildings lay crumbled and broken, reduced to skeletal remains. Thick, black smoke coiled upward into the pale sky, marking the spots where countless fires still raged.
Nature had already begun reclaiming what once belonged to her. In just a few hours, vines had crawled up the sides of buildings, trees had grown several meters taller, their crowns bending with the wind — almost as if they were alive, moving of their own accord.
« Holy shit. »
Lucie whispered, her voice shaking.
« I didn't think it was this bad… »
Victor recovered quickly.
There was nothing out there he truly cared about — except his older sister.
But she could wait.
Victor applied his logic to everything and everyone equally.
If she was dead, her body would rot.
If she was alive, he would find her.
It was that simple — that cruel.
But for him, it wasn't cruelty.
It was truth.
He didn't believe in fate. Never had.
He simply acted on his own will.
If his desires led to her death, so be it.
If they led to her salvation, so be it.
If one day he needed to kill her — and did — so be it.
Had that twisted way of thinking come from the abuse he'd suffered?
Would he have thought differently with a happy childhood?
Or was it because he thought this way that he'd been beaten in the first place?
He didn't know.
He didn't care.
He thought the way he did — that was enough.
Plop
A soft, almost inaudible sound pulled him out of his thoughts.He turned his head and saw Lucie, her hand over her mouth, eyes shimmering with tears.
« They're dead. »
She whispered.
« They're all dead… I know they are. There's no way anyone survived… no way… »
She crouched down, hands clamped over her ears, trembling.Victor froze. He had no idea what to do in this kind of situation.
Suppressing his disgust, he hesitated, then placed a hand on her shoulder.
When she began to calm at his touch, he crouched beside her and awkwardly wrapped an arm around her.
It was something he'd seen once in a show his sister used to watch — the kind of drama where people comforted each other while crying over ice cream. He didn't know if it worked, or if it was even supposed to help, but he had nothing else to offer.
And besides… this girl had turned out to be far more useful than he'd expected. She also made him feel strange, emotions, sensations he never experienced.
Whatever they were, he was almost certain they were a good thing.
He wasn't blind to his own condition.
He knew perfectly well his behavior wasn't "normal".
Not by the standards of a collapsing society, anyway.
And he'd be lying if he said he didn't envy those who could laugh together, make friends, or just live simple, ordinary lives.
Things that were as tempting as they were impossible for him.
« Don't worry. »
he said quietly.
« We'll find them. »
« ...You better keep that promise. »
Lucie was still crying — but Victor could swear he saw a faint smile forming on her lips.
Grrr
Victor shot to his feet. Lucie followed, wiping her tears with her sleeve.
Both their instincts — sharpened by two days of nonstop fighting — went on full alert.
«That wasn't a Fallen. Sounded more like… a dog? »
Victor nodded slightly. He alone knew that humans weren't the only ones who could evolve and grow stronger. But he had no idea how powerful a mutated animal could be.Its strength would depend on the species, how much it had killed and what kind of abilities it might have developed.
Too many unknowns.
He didn't like that.
The heavy gray clouds parted slightly, letting a few thin rays of sunlight pierce through — as if the sun itself wanted to witness the bloodbath to come.
The growls grew louder.
Dark shapes began to emerge — from behind trees, walls, even leaping out of shattered windows.
In moments, they were surrounded.
They looked like dogs at first glance… but their fur was an unnatural mix of violet and black, their oversized teeth jutted from their maws, and they were so gaunt that Victor could see their ribs beneath the skin.
There were many of them — at least fifteen, closing in slowly, drooling at the sight of fresh prey.
Lucie swallowed hard.
« Hey… you think we can take them? There's kind of a lot. »
Victor didn't answer immediately. Since spotting them, his mind had been working through options.
Running? Maybe. But he didn't know how fast these things were.
Hiding? Pointless. With noses like theirs, they'd find them in seconds — especially since neither of them smelled particularly pleasant.
That left only one option.
« I guess we'll find out soon enough. »
The words had barely left his mouth before the first creature lunged at him — it was fast, but not fast enough.
To Victor's eyes, its movements seemed slow, almost in slow motion.
He sidestepped smoothly, the beast's jaws snapping shut where his throat had been.Before it could recover, Victor grabbed its tail and hurled it like a spear at another charging hound.
The second dodged, but the thrown creature slammed headfirst into a low wall with a sickening crack and went limp.
[You have slain a Vioren (lvl 5).]
The mechanical voice echoed in his mind, but he had no time to dwell on it — two more were already attacking, one high, one low.
They were coordinating.
Smart.
Victor crouched, then jumped — more than two meters into the air — dodging both.
Lucie darted forward in a blur, her axe flashing. One clean swing — and a head rolled.
Being fast had its advantages.
Victor didn't bother watching her fight.
He knew she'd be fine.
He charged another Vioren, just as it crouched to pounce. When it leapt, he met it mid-air with a brutal kick to the jaw — bones shattered with a wet crunch.
He didn't notice the one behind him until it raked its claws across his back, tearing cloth and skin alike.
The pain was sharp — burning and cold all at once — but bearable.
Victor spun, seized its front legs, and pulled.A horrible, tearing sound filled the air as both limbs were ripped clean from their sockets. The beast's shriek turned into a gurgling whimper.
It was still alive, but harmless.
He took a moment to scan the battlefield — six of the creatures were already dead or disabled. Fewer than ten remained.A cold smile crossed his lips. Now he understood why Lucie enjoyed fighting.
Using that monstrous strength to crush his enemies sparked something deep inside — something dark and exhilarating.
The remaining hounds turned toward him, their snarls faltering as they saw the mangled remains of their packmates.
Were they… hesitating? Showing empathy?
Lucie dashed to his side, her axe dripping blood, a severed head dangling from her other hand.
They stood back-to-back, a move they'd practiced countless times while clearing the building.
Two beasts lunged at them simultaneously. Both ducked in sync, and the creatures slammed headfirst into each other.
Lucie moved first, grabbing both by the throat. Victor mirrored her and crushed the windpipes of the other two with his bare hands.
Then, without waiting for a word, he stomped the heads Lucie held down, splattering the ground — and themselves — with black blood and brain matter.
Neither flinched. Victor didn't care, and Lucie had long since learned to ignore it.
Only few of the creatures were left now — barely a third of their numbers.But Victor didn't relax.
He knew better.
he smell of blood would attract more predators sooner or later.
It wasn't a question of if, but when.
And just as he thought that, the hounds began to back away slowly — fear flickering in their pale eyes.
Victor's own gaze hardened.
Were they capable of recognizing a superior enemy?
He doubted it.
Judging by their emaciated forms, they were starving.
And a starving beast never backs away from food.
Unless an even hungrier one wants it for itself.