A/N: So there are a couple things that need to be addressed. I have noticed the discourse in the comments regarding the existence of male monsters. In this story, I am working off the assumption that a man who gets turned into a monster simply becomes female. Also, I treat the idea of men born from monsters as inherently different from monsters themselves. Sure, they might have a little monster blood, but they're still human.

As for male zombies, well, that will be addressed soon enough.

So, after getting directions from some random old dude, I got the hell out of that town. Thankfully, the mansion wasn't too hard to find. I just had to follow the main road until a specific, shady-looking path split off from it. I'd then follow that road until I arrived.

Now, the journey itself wasn't too problematic… At first. For about an hour or so, I walked with no obstructions at all.

The issues began once the area around me transitioned from field to forest. Already, I was sick and tired of the trees. After the plant incident, I wasn't too happy to be there. But whatever, at least this time I won't get attack-

"HEY!" An angry voice shouted.

… Are you fucking kidding me?

Already annoyed, I swiveled around, glaring at whoever dared to stop me.

It was a large man, dressed in shitty leather armor. He had filthy brown hair, tan-ish skin, and green eyes. He wasn't fit, but he wasn't obese either. He looked young, and had this cocky look of arrogance that made me want to punch him.

"What do you want?" I asked, annoyed.

"This is my road. If you want to go down it, you're gonna have to pay me." He declared.

I blinked, not sure how to respond. Was he serious?

"Buddy, do I look like I have money to you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If you don't have cash, you don't pass." He declared, adopting what he probably thought was a tough-guy pose. He looked like a fucking fruitcake, but who was I to judge?

"So you knew I didn't have money, and yet you decided to risk yourself anyways?" I deadpanned.

"How am I risking myself?" He asked, a smirk on his face. "I'll have no problem killing you."

I facepalmed.

"Buddy, I can literally snap you in half. Why would you even approach me?" I asked.

He seemed to take offense to that, as he pulled out a shitty, rust-covered sword.

"What did you just say?" He growled.

I sighed.

This dude was annoying. I had to deal with him, or else he might pull this shit on someone else.

I walked towards him, stomping loudly. As I got closer, I watched his stupid-looking face slowly turn from asshole-ish confidence to straight-up fear.

I only planned to scare him off. Maybe I'd rough him up a little bit, and then send him on his way.

I'm just gonna tell you now: that is not what ended up happening.

I picked him up by the neck, glaring angrily. Before I could even do anything, a strange feeling bubbled within me. Out of nowhere, a violent urge seemingly flashed through my body. I wanted to rip, to maim, to slaughter. Of course, I'd felt this before, but it wasn't nearly as strong. Previously, I'd felt this when I killed that child-molesting FUCKER-

You get the point. That one worm lady. However, even then, I hadn't felt this mad. This guy was a saint compared to that bitch.

By the time I came to my senses, the man was more akin to paste than anything else. Blood was splattered all over everything, including me. If I didn't look suspicious before, I certainly did now.

On top of a pile of gibbed meat and bone sat a misshapen human head, clearly caved in by an incredible force. It's eyes were missing. Where they were, I had no idea.

"What the fuck…" I breathed. I wasn't affected by the gore. I'd seen that shit plenty of times already.

No, I was worried about how easily I lost control. Where did that feeling even come from? It just appeared out of nowhere, taking hold of my entire being. And now, an undeserving man lay dead.

Of course, I didn't give a shit about this guy, but this was still a problem. What if I just snapped like that in the middle of a city? There'd be a massacre. I'd be hunted yet again. Maybe the dragon bitch herself would appear just to fuck me up.

This was something I had to get under control. I just couldn't let myself run rampant.

But I had other things to do at that point. So, I beat a hasty retreat, sprinting down the road, and away from the body.

*LINEBREAK*

"Hey, Tamamo?" Alma Elma asked, pensively opening the door.

It wasn't often that Alma would ask Tamamo for advice. Mostly, she believed in herself. Being the Queen Succubus meant that confidence was basically a requirement, after all.

Not this time though. She still felt more than a little uneasy about the man, despite several attempts to get him out of her mind.

