First things first, Ashton did a sweep through the outside of the school, to make sure that there weren't any zombies running around here. There were two, standing at the edge of the playground.

  Like they were stuck in a moment in time, they just stood there, staring into the air. They didn't hear Ashton approach because of the silent-step shoelaces, but the moment that Ashton cracked the skull of one of them, the other lunged straight at him.

  But zombies were slow and not particularly strong. The only real reason why they were able to overtake places so fast was because it didn't take much for someone to be infected. They could spread the infection by biting or scratching others, and could infect almost everything; people, monsters, animals... none were safe. Luckily, things like bugs were safe, and plant-type monsters couldn't be infected either. And even if someone had resistances, that only helped temporarily stop the spread, and if you then treated the wound with the right sort of potion or medicine, you could prevent the infection from taking hold.

  However, if you didn't have resistances, the spread was fast.

  And then, there was the aspect that most zombies weren't totally mindless, especially once the infected individual was more powerful. Weak folk like these two now laying on the ground in front of Ashton had no thoughts going through their minds, just instincts.

  But more powerful zombies that inherited enough mental function to use skills were absolutely terrifying. 'The Walking Dead'? How cute. Imagine a zombie lunging at you with a greatsword, or casting corrupted spells with the capacity to infect others. Now that was real horror.

  The worst part was that the process of zombification was utterly painful. Ashton had undergone it a couple times. Once, because he was careless and was bitten by an infected child he was trying to help, and then a couple more times when the Summoner realised that it might be a great way to strengthen Ashton with this particular strain of zombies.

  Undead were a thing originally in Lumia as well, but they weren't the sort that could infect others. The 'zombies' there were really just magically reanimated corpses. But this type was much different.

  However, since Ashton became useless pretty fast whenever he was infected, the Summoner would 'reset' him to the state he had before that every time they failed, and he just had to live with the memories of what it was like to eat the guts of a person while not in control of himself.

  Maybe it was because Ashton was relatively strong back then, but he was relatively conscious. The only reason that kid's bite infected him in the first place was because the Summoner was curious about what would happen to him. Either way, while Ashton hoped that the people stuck in those undead bodies weren't conscious, he couldn't know that for sure. The only thing he could do for them was to take them down as fast as he could.

  There was no 'cure' for zombification, just ways to slow or stop the infection.

  [You have killed a [Zombie Human] and offered its life to the [Daughter of the Scarlet Heart]]

  [You have killed a [Zombie Human] and offered its life to the [Daughter of the Scarlet Heart]]

  [[Executor of the End] stares at the victims of the disease with disgust]

  [[Executor of the End] asks you to put a stop to this desecration of life and death]

  "You didn't have to tell me, I'm already on it," Ashton said, sighing lightly. He placed his hand over the lantern attached to his hip, and did what he had done with the corpses of the zombie goblins earlier.

  Ashton grabbed himself a flame and incinerated their bodies, and even the slightest trace of blood that came with them. Of course, not before tagging them with the Pen of Insight and collecting their information. He wanted to make sure he knew who fell victim to this, at least. The pen could write it all out later when Ashton took a break, but for now, he had to make sure that nothing else could get infected.

  It would be horrible if one of the scavenger monsters ate the infected flesh. The insects were fine, but for example the flesh-eating rats and carrion crows that Ashton saw a lot would be the worst-case. Rats were basically pros at spreading disease, and it was pretty obvious why flying zombie crow monsters were a bad idea.

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  He had to halt this infection here and now before it could spread. It sounded like the Marked had only become a true zombie after he died, and if that happened in here, then things should be contained for the time being.

  "Hell, please let it be contained..."

  Ashton really did not want to deal with these zombies. That would be far too risky. Sure, they had their own weaknesses, but it would turn this city into even more of a deathtrap than it already was. Worst-case, the quests could adjust to the presence of a large amount of zombies and change accordingly, which would mess up the plans that he had already set in motion.

  Once the corpses had been burnt to a point that Ashton deemed safe enough, Ashton made his way inside the school. But in here, despite it being day, Ashton could use his new items perfectly.

