The Swordsman

After almost half an hour of incessant fighting, fatigue overtook me. I had already stopped counting the number of creatures I had taken down when I went down to the third floor. The zombies were still slow and stupid for the most part, only three stood out in terms of intelligence and abnormal strength, my carelessness almost costing me an arm when I was thrown through a window.

"It's a good thing it was the window in one of the rooms," I commented as I remembered the madness of that fight, the pain of the many shards of glass embedded in my arm still vivid in my mind.

[System]: Would you like to buy an Lower Healing Potion, Eli-sama?

"How much does it cost?"

[System]: 25 PKs and you currently have 50 PKs.

"Killing those zombies earned me points? Perfect."

Now that the heat of the battle was subsiding, a strange feeling remained in my head. During the fight the only thing that mattered to me was killing the creatures as efficiently as possible, and to do so I ended up sacrificing some wounded students to distract the zombies.

"I'm becoming a psychopath," I said with a bitter expression.

[System]: That's the effect of Iron Will, at the same time as it makes you more able to deal with extreme situations, it also makes you less... human.

"A double-edged sword, apparently. Can you deactivate this ability for now? At this point the carnage no longer affects me."

[System]: Consider it done, Eli-sama.

I continued walking around the school until I saw two dead girls holding hands, they had been two of the students I had used as bait to kill the evolved zombie that had almost killed me. Their names were apparently Misuzu and Toshimi.

The structure of this particular part of the school resembled a cathedral, I picked up a white cloth that covered a huge table in a corner and took it to the girls, the cloth was already soiled with blood but it would still serve its purpose, I gently spread the cloth over the girls' bodies and headed to the infirmary.

On my way I could see some zombies with crushed skulls lying in the corridor, she must have passed this way before me. I quickened my pace to reach the infirmary as soon as possible.

¤¤¤

In the infirmary, a blonde woman with a curvy body that stood out in her clothes and lab coat, walked from one side to the other thoughtfully while examining some infected students who were dying and transforming. In contrast to the woman who was calmly doing all this, a boy was desperately using all his strength to kill the infected who were rising from their gurneys, his face overcome by tiredness and mental fatigue.

"Shizuka-sensei! We've got to get out of here fast!" exclaimed the boy, looking at the zombies slowly piling up in front of the door.

"Where is it... I found it, now all that's left is to get this... and this... I won't be able to take that box with me...", commented the woman in an innocent voice as she gathered some medicines into a bag.

"Shizuka-sensei, please hurry!"

The door broke down and the zombies burst into the infirmary like a wave. The boy tried his best to protect the doctor, but it cost him dearly. One of the zombies grabbed his arm while another brutally bit his collarbone, and soon the bites were piling up from the various zombies that gathered on top of the poor young man, his desperate cries of pain covered by the zombies grunts.

"TEACHER RUUN!" shouted the boy in his last attempt to save the woman.

Shizuka was horrified to see the boy being devoured in front of her. Giving the woman no time to process what had happened, two zombies approached her and attacked her mercilessly. Before their mouths could touch the doctor, a wooden sword struck their skulls, killing them simultaneously, a clean blow. In a matter of seconds, all the creatures inside the infirmary were decimated with a single blow to their heads. The boy, now mortally wounded, sat up and began to breathe heavily as tears welled up in his eyes.

The young woman responsible for killing all the zombies in the place approached the boy and crouched down in front of him, her long dark purple hair swaying elegantly with each movement, her blue eyes gazing at the boy with empathy and respect.

"I'm Saeko Busujima, captain of the kendo team and a 2nd year student. What's your name?" asked Saeko in a serious voice.i

"Ishii Kaz--cough!", the young man coughed up blood before he could finish speaking.

"Ishii, you did a good job protecting Doctor Marikawa. You know what happens to people who get bitten, do you want your parents and friends to see you like that? Even though I've never done this before, I can ease your suffering."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" asked Shizuka, who was standing next to them.

"I know you're a doctor, but protecting a man's honor is the duty of a true woman. What's your choice, Ishii?" said Saeko, holding out her hand to stop Shizuka from coming any closer.

"Do it, please," replied the boy weakly as tears and blood flowed from his eyes, a small smile forming on his lips before Saeko ended his suffering once and for all.

Blood stained the window behind and Shizuka could only look on helplessly. Without giving time to grieve, more zombies began to enter the infirmary and surround the girls. Saeko wiped the blood from her sword and looked at the zombies with a smile on her face. She began her attack, which quickly knocked the two zombies out of the doorway, clearing the way.

"Grab your bag and follow me, Dr. Marikawa."

"R-Right." The woman replied nervously as she gathered the rest of her belongings and other medicines into her bag.

As they made their way down the corridor, deftly avoiding the zombies, Saeko stopped abruptly with a grim expression. Shizuka, who had bumped into the girl and had the impact cushioned by her prominent pair of breasts, complained about the abrupt stop.

In front of Saeko a Zombie walked like an animal looking at its prey, its bones tore through its skin and protruded out of its body like claws and its teeth were sharper than normal for a human.

BAM!

A door burst open behind the two of them and another completely curved creature came out, its arms were so long that they dragged on the floor and its skin was completely blackened from all the rotting blood, its skeletal appearance and its fingers that had become deadly claws were a terrifying sight.

"S-Saeko-chan, what are we going to do?" asked a frightened Shizuka.

"We'll fight," was Saeko's resolute reply as she assumed a fighting stance and glared deadly at the two zombies flanking her.