Chapter 26. The Zombie That Gained Intelligence.
Chapter 26. The Zombie That Gained Intelligence.
"D-De...mon... Go...d...!"
"The Savior has come...!"
"The true God has descended...!!"
'Ah... Fuck, this is exactly why I didn't want to do this shit...'
The people's reaction instantly gave me a headache. But what choice did I have? This was the cleanest method, and considering the future, a source of labor was non-negotiable.
I was certain the moment I saw the contrast: the priests looked genuinely moved, while the elders stared in horror.
'So the priests really were fully brainwashed. But the elders are clearly in their right minds.'
While the crowd was still in chaos, I struck the elders' pressure points and knocked them out cold. I told the priests the situation was over and to take everyone inside to rest. Then I headed to where Chaeyeon was.
"Oh... What the hell happened to this guy?"
The cult leader looked far worse than I'd expected. His arms and legs each had a hole bored through the joints, the wounds cauterized as if seared shut with fire. He was still breathing, so he'd only passed out.
"Sihu, you're here? He put up more of a fight than I thought. He was fairly strong."
Even if the bastard could convert his followers' faith into mana and stockpile it, he'd already burned through most of his strength fighting.
'And I sure as hell didn't invest those materials in him just to make a weakling...'
I hauled the cult leader and the elders I'd knocked out outside down into the "Repentance Room." Just to be safe, Chaeyeon used magic to put the prisoners to sleep; then I released the pressure points on them and splashed water to wake them up.
What I learned from interrogating them was that the so-called cult leader had actually been running a fairly sizable cult operation even before the outbreak. The elders were chosen from his innermost circle, the ones who had Awakened. The cult leader's ability wasn't quite true hypnosis or telepathic domination—more like he injected his ideology through sustained suggestion until his followers were thoroughly indoctrinated.
And, supposedly, he could absorb the prayers of the brainwashed as mana.
"So, then. I suppose it's time I bestowed some remedial instruction upon our brothers here?"
They could clearly tell what was about to happen. Fear immediately bled across their faces.
* * * * * * * *
Morning had long since passed, and as lunchtime approached, I had the priests cut down trees, set them up outside, and gather everyone.
Once everyone was assembled, I bound the elders and the cult leader to the posts in plain view. Whatever "instruction" I'd given them must have been remarkably intense—they looked absolutely wrecked. The crowd swallowed their gasps at the sight.
"Now. The man you believed in tried to abandon you and run. You're about to witness the judgment of this fraud. Go on—confess your sins yourselves."
As I spoke, I brought my scabbard down across their shins. Hard. The unmistakable sound of bone snapping echoed. But they were dead men anyway—what did I care?
"W-we're sorry... We demanded your faith in a false idol and deceived you all with brainwashing... I am not the chosen one..."
Starting with the cult leader, the elders began listing their sins. The thing that truly shocked the crowd was what had happened inside the "Repentance Room." It wasn't just about teaching faith. Under that pretext, they'd treated people worse than livestock, satisfying their own pleasures.
At my silent signal, the prisoners who had been treated with healing magic and regained some strength lined up behind Chaeyeon.
"These are people who, up until just yesterday, were suffering the cruelest abuse. I intend to let them personally judge this trash. But the cult leader... I will judge him myself."
Wailing, thinking of the humiliation they'd suffered, the victims fell upon the elders and began beating them. Eventually, others who'd been forced into the false faith came forward too—spitting on them, stomping them underfoot.
By the time the elders stopped breathing, the people were still panting as if their fury hadn't been sated. Then Chaeyeon stepped forward and set them ablaze, freezing the flames only after nothing remained—not so much as a fragment of bone.
"Ah... Ah... The Saintess has purified them..."
"Sacred flame...!"
"The sacred flame rose up...!"
She must have heard it. Her ears turned faintly red as she sidled up beside me.
"Heh-heh... They're calling you the Saintess..."
"...!!!"
She glared at me, eyes sharp with a silent demand to quit it. I hoisted the cult leader over my shoulder and went back inside the building.
"Alright. We've still got some things to talk about, don't we?"
"Wh-whatever it is, I already!! I told you everything—!"
"Actually, I was going to ask you this one in private. How do you control the zombies?"
"Th-that's..."
Whether he knew he shouldn't answer or just didn't expect the question, he froze up and hesitated. I reached down and snapped one of his fingers backward.
"Gyaaah!!!"
"Don't feel like talking? Fine. We've got plenty more fingers and toes to go."
"Urrgh... Th-the truth is... one day, someone came to me. They gave me a strange orb."
"Who came to you? And what do you mean, an orb?"
"They said if you shatter the orb, you can lure zombies for a short time... and give them simple attack commands...!"
"A-and that being... it wasn't human... It was... like a zombie."
He described the visitor: bloodshot red eyes like the common zombies, skin deathly pale, and a presence so unnerving it made your skin crawl just being near it.
"Why did this being come looking for you?"
"I-I don't know either! It just showed up one day and said it would help me!"
The being supposedly watched the cult leader's back, visiting from time to time, and told him to crush any insubordinate humans with ruthless pain until they broke. And that was how the people in the "Repentance Room" were taken.
'A zombie has developed intelligence. But why take humans, a handful at a time?'
"Why did they take the humans?"
"I don't know the exact reason... It said something about... human resentment..."
'These bastards...! They're using people to forcibly gather Evil Energy...!'
"Do you know where this being came from?"
"I don't know precisely, but... probably the university...!"
