Mutagen

Tadashii commanded loudly. He was making sure that he conveyed his orders loud enough for everyone to hear, despite their ears being clogged by blood.

And with orders of the Black Lotus Group\'s second in command, the barely conscious members moved to retrieve their unconscious comrades. As for those that had already recovered from the ambush, they picked up their weapons and readied to fight.

The horde was coming.

Tadashi wiped the blood from his eyes and turned his head to the direction where Keiko and Mako fled while carrying Ren.

Getting their master into safety was their highest priority. It was the unspoken rule within the order of ninjas under the Mitsui Family. Ren might hate it, but there was no choice. This place was currently dangerous for her to stay.

Of course, it was dangerous for everyone in the Black Lotus Group. Fleeing was their best option. However, that means abandoning their unconscious members.

Tadashi would not want such a heartless action.

Private ninjas should be raised ruthlessly. Compassion should be the last thing in their vocabulary. That was the stereotype implanted in everyone because of the Sengoku Era.

But the members of the Black Lotus Group were different. No. It was the ninjas raised by the late Mitsui Clan Head that was different.

All of them were orphans given a new family and a way to live.

They were raised with a rule that no one should sacrifice the other but sacrifice themselves for the other instead. These ninjas were one whole family.

That was why while Tadashi could command Keiko and Mako to bring their master to safety, he would stay behind to hold the enemy. They could not just leave the rest of their unconscious members just because they wanted to live.

TAT! CLICK! CLICK!

"Sh*t!"

Tadashi cursed as the machine gun in his hand fired its last bullet in the box. Usually, another member would hand over another cartridge box from inside the vehicle when this happened. However, he was the only one still conscious in this vehicle. He could go in and take another cartridge, but it would mean taking his eyes off the extremely fast enemy.

ROOOAR!

The [Armored Liger-Wolf] roared as the barrage of bullets hindering it had finally stopped. It turned to Tadashi, who was the cause of its pain just now.

"Haahh..."

Tadashi took a deep breath as he returned the glare.

The giant beast and the subleader of the Black Lotus Group turned into blurry figures at the same time.

There was barely anything to be seen as the [Armored Liger-Wolf] and Tadashi clashed in a battle to the death.

CLANG!

The beast missed its attack, while Tadashi\'s knife made contact with the beast\'s neck. However, only that metallic sound was heard as the knife barely left a mark on the beast\'s metallic fur.

Nonetheless, Tadashi managed to get the entire attention of the arrogant [Infected Beast]. Being a highly mutated creature and a boss of an [Infected Territory], the [Armored Liger-Wolf] had an instinct-driven intelligence. Seeing that its speed was equal, if not less, to Tadashi, its instinct immediately switched to trying to eliminate the greatest threat in front of it.

The clash of speed, claws, and knives began. It was all amidst the chaos that ensued by the incoming horde.

And while Tadashi took the attention of the nearest and fastest threat, the conscious members of the Black Lotus Group began to hold the line until the unconscious were gathered in one vehicle.

The goal here was not to kill everything around them. It was to get enough time to rescue their unconscious members and create an opening to retreat.

But, of course, it was not a guaranteed success. In any case that it failed... They failed... At the least, their precious master, Lady Mitsui Ren, made it to safety.

The defense line was in formation, and the [Armored Liger-Wolf] was distracted. The next thing to prioritize was the [Siren of Death].

But the question was...

Where did the [Siren of Death] go?

When everyone was distracted, the [Siren of Death] seemed to have left its initial location atop one of the ruins southwest of their location.

Five members of the Black Lotus Group formed a small team. They bypassed the defense line and the horde. Jumping from ruin to ruin, they aimed to deal with the [Siren of Death]. Killing it might be unlikely since even a full JSDF battalion failed to kill it.

The JSDF failed not because the [Siren of Death] was incredibly tough or agile. It was because she was a tricky creature. Her screech could incapacitate her pursuers, and after she attracted other [Infected] to her enemies, she would immediately flee from the scene of carnage.

Being trained ninjas, the members aiming for the [Siren of Death] quickly reached the top of the ruins. But as expected, they found nothing there.

Strange enough, they found traces of blood and charred flesh in the ruin. Most people might not notice these details, but the members of the Black Lotus Group were trained to pay attention to minimal details in strange and suspicious scenarios.

And to say... Everyone in the Black Lotus Group already knew that something strange was happening.

In just two hours, they encountered three Boss Level creatures, and all of these dangerous beings were outside their territories.

If this situation was not suspicious, what else could be considered one?

"Divide into groups of two and search! We can\'t let that siren let out another screech, or we\'re all dead!"

The leader of the group to pursue the [Siren of Death] ordered. Their main goal was not to kill it but prevent it from letting out another screech. The screech\'s capability to attract the [Infected] was the least of their concern. Most of them were barely recovered by the first screech. Another one would spell their deaths as it would impair their senses while being besieged by hundreds of [Infected].

But to the confusion of the search party, not a single trace of the [Siren of Death] was found. They could only return to the convoy in preparation to flee the scene.

The unconscious was gathered into one vehicle. Fortunately, some of the unconscious members woke up soon enough to join the defense. However, fleeing in their vehicles was not possible anymore. The [Infected] swarmed in hundreds, and Tadashi barely damaged the [Armored Liger-Wolf] even with the help of some grenades.

