Drake staggered back, gasping for breath.
"It's not a ghost," he said hoarsely. "There are—there are a lot of Zombie Mutants locked up down there. In the basement. And some of them… I've never seen before. Their lethality is insane."
Metal clanged in the distance.
Shrill, distorted howls echoed through the building, slicing through the roar of the rain outside. Just hearing those sounds made the scalp prickle.
From the hallway came Maya's scream.
"They broke the iron bars! They're coming up—!"
Drake suddenly spun and pointed at the window opposite the bed. "Boss! Behind you—the window!"
Elena turned her head.
A completely green Mutant was plastered against the glass.
It vaguely resembled a human—yet clearly wasn't one anymore. Sticky black blood and pus coated its body. Its limbs bent at wrong, twisted angles. Two bloodshot eyeballs bulged grotesquely from its face, one of them dangling loose, held only by a single bloody vein.
Disgusting.
Terrifying.
Elena's pupils shrank. She reached for the silver moon blade without thinking.
Julian's expression cooled.
The moment the Leaping-Type Mutant smashed through the window and lunged inside, he raised his hand.
Flames erupted.
In an instant, fire swallowed the creature whole. Its scream was sharp and brief before it burned to ash, scattering across the floor.
Elena stared, stunned.
"…So you'd already awakened a Superpower?"
No—judging by his speed and control, he must have awakened it long ago.
Then why, all those years fighting her, had he relied only on guns and blades?
While she had taken him as a deadly rival…
Had he just been holding back?
The thought left her strangely speechless.
Before she could process it, Maya dragged Drake into the room and slammed the door shut.
"Boss," she reported quickly, "dozens of Mutants are rushing this way! Both staircases are blocked!"
"And there are R-Type Mutants!"
Elena's heart lurched.
R-Type Mutants were a newly emerged high-level threat. Their weakness wasn't the head but the energy pathways running through their bodies. Even if hacked apart, their severed limbs could still attack.
A bite meant certain death and mutation. Even a scratch carried a one-third mutation rate.
No vaccine existed.
Drake's face went white. "What do we do, Boss?! We're trapped!"
Now it made sense why no one had scavenged this area despite the supplies. A nest of monsters like this had been hiding here all along.
Julian assessed the situation instantly.
He could survive this alone—but protecting three injured or powerless people while fighting dozens of specialized Mutants was pointless.
The howls were almost at the door.
Julian turned toward the window, glanced down once, and gave a short order.
"Out the window."
Their vehicle was parked directly below.
Maya didn't hesitate. She vaulted through the shattered glass, landed on the roof, and rolled straight into the driver's seat.
"Boss! Move!"
This was the second floor. Without a Superpower, jumping carried real risk.
Drake hesitated at the windowsill for barely two seconds.
Julian kicked him.
"Idiot—go!"
"Ah—!"
"Bang!"
"…!"
Grotesque heads flooded the hallway.
Elena sat frozen on the hospital bed, fingers white-knuckled around her blade. Her heart hammered painfully.
She was too weak. Blood loss had drained her. Her wounds had only just been stitched.
Right now, she couldn't fight.
She couldn't run.
She couldn't even stand.
If Julian delayed for even a second, he'd be swallowed too.
Would he save me?
As the swarm poured through the door, Elena shut her eyes.
At that instant, something cold and slick brushed her arm—then vanished.
The next second, her body was lifted into the air.
Strong arms wrapped around her, solid and burning with heat.
A flame barrier flared to life.
They leaped.
Wind screamed past her ears. Heavy rain lashed her face. She clutched the man's neck instinctively.
When Elena finally dared to open her eyes, the off-road vehicle was already speeding away, drifting across soaked concrete.
Julian stood on the roof, holding her securely.
Behind them, Mutants poured from broken windows—bodies misshapen, mouths gaping, pus and blood streaming as they gave chase.
Above: low, crushing storm clouds.
Below: collapsing concrete and drowned streets.
Rain washed the ground—and the monsters—without mercy.
This was the apocalypse.
A world starved of light, filled with blood, danger, and death.
Elena's heart pounded long after the hospital vanished behind them.
It wasn't until Julian placed her gently into the back seat that she snapped out of her daze.
He flipped inside after her.
Soaked through, black hair plastered messily to his forehead, water dripped from the tips onto his white coat.
Calm as ever, Julian removed the coat and dried it with the flames in his palm. Steam filled the back seat, fogging the air.
Elena watched him without realizing she was staring.
Noticing her gaze, Julian smiled faintly.
"So," he asked lazily, "was it exciting?"
---