At the same time, on that war-torn planet, life went on.
Diamond Town.
As one of the largest refugee settlements, Diamond Town was quite famous. It had a patch of safe land—and more importantly, beneath it lay a small Im Energy extraction facility.
Im Energy was a type of subterranean energy discovered deep under the planet's surface. It was so powerful that it had completely replaced all conventional power sources. Both the Wian Government Alliance and the Independent Republic Alliance had once fought bloody wars over it.
After the Pendulum Wars ended and the Beastmen invasion began, most Im Energy facilities were destroyed or abandoned. A few, however, survived intact. The one beneath Diamond Town was among those few, and thanks to this advantage, the town nearly monopolized Im Energy use among the refugees.
But lately, the town mayor had been growing anxious.
"Phew…"
Dr. Berlick exhaled smoke and frowned as he stood before the dimly lit church. Lately, workers at the extraction facility had been falling ill in large numbers. At first, he thought it was an outbreak of some seasonal disease. But after examination, the results were… strange.
The infected first experienced shortness of breath and sharp pain in their lungs. Then came fever and aching muscles.
Within a short time, the mysterious sickness had swept through the entire workforce, forcing the facility to shut down completely. The mayor was furious. He demanded Dr. Berlick ensure the disease didn't spread, but the doctor had no solution. His only option was to quarantine the sick and observe.
And now, rumors had begun spreading through the town—talk of a mysterious plague. Panic soon followed. The mayor had no choice but to seal off the entire town to keep terrified citizens from fleeing.
Damn it. What the hell was going on?
Now there was only one option left.
They would have to kill all the infected and burn the bodies. Brutal, yes—but it was the only way to keep this strange plague from consuming the town.
Dr. Berlick looked at the armed guards behind him and sighed deeply.
"All right. Let's go."
He pulled on his gas mask and pushed open the heavy church doors. The guards followed him inside.
The instant he stepped in, something felt wrong.
Normally, when Berlick entered the church, he could hear the constant wheezing and coughing of the infected—their labored, bellows-like breathing. But tonight, silence. Not a single sound.
His heart sank. Were they… all dead?
That would at least save them the trouble of the final step.
He walked forward—and froze.
The rows of cots where the workers had lain, writhing and groaning in pain, were empty. Completely empty.
Where the hell did they go?
"They escaped? You were guarding the doors!"
Berlick shouted, grabbing a nearby guard by the collar. The guard looked just as baffled.
"I swear, Doctor! No one came in or out—!"
"Then where did they go? You think they grew wings and flew away?"
"I—I don't—"
Drip.
A droplet of thick liquid fell from above, splattering across the doctor's gas mask. He let go of the guard and wiped it off—then looked up.
And froze solid.
Several humanoid figures were clinging to the church ceiling like spiders. Their entire bodies glowed faintly, bathed in eerie luminescence. Where their eyes should have been were twin spheres of light. Even their gaping mouths shone from within. From the tattered clothes still hanging off their bodies, it was clear—these had once been the infected workers.
"My God… what are those things?"
"AAAAHHHHHHH!!"
Before Berlick could react, the glowing creatures roared like beasts and dropped from the ceiling, pouncing on him. Razor-sharp claws tore through his body in an instant.
"Damn it! What the hell are these monsters!?"
The guards shouted and opened fire—but more shapes came crawling from the shadows, lunging at them from every direction.
Gunfire flashed in the darkness, echoing through the night—then slowly faded into silence.
The brief incident on that distant planet changed nothing… at least for now.
And Duanmu Huai certainly didn't care about some backwater refugee town. After all—right now, he was busy running around with Claire.
After rescuing her, the group exchanged introductions. Claire explained that she had come to find her brother—only for Marvin to inform her that her brother had gone on vacation a few weeks earlier.
The look on Claire's face was pure disbelief. She had come all this way because she couldn't reach her brother and feared for his safety, braving the zombie outbreak to find him—only to learn he was off on paid leave?
Couldn't the bastard have called first!?
Whether she secretly wanted to strangle her brother, Duanmu Huai didn't know. Either way, she was stuck here now, and there was no way out. They were all in the same sinking ship.
According to Marvin, there was an emergency passage leading underground—a possible escape route from the city. The entrance was in the police station's main hall, but to unlock it, they needed three emblems.
Claire's job was to find them.
Duanmu Huai's job—was to be her bodyguard.
The two moved down the corridor, Duanmu Huai striding in front, hammer in hand. Every zombie they encountered ended up with its skull pulped. Claire followed close behind, weapon raised, watching the flanks.
"You're really something," she said after watching him crush another undead.
At first, she'd been afraid of him—who wouldn't be? He looked like a convicted killer, especially in his ill-fitting prisoner's clothes. But in this hellish city, nobody cared who'd been a criminal. At least he was human.
And far preferable to the groaning corpses outside.
What surprised her was how strong he was. She'd seen firsthand how tough these zombies were—slow, yes, but their bodies could take multiple gunshots, even to the head.
But this man? One swing of his hammer, and the zombies exploded into gore. It was gruesome—but effective. At least none of them were getting back up.
"I'm just used to it," Duanmu Huai replied calmly. "For things like these, melee works better."
"I wish I could manage that too…" Claire admitted with a sheepish smile. She was strong, but not that strong. Compared to Duanmu Huai, who could crush skulls with one hand, she felt almost helpless. Still—walking behind this towering beast of a man, she couldn't help but feel… safe.
Then, without warning—
Crash!
The ceiling behind them gave way. A dark shape dropped down. Claire reacted instantly, spinning around with her flashlight—and froze.
"What… what is that!?"
In the beam of light crouched a grotesque creature. It looked vaguely human, but its skin was gone, revealing red and white muscle tissue. It had no eyes—just a gaping mouth full of teeth. A long, whip-like tongue shot out, wrapping tightly around Claire's neck.
"Mmmph—!"
Before she could struggle, Duanmu Huai turned, grabbed the monster's tongue, and yanked hard.
The creature flew toward him like a yo-yo. He reached out, seized its head—
—and crushed it.
Squelch.
The thing convulsed once and went limp. The tongue loosened from Claire's throat and fell away.
"You okay?"
Duanmu Huai tossed aside the corpse and looked back at her. Pale and trembling, Claire nodded weakly.
In that moment, she realized something chilling—
The man standing before her was far more terrifying than any monster.
(End of Chapter)