Lowly Ascent

Before Cain could say anything, a branch reached out at a speed he couldn't comprehend. It stretched unnaturally behind the rocks and stopped when it caught something.

Cain studied the branch, it was dark with green veins oozing a strange sap.

It began to retract and held up a woman and brought them closer.

"Why did you come here? I told you that you would die." Cain knew who the woman was. 

The person trapped by the branch was Alex. She was angry yet helpless. "Cain! You lied! You're allied with this thing!" She struggled as the branch wrapped around her more tightly.

"No, I am not."

The branch abruptly let go, and Alex fell to the floor.

"Hmm, you told others about me? Even knowing I already won?" Numineer asked.

Cain scoffed. "I won't reject someone who wants to seek the truth."

Alex stood up and watched Cain converse with this monstrosity with such calm that she lost herself in bewilderment.

"Well, if that's it, you should leave. I must continue growing my roots." Numineer laughed.

Cain sighed and grabbed Alex by the wrist, turning to leave. This brought her out of her daze.

"W-what are you doing?! We have to stop him, or we will be controlled by him! Let go, I have to kill him!"

Cain found her words a funny joke, but the reality of the truth also turned him cynical.

"Hahahaha! Do you think you can kill him? I already told you that even stronger people than us failed to kill him!"

He stopped talking to her and kept walking, maintaining a firm grasp.

Alex struggled but could not do a thing as Cain dragged her away. When they reached the surface, he let go, and Alex pushed him away, staring at Cain in rage and a tinge of embarrassment.

"Why did you do that?!"

Impatient and annoyed, Cain put his hand on Alex's shoulder and applied pressure. Alex found she couldn't move; she tried to escape his strength but failed.

Still, in anger, Alex raised her gaze to yell at Cain but abruptly stopped. She saw the face of annoyance and bloodthirst; she made an audible gulp before he let go of her.

"You could have easily been killed. What I did was for the sake of both of us and now you know the truth. Let's head back and speak of this to no one."

The pair spoke no words and left. However, before they did, Cain took a moment to look at the scene before him one last time.

He stared at the horizon perfectly aligned with the edge of the city walls. He witnessed the moons in the sky. He basked in their glow before gazing at the black dot behind them. He smiled, burning this moment into his mind before returning to his usual demeanor and following behind Alex.

...

The two began their journey together back to the camp, getting out of the city in around a day's time and taking four days to reach the camp.

When they finally reached the camp, they saw a peculiar scene.

Cain and Alex's respective teams were waiting outside the boundaries of the camp, surrounded by troops.

Cain could see Nate at the forefront, seemingly waiting.

Nate saw Cain's approach and smiled. He was wearing the usual military uniform which was decorated with some medals and his rank, he also wore a hat on his head which covered his shiny black hair, making him look more professional.

Cain sighed as he approached the commander.

"Cain! It's good to see you didn't die! Seems to have taken a long time, but command expected as much!"

"Well, we had some trouble completing the mission, but it was done. Why is my team out here? Can they not enter the camp?" Cain was suspicious. 

Nate smiled and looked at the barred group gloomily.

"It's not like I wish to do this, but it's a new policy with all soldiers. We recently got new devices as well as critical information from HQ. Everyone needs to be tested, so I was waiting for you. We didn't let them enter because the protocol requires you to be present."

'Devices?' Cain started drawing some lines in his head. 

Alex walked up to Nate, annoyed by the whole situation.

"What's this? You're holding my people because of a policy change?"

Nate kept his smile while he put his hands up.

"Well, it's extremely important. We learned culprits of the undead invasion were the contaminants! The higher-ups recently got their hands on technology that can detect if someone's a contaminant. It finds invisible residue that's embedded into the DNA. My superior said they can't get rid of this trace as it fuses with them when coming out of those portals."

Gasps were heard by everyone. Cain grew solemn as he laughed to himself inside his head.

'Fuck, were those devices I sold these? Well, not like it matters. It won't stop me since I already have a few backup plans.'

"So, will you allow the scan, or will you resist and die?" Nate became serious. 

The commander stepped forward, holding a weird-looking device shaped like a handgun. It was round and looked like a crude barcode scanner. No one argued, and people lined up, holding out their arms to get scanned one by one and walking to the other side behind Nate.

Eventually, Cain's turn came around. He whimsically smiled as he walked up to Nate but didn't offer his arm to be scanned.

"Captain? I need your arm to scan you." The Commander narrowed his eyes.

"It would be best not to scan me. Do you even know if that device is real?"

Losing his smile and growing weary, Nate responded, "We calibrate the devices using live contaminants transported here by HQ."

He then reached out for Cain's arm and quickly scanned it. His face then warped in displeasure.

"Captain... It appears you...are a contaminant."

All the soldiers around Nate quickly drew their weapons and surrounded Cain, pushing the rest away and forming a barrier around him. Gasps came from all around.

"Commander, don't do this. I assure you that everyone here will die if you attack" Cain gave a serious warning.

Nate looked distraught by Cain remaining completely calm, but his anger quickly rose.

"I can't believe you were one of those disgusting contaminants! Though I must thank you for killing Victor for me, I will enjoy the promotion....attack!"

Upon their leader's command, tens of soldiers charged at Cain.

Yet the Captain simply stood there, and his eyes flashed a deep red. In seconds, he charged into a group of soldiers, slaughtering them in moments.

He then headed for another group, reaching behind his back and taking out two evil-looking daggers.

Nate watched in horror as his men were mercilessly slaughtered. They could do nothing to protect themselves from Cain's onslaught. His wrists twisted and bent, manipulating the daggers, passing through all defenses, and instantly killing the soldiers.

They could do nothing as their eyes followed Cain's blades reach their necks. He ravaged all that came towards him.

It wasn't even a minute before their morale was lost, and soldiers started to run away.

After he was done, Cain was surrounded by at least sixty bodies. He walked toward Nate, who had lost all composure and frantically gazed at him with empty eyes, devoid of all emotion.

With a single slash, Nate felt his body paralyze as he watched blood drip from his throat. He couldn't move and could only look into Cain's eyes, those bloodthirsty, insane eyes.

No one was there to stop him, Cain didn't even bat an eye at his previous companions and got on his horse to leave. No one spoke or stopped him as he rode off, but in their hearts, they were screaming unanimously.

'Monster!'