Accidentally Formed a Reverse Harem in the Apocalypse Chapter 6 - Heading to the Temple

Chapter 6 Heading to the Temple

‘That crazy man!’

The duke couldn’t accept reality. Even though the crown prince’s neck was torn open, mangled, and he now looked completely like a zombie, Duke Keaton still walked toward him.

Now that we knew zombies were extremely sensitive to sound, the duke’s reckless stunt was basically him begging to be killed.

‘Why is he shouting like that at a time like this!’

Ugh, I’m going to lose my mind!

“Come back right now, Father! You’ll die like that!”

I tried to shout as loudly as I could without provoking the zombies wedged in the doorway, but the duke ignored me and went even closer to the gate, pleading tearfully with the crown prince zombie.

“His Highness, the future of the Empire, would never fail to recognize me. Your Highness is not a monster but— Gah!”

“Grrraaaah.”

“The Duke— the duke got attacked by the monster…!”

Ah, it’s all going downhill now.

A zombie never overlooks prey right in front of it. The crown prince zombie grabbed Duke Keaton’s arm, yanked him through the iron bars, and bit straight into his neck. Just like he had done to the crown princess-turned-zombie earlier.

Crunch. A horrible, sickening sound rang out.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Grrraaaah…”

In the end, the crown prince zombie tore into Duke Keaton’s neck. The duke screamed and collapsed.

That was the trigger. The enormous iron gate of the imperial palace tilted, then cracked, and then the entire horde of zombies burst through the gate and tore down the tall walls, rushing toward us like a flood.

The fortress wall had fallen. Zombies poured out endlessly through the debris of the broken buildings, and leading the charge was the crown prince zombie.

This time, I didn’t even need to give orders. The highest-ranking person present, Duke Keaton, had just been bitten in front of everyone and toppled over. Seeing that, the mages and soldiers panicked and bolted blindly in terror.

“Aaaaah! S-Someone help!”

“That’s not His Highness! T-That’s just a monster!”

“Save me!”

Blinded by fear, they only ran for their lives. They had completely forgotten that I’d told them earlier—if things fail, we must run to the temple.

I grabbed the robe of a mage who was running ahead of me.

Unfortunately, I grabbed the hood area, so his neck got yanked back.

“Ghk! L-Lady! What are you doing!”

“Cast a teleport spell to the temple. Now.”

“What?”

“Don’t dawdle—hurry!”

If you want to live, listen to me.

“A-Alright!”

『Transport!』

Even while running desperately, the mage still obeyed me—probably because he also wanted to live—and chanted the teleport spell. The nearby soldiers who were running away turned their heads toward us.

“What are you standing around for! Grab the nearest mage and get to the temple now!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

And so, with only a handful of soldiers and mages barely rescued, I managed to escape that hellish imperial palace.

Later on, that palace would go down in history as the origin point of the zombie outbreak.

A painful, devastating failure.

 

 

 

*****

 

 

 

“Aaaah!”

Maybe it was because everything was happening so fast. The teleportation array set its coordinates sloppily, and we fell straight out of the air and crashed onto the ground in a very undignified heap.

“Ughhh…”

The mage who had performed the teleportation collapsed on the floor, drained of energy.

“Uuugh… Did we make it to the temple safely?”

Thankfully, the place we arrived at was the temple. The central temple of the main god, Ardel, located within the capital, was a beautiful building of white and blue—so beautiful that even foreign nations praised it.

‘Holy water— I need to secure the holy water!’

According to what Zero told me when we were waiting for the mages during the initial containment attempt, holy water from the temple could be an effective weapon against zombies.

Normally, holy water was only used for blessings or baptisms, but if it could serve as a weapon, I couldn’t afford to ignore it.

“Oh my, brothers? What are you doing over there?”

A priest passing by spotted us. Apparently we looked suspicious, because he even approached with a holy knight in tow.

“Hello, Father. I am Elizabeth of House Keaton.”

“Yes, my lady. Sorry to ask, but what business brings you to our temple?”

Smiling brightly, yet clearly wanting to chase suspicious-looking people like us out of the temple—his blunt question made that obvious.

‘I should’ve visited the temple more often…’

The villainess really hated temples, so she never set foot inside. Even that was making me feel bitter right now.

“It’s urgent. A terrible plague has appeared in the imperial palace—turning people into monsters.”

“What?”

“To defeat them, we need holy water. So—”

Just as I was continuing to persuade him, a tall shadow fell over me from behind.

“Did you say you’re Lady Elizabeth Keaton?”

A voice I recognized. Which only made it worse.

Because the owner of this voice was…

“What brings the infamous villainess herself to ask for holy water?”