"What's your basis for that?"
"I overheard it say, in passing... 'as befits the biggest university, there are so many humans here'..."
I quietly organized my thoughts. For whatever reason, some zombie had developed intelligence. And it was using humans to collect Evil Energy. But why the hell would it be gathering Evil Energy?
'It's an absurd hypothesis, but... what if a zombie is using mana?'
On Titan, there were rare beasts that, upon evolving, could wield mana—Divine Beasts, dragons, beings like that.
And...
'A High Undead could control mana... Or if some powerful figure died holding a deep grudge and rose as an undead, they'd be able to use mana right from the start.'
I must have stayed silent too long. The cult leader grew anxious and blurted out.
"Th-that's truly everything now! Please, I'm begging you, just spare my—!"
I dragged him back to where everyone was gathered. Then I tossed him toward them and spoke.
"I'll spare your life. But will they?"
One by one, the people who'd been staring at the cult leader rose to their feet and started advancing on him. I left his fate in their hands and returned to the room with Chaeyeon.
* * * * * * * *
"Sihu, what's wrong? Did something happen?"
"Hm?"
"Look in the mirror. Your expression right now—it's dead serious."
I turned my head toward a nearby mirror. The face staring back at me was deeply scowling, grim as could be.
"It's nothing. I was just... wondering what to do about those people."
"Really? I think it'd be fine to just let them join us. It might be a little uncomfortable for you, but since they worship you, they're not about to betray us. And in a situation like this, labor is what matters, isn't it?"
"Heh-heh... So magnanimous, our Saintess. Feels wrong to abandon the faithful now, doesn't it?"
"Yah!!! I told you to stop calling me Saintess—it's embarrassing!!!"
Ever since that night when we'd grown closer, her emotions seemed to have become fuller, richer. She'd always felt a bit like a prickly cat, and now she was more like... a cat that acted like a dog?
"Anyway, let's go down, tell everyone we'll be away for a bit, and head to the department store. I'll go down—you explain the basics over the radio."
When I went downstairs and stepped into the chapel, the murmuring crowd fell silent and all eyes turned to me. I told them I'd come back for them, so they should wait.
"Chaeyeon, did you let everyone know?"
"Yeah. They said they've pretty much finished straightening things up."
"Good. Tell them we'll be back soon, and have Seo Ji-hoon-ssi keep everyone together. I've got something to say."
With that, we set out immediately. The difference from the trip there? The two of us had gotten a whole lot closer in the meantime.
Since things were urgent, I scooped Chaeyeon up in my arms and tore across the distance at incredible speed, landing on the rooftop of the department store.
We opened the rooftop door and headed down—and ran straight into Chaeyeon's mother.
"Oh my, you two? Why are you coming from the roof?"
"We were in a bit of a hurry and... ran here."
"...? You... ran?"
She must have been trying to square the image of us descending from the roof with the word "ran." She looked genuinely confused. But she let it slide, and together the three of us went to where everyone was assembled.
"Chaeyeon, dear... Did something happen between you and Sihu?"
"Hyaak!! W-what are you saying...!"
"You're a man and a woman, aren't you~ I was just asking if maybe you're dating."
She'd definitely noticed the subtle shift in our dynamic. Smiling, she said nothing more—but she slid a glance my way. Chaeyeon, meanwhile, couldn't lift her head.
'Something happened... Yes, ma'am, quite a lot happened.'
As if a thought had abruptly crossed her mind, Chaeyeon leaned in and whispered behind her mother's back.
"I know it's a weird thing to bring up now, but... what do we do about, um, contraception...!"
"Don't worry. I burned it all up with mana."
'A truly 100% contraceptive method... by incinerating every last sperm cell.'
We soon reached the gathered group. As soon as we sat down, we brought them up to speed on the situation—and on the fact that we'd just gained a considerable amount of free(?) labor.
"As you all know, the situation is under control. They were essentially deceived into that state—so this changes nothing. Has anything unusual happened on your end?"
"Actually, a few days ago, we spotted a helicopter. Given the operational range of a helicopter, it can't have come from all that far away."
"Which means?"
"If we're lucky, it might be a reconnaissance flight from a military base."
"If so, there's also a possibility the base was completely overrun."
"I think that's unlikely. That location houses elements of three different corps, so the troop numbers are significant. The odds are high they're only using part of the base."
"If the entire base is overrun, the situation gets complicated."
"Yes... it would mean a disruption to our planned resupply..."
"From their perspective, if some outsiders suddenly showed up asking to take their supplies, they'd never just hand them over. If anything, we'd be lucky not to get attacked."
"Ahem... setting that aside for now. There is something else I need to tell you. Something critically important."
I explained everything to them. That zombies are drawn to Evil Energy and enraged by Life Energy. That an intelligent zombie is controlling other zombies and somehow using humans to gather Evil Energy. And, most serious of all—that whatever their base was, it was located at the largest university campus.
They'd surely already tried thinking of a route that avoided that nest. But with a group this size, the only viable path toward the base led straight past it. And, to make things worse, two massive universities stood side by side there.
"If we're attacked during the journey, a significant number of people will die. Even a scratch from one of them turns you into a zombie."
"Do you have a separate plan in mind?"
"I'm aware of a district office in the vicinity. We'll establish a temporary position there and conduct reconnaissance with the combat-capable personnel."
"So that's the choice... either commit to an open fight, or gamble on the chance they won't attack us..."
"There's nearly a 100% chance they'll attack us. They'll want as many more humans as they can get."