n

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nThe group looked back at Daniel in confusion. They still hadn't recovered from the sight of him standing up after being shot multiple times, and now that they had seen something even more peculiar, they were barely able to think.

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"Start. Infection.

" Repeated Daniel, finally shaking them out of their stupor.

nGeorge was the first one to regain his wits. He stepped forward, and said

"The first infection started in a city called Krera, on the opposite side of our country.

"

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"Direction? Distance?

" Asked Daniel while turning in place, and parting his hands in order to indicate distance.

nGeorge turned to look at the two twins, which being natives of this city, were much more knowledgeable about it than anybody else in their group, and said

"Which way is north-east?

"

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"Are we just going to gloss over the fact that this guy killed hundreds of dead ones, survived a whole round of bullets, and played mystical dustman with the corpses he left behind?!

" Responded James while stopping his brother from responding to George's question.

n

"I know less than you do.. But I don't think he ever meant to hurt Felix. He saved our lives ... The least we can do is to give him some directions.

"

nJosh looked at James dubious expression, and after obtaining his consent in the shape of a faint nod of his head, he responded to George's question by saying

"Krera is eight hundred kilometers in.. that direction

" He said while pointing to his left.

nDaniel was only able to understand the direction, and not the amount of kilometers, so he waved his hand and forced a portal to open in front of him. On the other side of this portal was a small town. On the streets dozens of dead ones could be seen weakly walking around aimlessly, but the moment they saw this portal, they slowly limped in its direction.

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"This?

" asked Daniel after pointing at the other side of this portal.

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"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?!

" Shouted Alex as the portal opened. The rest of the group had similar reactions, and watched at the magical portal with so much shock, that they failed to worry about the group of corpses that was marching towards it from the other side.

n

"THIS ONE?!

" Asked Daniel once again, this time a little more impatiently.

nJosh was shaken awake by Daniel's question, so he looked at the town on the other side of the portal, and quickly recognized it to be one of the towns in between the city they were in, and the place where the first news about the infection had come from. What left him surprised, was that this town was at least eighty kilometers away from where they were.

nDaniel quietly approached him, and for the third time repeated

"This?

"

nJosh turned to look at Daniel with eyes opened wide, and lips curved into a frown. He was only able to respond by weakly shaking his head left and right.

nHannah and George were looking at Daniel with strange expressions. The people of their world did not believe in magic, and when one used that word, they would be using it in the context of a cheap trick, or sleight of hand. However, while Daniel surviving being gunned down by Felix could be explained by a bulletproof vest, the disappearance of these corpses could be explained by some sort of chemical reaction, and killing the group of dead ones could be explained by an Daniel's expertise in melee fighting.. There was no explanation for what was in front of them.

nThey had all traveled towards this city in order to attend the same university, and all of them had been able to recognize the name of the town in the welcome sign that could be seen on the other side of the portal.

nThere was no doubt that what they were looking at, was a portal that lead to a town eighty kilometers away.

nNoticing that Josh was too shocked to respond, Daniel shook his head, and started to walk into the portal, but was stopped by Hannah's voice which came from behind him, and said

"Wait!

"

nDaniel turned to look at the girl, which immediately started gesturing with her hands.

nShe pointed at the city with her left hand, and at the town with the other hand, then joined the two in order to show a path that started from point A and ended with point B. Once she was sure that Daniel had understood what she meant, she moved her right arm, which represented point B, away from the left one, until the distance between the two was ten times that of before.

nDaniel understood what the girl meant right away, so he closed the portal which he had opened before, and opened a second one. On the other side of this portal were tall buildings and large streets, just like the city they were in. The difference between the two cities was that the corpses present in Krera were much slower, as they had been turned first.

nAfter making sure that the city was the right one, Daniel walked towards the second portal, but stopped right before walking through it. He instead turned around, and asked a simple question..

"Want to be strong?

"

n-----

nIn another city on the other side of the planet, one hour later.

nThe infection had reached the city which Aeron was exploring by just a few days, and numerous living people could still be seen sneaking around, or escaping the freshly turned dead ones in desperation.

nWherever Aeron went, he would give a hand to the humans that were in danger, but in the end, he was not able to help everybody unless he truly used his powers. Unfortunately, that would attract the attention of the demon who was cultivating in this planet.

nIf the group lost the element of surprise, and the demon noticed them before they were able to kill it, he or she would have a chance to call for help. At that point, they would truly be in trouble.

nHe was currently walking around, and killing waves and waves of dead ones that constantly tried to devour him.. when suddenly, the dead ones that were wandering in the distance were attracted by something in the direction opposite to where he was.

