Accidentally Formed a Reverse Harem in the Apocalypse – Chapter 53 – To Blow Everything Up

Author: Asternkm

“Understood!”

Michael and Ruth took one of the water guns or spray bottles that Benedict and Aston had been holding without a moment’s rest and helped spray everything together.

The room was packed wall to wall with small mana-bomb landmines, and the holy water that had been sprayed everywhere left everything damp.

Once the four men had completely used up all the holy water they’d brought, they hurriedly leapt toward the entrance of the secret passage.

Crunch.

At the same time, the loud sound of something snapping echoed through the air.

Creeeak. Creak-cree-creeak.

‘Oh… my god.’

How are you supposed to break down a wall just by punching it with bare hands and hurling furniture like a woodpecker?

Zombies, apparently, can do exactly that.

What terrifying perseverance! Damn it! They’re better than people, damn it!

“Graaaargh… aaaargh…!”

Like water bursting through a broken dam, zombies with glowing red eyes poured into the building. In no time at all, they had climbed up to the third floor.

Thud. Thud.

After several heavy body slams, the door to the room we’d been in was ripped open.

“GRAAAARGH!”

The monsters—once human—reeking of decay charged toward us with their jaws stretched wide.

“…Huh…?”

Fortunately, the holy water worked exactly as intended.

“…Ah… ah…?”

The holy water thoroughly sprayed across the floor, ceiling, and walls around the secret passage began to emit a faint sacred glow the moment the zombies stepped inside, restraining them in place.

“Ah… ah… ah…”

Since we had used nearly three full containers of holy water, the room was soaked. The zombies that had charged in so aggressively all froze at once, as if they had turned into pillars of salt.

「Totally worth stealing holy water from the Pope!」

Zero shook the hair on the top of my head while gasping for breath.

Even Zero seemed frightened by these zombies born from unprecedented system errors.

Of course, so was I.

‘We need to get out—now!’

The holy water was restraining them, but this wasn’t a permanent solution. We had to put as much distance between us and them as possible before the effect wore off.

And we still had to detonate the bombs!

“Graaaargh…”

Behind the paralyzed front-line zombies, more of them began crawling toward us.

If they used the frozen zombies as stepping stones to enter the secret passage, it would be game over.

“Damn it—run if you don’t want to die!”

At my shout, Michael and Aston jumped into the passage first, followed by Benedict, Ruth, and me. We ran as hard as we could to put as much distance between ourselves and the entrance as possible, but—

“Huff… huff…!”

Unfortunately, the mage who had been overusing mana all day had hit his physical limit.

“H-hard… huff…”

And the half-fairy, who had spent most of his stamina assisting with purification and paying the cost of spirit magic, could still run—but his legs were visibly shaking.

‘Damn it! Are all the secondary male leads this low on stamina?!’

This was a situation where we needed to sprint like our lives depended on it—because they did. Any delay could mean death.

I turned back, grabbed Ruth’s and Benedict’s hands, and urged them on while panting.

‘At least Elizabeth’s body is good at running!’

Thankfully, my stamina itself wasn’t bad.

“There’s no time to slow down! Run faster—move!”

“Huff… huff… I want to… huff…”

“I’m… too tired… huff…”

Their pace kept slowing.

And as long as I could see the blood-red glow of zombies’ eyes flickering near the entrance of the passage, stopping was not an option.

“Damn it! Move! Even if you feel like you’re dying, keep running!”

That was when Michael and Aston, who had gone ahead, turned back and ran toward us.

Their stamina was monstrous—no heavy breathing, not even a bead of sweat.

‘Is this the power of training…?!’

If only I could borrow even a tenth of the endurance of the strongest holy knight and the Duke of the North.

I was drenched in sweat myself, irritation bubbling up.

“Why are you coming back?! Hurry up and go! We need to detonate the bombs to stop those things!”

“……”

Instead of answering, Michael and Aston stared at the hands I was holding—Ruth’s and Benedict’s.

After exchanging a look, they bent down on either side of me.

“Pardon us for a moment.”

“Huh? What are you—wait, what?”

Michael hoisted Ruth up over his shoulder, and Aston lifted Benedict just as easily.

“W-what the hell are you doing, holy knight?!”

“As you can see, I’m carrying you.”

“And why do you have to carry me like a sack of flour?!”

“…If you’d prefer a princess carry, I can accommodate.”

“…I was wrong. Shut up.”

Ruth’s mood plummeted at being carried like baggage, but given the emergency, he quickly fell silent.

“You were Benedict, correct? This may be unpleasant, but I hope you’ll understand given the circumstances.”

Aston slung Benedict over his shoulder with ease and delivered the verdict.

“……”

The half-fairy, apparently unused to such treatment, lowered his head in wordless humiliation.

「The half-fairy is sulking.」

Zero reported Benedict’s emotional state from atop my head.

