Chapter 21: Zombie Apocalypse
Few hours have passed since the activation of the barrier and the Knight Order has been informed of the attack on the school. They now laid siege on the school and when they tried to enter the barrier, they found out their magic has been sealed and they can't get out of the barrier. There are arguments made between Iris and the leaders of the Knight Order on how they should proceed, arguments that got them nowhere and wastes a lot of time.
"We need to press on and rescue the students despite the barrier!" Shouted Iris.
"B-But your highness! We would lose a lot of men that way! We need to think of a better plan!"
"While you're wasting time thinking about plans, the students are dying in there!"
Alexia stood near the gate while watching Iris arguing with the Knight Order commanders, her mind filled with worry for a certain someone.
"Pooch…"
"Cough cough. Where's Rex? Why haven't he retrieved the Artifact yet?" Asked the armoured figure called Sir Gaunt. His voice, masked by his helmet, echoes throughout the underground halls.
"W-We lost contact with him, sir! And we have yet to confirm Shadow Garden's presence!" Answered one of the 3rd Children he had under his command.
"Curses!" The armoured knight stomped on the ground, creating a shockwave that made the 3rd Child fell down. He removed his foot off the hole that his stomp had created as his minion stood back up.
"B-But we have confirmed the presence of zombies in the school!" His minion reported.
"Heh heh heh. Good. Release the beast."
"Yes sir!"
"UAAGHH!" Screamed a black cloaked man as he received a slash from another black cloaked figure wearing skull mask.
"We are… Shadow Garden…." The wounded man still chanted the same line he had been taught to constantly repeat.
"No, you're not. You're just a pathetic pawn." Replied the skull masked figure as he stabbed his enemy's head, killing him.
"Captain Gil!" Called out another skull masked figure.
"Report. How many casualties?" Gilfried asked.
"We've suffered greater losses than usual due to our magic being disrupted by the barrier. About a dozen men, sir. But we confirmed our lord's presence in the school! And he has ordered us to continue the search and continue killing Sir Gaunt's men! He will take care of the girl!"
"So he's already here. Indeed we've confirmed the presence of his zombies. Very well. We'll continue as planned. With our lord on our side it doesn't matter how many of us falls. He will replenish our numbers with the dead! Mwa ha ha ha ha!"
"We are Shadow Garden." Said a group of black cloaked men who arrived as Gilfried laughed like a maniac.
"Kill them." Commanded Gilfried.
"Yes sir!"
"Kyaaahhh!"
"W-What's going on!?"
"Ghouls!? But it's still daytime! There can't be vampires around!"
"They're zombieees!"
"Prez! What should we do!? We're surrounded!"
Numerous shouts of panicked students led by Rose echoes throughout the hallways as they encountered hordes of undead.
"We must fight! Break through the encirclement!" Rose commanded and the students brandished their blades as they fought the zombies to no avail, as they are unable to inflict any fatal wound to the zombies, especially without their magic powers.
"But I'm too young to die! I haven't even got laid yet!" Shouted a blonde haired lanky boy.
"Me too!" Shouted a shorter boy with bald head.
"Shut up, you two! You heard Prez! If you don't want to die, fight!" Shouted a light red haired girl with blue eyes whose hair is tied into two buns above her head and letting the rest of her hair go down.
"Y-Yes, Miss Hope!" Shouted both boys.
"They won't die!" Shouted a boy who stabbed the heart of a zombie, who ignored the stab wound and attempts to claw and bite him.
"Kyaaah!" Screamed a girl as she was bitten by a zombie.
Ugh. How can we win against these creatures who ignores any kind of injury!? Thought Rose.
"Yoink." Exclaimed Cid as he stabbed a zombie's head through its mouth with his sword, which went straight to its brain. The zombie fell and never went back up again.
Still with the same weakness. But really. From terrorist attack to zombie apocalypse? Things sure escalated way too quickly. Thought Cid.
"Huh? How did you do that, Cid?" Rose asked as she noticed that the zombie Cid stabbed didn't rise back.
"Umm… I-I don't know! I just sort of did it! Maybe their weakness is their heads?" Cid answered while pretending to be nervous.
"That makes sense! Everyone! Stab their heads!" Commanded Rose.
"But without our magic-"
"Or cut their heads off! Just try your best!"
"Yes! Let's gooo!"
Seeing no other ways, the students obeyed and focused their attacks on the zombies' heads. Few of them succeeded in beheading or stabbing through the zombies' skulls, putting them to rest permanently.
In time they managed to defeat the hordes of the undead, suffering some casualties, both injuries and fatalities.
"Ughh… It hurts…!"
"Fighting without magic is so hard!"
"Prez! What should we do now!?" A green haired boy asked Rose.
"We need to evacuate. Go to the school gate immediately!" Rose answered.
"But there are so many of us wounded! I suggest we-" The green haired boy was about to suggest something as he was immediately cut by the red haired girl.
"Mr. Isaac! You're not suggesting that we leave our injured classmates alone, are you!?" Exclaimed Christina Hope, daughter of Duke Hope.
"Miss Christina. What I'm suggesting is the most logical course of action for us. They will slow us down and if we don't move soon, we'll die! And who knows if they won't transform into one of those monsters like ghouls do!" Isaac suggested. His logical but heartless suggestion earned him the ire of his classmates, though some agreed with him.
