Cillian glanced towards the middle of the group.

Somehow, the men who were supposed to carry the ladies around had their roles reversed. Kash and Clove were being assisted by Willow and Ivy, each supporting one of them by the arm.

They did that because the Rofter twins, Gary and Dary, were watching over Melissa, who was in the middle. She was ready to cast a spell at any moment. On the other hand, Aster was at the front, acting as a front guard.

Cillian was placed at the rear with Vin and Phillip, all ready to respond if an enemy came from other directions.

Because two of their members were heavily injured, the group moved at a snail’s pace to widen the distance between them and the other lurking Shepherds that might appear out of nowhere.

It wasn’t good.

Cillian would’ve left already if not for their numerical advantage being the best option and Aster being the biggest strength he could use.

Cillian couldn’t help but remember the fight earlier with a Ruiner. Their synergy with just the three of them was immense.

That’s why...

’What a heavy baggage. Even Phillip can handle things well, even with that kind of body he has. He’s a fatso, but he can run pretty fast.’

That’s why Cillian couldn’t help but think about which opponent they faced for the main cast to be defeated.

It was obvious that they were in this position because they had fought a Shepherd or Shepherds. As for who it was, Cillian didn’t ask since he had never talked to their group. Not like they had gotten any closer during their time at the academy.

"They told me that they weren’t actually together at first."

Cillian glanced at Phillip, who suddenly started talking and retorted.

"I didn’t ask. "

Then, with a smirk, Cillian added.

"Besides, you really got lucky by being with the three women. Did it excite you?"

Phillip suddenly made a face that looked pissed, and Cillian, who was about to tease him, stopped. He realized that the situation didn’t call for it, even though he was just trying to lighten the mood.

Cillian let out a fake cough and turned silent.

He listened as Phillip continued.

"An instructor sacrificed themselves to give Clove, Kash, and the Rofter Twins a chance to escape. Two Shepherds attacked them, you know. Clove and Kash were injured during their clash. I just want to let you know the reason."

"Kuhum, you’re right. My bad.

Cillian apologized.

Phillip watched Cillian, who seemed to have realized how insensitive he had been. This made him sigh and return to being the oily fatso he used to be, though a much more serious one this time, even though he understood that Cillian was just trying his best to lighten the mood.

"I wonder if we’ll survive—"

Phillip suddenly stopped speaking for a moment as their attention turned toward Aster, who had suddenly stopped. Then, their noses picked up the scent of lingering blood. A clear view came into sight up front.

Lifeless bodies covered the area, while blood soaked the walls and ground.

For the Aster’s group, it wasn’t something new to them, as they had already passed through countless corpses during their run. However, it was something different from Cillian, who was starting to get confused.

"Let’s continue moving."

Aster said after careful consideration as they passed through the pathway with corpses on the road.

The farther they walked, the more suspicious Cillian became as he looked at one corpse after another.

’How come the Shepherds are appearing right in the middle of the encirclement from earlier?’

It didn’t make any sense.

When the bone maze appeared, it separated the students from each other. There might have been others who were lucky enough to be grouped together by the instructors after everything settled, while some might not have been. But even so, everyone would’ve definitely avoided the direction where they saw the Captain threatening them with the other Black Shepherds.

They should be moving away from them.

But then he saw one Death Flag on a nearby wall, which Cillian could safely assume belonged to a Black Shepherd wiping out a group.

Then the first Black Shepherd, who wielded the sickle, seemed to have popped up out of nowhere and started attacking them.

It also didn’t look like the Ruiner from earlier had fought any other people aside from them.

The logic doesn’t add up when Cillian and the rest were only trying to create as much distance as possible, but the Shepherds were appearing right from everywhere and killing people left and right.

Then again, it was useless to do everything logically here. At least, for most of it.

’Logic doesn’t work here. I should think outside the box. Is there something that is making this happen? Was it the Captain? Or was it something else...?’

Cillian couldn’t help but think about it for a moment before stopping himself.

[Death Flag x2]

[Black Flag x9]

The view on his system started to change.

[Death Flag x4]

[Black Flag x7]

The black flags above the heads of those who have it continued to shift as they moved ahead.

[Death Flag x8]

[Black Flag x3]

Cillian’s eyes wavered when the Black Flags continued decreasing until there was nothing left of them at all. It made his skin crawl with shivers.

[Death Flag x11]

"Stop...!"

As Cillian continued using his system while keeping Nearby Flag Presence activated, he was completely stunned, which made him urgently call the group.

"Aww."

Just as he shouted, the corpses on the floor all spoke simultaneously. It forced Cillian to immediately nock an arrow, draw his bow, and shoot one of them.

One by one, the corpses of the students and instructors stood up and looked at them. Even the corpse that Cillian had shot rose once again and stared at them as if they were some kind of food.

"Not.far.enough."

The corpses lunged forward and tried to overpower the group as more corpses closed in and surrounded them, but a shield made of sorcery immediately formed around them, temporarily protecting them from the attack.

"Hahh..."

Melissa, who had conjured the spell, immediately protected everyone the moment those corpses started running at them.

’Where is it? Whose abilities are these? The nearby flag presence couldn’t detect it! I wasn’t killed by zombies in my vision...!’

Cillian felt his mind in turmoil as he realized this situation had appeared right at the very beginning, just before the zombies stood up.

Bam!

Now, these same zombies are outside the magic shield, thrashing their bodies against it, weakening the spell over time.

[Death Flag x11]

’This Ruiner is smart. Keeping a distance? Is your power weak in direct confrontation?’

Cillian mused inwardly before getting closer to Melissa and whispering something in her ear that only she could hear. Amidst the chaos, her ears flushed red.

As he got nearer enough for him to kiss her ear, Cillian slowly brought his bow and quiver down enough to appear unnoticeable.

"Create a smokescreen inside before making a hole in your shield, enough for me to quickly pass through, then I’ll escape to find the one behind this. After I’m out, remove the smoke and make it appear that you’re struggling."

Melissa let out a crooked smile, looked at him with her ears still red, and said.

"I’m... indeed struggling but okay."

Melissa, who started to sweat as seconds quickly passed by, nodded before seeing Cillian silently moving to one side of the magic shield while she applied a fog spell that surprised the group.

"Melissa?! We can’t see!"

[Faceless Activated]

As the smoke was filling the area, Cillian changed his face to resemble one of the corpses. He then saw the wall opening up slightly and quickly jumped outside.

The corpses, which moved as a collective, somehow reduced their attacks on the wall the moment the smoke rose from the inside.

The voice earlier and their actions moments ago were enough to confirm that they were being controlled by someone.

’Let’s find you, cowardly bastard.’