Chapter 11: CHAPTER 10 – Despair.

Gulshan and Misty stood frozen on the spot.

They saw Alex getting up, and they saw him slashing undead left and right, but they stood still.

They didn't move and just looked at Alex with relief.

They didn't want to lose one more person close to them, and although Alex stayed with them for just a day, their emotional attachment to him was greater than anyone in the village.

The moment they saw him in danger, their bodies moved on their own. Searᴄh the nôᴠel Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

They didn't know if they would be able to defeat the undead or not, but they still rushed toward him.

However, their resolve to give up their lives was shattered the moment Alex moved.

They saw his skillful movements, they saw how he killed the undead without batting an eye, and they saw how his body trembled with a single wave of his hand.

They stopped rushing toward him not because they were scared of the undead, they stopped because they didn't want to become a burden to him by moving close to him at such a crucial moment.

That, however, was only until the last undead fell to the ground.

The moment that happened, they rushed toward him to check up on him.

But just as they were about 2 meters away from him, they saw him raise his hand.

"Stop."

A single word. But unlike before, when his tone was neutral almost all the time, right now it is cold and distant.

Gulshan and Misty halted their steps.

The look in Alex's cold eyes told them that they shouldn't move closer.

"I am not your son."

He looked at Gulshan and uttered those words in the same chilly voice.

"And I am not your big brother."

Alex looked at Misty with the same cold eyes.

He didn't like them showing up with those care-filled eyes.

He didn't like it from the start, but he was forced by the situation.

However, now that he had repaid them for all they did, he could speak his mind.

"I don't know what happened in the past and I don't want to know, but it has nothing to do with me."

Alex struggled to stand up, his legs were weak, but he didn't stop speaking.

"Ah..."

Gulshan tried to walk closer to help him, but…

"Stop."

Alex commanded as he pointed his blade at Gulshan.

*Shiver* X2

The coldness in his voice and eyes sent shivers down both Gulshan's and Misty's spines.

"You saved my life, I saved yours, now we are even.

Don't try to follow me."

Alex's intent was clear.

He didn't want them close to him.

'I don't like their eyes.'

He didn't like the care they had in their eyes, the familial love they showed him, he didn't like any of that.

It reminded him of that man (Alex's master), and although Alex was not looking for revenge, his heart was broken.

Trusting anyone was hard for him.

Gulshan and Misty stared at Alex with a shocked expression.

They didn't know Alex's past, so they didn't know the reason for Alex's words, but they could see pain in his cold eyes.

They could tell that their being close to him would only bring him more pain.

So, they bowed their heads.

"Thank you." X2

Alex didn't know what they thanked him for, but he nodded his head and lowered his dagger.

He looked at Misty one last time, and although he didn't like the way she looked at him with tears pouring out of her eyes, he still turned his back toward them.

Alex started walking out of the village, ignoring the system that was still staring at him with the same intensity.

The villagers and the father and daughter saw Alex walking away.

Some of the villagers wanted to follow Alex, but recalling the look that Alex had in his eyes before, their bodies inadvertently trembled, making them throw that thought out of their heads.

They just sighed in relief as they saw Alex's receding back.

'At least he killed all of them…'

They looked at the dead bodies of the undead on the ground and sighed in relief again.

But just as Alex's back vanished into the forest, the system that was staring at Alex smiled.

But this time, her smile was evil—so evil that even with her cute face, she looked terrifying.

She turned toward the villagers and snapped her finger.

*Snap*

A single snap was heard, causing the villagers to turn toward the system.

But the moment they saw her smile, their hearts started beating faster.

'Why is she smiling like-'

Their thoughts were cut short as, the next moment, an illusionary screen popped up in front of them.

But this time, instead of a blue screen, it was red.

[Number of undead killed – 0.

Number of undead required to kill – 1.

Number of undead in the area – 0.]

The screen showed them the things they already knew, but the red color made their hearts race even more.

They didn't know what was happening, but they knew that it was anything but good.

Especially after they saw the grin on the system's face widening as she snapped her finger again.

*Snap*

[Number of Undead in the area – 1]

[Number of Undead in the area – 2]

[Number of Undead in the area – 3]

.....

….

..

.

They realized the reason behind the bad premonition in their hearts as they saw the number of undead rising until the number matched the number of people alive.

All of them looked toward the entrance of the village, the path that Alex walked off to.

But before they could think of running or escaping….

"Growl…."

They heard growls of the undead, and the undead from before—the ones that had their heads chopped off—started regenerating before they started walking toward them from all directions.

Looking at the undead closing in on them, there was only one emotion all of them could feel.

Despair.

..................

'System.'

Alex, who had walked out some 100 meters away from the village, called out in his head.

Nothing happened.

'Oi, you arrogant trashy system, answer me!'

Alex exclaimed in his mind in a mocking tone.

The same mechanical voice that Alex had been hearing for a while spoke again.

'I was making sure of it.'

Alex uttered inwardly without any change on his face.

The moment Alex moved out of the village, this voice in his head started saying things like, 'the system can't hear your thoughts; you can think and speak whatever you want inwardly.'

But Alex wanted to make sure of it, so he disrespected the system, something that caused the death of two people before.

He knew that if the system could hear him, then she wouldn't take his insult lying down.

And it looked like she really couldn't listen to what he said inside of his mind.

Alex paused when he heard the word 'trust'.

'Who are you?'

Alex questioned after a bout of silence.

This was his first time talking to the voice that he had been hearing since that incident where he almost died.