Back from the Horde: Kiami Reborn のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 21 - チャプター 30

The night arrived like a predator stalking its prey.By dusk, the storm had cleared, leaving the warehouse bathed in cold, silver light. The air smelled of wet concrete and ozone, and every shadow seemed to twitch, alive with intent. My heartbeat had been steady all day, but now it raced — the spirals beneath my skin pulsing like a warning.[System Alert: Horde Approaching – Estimated Size: 47+][Risk Level: Critical.]I clenched my fists. Forty-seven? That was more than the first wave, faster, smarter. They had learned to anticipate us.And the worst part? They weren’t coming at random. The spirals guided them. They were hunting.⸻I gathered the team in the main room, using the generator’s dim light to outline our plan.“Positions,” I said, voice low but sharp. “Kira, north flank. Mara, south. Noah, stay near the infirmary and cover any breaches.”They nodded, but their faces were pale. Fear was obvious — not just of the infected, but of me. The knowledge that I was the target, the

The air inside the warehouse felt heavy, saturated with tension and the lingering stench of decay.We’d burned the mutant’s corpse at dawn, but even as the smoke drifted away into the gray sky, I could still feel it — that strange pulse, like something had rooted itself inside me and was waiting to bloom.Every heartbeat echoed unnaturally loud in my ears.Every breath shimmered with faint green mist.I knew it wasn’t normal.The System knew it too.[Evolution Path Unlocked: Verdant Pulse][Warning: This evolution consumes life energy for power. Proceed with caution.]I swallowed hard, my hand tightening on the small pendant I always wore — my father’s old dog tag. The metal was warm against my skin, grounding me in the moment.He used to tell me that strength meant knowing when not to fight.But right now, restraint felt like weakness.The horde was growing stronger. Mutations were emerging.If I didn’t evolve faster… we’d all die again.⸻By mid-afternoon, I was back inside the Sanc

The next morning broke in shades of silver and ash.Clouds hung low over the Safe Zone, swollen and trembling with electricity. The air felt heavy — too heavy — like the world itself was holding its breath.I stood on the roof of the warehouse, overlooking the barricades we’d built from scrap metal and salvaged trucks. Below, survivors moved with practiced rhythm — stacking crates, reinforcing fences, cleaning weapons. There was a strange kind of order to it now. We’d learned. We’d adapted.But deep down, I could feel it — the Pulse was uneasy.Something was coming.Echo appeared beside me, a faint shimmer in the air. “The storm gathers faster than predicted. Atmospheric energy levels are spiking. And…” She paused, her form flickering slightly. “…there’s corruption in the lightning itself.”“Corruption?” I repeated.She nodded once. “It carries infection. What strikes will not only burn — it will spread.”My stomach dropped. “Lightning that infects…” I looked out at the clouds again.

The rain didn’t stop for three days.It wasn’t the storm’s rage anymore — it was the world weeping, cleansing itself after the destruction. Or maybe that’s what I told myself to sleep at night.Niko’s power still hummed beneath my skin, a restless current that refused to quiet. It wasn’t like the Verdant Pulse — steady, rhythmic, alive. This was wild, unpredictable. I could feel the storm inside me, clawing to be free.Sometimes, when I closed my eyes, I swore I could still hear his voice in the thunder.You were always meant to survive.⸻The Safe Zone was quiet now. Too quiet.After the lightning storm ended, most survivors thought it was over. They laughed again. Cooked over fire. Tried to live. But I couldn’t share their peace. Not when I felt the electricity crawling under my skin, whispering in my blood.Ravi was the first to notice.“You’re not sleeping,” he said one night, standing by the campfire. His voice was low, his gaze steady. “And your eyes— they’re changing.”I looked

When I opened my eyes, the world looked different.Not because the Sanctuary had changed — though it had — but because I had.The air shimmered like liquid light. Every pulse of energy, every whisper of wind, every flicker of movement was clearer now — like the universe had been blurred all this time, and finally came into focus.My heartbeat echoed in harmony with the Sanctuary’s rhythm. I could feel it — the roots beneath the soil, the hum of life within the herbs I had cultivated, the quiet pulse of the storm brewing beyond this dimension.[System Integration: 100% Complete][Phase Ω — The Eighth Cycle Activated][Abilities Unlocked: Chronostasis, Stormheart, Genesis Field]My breath caught. Chronostasis?Time itself…I flexed my fingers, watching silver light ripple from my skin. I could feel the edges of time — not as numbers or seconds, but as a current flowing around me. And now, I could step into it.“Echo,” I whispered instinctively — but her voice was gone.No, not gone — wi