  None of the lamps worked anymore, so the sun was the only source of light and created plenty of shadows when thrown through the windows. There were actually tons of corridors that light didn't reach in the first place. Blending in with the darkness was amazingly easy like this.

  He felt the magic of his jacket, belt, and gloves flow over his body and staff, as he silently walked through the dark corners of the school. Now that they were essentially 'true' monsters, any zombie in here would come to attack him right away. There was still the protection of the Guardian of the Innocent to take into account, so the children and their direct guardians were hopefully safe. Or at least, Ashton would become a prime target.

  But if at all possible, Ashton wanted to avoid any risk of being scratched or bit. He wasn't strong enough to fend the infection off yet, and he didn't have the right potions to prevent it either. And losing a limb right now wasn't something he could afford to do either.

  The materials he'd need to create a replacement arm or leg for himself were far too rare for him to be able to get his hands on that anytime soon.

  Ashton would have to completely switch around his plans to account for different summons that could take over a more direct combat load.

  The safest way to take care of the zombies was to just strike them in a way that would kill them as fast as absolutely possible through attacks they didn't notice.

  And there was a small group of zombies waiting for him down the hallway as well, perfect to test out his shadow walk.

  They were standing in front of the door to a classroom, trying to push their way in. They were actively trying to go for it, but they weren't aggressive enough. There must be some kids hiding in there.

  Ashton rushed through the hallway's shadows, and soon leapt out. The first zombie was killed with a simple push to the back of its head. The second died when Ashton twisted his staff around and slammed the steel cap into into its nose. The bodies of zombies began to break down almost immediately, up to a certain point, so their flesh and bones were often brittle.

  This was technically just the first step of their overall transformation process, since after a while, the broken-down matter would actually harden and strengthen the zombies considerably, making them far stronger than they were before they were infected, but that usually took a few weeks. They wouldn't have that much time.

  Ashton pushed the third zombie into the wall, hitting its forehead with his staff. Its head splattered from the front and back, and Ashton immediately clicked his fingers and started incinerating the corpses. Through the sylph, he directed the smoke outside and made sure that no fire could really start, but he had to do this as fast as he could before and of the kids saw them like this.

  Once the zombies' blood was incinerated, it was safe enough to move them. The Drunken Bear didn't seem exactly happy about it, but they silently carried the corpses to a point where they could be hidden from the students.

  And then, Ashton knocked on the door.

  "Open up. The zombies that were here are gone," he said, and almost immediately, the door was pulled open. The one standing there, with a pale face and teary eyes, was one of the teachers. She was actually the one that had led Ashton around the place when he first came here.

  "It's you! Hurry, come inside!" She grabbed Ashton's arm and pulled him into the classroom, shutting the door behind him. "Have you been bitten anywhere? Scratched?"

  Ashton silently looked around the room, practically ignoring her questions. There were around two dozen kids in here. A couple of adults. They didn't seem like teachers, so they didn't recognise Ashton.

  "I haven't. Do you know where other students are? Better yet, do you have any idea where the guy that started this whole thing is?" Ashton asked, still not looking at the teacher directly. He rather wanted to make sure that the kids were alright.

  "... He should be in the auditorium," she explained. Her face went even more pale than before, like she was about to vomit. "But he's... absolutely terrifying..."

  "I'll manage. Taking him down is a priority, so I'll head there right away. Can you point me in the right direction?"

  "Priority..? But he's not the only one turning people into those things, that curse spreads through all of them!"

  Ashton sighed. "Not a curse, it's more like a virus. An infection. But also, that guy likely has some abilities that strengthen either the zombies themselves or increases the speed the infection spreads through a victim. Either way, taking him down should help get rid of the rest."

  The teacher glanced around the room nervously, leaning in to Ashton. "Can't we... cure them somehow? Plus, zombies? That's kind of... silly, isn't it?"

  "Silly? What's silly about zombies." Ashton shook his head. "They can't be cured, either, I'm sorry. The zombification only finishes once the infected is effectively dead, and at that point they start moving around like that."

  "I... I see..."

  But there was something else that was bothering Ashton. He had been here for a while, and had expected to be received grandly by a certain being. But they didn't come to him yet.

  "... Where's the 'Guardian of the Innocent'?"