Li froze in anticipation. She both willed Aira to finally resolve the situation and dreaded the sequences.

  Sihe moment she met this strange woman, Li felt that her life would never be the same. But she never sidered she'd have no way back to the human society, always reserving that as a backup pn.

  These past months showed Li how much there was to explore in this world. Bizarre that some outworlder had to show her that. What a strange word and cept, outworlder. Still, here she was, rooting for an undead and hoping that her peers would be thrown back.

  Since Aira established flowing unication through radios and headphones, Li didn't even notice that they were different. Well, she realized Aira was brilliant, even for a human. The undead momentarily grasped the weirdest teical ideas, learned nguages, and figured out the most plex cepts from the a workbooks.

  Now, the only hope was that Aira would keep her promise of… Of what? This crisis couldn't be resolved without blood. Korin robably its first victim. But how many humans dying was a reasonable price for her and Aira's freedom to choose their destiny?

  There was no ao that question.

  Li focused all of her attention on Aira. The undead woman sat still in front of a battery of ss, seemingly gathering her bizarre powers, draining the energy from the bunker's reserves.

  The whole idea of a human sug a battery dry like a ripe fruit still sounded like mado Li. She couldn't see the effects of the process, but she saw the results multiple times.

  Soon, Li started seeing the sequences on the s. It was like a se from the a myths. Aira targeted the gadgets carried by the rangers—radios, fshlights, anything that could hold a charge, everything that had a battery. With a deep breath, she sent focused beams of energy toward them, causing the devices to overload and explode.

  But Li couldn't feel the currents that were flowing through Aira's body. She only saw the results. A man otom-left s grasped his hip, his hand and part of the leg being charred and bed. Sparks covered his whole body, and his fellers jumped away with screams in primal horror.

  A female squad leader on the tral s was talking to someohrough a radio. Lightning bolts obscured her image for a brief moment, spreading all over her body, reag to other devices she had on her, and then spreading to nearby rangers.

  All in all, almost a hundred rangers attacked the a facility, split into small squads of five to ten people. Many of them soon had at least oeam member incapacitated or killed. Frantic voices sounded over the radio. And again, Elda, the ranger from Korin's team, urged everyoo tiheir advance.

  "We're not stopping," she shouted, her voice filled with determination. "Return to your positions! There wasn't a and for retreat! Move forward, now!"

  With only a few people wounded severely enough to not be able to move forward and others ing back to sciousness, the uing exploration of the facility tinued.

  ***

  Aira felt like she was made to fight blindfolded. Not that she o see her enemies with her Energy Manipution skill. Still, she knew she could do much more. She could probably stop all humans altogether in one decisive strike. But her promise to Li made her hold back.

  She nodded, sensing Li's uhere are too many of them, Li. We 't hold them off forever. A decisive strike is our only ce."

  Li took a deep breath and nodded, "Alright, Aira. Unleash y of tricks, but don't overdo it, yeah? Last thing I need is my undead partner colpsing mid-fight. That'd be awkward."

  Aira focused, her mind sharpening to a fine point as she prepared to use her Energy Manipution skill in a way she rarely did. She sed the video feeds o time, fog on the leaders of each attack team.

  With precision, Aira began to manipute the inner energy of these humans, feeling the life force within them. She couldn't stop but feel disgusted by her own as. They went against the beliefs she held in her past life. Still, maybe it was time to review them?

  However, she still was hesitant. In Mountain View, during the execution, she did it instinctively. Later, when she and Li tried to escape town, it was the st resort measure. Now, it felt like the only option. But wasn't it a bit too close to neancy?

  Finally, seeing that the humans didn't pn to stop, Aira made up her mind. She started sifting the energy out of the rangers she singled out earlier, drawing it from their bodies. It was a delicate process, but her 9th-level skill made it manageable. She focused on a score of humans at oheir energy flowing into her like a powerful mountain stream during spring. Ultimately, the amount of are power she took in was so immehat she could feel herself starting to overflow.

  "Li... this is intense..." Aira gasped, ss around them lighting up much brighter than ever before aric devices all over the facility starting to glow." I o spread the energy as much as I !"

  "How's our juice looking?" Li asked. "Are those a batteries going to hold up, or do I o start thinking about king them by hand? Because I'm not signing up for that."

  Aira quickly redirected the excess energy into the batteries they had installed, using them as a reservoir to store the immense power she was abs. But that wasn't enough. She explored what other targets she could choose for her overflowing energy. The remaining humans were out of bounds per their agreement with Li. Uhey weren't stopped by this show of force. So, Aira started pushing the energy wherever she could.

  The facility lighting gradually began glowing with blinding iy. , an a publiou system woke up in bursts of horrible sounds and static, bringing even more disorientation to humans, who had to deal both with the loss of their fellers and this psychotronic attack.

  The targeted humans began to stumble, their movements slowing as their life force drained away. Still, that wasn't enough. The reserves of the human bodies were immense.

  With the st push, Aira stumbled with her senses upon the a devices, still stored deep in the bunker warehouses. She poured a fra of her energy into each of their batteries. Finally, feeling the pressure going away.

  She g the ss that were gradually returning to their normal operational state. The bodies of the humans she targeted started to dry up, their skin tightening over their bones. Within moments, they colpsed, lifeless. This wasn't something she expected to see, and it was quite different from her previous experiences with this skill. Still, it wasn't time for refle. That would e ter.

  Aira still felt a final surge of power c through her, but it came with a wave of nausea and dizziness. At least she wasn't passing out this time. The faces of the dying rangers, twisted in terror and pain, were now seared into her memory. A grim reminder of the cost of her survival.

