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In a coastal city near Motosuma, the undead shuffled aimlessly through the streets. They looked no different than usual, but if you looked closely, you'd notice something strange—
They were all heading in the same direction.
Follow the line of the horde, and in the distance, perched on high ground, stood a massive estate.
The mansion belonged to Shōichirō Takagi, father of Saya Takagi. It was her home.
Now, at the gates of the villa, zombies swarmed, throwing themselves against the iron fence again and again, desperate to break through.
Down the road, Shōichirō Takagi and his wife, Yuriko, hurried forward with a small group of guards at their side.
When Shōichirō saw the mob pounding the gate, his brow furrowed deeply.
If this kept up, the gates wouldn't hold for long.
"Commander, Madam—the weapons are ready!"
A soldier hurried over from not far away, lugging a heavy case. He rushed straight to Yuriko Takagi and Souichiro Takagi.
The moment Yuriko heard what he said, she stepped forward and carefully flipped the case open.
Inside, lying silently, were two compact submachine guns.
Yuriko reached in without hesitation, lifting one up with practiced ease. A confident smile spread across her face.
"Get the residents out of here. Evacuate them now."
Souichiro barked the order at another soldier nearby. There was no time to worry about civilians anymore—the battle was coming.
"Yes, sir!"
The soldier nodded quickly and ran off.
At the iron gate, the mass of zombies kept building, slamming into the metal with endless force. Each impact made the gate groan and loosen.
"Boom!"
With a deafening crash, the huge gate finally gave way, collapsing as the horde poured inside like a flood.
"Cut them down!"
Souichiro drew his katana and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Rat-tat-tat-tat!"
Obeying the order, the guards around him squeezed their triggers, mowing into the rushing dead with relentless gunfire.
Zombies dropped by the dozens, but there were just too many. In minutes, the lines broke apart.
The soldiers were dragged into brutal close combat, fighting tooth and nail. One after another, guards fell under the tide.
Souichiro swung his blade with deadly precision, cleaving through every corpse that lunged his way. None could even get close—he was like a god of war cutting through the dead.
But just as he carved a path through the swarm, a massive shadow rose at the gate.
The thing was over ten meters tall, a grotesque mass of layered flesh, writhing with dozens of tentacles that lashed out in every direction.
At the top of that monstrous bulk was… half of a human torso.
And if you looked closely, past the twisted flesh and distorted features—you'd recognize him. Despite the changes, there was no mistaking it.
It was Shido Koichi.
His skin was a sickly gray, half his face chewed away so the jawbones jutted bare. He was terrifying to behold.
The enormous body he controlled crushed zombies beneath its weight as it moved, leaving a path of mangled corpses behind.
Souichiro, still fighting, suddenly noticed the light vanish around him. He looked up—and froze. The monster loomed over him.
"All this time… the strange behavior of the dead… it was you, wasn't it?"
His voice was low and sharp. The recent oddities made sense now—this abomination had been pulling the strings.
"Food… food… food…"
Shido's head lolled to the side as he muttered in a vacant, broken voice.
Then the tentacles lashed out.
Souichiro reacted instantly, his katana flashing as he hacked them away one by one.
Seizing an opening, he lunged forward in a powerful leap, landing right in front of the beast. His blade raised high.
"Showing your face in front of me… that's the last mistake you'll ever make. Burn in hell!"
With a roar, he brought the sword down in a brutal strike meant to rip the creature wide open.
But the monster's body suddenly convulsed. The mass of flesh split apart like a gaping door.
On either side, rows of jagged, meaty teeth yawned wide. The inside was a grotesque maw, pulsing open and shut like a flower of gore.
Before Souichiro could dodge, the maw snapped shut around him.
The sound of grinding flesh and bone echoed horribly from within.
"Ichiro!"
Yuriko's scream tore out of her as she watched her husband swallowed whole. Rage and grief fueled her as she gunned down the zombies closing in on her.
"Food… food… food…"
The hulking creature chewed for a while, then went eerily still. Shido's slack, idiot-like voice kept mumbling the same word.
The monster lurched forward, closing the distance between itself and Yuriko. Tentacles stretched toward her, swaying like the arms of death.
She raised her gun but too late—the appendages were about to snatch her.
"Bang!"
"....."