Chapter 6: Chapter 6: The Resurrected Head Ghost
Li Mo knew these ominous elements didn't belong at St. Freya's Academy—they were dangerous, yet within them lay his slim chance of survival.
"Someone's here?" Li Mo's guard rose instinctively. Though the auditorium offered relative safety, it didn't guarantee absolute security.
"It shouldn't be a threat... yet."
Li Mo was confident. If it came to a life-or-death struggle, even this weak Valkyrie cadets wouldn't last three seconds against him.
St. Freya Academy was a greenhouse, and they were its sheltered flowers.
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Suddenly, the clock above rang out:
"Ding-ling-ling! Ding-ling-ling!"
7:00 PM.
A thunderous crash echoed through the campus. The ground trembled violently before settling into silence.
The Anomaly Resurgence had begun.
Across the campus, all the vengeful spirits awoke...
By dawn, the auditorium might be the only place with survivors.
Li Mo was certain of that much.
Turning to Shaori and the others, he gestured for them to stand behind him.
His gaze fixed on someone familiar in the hall.
"Shigure Kira... why are you here?"
In the normal course of events, Shigure Kira shouldn't have appeared yet. It wasn't until the story reached its second eruption that her role would gradually come into play.
In other words, the plot of this world had already been severely twisted long ago.
"Who are you? Do we know each other?" Kira looked confused. Had her reputation spread so far that random people could now recognize her?
It was reasonable for students of St. Freya Academy—the future Valkyries—to know her.
However, the person before her was clearly a man. He couldn't possibly be a student of the academy.
"I know you, but it's normal that you don't know me. What I want to know now is why you're here," Li Mo asked calmly, his hand conspicuously not resting at his waist.
Because even if he tried to draw a gun and launch a sneak attack, he couldn't defeat her.
Li Mo was well aware of that.
Any Valkyrie ranked A-class or higher could no longer be described as merely "human."
Kira glanced at the girls standing behind Li Mo, her guard gradually lowering.
The man clearly displayed protective behavior, so he didn't seem like a bad person.
"Oh, and your hair is beautiful," Li Mo complimented her sincerely.
Kira didn't take it seriously. She assumed Li Mo was just trying to cozy up to her, but given the current circumstances, sticking together was the sensible option.
"I was dispatched by the headquarters of Schicksal. Not long ago, St. Freya Academy completely lost contact with the headquarters. Several squads were sent out to investigate, but none of them returned. Eventually, I was assigned to come here."
"Honestly, you're really lucky! There are tons of nasty things roaming this school, but the auditorium is the only safe place."
"Believe me, you don't want to see those things... even thinking about them makes me nauseous."
At this point, Kira's expression twisted with visible disgust. A chilling shiver visibly ran through her body as if she were recalling something horrific.
Li Mo latched onto a key phrase and quickly asked, "You fought them?"
Kira took out her battered weapon—a massive greatsword with most of its blade broken. Sighing heavily, she said:
"Why else do you think we're still alive?"
"My dual pistols were lost, and my sword is broken. I had to fight them while covering my teammates' retreat. It's embarrassing to admit, but I only lasted three minutes before we were completely overwhelmed. If we hadn't made it into the auditorium in time, all of us would've died out there."
"Those freakish things were way tougher than I'd imagined. Even as a near S-rank Valkyrie, it took my full strength just to barely sever a single head... but even after cutting it off, the head kept moving! I mean, seriously—how can a severed head move independently of its body?! It's like—"
"Like a ghost. Unkillable," Li Mo interjected calmly.
"Exactly. Looks like you've seen them too."
Kira gave Li Mo another once-over, and Li Mo returned the gesture.
Fortunately, Kira hadn't died. Her combat strength might still come in handy later.
Li Mo made a mental note.
Even if he used all his trump cards, he could only survive for one minute amidst the Anomaly Resurgence. Kira had managed to last three minutes while protecting her teammates.
Three minutes wasn't long, but in the context of this supernatural nightmare, it was impressive.
The real question was how many heads she had faced.
While Li Mo and Kira exchanged intel as team leaders, the ground beneath them began to quake again. This time, however, the tremors didn't stop—they only grew stronger.
"What's going on? Don't tell me we're unlucky enough to run into an earthquake now!? Ugh, I knew I shouldn't have taken this mission. I should've just gone to the sunny beaches and enjoyed my vacation!"
Kira groaned, her hands running through her sky-blue hair in exaggerated frustration.
Despite her complaints, Li Mo didn't think she was the type to shirk responsibility.
If she truly lacked a sense of duty, she would've abandoned her teammates and fled the moment she realized the ghosts couldn't be killed.
Li Mo believed Kira could escape on her own, but her teammates didn't have the strength to do the same.
"Everyone, hide in the back of the auditorium. Shigure Kira, come with me to the entrance to see what's going on," Li Mo ordered.
"Why should I listen to y—" someone from Kira's team started to object, but the words died in their throat when they saw their captain drop her dramatic act and move seriously towards the entrance to stand alongside Li Mo.
The students from St. Freya Academy immediately retreated to the back of the auditorium, where they huddled together with Kira's squadmates.
However, Shaori didn't follow the group but instead hid behind Li Mo, clutching the corner of his shirt.
"Xiao You? Why aren't you going in?" Li Mo asked, puzzled.
"Brother… didn't you say… I should keep an eye on the thermometer and tell you right away if there's any change?" Shaori replied weakly.
"I don't need it now. Go inside." Li Mo dismissed her without hesitation.
Shaori nodded obediently and quietly walked deeper into the auditorium, joining the others as they surrounded the black coffin.
Suddenly, Kira, struck by a playful mood, teased Li Mo: "You really don't know how to cherish a girl, do you?"
Li Mo didn't respond. Cherish? What a joke. With the Anomaly Resurgence rampaging outside, standing too close would risk the thermometer blowing up!
That thermometer wasn't something that could be casually replaced. Just like that coin, it was imbued with Anomalous energy. Li Mo couldn't bear to see it damaged.
"They're coming."
"Boom! Boom!"
The scene that followed would haunt everyone present for the rest of their lives, especially the young Valkyrie students with fragile minds.
Countless human heads, bouncing like rubber balls, came rushing towards the auditorium.
Each time they landed, they left behind a smear of blood or crushed an eyeball, flattened a nose, or splattered a piece of brain matter.
The faces were utterly deformed, as though ground through a meat grinder. The features were indistinguishable, with hair ripped and torn apart, revealing large patches of bloody scalp. A putrid stench of decay engulfed the entire hall.
These were head ghosts' ghastly means of movement. Along the path, they left severed tongues, splintered teeth, brain matter, and shattered pieces of skull.
The overwhelming stench of rotting flesh filled every corner of the auditorium.
"Disgusting," Kira muttered sourly, glancing back at her teammates.
"Urgh!"
"Huh… blegh!"
More than half of the people in the auditorium, unable to stomach the scene, clutched their stomachs as they puke uncontrollably.
Kira's face twisted in discomfort as she gripped her broken sword tightly. "Seriously, this is revolting. If we wait any longer, they'll get in, and we'll all die. Prepare for a fight—I'll lead the charge.
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