The face was both familiar and unfamiliar, because half of the person’s face was torn from her cheek down to her jaw, revealing a grotesque scene.

It was unknown how she could still articulate her words clearly with half her mouth deformed.

"You..." Zerra trailed off.

"Surprised?" The woman sneered. All the quiet, mysterious facade was gone. As if she suddenly remembered something, her face twisted a bit.

"Serena, right?" Zerra shouted her name amidst the vulture’s raspy noises. Her hands never stopped attacking the endless zombie beasts.

Serena’s eyes, which were full of longing when she stared at Cassias’ figure, instantly became ferocious. She pulled up the cloth to cover the lower half of her face again.

The remaining ability users who were still alive were horrified at the sudden change. They didn’t expect that this black-robed woman had such an appearance.

It wasn’t that they discriminated against her, but she was just too strange. If one looked closer at the half of her torn cheek, it was filled with wriggling maggots.

Fortunately, they couldn’t see it. No normal human would have such disgusting things on their flesh even if they awaken their bloodline. It was more similar to zombies yet not quite.

Others couldn’t see the wriggling maggots, but Zerra could. Her face became a little twisted in disgust when the scene replayed in her head.

Somehow, the vultures had cleared themselves, giving a way for her to witness Serena’s face as soon as she pulled down her face cover.

She could conclude that Serena could control those vultures or maybe influence them somehow. Soon, more and more ability users fell until only a dozen left from the initial over forty people.

"Zerra, you destroyed everything for me!" Serena’s enraged roar echoed in the valley. She waved her hand and ordered the vultures. "Attack the girl!"

A flock of vultures surrounding Zerra suddenly became a lot more dense. Countless thoughts ran through her mind.

"I didn’t destroy anything," Zerra replied calmly.

Cassias moved closer to Zerra, letting himself join her in being surrounded by countless vultures with sharp beaks.

"You did! Look at you now, you are powerful, yet you didn’t stay to help the base to fight against the zombies!" Serena yelled indignantly like a crazed person. Her initially calm eyes were filled with madness, twisting with jealousy at the sight of Cassias’ protectiveness.

Even in her current state, she still couldn’t let go of him.

"My parents... the other base members... are all dead, swallowed by the horde of zombies." Serena let out a sob, and bloody tears ran down to her cheek, wetting the cloth covering her face.

The scene resembled something that came out of a horror movie.

Zerra felt slight pity toward her for losing her parents, because she admitted she would also go crazy if she lost them. However, Serena’s actions weren’t completely justified. In order to take revenge against her, she had implicated too many people.

When she put the pieces together she could guess that Anita had something to do with this. She had just been acting strangely since they set off. Her motive remained unknown—something that she was also greatly curious about.

After all, she had saved her from a zombie beast, why did she repay kindness with enmity?

Quite possibly, Anita was the one who brought Serena into the base just to plot against her.

"I am not that powerful, Serena. Neither is Cassias. We can escape the zombies on our own, but to save others... it would have been hard with their sheer number alone." Zerra was unusually patient as she explained in her soft voice, not caring whether Serena heard it or not.

"Besides, I have already told your people. They chose to ignore my warning. It’s not my fault." She shook her head, slashing another group of vultures.

Surprisingly, even amidst the chaotic situation, Serena heard it.

"You could have persuaded them more!" She yelled, clutching her head. "You just don’t know how much I suffered."

"The zombies were trying to eat me... but I magically became like this after I bit a vulture to save myself, to fight back... the zombies started to ignore me, but I feel pain. It was so painful, so painful..." she raved.

Zerra and Cassias exchanged glances. The vultures were somewhat connected to Serena. Maybe through their senses.

"Its flesh tried to blend with me, hahaha..." her laughter echoed again. "I became powerful... powerful but painful." She clutched her head again.

The vulture blended with her? Then, that vulture wasn’t an ordinary one, possibly the leader of this flock, which might number over a few thousands.

Zerra’s thoughts raced. Serena might feel like she had found someone she could talk to, since people would avoid her had she revealed her true appearance to others. However, she guessed that this state wouldn’t last long.

She might turn murderous again soon.

As Serena was distracted, the burden on their side also lessened. She communicated with Cassias through their mind.

"How many people remained?" Zerra asked even though she could find out for herself. Her senses spread, scanning the place. Her heart sank when she couldn’t find Ashley’s figure.

"Only three people are alive," Cassias answered, his voice tinged with some concern.

Zerra’s movement noticeably became more ferocious, like an unstoppable machine, slashing and stabbing the vultures relentlessly. It looked like she was venting.

A huge fire suddenly burned more fiercely, enveloping them. All the vultures were reduced into ashes upon contact.

At this moment, her parents also asked her to let them out. She hesitated slightly, but when Cassias persuaded her, she finally relented. Her parents would be alright.

She let out two fluffy foxes out of her inner space. They morphed into human form, standing beside her. Cassias’ fire also didn’t hurt them.

At this moment, Serena suddenly recovered. Blood flowed out of her eyes, making her look terrifying. She let out strange noises and all the vultures stopped whatever they were doing. A second later, they all headed to the four of them.

"It’s time," Zerra mumbled. They finally figured everything out. What she did next even made Serena freeze in shock.