Cecilia successfully entered and immediately smelled the pungent odor. She covered her mouth and started exploring the city.
"Where are they... I have to find him quickly." Cecilia said.
Meanwhile, Atha and Giselle were bored and wanted to follow Nic.
"I challenged him... so I guess I should go too, but where do you think he went?" Atha asked.
"Relax, look, there are traces of his footprints. Come on, follow them and be careful," Giselle said.
Meanwhile, Cecilia also saw Nic's tracks and followed them.
And when they arrived, they met.
Giselle was surprised to see Cecilia here alone.
"Relax, Giselle, she seems to be looking for Nic," Atha said.
"Hey, you damned ex-military woman... where is Nic!?" Cecilia said.
"I'm looking for him too, he went alone," Atha replied.
As usual, Cecilia started arguing with Atha again, but strangely, they didn't realize someone was approaching.
"Hey, ex-military woman, there's a zombie behind you!" Cecilia said.
Atha and Giselle immediately panicked and moved behind Cecilia.
But it turned out that the ones who came were Liam and Evelyn. They heard the noise and thought it was normal humans, which was true.
"Ah-!! Sorry to surprise you... we are not zombies... well, at least that's what happens when we saved by someone," Evelyn said.
"Someone? Is his name Nic?" Cecilia asked.
"That's right, he is truly our savior... previously we were just mindless people who lost our way, but we are cured thanks to him," Liam said.
Cecilia immediately looked at Atha. "Do you still not believe Nic after seeing this? If you don't, I'll really exterminate you."
Atha finally realized and accepted that Nic was indeed that great. Then Evelyn and Liam explained that they were genuinely the original inhabitants of this city for decades when the terrible tragedy occurred.
Giselle then asked where Nic went?
Liam and Evelyn answered together that Nic entered the hospital, the main location where the mad doctor conducted experiments.
"WHAT!?? HEY EX-MILITARY WOMAN, LET'S GO IN THERE!" Cecilia said, panicking.
They rushed there, but Liam and Evelyn held them back.
"DON'T! THAT PLACE IS VERY DANGEROUS! WHEN WE SAW NIC OPEN THAT DOOR, A TERRIFYING AURA CAME OUT... WE EVEN MOVED AWAY, BUT NIC KEPT GOING, AND WE BELIEVE HE IS IMMUNE TO THAT KIND OF THING..." Evelyn said.
Atha insisted, "If Nic can do it, we can too."
"I doubt we can," Giselle said.
But Cecilia didn't care and continued toward the hospital, followed by Atha and Giselle, who had no choice but to follow.
Liam and Evelyn were worried and afraid, but they ended up following too.
---
Back to Nic.
"This... what the hell is this..."
Nic walked slowly. He saw his surroundings filled with capsules containing dirty water, and inside them were humans. Some were broken, indicating they had awakened and escaped, but the rest seemed to have died and rotted inside the capsule until the water became dirty.
"Truly inhumane... what did they do to go this far."
And Nic was even more surprised when he found a capsule whose glass was slowly cracking. The being inside didn't look human anymore... its body was completely black and wrinkled, its arms and legs were elongated, and its face was no longer visible.
In front of the capsule, there was a piece of paper attached, which seemed to be the description of the capsule's contents.
The paper read: "Experiment 100, name Daren, total power medicine inserted 20, target hibernation time 10 years, probability of success 90%"
The paper only wrote brief development data, confusing Nic. And he saw that the victim consumed a total of up to 20 doses of power medicine at once? That was terrifying... even 1 dose was insane, let alone 20.
"No wonder his body changed like that... Bastard doctor," Nic said.
Nic looked around and saw no one alive at all... only scattered and chaotic piles of bone remains everywhere... but Nic accidentally saw a code on the wall. The code was a mixture of letters and symbols.
"Zeta, activate God of Analyst."
[ Active ]
Nic immediately analyzed the code, and it turned out to be a code for a secret location.
The earth symbol was the location, and 'energy' was the core of that place, while the letters seemed to be the name of a subject that was the opposite of the letter C.
"Zeta, do you know the location of the earth mentioned? Can you use God of Tracker?"
[ Of course, Master Nic, but before that, there is an approaching threat. ]
"A threat?"
And it turned out that the subject named Daren earlier, who was no longer human, had his capsule shatter... because it had cracked earlier, and it was true that it might have been ten years since he was placed inside the capsule.
"Danger, activate God of Combat Fusion skill."
[ Active ]
Nic checked again, and the capsule was shattered, but the subject was nowhere to be seen.
