Chapter 37: Zerra Wakes Up

That feeling like a thousand needles shot at her at once. Zerra couldn't describe that kind of pain. It was as if they stabbed directly to her soul. The zombie transformation… she would never get used to it, no matter how many lives she had experienced.

On top of that, also Nyra's terrifying gaze as she looked at her. Her pair of dark eyes now were staring daggers at her, frightening and intense.

"You are a mutated animal," Nyra muttered with certainty. "A zombie."

Zerra struggled in her tight grip, letting out a small yip in pain. Then she froze. Her mind registered what Nyra had said. Animal?

She belatedly realized that Nyra could easily clutch her with her two hands, lifting her up from the ground. She had become a fox again! Wait, had they come down to a plot where Nyra was going to kill the zombie king now? But… wasn't it that fast?

Where was her horde of zombies? She panicked, struggling more fiercely in Nyra's hands. Damn, she was just a weak and helpless little fox right now. 

"What makes you so special that Cassias even picked you up?" Nyra asked again in a small voice, almost like a whisper, but Zerra didn't catch it, too confused to process what was happening.

Those zombies biting her weren't a dream. She was sure of it. They felt too vivid, painful, and terrifying. Then, the virus made her a zombie, but she was not yet a zombie king. Not much time had passed.

Zerra looked up to meet Nyra's heated gaze, which was somewhat eerie. She suddenly stopped struggling. Well, right. Since the female lead was here, she must have coveted that crystal core in her brain. She would soon dig it out, right?

"Nyra, what are you doing?" A chilling voice rang, startling them. Cassias stood up, his exhausted face full of frowns, revealing his disapproval.

Nyra took a step back, her lips curled up into a gentle smile. "Sorry, I saw that the fox was awake earlier. I was afraid that it would run away, so I picked it up."

Breeze hit Zerra's face as she found herself in Cassias' palm. The man didn't answer Nyra's words. To Zerra's shock, he put her small fox frame on top of a comfortable pillow.

There were tons of questions running through her mind right now. The first one was, how the hell did she end up here? From the candle they had put in a few places, it seemed like a tunnel. It was dark all over. 

She jolted when she felt someone's palm caressing her fur. It was Cassias.

Her heart trembled slightly as she thought of the worst. Did they know that the fox was her?

She took a peek at Cassias. This cunning male lead must have been the main culprit. As for Nyra, judging from her questions earlier, she seemed clueless for the time being. 

With that thought in mind, she turned to face Cassias and bared her teeth to him, her throat letting out a high-pitched screech. Her paw clawed at his evil hand vigilantly.

"Careful. That's a mutated zombie animal." Nyra warned from behind him. 

Cassias didn't seem deterred by the fox's attempt at scaring him. "She is just hungry."

With that, he took out a few crystal cores. The stunned Zerra stopped her aggressiveness the moment the few colorful cores were presented in front of her.

They were too tempting. 

"Be a good girl and eat it." Cassias coaxed, no longer touching her. He added softly, "I was wrong. It must have hurt when I touched you…"

Zerra finally couldn't resist it anymore and began eating the crystal cores. These things were too tempting. Sorry, other matters could wait. She was indeed hungry.

The crunching sounds of her eating became the only sound around them. Until Zerra abruptly stopped. Her eyes widened as she thought of something. She recalled Cassias' words earlier. Good girl…?!

How did he know she was a girl, a female fox? She thought tremblingly. Did he check…? What a scumbag, worse than a beast! He didn't even let go of her in a fox form!

"Are you cold?" Cassias' words tinged with worry. He took out a small blanket and was about to wrap it around her when… she suddenly bit his finger.

"Cassias! It bit you!" Nyra half-yelled, her voice full of worry. She had been watching them since earlier. The moment she saw the fox sink its teeth in Cassias' hand, she got up and approached them.

"It's alright." Cassias assured, not even wincing.

"But… there are a lot of animals you can get as your pet. Why this one? A zombie?" Nyra asked. Her hands felt itchy as she saw Cassias didn't even bother to get rid of the fox's teeth off his hand. She almost went to pull that fox herself.

Zerra stopped, blinking innocently. Her mouth twitched, and she let go of Cassias' hand. Blood dripped down to the ground. Cassias casually wiped it. 

A pet?!

Wait, did that mean that Cassias might not know her actual identity? Judging from the way he was treating her, it might be the case.

There was no way the male lead would treat her so kindly. It wouldn't fit his role as Nyra's future partner.

"I like cute animals with fur. This fox has beautiful snow white fur." Cassias didn't even feel embarrassed when he said this, his face didn't change in the slightest.

Zerra heaved a sigh of relief. Fortunately, this guy only coveted her cuteness. She scrunched her face in turmoil. The plot made her the stumbling block between the main leads' relationship as the male lead's treasured fox? 

That was a new and interesting development.

Still, she really couldn't wrap her head around what was happening right now. Not only she didn't become a mindless zombie like she was supposed to, she became the male lead's pet instead.

As she was in a daze, Cassias took this chance to steal a quick stroke on her fur again. She wasn't fast enough to bite him this time, unfortunately. She snarled at him with a promise of retaliation.

Cassias turned to the quiet Nyra. "You can sleep and get some rest. I will take the role of guard tonight."

"But didn't you get bitten by this zombie fox…?" Nyra bit her lip.

Zerra became quiet. Her ears drooped a bit as she felt some guilt. Yes, she was a zombie right now and if she bit Cassias, would he also turn into one?

"That's fine. I just leveled up." Cassias casually said, then he nodded at Nyra in acknowledgement. "I know you did too. Congratulations on your advancement to level two."

Nyra stiffened, then let out a low laugh. "I can never hide from a mental ability user."

"Then I will go to rest." She took out a sleeping bag, staying not far from Laziel, and began to lie down, showing her trust in Cassias.

She seemed to be so exhausted that she immediately fell asleep.

"Now, it's only you and me." The male lead suddenly said ominously. Zerra stopped her attempt at stealing the uneaten crystal cores and looked at him in alarm.