Accidentally Formed a Reverse Harem in the Apocalypse Chapter 51 - Abnormal Zombies

All sixty-six people crossed the mana bridge safely.

Thanks to the stealth magic that erased both presence and scent, the zombies fortunately did not notice us crossing the bridge.

Drawn by the loud explosions and flames erupting from the Celeste Marquisate, the zombies swarmed toward it like moths to a flame.

Because so many zombies gathered there in anticipation of prey, the area around Angel’s Breath, where the secret passage was hidden, became completely deserted.

The now-quiet, cleared streets were eerily silent, which was unsettling—but still better than having zombies around.

“Huff… huff… I—I can’t go on anymore. My whole body’s killing me…”

The moment the last ones—Grand Duke Whitewood, Aston, and Benedict—stepped off the bridge, Ruth gasped for breath and released the spell.

Pashhh.

The silver-gray bridge, which looked as though it had been woven from moonlight, shattered into tiny particles and scattered into nothingness. At the same time, Ruth, completely drained of mana, went limp like a dried squid and collapsed dramatically.

“Ben… take the rear.”

“You’re not dying, are you, Ru?”

“I’m not dying. Don’t treat me like I’m on my deathbed…”

“Fine, whatever.”

Replying halfheartedly, Benedict raised a barrier in Ruth’s stead.

A solid barrier—thick enough that not a trace of human presence or scent could leak out.

【Defend.】

The inside of Angel’s Breath, once a jewelry shop, was fairly spacious and could accommodate all sixty-six evacuees.

The moment everyone got inside, Benedict’s spirit magic erected a concrete-like, thick defensive wall around the building, stacking it up to the height of two stories.

【Block it! Seal everything tight!】
【We love it when Ben asks us for so many things!】
【The contractor’s words—we’ll make them all reality!】
【Don’t let even one of those ominous walking meat lumps get close!】
【Hide it well. Not a single hair showing.】

Laughing cheerfully, the spirits installed an ultimate barrier that prevented zombies from approaching, just as Benedict wished.

“Ugh…”

Perhaps because he had summoned and worked the spirits too intensely in such a short time, Benedict staggered like Ruth had.

Still, thanks to the power he wrung from the spirits, a sturdy barrier stood firm.

A few zombies that hadn’t gone running toward the flames of the Celeste Marquisate sniffed out human scent and crept closer—but before the barrier, they were helpless.

“Guaaaah…? Ah…?”
“Kieeek… kieeeeeek.”
“Uwaaaah! Aaaah!”

No matter how much they rammed their heads or tried to bite it, Benedict’s spirit barrier was impenetrable.

While the zombies wandered around the building, unable to give up on their prey, Michael hurriedly led the people up to the third floor of the jewelry shop and sent them through the hidden passage.

“The passage isn’t very wide. Just like when crossing the mana bridge, please move quickly and in an orderly manner.”

“Yes, Sir Michael!”

Having learned firsthand that following our instructions caused no problems, the people of the Celeste Marquisate and the Damon Ducal House entered the secret passage in an orderly fashion.

Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty…

Like a vacuum cleaner sucking up dust, the people quickly disappeared beyond the passage.

The faster the footsteps echoed away, the more reassured I felt. Now, only five people remained: myself, Michael, Ruth, Benedict, and Aston.

Just as we were about to send the final evacuee—Grand Duke Whitewood, Aston Clitter—into the passage—

“Grrrrrk…?”

Thud.

When I looked out the window, I saw that the zombies—who had been meaninglessly gnawing at Benedict’s barrier—had stopped moving. Without making a sound, they were staring directly at the third-floor jewelry shop where we stood.

“…What?”

The zombies’ wide-open, blood-red eyes were fixed on us.

Like in a game of Red Light, Green Light, the zombies froze completely—and that was what made it terrifying. It was obvious that some unknown variable had been introduced.

Zero, who had been monitoring the zombies’ behavior as an employee of the Possession Management Bureau, gasped.

「I saw something just now—faint, like a thread…」

Like strings controlling a puppet.

No sooner had Zero spoken than the zombies began moving again.

“Huh?”

This time, they didn’t just cling blindly to the barrier. As if they had understood that all entrances to the building were firmly blocked by the tall defensive wall… the zombies began trying to break it.

Moving in perfect unison, as though some unseen entity were issuing them commands.

「A-Are you kidding me?!」

“How can they come up with something that brutish…?”

The zombies pounded the wall using only their fists and kicks.

‘It’s made by spirits—it shouldn’t be easy to break…!’

“Kraaagh! Kragh!”
“Kiaaaagh!”
“Kraaaagh!”

As if that didn’t matter at all, the zombies kept hammering at the wall even as their bones dislocated or shattered.

When their arms and legs became too mangled to use, other zombies waiting behind them stepped forward, destroying their own bodies as they continued trying to bring the wall down.

Horrifyingly enough, the zombies went one step further and began using tools.

