547 Survivors
Shane then closed the Quest Progress as he realized that he only defeated 2 out of 8 Zombie Generals. It ans that his next Zombie Lord target would actually be a lot more dangerous since 6 Zombie Generals like the Scythewing and Broodmother would be guarding its throne.
Anyway, Shane looked at his team, who seed very happy after their successful raid. Perhaps, they were already thinking about the rewards that he would give to them.
After a few monts, as they caught their breath, Shane knew their mission was not over.
There was still the matter of exploring the citadel to ensure no lingering threats remained. More importantly, there could still be valuable resources—or even survivors—hidden within the castle's depths.
"Let's explore this place for a while and if you find anything valuable, you can keep it as long as it's not sothing cursed or dangerous…" Shane said.
In any case, he already used Cloud's detection and confird that there shouldn't be any Zombies around. At the very least, not the obvious ones. Even if there are still remaining ones, they shouldn't be as strong as the Zombie Kings or the Zombie Lord, so they should be fine.
The group then split into smaller teams to cover more ground.
Shane, Lysandra, and Kale led the main group toward the inner hall, while Sol and Jafal scouted ahead using their unique abilities.
Sol's ethereal spirits passed through the corridors and easily scouted as they moved. They have such incredible spectral forms that could detect even signs of life from afar.
Anyway, if they found an interesting area that should be explored, Shane would recomnd it to anyone on his team to take a look at it.
Soon, Shenlong took an interest in a library that was already completely ruined. It seed that he liked to explore it after knowing that so unusual books were still there, unbroken.
Tundra also decided to explore an area that contained nurous broken statues. Most of them are bronze statues too.
Then, just as they were about to enter a huge chamber, Sol suddenly froze.
Her eyes widened in shock, and she raised a hand to stop the group.
However, this seed to be the reason why Shane couldn't detect their presence at all.
Those cocoons must be very special to be able to block his various detection abilities.
Shane felt a bit curious as he looked at his team before giving his command.. "Let's move."
Creaaakkk~
The mont they entered the chamber, a terrible sight greeted them.
They saw several strands of thick, web-like material clinging to the walls and ceiling. With so many of them, it had ford a network of silk that had turned the place into a hive.
There were even so traces of opened cocoons…
In any case, dangling from the ceiling were definitely so people with their shape.
They were wrapped tightly in sticky webbing and their faces were barely visible beneath the layers. Perhaps it was deliberate to allow them to breathe.
Kale cursed under his breath. "They were keeping them as livestock…"
"Or worse," Lysandra added grimly. She then looked around to confirm that there are no lingering threats.
Shane then activated his Heightened Awareness. He extended his senses and was relieved to find that, though weak, all thirty-four people were still alive.
"We need to get them down—fast."
Kain, still in his werewolf form, leaped up and began slashing through the webbing with his claws.
Zephyrion directed his undead minions to carefully lower the cocooned survivors, while Sona used her ice magic to freeze and shatter the silk strands, ensuring they wouldn't stick to their skin.
Shane himself climbed onto the crumbling pillars and began cutting people free, catching them as they fell and placing them gently on the floor.
One by one, the survivors were freed. So coughed and groaned as their bodies were already weak from prolonged captivity, but miraculously, none were beyond saving.
'They're still fine… They're quite lucky…' Shane thought.
Then, he recalled that his Ascension Quest would indeed involve so people who should not be killed!
"Ahhh… Thank you…"
"Water…"
"Saviors… Thank you for giving a second chance in life."
"I'm alive… Thank you, lord…"
The others started expressing their gratitude imdiately while the others barely uttered their dire need for water.
After giving them water and as the Aura Sentinel started to work, within monts, color returned to their faces, and they could finally properly look at their saviors.
A man with a long beard sat up first, rubbing his wrists where the webbing had bound him. He looked around at the others and realized that they were still inside the base of the Insect Zombies…
He was imdiately frightened as he realized that they might be attacked at any mont.
"It's… It's dangerous here, saviors… The insects might return. We have to escape imdiately."
Everyone could tell that he was really scared so Lysandra imdiately tried to comfort him.
"We already killed those insects including the Zombie Lord." Lysandra started as she explained the situation to everyone.
Gasps of disbelief rippled through the survivors. A woman with tangled hair clutched her chest. "You killed it? You really killed that thing?"
It took them quite so ti to realize that they were indeed safe as so of them even started crying up.
It seed that they had really been through a terrifying experience. It was understandable.
After so ti, when everyone cald down and realized that they were already safe, Shane asked the bearded man.
"Who are you? What happened to your group?"
The man took a deep breath before speaking.
"My na's Warren. We were scavengers, part of a much larger group. There were over a hundred of us at the start. We were moving from settlent to settlent, looking for supplies and shelter. Then we ran into those… things."
"They were wrapped up. We didn't know why at first, but then… the eggs started appearing. Those monsters were nesting inside so of the captives."
Everyone imdiately felt disgusted after realizing that these people weren't just food but actually so form of nests for insects to thrive.
Tundra clenched his fists as he realized that these Zombie Insects were a lot more terrifying than the human Zombies. "Sick bastards…"
Warren then continued as he really wanted to share their story. "We tried to fight back, but we didn't stand a chance. So of us managed to hide in the ruins outside, but most were taken. I don't even know how many of us are still alive out there."
Shane placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"You don't have to worry about that anymore. That Insect Zombie Lord is dead. Those creatures won't be hunting anyone else."
Warren's eyes reddened. "Thank you… We thought we were dood."
Shane stood and looked at the thirty-four survivors… He could tell that they had nowhere else to go so he made up his mind to invite them.
"Listen… We have a place. A shelter under my control. It's relatively safe and fortified, and we have enough resources for everyone. If you want to contribute and work for the shelter. Co with us…"
The survivors looked at each other. They certainly could not continue to wander around as the Zombies around this area were a lot stronger.
There was no hesitation in their eyes. They even felt relieved as they were filled with gratitude.
One by one, they nodded to Shane…
Warren smiled and answered for everyone. "If you're willing to have us, then we'll gladly follow you."
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