As Christina is arguing with Isaac, Rose contemplates what she should do when she noticed Cid lying and bleeding on the floor, wounded by zombie bites.
"Cid Kagenou!" Exclaimed Rose.
"It's too late for me. I'm at my limit. Please go on without me…" Cid muttered weakly. His pained voice caused Rose to find courage and determination. She proceeded to carry him by putting his arm on her shoulder and helping him walk.
"Eh?"
"Help the ones who are wounded and let's go together!"
"Yes, Prez!" Shouted the students.
What the heck!? I miscalculated her heroine—no, main character aura! Damn! How can I slip away from this? I have several things on my Shadowbroker checklist that I need to do in this situation! Thought Cid.
They didn't make it far before they encountered another horde of zombies who are fighting the black cloaked men who still claimed to be Shadow Garden.
"We are Shadow Garden."
"We are Shadow Garden."
"UUAAGH!"
"We are Shadow Garden."
Someone please shut them up. It's embarrassing to hear the same lines repeated over and over again! Pleaded Cid inside his head.
The eerie chanting makes the students think they are the same as the zombies that they are fighting. The students tried to flee but the zombies spotted them.
"Graaahh!" Roared a zombie while chasing the students.
"Hiiii! They're coming!"
Rose dropped Cid on the floor ("Ow!" Cid muttered weakly.) as she stood in front of them while brandishing her blade. "Run!" She shouted.
"But Prez!"
They were about to argue before the heads of the zombies were immediately cut off and a red cloaked blond haired figure stepped in.
"Mr. Claude!" Exclaimed Rose, recognizing their savior.
"I'll handle them. You should go." Claude said.
"But there are too many of them! And how did you use your magic?"
"I was lent a Pseudo-Artifact that allows some use of magic by Princess iris. I can handle them. Just go."
"Alright! Thank you very much!" Rose exclaimed before sheathing her sword and picking Cid up into a princess carry and addresses the students.
"Let's go everyone!"
"Yes, Prez!"
"Ehhh…..?" Muttered Cid as he was helplessly being carried by Rose.
The students left the halls as Claude proceeded to instantly cut he zombies and the black cloaked men apart.
"Hm. She definitely has the potential to be a main character. Though… was that Cid she's carrying?" Muttered Claude as he proceeded to continue in his way to the vice principal's office. But before he reached the vice principal's office, he felt the ground tremble followed by a huge crashing sound… and a familiar beast's roar.
"So you've finally decided to release No. 176, Sir Gaunt. Heh heh heh."
A huge beast, whose body shape resembles a lizard but with front legs that resembles human hands, lacking scales and instead possessed black long hair on its head and formed bony spikes on its spine, emerged from the ground, shocking the students and school staff who are still trapped inside the school. The Knight Order and the two princesses are also shocked when they heard the ominous roars. The memory of the hordes of beasts attacking the Capital still fresh on their minds.
"I'm going in!" Exclaimed Iris as she brandished the Pseudo-Artifact and fearlessly entered the barrier, whereupon she felt its effect. One thing she noticed however, is that the Pseudo-Artifact is helping her with magic control, allowing her to bypass the barrier's effect to an extent.
"Your Highness! No!"
"Arm every knight with the Pseudo-Artifacts we have in store and have them follow me!" Commanded Iris as she charged into the school.
"I'm going in too!" Exclaimed Alexia.
"No! You're still injured, Princess Alexia! Please don't be reckless! Just leave it all to us!"
"Tsk. Fine." Alexia agreed whilst being frustrated at her inability to help. She kept her eyes on the direction of the school when she noticed a group of students exiting the school building. The one who leads the students out are the princess of Oriana kingdom and in her arms… is…
"Pooch?"
Author's Note:
So Cid and Rose kind of switched places here. Now it is Rose who became the hero who saved Cid from death (Not that he needed it). Isn't this what you wanted though, Cid? To be a proper mob who gets saved rather than a hero who rizzed a princess?
Soulbow109: Too bad would have been a funny pairing I feel. Maybe one day you can make an omake of the two marrying the others sister and how they start interacting lol. I can see Claire doing that since I think she mentioned that she would like Cid to marry a girl similar to her.
Although getting Alexis would be easier due to being a closer age wouldn't Iris be easier to manipulate and turn in to a puppet ruler? Though with her possibly going down a dark route like canon the people may not be too eager to have her as queen, not sure.
Didn't realize his comfy life was affecting him so much. Cool to see him getting back on track, honestly missed him like this. Loved the scene of him fighting Rex, nice terror. Interesting thing with Nu. Look forward to seeing how Claude takes advantage of that.
Answer: Yeah perhaps an AU omake chapter with that premise would've been funny indeed.
At this point Iris' incompetence isn't laid bare yet. She hasn't suffered failures after failures but she's starting to get there while Alexia hasn't had her chance to shine, hence Alexia is still considered an easier target by Claude.
Glad you liked the Rex fight and the Necromancer returning to action.
You're That Ninja: For some reason this story is impossible to download. I even checked on bluestack emulator and still same issue. Its just forever stack in download manager
Answer: Same with me on my iPad tbh. I was certain I had this story downloaded few days ago but after I updated a chapter it was immediately removed from my download list and I'm still unable to download it until now.