Mobsters

"Pfft—"

Though it was only a fruit knife, it easily slit the man's throat, leaving a wound nearly three centimeters deep!

The man's eyes bulged wide, his face full of disbelief. Both hands desperately clutched at his neck, instinctively trying to stop the blood from pouring out. His mouth opened as though he wanted to say something, but unfortunately, Kurumi's slash had completely severed his vocal cords!

His neck was like a broken faucet, blackish-red blood gushing out nonstop and splattering Miyamoto Rei in front of him from head to toe!

She had gone completely blank! Her mind was empty as the little waterfall of blood poured over her, staining her beautiful light-brown hair a thick, sticky black-red!

"Thud!"

The large man ultimately could not withstand having his throat cut. Death from blood loss—modern medicine had no answer for such an injury...

Even in the peaceful days before the disaster, if someone suffered this kind of wound... all they could do was notify the family to collect the body.

Oh, right. His family had already completely turned into Dead Bodies.

"Oh dear, oh dear. I'm terribly sorry, big brother, but saving your family is simply too troublesome. You should go down and wait for them first. Perhaps it won't be long before they come to keep you company~"

There was a faint excitement on Kurumi's face. The expression on her delicate features was slightly warped, and the smile at the corner of her lips revealed cruelty and bloodlust.

"Gulp."

The sounds of swallowing rang out one after another. When Takagi Saya saw the man's half-severed neck and the black-red blood pooling across the ground, her stomach immediately churned. She ran off to the side to get some fresh air.

Komuro Takashi hurried to Miyamoto Rei's side and vigorously shook her shoulders. Only then did her eyes slowly regain focus. Looking at Komuro Takashi before her, her nose suddenly stung. She sniffled awkwardly, then threw herself against him and burst into tears.

Without showing any disgust toward the blood covering Miyamoto Rei, he held her and slowly crouched down, gently patting her back with his right hand. This was the greatest comfort he could offer.

"Takashi, I'm so scared. Please, don't ever leave me again."

Hearing Rei's sobs by his ear, he held her tighter. "Don't worry. I'll never leave you again."

Busujima Saeko looked at Kurumi's somewhat strange smile and murmured softly, "So alike... she's exactly like me..."

The excitement stirred by violence always brought an unexpected thrill, like a poppy flower that could draw her in and make her fall deeper and deeper... Yet she was also afraid—afraid that one day, she would keep sinking forever...

"What are you waiting for? The Dead Bodies are about to surround us. We need to go!"

Hearing the Charm still lingering in Kurumi's voice, Komuro Takashi and the others all breathed a sigh of relief. At least she was back to normal, wasn't she? Kurumi in that state just now had truly made them feel threatened.

Although Hirono Toda thought yandere girls were cute too! Seeing Kurumi beside him...

Aside from being a little excited at first, thinking about the future made him feel as though he were falling into an abyss... "Tokisaki Senpai is better when she's normal."

The roars of the Dead Bodies drew closer and closer, but Kurumi placed the gas pump nozzle on the ground, stuffed all the banknotes into it, and kept releasing gasoline. Before long, a huge black puddle had formed, and a pungent smell spread through the gas station.

Everyone climbed into the vehicle. Just as they were about to be surrounded by the Dead Bodies, Shizuka Marikawa started the school bus. With a full tank of fuel, the vehicle surged with power, its bearings spinning as it continued charging toward the bridge!

Kurumi opened the window and pulled out a lighter she had bought at a supermarket earlier. After lighting it, she threw it directly at the black puddle of gasoline!

At the gas station, the Dead Bodies kept tearing into the corpses of the dead thugs, while the lighter traced an arc through the air and landed precisely in that small pool of gasoline!

The flame instantly ignited the gasoline, the chemical reaction spreading at incredible speed until... it connected with the underground fuel storage!

"Boom—!"