Platinum-blond hair, sky-blue eyes like polished gems. Sharp, masculine features. A firm, serious mouth.

He wore holy knight armor—white with gold engraving, pristine and pure—as if he’d just returned from a mission.

I stared with my mouth open.

Because this man was Michael, the strongest holy knight and one of the story’s sub–male leads.

You bastard, you’re not supposed to show up here right now!

‘For hell’s sake.’

I was doomed. I never expected Michael to be staying at the central temple during this time.

‘I thought he’d quietly disappear somewhere after the original story ended…!’

The original story was already over. The heroine and the male lead got married.

So what happens to the sub–male leads?

As a longtime romance-fantasy reader, I knew the usual endings for sub–male leads:

They die.

They quietly bless the main couple’s marriage and then disappear with no further mention. Basically, they get thrown away.

If a sub–male lead got paired with a sub–female lead, he might at least get an epilogue—but the novel I possessed didn’t grant such mercy.

All I could assume was that the author chose option 2 and tossed them somewhere out of sight.

“So of course, I thought he’d be off somewhere in the frontier slaying monsters by now.”

So why on earth is he in the capital!

“Aren’t you the one who always avoided temples? What wind brings you here today?”

Since I didn’t answer immediately, Michael frowned and urged me. Even with his handsome face, after experiencing heartbreak, his expression had grown harsher.

‘I’m still a duke’s daughter, you know.’

Even if he was the greatest holy knight, this attitude toward a noble lady was extremely rude.

I’d dropped the act of a villainess obsessed with love, so I decided to say everything I wanted to say.

I’ve never been good at holding my tongue anyway.

“And what about you, Sir Michael? I heard you were on a purification pilgrimage.”

Michael flinched. As expected, his sudden arrival in the capital was likely because of the heroine.

“…I only came up to offer my blessings when I heard Her Highness the Crown Princess was getting married.”

Blessings, my foot.

‘Do you think a man can sincerely bless the woman he loves at her wedding to another man?’

“I didn’t see Sir Michael at the wedding.”

“That’s because…!”

‘You couldn’t bring yourself to attend, huh.’

Even if he wished for the heroine’s happiness, no one could calmly watch the person they loved marry someone else.

‘And to make it worse, the original male lead—the crown prince—didn’t want any of the sub–male leads at the wedding.’

Seeing as he came to the capital without even receiving an invitation, it was clear.

The petty crown prince didn’t send wedding invitations to any of the sub–male leads.

He didn’t want to stay away entirely, but he couldn’t go to the ceremony either, so he hid out awkwardly at the temple.

I narrowed my eyes at him, and he sighed, avoiding my gaze.

“…Enough. I don’t know why I’m even talking about this with you.”

“I feel the same. Just because I’m not a temple-goer doesn’t mean you can pick a fight with me out of nowhere. Would you feel good about that?”

‘I’m already in a crisis!’

Hey, sub–male lead No.1, there are zombies coming out of the imperial palace right now. Instead of arguing, we need to prepare to fight them! They could be advancing even as we speak!

When I scolded him sharply, Michael clearly looked irritated, but he admitted I was right and apologized.

“…Forgive me, my lady. My personal feelings made me behave rudely.”

“As long as you understand.”

Knowing how cold the sub–male leads were to the villainess in this story, I didn’t expect much from him anyway.

I turned from Michael and addressed the priest who first greeted us.

“This is a wartime-level emergency, Father.”

“P-Pardon?”

“A plague has broken out in the imperial palace. Those infected get red eyes, bulging veins, and turn into monsters that bite people. I am calling these creatures ‘zombies’ for convenience.”

Calling them “plague-afflicted humans” was too long. And since Duke Keaton got bitten and turned, the responsibility for this group fell on me anyway. Naming them “zombies” was harmless enough.

“Eeeeh?!”

The priest went pale, as if I’d just announced the end of the world. Understandable—until yesterday, I thought this story was going to end in a happy ending too.

I put all my energy into acting like a noble lady on the verge of tears from the tragedy.

“Sadly, we do not know the whereabouts of His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress. The initial patient seems to have been the Crown Princess, and we have just confirmed that the Crown Prince was bitten by Her Highness and turned into a zombie.”

“The Crown Princess was infected? Is… is that true?!”

Michael, who had been listening like he was hearing a scam, reacted violently to the mention of the heroine. He grabbed both of my shoulders, demanding proof.

“Urk. Could you let go? I brought evidence.”

‘God, that hurts!’

Thankfully, I’d anticipated something like this and secretly recorded everything using a video-recording artifact the mages had brought to the manor.

I handed the artifact from my shoulder to the one remaining mage, signaling with my eyes. When he fiddled with it, a projection appeared, showing zombies swarming out of the imperial palace.