On Emigro Island, in the village, amid the crackling of flames, houses made primarily of dry grass, mud, and wood burned fiercely. Blazing firelight stained the night sky as thick smoke billowed upward.
Beneath the flickering flames, bodies lying in pools of blood crawled up from the ground like puppets on strings. Their heads, necks bitten through and held up only by flesh and bone, turned stiffly like rusted machines. Their pale eyes rolled, revealing scarlet pupils that stared fixedly at the struggling figures fleeing around them.
At the stairway stood a young woman in a reddish-brown vest, wearing a pair of bright golden earrings. She quickly became the focus of attention. Overwhelmed by terror, she watched the stiff figures approach from the firelight and darkness, desperately covering her mouth as she backed away in panic.
Yet her stiff, numb limbs refused to obey her. After only a few steps, she stumbled and fell before the stairs.
"Don't come closer! Stay away from me!"
The woman slumped on the ground, her pupils contracting sharply as she let out a mournful cry. She struggled desperately to get up, trying to summon the courage to flee this hell.
But from the darkness behind her, a figure with half its face torn apart swayed into view, scarlet eyes gleaming with cruel light.
"Bang!"
At the critical moment, a dull gunshot rang out. A shrieking bullet carrying a faint white glow shot from the darkness, piercing the Dead Apostle's skull and saving the young woman from certain death.
As cold clots of blood mixed with pale brain matter splattered across her face, the woman, whose SAN had hit zero, opened her mouth wide, on the verge of letting out a hysterical scream.
"Hummm!"
At that moment, the air trembled. A milky-white glow drifted down