Chapter 3 - What are those... Powers?

The sudden cries of the creatures startled everyone, but none of them seemed confused by the situation. Considering that all the survivors there were accustomed to such horrifying surprises at unexpected moments, it was no wonder.

“Defensive circle! Ghoul-type horde incoming, use the salt!”

Dimitri was the first to react, instructing his companions to form a circular formation around the group, which everyone present promptly did. But what was even stranger was that absolutely everyone quickly pulled out a small bag that seemed attached to their belts and scattered its contents over their weapons. At first glance, it didn't seem like it had done anything other than dirty their shells with what seemed to be salt, but nonetheless, all the "soldiers" raised their sights and promptly shot at any monster in front of them.

As Adam, Teo, and the man in the hat hurried to the center of the circle to join the others, he could see that even though the weapons the others had didn't seem anything out of the ordinary, unlike the "blessed revolvers" mentioned earlier, these did have an impact on the horde of specters that kept advancing despite everything.

Those monsters may not have been defeated with a single bullet like when Teo shot them, but they were certainly starting to fall quite rapidly under the barrage of bullets, disappearing one by one. However, it was very clear that the number of enemies was too high; too much ammunition was being spent on taking out the front targets, leaving the entire remaining horde untouched by the assault. This became evident as the shots began to dwindle.

“Out of ammo!”

“Recharging!”

“Someone cover me!”

The survivors began to shout that they had run out of ammunition and needed to reload, but it was clear that due to the urgency of the situation, everyone had attacked at the same time and there was no one to cover them while they changed their cartridges. It was a fatal mistake that would cost them their lives, as they would not have enough time before the creatures were upon them.

“¡Maldita sea, cúbreme, Li!”

(TL: Dammit, cover me, Li! )

Teo exclaimed immediately, raising his arms and making his two pistols reappear in each hand, seemingly ready to engage in combat, finally addressing his companion by name and asking for support.

“I know, shut up!”

Li Jie, a mysterious man who seemed dissatisfied with how things were unfolding, stepped forward. Like his ally, he raised his right arm into the air. Instead of summoning a weapon, he produced a bulky, old, and dusty-looking book. He quickly opened it with his free hand and began to read its contents.

”[AAGASU WINDA]”

The cry uttered in that unknown language was strangely loud, as if a microphone had been used, for it echoed throughout the place simultaneously as the open page of the book in question started to shine very brightly. Following that, a tremendous gust of wind rose around the entire group, forming a swirling dome directly above them. Just in time, as the specters arrived at that precise moment and collided with the outer barrier, seemingly unable to cross it but piling up so quickly that it appeared they would completely cover it in just a few seconds.

“Quickly, it will last only thirty seconds!”

Li didn't seem tired after such an accomplishment, but he was very focused on "something" he was looking at in the pages of his mysterious book. Nonetheless, this did not seem to worry the man with the scar, who smiled broadly upon seeing that the strategy had worked.

“¡No te preocupes, no necesito ni veinte!”

(TL: Don’t worry, I don't even need twenty!)

Without wasting another moment, the man began shooting relentlessly outside the barrier while his two pistols gleamed as if ignited by some kind of flame. Unlike the specters clawing at the air barrier, the bullets pierced through it effortlessly, eliminating every apparition they touched, banishing multiple at once due to their proximity. The speed at which he fired was impressive, even more so because he did it without stopping to reload at any moment, making it clear that those mysterious weapons did not require normal ammunition, and explaining why they could be fired so rapidly despite being revolvers.

“Ready, continue!”

All those present had been surprised by what had happened, but the armed survivors didn't waste the time they had gained with all of that, there was no time for surprises when they lived in a world haunted by ghosts after all. So, once they finished reloading their magazines in just a few seconds, they continued shooting at the groups of enemies clustered around the air dome.

Seconds passed as the specters were eliminated relatively easily, and it already seemed like they would finish off all of them without much trouble. However, a huge rumble could be heard amid the gunfire, much louder growls that imposed themselves even over the sound of the fight, sending shivers down everyone inside the dome.

“Guuuaaaaaahhhh!!”

Immediately after, the horror that had come to torment them could be seen through the air barrier. Unlike the small larvae-like specters swirling around, this time, four creatures as large as elephants and resembling lions with huge-toothed jaws instead of faces charged against the defenses. The impacts were so strong they made the ground shake, leaving the dome weakened enough for them to begin trying to force their way through the wind barrier.

“Feral-type attack! Split up!”

Dimitri exclaimed, losing any hope they had up to that moment and giving the order for his entire group to retreat. But was it possible to do so in the situation they were in? The dome that protected them was simultaneously the prison that kept them in danger.

“Maldita sea…”

(TL: God dammit…)

Teo cursed under his breath after losing his initial confidence. He had started focusing all his shots on one of those beasts the moment they began to cross the threshold. However, his attacks didn't seem to make them flinch or even cause them harm, as they remained unfazed, continuing to open and close those huge toothed mouths they had as they pushed their bodies to enter the enclosure.

“Three seconds left! We need more time!”

“¡LO SÉ, CÁLLATE!”

(TL: I know, shut up!)

