Chapter 9: Why Are You Running?

While Hikari is listening to the preaching of her father, somewhere on planet Olion, a group of ten men is running for their lives.

At the forefront of these dashing men is Lon himself. A short distance away from him is the corpse puppet carrying a wooden coffin on its arms. Further behind the two of them are sweating scared men that didn't care whether there is something odd in front of them.

The thing that is chasing them down is more frightening than an adult carrying a coffin effortlessly.

No one knew that it would turn out like this. It was also at this moment Lon knew he fucked up.

'Fricking fuck! I really should have made only one!'

...

Thirty minutes earlier, somewhere in an enclosed abandoned building.

Lon carefully strode forward. The gaps in the roof are the only reason why he could see. Sunlight came from them and this is his only navigation tool in the darkness of this ruined structure.

Why didn't he brought a piece of lighting equipment then?

The answer is simple than any people could think of. Lon clearly felt the eerie feeling that there are other people around him. It would be bad if he accidentally startled their slumber.

'Let's hope nothing really dangerous pops up'

It wasn't his poor eyesight that he was slowing down his walking pace. He just didn't want to see them even if he got a special ability in his left eye.

Debris is falling off from above and a collection of solid waste littered the cracked foothold. Paper and plastic containers are the most numerous among them. The condition of the walls and the upper floor levels are worsening. Causing for whole sections to either be blocked off by concrete or collapse entirely.

Even with the occasional warmth that passes through, a stiff chill would be felt anyone walking alone in this place. That wind is even colder than the one he felt during stormy nights.

Aside from that, this is the place where Lon put the second corpse puppet. A perfect location not visited by anyone. Not even the folks from the different gangs would have the guts to enter alone.

Soon, he arrived in front of his objective. Seven burnt candles in seven different directions. The dried blood of ceremonial runes is just below the coffin case. This time, the size of the funeral box is smaller and slimmer than the first one he opened.

Additionally, due to the possibility of attracting terrific misfortune that could affect the creation process, Lon intentionally put it under the shine of light. An open space that encompasses a large area to ensure nothing would go wrong.

Forcefully controlling another corpse puppet is equivalent to suicide. But there wasn't a rule or concept that said you aren't permitted to transport the container into another place. There was none. Not even in Uila's excellent magic knowledge of zombies in his Jirhen, has a statement that forbids the movement of the coffin case.

Acting now happened because Nana would be gone for a week. A great chance Lon wouldn't be missing out. While she was still away, he could easily carry the remaining three especially since they are a little special.

Then it happened. The worst scenario he has imagined based on the surrounding landscape and current situation.

Three men emerged from the shadows. Their faces are ghastly menacing as they all swiftly walked towards Lon. They came from three different directions behind Lon.

"Hands up!", a muzzle of an energy-powered handgun is pointed at his head and the other person's head. Most energy bullets travel in a straight line and they are faster than the normal propellant ammunition.

The two people could only comply. One-shot towards their head and their brains would splatter on the ground. Lon didn't want to have another repetition of injury to his body.

"Who are you?", one of them asked as he stepped forward. Lon didn't give an answer before he could be totally sure of the situation. This person or these people just appeared out of nowhere. He didn't even hear the noise of footsteps when they walked.

It looks like his acting skills will be put to test once again.

His body shook uncontrollably. The arms that are risen upwards trembled rapidly.

"A-a-a I'm lo-lost go-goooddd, sirrss!", his stuttering and vocal acting is barely passable in an audition. But it is more than enough to temporarily place their attention to him. While the bigger man moved inch by inch unnoticeably to his side.

"Lost? Don't you know what this place is?", one of them said with aggression and suspicion especially considering the clothing articles of these two.

The big man is wearing winter clothes while the quivering one is in thick clothes that essentially covers his whole body. A tripled layer of a jacket hood, winter headdress, and summer cap. There is also the black scarf hanging on his neck.

It would incredibly hard to determine accurately this person's identity from appearance alone.

Lon didn't mind the extra sweat wearing this. The important thing is to leave anyone guessing for a long time until he has sufficient power to beat them up.

"I don't know sir!", Lon said with surprise and conviction but even an upstart mentalist or an amateur actor would notice that he was lying.

"Stay there!", a warning shot was fired when he tried to move. On his right side is a fine small hole emitting smoke.

"Move and you will die!", there was a tint of anger in his voice as the man resumed his walking.

"Now turn around slowly the both of you!", only now did this person commanded them to turn because he could sense the different positioning of the other person.

Lon slowly turned around carefully and the corpse puppet naturally turned around with a certain delay to its actions.

Although they are now facing each other, the one that kept talking found there isn't any difference because he could still not uncover the background of these two.

Who could guarantee him that the big person wearing oversized clothes is a man and not a woman cross-dressing to hide her identity for some reason?

"Who is that person?", his right index finger pointed to the person beside Lon.

