"What?!" Roy’s mouth was wide agape, and he grabbed his head. "How? How did it happen?"

"We don’t know how it happened, that’s what I just said." Dr. Gretsch wrinkled his nose.

"Then what are we going to do about it? Is it safe for her to be down here with us? No, sorry. Is she okay?"

"Calm down, kid. I’m helping her. And Dr. Gretsch can make healing herbs. She’ll be fine."

"It’s not safe," Sunfire interjected, her tone serious. "I think we should have that meeting immediately."

The three men and the young boy halted and regarded her carefully. As the strongest executioner and individual amongst them, her words had authority. Black Zero simply nodded.

Shortly after, Roy was sitting in a medium-sized room with a round table and several chairs around it. This was supposed to be a boardroom for the military unit that was meant to hide out here, but now they were the ones using it.

Sunfire sat at the head of the table, Black Zero across her from the table, while Roy and Wolfman sat in random places, but Dr. Gretsch sat beside Sunfire.

Just a few seconds after they sat down, Sunfire asked Abraham, "Have you seen it?"

Black Zero’s gaze was languid. He connected his dataPad to the interface of the room, and holographic images sprang up on it, depicting a gigantic flower that touched the clouds, swarms of human-sized bees, falling snow, and walking dead in the midst of the ruins of this old city.

Sunfire raised her long legs and placed them on the table. "Good. Let me put this out there: the pollen that the flower vomits covers the sky, and without direct view of the sun, I can’t do anything about that Rank III Gate’s boss."

"I am well aware," a digital but familiar voice responded, and the holographic images changed to display a three-dimensional audio waveform.

All present in the room recognized the voice. Of course, it was Mr. Professor’s, the D-Class Executioner with KNOW.exe.

Dr. Gretsch sat up.

"I hope everyone’s getting along?" Mr. Professor spoke in his usual corny manner.

"Roy, how are you liking the wild? Abraham must still be used to his usual tricks, isn’t he? You all might think he did it just because, but there is always a deeper reason for Black Zero."

"..." Roy glanced at the others, who had thoughtful expressions, and his mentor.

"You didn’t agree to speak with us until Sunfire arrived. Now she’s here. Get to the point," Black Zero retorted. He still found the way Mr. Professor always read through him to be unsettling.

"You don’t want a bit of fun? Fine. The E.A. has deemed the Witherflower to be a Category-1 risk and is gonna dispatch—"

Sunfire raised an eyebrow. "Category-1? Why? That’s reserved for Demons at least..."

The Executioners Association assigned gates and threats in order of importance from Category 0 to 3.

"That’s the thing," Mr. Professor explained, "that Corrupted Undead is about to mutate and become a Cursed."

The room fell silent.

The ’Cursed’ threat level was equivalent to the A-Class, meaning the abyss creature was on the path to becoming a natural disaster. This wasn’t surprising, because the simple nature by which one got infected by this abyss creature could make an entire city fall in a simple afternoon.

They absolutely could not let it become stronger; if left unchecked, it could infect the entire continent.

"However, the Association only has a handful of C-Class Executioners to assign to this task currently—"

Sunfire flared up. "That’s—"

"Before you call bullshit, I know. They really do have the resources, but they’re scared of the Witherflower. No one wants to see an A-Class Executioner become an Undead. Hence, the reason why they’re sending in the disposable guys to collect data about its abilities and limits."

Roy turned to Master Abraham and saw that the man’s eyebrows were already deeply knitted. Wolfman had a murderous glint in his eyes, and Dr. Gretsch had a bead of sweat form at the corner of his head.

Only Sunfire seemed unfazed by the revelation and proceeded to ask, "How long am I— are we going to remain here, then?"

"Two weeks, tops," Mr. Professor answered nonchalantly. "Don’t worry, you don’t have to do anything. This team’s mission is not the Witherflower. Just wait out the storm before returning home. Not hard, is it?"

It was here that Master Abraham spoke up. "Sally got infected. I know you know. Address it."

"..." Mr. Professor fell silent, which was odd for him. He was never silent. "I will leave that to your group to decide. Dr. Sally is a valuable asset. I trust your judgment will be for the best." —Swzt!

He ran away.

Master Abraham frowned. He expected this, but he still muttered, "Bastard."

The holographic image returned to the landscape, showing the Witherflower, and everyone around the table threw each other glances.

Roy noted that Wolfman hadn’t spoken since.

"You all know what’s happening outside, so what I am about to say won’t be too shocking. We have two options. The first is, we kill her before she turns..."

A chill ran up Roy’s spine.

"NO!" Wolfman finally spoke. And Dr. Gretsch meekly asked, "What is the second option?"

A vial materialized in Sunfire’s hand; its content was minuscule in the vial, but it radiated holiness, clearing one’s mind of all fatigue and refreshing them by its mere presence.

"I heal her with this Tear of Aria, a Tier-5 Consumable given to me by Angelica, that purifies infirmity and restores even lost limbs. However, it’s the only one I will spare on anyone other than myself in this group. In other words, the next infected person will be killed."

The other four at the table lingered to answer.

Dr. Sally was a normie who had no use other than providing knowledge and insight into her expertise. Any other normie could replace her. In the battlefront, she was entirely and thoroughly replaceable. Hence, to use a Tier-5 holy item that was near priceless on her...

"SAVE SALLY!" Wolfman voiced, folding his arms and nodding assuredly.

"We are inside. Why are you so loud?" Sunfire retorted.

"There will be no other infected among us," Black Zero boldly declared. "Use the consumable on her."

Sunfire’s eyes widened slightly, but there was a hint of reluctance in her body language.

"Are you sure, Black Zero? What if Roy—"

"I said what I said."

"..." Sunfire wrinkled her nose slightly, and her eyes trailed over Roy before settling on Dr. Gretsch beside her.

He cleared his throat before speaking, "Ahem! I-I think we should find other means to help Dr. Sally. I am currently running tests on her and collecting samples. I believe I can develop a medicine that can reverse the undeadening fever, but both options will need to be halted for about a week."

Wolfman threw Gretsch a murderous glare but didn’t say anything.

Sunfire and Black Zero only shared a glance to finally come to a decision.

"Settled then. We will wait and see the outcome of your attempt," Sunfire said.

Master Abraham immediately stood up from his chair and left.

After exchanging looks with the others at the table, Roy yawned and took that as his cue to leave.

He was spent.

Dr. Sally was put in the only medical operations room of the bunker, so the APC was free.

He caught up with Master Abraham and walked a few steps with him.

"Master..."

He didn’t know what to ask about, but he had many questions. Why were C-Class Executioners treated as cannon fodder when an A-Class could just arrive and prevent further loss? Who was the ’Angelica’ that Sunfire mentioned? And most importantly, what were they going to do now that they were practically trapped here in the meantime?

Black Zero patted the young boy’s shoulder. "Go and rest, kid. You’re barely walking straight."