The Countess Lives Twice in the Apocalypse-Chapter 106 - 2.1
The kingdom of Starlian is in ruin.
The kingdom was known for its vast and breathtaking sight with its walls rising up around the land, great towering walls protecting the people with their stones laid sturdy and tall.
The capital city stood proud and grand, its buildings gleaming in the sunlight, shops filled with food, drinks, and handcrafts with the people filling the busy streets, nobles and commoners alike.
Beyond the capital, the kingdom stretched out into the countryside, north, east, west, and south— its land marked by rich, flourishing fields and rolling hills.
The kingdom was a place known for its power and pride, its very existence a reminder of the strength of the mighty ruler who guided the people and called it home; the very ruler who attacked his own subjects the moment he gave in to the illness.
Thus, the start of the chaos.
The beautiful kingdom, with its nourished buildings and lively citizens, was in chaos.
The once peaceful streets were now overrun with the walking dead, their shambling figures lurching through the streets with no sense of direction or purpose other than seeking for anything they can devour.
The undead creatures moved, their greyish pale skin, hanging flesh and blank eyes a disturbing sight to behold as they trampled through the once-thriving streets.
The kingdom was in ruins, its great walls could not hold back the relentless onslaught of the undeads and its once-proud buildings are now either deserted or burned to the ground.
The undead were everywhere, their twisted forms pouring in through the broken gate, their numbers overwhelming the pitifully few survivors who were left standing after a couple of weeks since the capital got infiltrated.
The capital was a sight of horror and terror with the stench of their dead flesh filling the air, the sound of their moans and growls filling the empty spaces.
The chaos in the capital didn’t stay there.
Those who survived had accidentally lured the undead outside of the inner walls, stumbling and scrambling to get anywhere that could shield them away from the relentless pursuit of the undead creatures.
Some escaped to the south, some went to the west, some fled to the east, and some ran to the north.
It doesn’t matter where the survivors went, the undead are still aggressive and stubborn, hungry for more human beings, their strong desire to devour every living being in their sight being their only drive to chase after the survivors.
This was the fact that Jannah knew from her first life.
She did not come back to the capital because of the rumors that it was swarmed by zombies and had crumbled to the ground.
The capital ceased to exist in the second year of the outbreak, but she will travel before that happens.
[Ding!]
[Mission (The miracle of the Statue of Tranquility) unlocked!]
[The miracle of the Statue of Tranquility:
The ruler who used her power to bring peace to the land and establish a time of prosperity is willing to extend her hand for the last time to restore the peace of humanity once again!
Go to the Player’s starting point, [Starlian’s Capital], and activate the Sphere of Heroin of the Statue of Tranquility in the plaza to activate the Sphere of Heroin all over the kingdom.
Activating the Statue of Tranquility will bring immediate assistance to the Player’s future expeditions. ]
"I received a mission." Jannah announced to her little sister making Jeriel look away from the forest and turn to her big sister.
"What is it this time?" Jeriel asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It’s called ’the miracle of the statue of tranquility’ for some reason." Jannah answered, her eyes glued to the system as she read details of the mission.
"Statue of Tranquility? The statue of Queen Arcazian? What does it have to do with the system this time?" Jeriel murmured, a puzzled look on her face as she turned away from her sister and looked back to the forest once more.
The sky is dark, the stars above are twinkling and sparkling with the moon giving them some lights down on the path ahead of them.
It has been a couple of hours since they left for Rye with the Rafelon sisters leading the group of people.
Behind the sisters, Lucienta and Kirie are trailing behind with Count Nige and Princess Huenazia while Duke Eulicies was guarding their rear.
Jannah placed him at the back because of the skill, [Punisher], being one of his skills.
She had helped him train how to use the said skill all day yesterday while also overseeing the training of the other people in her group. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
Some of them had their skills leveled up and Jannah found out that once they did, it will give her own skill another level.
Kirie’s skill, [Salvation], had leveled up with Count Nige’s skill, [Concealment], also leveling up.
Jannah’s skills leveled up the moment their skills leveled up and when she found out that the system could do that, she felt herself relaxing.
However, it also left her feeling confused.
How could Kirie’s and Count Nige’s skills level up when Princess Huenazia’s and Duke Eulicies’s skills couldn’t?
Jannah thought back to how she trained the four of them.
Kirie kept healing Jannah’s wounds after having a light sparring match with the Duke and the Princess while Count Nige had to steal something from the heavily guarded town hall and the bakery shop where all the food was stored.
Does training them to do something that relates to their skill helps them level it up?
The same thing happened when her skill, [Elemental Wall], leveled up while she was creating the wall around the town, right? Right at the last minute, too.
Jannah let out a sigh, shaking her head.
There’s no use thinking about it if she doesn’t have enough evidence to know the truth about how the level system works.
Fortunately for her, they have arrived at the town of Rye the moment she closed the details of the mission.
Jannah took it upon herself to break the rope with a simple swing of her sword before pushing the wooden gates open— the stench of metallic scent hitting her nostrils almost immediately once she did so.
"Ugh.. What’s that smell?" Jeriel groaned out, her voice muffled behind her palm.
"Zombies." Jannah answered as she looked at the map, "Hold my horse and stay here, let me check the town first and wait for my signal."
"Understood." Her little sister said.
"Be careful, my bride!" Count Nige called out to Jannah, having his heart racing as he watched her vanish from his sight.
Jannah simply shook her head at the Count’s antics and looked around. There were no red dots on the map so she wasn’t sure where the smell of blood was coming from.
However, based on how strong the stench was, she knew that it was close.
She continued walking around, her eyes shifting from the map to her surroundings every now and then, and checking the small crevices of the wooden structures she passed by.
The doors of the houses are closed and the map shows no red dots around her so she’s sure that there’s no zombies inside the houses.
Though, through her stiff and tensed patrol, a chime on the back of her head echoed and broke her concentration.
She immediately glanced at the map.
"Outside the wall..?" Jannah murmured, her eyebrows furrowed as she slowly made her way to the wall and stood exactly in front of where the red dots were supposed to be.
There were approximately ten red dots on the map, blinking and chiming in steady rhythm.
Without a word, Jannah casted her skill and felt the earth beneath her feet tremble instantly.
She stood rooted to the spot as a rock wall slowly began to rise from deep beneath the ground, shaping it into a rough, uneven wall, and she continued to draw it up from the earth, the wall growing higher until she was higher than the town’s wooden wall.
Jannah crouched down and tilted her head when she saw the group of zombies laying still on the ground outside of the town’s wall.
One was toppled over another.
She immediately brought out the bow and the quiver of arrows from her inventory so she could get rid of the zombies while they are still dormant.
She wordlessly pulled the shaft from the quiver, placing the arrow in the bow— quietly, slowly, and smoothly with practiced ease as her fingers led the nock to the string and raised her arm to her cheek.
She pulled the bowstring back, feeling the fletching on the arrow’s end tickle her cheek momentarily before she let go of it.
There was no noise when the arrow was released.
The Countess’s fingers simply went limp as the string of the bow slipped past them.
She shot the zombies below her one by one, her eyes glued to their target and not letting it go from her sight.
When she was done, she stored the weapons back to her inventory and hummed in satisfaction when the red dots on the map disappeared.
All of you can come in. Jannah said through the mental link she has with her party.
She watched with a small smile as the blue dots on the map started to move after she gave them the go signal to go inside the town.