Tamamo, being the oldest and most mature of the heavenly knights, was sort of the mom-friend of their group. So, Alma felt that she was the best person to talk to.

Tamamo looked up from her desk, putting down some nameless book that Alma didn't really care about. (Not that she would ever say that out loud.)

"Yes, Alma? What is it?" Tamamo asked.

"Well, there was just something that I need help with." Alma said.

Tamamo blinked, somewhat surprised.

"Okay. What do you need?" She asked.

Alma sighed, and leaned against the doorframe. Quietly, she began to speak.

She told her everything about the man, making sure to leave nothing out. It was difficult at first, but became easier as she went on, rambling about the creature until she finally was finished.

Tamamo had a concerned look on her face. She was silent for a moment, processing the information that had been dumped onto her.

"… You said he stole some of your power?" She asked finally, her face displaying a worried look that made Alma uneasy.

"Y-yeah." Alma said. "It wasn't a lot, and I regained the energy by the end of the day, but it just felt so… So wrong."

Tamamo sighed, holding her face in her hands.

"I'll have to look into this." She said.

*LINEBREAK*

Continuing on my way to the mansion, I faced little opposition. For a main road, it was surprisingly empty.

The path to the mansion itself was as obvious as I expected it to be, so I didn't have any issue there, either.

As I trudged down the path, fog seemed to slowly swallow the world around me, leaving the landscape a bleak dimension of distant gray shapes.

The path led through a large graveyard. Several graves had been recently opened, which put me on edge. I wasn't exactly sure what I'd find in there, but I knew it wouldn't be good.

As I approached the building itself, I began to the notice the state of disrepair it was in. Someone clearly hadn't worked on it in decades.

The door gave no resistance as I pushed it open, allowing me full access to the structure's interior.

Immediately upon entering, I noticed a zombie near the corner of the room. Of course, due to this world's twisted logic, she had comically large boobs. She was still bloody and gross though. I don't know about you, but that would be a total turnoff for me.

She seemed to notice me, but she didn't do anything. She probably saw me as one of her own.

Why were there zombies here, anyway? Those graves had been dug up, so these definitely weren't naturally occurring beings. So, I did the first thing that popped into my head.

"Hello? Anyone there?" I loudly asked.

There was silence. I waited a moment, but no one answered.

"I was just curious about these zombies. I don't mean any harm." I continued, walking deeper into the mansion.

I heard the pitter-patter of tiny feet behind me. I turned, but only caught a glimpse of the individual. They were tiny, but that was about all I could tell.

"I'm not looking for a fight or anything." I said, directing my voice to where I'd just seen the figure. "I just wanted to ask you a couple questions."

Slowly, the figure stepped into view.

It was a little girl with purple skin. She had a dark outfit on, which I couldn't quite make out in the room's less-than-optimal lighting situation.

She stared at me, confused. Slowly, she stepped forward.

"You're not one of my creations." She said. "Who made you?"

"I'm not sure what you mean." I said. "I'm not a zombie."

She looked me over, her eyes seeming to almost glow. It was sort of like seeing a cat's eyes in the dark.

"No, you're definitely a zombie." She said. "And so poorly made, too."

"E-Excuse me?" I asked, too surprised to even be mad.

"You don't have tits or ass." She continued. "How do you extract semen with such an unappealing look?"

…

…

…

Excuse me, what the FUCK?!

I hate this fucking world, you know that. Why does absolutely everything in this god-forsaken world have to be cemented in nonsensical debauchery. Why are zombies powered by fucking SEMEN?! How did evolution decide to just make everything revolve around nonconsensual sex? What the actual fuck is wrong with this place?

Just… Just why?

Okay, I'm over it. Everything is fine. Everything is just peachy.

"I don't need to do that. Besides, I'm clearly a man." I said, scrubbing several disturbing images from my mind.

"Zombies don't have genders." The girl deadpanned.

"What?" I asked, slightly frustrated. "Yes they do. That abomination in there had boobs. It was female."

"You really know nothing about zombies." She observed.

Well, she had me there.

"No." I said. "I don't know jack-shit about undead."

She facepalmed.

