A moment later, the siren stopped. Then the paint on the surrounding walls began peeling away wildly, the air filled with the smell of blood, and the sky outside turned dark and blood-red. It was as though they had entered another world.
In fact, that was more or less what had happened. They were now in the Otherworld, a world overrun with monsters. Only the Church's sanctuary and the Heavenly Blessing Society's territory offered safety.
Naturally, Rose and Cybil knew none of this. They stared in shock at their suddenly transformed surroundings. Even the normally tough Cybil felt a chill crawl up her spine.
This was definitely no normal world. Clearly, they had stumbled into something supernatural.
Just then, the agonized screams of children came from nearby. Alarmed, Rose ran toward the sound, calling Sharon's name.
Andrew and Cybil hurried after her. Before long, Rose stopped ahead of them, because the screams had come not from Sharon, but from a group of burning children's corpses.
These were the Otherworld's ash children. In life, they had been nasty classmates who bullied Match Girl. Later, she had burned them to death, turning them into monsters doomed to relive the agony of their final moments.
That was also why they hated the living so much. The moment they saw Rose and the others, they charged with howls. Andrew and Cybil fired their guns while pulling Rose into a rapid retreat.
"Cybil, bullets don't work on these monsters. Save your ammo."
Andrew put his gun away, grabbed a nearby axe, and shouted. Cybil hesitated, then did as he said. The three fled as fast as they could, encountering danger again and again along the way and sending Rose into repeated screams.
After quite some time, their surroundings suddenly returned to normal. The peeling paint