“Kraaaagh!”

When one zombie dragged over a chair lying in another shop, both Zero and I froze in horror.

‘They’re… using tools?’

Mutants? Seriously?

「Hey, possessor! Hey! W-What are they doing?! Weren’t they only supposed to have the thinking capacity of ancient snails?!」

‘I don’t know! How would I know?! You’re the trainee—shouldn’t you be better at handling this?! Open a search window or something!’

「Aaaah! Aaaaah! Why do insane variables like this keep happening when I’m on trainee constellation duty?! Aaah! The search window!」

Crying, Zero swung his staff around, frantically searching—without forgetting to activate the search window.

I wasn’t any better. I was hit with a massive wave of despair myself.

Seriously… it’s like someone’s holding a ritual just to screw me over…

Why is it that every time we barely survive one crisis, another one shows up immediately? Huh? Is a peaceful, smooth progression just impossible? Huh?

Sob. I want to go home. Send me home.

‘…At this point, we can’t use this secret passage anymore.’

Yeah. Fine. Then let’s just blow up both the zombies and the entrance to the passage! Hahahaha! Blow it all up!

I pulled out an entire sack of small mana bombs I’d brought along, spread them across the floor, and spoke to the remaining party members.

“Here—this looks like a place we’ll need to blow up, so please help me set these.”

“…You’re planning to blow up the entrance to the secret passage along with the zombies?”

Michael asked with a grave expression. He stood ready to draw the sword at his waist in case the zombies broke in, likely intending to infuse it with holy power and behead them.

“Yes, yes. I figured it’d be safest to blow everything away.”

Ruth agreed with my assessment.

“I think so too. Those zombies may be weak, but they feel like they’ve got human-like reason installed. Mutants or whatever they are—now that we’ve found them, it’s right to deal with them here.”

Benedict nodded beside Ruth.

“…If those creatures called zombies are developing reason, they’re dangerous. As Ruth said, it’s better to dispose of them now to avoid future trouble. When we hid El-Sekha, the homeland of the fairies, the very first thing we did was kill every human who hunted fairies—to silence them forever.”

“……”

Benedict, I appreciate you agreeing with me, truly… but hearing that just makes the phrase ‘kill them all’ echo in my head. They probably deserved it, sure—but as a human, I can’t help feeling like you’d casually take me out too if things went wrong. That’s terrifying.

I deliberately ignored Benedict’s comment and changed the subject.

“A-anyway, take these. We’ll split up these small bombs and plant them around the building, including this room!”

Once everyone took their bombs and dispersed, I was about to start placing mine when I heard someone speak.

“I’ll do it too.”

“Huh?”

It was a low, calm, deep voice.

The speaker was Grand Duke Whitewood—Aston Clitter.

There was no reason for someone who wasn’t even part of the party to stay behind, so I cautiously addressed him.

“Um… Grand Duke Whitewood?”

“…Did you hear about me from Jacqueline Celeste? There are only a handful of people in this empire who even know who I am.”

“Ah—yes. I heard from Lady Jacqueline Celeste.”

“I see.”

That was all the reaction he gave. Aston Clitter then casually began gathering the small mana bombs I’d laid out and moved to install them.

“…? Wait a moment. Why are you doing that, Grand Duke?”

“Is there a problem with that?”

“No, it’s not that—just… shouldn’t you hurry and evacuate through the secret passage with the others? The Celeste family is waiting for you, aren’t they?”

Despite my words, Aston remained unmoved, carefully attaching bombs to the floor and walls here and there. I hadn’t even explained how to use them, yet he handled them with practiced ease—like someone long accustomed to weapons.

“They won’t be waiting for me.”

“What do you mean? You’re cousins with Lady Jacqueline Celeste, aren’t you? That makes you family. How could family not wait?”

I… even if Henry Kitten wasn’t my real father, my heart dropped when he was killed so suddenly by zombies.

I wasn’t attached. He wasn’t kind to me.

But still—watching someone you know die is painful.

“If it were me, I’d worry and wait. Even if they weren’t blood-related, knowing someone would never come back would hurt. Let alone family…”

At my words, Aston froze for a brief moment. His expression—usually unreadable—rippled slightly, like the surface of water struck by a stone. It vanished just as quickly.

“…You’re kinder than I expected, Duke Kitten.”

“I’m not that kind. I’m just ordinary. Most people would think the same.”

“No. There are many in this world who wouldn’t. Like the imperial family—who considered me a lifelong nuisance and ultimately wished for my existence to be erased entirely.”

What a rotten, dysfunctional family.

I didn’t know the full story, but the stench of a train wreck was unmistakable. There was nothing like this in the original work, was there? Author—why were you so cruel to him?

While I struggled for words, Aston continued methodically setting the bombs.

“So escaping alone to some safe place has no meaning for me. If I’m going to be remembered at all, then sharing in dangerous work like this—that is far more worthwhile to me.”