"Zombies don't technically have genders, as they can have either male or female souls." She said. "However, since they require semen as a source of energy, it is best to make them as sexually appealing as possible."

I blinked. That… kind of made sense.

"As I just said. I don't need to do that. I have NEVER needed to do that, and I never will." I stated.

This seemed to confuse her. I wasn't sure what was so preposterous about my existence and lack of sexual appetite, but hey, it seemed like she was the expert.

Now that I think about it, why did she know so much about zombies?

"Say," I began. "Why are you here, anyways?"

She was just a little girl. I wasn't sure how old she was, but if I had to guess, I'd say around nine or ten. Why was she alone?

"This place had a massive graveyard." She explained, as if she was talking to a child. "It's perfect for my experiments."

"And uhh…" I began. "What exactly are those experiments?"

She grinned, and made a victorious pose.

"I'm going to make the world's most powerful zombie!" The girl loudly exclaimed.

...

Oh. She was a necromancer.

That was kind of obvious when I thought about it. She's got pretty much all the clichés covered. Dark, evil mansion? Check. Dark clothes? Check. Surrounded by aimless, shambling zombies? Check.

"Okay…" I muttered. Honestly, that didn't sound so terrible.

Seeing as nothing despicable was going on here, I turned to leave. When I began walking away however, she grabbed my arm, trying to stop me from leaving. She just ended up getting dragged.

"Wait a minute!" She exclaimed.

I turned around, eyebrow raised. Confused, I asked what she wanted.

"You don't need semen to exist, right?" She asked, wonder in her voice.

Slowly, I nodded. I wasn't sure where she was going with this, but it made me nervous.

"Let me examine you! There is so much I could learn from your body!" She requested/pleaded.

…

I'm getting a strange feeling of déjà vu.

I looked at her, not exactly sure how to respond. She had the fucking sad puppy-eyes, and it just tore at me. How could I say no to that face?

"Okay…?" I said.

And like that, she led me deeper into the building, into what was presumably her workstation/laboratory.

There were many scientific and magical instruments lining the shelves. I, of course, didn't recognize any of them.

It was at this point that I realized I didn't know her name. Figuring I should probably know that before letting her do anything, I asked her.

"You can call me Chrome." She said. "Now, just find somewhere to sit down. We'll begin in a moment."

I sat in an old, rickety chair, quietly watching as she pulled out different instruments, and laid them on a nearby table. While waiting, I asked what exactly she was going to do.

"Oh, nothing much." She said. "I'm just going to some general examinations. If I find something interesting, I'll let you know."

So began the strange series of tests that she performed. She scanned me with objects I'd never seen before, muttering to herself as she furiously scribbled down notes on whatever conclusions she'd come to.

She took a syringe from the table, and I internally cringed. Then, upon realizing that I still, in fact, couldn't feel pain, I relaxed.

In life, I'd had some terrible experiences with needles. Not to say they weren't necessary, mind you. I had gotten terribly ill, and needed medicine. I'm not going to go into detail, because you're not my therapist, and I don't want to unpack years of emotional trauma right now. (A/N: Any emotional trauma is over-exaggerated. Don't worry.)

Chrome seemed to have some difficulty finding a proper vein to stab into. After a moment of searching, she seemed to find one that she deemed acceptable. With an unexpected grace, she delicately jammed the needle into my arm, and took a sample of the disgusting black ooze that flowed throughout my entire body.

She examined it for a moment, a look of disgusted curiosity on her face as she closely studied it. After a moment, she proceeded to grab a face mask and a pair of goggles.

"I need to study… whatever this stuff is. Just wait here for a little bit." She said, before walking into a different room.

So, I was left by myself in this dark, boring room. For a while, I simply sat in silence, watching the clock on the wall. I wasn't exactly sure how clocks existed in this world, considering the lack of technological advancements. Like most things in this depraved, fucked-up world, I simply blamed magic.

Anyone forced to wait in an examination room will tell you that it is boring. This, I tell you, is not entirely true. Yes, boring is one of the many words you could use to describe such an event, but that does not fully articulate the soul-shattering experience. In a silent room, the quiet noise of the A/C would be your only companion. Here, in this world, I didn't even have that. Other than the occasional drip of water, the room was dead quiet. The silence was almost suffocating, in a way. It seemed oppressive in this bleak, dark-walled room.

