Lilith stared at the man that had been bitten by the zombie earlier. William had told her not to get too close to the person because he might have been infected by the Zombie Virus.
The man's comrades stood at a distance while they looked at him with sadness, because they understood that his fate was already sealed.
"K-Kill me," the man pleaded. He knew that in less than an hour, he would turn into a zombie as well. "Just make it quick. I don't want to suffer much."
Lilith nodded. She moved behind the man and prepared to stab his heart with one quick thrust.
"Wait!"
The Amazon's short sword stopped only an inch away from the man's back. She then looked in William's direction and saw the Half-Elf walking towards her, using a steel bar as support.
"Let me try something first," William said as he struggled to walk towards the man. He still felt weak, and his legs weren't strong enough to support his body.
Lilith didn't move to support William because she was paying close attention to the man's current condition. If the man turned into a zombie, she would immediately sever his head and end his misery.
"Give me your hand," William stated as he reached out towards the man. "I will end your suffering."
The man looked at William's outstretched hand before shifting his attention to the red-headed teenager's face. After a brief internal struggle, the man reached out to hold William's hand.
"I might turn into a zombie any moment now," the man said. "Whatever you plan to do, make it quick."
The blood vessels of the man started to bulge in his skin. Clearly, the Zombie Virus had started to invade his body, and it wouldn't be long before his sanity disappeared completely.
"Understood," William replied. "I pray that you live a more peaceful life in your next reincarnation."
White flames surged from William's hand and passed through the man's body. Soon, the man was engulfed with white flames, but the latter didn't feel any pain. Instead, he found relief. It was as if all his worries had turned to ashes.
"Thank you," the man said as tears streamed down the side of his face," the man said. "Michelle… I will see you… soon."
The man's companions teared up when they saw his body turn into particles of light. It was also at that moment when a white orb of light appeared amidst the particles and slowly traveled towards the sky.
William watched this scene with a relieved expression because he knew that the man had now started his new journey towards the cycle of reincarnation.
The Flames of Purification came from the tears of a Goddess that fell during the Era of the Gods.
When William was thinking on how to save the man from afar, a small flame blazed at the tip of his finger. With this realization, the Half-Elf felt that he could safely send the man's soul to the afterlife, painlessly.
"Thank you for giving him relief," a lady who seemed to be in her early thirties said as she approached William. She then shifted her attention to Lilith and bowed her head. "Also, thank you for saving our lives. If you didn't help us, we might have all turned into zombies as well."
William looked at the fallen zombies around them. He then tried an experiment and flicked a small white fireball at one of them.
The moment the small fireball hit the zombie, white flames covered its entirety and turned it into particles of light.
Suddenly, a white orb of light flew towards William and circled around him.
"Thank you."
A soft, yet relief-filled voice reached everyone's ears. They then watched the white orb of light fly towards the sky.
"Good job," Lilith said with a smile as she approached William.
However, her smile immediately disappeared when she saw the Half-Elf spat out a mouthful of blood. Lilith hurriedly went to support William to prevent him from collapsing.
"Are you alright?" Lilith asked in a worried tone.
"Yes," William replied as he wiped away the traces of blood at the corner of his lips. "I'm fine. This is just the side effect of using the Flames of Purification."
The Half-Elf sighed in his heart as he glanced around at the bodies of the zombies around him. When he was able to purify one of the zombies, he thought that he could send them all to the afterlife.
However, he didn't expect that using the Flames of Purification would take a great toll on his body.
Back in Hestia, he could easily purify millions of undead without breaking a sweat. However, in this world, the power he could bring out was limited. This was why he decided to set aside his plan on purifying the bodies of the other zombies.
'Instead of mana, the flames require a bit of my life force to activate,' William thought as he pondered the side-effects of using the Flames of Purification. 'Unless it is absolutely necessary, I can't use this ability recklessly.'
"My name is Cathy. For now, we should return to the shelter." the lady who had approached William said with a worried expression. "The sun will set in a few hours, and if we're not careful, we might meet Higher-Undead on our return trip. They are much stronger than the zombies that you have fought. It will be best to avoid them as much as possible."
William and Lilith exchanged glances before shifting their attention back to Cathy.
"Okay. We will come with you," Lilith said. "Is your shelter far from here?"
"A bit," Cathy replied apologetically. "However, we have a truck parked ten minutes away from here. With that, we can reach the shelter in half an hour."
Lilith frowned. "Truck?"
"You can think of it as a horseless carriage," William commented before shifting his gaze to the boxes of canned goods that had fallen on the street. "Are you perhaps scavenging for supplies?"
Cathy nodded her head. "Yes. Our food reserves are getting low. This is why we are forced to travel far from the shelter in order to look for something to eat."
William had read many post-apocalypse novels and understood how hard it was to gather resources in a world where danger lurked around every corner.
A single glance was enough to tell him that among the ten people who were scavenging for food, only three were somewhat capable of fighting against the zombies.
The rest were just normal people, and clearly no match for the monsters that they had just faced.
"I will thank you in advance for your hospitality," William said with a smile. "I hope that we don't trouble you too much."
"Nonsense, you saved our lives. It will be our honor to welcome both of you into our humble shelter."
"That's right. The two of you are our saviors. Don't be shy. Come with us."
The other members of the group voiced their agreement, so William and Lilith joined them on their return trip back to their shelter.
After half an hour of maneuvering in deserted streets, they arrived at what seemed to be a stadium.
Cathy smiled as she opened the doors for William and Lilith to enter.
"Welcome to Glory Shelter," Cathy said. "Although we don't have much, it is more comfortable resting here, than sleeping on the streets."
Just as Cathy was about to say more, a series of running footsteps echoed on the hallway of the stadium. Since the entire stadium was silent, these sets of footsteps easily reached their ears unhindered.
William's eyes, who were accustomed to dark places, saw her first.
A teenage lady with long red hair, similar to a flame, ran in their direction.
When he was only a few meters away from Cathy's group, the lady stopped running and walked briskly towards them.
Cathy was surprised because she didn't expect their leader to personally come to welcome them on their return trip.
Her amber eyes locked on William and Lilith with restrained happiness, and the corner of her lips rose up into a charming smile.
"Welcome to Glory Shelter," the red-haired young lady greeted. "My name is Raizel. I'd like to personally invite our honored guests to stay in my residence to rest."
William and Lilith eyed at the teenage lady in front of them with a serious expression. For some reason, they felt quite attracted to her. It was as if Raizel was someone very important to them.
Raizel didn't shy away from their gazes. In fact, she even puffed up her chest and placed both of her hands on her waist.. After that she gave her two guests a wide grin, which unexpectedly made William's and Lilith's hearts… skip a beat.
