My Goddess Brings Apocalypses 3

The door to the faculty room tried to swing open. Will rolled his eyes, dropping his transmutation on the door. It caused issues when Takashi tried to make the group's exit dramatic and couldn't manage to open the door. Thankfully, Will didn't leave Takashi to struggle against magic and Takashi himself moved on from the stumble quickly.

A few zombies lingered nearby. Kota dropped two of them, his makeshift gun going off in near-silent quick succession. Takashi charged out. The other melee fighters followed him. Seconds later, it was over and the hallway was clear of undead once more.

The entire thing — short though it was — was a bit much for Will's tastes. Again, it seemed as if the natives of this dimension were performing for some unseen audience. But as much as Will tried, he couldn't locate the source of the strange, almost unnoticeable disturbance.

It certainly kept him intrigued as the rest of the group dealt with such low-level enemies though. They moved tensely and seriously as if the fate of the world was at stake. Checking corners, watching each other's backs. Will supposed it was a good amount of caution to be showing but again, it just seemed a bit unnecessarily dramatized.

Was it always like this and he was only just now noticing? Hmm, perhaps… In the infirmary, Saeko did seem to ignore his presence until he addressed her. Shizuka was seemingly immune because he'd been interacting with her since he landed in this world.

But the others only addressed him once he was brought into the situation by someone native (Saeko and Shizuka, in this case). As if they were running through some unseen script for a play and only improvising once made aware of Will. Hell, even Will himself didn't seem immune to the strange effect. He remembered dismissing the boy Saeko had dramatically mercy-killed in the infirmary as an extra without any consideration.

'Do you know anything about this, Nocturna?' Will thought a question to his shadow.

'Some worlds are just like this. It's not malicious, just the natural order for them. They function on a strict Narrative and outside forces are usually ignored unless they can't be. It's almost like Fate but not quite. The effect can still be broken — quite easily, in fact —, but an outside influence is required to do so. Fate is never so easily broken,' Nocturna explained helpfully.

'Fascinating…'

Nocturna almost immediately broke her wise mask, 'Yes, your great goddess is so knowledgeable, isn't she? You should praise her!'

'Good goddess,' Will absently praised. 'You're very wise and reliable. I am glad you are with me to help further my pursuit of knowledge.'

'Ehehehehe~! Yay~! A-Ahem, that's very kind of you, William darling.'

Will followed along behind the group casually in contrast to their strangely performative movements. He couldn't bring himself to feel he was in any danger at all. He was a Wizard, after all. Even just his offensive Cantrips were enough to one-shot these poor excuses for the undead.

The group paused overlooking a courtyard of undead below them. It was the most of those walking corpses any of them had seen in one place so far. Will supposed it would make an intimidating sight for this magically barren world.

But there weren't even any Raised Skeletons. To someone who was at least passingly familiar with Necromancy, the sight was lackluster. Even the worst Necromancers in his old world would have been ashamed of this showing.

Besides, Will was more interested in the odd Narrative Force of this world. It led to what he was hesitantly dubbing 'plot dialogue'. Now that he was aware, he could just about hear the difference in the way this world's natives talked to each other.

"Let me make something clear," Saeko said. "There's no need to engage in a fight unless necessary. Do whatever you can to avoid being bogged down with fighting."

"Remember, they're sensitive to sounds so we need to stay quiet," Saya reminded. "And they're strong enough to rip through regular doors. Once they get ahold of you, they'll rip you to shreds. Be careful."

The difference was a subtle thing to Will's ears. But still noticeable. It was as if they were talking to an invisible audience while they were talking to each other. Much of what was said in 'plot dialogue' was somewhat redundant. It was stuff they all already knew but was being said anyway. Compared to this 'plot dialogue', their conversations with Will felt a touch more natural.

A scream echoed through the air. The group instantly shifted into fight mode. Below them, on a stairway to the ground level, another group of survivors were facing off against a small gathering of zombies.

Kota moved first, taking out the lead zombie at range. A single nail to the head put the walking corpse down for good. Saeko stepped onto the railing near them and leaped to the other group. She landed with a strong, accurate jumping strike. Another zombie crumbled to the ground, dead once again.

Takashi and Rei ran in to help, not as comfortable with using their inner ki as Saeko. That girl was an exception in Will's books. In his world, she would have been a naturally talented Fighter or Monk. Here, she was still a head and shoulders above the competition.

Though that might change quickly, Will considered. Especially with the way Takashi sent a zombie that was the same size as him sprawling and tumbling off the stairs with a single swing of his makeshift club. And how Rei sent the corpse of a grown man flying with a single kick.

Danger and struggle had a way of making potential emerge. That was doubly true when it came to utilizing ki — a person's life energy. And while Will didn't feel endangered, the others were obviously in life-or-death mode. Thanks to this apocalypse, this world would likely see a rise in subtly superhuman feats.