[ Master Nic, he went upstairs! And it seems Cecilia and the others are upstairs! ]
"What!? Activate King Raven mode! Love Sentinel will activate... we'll just wait for the portal."
[ Ready, Sir Nic... Love Sentinel will activate soon if Cecilia is threatened. ]
---
Cecilia, Atha, and Giselle had just entered and were greeted by the terrifying aura.
"Oh my god, Atha, this is real... those two weren't lying... I immediately felt my heart pounding and got goosebumps," Giselle said.
"Ugh... you're right. Hey, snake, should we keep going in?" Atha asked.
"Ugh, damn it!! I'm sure my mind is strong, but why... why does my heart suddenly feel so tight..." Cecilia said, holding her chest.
Then suddenly, a human-turned-monster figure appeared, tall, black, and running towards Cecilia.
"AHH WHAT IS THAT!! A ZOMBIE???" Atha said.
Giselle immediately tried to run away out of panic.
Meanwhile, Cecilia was frozen, trembling immensely. This was the first time she had seen such a terrifying figure.
The monster figure screamed loudly, making them even more panicked.
But... because Cecilia was threatened, LoveSentinel finally activated and opened a portal behind the monster.
Nic immediately activated the God ofDictator skill to command them to duck, and Cecilia, Atha, and Giselle, who were running, immediately ducked instinctively without moving on their own.
Nic instantly darted out and punched the monster from behind, sending the monster flying to the exit door, and Evelyn and Liam were immediately surprised and panicked to see it.
"W-what is that!!" Evelyn said.
Atha and Giselle were also surprised who had saved them earlier.
"That's... Nic in King Raven mode... you wanted to see Nic seriously, ex-military woman? Look," Cecilia said.
Nic fought outside, and the monster went wild. Its long arms quickly attacked Nic from a distance... if it were an ordinary person, they would definitely be fatally wounded because the monster's body seemed full of poison, and every scratch could cause infection.
"Zeta, can I cure him with the potion?"
[ Unfortunately... no, Master Nic. That subject has 100% lost his human side and is completely a mindless monster. ]
Nic felt annoyed hearing that, and whether he liked it or not, Nic had to defeat him.
Atha saw Nic in King Raven mode and he truly seemed inhuman. His movements were invisible, and every attack hit the monster, making the monster overwhelmed.
But the monster turned its gaze away from Nic and looked towards Evelyn and Liam instead.
"W-why... is he looking this way?" Liam said.
Evelyn was silent and tried not to breathe.
The monster approached them slowly, but Nic blocked it and punched it until it was sent flying.
"What is this monster doing... Zeta, didn't you say he has no mind? Why is he acting like that?" Nic said.
[ Wait, Master Nic... there's something strange about the monster. When the monster looked at Evelyn and Liam, he seemed to remember something... this is strange, even though his mind is gone, is it because of... his human instinct? ]
Hearing that, Nic was silent, then asked Liam and Evelyn, "Hey, do you know a person named Daren?"
Evelyn was a little forgetful here, but Liam was silent and frozen. "Are you asking about that... because you know the monster's name is D-Daren?"
Nic nodded.
Liam remembered. Daren was his father. He sacrificed himself because initially, Liam was supposed to be the subject, but in the end, Liam was also affected, but not as badly as his father.
Nic was speechless but finally tried to calm down and apologize to Liam.
"I'm sorry... but it seems your father can no longer be cured..." Nic said.
Liam initially didn't believe what was happening, but he surrendered and accepted it... "If so, just kill him, Nic... my father is gone, that is just a monster... so kill him, it's okay."
Liam said this while biting his lip and holding back tears, as if forced to accept it all.
Nic took a breath. He felt like a grim reaper taking a person's life, but what else could he do? If left alone, it would be a problem.
Nic approached and used God of Vital to kill the monster quickly without having to feel the pain any deeper.
After a few attacks, the monster finally fell. In the end, Nic approached him... "May you rest in peace in heaven."
And the faceless monster shed a tear on its empty face and died.
Inside the King Raven mask, Nic also cried but immediately got up because he couldn't let his guard down...
"Huft... all of you better go back because I will also go back. Atha, have I given you enough reason to trust me?" Nic said.
Atha knelt down, apologized, and fully trusted him. Cecilia also told Nic that it was enough and not to come here again.
"Sorry, Cecilia, I still have something to do... I want to meet your father after this. Can you take me?" Nic said.
Cecilia was curious about what Nic wanted to do, and finally, she took Nic to the presidential palace.
To be continued...