nAeron followed this group of dead ones, until a minute later, he saw a larger version of the metallic objects placed in rows in the middle of the street. This machine was surrounded by thousands of dead ones that desperately tried to climb on the rectangular box in the back.

nAbove this machine, was a middle aged woman that was wrapping his arms around a little girl. She was looking up at a man whose upper half was leaning out of a balcony present in the second floor of the building close to the metallic box.

nEveryone that saw this scenario would guess that these people were a family, and that they had been trapped on top of an articulated lorry by the dead ones that had been attracted the moment they had crashed against the building. Unable to escape this group of corpses, they had climbed out of heir reach, and were now trying to enter the building through the window.

nThe father was leaning out of the balcony with both arms, and shouting

"You have to jump! I'll catch you!

" While the mother was hugging her daughter in fear that the constant motion of their support would cause them to fall to a horrible death.

nThe family had been there for awhile when Aeron had arrived, and the woman was whispering a few words of encouragement to her daughter, so that she could trust her and his father, and jump. The little girl was able to find the courage only after the mother pressed her forehead on hers, and said

"Don't worry, mom is right behind you.

"

nWith her tiny hands closed into fists, the girl took a few steps back, and run-up to the edge of the semitrailer before jumping as high as she could.

nHowever, the very moment the girl's hands reached her father's opened hands, a faint smile appeared on his worried face, and his hands moved back.. Leaving the girl to fall to her death.

n

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!

" Screamed the mother in terror.

n

"AHAHAHAHAH!!

" The man burst out laughing as the girl begun her descent, and the woman screamed in panic. From outside, it looked like he had heard the funniest joke ever.

nHowever, just as this man was enjoying the moment before the little girl would be torn to pieces, a flash of green light passed by, taking the little girl, the woman, and the smile of the man away with him.

n

"Look at that. Just when things were getting good, a mental warrior appeared.

" Said the man while turning to look at Aeron, who was standing about fifty meters past the group of dead ones, and his eyes were shining with a faint green light.

nThe very moment the smile had appeared on the man's face, Aeron had noticed the slightly protruding horns hidden by the man's hat, and the dark red smokey vapors that came out of his eyes. He had immediately realized that this man was not the father of this family, but a demon who was enjoying doing what the demons of his kind did best.. Torture humans.

nAeron let go of the hold on the mother and daughter, and turned to look at the demon with narrowed eyes.

n

"You know, for demons of the Church of Damnation there is a sport where we go around and hunt for mental warriors..

" He then paused for a moment before adding

"It's not as fun when they come to get killed by themselves.

"

n

"I didn't come to get hunt down by you.. I came for your head.

" Responded Aeron as the brightness of his eyes increased, and the shape of his avatar began to form behind him.

n

"Hehe.. You don't have half the brain needed to take this head. Sleep well.

" Said the demon as a piercing pain appeared on Aeron's lower back, and traveled through his entire body.

nAeron looked down, and quickly noticed that a little hand was coming out of his stomach. *SQUELCH* the little arm moved out of his body, leaving a hole from which one could see through.

nBefore passing out, Aeron was only able to turn to look back at the mother and daughter, and notice two more pairs of horns on their heads, and reddish smoke come out of their eyes.

nAfter Aeron fell unconscious on the ground, the first demon walked towards them while saying

"Minus one.. Two to go.

"

n

"What do we do with him?

" Asked the little girl just before her body began to morph, and she turned into a tall and thin demon with long straight horns.

n

"We were told that there would be an additional reward if we were able to take them to hell. Maybe we'll get a better planet each.

" Said the woman as her body became plummer, and her horns became thicker. Her demonic form was that of a fat and short demon with short and large horns.

n

"Focus on getting the other two first.

" Responded the man.

n-----

n

"WHOA!!

" Exclaimed Alex as he was pulled into the portal along with the rest of his group.

"Did we just get teleported to the other side of the country?!

"

nHannah bent down, and grabbed a the first page of a newspaper that was lying on the ground. On it, was the name Krera News, and the date of the day before the infection had started. The title of the first page was 'Increased the reports of the attacks all over the city.'

"It would seem so..

" She responded by handing the newspaper over to George.

nTheir surprise was short lived, as they quickly noticed that an extremely slow horde of dead ones was approaching them from behind.

nThe members of the group reached for their weapons, but to their horror, they realized that they had left them back into the storage room, and were now unarmed. The only weapon that they had, was Alex's machete.

nTheir usual reaction at this point would be to run, but before that thought could even be expressed in actions, Daniel walked past them with his sword in his hand, and slashed it casually in a horizontal motion.

nThe upper part of the bodies of the walking army of dead ones fell one after the other, turning them into a laying army of actual corpses.

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