1325

It was a few days after the fight at the tower. They hadn't returned to town yet. They'd found an abandoned house nearby, and stayed there.

Doug still hadn't returned to normal. They had to keep him tied up, or he'd start attacking again.

"How long are you going to stay around here for?" Allen asked.

"Until Doug returns to normal." Maria replied, not looking at him.

"It's been days. He'll probably stay like that."

"Then what the hell are we supposed to do!? You're the one who caused this! How do we return him to normal!?"

"I didn't cause this. The monsters did. If it hadn't been for them, he wouldn't have had to use so much of the frenzy. Besides, is this really the time to be waiting around? You saw it yourself, didn't you? The Molten Tigrex was nowhere near the mountain, yet it was still an

Apex. Meaning these things are spreading the virus still. The longer we let it roam free, the longer it'll take to contain it. Our work isn't done yet."

"It'll be never done until we're all dead, at this rate."

"That's possible, but we'll just have to get stronger to overcome them."

"Even if we end up like Doug?" Nate asked, surprising him.

"If that's what has to happen, then it's fine."

"You-"

"Stop already." David interrupted, turning everyone's attention to him despite the fact he had nothing else to say.

"So are you in favour of getting ourselves killed, too?" Nate asked in response.

He didn't answer.

"It's not just getting ourselves killed." Allen answered. "Why can't you understand that? We have to eliminate the virus."

"For whose sake?"

"For the sake of avenging the ones who've been killed by them."

"...Look, I get that we were into this cause it was Olivia's mission, but… the hell do the dead have to do with this? They're dead, it doesn't matter to them!"

"So… you're saying we should just stop trying to avenge them?"

"Wait-" Maria began, before getting cut off by Nate's continued yelling.

"Of course! What's the point in this if we're just gonna lose more in the process!? We should just leave the monsters be!"

The sound of a blade cutting through flesh resounded through the room.

David and Maria stared in shock.

Allen's blade had been run straight through Nate's chest, without warning.

Nate looked down at it, his brain unable to work out how to respond to this new situation. His gaze was distracted by Allen's cold eyes staring directly at him.

"If you're against destroying the monsters… then that means you're an enemy of humanity. So, I'll give you the same treatment as them."

He quickly drew his blade, causing Nate to fall backwards and crash onto the floor.

"I'm going to town to find new allies. I don't need traitors. Let's go, David."

His brother didn't respond. Allen waited another second, before seeming disappointed.

"I'll wait for you back at town."

With those words, he left the house.

The remaining two rushed to Nate. He clearly didn't have much time left.

David rummaged around in his pocket, grabbing some more monster flesh.

"Eat this, or else you're gonna-"

Nate grabbed his arm, stopping it from reaching him.

"I don't want it."

"You need to survive!" Maria responded.

"I know I'm done for without it… of course I'm scared of dying, but… the thought of ending up like Doug did is worse! I don't want that! At least just… let me die, as a human!"

"I'm still not letting you die, idiot!"

"Would you rather I ended up a mindless monster?"

She couldn't answer that, but continued trying to give him the flesh. Nate watched this few seconds, before his panic seemed to fade.

"You're not gonna listen, are you?"

"Of course not."

"Then lemme just explain it. I mean, yeah I'm dying and all, but I finally get things. Nah, maybe I get em cause I'm dying."

"You're not gonna die."

"Yeah, yeah. When Doug got changed like that, I'm sure his last thoughts were something like protecting the rest of us. He couldn't have predicted what'd follow. This virus… isn't something we were supposed to control. Well, it makes sense. If we were gonna go all the way and imitate how it affects monsters, then of course the consequence would follow. In fact, it might even be affecting us outside the transformation. That'd explain… this."

"Don't try to excuse him for it!"

"I'm not, you'd think I'd just give my killer an out?"

"He won't be your killer in a minute."

"No, he will. If I use any more of that, it'll be the end, won't it? So… just leave it. You two should probably leave. I get the feeling that if any of us use it again, then we'll end up like him. Just move on with your lives, or something like that. I'll stay and… sort out things here."

"What do you mean?" Maria asked, before Nate slipped away.

He dragged himself into the room where they were keeping Doug, locking the door behind him. Doug seemed to wake up, trying to break free and attack the one in his sights, still under the frenzy virus' influence.

Maria grabbed the door, finding it was locked. Both she and David started frantically trying to break it down.

