“Let's go.”Kil started to leave, but Axel caught his shoulder and stopped him.“Where are you going, Kil? Why are you walking the other way?”“We're avoiding an unnecessary fight. Besides, we're heading somewhere else. We—”“Stop making excuses, Kil. We're strong enough now. What's wrong with trying to help people? That way, more humans can be saved, right?”Kil stared at him. Every minute here was a minute lost from the hunt; every stranger they approached might become another person Axel expected him to protect.Axel held his ground and kept his hand on Kil's shoulder. He was not going to walk away while someone was still fighting.“Tsk. Do whatever you want.”Kil knocked Axel's hand off his shoulder.Axel caught his sleeve and led him toward the fighting.“I can walk on my own.”Kil shook free and followed the eager Axel.They reached a supermarket. Six survivors, four men and two women, stood outside with nearly thirty zombies closing around them.Axel's footsteps carried across

Conrad's group fell silent. After a moment, Conrad spoke as their leader.“Of course we'll look after ourselves. We only want to follow you and find somewhere new to go.”“Then we agree.”Kil turned and left with Axel. He listened to the six sets of footsteps following them. A warning was easy to give; he doubted it would stop Axel turning back if they screamed.After two hours and forty minutes on the road, the eight of them reached a police station with more than a hundred zombies outside.Kil stopped beyond the horde's reach. The numbers were much as he remembered.People had flocked here for weapons or police protection when the apocalypse began.Now the same crowd filled the street as zombies.Kil looked back at the six survivors. They had stopped several steps behind him, staring at the crowd outside the station.“Welcome to a cruel world, where only the strong survive.”“T-That's…”Conrad's companions drew closer together at the sight of the horde.Kil, meanwhile, remained calm

Human evolution therefore involved consuming food and potions until the body's limit was broken, then using a Miracle Root. After that came more training, hunting, and potion consumption until the next breakthrough. The cycle would repeat.But the higher the limit, the longer it took and the harder it became to break through.The method was simple. Enduring it was not.The Miracle Root would bore through the body and burrow into the heart. It would fuse with the heart muscle, then dissolve and spread throughout the body.Axel thrashed on the table. Kil kept him conscious, watching for a response each time he called his name. Until the integration finished, he could not be certain it would succeed.A failed integration could leave parts of the recipient's body resembling the creature the root had come from.That was also how another route to human evolution had come into being.First came advancement through potions alone, followed by Miracle Roots. The final additional method was one

Axel turned toward Kil. Felix's arm tightened around Daphne before anyone spoke.“Kil—”Conrad and Scarlett said nothing. Daphne lowered her head; Felix kept looking at Kil.“Just leave me.”She spoke softly, trying to pull away from Felix, who was helping her walk.Scarlett looked reluctantly at her friend. Before she could speak, however, Daphne shook her head, clearly asking her not to interfere.Scarlett stopped. Daphne held her gaze until she looked away.“Then I won't go, either.”Felix straightened. The awkward young man who had barely raised his voice before did not look away.“Oh? Are you sure?”“I'm sure!”His voice was serious. He tightened his hold on Daphne, refusing to let her pull away.“Felix, you—”Before Daphne could finish, he interrupted.“I know her leg makes traveling harder. I can't demand that you take that risk.“But that doesn't mean leaving her is the only sensible choice. You don't know her. I do.“But I've known Daphne since our first semester together. Sh

Conrad left the house. The street was silent. After the fighting earlier, he told himself, Kil and Axel had to be asleep.At the gate, he eased it open and slipped through. Once he reached the house, something felt a little strange.He hesitated at first. But seeing Axel asleep on the couch, snoring, reassured him.He stepped inside. All this space, and they had still left him outside the gate. His jaw tightened as he climbed to the second floor, then the third.Opening the door onto the roof, he was astonished to see tomatoes, peppers, carrots, potatoes, and fruit trees.“This… how did they get all this?”He quickly shook his head. He had come to find out why Kil and Axel were so strong. Yet after circling the garden, he saw nothing special. It was merely a source of food for them!“Then I need to—”His words stopped abruptly. Conrad glanced down.Steel punched through his throat from behind. Conrad stared at the katana tip. When it slid free, he staggered and turned.Kil stood behin