Will and Kota stayed back with Shizuka and Saya, just in case, waiting to join their frontline fighters for a moment. So long as they didn't freeze up, this world's natives were more than capable of taking out the undead in manageable numbers. The closest zombies were taken care of easily while the other group stood around being useless. 

"T-Thank you…" Someone in the other group said.

"Keep it down," Saeko warned. "Has anyone been bitten?"

"W-What? No, no one."

"It looks okay. We'll be alright," Rei smiled, despite being covered in blood.

"We're getting out of here. Do any of you want to come with us?" Takashi offered.

"Sure!" The girl who'd been silently nominated as the other group's spokesperson agreed.

Will absently dubbed this other group as 'the Extras' in his mind. His group was dubbed 'Main Characters'. It would make organizing data easier. Plus it just felt right according to this world's Narrative.

He pointedly didn't say anything about how ill-advised it was to take on more survivors when they didn't know if they could defend themselves. The fact that the Extras had stood around frozen and almost been overwhelmed by an equal number of zombies as their group didn't bode well for their survival chances. But saying that aloud would have only damaged morale. Will was logical and data-oriented, but he wasn't that crude.

He didn't introduce himself to the newcomers or draw any attention to himself, wanting to see what they would do. As he expected, they ignored his presence whatsoever.

Considering how much he stood out from the natives, that was an observation worth taking note of. All of them wore similar uniforms. Likely something this school's students were required to wear, segregated by gender. As the school's nurse, Shizuka was the only exception.

In comparison, what Will wore was very noticeable. Like the male students, he wore all black. But their uniforms were barely more than bits of fabric, no armor or padding that Will could see. Unlike them, Will's clothes were sturdy and niche-looking — almost old-fashioned.

After all, Will had been on a solo expedition into a tomb before he was exiled from his world. It was a scholarly endeavor so he didn't have many weapons but wandering his original world without armor was just foolish. So he had a light armor of black-dyed leather, unlike anything he'd seen in this world so far. A dark traveler's cloak. Functional boots and trousers. The typical Adventurer's Pack. 

Then there was his obvious jewelry and the tattoos that encircled his wrists — Both relatively flashy things he hadn't seen on any of this world's inhabitants so far, living or undead. So the Extras completely ignoring him was unusual, to say the least.

It was more data to confirm the presence of this world's Narrative Force. And it did seem to be a 'Force'. Something that pushed the 'plot' of this world along unceasingly. Like gravity. Will hypothesized that it was even measurable. If he had the right instruments and equipment. It was a shame he had to settle for personal observation at the moment.

The Main Characters and Will gathered on stairs going lower. An enclosed main hall lay between them and the doors to the school. It was filled with zombies mindlessly shuffling around. The Extras kept watch at the top of the stairs as the rest of them took a break to plan out what they were going to do. They spoke to each other in hushed whispers.

"Man, there's a lot of them…" Takashi muttered.

"From what I can tell, they only react to sounds. They can't see us so it's pointless to hide from them," Saya said, a touch of snark in her voice.

"Why don't you go down there and prove that theory?" Takashi shot back quietly.

"But even if we keep going through inside the school, once we get attacked we're going to be stuck," Saeko observed.

"We have to go through the gate. We don't have any other choice," Rei insisted.

"Someone needs to go down there and confirm Takagi's theory. Don't suppose you want to volunteer?"

Saeko's reply made Rei shut up real quick. No one seemed willing to volunteer. Will watched, almost smirking. This 'plot dialogue' was quite an interesting phenomenon. Contrived but natural for this world at the same time.

He wished he could see the actual script that this reality was running off of. Did it only focus here and now, on these Main Characters? Or were there countless plot threads running at once and Will had just been lucky enough to stumble across one of them when he appeared here?

Takashi took a deep, fortifying breath, "I'll go. I'll do it."

The others turned to him in shock, ready to protest. Will cleared his throat first, dragging everyone's attention back to him for the first time in a while. The world stuttered imperceptibly as if just now reminded of Will's outside influence. The underlying Narrative of reality was derailed ever-so-slightly.

"It's a good theory, Saya. I wouldn't mind testing it. I think I'll join Takashi," He said, nodding to Saya.

She blushed for some reason, covering it with a scowl, "D-Don't be so familiar! Shouldn't you already know the answer?! What, you can't tell us if my theory is true or not with your Wizard Knowledge?"

Will shook his head, taking no offense to the girl's snark, "Different world, different rules. These undead aren't even magical. Not directly, at least. If they were the kind of undead I was familiar with, sure, I could list their strengths and weaknesses off the top of my head.

"Usually, Raised Undead can see just fine, though usually through their master's eyes. But here, I'm just as clueless as the rest of you. I think your theory has merit. It's intelligent and well-reasoned based on what we've seen so far. Now, we just need to test the hypothesis."

