One after another, the cultists stepped out of the spire’s range.
The enforcers had already informed them they’d be safe as long as they were out of the rain. Now that they were out, their frantically pumping hearts calmed down.
The adrenaline rush led to exhaustion as some collapsed on the ground, while the rest panted like crazy.
But not everyone was happy.
Especially Thomas, the recently promoted enforcer priest.
He walked up to the silent girl, who was simply called Girl, as no one knew her name.
"You just had to show off, didn’t you?" Thomas asked, grabbing her shoulder. "We were there to test MY ability. Not yours! You dare disobey an enforcer—"
"Silencio, buttercup."
The woman from before appeared next to Thomas, once again throwing her hands around his shoulder.
"Don’t forget, you’re just a provisional enforcer," she continued. "My orders topple yours, is that clear?"
"Good boy! Now go sulk somewhere else."
Thomas pursed his lips and left Girl and the woman alone. The rest also stepped away. They didn’t want to be turned into cloaks just because an enforcer was in a bad mood.
"Now then, how was it?" the hooded woman sat next to Girl.
Girl stared back at the woman, raising her eyebrows.
"Your ability," the woman said, while using sign language.
For the first time, Girl smiled and enthusiastically signed back.
Being an introverted, deaf, and mute girl, she didn’t know how to communicate with others. That’s why she couldn’t hold back her joy after finding someone to talk to.
Girl nodded, imitating her actions before stepping through the veil.
The woman yawned before getting up and offered a hand to Girl. She then turned around to see Thomas. The latter was her first choice, but his skill wasn’t up to the mark.
Instead, Girl’s ability, though considered weaker, was much better considering there was only a 10-second cooldown. If nurtured properly, she could exceed Thomas, and that’s what the woman had bid on.
Girl took her hand, and signed, asking where they were going?
The woman patted her cheek but didn’t say a word. The next second, she vanished along with Girl and the other enforcers.
Meanwhile, the others were unaware of what had happened. They were recounting their experiences and whatnot.
Just then, a drop landed on a man’s forehead. At first, he didn’t notice, too preoccupied while talking with others. He just wiped it off, thinking it was sweat.
But then the smell of rotten blood hit him. It wasn’t sweat he had touched. Slowly, more drops fell as he raised his head.
Another drop hit his cheek.
Immediately, everything and everyone was drenched in the familiar rotten blood.
"W-What the hell...?"
The man screamed as a second veil of rotten blood formed above them. Within seconds, someone had snatched their safe haven from them.
"Why is this happening? We’re supposed to be out of that tower’s range!?"
All of it spread among them like a plague. They stood there as the stench of rot filled the air.
"Stop screaming and think!" a shield bearer yelled.
"The enforcers! They’ll know the answer!"
Everyone began looking around frantically. Yet, there wasn’t a single enforcer in sight.
"Where are the enforcers?" An initiate yelled. "They’re supposed to protect us, right? Where are they?!"
"They’re gone! All of them!"
"We’ve been abandoned!"
Everyone suddenly recalled the bald guy’s words. He had warned them, and it had cost him his life.
He had told them that the ruler of this blight zone wasn’t one to be trifled with. Not only did they kill his horde members, but they stood there celebrating, rubbing it in the zombie lord’s face.
Now, it was time to pay the price for such audacity.
"Wait... Thomas! He’s an enforcer!"
"Like hell he is," someone retorted. "He is a zealot who got given the position temporarily. If he were an enforcer, he would have left with the others!"
"Let’s just run! We’ll be safe as long as we’re out of the rain, right?"
Some of them nodded, but others just looked at their condition.
They had spent almost everything they had to run away the first time. With their stamina at its lowest, even if they ran, they’d pass out soon. Besides, this time they didn’t even know which way to run.
There were no enforcers to plan their exit.
They were on their own.
Meanwhile, Blaze stood on the terrace of the research building. Behind him stood a second spire.
"Tsk, they got away," Blaze said, clicking his tongue. "Oh well, I can still get something out of this, can’t I, Marrow?"
"You won’t be disappointed, my lord!"
Marrow’s voice echoed in his head.
Blaze replied, taking a seat on the railing as he watched on. Well, he couldn’t see what was going on, but he could sense it all. That was enough.
At an undisclosed location...
Three figures remained sitting in the dark, in the form of a semi-circle.
Suddenly, the one in the middle jolted backwards and began spasming. The other two remained motionless, paying no attention to the third.
Several minutes passed in silence until the third person returned to normal. Then, two words pierced the silence.
The person on the left scoffed, while the person on the right had nothing to add.
"Partial victory? Does such a thing exist?" the person on the left scoffed. "Either you are victorious, or you fail. There’s no in-between!"
"The Lord wishes to test our faith," the guy on the right said. "We mustn’t fail—"
"Yeah? Guess what I said, genius? You know what, I have better ways to serve the Lord than being here with you pathetic fools. Partial victory, my ass, hmph!"
The sound of a chair scraping was heard before the person left. The other two sighed.
"He is ambitious," the one in the middle spoke.
"Ambition births desire. Desire births greed. Greed births destruction," the man on the right said. "To serve the supreme, only he must stay in your heart. Nothing else."
Just then, an ear-piercing scream was heard, and the severed head of the third guy rolled inside the room.
"The Lord has accepted the sacrifice."