Chapter 4

"Come quick!"

A voice of a little Girl Called out to me.

I was standing on a beautiful pink flower field It filled the whole scenery like a beautiful canvas, and the cool breeze gently touched my face.

"Papa! Come quick!"

I turned to the owner of the voice. I could see a little girl Standing far-away waving her arms happily at me, she had a short Black hair and I could see that she is at least 8 years of age, behind her was a Woman with long Jet-black hair she was the same height as me and even though I was far away I could tell that she was a beauty.

*Who are they?* I thought to myself

Despite my confusion my body moved on its own, I raised my arm and waved back at the them.

"I'll be right there!" I replied.

*What's happening!?*

I spoke without my will and moreover my voice was different contrary to my old rough sounding voice the voice I used to reply just now was awfully Gentle I could hardly Believe that it was my Voice.

My body was moving on its own and I was now moving towards the girl and the woman. I tried to stop my body but I can't seem to control it.

*Is this Illusion Magic? no illusion magic doesn't restrict the targets movement and what's more I dont know why but it feels real and I feel like this has happened to me but I have no recollection of this whatsoever*

"Papa look! Its a crown"

When I arrived to where the girl was standing she eagerly showed me a crown made out of beautiful flowers, I looked at the flower and at the little girl.

She was smiling, I could see that she was waiting for me to praise her and somehow her little smile made me feel warm and comfortable.

I felt the muscles in my face—particularly my cheeks—move to form a gentle Smile.

"It looks beautiful did you make it yourself?"

"Mhm! And this is for you Papa and that one is for Mama!" She said as she moved to point at the other Crown made out of flower.

And just like the one she showed me the other crown was also beautiful and elegant.

The warmth in my chest increased ever so slightly. *What is this Warmth?*

"Now Papa let me put this on you" the girl eagerly suggested.

*I've felt this warmth before but when?*

My body proceeded to crouch down in order for the girl to reach my head. As soon as my head was within reach the girl quickly put the crown atop my head. I could feel the weight of the Crown in my head it wasn't heavy considering it was made out of flowers.

"Now Papa put this one on Mama's head"

The girl was now handing over the other crown she made to me as she beaconed me to the woman standing a meter behind her.

"Got it thanks my little princess"

I received the crown and slowly walked

towards the Woman with Jet-black hair.

" A Beautiful and elegant Crown to match my beautiful and elegant Queen" I spoke.

The Woman smiled gently and happily and I felt happy and satisfied as if I had just accomplished something thought to be impossible.

"I am honored to receive such a praise from the most Grand and Handsome King of the world"

She bowed and I proceeded to put the crown on her head.

"It suits you very well dear" I smiled

The woman's face flushed with pink.

"You always know what to say at the most crucial moments don't you?" She said to me while smiling like she just found something she was looking for.

The woman elegantly moved towards me and gently pulled my face closer to her face. I felt something warm touch my lips and a sweet feeling erupted from my chest my heart beats faster and I felt unbelievably happy. She has kissed me in the lips.

As we part our lips the woman gently stated .

"And I always know what to do to shake you up" She said as she smiled bewitchingly to me.

I could feel my face blushing as it felt hot.

"Papa and Mama really loves each other" the little Girl stated.

The woman and I looked at the little girl and both said.

""But we also really love our Little Princess""

The Girl Smiled Happily and proceeded to hug as both with her tiny little arms and we also proceeded to hug her creating a Group hug.

"I love you too Mama, Papa"

Happiness welled up inside me but at the same time an indescribable Sadness washed over me and I could feel warm droplets of tears streaming out from my eyes.

"Papa Loves you both very much..."

*I can't stop crying, Why? why am I overcome with such intense sadness and Grief?*

"Papa loves you...so please.. please... be safe..."

Sadness and intense Grief caused me to cry even more. This emotions were new to me and they're too intense I felt like my chest and head was being torn apart my heart feels like its going to destroy itself.

*No please no more... I can't take it anymore... Its heavy...It hurts*

_________________________________________

"Al are you okay?"

I slowly opened my eyes and saw Shizuka and Fumi Looking worriedly at me.

I don't know why but my chest felt heavy and my eyes were awfully fuzzy.

I was confused and it seems that my confusion showed in my face.

"You started Crying all of a sudden so we pulled up for a minute to check on you"

Shizuka said to me.

"I was Crying?" I asked puzzled.

Shizuka nodded and spoke again.

"It sounded like you were having quite a dream you kept Murmuring 'please' over and over again as if your desperately pleading to someone"

Fumi meekly nodded along as Shizuka spoke.

They don't seem to be messing with me so I choose to believe them.

I forced my body to sit upright and surprisingly the pain accompanying my movements seem to have been reduced dramatically but still if a normal person was to feel it they'd still recoil in pain. Last time was thousands of needles this time its like a knife being stabbed at you and twisted once it's stabbed.

"I'm terribly sorry for worrying you but I'm fine now" I concluded.

Although my chest was still feeling heavy and my body is still experiencing the painful backlash of using it to its limits, I can still say I can still fight and move around enough so I concur that I'm fine.

