CHAPTER 68: CHAPTER 67- RELIEF

Chapter 67- Relief

*Back where Luna Is*

After Jack left, the group continued on to the next spot, where they found a good number of Undead to kill. The process was a bit harder since Luna had to take care of everything herself, but it wasn’t slow either. In a short period of time, Luna was able to finish the rest of the awakened.

Meanwhile, she kept an eye on her device. After the first few messages, Jack stopped sending them, and for a while, it was radio silence.

Luna’s unease started growing quickly, and each time she made someone awaken, she would stare at her device, waiting for Jack to respond or say something. However, ten minutes passed, then twenty with no sign of any message being sent.

At this point, Luna stopped as she held her device, staring at it intently. Her heart was racing in her chest and many thoughts crossed her mind.

’Is he ok? He said he will contact me every few minutes... But, he hadn’t in a while. Maybe he’s in a situation where he can’t? Or perhaps in danger? Should I go? But... We agreed on one hour.’

Many conflicting thoughts clashed within her head as she tried to rationalize it. She knew she might make it worse by going there.

In the end, after contemplating for a while, she finally decided to message him herself. She couldn’t just bear waiting anymore or she would lose her mind.

"Jack, are you there? Do you hear me?" She said after sucking a deep breath and getting the device close from her mouth.

Then, she waited anxiously. But, a minute passed, then two, and no response came back. At that point, Luna was completely certain that Jack was in trouble. Whether that was a very dangerous situation or perhaps something else, she didn’t know.

’I need to go find him.’ She mused. At this point, waiting for an hour wasn’t a viable option. There was clearly something wrong.

"Hey, General," Luna called for Hermann who was busy giving instructions to the soldiers.

"What?"

"I think I’m going to go look for Jack. He didn’t respond in a while and I’m starting to get worried something bad happened to him."

"Huh? That kid is in trouble?" The man frowned. "Should we send the soldiers with you? It could be dangerous."

"No, I will go alone. I will take care of it myself." She shook her head. "I shouldn’t take long. The group should wait here, and then we will go back together."

"Well... We won’t dare to walk back all this distance alone. We would all be dead hahaha..." The man laughed nervously. "But, I understand that the boy could be in some serious danger so we will wait. Be careful, girl. We all need you."

Luna nodded her head and then turned around to leave. However, at that moment, as she was about to start running, she suddenly saw a silhouette in the distance. Her eyes squinted and then they widened.

"Jack!"

She rushed forward, without waiting a second, as she recognized the person coming toward them. Her mind went black as a deep sense of relief and happiness overwhelmed her body. She felt deeply excited and happy that she couldn’t contain it within her heart.

Reaching him, she stopped. It took all her mental strength not to lunge at him and hug him tightly.

"Are you ok? Did you get hurt? I tried to contact you but you didn’t reply for a long time." She said as she stared at his body. Aside from a scratch on his face, he looked completely fine which made her exhale a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, I’m relatively fine..." The boy said with a rather cold look.

"Hm... Is everything fine, Jack? What did you find there?"

Luna rarely saw Jack have that kind of expression on his face. It was almost as if he was disturbed by something. Jack was a very strong person, physically and mentally; he didn’t get disturbed by something very easily, so this was something that Luna immediately picked up on.

"I will tell you when we’re back. It’s a very long story." He said as he sighed. "Did you finish the mission on your side?"

"Yeah... I did. Everything went according to plan." She said as they started walking back together.

"Good. Very good. We will need this more than anything now. Things aren’t looking good at all." Jack said with a dark expression.

"..." Luna stared at him with worry. "What you saw there... Is it bad?"

"Very bad... Way worse than I expected." Jack said. "I don’t even understand it fully yet. But it is definitely something that we can’t ignore. I’m certain it will come to bite us in the back sooner or later if we ignore it."

Those insects they weren’t just lethal; they could easily turn friends into enemies. It wasn’t a matter of just eliminating them, but also making sure no victims fall for it and end up becoming another problem to deal with.

Whether that was now or later, he had to get rid of them once and for all before they get more people.

Reaching the group, Jack was surprised to see how much the mood had changed. Since everyone had awakened, the feeling of fear and despair wasn’t as prominent as before.

’Good, they are ready for the next step now.’ He mused.

"It seems everyone has awakened. How are you all feeling?" He asked.

"Pretty good."

"I feel stronger."

"Definitely a lot better."

"I can fight those damn things now!"

Seeing the positive response, he nodded. "Now, what I want you to do is practice your new abilities, learn how to fight, and try to tell the others back at the base how important it is. If you want them to be able to defend themselves like you do, then please try to convince them. My friends will make sure to teach them what they need to learn, just like what I did."

"We will definitely do!"

"My brother needs to awaken, too! This is a must!"

After seeing how they’re reacting, Jack finally stopped and looked at Hermann.

"I’m glad you’re safe, boy. We were worried about you."

"Thanks. We are ready to go back now. There is a lot to do and more importantly, a lot to discuss."

"... Sure..."

With that, the group gathered their stuff and finally started marching back home. It was still the middle of the day, so the weather was rather fine. The trip back didn’t face any hurdles, and the Undead... Well, they weren’t present either.

In less than an hour, they found themselves back at the base with everyone gathered at the doors waiting for them.

"They’re back!!"

The looks of anticipation on the masses were strong as they gathered around the doors. Once they saw them walk in, many pushed forward to meet their loved ones quickly.

"Ian!!"

"Oh my god, my boy is back!!"

The mood was that of excitement. Everyone thought they might lose their loved one outside, and each minute felt like an hour.

However, seeing that nobody had died. All of that fear... Turned into relief.

Jack stepped aside and watched the scenes in silence. This was perfect. The fact that nobody died was going to be helpful in convincing all these masses that they are truly going to be fine leaving the base and killing the Undead.

’...’ As he was standing there, listening to the noisy crowd, he slowly looked up at the sky again, his eyes losing focus for a second.

Remembering a certain face, he sighed and shook his head as he looked down. ’Well, I’m going to assume she just left. It’s pointless to wait any longer.’

With that in mind, he saw Luna approach him from the side.

"Are you really ok, Jack? You look pale..." She said as she rested against the wall beside him. "I don’t know what you saw within that laboratory, but I’m certain it’s something horrible."

"It is... Honestly, it’s something that no person should be allowed to see. Vile stuff." He said coldly. "I honestly want to shower and cleanse myself from it now. It is still stuck on me..."

Just remembering that smell and that place sent a chill down his spine.

"But, I think I have a way to fix it with me. It’s within this container." He said as he pulled out the metal container.

"What’s that?" Luna asked curiously.

"Well, this is the heart of the problem... If we can use it to get rid of those things... We will be fine."