"Oh, good idea!" Shizuka chimed cheerfully. "This way, Takashi-kun can have a Wizard to watch his back! Magic will make sure he's safe as a button!"

"… Thanks," Takashi said sheepishly. "I, uh, don't really know what was going through my head, wanting to go down there alone and all."

Rei looked like she was trying very hard not to scream, "Then why did you even volunteer?!"

Takashi shrugged, "Someone had to."

Now, Rei looked like she was about to start hitting him. Takashi was still charmingly ignorant of the sudden danger-by-caring-woman his casual self-sacrifice put him in.

Chuckling, Will subtly came to his rescue, leading Takashi away from his violently worried female friend, "No use wasting time. Let's go, big guy."

At the bottom of the stairs, Will stopped Takashi to whisper something in his ear, "Word of advice. Self-sacrifice is noble but it's better if you have a reason for it other than 'I don't know'. And even then, be prepared for the women in your life to take out their worries on you if you come back alive."

Takashi glanced nervously back at the stairs where Rei was watching him like a hawk, gripping the edge of the step she was sitting on.

"Uh, noted…"

"Good man," Will clapped him on the shoulder gently. "Now, stay still for a second."

Takashi complied. Will settled his hand over Takashi's heart. He subvocalized two words and cast silently, "Mage Armor."

Glittering plates of invisible armor materialized beneath Will's hand. They spread to cover Takashi's whole body with an impossible shimmer and shine. The effect disappeared quickly but Takashi could still feel the plates of magical armor, not impeding him at all and flexing easily when he moved.

Will repeated the process for himself, "This spell will last for eight hours. It should easily keep you safe from any stray bites or scratches but your head is still exposed. And if they grab you… Well, just don't let them grab you."

"Woah…" Takashi muttered in awe. "Guess that puts my doubts to rest. I kinda thought that magic thingy before was just a trick of the light or something like Saya said."

Will put a menacing hand on Takashi's shoulder and gave him an obviously false smile, "I'm going to pretend you didn't just diminish my life's work, buddy. That cool?"

Takashi awkwardly shied away from him, "Yeah, thanks… And, uh, sorry."

Will waved it off casually, his menacing aura disappearing as if it was never there, "No problem. I know you poor simple people just don't know any better. It's not your fault that your world is ignorant of the greatness that can be achieved with magic. Now, shall we?"

Glancing back at the others on the stairs for a moment, Takashi nodded. He took another fortifying breath and stepped off the last step. He felt like he was walking straight into the mouth of a great beast. His heart pounded in his ears. Only the knowledge of his friends behind him and Will (the Wizard) walking next to him kept him calm.

One of the zombies stumbled toward him. Takashi froze, not making a single noise. He held his breath. The corpse opened its mouth, groaning as it approached. He felt his life flash before his eyes. Then the corpse merely stumbled past him, blind to the world.

As Takashi forced himself to relax again, Will looked around. He cataloged everything he saw. There wasn't much to be found here but it was still good data to see these versions of the undead so close without fighting against them.

'This apocalypse only started today and yet the corpses have already lost all the color in their skin,' Will observed. 'They do appear to be dead but the natural progression for a body after death is all out of sorts. We know the process isn't magical but what kind of biology could cause this? Some disease? A parasite or fungus? Surely, that wouldn't explain how quickly it's spread though.'

He felt Nocturna shudder in his shadow, 'I think I'd prefer if these were magical undead. At least then, I would feel something from them. As it is, they feel like regular corpses except they're walking about.'

'There's some odd metaphysical scent around them that I can't place. This close to them, I'm starting to think it's not fully biological either. But what does that leave?' Will thought.

'Something higher,' Nocturna whispered. 'Some new rule that's been written into reality. Not divinity though. It's like a combination of Fate and this world's Narrative Force…'

Will shook his head in macabre amusement, 'Plot-based undead. How fascinating.'

Next to Will and his shadow-bound goddess, Takashi bent down to pick up an abandoned shoe. He cocked his arm back to throw it, hoping to distract the horde of undead milling about the entry hall so the others could get through. Will stopped him mid-motion, shaking his head.

Will mimed snapping his fingers and two words never left his lips, "Minor Illusion."

A scream echoed from one end of the entry hall. The wandering undead perked up at the noise and began stumbling that way. The others on the stairs looked as if they were about to spring into action to rescue the source of the scream. Will held up a hand to stop them.

The undead cleared out, wandering away in search of a sound with a source that didn't exist. Will motioned for the rest of the group to join them. Rei was the first to descend, immediately checking over Takashi, but Saeko and Saya were close behind. Shizuka and Kota took up the rear.

"What are you doing?!" Rei hissed, whirling on Will once she was assured Takashi was fine. "Whoever just screamed is in danger! Are we just going to ignore that?! We need to help them!"

"We should try to save whoever we can," Saeko agreed.

