Chapter 32: Pain

Salma could feel the sharp, icy coldness resting directly against the nape of her neck.

She stood momentarily speechless, her breath catching in her throat.

Her precious daughter’s actions... why did they remind her so strongly of her own younger self?

Hot-blooded, sharp, and fiercely proud.

Yet, as Salma glanced at her daughter’s dramatic antics from the corner of her eye, she realized Summer was far cuter than she had ever been.

A brilliant warmth shone in Salma’s green eyes as she watched the little pale girl brag.

Summer was inwardly satisfied, watching the human woman stand entirely awestruck by her blinding speed and terrifying strength.

"This place is mine from now onwards," Summer declared, deciding to assert her dominance even further. "If you want to get this back, you have to fight me."

To make her point completely undeniable, Summer activated Shadow Mirage several more times in rapid succession.

Dark, lingering residual images flickered across the abandoned aquarium, her small frame zipping from the edge of the pool to the rusted steel pillars and back again.

She hoped to instill the undeniable truth in this woman’s mind that taking this territory back was an impossibility.

Salma twitched her lips, holding back a soft chuckle. Her little daughter was extraordinarily territorial.

Well, her mother was the exact same way, and so was her biological fa...

Salma froze mid-thought, a sudden pang of self-loathing washing over her.

She hated herself for once again remembering that treacherous man who had ruined their lives. She felt a deep, instinctive disgust at the mere thought of comparing her beautiful, innocent child to that disgusting traitor.

Summer was paying close attention to every subtle shift in the woman’s emotional frequency. When she detected a sudden, conflicting storm of deep resentment, disgust, and heavy sadness swirling within Salma, her simple mind felt completely clogged trying to make sense of it.

[Do not force yourself to learn human emotions, little girl. They are far too complex... even for me.]

’That just means you are stupid,’ Summer retorted mentally, puffing out her cheeks. ’I am much smarter than you. I can learn them easily.’

[You...] The system’s philosophical, elevated tone almost choked on its own words, left completely speechless by her blunt response.

Summer felt a small surge of inner joy from bullying the system back. In fact, she knew the system had been silently bullying her with weird comments all this time, so she was happy to return the favor.

Her focus shifted back to the human woman, whose chaotic emotional waves had finally settled back into a cool, quiet calm.

"My name is Salma Al Mansari," the woman said softly, her voice filled with gentle warmth.

"My name is Summer," the pale girl replied, lifting her chin proudly.

"Summer...?" Salma muttered in a low, affectionate voice, her eyes softening. "That is a truly beautiful name. Bright, warm, and full of radiant life."

This was the very first time Summer had ever heard such a profound and grand meaning attached to her name.

She felt genuinely happy inside, realizing her name was exceptionally special, just like her strength.

"My name is the best in the world, just like my power," Summer boasted, her ruby eyes glowing with confidence.

Deep down, Summer wondered why she felt such an unexplainable sense of closeness toward this strange woman.

It was completely different from the comfortable camaraderie she shared with Ella, Ilas, Angela, or her One.

It was a completely different kind of closeness that her simple mind could not pinpoint or put into words.

It felt as though Summer desperately wanted to show off everything she could do to this woman, just to watch her look impressed and proud.

Summer furrowed her dark brows in frustration, trying to make sense of these confusing feelings.

Salma immediately mistook that sharp brow-furrow for genuine dissatisfaction. Panic instantly surged through her chest, worried that she had somehow offended her baby daughter.

Stepping forward gently, Salma reached out her bare hand and softly smoothed away the furrows on the girl’s forehead. "Don’t frown, baby. It makes your cute face look worried."

The instant Salma’s bare fingers made direct contact with Summer’s skin, a sudden, powerful wave of warm energy spread from Salma’s body into the girl.

That soothing warmth caused Salma to let out a long exhale, as though an invisible, ancient chain binding her soul had suddenly shattered into pieces.

However, the experience was horrifyingly different for Summer.

The moment Salma touched her, an explosive, catastrophic heat rushed violently into Summer’s veins. It did not feel like warmth at all.

It felt as if her entire undead body had been thrown directly into a furnace of superheated, high-pressure steam, scorching her from the inside out.

"Aaahhhhh!"

It was the very first time since her rebirth as a zombie that Summer felt true, agonizing pain.

It was a searing, excruciating agony far beyond anything a living mind could fathom.

Summer cried out in pure agony as her black veins swelled and flooded with roaring heat.

Tears welled up in her ruby eyes and burst down her pale cheeks as her basic survival instincts took over completely.

She lashed out with her gauntleted hand, striking Salma forcefully across the chest.

BOOM!

The explosive force of Summer’s panicked blow blasted through Salma’s chest armor.

Salma was thrown backward like a broken doll, slamming violently into the far concrete wall of the hall with a deafening crash that shattered the stone structure behind her.

"Aaahhh!" Summer’s agonizing screams echoed wildly off the high rafters of the aquarium as the intense heat scorched every single pore of her body.

[This... how is this even possible?! How could your body contain such a-]

Summer heard absolutely nothing of what the system was trying to say. The blinding, white-hot pain tore her mind to shreds.

Her ruby eyes rolled back into her head, and her small, shivering body collapsed onto the dusty floor as she lost consciousness entirely.

"Cough...!"

Salma coughed up a mouthful of dark blood, slumping against the ruined concrete wall. Her ribs had been shattered by Summer’s desperate strike, exposing the faint motion of her beating heart beneath her torn tactical vest.

She groaned in deep agony as her body immediately began reconstructing the shattered bones.

The physical pain was excruciating, but Salma did not care about her own injuries in the slightest.

Her terrified green eyes locked onto her unconscious daughter lying by the pool. The scene before her made her heart freeze in utter horror.

Summer’s pale skin had turned an unnatural, ghostly white. Her small frame was shivering violently on the cold ground, thick steam rising continuously off her flesh as if her blood were literally boiling inside her body.