Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night

The city of Beijing was as silent as the dead which stirred in its streets. There was not a sound to be made. And why would there be? All living human beings had long since fled. It had been three months since Zane wiped out the Divine Sword Sect, and during this time he had done nothing but grind.

Grind the undead minions who roamed the streets of Beijing mindlessly. As well as the monsters who managed to escape their ravenous jaws. Whether through overwhelming power and ability, or sheer cunningness.

But the majority of the world's monsters lay outside the domains of the undead. Out in the wilderness. Spawned no doubt by the evolution which was rapidly effecting the world in a deeply unnatural way.

Zane didn't know it, but Death was not the only supernatural that existed in the world, or perhaps outside the realm of mortals one should say. She had done something unforgivable in the eyes of spiritual entities. Casting disorder onto Earth and its inhabitants as a means of seeking reconciliation with her only son.

In doing this, she had spawned an unnatural virus which killed off its host and raised them from the dead. By violating the laws of nature, other similar entities from beyond the universe or at least humanity's limited understanding of it began to make moves of their own.

Countering death's actions which surely would have resulted in the complete and total annihilation of all life on Earth and instead imposing their own changes in the world. Perhaps this was where the evolution of lifeforms other than humans originated.

Either way, Death was no doubt in hiding, and reasonably so. She had provoked forces which were capable of standing against her. And they wanted her punished for it. Would they ever have guessed she was living underground in the form of a little girl while being taken care of by a group of human women?

No, in fact, it was the perfect cover. It was also one of the reasons her help towards Zane was limited. She couldn't reasonably reach across Asia and zap the man back to North America, most certainly not when all eyes were on him.

She had interfered with Tabitha, but that was the exception and not the norm. Zane had, after all fallen into a state he was incapable of dealing with on his own. Speaking of Tabitha, she was previously turned to stone by death.

But currently there was a woman standing in front of the crazed Horde King, shaking her head. Unlike Death whose appearance was rather unusual. This woman looked like a normal woman of Scandinavian descent. Her hair was a platinum blonde, while her eyes were a glowing yellow, and were as bright and blinding as the sun above.

However, his clothing was a bit unusual. It was a near translucent silk like design that was golden, almost as is if it were manufactured from the rays of the sun. Barely concealing her sensitive parts with an embroidered style that could only be considered unique.

The clothing also was exceptionally revealing while her feet were bare. But they never touched the ground, rather she walked on the thin air above it as if such pristine soles could not possibly be dirtied by dust beneath her feet.

The woman looked at the unusual stone statue, which looked like a beautiful Korean woman, and shook her head while expressing her thoughts aloud.

"So irresponsible… What is she thinking? To lock up one of her own vile creations in such a vicious manner? It is certainly something that can't be tolerated… Besides we have uses for you, that boy you are obsessed with… He can't be allowed to fulfill his destiny. So child, go forth and take care of him for us will you?"

After saying this, the mysterious beauty pressed her finger against the stone, of which a bright golden light emitted from it, spreading rapidly across the stone which encapsulated Tabitha and sealed her way from this earth.

The light etched itself into the stone, almost like a spiderweb until finally it shattered. Leaving Tabitha kneeling on her feet, looking around clearly confused about what had happened to her. There was no trace of the one who had liberated her from her prison. Nor did Tabitha even care about such a thing.

She was still in the crazed state that she was when Death had sealed her. There was only one thing on her mind. Her little brother had been stolen from her by a particularly vile old wench. And she needed to reclaim him as soon as possible.

Frustrated beyond belief, and wounded by the fact that Zane had run off with another woman, Tabitha cried in agony, her howls of misery spreading across Seoul, shattering what remained of its building into billions of little pieces as if they had been made from glass, turning the once thriving metropolis into a dust pit.

Tabitha's senses immediately activated as she hovered over the dust, which was all that remained of Seoul, like a bloodhound. She began sniffing out Zane's location. And his scent was something she was most familiar with.

Though Zane had crossed a vast distance, he could not conceal his presence from Tabitha, whose senses led her directly to the Yellow Sea and beyond. Because of this, she instantly took off running towards Zane's location, completely unaware of the group of beings standing in the sky above looking down at her.

One of them was a silver-haired man with purple eyes. He was dressed in a robe fashioned from white and purple silk. Or what it appeared to be. Next to him was the gold-haired woman, whose eyes were as bright as the sun. The silver-haired man was quick to ask the question on his mind, as if he doubted the woman's plan who stood by his side.

"Do you honestly think she will lead us to her? The boy no doubt carries her blood, but they have been separated for some time… It is not clear if he even knows where Death is currently hiding…"

The golden-haired woman, however, shook her head with a smug expression on her face. She was certain that Tabitha would lead them to the object of their ire. And was quick to voice her thoughts on the matter .

"The stone which the vile creature was encapsulated in resonated with the energy of Death. No doubt she had made a move to save her boy from the monster. If the bitch chases him down for us, then death will reveal herself to protect her son again. And when that happens we will strike!"

Despite the certainty which his partner spoke in, the man could only sigh and shake his head. Doubting their little pursuit would end with such an easy and effective strategy. Because of this, he looked into the distance towards Beijing where Zane was currently grinding and gave voice to his inner thoughts.

"One can only hope this little trick of yours works as planned…."

---

In the bunker beneath Bastion, Maya's ears perked up. She was currently eating a bologna sandwich with mayonnaise and lettuce. However, she was instantly alerted to the fact that Tabitha was freed from her sealed state. And when Maya heard this, she looked in the direction of Seoul.

It took her all of three seconds to realize what was going on and who was conspiring against her. Causing the little girl who shouldn't even be old enough to understand swear words to curse them in the most vile way possible while doing so with the most adorable voice.

'You bitch! Your mom is a bitch! Your whole family is a bunch of bitches! And your dad is a cuck! How dare you unleash that little brat without my permission!?! Do you really think I will fall for such petty tricks? Do you all look down on me to such an extent? Well… I fear you will be left disappointed…"

Death did not make a move to help Zane, or even warn him. Tabitha was deeply obsessed with him for reasons even she didn't understand. But she knew the moment she froze Tabitha that the woman would never hurt him even in such a volatile state.

However, Death didn't want the little harlot hanging around her son and clinging to him constantly. That was ultimately the real reason he had frozen the woman, despite the fact that she would have been an excellent guardian for her son.

Of course, the entities who were trying to trap her did not know she had such a petty reason for doing so. And instead assumed it was because Tabitha was a threat to Zane. As a result, they had vastly miscalculated how Death would react to this matter.

She wasn't so petty as to get between Zane and Tabitha if it meant exposing herself to those miserable bunches of wretches. And thus she would simply sit there and eat the rest of her sandwich while pouting over her son's indecent actions.

"Zane… You dirty playboy…. Your mother is such a failure!"