"Stop already! You won't turn into a monster, it'll be fine, so just-"

"See ya."

With those final faint words, a gunshot was heard, quickly followed by another. The room went silent.

Maria slumped down, not seeing a point in continuing to destroy the already half-broken door.

David slumped down in another corner, unsure what to feel.

"I guess in the end, I'm just as bad as Allen, huh?" Maria asked herself.

"What do you mean?"

"Because I just let someone kill themselves right in front of me."

David looked downwards, not wanting to deny it.

"Why'd you even stay behind, anyways? I thought you were a puppet who couldn't care about others."

"That's true. But… I can't follow him, for some reason."

"Mm. That's the reasonable response, when you see someone become a murderer right in front of you. So I guess you're not that much of a puppet."

"I still am."

"What Nate said about the frenzy affecting us was probably right. At least, it'd explain Allen's actions just there. Though then again, someone probably has to have a messed up head from the start to even want a power like that, so who knows? Well, the point is, it looks like deciding to follow him was what led us into hell. I suppose if a smart person had been in our position, they would've refused his offer of power. Do you wanna know why we followed?"

"Not really, but I don't think that'll stop you."

"Yeah, it won't. The reason the dawn hunters allowed ourselves to be led into hell was because of the one we lost. If it had been anyone else, we'd have been fine. But Olivia… Olivia was more than just a leader. I suppose she was like the sun. Here's another question. Why do you think I didn't like you from the start?"

"Because you can't stand people living as emptily as I do?"

"Yeah, but the reason for that is because it reminds me of myself. Well, how I used to be, before I met her. Completely on my own, without a care for whether I lived or died. If there was anything tying us all together, then it'd be her. That we were all saved by her. She was… a weird person. I don't think the way she acted could be one normally expected of humans. But, that was the reason we all loved her. She was always so selfless. Hell, the reason she got the two of you to join is probably cause she wanted to help you as well. But the thing with life is, good people like her are usually the ones who end up being treated the worst, so I guess it's no surprise how things ended up."

She paused, sighing.

"So there you have it. The full story of the dawn hunters, who lost their light and fell into the abyss. And me, who's left all alone again, after losing the group that was my reason for being. Was it fun?"

"Not really."

"I know."

"I might as well give my backstory then, since you've already said yours."

"Huh? What'll that do? You'd just make me sadder. If I was actually capable of caring about you, that is."

"I could say the same thing about your backstory. So it's fine, it's equal this way."

"I guess so."

"There's not much to it, really. Our village got destroyed in a monster attack, about seven years back? He was sixteen, I was fourteen. His heart blazed with a hatred for monsters, wanting to destroy them. My heart… was gone. It was empty. There was nothing left. I guess I lacked a reason to be, so I couldn't manage to live on my own. But he was willing, probably enthusiastic to lead, so I just followed him. When I did that, I felt like I was living. So I stuck to it. Which leads into when you met us."

"I see. I understand now, even if that doesn't mean I'm able to forgive living in such a way. Not that it matters much at this point."

"What do you mean?"

"You said you were already dead, right?"

"Yeah. I already died on that day. The me now is just a corpse he dragged along."

"So then by your own logic, doesn't that apply to all of us? As much as I hate it, without his bullshit, we'd have all died up there. Slaughtered by the apex monsters, just like the rest. We'd already died, so I guess it didn't matter much that we dropped dead later, anyways."

"I can't exactly refute that."

"Yeah. Neither can I. Sure, we're still here breathing, but we both well know that alone isn't good enough, is it? Thinking about it, I guess we aren't that different. We both relied on others to live, even if that's not working out for me anymore."

David thought about this for a few more seconds.

"Then in that case, I have something to fix."

"What, are you gonna run off and die too?"

"I don't know. But what I do know is… I'm done living like I'm dead. If I just do nothing and follow… who knows how many are gonna get caught up by the virus' effects because of Allen. I can't let that continue."

"So you're acting the hero now?"

"Not really. I'm just setting things the way they should be. The dead need to stay dead."

With those words, he departed. The sounds of someone finally being left alone to process everything were carried by the winds, but he decided to ignore them.

Allen continued down the path, the town almost in sight.

He heard footsteps behind him.

"Ah, David. So you finally decided to join me."

David stared at him for a few seconds. Allen's face showed a mix of confusion and understanding.

"I can't let you continue any further."

"I see."

The sun was starting to set.