Saya scrutinized Will and Takashi, noticing that neither of them seemed overly worried about the noise and realizing what was going on, "There's no one over there, is there?"

Will nodded, impressed, "Very good, Saya. That's right."

"Wha-…?" Rei's righteous tirade was stopped in its tracks.

"Magic~" Will grinned, waving his hands theatrically and casting Minor Illusion again, this time as sparkles that leaped from his flitting fingertips.

Rei fell silent, her mind obviously working to figure out how the fuck Will just did what he just did. The sparkles could have been a trick of the light but the scream seemed impossible. Saya's eyes narrowed but she didn't protest the existence of magic this time.

"Magic…?" One of the Extras still on the stairs asked quietly.

Will hadn't even bothered to get any of their names. It just didn't seem necessary at all. And with the way the Main Characters ignored the Extra's question, Will was likely right with that approach.

"C'mon, we've got to move before they come back," Takashi ordered, taking charge.

He and Saeko moved to hold open the front doors to the school. Rei glanced between Will and the place at the end of the hall where the undead were gathering around nothing. She huffed and put the whole thing out of her mind, hurrying to make her escape.

The others followed. Saeko and Takashi stayed behind to watch their backs. Rei and Kota protected Shizuka and Saya. The Extras finally came down to join them. As they descended the stairs, however, Will suddenly had a premonition looking at one of the weapons they carried.

It was a long pole like a spear with odd prongs on the end. It was unwieldy and in the hands of an amateur. And the stairway was only so wide…

Will prepared to cast Minor Illusion once again to muffle the inevitable racket the unwieldy weapon would cause. As if on cue, the weapon dipped and hit the stairway's railing. Metal clanged against metal, the sound ringing out like a gong.

Will was ready. He cast quickly enough that he should have been able to silence the noise. But something unexpected happened. Something that had never happened to Will before. His Cantrip — one of the simplest spells he knew and one he was very familiar with — failed. Or perhaps, the minor spell was just too weak an effort to overcome this world's Narrative Force.

Either way, the sound rang out clearly and loudly. Instantly, the zombies gathering at the end of the hall turned toward the noise. They were already losing interest after they couldn't find the source of Will's illusionary scream. Now, they had something else to focus on. As did the numerous zombies loitering outside.

Will blinked, more than a little stunned at his failure. That was… concerning. The Narrative Force was so easy to disrupt before. So easy it seemed like he'd underestimated it. It was still an underlying force in this world. And it seemed that certain events had more 'weight' to them than simple conversations did.

So while he could disrupt a conversation by simply calling attention to himself, something like this that put the whole group in danger needed more power to overcome. Will shook off his shock and concern, adapting quickly to the new information. If something was worth doing, it was worth overpowering in this world. He would be sure to keep that in mind.

Takashi panicked and shouted, "Run!"

Saya snapped out at him in frustration and fear, "Why did you open your big mouth?! We could have made it through just by taking care of the ones nearby!"

A zombie lunged at her, open-mouthed and ready to tear into her flesh. Saeko leaped in at the last moment, slamming it dead to the ground with her sword.

"The noise would have echoed anyway!" Rei argued. "Just start swinging!"

At the front of the group, Kota found his path blocked by the undead. All of the zombies outside were already grouping up and coming at them in a horde. More still were stumbling up from a lower level of the courtyard. There was no easy way through or out of this.

"There are too many of them…" Kota realized. He couldn't take them all out with his makeshift nail gun.

"Move!" Will shoved him out of the way.

He felt partially responsible for this crisis for some reason. Obviously not enough to blame himself. It was the idiot with the improvised spear's fault. But enough to actually waste some of his precious mana and help.

Concentrating, magic poured down his arms. It didn't make it to his hands, instead pooling around his wrists. There, a pair of twinned tattoos shimmered to life.

Chains of ink encircled his skin. By force of might and magic, the ink came to life. The chains appeared, manifesting into reality. Crackling with power and shining like platinum, they still wrapped around Will's wrists. The sudden weight tried to drag Will's arms down. Will didn't let his focus waver.

He pulled his arms back. They spread wide until it looked like Will was holding the whole world apart. The chains dangled, clinking and clanging like so many silver bells. They unspooled slightly, fighting back against the force of reality to manifest outside Will's body.

"RAAAGGHHH!" Will roared, concentrating harder than he usually had to oppose this magic-barren world.

His arms came forward like a falling headsman's axe. He clapped his hands together. The noise acted as a mnemonic device, sharpening Will's mind and magic to a razor's edge for him to unleash.

*CRACK!*

Will's palms slammed together like a thunderclap. The chains unfurled from around his wrists as he clapped. Like a great wave, they followed his movements and heeded his will. Starting from out wide, they snapped out like whips in two great arcs. They met with an ungodly crash in the middle, mimicking his clapping hands.