"He's my brother mister, a mu-mute! His tongue was cut off and his vocal cords destroyed!", he hurriedly explained to the only man that strode forward. Another weaved lie for this occasion.

Though it is tough to look farther in darker places, Lon could see the silhouettes of two other people behind this man. He was the only one that approached him.

The appearance is an unassuming everyday face you could see in the streets. Black short hair, brown eyes, and a medium-toned body because of simple exercises. It was your everyday man anyone wouldn't notice.

"And you, who are you?", he asked while quickly on his way. There was a thick warning in his voice.

In other words, if he tried anything funny, he would be shot down the next second.

"I'm Redar! Twenty-three years old, studied at the Olion National University. Graduate of Bachelor of Science majoring in..", Lon appeared to be the type of scaredy chatterbox. When someone asked things about himself, he would not stop talking confidently. At the same time, he was also a fearful person, afraid to lose his life.

"Enough! Do not speak!", he just only opened his mouth and a shout came back at him. The man has this irritated expression on his face. Lon was sure that he has encountered worse kind of people that talked too much.

Being sick of it, all he wanted is for Lon to shut up before he starts to narrate even how his first ejaculation experience went.

The same man strode forward carrying the handgun on his left hand. Strangely, on his way, instead of walking forward, he circumvented the area with sunlight. This made him consume more time and showed a particular peculiarity.

The weirder fact is that he appears to be unbothered by the objects that could bring misfortune located at the center of the scene.

"Sir, we just happened to be here, so please spare us! We didn't see anything at all!", he said while acting to be a frail child in front of the man.

Shortly after a few seconds, he has arrived 5 meters in front of Lon. Even dodging the projectile of the energy gun at this range would prove to be difficult.

"Strip."

"Pardon, sir?"

"I said strip so that I could see your face!", he said angrily with impatience as he shot another warning. Instead of directly killing them, this man really wanted to know first who they are through their appearances.

Who knows that the things he said could be all an absurd lie?

"Okay, sir, okay, we will do it!", Lon gave his reaffirmation to the man. His hands first went to his neck and removed the scarf when the big man beside him acted.

A black blanket obscured the man's vision. Instinctively, he used and fired one energy bullets towards the head of Lon and two more towards the bigger guy.

It is not important if he killed someone very important. It is more important to survive any tricks these defenseless people can throw at him.

Zing!

Zing!

Zing!

When the curtain fell and there is now a line of sight, he was dumbfounded. Smoke rose up from a right hand and a head. The bullet that could instantly penetrate humans only created deeply scarred marks on the skin. There was no blood flowing outwards from those wounds and this genuinely shocked the man.

This was the result of a premature corpse puppet. Its skin is not that enough to completely block a bullet of any sort. Lon was dubious on this topic.

How could such short empowering strengthen and create a formidable body?

There was no leisure time to talk about it as both he and this strange man looked at each other.

'Not a human?' That was the first thing that entered his mind seeing the still moving entity. And the last thing he saw was a flash of light.

"I don't think that's a polite way of greeting mister.", two barrels of handguns pointed at a pair of eyes and fired right away. The guns that he looted before now became helpful tools at that moment.

Zing! Zing! Zing! Zing!

"Ahhhhhhh!", the man could only scream in agony as his eyes melted into a goey solution. He didn't die swiftly as he suffered a pain that will hunt him for the rest of his life if he somehow survived.

In his rage and blindness, Lon has already gotten his objective and was prepared to leave the scene when he remembered something.

'Right, those two!'

Lon stared at the shadows of the two people and found out that they didn't move a single centimeter. They just stood frozen on the spot while their comrade is undergoing a terrible fate.

"I'm gonna kill you brat! I'm gonna kill you!", changes began to occur in his voice. The skin began to loosen and morph into weird shapes. Seeing that Lon has a funny look on his face that is saying he was delighted.

"So, you're not a ghost or something else, huh."

It was that time that Lon decided to do something very crucial when he realized something else.

The corpse puppet held him on its right hand and the other hand has the case. It started to accelerate its speed in another direction.

'Run!'

After around five seconds, the true changes appeared in the man's body. The body size grew exponentially large, black exoskeleton grew and replaced his muscles, his arms transformed to become insect appendages, and a thick horn sprouted from his forehead. The human eyes also changed into small beads of reddish dots.

Thin wings were hidden in the back portion of the exoskeleton body and the skin unique to humans is nowhere to be sighted. Though he remains bipedal, the four arms with three fingers could give the creeps to anyone. His legs became sturdy and hard. The footprints he is leaving on the cold stone ground is reminiscent of a giant insectoid.

It all took almost a minute for this transformation to be completed. By that time, Lon has fled for a good amount of distance but it wasn't a guarantee that it won't be catching up to him soon.

However, an ugly scar remained on the man's face. The transformation somewhat healed it yet it would be still a lasting wound that would remain. The searing pain slowly subsided but rage clouded this person's judgment. It made him thoroughly forget his purpose at that instance.

"I'm gonna kill you!"