Li shouted, understanding the problem they were facing, while his companion made one of his pistols disappear, aiming into nothingness with his palm extended, just as he had done when he summoned the strange arrow at the beginning. Suddenly, another window similar to the previous one materialized in front of the man, and a robotic but feminine voice read its contents aloud.

⌠Notice: SR-class Plot device: “Year Inside, Hour Outside” has been used⌡

Immediately, everything fell silent, and Adam, who had been constantly observing their surroundings until that moment, noticed how all the creatures outside the dome, including those with half of their bodies inside, had completely frozen. Furthermore, as surprising as it seemed, the same moving air currents forming the defense dome had become static, as if they were solid objects.

No one else but the two mysterious men seemed to understand what had happened. Nevertheless, all the survivors fell to their knees, exhausted from the effort but with looks of terror in their eyes, as they were still prisoners in that space with the vicious specters a few meters ahead. Seconds later, Dimitri approached the group again, his face even paler than before.

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“Who the hell are you?... How is this possible?”

The soldier's words were covered in distrust and fear, yet Teo reassured him.

“No le des importancia, estarán así por lo menos un par de horas.”

(TL: Don't worry about it; they'll be like this for at least a couple of hours.)

Dimitri didn't seem convinced by that argument, but seeing that everything truly seemed magically frozen in time, he decided to shake off any confusion and continue.

“No, forget it, I don't care what kind of weapons you are using, just explain to me how is it possible that you haven’t been infected all this time.”

It was evident that the aforementioned infection was common knowledge, which put the newcomers at a significant disadvantage, but, as the two veterans exchanged displeased looks, Adam took a step forward.

“Calm down, please! Let me explain… Even if it's hard to believe, we come from ■■■ ■■■ ■■■ … What?”

Suddenly, his words were replaced by a sound akin to radio interference, something inconceivable but the survivor in front of him didn't seem to have noticed at all.

“Kid, you can’t talk about our real identity or the lobby with the characters, it just doesn’t work.”

Teo said wearily, clearly irritated by the sudden interruption from the boy, which boded ill and was exactly what he wanted to avoid. He was ready to take control of the conversation when Adam corrected himself, thinking as quickly as he could, and spoke again.

“We were hiding! Yes, we were in a special bunker from the beginning, it was a nuclear shelter, so we had enough supplies and energy until recently without needing to go out.”

Certainly, lying wasn't something the boy would have preferred initially, but given the circumstances, he decided to take the risk rather than have either party do something rash in the heat of the moment. Upon Adam’s words, Dimitri's eyes hesitated and he quickly replied.

“Impossible, there’s no way for “her” to ignore such a big group of…”

But before he could go on, the student interrupted him calmly, finally grasping better what he was dealing with.

“As I said, it was a nuclear shelter, specially designed for an atomic catastrophe, we were kilometers underground.”

The man still seemed to hesitate, but the confidence with which the boy had stated things made it hard for him to refute. After all, no one was still certain of how fast the ghostly infection spread worldwide. Nevertheless, the evidence was right in front of him: five people who did not seem to be infected, or four to be precise.

“Wait, that doesn't matter now, the issue is your current condition.”

Said Dimitri, snapping out of his thoughts. He reached into one of the salt pouches on his belt with his right hand, picked up some salt between his fingers, inside thick gloves, and threw it at the three figures before him. None of them reacted, taken aback by the unexpected gesture, which ultimately seemed to not affect them at all.

“As I thought, you are still not infected even after being on the surface for so long... This is a problem.”

The man's expression darkened significantly as he began biting his thumb while talking to himself about what to do.

“Why is it a problem that we are not infected?”

Li asked angrily, but it was Adam the one that continued with his question, as he could already imagine the answer.

“By not being infected, we attract those ghosts towards us, right?”

The hypothesis surprised the two veterans, especially Teo, who raised an eyebrow in surprise. Even Dimitri could breathe a little easier upon hearing this, as it made it easier for him to explain things at that critical moment.

“Yes, indeed, you may not know if you were hiding all this time, but during the outbreak's onset, these monsters actively hunted down all living beings on the planet, almost like they knew exactly where everyone was at all times. This makes it hard for me to believe your story, but seeing you right before me, I can only think that you just had incredibly bad luck.”

After saying that, the man stood up and pointed to the group of three stragglers a few steps behind them, singling out the woman who remained seated and trembling while the blonde boy tried unsuccessfully to calm her down, as they didn't even seem to speak the same language.

“Even I can feel it with my condition, that woman was injured by one of the ghoul-types and is producing a remarkably high amount of life energy as a result of her first-stage infection, she is nothing but a beacon for any specter lurking nearby…”

As he spoke, it was evident that he became more and more stressed.

“...You've seen it yourselves; this time feral-types have appeared, beasts that are impossible to kill by any method we have, and they're not the worst things lurking around here. We're too close to the danger zone, Aaarrrgg!”

The man grew desperate, remembering that even with all the time they had gained, they couldn't do anything when facing creatures they couldn't defeat by any means. Would he have to stay behind to buy time? There wasn't another solution.