A horde of the undead once stood in front of Will. Dozens and dozens of walking corpses, with more still coming. Pale as death, animated by something inexplicably greater, the zombies were a frighteningly gruesome sight.

They blocked the path forward. They stumbled and staggered forward, unheeding of everything but the flesh they craved. They could do nothing to dodge what was coming.

Will's chains lengthened as they swung. They carved through the horde, acting more like a pair of swords than instruments of bondage. Skin splitting, flesh crumbling, the undead were cleaved into oblivion. Everything fell before Will.

The noise was deafening. Like thunder brought down to the earth. The scene was visceral, with blood vaporizing and gore exploding at the force of two magical chains crashing together. The others froze in shock and awe, unable to process the impossible feat of destructive magic.

Will didn't even spare himself time to pant at his exertion. Even this had only bought them so much time. He pushed Kota to get him moving again. He grabbed Saya and Shizuka by the hands, pulling them forward behind him.

Thankfully, Saeko snapped out of her awe quickly. She got Takashi and Rei moving. The Extras were practically frozen. But the threat of more zombies pouring into the courtyard made some move and they wrangled the rest. They could figure out… that — whatever the Hell it was! — Later.

"Oh, wow…" Shizuka gasped in shock.

"T-That was loud, idiot! You'll attract more of them!" Saya snapped, still struggling to believe what she'd just seen with her own two eyes and lashing out in her confusion.

"We were always going to attract more. Fighting a horde like that isn't a quiet business. This way, I took out a good chunk of them and opened up a path before we could be overwhelmed. Hopefully, by the time more undead manage to stumble their way over here, we'll be long gone," Will reasoned.

He did his best to keep his voice cool, calm, and collected. Like he was perfectly in control. He was… Kind of. Only now was he realizing that he lacked personal experience. He was a scholar first and foremost. He hadn't realized how different it was to use his spelled tattoos (or any spells, really) in an uncontrolled environment.

'Wowwow~! Great job, William darling~!' Nocturna cheered from his shadow.

"Thank you for complimenting my skills and power," In his slightly flustered state, Will replied to his goddess aloud.

Saya blushed, thinking his thanks were directed at her and misreading sarcasm in his tone, "H-Hmph! It was… impressive."

"Where'd the chains go?" Shizuka asked curiously.

Will held up one of his wrists, drawing attention to the fact that he was still holding the girls' hands, "Spelled tattoos. That was actually my first time putting them to use as a weapon. They initially started out as a curiosity and a bonding exercise between us magical initiates back in my university."

"W-We can walk by ourselves!" Saya sputtered, realizing the intimate situation they'd found themselves in.

"I know," Will nodded.

He didn't release her hand. And Saya didn't struggle against his grip, just silently blushing as they ran for the bus that was their escape route.

Shizuka didn't mind the handholding situation at all, "Wizards colleges have hazing rituals like us?"

Will barked a laugh despite their situation, "Hah! I bet Wizards invented hazing! No one parties like a Wizard does."

"How is that relevant?!"

"I think it's cool," Shizuka giggled.

"It's freaking fascinating!" Saya agreed harshly. "But we're supposed to be running for our lives here! Is this really the time to learn about the social traditions of Wizard College?!"

"We haven't had any real trouble so far," Will pointed out.

It was true. They'd encountered surprisingly little resistance from the undead on their run to the bus. The undead in their immediate area had been taken out by Will's chains and the ones pouring in like a flood were focused on the space where they once were, gravitating toward the loudest noise.

Still, some of the closer zombies tracked their progress. They were easy enough to take care of, either with a casual Eldritch Blast or by simply avoiding the slow creatures. They basically had a straight shot to the bus. And since they were carving the path, the others behind them had an easy time keeping up with them.

Even all the Extras were surviving! Will thought that was pretty good for a day's work if he had to say so himself. Ah… He may have jinxed that. One of the idiots stopped running and got himself overwhelmed. And then it looked like his girlfriend would rather join him in death than live on for herself…

'9 out of 11 is still pretty good,' Nocturna consoled him. 'Don't let it eat at you too much. You can't save stupid.'

Will nodded, 'Thanks, Nocturna. I suppose you're right.'

They reached the bus and came to a stop. Will turned and started picking off stragglers that might threaten them or the rest of the group. Eldritch Blast really was one Hell of a Cantrip. Low cost, highly effective. Especially against low-level trash like these undead.

"I'll stay and make sure everyone else gets on," Will said. "You two, get this… well, whatever this vehicle is, get it moving."

Shizuka unlocked the bus and scrambled inside, practically throwing herself into the driver's seat. Saya followed her. Once she was satisfied Shizuka could handle the meager task of starting the bus, she came back and stuck her head out one of the windows.

"You don't know what a car is? A bus?" Saya asked incredulously.

Will shrugged, letting loose another casual Eldritch Blast, "I'm not from around here. I'll never claim to know everything. In fact, I think it would be rather boring if I did."