"Well if you say so... Our destination is just an hour away so when we get there I suggest that you should take your time to rest"

Shizuka Stated still looking worriedly at me.

I tried to appear fine but Fumi seems to know that I was still feeling uncomfortable unlike Shizuka who looks worried Fumi looked like she knows something.

"Is there any problem Fumi?" I prompted to ask her.

I'm personally bothered by her gaze so I at least wanna know what's wrong.

"Eh? Uh ..uhm"

**Rustle*** Rustle**

Fumi opened a bag and fervently searched for something. After a few scuffles and rustles she seem to have found something and handed it to me.

It was some kind of container like bottle but it doesn't seem to contain water or any liquid instead it sounded like it contained pebbles.

There was a mark on it saying "Painkillers"

If the name was anything to go by, that would mean that this is a medicine made to suppress pain or altogether eliminate it.

Shizuka also leaned closer to look at the container.

"Where did you get this Fumi?"

Shizuka looked at Fumi with speculation .

*It seems that its not normal to be carrying this around*

Fumi panicked and hurriedly explained.

She nervously moved her eyes around while talking.

"I thought we would need this kind of medicine so I somehow swiped one from a dead Zombie"

Now Shizuka was Surprised and a look of disbelief and confusion quickly filled her face, she looked at the medicine once again a look of contemplation on her face.

"You ...Swiped it? Nevermind."

Shizuka sounded like she just heard something unbelievable but chose to ignore altogether. She looked at me this time.

"You're awfully pale Al are you sure you're fine?"

*I guess my body doesn't lie huh?*

Unlike my original body this body isn't used to fighting and has limits. My original body could punch a whole straight through an Oni's chest but this one could only manage the same with an undead moreover it seems that somehow my strength is actually restricted to a certain extent despite using Herculean strength its still restricted.

Herculean Strength doesn't just boosts ones strength if needed it will also allow the user to ignore any side effects and limitations that the body has, For example if my punch—boosted by Herculean Strength— can only scratch a giants skin, A punch—boosted by Herculean strength and has ignored Limitations— will punch through the Giant leaving a gaping hole but the punch will cost you either just your arm or your whole Body.

Herculean Strength skill was said to have come from a hero of ancient ages, this hero was said to attained the strength of gods while still within a mortals body and upon his final breath his body was said to shine so bright and that brightness enveloped the world after that many men and occasionally women was found to have suddenly acquired a Skill named Herculean Strength.

*Well that's how the Story goes*

"Well the truth is I'm suffering from intense muscle pain"

I decided to tell the truth instead of covering it up with another half assed lie.

"I see ... Well I guess you should intake some of this but stick to 1-2 pills only anymore than that would cause your body to undergo Overdose"

Shizuka gave me one pill and I flicked it to my mouth without hesitation.

"BITTER!!"

I almost coughed the pill out, I assumed it would have the same taste as our herbal painkillers back home but I'm proven wrong.

The moment the pill touched my tongue the taste of bitterness spread on my mouth.

"It should kick in a couple of minutes, if you still feel pain after.. about 10 minutes then take another one"

I nodded along as Shizuka explained.

Well she said a couple of minutes but I'm already feeling the effects.

*Maybe its because of my skills*

---Scrreeeeeeeeeeeee---

"""Huh?"""

The three of us heard a screeching noise from afar and we all turned our heads to where the noise came from.

From afar was a tall humanoid shadow taller than even Fumi ot Shizuka, it was thin as if it was a walking skeleton it was walking on a slow pace but there was something much more inhuman than its height, namely it was its long nails that was atleast 10x longer than normal fingernails.

"shit, talk about bad luck"

Shizuka muttered.

She seems to be on guard more than ever.

"Shizuka what is that?"

Shizuka turned to me and held her index finger over her lips.

"keep your voice down... that thing over there is blind another variant of the zombies, in exchange of its vision it has an excellent sense of hearing it can hear sounds at around a certain distance and moreover it voluntarily makes sound in order to move around without stumbling and its insanely fast, it can even catch up with an average car, we're calling it as Ech"

*hmm so its similar to a Lesser Grit a monster species that are related to Bats*

"anyway we have to leave while we're still far from it, so that we could get a headstart"

I quizzically moved my head and looked at Shizuka.

"Don't you mean Escape?" I asked

"N-no it's impossible to escape that thing when your in a silent place like this. The best option is to run away and hope that it won't catch up" Fumi explained

"Then how about a distraction like throwing a stone in the opposite direction, won't it follow the sound?"

This is how I usually deal with Lesser Grits since they have low intelligence they can be fooled into attacking nothing.

"That won't work, that damned Ech knows how to differentiate between a sound produced by a human and an object, that's why its troublesome ,if you face one its either you stay as silent as possible or kill it"

Shizuka scowled at the Ech undead.

*Oh its comparable to a Normal Grit now*

"YEEEeeeeEEE!!!" A loud scream escaped the Ech undead.

"Shit! It noticed us! Fumi get inside were hightailing"

Both of them hastily went inside and drove.

I looked at the Ech again.

*it really is fast!"

,.........,