Code Collector

Yen was staring into the reddened skies. The smoke that came from the fire they started covered the stars with a red blanket of smoke.

"What happened?" she asked herself as she tried to recall what happened. "One moment I arrived, the next thing I know I'm here, down and defeated."

Allen pointed his lance on her neck. "What are these zombies? I know you have something to do with it."

Yen suddenly frowned, "And why would I tell you that? After I got defeated, my life was over. I don't have the face to show Barandilla anymore. Defeated by a mere D rank Paradise Hunter. What is that?"

"Fantasia suffered the same loss, you know," Gwen pointed out. "If she can do it, then you can."

"That woman has a calloused face and her pride is inexistent," Yen smiled bitterly. "Everyone knows she can only fire with full power once and then her entire energy will be depleted. That highest damage output facade was only because she has one chance at attacking."

Allen felt his skin crawl while Yen talked. There was something about the woman that irked him, activating his enhanced insticts passively. Yen was doing something under their nose, but what it is was what Allen does not know.

"I have my pride with me," Yen continued. "And if I got defeated in battle, this will be my last battle."

She suddenly leaped and stood. Another chain was wrapped around her arm. Right when Allen was about to think that she would attack them, Yen threw the chain on a railing and tied the other end on her neck. "I bring with me my glory!"

In an instant, Yen Jacobs pulled the chain and cracked her neck. This instantly put her in a quick but painful death, making her body hung from the railing like a pendulum.

"What the hell…" Jeremy trailed off as they watched her body swing slowly. "She just killed herself just like that."

"Doesn't matter anymore," Allen said. "We have to find a way to get to the Portal House without being bothered by the Barandilla."

"Looking for me?" Jack suddenly appeared from under his invisible blanket. Lay, Rourke, and Franco revealed themselves with separate blankets. "Let's go. Jacques is already trying to hold them off."

Allen pursed his lips. "Jax?"

–

On two gigantic orbs of murky water, the Soul Burners and Barandilla were being held captive. Their eyes were wide open but they looked like they were unconscious as if they were sleeping with their eyes open.

"What the hell happened here?" Allen asked while he walked towards them. A man stood in front of the two orbs as they approached. He was facing away from Allen and he thought that it was Jax. "Hey, Jax?"

The man spun and revealed a man with a similar but older face than Jax. It was much different from Jake which was odd because Jax and Jake shared the same features. "I'm sorry?"

While the rest of the Summers had blonde hair, Jacques had a dirty blonde one. It was a combination of blonde and dark brown which was pushed back to the back of his head.

His build was tall and muscled, just like Bernard only much taller and much thicker than the Ox Bearer. Jacques also had a huge snake tattoo that traveled from his neck down to his body that Allen couldn't see because the man was wearing a tight black suit.

If he was a member of the Snake Society, it wouldn't surprise Allen. After all, his father was a core member and if he turns out to be one, it would only make sense.

"You're not Jax…" Allen trailed off. "Who are you?"

The man offered his hand while showing his pearly white teeth. "My name is Jacques Summers, the older brother of Jax and the nephew of Jack."

"Ah," Jack walked in front of Jacques and watched the two giant orbs of murky water. "These are the two biggest criminals in the record. Good call, Minister of Defense."

This time, Jeremy's ears had quirked up. He glanced at Allen who shared the same confused look. "What do you mean, Jack?"

"Oh," Jacques formed an o with his mouth after he saw Jeremy. "Don't worry. I am Eternity's Minister of Defense. I hold the highest authority in that world in terms of the military. And these folks are from Eternity, so they are my responsibility."

Jeremy calmed down and nodded after understanding Jacques. He took a deep sigh and smiled. "Right. I forgot about that."

"Don't worry," Jacques smiled. "Your father is a very strong man, one that I could only wish to achieve the power of. He won't be replaced as easily."

Allen knew all to well that Jacques was lying. Just the orb of the murky water that contained both the Soul Burners and the Barandilla in two separate orbs should speak on how much power Jacques have.

Even Allen would have to admit that he would have much trouble just trying to maintain one team, but Jacques effortlessly defeated both. He was in Bernard's level, or even more.

"So," Jacques bowed. "If you'll excuse me, I'll have to take these people with me."

He raised both his hands and walked away, the orbs of the murky water seemed to be following him. It looked like he was pushing both orbs as he walked away from the scene.

It wasn't long before more police officers arrived and helped clean up the camp. The fire had been settled down and people were rescued. The zombies were also eradicated after they found out that the boss zombies would deactivate the other zombies when it was killed.

The morning came and the sun had risen from the horizon. Allen sat outside of the hotel and was eating his breakfast that was served by the hotel. They were lucky enough to be the only few guests to have survived he attack.

On their floor, only Allen and his group were alive. The rest were eaten but the zombies while some got infected. This was by far the biggest incident in Paradise, which made it the headline of all the news outlets.

"Barandilla is gone," Gwen announced. She handed Allen a paper which was the daily newspaper.

"BARANDILLA ERADICATED AFTER ZOMBIE ATTACK."

Allen read the headlines and forgot about his meal. He continued reading the article until he learned everything that happened that day.

Barandilla had been experimenting on people. They created serums to make someone stronger, and make them become a more effective Hunter. This serum worked, but it costed a price.

To boost their power, they must first inject the serum into a Hunter. The Hunter's body will process this and filter the serum, this was the part where the humans would turn into zombies with high power because they have been exposed to such method.

After the Hunter has completely lost their humanity, the serum will be extracted from their bodies once more and this time it will be placed in a Hunter that is the one who receives the boost. Fantasia, Yen, and the high ranking members of Barandilla all have the serum of power while the lower once would become zombies."

The idea of this alone bothered Allen so much. This was a messed up plan just so they could gain power. This is just one more reason why he needed to become stronger quicker than light. If this keeps going on, what will happen to them? It's not like Barandilla is the only dark Hunter group in the world."

"They experimented on people." Allen woke up from his train of thoughts after he heard Gwen. "They are messed up and they would do anything just to have power. Now we know why Fantasia could spam her destructive skills even when we all know she could only cast it once in a while."

"But the zombies," Jeremy said. "Have they all been identified?"

"Fifty and counting," Gwen said. "The police are still investigating about it and are still interrogating the members which was hard because the moment your eyes leave them, they would try to kill themselves."

From what Yen had told them, they have pride unlike Fantasia. This meant that when they are defeated, they would rather choose death than to face the shame of losing.

"And the Soul Burners are also caught," Gwen said. "They are in custody of the police and it's still hard to identify ever yone of them because they are so many."

"What will happen to them now?" Gary asked. "And do they pull the same stunt as Barandilla?"

"For a weird reason, Soul Burners are rather behaved." Matthew spoke and walked towards them. "Gwen got all her information from me and I can tell you real time updates."

"In exchange for what?" Allen asked, making everyone look at him in shock. "You're not doing this for free and I know it. What's your catch, someone who's definitely not Matthew?"

"You catch on real quick," the impostor smirked and his face slowly melted, revealing his true looks. "How is it to live as the Snake, Mr. Allen Nightshade?"