"Everyone's inside," Saeko said as the others quickly piled into the bus.

Will blinked. Had… the Extras just completely disappeared? That didn't seem right. Only two of them had fallen to the zombies. But now that he was looking for them again, he couldn't find a trace of the other three. Again, Will was struck by how strange this world and its Narrative Force were.

There was a distant plea as Takashi went to close the bus door, "Hey! Wait! Please!"

Looking up, they could see another group running toward them and the bus. At first, Will thought the Extras hadn't disappeared as he thought. But these weren't the same people.

They came from farther away, running through the decimated wake Will, Takashi, and the others had left in the horde. And it was a good thing they did, this new group didn't even have any weapons.

Will's eye twitched. Great, the Narrative Force had just miraculously gotten rid of one group of Extras and now more were being shoved upon them.

"Who's that?"

Saeko answered Takashi, "Mr. Shido of Class 3-A."

Rei gasped at that name, "Shido!"

"We can go now!" Shizuka called out.

"Wait just a little bit longer," Takashi requested.

"They're in front of us," Shizuka told him. "If we wait too much longer, we won't be able to get through."

"Run 'em down," Takashi ordered.

"If Dr. Boobs tries to run over that many of them, she'll flip the bus," Saya rained on his parade.

Takashi was suddenly moving to charge out and save this new group of Extras. Rei grabbed him, stopping him in his tracks, "We don't have to save him!"

"What?! Jesus, what do you mean we don't have to save him?!"

"We don't have to help him! We should just leave him here to die!"

Will watched this back and forth. He couldn't help but feel it stunk of 'plot dialogue'. And something was off about Rei's reaction to this new group of Extras. Personal history maybe?

During the intense standoff between Rei and Takashi, Will was the only one paying attention to their surroundings as well. So he was the only one who saw what Shido did.

"Hurry, everyone!" Shido called inspirationally, leading his students by 'example'.

Kawamoto, Miku, and Taniuchi ran past him. Shido nodded to himself internally. The girls were the most important part. It was good to see they were going to be safe. Oh, and he supposed the boys would play their part as well. But they were replaceable at worst, completely unnecessary to Shido's vision of post-apocalyptic power at best.

Then Yamada — that absolute waste of space! — Tripped. He fell, sliding all the way to land at Shido's feet. His books were dropped all around him. Why the fool even held onto his books, Shido would never know.

Yamada grasped at the leg of Shido's pants and begged, "Please! I sprained my ankle! Help me up!"

Shido felt his face twist cruelly, "Poor boy. How tragic. Well, I guess that's it for you then."

Raising his foot, he stomped on the waste of space. Shido relished the power he wielded at that moment. It was intoxicating. Not just deciding who passed his class or got his recommendation. But deciding if someone lived or died. It was delicious.

The boy cried, his face shattered. Shido adjusted his tie and calmly walked away. The boy's cries attracted the zombies to him, leaving Shido unmolested the rest of the way to the bus.

Again, Will was the only one on the bus who saw what Shido had done to escape the undead. He hummed consideringly. Perhaps this group wasn't Extras after all…

He'd need more data to make a concrete designation for this new group. He'd simply observe for now. But it seemed Rei did indeed have a good reason to hate this Shido fellow.

"Okay, we're good! Go!" Takashi ordered once everyone was on the bus.

Shizuka called out, "Hang on!"

She stepped on the gas. The bus rocketed forward, faster than it had ever gone before. The zombies closest to the front were pulled under and run over, eaten beneath the spinning tires of the bus. The scene repeated over and over as the bus rampaged through the school's courtyard/parking lot.

Then it crashed through the gates and out onto the road. Freedom. Everyone relaxed slightly. But not completely. Escape was tense enough. And things weren't over yet. They still needed to make sure their families were safe and beyond that, survive this undead apocalypse.

As the bus sped along under falling cherry blossoms, Will settled in, observing and resting. The sun was beginning to set. And Will realized he'd been up for nearly 24 hours at this point.

Time was strange while traveling dimensions but he could certainly use a bit of rest. Mana could sustain him, but it only went so far in a barren world like this. He would rather reserve it for when it was truly needed.

"I can't believe we did it…" Takashi muttered now that they were safe.

"Thank God we did. I take it you have been appointed leader?" Shido asked Saeko, his mind already crafting cunning plans to usurp power over the whole group.

'Got that, Nocturna?' Will thought to his shadow.

'Yep~! Data point one: willing to callously sacrifice his students and charges. Data point two: immediately gravitates toward power like a slimy, slimy snake! Data point three: he gives me the creeps!' Nocturna helped manage Will's observational data. Her darling was tired at the moment! That was the least she could do!

Will sighed internally, 'Try not to contaminate my observations. Though I'll give you that one. He certainly isn't pleasant.'