Minutes passed. Time was against them as more and more [Infected] stormed the place. The only fortunate thing so far was that no further interference came from the [Siren of Death]. While it was a strange circumstance, it was a welcome one. Nonetheless, whether the [Siren of Death] interfered or not, the situation was getting worse.

Everyone was growing tired, and creating an opening in the sea of [Infected] was impossible.

And to make things much worse...

ROOOOARRR!!!

The loud roar that was accompanied by hundreds of wails echoed. It might still be far, but the [Abomination of Thousand Corpses] was coming.

At this point, there was no other choice but to move on.

Tadashi, paying attention to the surroundings, threw another throwable item at his enemy. Experiencing the grenades before, the [Armored Liger-Wolf] jumped back, staring at the thrown weapon.

BANG!

ROOOOAAARRR!!!

The [Armored Liger-Wolf] roared in pain and panic as its sight was suddenly stolen from it after a sudden bright explosion. It was not a frag grenade that Tadashi threw. It was a stun grenade.

As for Tadashi, he had already turned his back and was retreating to his comrades, jumping and stomping over the heads of the [Infected] blocking his way.

Tadashi immediately signaled for retreat. The defense line immediately divided into two, with half maintaining the defense as they retreated while the other half tended to those still incapable of fighting.

They retreated, giving one last look at the vehicles they used.

All the efforts of the Black Lotus Group these past few days had gone to waste. However, their lives mattered more in this situation. The more they stayed, the more dangerous it became. More importantly, their stamina and ammunition had a limit. If they were stupid enough to let everything run out before attempting a retreat, it would be better to slit their throats already.

Keeping enough ammunition and energy was an important factor in a successful retreat.

Now that everyone gathered in a single place and the unconscious members were retrieved, it was now time to catch up to their master.

But as Tadashi led his comrades to the ruins that Keiko and Mako ran through, they were stopped.

Tadashi could only stare in bewilderment and shock as he stared at those who blocked their way.

***

Day 333 - 5:42 PM - Hanakoganei, Kodaira, Ruins of Tokyo

"Hah... Hah... Hah..."

Keiko panted quite heavily as she carefully let Ren down from her back. She might be strong, but running on the streets and fighting the [Infected] all while carrying another person on her back was extremely tiring.

Mako then assisted Keiko as they put Ren on a bed. She also looked tired. It was not surprising since she tanked most of the [Infected] along the way to keep Ren as safe as possible.

Ren lay on the bed, still unconscious. The bed was still dirty even after Mako had dusted it as much as she could. There was nothing more they could do, unfortunately. It was already lucky that they managed to find an intact room in a ruined building, far up from the streets now brimming with [Infected]. Wanting for anything better was just being greedy, considering the situation they were currently facing.

"Ren-sama\'s senses are the highest among us since we were all training under the Grandmaster," Keiko looked at Ren with a sigh. "In this situation, those heightened senses became her weakness."

It seemed that the members of the Black Lotus Group were not surprised that Ren was this affected by the [Siren of Death\'s] sound attack.

Keiko\'s eyes then left Ren as she turned to Mako, who was peering through the room\'s broken window. As silent as possible to not make any noise that could be heard outside, Keiko moved and stood beside Mako.

Outside, the street was like a scene from a festival. The only difference was that all the people they could see below were ravaging [Infected]. Some were running, some were crawling, and most were shambling. But no matter what speed, they were all going in a single direction.

It was the direction where the Black Lotus Group faced the ambush of the [Siren of Death].

"You think they will be fine?"

Mako blankly voiced out, making Keiko frown a bit.

"They will be fine. Tadashi is leading everyone," Keiko answered the question. "Tadashi is our eldest. He is more experienced and the most suitable leader in these kinds of situations."

"I wish they would be."

Mako replied, looking tired.

Keiko was surprised by that unoptimistic reply. However, who could blade Mako? No matter how optimistic one tried to think, the situation was extremely dangerous.

***

After half an hour passed...

"Urgh!"

Ren let out a pained voice as she opened her eyes in a disoriented state. She felt someone help her sit down, and as her vision slowly cleared up, she saw Mako and Keiko on her both sides and the unfamiliar dirty room they were inside.

It was when the memories of before Ren fell unconscious flashed into her mind. However, she did not panic. She closed her eyes to recover more of her senses and calmness and assessed the possible situation.

"Did Tadashi prioritize my safety again?"

Ren weakly asked the two, and both of them replied with silence. She immediately knew she was right.

"Where are we?"

Ren asked as she looked around.

"It should be a ruined building in Hanakoganei in Kodaira."

Mako replied.

"Hmmm?" Keiko interjected as she stared at Mako. "How did you know?"

"We passed by some road signs in the street," Mako replied with a sigh. "I tried to pay as much attention to the surroundings so we won\'t get lost."

"And the state of the situation?"

Ren ignored the two\'s banter and asked.

"Unoptimal, unfortunately."

Mako reported.

That reply made Ren silent. She was trying to keep her calm. However, she was shivering in the turmoil of her emotions.

"Help me up."

Ren asked the two, and they obeyed. With their help, Ren walked to the window to look at the situation outside and assess it.

And below the streets, a whole lot of shambling [Infected] could be seen moving in a single direction.

"The numbers had already thinned, but there\'s still too many," Keiko spoke. "When we arrived at this place, there\'s about twice or twice the number."

Those words made Ren despair even more. It meant that their remaining members were besieged by such a number of [Infected] coming from all directions. And much worse, there were possibly two or more [Boss Level Infected] among the enemies.

The chance of survival, even if they were ninjas, were extremely slim.