“Damn it, damn it… How far is that thing going to chase me!?”
Lieutenant Colonel Yakov Schwizen of the Kingdom Army’s Intelligence Division was sprinting with all his might. It was just before dawn, and the corridors of the detention facility, still unlit for the hour, echoed with his desperate footsteps.
“Haah, haah, haah…!”
If he didn’t keep running, it would catch him.
That thing wrapped in countless layers of bandages, like a mummy, clinging to him like a shadow, relentlessly closing in.
…But surely, by now, he’d lost it after running so hard.
He glanced back over his shoulder as he continued sprinting.
As he thought, the shadow of the mummy was nowhere to be seen.
He exhaled a sigh of relief and muttered under his breath,
“Kiwi Alaya…! Why was that guy controlling zombies? Could he be more than just a mere Dark Healer…?”
After catching his breath, Schwizen scanned his surroundings.
He was on the third floor of the detention facility.
Escaping the zombie was a relief, but he had strayed far from the location where the clergy were stationed.
“I… I have to go back…”
Schwizen turned to face the corridor he had just come through. The path ahead was pitch black.
“…”
He found himself unable to take the first step.
“Is anyone there?!”
He called out into the darkness, but as expected, there was no reply. Odd. Even at this hour, a few Kingdom soldiers should have been standing guard.
…Could it be that they were all already…!?
“No, no way! That can’t be!”
Schwizen shouted to steel himself and finally forced himself to take a step forward.
It’s fine, it’s fine.
Nobody’s chasing him anymore.
His squad was waiting for help. He had to get back to the clergy quickly so they could vanquish those cursed zombies—
“Huh?”
Schwizen’s eyes widened.
Several meters ahead, the lantern-like magical light fixture on the corridor wall flickered. With a sharp “pop,” it briefly glowed pale blue, only to extinguish again. The light pulsed irregularly, casting an eerie, flickering glow.
“W-What’s happening here…?”
Each pop of sound coincided with the light turning on and off, as if beckoning Schwizen forward.
“It… it’s a trap, isn’t it? It has to be!”
Schwizen shouted, though he wasn’t sure who he was yelling at. He simply couldn’t suppress his voice.
“I’m not going! I know it’s a trap! That’s right, I’ll just take a detour. If I go around to the corridor on the opposite side and turn the corner—”
Suppressing his ragged breathing, Schwizen turned his head toward the other path.
Peeking around the corner of the wall was the face of the mummy he had been fleeing from.
“Wh-Why are you behind meee!?”
In a split-second decision, Schwizen stepped forward and began sprinting full-speed down the corridor where the flickering magical lights had earlier made him hesitate.
There was no other path left to take.
From behind, he could hear the heavy, dragging footsteps—thud… thud… thud.
The mummy was closing in.
“Ahhh!”
He let out an incoherent cry, running with all his might. The magical lights on the walls flickered on one by one in sync with his movements, as if they were deliberately refusing to let him escape.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it!”
Reaching the end of the hallway, Schwizen turned the corner at full speed—only to slip. Losing his balance, he fell sideways to the floor.
Yet, there was no pain.
Instead of hitting the hard ground, he had landed on something soft—something alive.
“Ugh—UAAAAHHH!”
Beneath him was a person. A Kingdom soldier. His neck was grotesquely twisted, his head rotated a full 180 degrees, with his chin pointing toward the ceiling.
“Ugh… ugh… ugh…”
Trying to escape the soldier’s bloodshot, wide-open eyes, Schwizen crawled backward on his hands.
Squelch.
His hand landed in a warm, sticky liquid. It was bright red—blood.
“Uwaaah! Uwahhh! Uuuuugh!”
Realizing that the slippery substance covering the floor was blood, Schwizen felt bile rising in his throat. Yet, the sound of the mummy’s footsteps continued to echo from behind.
“No, no… no!”
…I can’t die like this!
Wiping the blood off his hands on his uniform, Schwizen kicked off his blood-soaked boots and started running again.
“Somebody! Help! Anybody!”
He pounded desperately on every door he passed, tears streaming uncontrollably down his face.