「His pride as a man has taken a hit.」

Benedict’s spirits floated around him, giggling.

【Ben is sulking!】
【He’s upset!】
【He thought he was strong—but he’s not!】
【Ben is strong when he borrows our power!】
【But he needs more stamina!】
【Weaker than the child loved by God, and weaker than that man who smells of cold winter!】
【Exercise! Exercise!】
【Ben needs to work out!】

Benedict covered his ears at the spirits’ teasing.

I let out a short laugh at the sight—then turned around and screamed.

“GRAAAARGH!”

Damn it. Just as I feared, the zombies had begun using the immobilized ones as stepping stones and were already closing in on the entrance.

‘No way. How did they even come up with something like that?’

A chilling line I’d seen back when countless error windows popped up surfaced in my mind.

I wish everyone would just die.

Gulp. I swallowed my dry saliva and started running again.

“Let’s run first.”

“Agreed.”

“Yeah. Let’s run!”

We ran like mad without looking back.

And once the entrance had shrunk to a tiny dot in the distance, I stopped and asked Benedict,

“Shoot an arrow for me! Strap this micro mana bomb to it!”

A micro mana bomb.

It was an extremely small bomb I’d taken from the Keaton Ducal House’s armory before setting out on this journey.

Curious about what it was, I’d activated the skill Sage’s Eye and gotten this result:

[Item: Micro Mana Bomb]

[Origin: Mage Tower]

[Type: Custom-made R-Type / Discontinued]

[Power: Causes a small explosion about the size of a palm]

[Special Notes: A micro mana bomb developed to act as a trigger for other small mana bombs.
On its own, it’s barely stronger than a firework, but when used together with other mana bomb series, it creates powerful synergy and causes a massive explosion.
Explodes 5 seconds after activation via button press.

This type was banned from sale because children could easily handle or swallow it.]

〈Ohhh… I should really carry this together with small bombs.〉

‘Applause for past me who packed this!’

It was as light as a feather, so there was no issue attaching it to an arrow.

Benedict’s bow and arrows were crafted by fairy artisans using tough, resilient wood found only in their homeland—lighter and more powerful than human-made bows.

When I held out the micro mana bomb with desperate eyes, Benedict—who had been sulking—snatched it without hesitation and tied it to an arrow.

“This passage—from the entrance to here—it’s a straight line, right?”

“Yes!”

“Then there won’t be any problem hitting it.”

Still draped over Aston’s shoulder, Benedict held his breath and set the arrow on the string.

The pale-green arrowhead, fitted with the micro mana bomb, gleamed sharply.

“Ready?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’m activating the bomb. Remember—we have to reach the entrance within five seconds.”

“That won’t be an issue either.”

At Benedict’s confident reply, I pressed the tiny button on the bomb.

“Done.”

From this moment—five seconds.

“I’m firing.”

Four seconds.

Paaang!

As Benedict released the taut bowstring, the arrow’s flight seemed to slow in my vision.

Three seconds. Two.

It struck the small mana bomb hanging above the passage entrance.

Final second.

Beep—beepbeepbeep…!

As one small mana bomb entered its detonation phase, the others reacted in unison, all emitting shrill warning sounds.

“G… aaah…?”

The zombies that had been surging forward in waves seemed to sense something was wrong.

But it was already too late.

KWA—AAAAAANG!

A massive explosion erupted, and blazing crimson flames swallowed the room connected to the passage entrance—along with the zombies that had been piling in like a grotesque sandwich tower.

“Aaagh!”

Even though we were at a safe distance, the scorching heat washed over our skin, making us flinch and run farther away.

Boom—ba-booom!

As we ran, we could still hear bombs detonating elsewhere in the building, likely the ones planted throughout the structure triggering in a chain reaction.

Eventually, the explosions grew sparse, and once we reached a place untouched by the heat, all sound finally ceased.

Still tense, we stood there awkwardly—until Zero updated me.

「The search window finally reconnected. The entrance to the secret passage has been completely destroyed. The building itself collapsed from the blast, so nothing can come this way anymore.」

‘…What about the zombies?’

「All of them were caught in the explosion. Their soulless bodies were blown apart beyond recovery. Whoever was trying to interfere with us and overturn this world’s flow—no matter who they are, they won’t be able to restore zombies that have been pulverized this thoroughly.」

‘Thank goodness….’

Only after hearing Zero confirm it did the tension finally drain from me.

My legs gave out, and I collapsed to the ground.

“Ha… haha… I think… we all would’ve died.”

“Is that true?”

Michael asked. I nodded, then even made an OK sign with my fingers.

Tears and laughter spilled out together.

“W-we lived. We survived! Waaaah!”

“W-why are you crying?”

Aston, who’d been calm even in the face of death, panicked at the sight of me crying and awkwardly patted my shoulder.

“D-damn it… I don’t know! Waaah!”

“P-please don’t cry.”