"We don't have one," Saeko answered Shido. "We just worked together in order to survive, that's all."

Shido's smile sent chills up several spines, "That won't do. In order to continue surviving, we definitely need a leader. A leader who bears everything with valor! With confidence!"

Rei turned to Takashi, hissing, "You'll regret this. I guarantee that you'll regret that you helped him."

Will closed his eyes. He let his other senses (and Nocturna) observe for him. He really needed to rest. It wouldn't be a long rest but anything would help at this point.

Eventually, a member of the other group started causing trouble. Will paid it no mind. He hadn't even introduced himself to them yet. They had no idea he was there at all.

This new guy went on about something, something, blah, blah, stupid ideas about holing up somewhere so they could all be overwhelmed by the undead. He seemed to have quite the hate boner for Takashi though. Will heard him move as if about to charge Takashi, only to meet a meaty thwack. Will still didn't open his eyes.

'Woooo~! You go, Rei~! Defend your man~!' Nocturna cheered silently from Will's shadow.

"Bra~vo!" Shido said, clapping slowly as he complimented Takashi and Rei. "Simply outstanding teamwork. I'm impressed. I commend you both."

'Data point four: does that count as a menacing slow clap?' Nocturna asked.

Will sighed, 'It does. Along with a very false compliment and inserting himself into the situation only now that he can take advantage of it. I'm beginning to see what's going on with him.'

"At any rate," Shido continued. "A conflict like that only proves my point. We need a leader. We do. Surely, neither of you wants such a difficult responsibility on your shoulders?"

"So you're going to run for the position then?" Saya asked sarcastically.

"I'm a teacher, Miss Takagi. And while mature, all of you are barely in your teens. That alone makes it very clear who's more qualified to assume such a role. I have experience! Why, just moments ago, I saved all of these brave students! What do you say, everyone?"

As the students who'd been saved by Shido started to applaud him, Will laid out his observational hypothesis for Nocturna, 'If our group are the Main Characters, this slimy fellow is their foil. He's the 'villain' to their 'hero'. The Man vs. Man conflict in their story compared to the Man vs. Nature conflict that the zombies represent.'

'Oh no, I was starting to like some of these puny mortals. And they're so young. They shouldn't have to deal with this snake while the world ends around them,' Nocturna pouted disaffectedly, speaking about the Main Characters as if she was removed from the situation and merely watching them in a show or play.

'I could say the same,' Will agreed. 'And I think I can see how this will go from here. This Shido will take over via some democratic nonsense and then he'll try to integrate our group into his little post-apocalyptic kingdom. This 'plot' will be pushed forward until our Main Characters lose or — more likely for this kind of story — win at a tragic cost.'

'Well, that's just not fair at all,' Nocturna's pout intensified. 'He didn't even do any of the work to escape. He just shows up at the last minute and gets to take over everything these little ones fought for?'

'Unfortunately, that seems to be the way things would go… if we weren't here,' Will shared a grin with his shadow. 'I find myself rather curious about how much of this 'plot' our outside influence can change. So what if I just… remove him from the equation?'

Will's eyes snapped open and he saw what he'd only been hearing so far. Shido stood before half of the bus as if he were a messiah. They clapped for him, these poor vulnerable teenagers already firmly under his insidious influence. The sight only firmed Will's will to see what would happen if the snake was removed from play.

He stood from his seat against the window of the bus. The movement attracted attention but only from the Main Characters. The others still couldn't even see him. The world's Narrative Force hid him from their eyes.

"What are you doing?!" Saya hissed.

Will replied calmly and casually as if he wasn't about to actively oppose an underlying force of reality, "Balancing the equation."

"What does that mean?!" Saya pressed. Will ignored her.

He stood there for a moment, simply observing Shido. Yeah, this was the beginning of a cult, if Will ever saw one. It was the perfect storm. This dire situation. A vulnerable and desperate audience. And a bad actor who wasn't afraid of utilizing every ounce of influence he held over that audience.

It was sickening. Even if there weren't any Old Gods or Eldritch Abominations here for the man and his budding cult to fall to, Will felt almost duty-bound to avert this. But more than that, Will was curious.

He'd been stymied by the world's Narrative Force earlier. And now he felt the need to learn more. If he and Nocturna encountered worlds with similar forces in the future, he didn't want to go into them blind.

So far, all he knew was that a Cantrip had been nullified earlier by the Narrative Force. But at other times, he'd interrupted it by merely talking. So how much power was needed to affect concrete change to the world's Narrative?

A second-level spell? Mind Spike would make it seem as if Shido had simply had an untimely aneurysm… But as Will gathered the mana and concentration for that spell, he could feel it fizzling against the fabric of reality more than usual.

Perhaps if he cast Mind Spike as a third-level spell…? No, it still wasn't stable. He needed quite a bit of power to do this, it seemed. But Will wasn't deterred. This was valuable data. In the end, he cast the strongest single-target spell he had prepared.

