Adam remained silent for a long moment.
Keira’s explanation echoed in his head, each word sinking deeper and deeper into his mind like barbs that refused to be dislodged.
The Bloom Virus... Just thinking about it made his skin crawl.
’Honestly, what kind of fucked up virus is this?’
Adam thought to himself.
A three-stage death sentence disguised as life if self... Dormant in one moment, robbing you of your strength, your power...and then, before you even realize you are too late. Your body no longer belongs to you, as the bloom targets your very essence itself.
Even your soul is shackled by it.
Your mind is enslaved within, forcing you to look as it takes all that you once have before your eyes. Yeah, that was a scary thought, and it must be a horrible feeling, knowing that to this thing, you are nothing more than a puppet.
’Honestly, can you even call something like the Bloom a virus, though?’
"Sigh! Let’s not worry about that for now."
He said, his attention going back to Keira, saying.
"Either way, I am glad I reached here in time to save you... but I am skeptical here. Are you sure you are alright? You came in direct contact with an infected."
He asked, another worry slowly creeping up on his shoulder.
To which Keira replied.
"Yeah... I am good... Direct contact doesn’t do anything, to be honest... It’s quite weird in that regard. However, the Bloom doesn’t even need to infect you to kill you."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Direct contact is not one of the ways it spread. To be honest, we don’t know how it’s spread, but we have come in direct contact with first to last stage infected before, and those that did, have been screened right after, and they were not infected."
"That’s quite interesting."
"Because what you are suggesting is that the virus doesn’t rely on direct physical contact for transmission through open wounds, no surface-to-skin contamination, not even blood-to-blood exchange. That is... unusual for a pathogen this aggressive. Most viruses from my knowledge of this nature would spread easily via touch, especially if the infected are physically decaying... due to the Bloom slowly sucking away their life force."
Seeing Adam say this also made Keira think, but she wasn’t good with topics like these; as such, her input in the situation was not very reliable.
"...Well, that how it behave, and our village medic’s did said something like what you are saying, even adding that that viruses like the Bloom usually don’t behave ."
"Checks out, yeah, cause viruses spread quicker, especially in dense areas, where the population is so close together like Ultima village, if it was aireborn, without a doubt all of you would long be dead, so the good news here is that its most likley selective, meaning it most likley only infect you guys if certain condition are met. What those conditions are, though, well, I do not know."
Said Adam, as he continued.
"But you also said the Bloom doesn’t need to infect you to kill you. Care to elaborate more on that, please?"
"Sure... like I said, prior to now, you see when I was chasing after Keira, that thing attacked me at the entrance, normally fighting an infected is hard for us Nekowolves, or rather for the inhabitance of the village as whole, it has the ability to externally drain our species of our power, that why I got kicked out of my Lupos form, it negates our power, similary to how it negates an infected natrual abilities before it malform’s them."
"...Yike, yeah, that is bad."
"Mhm... and it is also the reason we can’t fight them the way we normally do. It is also the reason our mother was defenseless against them altogether...but...that aside, I need to save my Sister, Adam. As far as I am aware, she is all I have left."
Said Keira, but Adam was not having it.
As such, he stopped her right there, saying.
"Sorry, Keira, but I can’t have you risking your life...if you go after her, you will die. This is clearly a battle you cannot win."
"Shhhh!.... just be quiet, I said you can’t go, but I didn’t say I can’t, from here on out, I will be the one taking responsibility here."
As he began to look around, corpses were everywhere, and the fire was only spreading more and more. If they don’t get this under control now, there will truly be nothing left to save.
Logic over emotions was the only path forward from here on out.
For that reason, what he said next was more of an order rather than a request, even if the way he worded it sounded more like the latter.
"...There might still be survivors, Keira."
Adam said under his breath.
Keira turned to him, looking around just as he did.
Adam didn’t answer immediately. His thoughts were already moving ahead, piecing together what needed to be done. The woman who took Nyla...Yarquela was dangerous because he knew who she was, and whatever her connection to this virus was, that was already a red flag.
He didn’t want Keira going near her.
Because more than anyone else in this world, he knows what that lunatic of a woman is capable of.
But he also couldn’t ignore the people of this village. They weren’t his, not by blood. But they were on his family’s land. His territory. And right now, as far as he was aware of, their Matriarch was gone. Someone had to take charge.
This was his duty as a member of the Shinso family.
What kind of leader would he be otherwise?
For that reason, Adam turned to Keira.
"Listen carefully to me, Keira... I need you to do something for me."
Keira blinked, surprised...but more confused than anything else.
"Huh? What is it you need me to do, Adam?"
"You need to search for survivors. Gather them. Get them to safety."
He said more as an order than anything else, a serious, and scary expression on his face, a dark aura came around him in that moment, it was similar to the first time Keira met Adam, there were time from her pespective that Adam was so nice, chill, and cool even, but right now, he was definatley living up to the title of being a Shinso.
A family of Monsters so terrifying they can easily cause widespread destruction to the supernatural worlds and human world if they ever rage.
However, this was her Sister, she simply couldn’t sit back and do nothing to save her.
For that reason, Keira’s expression twisted into confusion and protest.
"What? Adam, no... I need to find Nyla! That’s the only thing that matters right now!"
Adam said gently but firmly.
"But think for a second. You’re the logical one between you and Nyla. You said it yourself."
She flinched slightly at that.
Adam knelt beside her, meeting her eye level’s even closer, to the point she blushed at the sight of him, or rather how close he was to her at this moment.
As he began to speak, saying to her.
"Right now, your people need someone they recognize. Someone they trust. You’re their princess, Keira. And I need you to be that for them."
She tried to process one more time.
"I’m stronger than you, Keira."
Adam bluntly said to her, not to insult her, of course, but to drive the point home.
"If anyone’s going to storm into a nest of antmen and rip Nyla out of the hands of a robed lunatic, it’s going to be me."
Keira’s mouth opened slightly, but no words came out.
She bit her lips in frustration, a habit she had become too used to.
"I’m not asking you to give up."
"I’m asking you to help in a different way. I need you to find the survivors, keep them safe, get them to shelter. When I return, I’ll heal the wounded. Anyone not completely dead... I can bring them back. Even if they’re missing limbs, crushed, burned... if they’ve got even a sliver of life left, I can rebuild them anew."
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