It seemed that the situation was even more critical than one would expect. Adam had just heard a brief explanation that helped him understand the behavior of the first ghosts they encountered. However, before the boy could say anything more, a firm hand landed on his right shoulder, halting him abruptly.

“Good job, kid, I’ll take it from here.”

It was Teo, who had put away his weapons again, he gave a slight smile to the student as he gently pushed him back to speak up.

“En efecto, debo confesar que te mentimos, en realidad tenemos órdenes claras de un cuerpo selecto de científicos de diferentes naciones. Debemos escoltar a esa mujer al lugar que te dije previamente. Parece que ahí se encuentra la clave para desarrollar una solución a todo este horror, la prueba es que no estamos infectados gracias a los experimentos que se han realizado hasta ahora pero la cura definitiva solo se alcanzará con lo que vinimos a buscar.”

(TL: Indeed, I must confess we lied to you. In reality, we have clear orders from a select group of scientists from different nations. We must escort that woman to the place I mentioned earlier. It seems that there lies the key to developing a solution to all this horror. The evidence is that we are not infected thanks to the experiments that have been conducted so far, but the ultimate cure will only be achieved with what we came to find.)

What was he saying? Adam was shocked by the sudden lie, but the scarred man didn’t stop there.

“Creo que fue el destino lo que hizo que nos encontráramos, hemos demostrado ser un buen equipo si trabajamos juntos, ayúdanos a llegar a nuestro destino y podremos salvarlos a todos, nadie más tendrá que sufrir en este infierno.”

(TL: I believe it was destiny that brought us together. We have proven to be a good team when we work together. Help us reach our destination, and we can save them all. No one else will have to suffer in this hell.)

As mentioned earlier, Dimitri had been classified as a heroic-type main character in the story, so Adam immediately understood the reason why the man had chosen to tell him that narrative. This made him furrow his brow a bit because he still naively thought that resorting to something like lies was unnecessary when one could speak with logic, but it was immediately effective against the guy.

“Are… Are you for real?”

For the first time, the always gloomy survivor had some sparks in his eyes, and the final move sealed the deal, Teo approached him and placed both hands on his shoulders, making sure to show him a very warm smile.

“Es la verdad, nadie tendrá que sufrir estos horrores de nuevo, podemos deshacerlo, y para demostrarlo acabaremos primero con estos malditos engendros, solo estate listo para guiarnos lo más rápido que puedan.”

(TL: It's true, no one will have to suffer these horrors again, we can undo it, and to prove it, we will first eliminate these damn monsters, just be ready to guide us as quickly as possible.)

Adam knew that something so trivial wouldn't suffice in a normal situation. It wasn't logical to change their minds from something they had deemed suicidal just moments before for mere uncertainty. However, if there was one thing he could be certain of from the literature he had occasionally appreciated, the hero always prioritized the well-being of others over reason, leading the story to unfold in their favor later on. Indeed, this seemed to be the case with Dimitri, who, despite hesitating for a moment, quickly turned towards his group to recount the entire situation and the tremendous opportunity that had been presented to them.

“Are you out of your mind!? He already told us that going there is extremely dangerous.”

Li was very angry, but he waited until the character wasn't close enough to hear them before speaking to his companion. It was clear that he didn't share the idea of further exploring the place when they had already been told that they were nothing but moving targets for any nearby monster. However, Teo silenced him, interrupting him with a cold look.

“Cállate y piensa un poco, si es verdad lo que dice sobre aquella mujer entonces estamos jodidos, vendrán más y más hasta que sean tantos que no podamos con todos… Lo mejor es terminar lo antes posible y la guía nos señaló esa posición por alguna razón, llegaremos usando a estos sobrevivientes de escudo si es necesario y usaremos “eso” inmediatamente, estoy seguro que terminaremos la historia en ese momento.”

(TL: Shut up and think for a moment. If what he says about that woman is true, then we're screwed. More and more will come until there are so many that we can't handle them all... It's best to finish this as soon as possible, and the guide pointed us to that location for a reason. We'll get there using these survivors as shields if necessary, and we'll use 'that' immediately. I'm sure we'll end the story at that moment.)

The man with the hat simply clenched his fists at the words presented to him, as he seemed to know there was some undeniable truth behind them, while Adam couldn't help but wonder once again what they meant by "that". Nonetheless, he also had just realized that the arrow they saw a few minutes ago was some sort of guide to something important. He would have to wait until this whole thing was over before asking all the questions that continued to pile up in his mind.

According to what they had said, this ceasefire would last just under three hours, so everyone would have to rest as much as possible and prepare to make an immediate escape. The initial preparations took more than an hour, the soldiers were at first reluctant to listen but finally gave in, meanwhile, both Teo and Li were sitting on the ground, the first one meditating and the latter searching through his weird book.

Seizing the moment, and for the first time after all this time, Adam fell a few steps behind and joined the other three members of the original group, who seemed to have improved somewhat from the precarious situation they were in before. A couple of survivors, clearly an improvised medical team, were taking care of the woman who could barely walk due to the fear that still consumed her body and wouldn't allow her to stop trembling.

“Hey, you!”

The blonde boy suddenly exclaimed, addressing Adam with a worried look, finally exchanging words.