More and more mana was gathered from his core. He'd be decently tapped after this but it would be worth it. Will began to crackle with power. Outside his concentration, Saya was forced to take a step back and relent with her badgering.

The others did something similar. Saeko watched him with eager interest. She could feel the violence brewing on the metaphorical horizon. It set her nerves on edge in the best of ways.

Shido turned from his thralls, smugly grinning at the front of the bus and not noticing how all the Main Characters' attention was on something else, "There, it's been decided. The majority seems to have made their decision quite clear, yes?"

"Immolation," Will evoked calmly.

Heavy with power, that single word seemed to shake the world. He snapped his fingers. Suddenly, the mana he'd gathered flowed into focus. It sharpened. It sparked. It speared toward the oblivious snake on the other side of the bus.

Sheer power pressed down on Shido. He didn't even have a chance to gasp in surprise. One moment, he was content with his victory. The next, Shido's world was consumed by flames.

Swirling magical fire engulfed him whole. He couldn't scream or shout. He couldn't even thrash about.

The flames burned everything. They scorched his body. They licked at his mind. They stole the breath from his lungs. Every bit of Shido's being was consumed as fuel for the magical fire. Koichi Shido was burned until not even ash remained.

The shocked silence inside the bus was deafening. Despite their all-consuming nature, the flames didn't touch anything other than Shido. Contained like that, they only blazed brighter. Then, after a moment, it was like they were never there at all.

"W-Wha-…?" One of Shido's students gasped in disbelief.

Will nodded to himself, "And that's that."

He was satisfied with his little experiment. After a bit of struggle to get it off the ground, it went off flawlessly. And he got some good observational data out of it. Though… looking at his new friends, perhaps he could have done that a bit more subtly. Most of them were staring at him in awe, shock, and more than a little bit of fear. And Rei was looking at him as if he were a god.

'Well, no use worrying about that now,' Nocturna giggled in his shadow.

The boy with dyed hair in Shido's group shouted, demanding answers, "Who the fuck are you?! What the fuck was that?! Where the fuck did you come from?! How the fuck-?! Why the fuck did you do that?!"

Will shrugged, unaffected by the boy's demands, "His power-hungry and greedy machinations were ruining my data."

"Data?! What, are we some kind of experiment to you?!"

"Yes," Will deadpanned. "Though perhaps 'observations' is a better word to put your simple mind at ease."

"It's fucking not!!" Dyed-Hair-Boy and the others were scrambling for anything that made sense.

"Now, now," Shizuka soothed, getting up so she could play mediator. "Let's all calm down and talk about this. I'm sure everything will be fine-AAIII~!"

As she was walking to get between Will and the others at the back of the bus, Shizuka tripped. She stumbled and fell toward Will, perfectly taking him down with her in the narrow bus aisle. The world around them seemed to slow to a crawl from their perspective. Will's mind blanked for a moment.

What? Oh, it seemed that his most recent experiment went a bit too far. The World's Narrative Force rebelled against having its 'plot' disrupted so blatantly. It was taking advantage of Will's unanchored nature to force him out of reality. Shizuka just got caught in the crossfire.

'Right,' Will decided as he was falling, thinking to Nocturna. 'Make a note: worlds with an active Narrative Force are off the table. Completely off-limits. Avoid them at all costs. I don't like this kind of pushback from reality one bit. Hell, I'll even take meddling gods over this kind of interference.'

The floor of the bus met their fall both quickly and slowly. It was solid, impervious. And yet, Shizuka, Will, and his shadow-goddess slipped right through it. They clipped completely out of reality.

'Oh no! The Backrooms!' Nocturna gasped, only to relax as the three of them ended up in that same dimensional tunnel going elsewhere.

She laughed aloud, once more free to leave her darling's shadow, "Oh, never mind. Just normal dimensional transit. Hello, Shizuka~! Welcome to William darling's Darlings~!"

Back in reality, Saya Takagi just sighed, muttering to herself, "Never crush on a Wizard. They'll just get your hopes up, cause chaos, and then clip out of reality with the only person who knows how to drive…"

She didn't spend much time wallowing, quickly resolving herself, "Hmph! I guess I'll just have to do it myself. I am a genius, after all. And there's still always Takashi. If he ever gets his head out of Rei's ass…"

Dyed-Hair-Boy, however, was at the end of his rope, his simple mind slipping away in impossibility shock, "What the fuuuuuuuuuuccccccckkkkkk?!?!"

AN: This was a bit of a longer chapter. Don't worry about the 'Narrative Force' thing too much. It won't be a theme in this story. I just thought it was an interesting way to spice up HOTD. The next world (RWBY) won't have any mention of it. RWBY will also be more focused on letting Nocturna shine. For now, I only have one more chapter of this story planned. Then I'm going to be moving on to the Prince of Hell story.