When waiting in such a place, you'll quickly find that time becomes meaningless. Seconds seem like hours, minutes like days. You feel trapped in a bubble of nothingness as time slowly ticks by outside, yet the room never changes. The room feels to be infinite, and omnipresent. It has existed before the dawn of time, and it will continue to exist long after the universe itself ceases to be. You are but one of the many patients in the endless cycle that is the room. It looks upon you with uncaring eyes, as it steals a part of your very soul. The existential dread will slowly swallow you, utterly destroying your sanity, before haphazardly gluing it back together. You may leave that room physically intact, but your mind will never be the same.

At least, that's how I felt when going to the doctor. That's relatable, right guys?

…

Right?

Anyways, moving on from my small breakdown, I began to quietly explore the room. In the center, a large operating table sprang forth from the ground. It seemed almost as if it was part of the floor itself.

There were several bloodstains on and around the table. Zombie making was pretty messy, it seemed.

Two smaller tables accompanied the large one, each sitting by one side. Tools were placed in a chaotic manner, piled on top of one another like a deranged org-

Agh! Damn this stupid world and its sexual nature! It's sinking its perverted claws into my mind.

Shaking off that… whole thing, I continued my observation.

The tools themselves seemed mostly normal. A scalpel, a hacksaw, etc. Yep, normal stuff.

There were other things, though. They looked unfamiliar to me, so I simply ignored them.

Looking at the walls, I could tell that this building was somewhat unstable. The ceiling was in awful shape. It seemed like it would collapse soon, unless something was done about it.

Shit. Chrome needs to know about this.

She was unavailable at the moment, though. So, I had nothing to do except continue dicking around.

There were a couple of coffins in the corner of the room. The lids were closed, and I didn't want to open them. I felt kind of uncomfortable with that.

I was about to sit down when Chrome slammed open the door, excitement clear on her face.

"Did you find something?" I asked, chuckling at her star-struck expression.

"YOUR BODY IS SO COOL!" She exclaimed.

I wasn't sure how to respond to that, so I remained silent. I figured with how excited she was, she'd continue anyways.

And continue she did.

Rapidly, she began to explain what she'd found, claiming that whatever form of magic in my body was completely new. According to her, she was very familiar with necromancy, and yet she'd never seen anything like this.

Apparently, my magic was self-sufficient somehow, which basically just meant that I didn't need to eat or sleep. I guess that explained some things.

She also noticed the presence of wind magic, which didn't make sense to her. That was probably what got stolen from that succubus lady. I didn't mention that to her, as I feared that would bring up questions I didn't really want to answer.

She went on to spout a bunch of science stuff that I didn't understand. Most of it didn't seem really important, so I just sort of tuned it out.

When she finished, she was out of breath from her long-winded information dump. The sight made me chuckle at her expense.

"So, did you learn anything helpful?" I asked.

Her face darkened at that. She sighed, looking down at the ground.

"Unfortunately, no." She mumbled. "Your magic is inherently different from that of an undead's. I can't replicate it."

"Different how?" I asked.

"Well, it's different from any type of magic I've ever seen." She said. "It's similar to undead, but there's this strange, sinister feeling that seemingly pulses from it."

That was… concerning. Considering the fact that I was in the body of an infamous serial killer, one who rose from the dead multiple times simply to kill a bunch of teenagers, it would make sense that any energy he/I possessed would feel evil. If you couple that with the poisonous stench of blood and rotten meat that hung around my body like a disgusting cloud, then I suppose it made sense why that mermaid bitch called me out.

But that didn't quite make sense. If she had noticed it so easily, then why had nobody else? Surely someone else would've pointed it out as well.

Chrome didn't seem to notice. Either that, or she didn't care. Considering the fact that she worked with zombies, she might've just gotten used to the smell.

Granted, I wasn't exactly sure what the smell was like. My nose was as dead as the rest of me, so I couldn't use it.

