The cold hands clamped tight over the girl’s mouth.
Her heart dropped into her stomach in pure shock.
Terrified, she slowly glanced back over her shoulder, only to find a familiar face.
It was her teammate.
He was badly wounded, bleeding, and exhausted.
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
“Kael?
You’re alive?” she whispered breathlessly.
“Yeah, Iris, I’m alive,” Kael whispered back, his voice strained and barely audible.
“Now keep quiet.
Don’t make a sound.”
Iris nodded quickly, completely silencing herself.
But it was already too late.
In the center of the dark hall, the giant mutant stiffened.
It felt their presence.
With a deafening roar that shook the glass windows, the monster grabbed a heavy, mangled dead body off the floor and hurled it directly toward the pillar where Kael and Iris were crouching.
The corpse slammed into the wall right beside them, exploding into a bloody mess.
The sheer sight of it paralyzed them with fear, but they forced themselves to stay absolutely silent, holding their breath.
Realizing they couldn’t stay there, Kael nudged Iris.
Moving like ghosts, they began to creep toward the nearest exit, keeping as much distance from the beast as possible.
Once they slipped far enough away into a darker corridor, Kael leaned in.
“Earlier this afternoon, while I was hiding, I heard a massive explosion echoing from deep within the forest.”
Iris blinked.
“An explosion?
What kind?”
“I don’t know,” Kael said, wiping sweat from his forehead.
“When that monster attacked our team, I barely survived.
It hit me so hard I went flying through the air and crashed near the stairwell.
I managed to drag myself up to the roof to hide.
Once night fell, I came down to try and escape the mall, and that’s when I found you.
We need to leave.
Right now.”
They turned toward the exit, but before they could take a single step, a horrific, agonizing shriek tore through the mall.
The mutant zombie was screaming in pain.
They spun around, their eyes wide with horror as they witnessed something impossible.
The zombie’s body was violently twisting and expanding, growing even larger and more muscular by the second.
Suddenly, two massive, jagged horns tore through its skull.
It looked completely demonic.
Then, the creature did something no zombie had ever done before.
It began to laugh.
A deep, twisted, intelligent laugh echoed from its throat.
Without warning, the newly mutated creature turned and marched down toward the basement level, leaving the main floors behind.
“Kael!” Iris gasped as they ran through the trees.
“What happened to that thing?
I know it mutated, but how was it laughing?!”
“I don’t know,” Kael breathed heavily, looking back.
“I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The next morning, the sun broke through the jungle canopy.
Reian and Flame woke up early, freshening up and eating a quick breakfast to regain their strength.
Reian stretched his arms, feeling the power returning to his muscles.
“We’re practically fully healed now, Flame,” he said.
“Come on, let’s go check on Silya and Silvia.”
They walked across the village toward the pregnant widow’s house.
But just as they reached the front porch, the front door burst open.
Silvia came rushing out in a blind hurry, tripped over the threshold, and fell straight forward.
Flame reacted instantly, stepping in and catching her in his arms.
For a long, quiet second, Flame and Silvia just stared at each other, their faces inches apart.
Both of them flushed bright red, embarrassed, before quickly pulling away and clearing their throats.
Reian smirked, leaning against a wooden post.
He couldn’t resist throwing a playful jab at his brother.
“Well, look at you, Flame.
Saving the future sister-in-law from a nasty fall.”
Before Flame could swing a punch at him, Reian suddenly felt a sharp pinch on his arm.
He winced, turning around to see Silya standing behind him with a raised eyebrow.
Reian instantly shut his mouth, knowing exactly what was good for him.
A little while later, everyone was gathered inside the house.
Silya was sitting next to Reian, gently applying a soothing medicinal ointment to his remaining cuts.
The guard’s widow, sitting quietly by the hearth, looked up at them.
“Are you two actually brothers?” she asked softly.
Reian and Flame both looked at each other and nodded.
“Yeah,” Flame replied.
“We are.”
Suddenly, the heavy thumping of the village border drums shattered the peace.
The warning signal was ringing again.
Reian, Flame, Silya, and Silvia bolted out of the house and sprinted toward the main gate.
When they arrived, the guards were already pulling the heavy wooden doors open.
A young girl—Iris—was staggering into the village, desperately carrying a badly wounded Kael over her shoulders.
“Help us!
Please, he needs help!” she cried out, collapsing under his weight.
Reian didn’t hesitate.
He rushed forward, scooped Kael up, and carried him straight to the village chief’s house, calling for the village doctor to treat his wounds immediately.
Once Kael was safely in the doctor’s care, Reian turned to Iris to find out what had happened.
Flame, Silya, Silvia, and the old village woman gathered around to listen.
The old woman stepped forward, handing Iris a warm cup of water.
“Sit down, child.
Speak gently.
Iris took a shaky breath and began recounting the entire nightmare—the horror at the shopping mall, the slaughter of her team, and the terrifying final mutation of the eight-foot beast.
The old woman’s face grew pale as she listened.
“Wait,” she interrupted, her voice trembling.
“Did you say…
it grew horns?”
Iris nodded quickly.
“Yes.
Two massive horns came right out of its head.”
The old woman dropped to her knees, gasping in shock.
“Monstrous…
if that is true, then that creature is incredibly close to becoming a Demon General.
We have to stop it before it’s too late!”
Reian and Flame exchanged a confused glance.
“A Demon General?” Reian asked.
“What the hell is that?”
“A Demon General is a commander,” the old woman explained, her hands shaking.
“They are elite leaders who command the massive armies of the Demon God, Sargon.
They possess terrifying intelligence and power.
That is all I know from the ancient legends.”
“And who exactly is this Demon God Sargon?” Flame asked, leaning forward.
Silya and Silvia stepped up, taking turns explaining the dark history and the legends of Sargon to the two brothers.
The more they spoke, the heavier the air in the room became.
Reian’s expression turned dead serious.
He looked at Flame, then back at the group.
“If that thing is turning into a commander for a demon army, we can’t let it finish the transformation.
We have to hunt it down and kill it now.”
Everyone nodded in grim agreement.
The old woman looked out the window, noticing the sky turning dark.
“The sun is setting.
It is too dangerous to hunt in the jungle at night.
Tomorrow morning, at first light, we prepare for war.
Go, get some rest.”
Everyone agreed and quickly headed to their rooms, the impending dread keeping them silent.
Meanwhile, miles away in the dead silence of the abandoned mall, the mutated beast stood in the darkness.
Suddenly, it threw its head back and began to laugh—a hideous, echoing sound that shook the very dust from the ceiling.
As its laughter grew louder and more sinister, its eyes flashed into a brilliant, blood-red glow.
That zombie just became a whole lot scarier.
A Demon General is no joke, and Reian and Flame are going to have to give it everything they’ve got tomorrow morning.
Also, Flame catching Silvia?
Smooth moves, even if Reian had to ruin the moment by teasing him.
What do you guys think of the new lore?
Let me know in the comments, and see you in chapter 25