But no one responded.
Clatter!
One of the doors swung open when he pounded on it. It appeared to have been unlocked, slightly ajar from the start.
I’ll hide in here!
Schwizen pushed himself into the room and quietly shut the door behind him.
“Haah… haah… haah…”
His breathing was ragged, his heart pounding violently. His teeth chattered uncontrollably, the noise echoing in his skull.
To stop it, he bit down hard on his own arm.
…Stay quiet. Don’t make a sound.
Holding his breath, he prayed that the footsteps would pass by the door.
Thud… thud… thud.
Thud… thud… thud.
Thud…
The footsteps stopped.
Every pore in Schwizen’s body began to sweat cold.
Did it find me? No, that’s impossible! I threw away the bloodied boots! I wiped my hands clean! And I’m wearing socks—there’s no way I left footprints!
Trembling, he curled into himself, clutching his shoulders so tightly that bruises began to form, and whispered a desperate prayer.
…Oh God, please, oh merciful God! I have served you faithfully until now, living a virtuous life as your devoted servant, doing my duty for the Kingdom! Please, I beg you, save me!
After what felt like an eternity—
Thud… thud… thud.
The footsteps resumed, passing by the door and gradually fading into the distance.
A minute later—
“Haahhhhhh!”
Schwizen exhaled a massive breath and collapsed to the floor.
“Did I… did I survive?”
It was a miracle that he’d found a place to hide. Surely, there was a God. Surely, He rewarded those who truly believed.
“Thank you, God…”
But what kind of room was this? Could there possibly be a rifle or some kind of weapon? Anything useful at all?
Schwizen turned to look behind him.
There it was—the mummy.
“Wh-?!?”
In his shock, Schwizen jumped back, hitting his head against the door.
The window at the far end of the room was open, letting in a gust of wind. Had the mummy come in through there?
There was no time to think.
The mummy reached out.
“Ughh! Aghh! AAAHHHH!”
Schwizen wrenched the doorknob open and bolted back into the corridor.
“What is this? What is this?! What the hell is going on!?!”
The mummy was still pursuing him—or so it felt. But he couldn’t look back anymore. He didn’t even know where he was running now.
“I don’t want this! No more! Why won’t it just kill me?!”
Tears, snot, and drool poured down his face as he ran.
He even wet himself.
Nothing made sense.
He couldn’t understand the zombie’s behavior. If it wanted to kill him, it could have done so at any time.
…Could it be? That zombie… maybe it can’t kill me?
Schwizen stopped and turned toward the mummy with a deranged smile.
“That’s it! That’s gotta be it! You can’t kill me, can you?! That’s why all you can do is try to scare m—”
Grab.
The mummy’s hand closed around Schwizen’s neck.
It slammed him into the corridor’s window.
“Huh?”
The next moment, Schwizen was airborne.
The window shattered as he was thrown from the third floor. Falling backward, he braced for death.
…I’m dead.
Or so he thought.
“Gah!?”
Instead of the hard ground, his back hit something softer—he’d landed on the roof of a military truck.
“I’m… not dead…? Ugh!”
He had landed badly. One arm felt dislocated or broken, and his leg might have been sprained. Blood from a gash above his eye stung as it dripped down.
But he was still alive. He could still move.
Descending from the truck’s roof, Schwizen’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“The keys… they’re in the ignition?!”
Climbing into the vehicle, he quickly turned the key.
The engine roared to life.
“Yes! I’m out of here—agh?!”
A sudden flash of intense light and a deafening boom paralyzed him.
Looking out the windshield, he saw a massive figure cloaked in darkness—an officer of the Demon Nation—and a hero bathed in holy light, clashing in midair. The shockwaves from their battle were obliterating the surrounding buildings.
“I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS!”
Schwizen slammed on the accelerator.
“If I stay here any longer, I’m dead! I’ll definitely die!”
He sped off, heading toward the Elden South Gate—and the Kingdom beyond.
“I don’t want to die here! Ellie… I want to see Ellie…!”
Ripping the badge from his chest, Schwizen tossed it into the back seat.