The blast reached them. Even though the school bus had already driven far away, it was still deafening! Looking back, the Dead Bodies were either blown to pieces or running wildly through the flames. Their ridiculous movements were almost laughable, until the fire completely consumed the oxygen and corpse after corpse collapsed.

Burned to ashes and buried in the soil of their homeland—perhaps that was the best outcome. After all, once they had become monsters, turning back... the difficulty was obvious.

Calling up the virtual panel, Kurumi saw that the number of Dead Bodies hunted had not increased at all, and she was somewhat disappointed. It seemed she could not take shortcuts. Glancing at the Steel Katana lying across her lap, she wondered... did she really have to cut them down one by one?

How long would it take to kill ten thousand Dead Bodies for that "Beginner Hunter" title? She stroked the blade's surface, smooth as autumn water, and the cold sensation against her skin made Kurumi feel that the road ahead was long... Suddenly, she wanted to slack off.

The school bus kept moving forward, leaving the Dead Bodies drawn by the sound behind them. The roads began to widen, but that did not mean they became easier to drive on. Even Shizuka Marikawa, this "seasoned driver," found the situation exceptionally difficult!

The broad two-way road was almost completely blocked. Burning vehicles lay across it from time to time. There was no sign of any humans, only Dead Bodies wandering about. The sky grew darker and darker. The school bus headlights had long been switched on, but the road ahead only became more difficult to navigate.

Seeing this scene, Shizuka Marikawa sharply turned the steering wheel, swinging the front of the bus to the right. "Bang!"

She crashed straight onto the sidewalk, where the bus barely fit. The engine ran steadily, but Shizuka Marikawa did not dare drive too fast. The sounds of Dead Bodies being struck rang out continuously, while bicycles and the like had long been crushed into heaps of scrap metal!

The people inside the bus could only cling tightly to their seats. The violent jolting up and down was truly unpleasant, but it was still better than getting out and walking through bit by bit.

Firelight flickered not far ahead. Some fallen GG-brand signs provided the flames with plenty of fuel, making them especially conspicuous against the night sky.

Vaguely, they could make out figures within it—cursing, crying, and... the sound of gunfire!

Shizuka Marikawa stopped the school bus and turned around to ask, "How about we take another route?"

"Are you sure the other roads won't be like this? What if they're even worse?" Takagi Saya retorted.

"It's too late, and it's pitch-black everywhere. It'll be even more dangerous then. We need to find somewhere to spend the night, so we can't waste any more time!"

"Looks like it's already too late." Kurumi looked at the mobsters in the distance, who had begun noticing their minibus and were approaching the school bus in an encircling formation. Especially those holding guns—Kurumi narrowed her eyes. Those were... shotguns!

"Teacher Marikawa, drive straight through them!"

Hearing Kurumi's shout, Shizuka Marikawa no longer hesitated. She slammed the accelerator to the floor, and the school bus charged madly toward the group!

"Vrooom—"

The engine roared to its limit. Before the humans, the bus was like a steel beast, frightening the group into scrambling aside.

"Fuck, is this driver insane? Open fire! Shoot out their tires!"

A bald man who looked like their leader, his neck covered in tattoos, shouted wildly. Those thugs had long been unable to suppress the violent urges in their hearts and pulled their triggers at the school bus.

"Bang! Bang, bang—!"

Several shots struck the side of the school bus, even shattering the windows. Takagi Saya, by the window, screamed and crouched down inside the bus.

"Why are they attacking us? We're not Dead Bodies!" Miyamoto Rei looked terrified. Having only just escaped the shadow of death, she was now caught in a gunfight. It was enough to make this ordinarily well-behaved middle school student break down.

"They barely count as human anymore! They're controlled by the violent desires in their hearts. Sometimes, they're even more terrifying than those Dead Bodies!"

Kurumi crouched inside the bus as well. Her body still could not withstand bullets.

Otherwise... I definitely wouldn't let them see tomorrow's sun!