Chapter 26: Jus...tice?

"...Arise."

"..."

"Arise…"

"Arise… arise."

Rhys no longer knew how many times he had uttered those words—no, he wasn't even aware that it was escaping his lips. [Arise] truly is a useful skill, the ability to instantly recharge yourself and basically have unlimited stamina will always prove to be indispensable in a battle.

There was, however, one thing that [Arise] did not recover---mental exhaustion.

A minute.

An hour.

Maybe an entire day? Of course, Rhys knew it was impossible that a day had passed. He was just feeling it—like he was in some sort of trance, a lucid dream where he wakes up from time to time to see a never-ending vision of violence. He was blacking out, and each time his vision clears, he sees his hand swinging toward an arachne's neck.

He wasn't even thinking anymore. It was like he was a spectator of his own body—he was still in control, but it was more akin to someone controlling a character through a game controller; with the screen blacking out and seizing each second.

"...Arise."

The word once again escapes his lips; his torso, tilting to the side as he barely dodges the sharp leg of the arachne in front of him. No, perhaps dodging was an overstatement as the leg managed to cut his cheek—shallow, however, barely even a drop of blood flowing from it.

In fact, there was probably no longer a part of his skin that wasn't cut. Because as soon as he dodges, the next attack would follow like an endless barrage of blades. His clothes were completely tattered and filled with blood… his and the dozens of arachnes wanting to eat him.

Rhys then once again tilted his body back, just slightly stepping back to avoid the sharp nails threatening to tear off his chest. This time, however, Rhys grabbed the attacking arachne by the wrist, before stabbing its arm with the scalpel he got from the clinic.

And once again, the scalpel was able to pierce through the monster's skin and bones without any resistance. And with a short but deep breath, Rhys sliced the arachne's arm; not cutting it off, however, but dragging the scalpel from its wrist and all the way to its shoulders; using the arachne's own momentum and eventually reaching the neck.

Rhys didn't really have time to appreciate what he did, as another arachne lunged toward him. He didn't dodge, and instead ran toward the arachne before sliding on the bloodied floor—cutting the arachne's spider belly as he did so. He didn't stop there, however, as he quickly stood up and climbed on top of the arachne, killing it with a clean stab through the back of its neck.

And with the arachne's body falling limp to the floor, he once again whispered,

"...Arise."

Rhys then lifted up his scalpel again; his eyes, scanning the arachne surrounding him…

…only to find that none of them were moving anymore.

"..." Most of them were missing limbs. Some even tangled and killed their own kind—those were the ones that attacked Rhys at the same time by pushing their sharp limbs toward the direction of their sister.

Rhys didn't kill all of them, however, as most already ran away when Rhys started killing more and more of them—but even then, there were probably at least 20 corpses in the hallway.

The floor wasn't even visible anymore; the walls were painted red, and even the ceiling was dripping blood.

"...Hm," Rhys then grunted as he lazily and clumsily stepped down the arachne's corpse; his mind, already a complete blur. He could hear a whistle seemingly trying to deafen his ears, and it wouldn't go away even as he shook his head again and again.

It's over—he thought as he breathed out. He looked at the scalpel in his left hand, fully knowing that he only survived because of how abnormally sharp it was. And despite every life it ended, it still gleamed; completely clean of blood.

Rhys was about to let go of the scalpel as his mind was truly starting to fade on him, but before it could leave his hand…he tightened his grip on it.

"..." Rhys then turned to look at the door of the canteen, before letting out a long and very deep sigh as he started walking toward it. And as he stood in front of the door, he brushed his hair back, revealing his silver eyes, and perfect face which was now filled with scars and covered in blood.

He took another deep breath… before knocking calmly on the door.

"...This is an Explorer team," Rhys breathed out; his voice, deeper and more pronounced than it was, "Is there anyone inside?"

And as soon as he said that, loud voices seeped from the inside of the canteen—an orchestra of cries, cheers, and relief.

"Please open the door…" Rhys then said as he rested his forehead on the door. An extremely sinister smile, very slowly growing on his face,

"...It's safe now."

***

"Fuck! I thought we already closed the Hole!? Did those motherfuckers from the construction team forget to put holeproofing again!?"

"This… is a disaster."

"Rhys!? Rhys, are you here!?"

"...Who the fuck is Rhys?"

"That tall guy we rescued from the hole, remember?"

Half an hour later, several teams of Explorers, as well as soldiers arrived at the Old York High School—quickly dispatching the arachnes that were loitering and wreaking havoc around the campus area.

"Lina, wait up!"

Lina's team, of course, was the one tasked to lead the rescue and exterminate all the monsters, as they were already familiar with the area. But Lina, in particular, didn't really have an interest in leading as she just went on a rampage—killing everything that even shortly resembles a spider.

She rushed through the hallways of the school building, waving her hands and summoning a gust of wind that decapitates and slices everything in its path.

"Rhys!" Lina screamed; her eyes, scanning the students' corpses that were littered on the floor. And soon—she reached a hallway painted with webs.

"..." Lina quickly halted her steps, before once again waving her hand forward—this time summoning a blast of wind that quickly dispersed the webs in front of her.

"Oh…?" She then squinted as her eyes reflected more than a dozen arachne corpses in front of her.

"..." Lina started walking carefully as she saw an opened door—a canteen. Without a doubt, the monsters made their nest inside as she saw the thick and abundant webs crawling from the room.

Lina hugged the wall as she neared the door, quietly leaning and sticking her head out to see the situation inside—and there, she saw bodies littered everywhere.

Everywhere.

There were limbs hanging from the ceiling, mangled bodies sprawled on the tables.

"S…shit, fuck…" Lina could really only grit her teeth as she saw this scene. She wanted to look away, but there really was no place in the canteen that didn't have a corpse painting it.

"H…bnlp…"

"!!!" Lina then quickly turned her head to the side as she heard a whisper, and there, she finally saw someone that seemed to still be in one piece. It was hard to see since the person was seated on a chair and facing the other way, but Lina was sure that it was a male student.

"...Rhys?" Lina rushed toward the student, swiftly moving in front of him as she looked at his face…

…but it wasn't Rhys.

It was Rob; the inside of his mouth, filled with cobwebs as he violently tried to gasp for air.

"..." Lina could really only take a step back as she saw this. And before she could even think to help the young man in front of her, the light in his eyes completely faded away.

"Lina?"

"...Huh?" Lina then very slowly turned her head to the side as she heard another whisper. And there, finally, she saw the person she was looking for…

…holding the corpse of a female student by the neck.