These were problems for later, so much like many other things, I pushed them into the back of my mind. I had more important matters to attend to, after all.

"So, Chrome…" I began.

"Yes?" She asked, one eyebrow raised

"This place is falling apart." I said, gesturing to the pitiful-looking ceiling.

She sighed again, and nodded.

"Yeah, this place is a wreck." She muttered. "There isn't much I can do about it, though."

I didn't want that ceiling to crush her. It looked like it could fall at any time, and I didn't want to take chances.

"I could fix this ceiling up a little bit." I volunteered. "It won't be great, but it'll be a little better than it is now."

She happily excepted my offer, tackling me for a hug.

This kid is just too fucking cute.

So I went to work. She didn't have any spare lumber, so I went out and cut down a couple of small trees.

Well, perhaps "Cut down" isn't the best description. In actuality, I just kind of ripped them out of the ground. I then proceeded to cut them into boards. This took several hours, of course. You can't just rush that kind of thing.

Oh, also I was a total amateur, so that also might have slowed it down.

By the time I finished, it was morning. I'd started late in the afternoon, so it must have been at least 12 hours.

Gathering up the misshapen planks, I walked back into the basement.

Chrome had just seemingly woken up, so she wasn't very talkative. She did point out where some spare nails were kept, though.

After acquiring the nails, I began the process of reinforcing the ceiling. I didn't have a hammer, so I just used my thumb to press them into the proper spots.

It's times like these that I'm thankful for my enhanced strength.

So, after many hours of work, I was finished. It wasn't great, but it'd hold.

I turned to Chrome, who had been working on a zombie until then. I pointed to the new supports, telling her I was finished. She thanked me profusely.

With that done, she'd be safe. Now, I needed to get back on my mission.

"Now that I'm done making sure the ceiling won't cave in on you, I gotta go." I said.

Chrome looked a little saddened by that, but she didn't press the issue.

"See you, kid." I said, waving as I walked away.

I'd almost reached the door when I heard a particularly loud THUMP in the room above.

I looked back at Chrome, and silently gestured to where the noise came from.

She shrugged, just as confused as me.

There was something up there. Quietly, I climbed the stairs, sticking to the shadows. I crept to the doorway, making sure to remain unseen.

With one hand on my sword, I slowly peeked out from the doorway. Mentally, I swore at what I saw.

Alice and Luka were facing away from me. They were staring at the corpse of a zombie that Alice had obliterated.

Seriously, that thing was fucking paste.

Panicked, I quietly made my way back into the basement. Locking the door behind me, I made my way over to Chrome.

"Can you fight?" I whispered, gesturing for her to be silent.

With a snap of her fingers, the zombie she was working on rose from the table.

"She's my greatest creation." Chrome explained quietly. "There's no way anyone could beat her."

"Okay, that's good." I whispered.

Uneasily, she glanced over to me.

"What's up there, anyways?" She asked.

I described to her the two intruders, along with my previous encounters. She seemed especially concerned when I described Alice.

I heard footsteps from the other side of the door. They were getting closer.

The doorknob jiggled, but didn't budge. There was a muffled conversation on the other side. I couldn't tell what they were saying, but Alice sounded annoyed.

And then the door flew off its hinges.

It sailed through the air, missing me by inches. It hit the wall, shattering into a million little pieces on impact.

Quickly, Luka charged into the room. Alice hung back in the doorway, observing.

"YOU!" Luka shouted, pointing at me.

…

…

…

Well fuck.

A/N: Let me tell you kids a story. So, this was almost ready a week ago. I'd planned to release it last Tuesday. However, when cutting some paper, I got a little to zealous with my snipping. In my overconfidence, I sliced through most of my finger. So there I was, a victim of my own hubris, gushing blood all over my floor as I rushed to get some band-aids.

But hey, now I can see my bone when I shine a light into the wound, so that's neat.

It's been sitting for a couple days now. It's not quite healed, but now I can finish this chapter.

I feel I should address this right now. Our beloved main character has a soft spot for kids. That's why he felt compelled to help Chrome.

I know Chrome is not a child, but our protagonist doesn't.

Anyways, have a nice day.