The sky was still burning.
Black smoke had swallowed City S whole until daylight itself resembled an endless night. The suffocating stench of blood, gunpowder, and scorched flesh saturated the air, while the corpses of monsters and zombies lay scattered across every street and alley as though the city had become an open graveyard.
But…
Despite the destruction.
Despite the death.
And despite the screams that still had not completely faded—
Something else slowly began appearing in people's eyes.
Hope.
Some survivors sat on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably, while others clung tightly to their families as though they had escaped hell itself.
"We… survived…"
a woman whispered in a trembling voice as she hugged her child tightly against her chest.
Nearby, a soldier sat on the ground staring blankly at his bloodstained hands, unable to even process the fact that he was still alive.
