"@Kevin Cross! Kevin, I've finished up on my end, but there's still a little matter I need your help with. Can you come over now?"
In the group chat, Saeko tagged Kevin Cross directly.
Kevin raised an eyebrow at the message. If she was already done, what could she possibly need his help for? Still, he didn't hesitate. This was Saeko, his woman there was no way he would ever turn her down.
Without a second thought, Kevin traveled to Saeko's world. But what he hadn't expected was to be hit by a suffocating wave of blood as soon as he arrived. The stench was overwhelming, sharp and metallic, reeking of mass slaughter. It was hard to imagine how many had died to produce such a thick miasma.
Lifting his eyes, Kevin spotted Saeko. And something about her seemed... off.
"Kevin, you're finally here." Saeko let the blood-soaked blade fall from her hand and threw herself into his arms.
"What happened, Saeko?" Kevin asked, concern tightening his brow.
"I'm drenched," Saeko murmured against his ear, her voice low and trembling with something unspoken.
Well then. Whatever he thought she needed, it clearly wasn't that. Kevin understood now this wasn't about what needed to be done, but what she needed. And what she needed... was him.
This day, for Saeko, would be remembered as one of her most thrilling.
Whether it was the lingering effects of some unknown drug or simply her raw pleasure in the act of killing, she had lost all inhibition. Blood flowed, her body responded, and her swordsmanship surged to near-supernatural levels, fueled by the frenzy. It was as if the more she indulged, the more her body and spirit came alive.
When the storm finally passed, the air still crackled with something primal and heady.
Saeko appeared calm again, at least on the surface.
"Saeko... what exactly happened here?"
"Just a bunch of lowlifes making noise," she replied breezily, brushing it off as if it were no more than a minor inconvenience. Then, she gave him a concise summary of the situation.
As Kevin listened, he wasn't sure what to say.
Saeko's bloodlust was no joke. Even if the other side had instigated the conflict, she hadn't just retaliated she had wiped out the entire Takagi estate. Every last person. Even Rei Miyamoto and Saya Takagi, who had arrived with her, hadn't been spared.
Now, only two remained. Shizuka Marikawa, scatterbrained but unwavering in her loyalty to Saeko, and the young Alice Maresato, who was sleeping peacefully in another room, her stamina long since drained. Everyone else down to the last dog was gone.
No wonder the stench of blood had been so intense. There must've been a hundred, maybe two hundred people. And now, not one was left.
"So... what will you do now? Want to come back with me? To my world?" Kevin asked gently.
"I can't," Saeko said, shaking her head. "If it were just me, I'd go anywhere with you. But there's still Shizuka-sensei and Alice. Especially Shizuka she really tried her best to help me. I can't abandon them now."
Kevin sighed, understanding her reasoning.
The group chat system allowed the two of them Kevin and Saeko to freely send objects and travel between worlds, ever since Saeko had become his partner. But living beings were a different matter entirely. The system didn't permit the transfer of other people between worlds, at least not yet. Maybe it was a limitation of its current version, but either way, Shizuka and Alice couldn't accompany Saeko back to Kevin's world.
The two of them moved to another room, where Shizuka and Alice had been waiting. As soon as they saw Saeko, even Shizuka's normally carefree face went pale. A chill prickled the back of her neck. But then, they saw Kevin standing beside her.
In that moment, fear gave way to relief.
Shizuka trotted over on light feet, while Alice took one step forward and launched herself directly into Kevin's embrace.
"Big Brother, it was so scary... really scary... Everyone's gone. They're all... gone," Alice murmured, burying her face in his chest. She took a deep breath, and her cheeks flushed slightly.
"Kevin!" Shizuka finally reached him as well, and despite the two rather large burdens on her chest, threw herself at him. Alice, smaller in size, was momentarily sandwiched between them.
Saeko watched the scene quietly, eyes narrowing, a faint smirk playing at the corners of her lips.
Both Shizuka and Alice shivered as an invisible chill ran down their spines.
After Kevin left, Saeko took the two with her, determined to find one of Shizuka's close friends. As strong as Saeko was, even in the apocalypse, having more allies never hurt.
Eventually, she planned to settle them on a deserted island a safe haven, isolated from the threat of the undead. Somewhere Shizuka and Alice, who lacked the ability to fight, could live in peace. From there, it would be easier for Saeko to either venture out to hunt or return to Kevin's world when needed.
Meanwhile, Kevin, after returning from Saeko's world, paid a visit to Dr. Stern to push him to speed up his research into the zombie virus. After all, Kevin had already handed over a mountain of antiques to fund the lab. Money wasn't an issue anymore.
What Kevin hadn't anticipated was that, despite withholding the tons of gold he'd acquired, the sudden influx of high-grade Japanese antiques many of which were classified as national treasures had stirred up quite a bit of attention.
Especially in Japan.
On one hand, Japanese collectors were eager to reclaim their heritage, offering sky-high bids at auction. On the other hand, authorities were launching quiet investigations to trace the origins of these relics.
The truth was, Dr. Stern had moved too quickly. Had he sold them one by one over time, it might have gone unnoticed. But he'd offloaded too many at once.
Then again, he had his reasons.
A state-of-the-art laboratory didn't come cheap. The equipment alone cost a fortune. Selling one or two artifacts wouldn't have even scratched the surface of what was needed to build something of this scale.
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