Chapter 18 – Bound (Part 1)
Jack froze again and looked up at Liliana with a suspicious look. If the first guess was a coincidence, then this was certainly not. It was far too accurate to be something she could just come up with from a few minutes of interaction and tension.
Unless…
Jack didn't know what to think of it, so he just shook his head. 'It is probably that, isn't it…' he mused before he looked at Liliana.
"I wouldn't call it rivalry," Jack replied. "I don't rival anyone for anything. Rivalry is an inherently stupid idea."
"Oh, really? Why do you think so?" Liliana looked at Jack curiously. She loved to hear his views on things, as they were almost always unique in a charming way.
"Rivalry indicates that you are ready to struggle against your enemy for a certain goal. There are not many things in this world worth struggling over; love is certainly not one of them."
Why would people fight for something as obscure and ambiguous as love? It was stupid. Jack would rather leave than bother with dumb things like that—and that was what he did. He didn't need nonsense in his life, certainly not from Evan.
"Hm." The beautiful demon looked at him with a faint smile. "Don't they say 'Love is the closest thing to feeling alive one could be'?"
"No, it's not." Jack shook his head. "Death is."
"Hahaha, isn't that a bit contradictory?" Liliana asked as she rested her head on her knee, looking mesmerizing as ever.
"That's the point. Your body knows you're close to death, so it gives the full capacity of your awareness to make you survive. Our bodies are lazy and disgustingly efficient—they don't put much effort beyond what they need."
"Interesting," Liliana muttered. 'This boy is already aware of so much. You wouldn't think he's another normal human in this world. Where did you get that brain of yours, Jack?'
"In any case, I don't know how you came to that conclusion earlier. But yes, I have a problem with those two, and I do not wish to be in contact with them, but there are priorities, I suppose."
"I'm sure they can be very useful if you use them right," Liliana shrugged.
"We shall see…" Jack replied. "By the way, Liliana."
"Hm?"
"Why did you choose Earth, of all places, to come visit out of boredom? Surely there are countless more interesting worlds out there?"
"Hm…" Liliana hummed as if she were thinking for a moment.
"Surely there are other worlds currently going through the same process we are going through," Jack said.
"There are. Frankly, Earth is underwhelming in my senses. It isn't special in any way—at least from what I have seen so far."
"Then was it a coincidence that truly brought you here?" Jack asked.
"... Hm, well, yes and no. I won't lie—it wasn't a complete coincidence that brought me to Earth."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah. A very long time ago, I heard a tale from someone about a particular world that is no more special than every other world. Yet, on this world, something special was bound to happen—something that will change the Realms as we know them. The story lacked details and authenticity, so it was more like a legend rather than an actual prophecy. However, I was so curious to see for myself if that was true or not. You could say the kid's curiosity in me wished to check."
"I see…" Jack muttered in a daze. 'A fairy tale, huh? I guess even higher beings aren't immune to imagination.'
As much as it sounded surprising, Jack didn't find it that impossible to imagine pure curiosity had brought Liliana here.
"Well, did you find what you were looking for?" he asked.
"Hm, I can't tell yet. But…" She smiled at Jack. "I have found something worth staying here for."
The boy stared at her for a second, realizing what she meant. Then he scoffed. "Very funny of you."
"Hey~ I'm not always messing around. Sometimes I can be very serious." Liliana rolled her eyes.
"I'm not here to entertain you, unfortunately."
"You don't need to, I'm being entertained as it is—and I feel like it will only get better from here on out."
"Whatever…" Jack sighed as he continued working on his shoulder. As much as he found this seductive demon odd and dangerous, Jack found Liliana to be a rather interesting person who had a lot hidden behind those pretty eyes.
'She doesn't seem bad, at least for the time being…' he mused. 'We shall see what the future holds.'
***
Two hours passed in silence inside the gymnasium. Everyone was quiet, with only occasional whispers and talks amongst the crowd. While still in utter fear, the nerves seemed to calm down a bit when they didn't see more monsters outside.
"Could the police already be taking care of this?"
"I don't know, maybe? I can't hear any more noises."
"Yeah… maybe they found a way…"
"But... so many died… I'm so worried about my family."
Some wanted to leave immediately to find their families and friends, but no one was courageous enough to dare such a thing.
Meanwhile, Jack and the rest of the group spent the time resting and contemplating their next step.
Jack himself spent the time working on his arm, and surprisingly, he was able to somehow make it move again properly—albeit with a lot of pain. He was enticed to use the 5 points, but he decided not to and kept them for what was coming ahead.
Finally, after he was certain he could move properly, he stood up and approached the group.
"Are you ready?" he asked them.
"Yeah. I am more than ready," Alex said.
"I'm ready, I think…" Emi said with a nervous smile.
"Whatever, let's get done with this."
Luna stood up and approached Jack. "Let's do this."
Seeing the determination in her eyes, he nodded his head. "Good. Let's go."
With that, the group turned around and walked to the door.
"H-Hey! Where are you going?!"
"Please don't leave us here behind!"
"What? Are you leaving?"
The survivors were perturbed as they tried to call after them.
"Wait for rescue here," Jack said. "They will come sooner or later. If rescue doesn't come, grab weapons and leave to fight. When you kill monsters, you will find a path."
Jack left those words behind and walked out, followed by the others, leaving the stunned crowd behind.
The gates closed, and the group walked away from the gymnasium. The fate of the people inside was completely unknown. Whether they would survive or die was up to them—and up to luck.
The five students marched next to the wall. Some Undead saw them and tried to approach, only for Jack or one of the others to swiftly get rid of them. Luckily, there were no crowds or hordes, so it was easy to deal with them.
Eventually, they made it to the eastern wall of the school. There, Jack climbed up and peeked at the other side where the cafeteria building was.
What he saw… was shocking.