  Between that shog dispy and a light show that was a by-product of Aira's as, the attackers were utterly paralyzed with fear. Momentarily, the facility became eerily silent as the remaining rangers withe horrifying dispy. The sight of their rades being drained of life so swiftly, so effortlessly, was enough to break their resolve. What was even worse was that not a siruder had an opportunity to get close to the human traitor and the undead abomination. Their efforts now seemed entirely futile.

  Panially set in, and without a word, the attackers began to retreat, dropping their tools, ons, and explosives. Not even b to help their wounded rades. The earlier determination was now wholly repced by sheer terror.

  Aira grimly watched through the monitors as the attackers fled, their figures disappearing into the night. She felt a mixture of relief and sorrow. The room was silent except for the hum of the monitors. Aira's hands trembled, the rush of power leaving her feeling hollow. Killing her adversaries wasn't something new for her. But this… it was somehow different, sug all the life force out of these people. The memory of their faces in their final moments... it felt like they would haunt her forever.

  Was this the path she would choose to walk?

  She turo Li, who was blindly staring at the ss, her face pale but determined.

  "They're gone," Aira transmitted as softly as she could over the portable radio, her voice carrying a note of exhaustion.

  Li nodded, her expression flicted. "I get why you did it, but, Elders keep me sane, watg it happen? That's something I'm not fetting anytime soon."

  Aira's radio crackled to life with a System message:

  --- pleted Quests ---1. Defend the base (Reward: 300,000 XP, Skill)2. Find a better way to unicate with humans (Reward: 100,000 XP)3. Visit the Old World tech facility to iigate. Explore beyond the rge door (Reward: 50,000 XP, Loot)[...]

  "Oh, now we are talking!" excimed Aira. "Still, 300,000 XP is goress towards the level! I 't pin."

  "Not to rain on your System parade," ented Li, shaking her head in disapproval, "but did you catany people paid the 'XP toll' for you? My people, Aira. That celebration's got a bit of a sour aftertaste, don't you think?"

  "Well, it was their decision to attack us, not mine," Aira defended herself. "And as that fun of the System works normally here, you are quite right, I got XP for the kills as well. Sorry if I sound callous, but that's how I live my life. plete quests, kill bad people, and gain XP. And I did my best to save as many lives as possible today."

  Li crossed her arms on her chest, not giving any other answer.

  "Look, if you pn to stick with me, you'd probably have to get used to that, "said Aira. "But it's not like I defend against an attack of a hundred people and gain 300,000 XP any given day. That's major!" Despite Li's mood, Aira wasn't going to let her spoil the moment of this immense progress.

  "Whatever..." said Li, sad but curious, "what's that about a new skill for you? Maybe it's something useful?"

  Aira sent the and and uhe System menu.

  --- New Skill(s) Avaible ---1. Neunion - Boosts coordination with the undead allies. You sehe undead.

  Cost to add a new Skill: 1,024 SP + 3 SP SP

  Acquire this Skill [Y/N]?

  "Coordination with the undead? Neunion? What the hell?! What does it even mean?" Aira excimed. "But I get it that in this world it may be reasoo have a skill like that. Not that in my experiehe undead unicate with anything but screed growl."

  "You mean, like you?" Li asked, a feeble smile finally appearing on her face.

  "Point taken. Okay, let's get this skill." Aira sighed. "The System is obviously pointing me in some dire. And with the quest system broken, I don't have many other ways to interpret what I o do . I'd better follow the signs it's giving to me."

  "Oh, so you're saying you'll be the undead whisperer now?" Li said. "Guess that makes you the charming exception to the whole 'screed growl' crowd, huh?"

  --- Skills ---[...]3. Neunion (Level 1 / 24 SP to upgrade to Level 2)- ce of boosting cooperation among low-level undead.- You sehe undead.- Maximum skill use distance: [100 m x Level] = 10 km

  [Cost to add a new Skill: 1,089 SP + 3 SP]

  "So, Li, what do you think? Should I splurge a bit and upgrade this skill as much as I ?" asked Aira. "It seems it may be quite useful in this world."

  "Do I look like an expert on necro-anything?" answered Li. "You're already neck-deep in undead shenanigans. But let's be real—you've already decided, haven't you?"

  "Right, let's upgrade it and make it more powerful!..."

  Neunion (Level 2 / 81 SP to upgrade to Level 3)- ce of boosting cooperation among low-level undead.- You sehe undead.- Maximum skill use distance: [200 m x Level] = 20 km

  Upgrade further [Y/N]?

  [...]

  Neunion (Level 7 / 1,536 SP to upgrade to Level 8)- High ce of boosting cooperation among mid-level undead.- You sehe undead and s their stats.- You raise medium-sized anisms as undead. Energy ption: high.- Maximum skill use distance: [1 km x Level] = 100 km

  Upgrade further [Y/N]?

  "Ok, let's py it safe and stop there, keeping some skill points for another skill if needed," mused Aira.

  "So, what have you got in the end?" asked Li.

  "I have only two quests left. So, we are moving in the right dire, but I hope we'll stumble upon new quests soon. It still looks like the System is guiding me somewhere. With this skill as well. But I wouldn't be surprised it we'd have to explore the world a bit before I get anything else."

  Aira gave a start, re-reading the final description of the skill."But… What the hell?!?"

  "Elder's beard! What now?" asked Li anxiously.

  "The undead have levels?" Aira excimed. "So, they are ected to the System. We o find out more!"

  And then, there was a new sensation Aira got after acquiring this new skill. Something loomed in the background. It was like a shadow that hadn't yet formed into a solid body but provided a respoo her probing.

  "Li, I think there is somebody else in the forest he facility," Aira said. "And this perso seem to be human."