Chapter 87: I Am Your Death

"Where are you taking me?" Summer asked in intense dissatisfaction as Salma pulled her out of their quiet cavern, her small voice carrying a sharp edge of annoyance. "Teach me your Shadow element property already," she complained, digging her heels slightly into the stone floor.

After explicitly promising to teach her the advanced shadow element property just moments ago, rather than teaching her instantly as requested, her mother was instead dragging her somewhere else entirely.

Summer hated wasting even a single second when there was an opportunity to learn and grow stronger.

"Patience, my little duck," Salma replied softly, her amber eyes carrying a cold, razor-sharp glint hidden beneath her pleasant exterior. "Before I teach you how to properly submerge things into the shadows, there is a very special matter we must settle first. Consider this a practical lesson before we begin."

Summer furrowed her dark eyebrows, tilting her head in profound frustration. What matter could possibly be more important than mastering shadow traversal right now?

Despite her grumbling, Summer allowed herself to be dragged along by her mother, her heightened zombie senses quietly sweeping outward as they navigated through the heavily fortified mountain corridors of the Alathoor base.

They bypassed the crowded refugee sectors where exhausted civilians were frantically setting up temporary cots. They walked past the busy military supply posts, eventually entering a heavily restricted, deeply buried sector of the cave network that was strictly guarded by squads of elite soldiers.

Salma effortlessly slipped past the heavy patrols, utilizing her mastery of shadow concealment to mask both of their presences so thoroughly that the standing sentries did not even notice the mother and daughter walking right past them into the inner command zone.

Stopping directly outside a heavy, reinforced steel door that led into a private command chamber, Salma came to a sudden halt. Through the thick barrier and the subtle gaps in the stone frame, faint voices were echoing from within.

Summer’s crimson eyes narrowed. Without needing any instruction, she projected a thin tendril of her dark domain against the base of the door, eavesdropping on the conversation taking place on the other side.

Inside the well-lit cave serving as a private office, a sickeningly arrogant voice sounded, cutting cleanly through the stone barrier.

"Father, I hope this time you will never stop me."

The moment Summer heard that voice, her expression froze completely. A sudden, violent wave of unpleasant memories flashed through her mind.

For Summer the zombie, these memories should have meant nothing at all. But for the lingering human fragments buried deep within her soul, these memories were everything.

The face of a cherished human girl appeared vividly in her mind, accompanied by the crushing weight of loss as hot, burning tears veiled her crimson gaze.

Summer was entirely certain she was still a zombie, a creature whose basic humanity had long since been wiped out by the corruption. Yet, despite that biological truth, why did she feel tears welling up in her eyes?

She did not understand the complex mechanics of her own dead heart.

But despite the confusion, one absolute thing was certain within her soul.

She wished for nothing more in this ruined world than to brutally slaughter the person standing on the other side of that door.

"Baby," Salma murmured gently, reaching out to touch her daughter’s shoulders, feeling a sharp pang of pain in her chest to watch such a vulnerable, grieving look on her little girl’s face.

There were countless moments when Salma had selfishly wished for her daughter to show such deep emotional expression toward her, so that she could properly fulfill the duties of a devoted mother.

Yet, as she watched that exact hope finally come true under such tragic circumstances, Salma instantly wished it had never occurred at all.

"It is time, baby. Quench your anger until it burns straight through your blood," Salma spoke softly, her amber eyes burning with supportive, lethal intent.

"Can I kill him?" Summer asked, her voice trembling slightly with suppressed rage.

"Kill him or maim him, as you like," Salma patted her platinum head affectionately.

The exact moment her mother finished speaking, Summer unleashed her full power.

She activated her shadow domain with a vicious snap of her will. The heavy, reinforced steel door blocking their path exploded outward in a deafening crash of twisted metal and flying stone splinters.

The violent commotion should have immediately attracted the attention of the guarding soldiers stationed in the corridor.

However, every single one of them was effortlessly taken care of in a fraction of a second, swallowed silently by Salma’s creeping shadows before they could even draw a breath.

Inside the private office, dust and metal shrapnel rained across the floor.

"F-fuck, what the hell is this?" Austin Pitman jumped backward in sheer fright as the massive door exploded inward, his face turning pale with shock.

"Who the hell dared to attack the Supreme Commander’s private quarters? Do you want to die?!" he roared in panic, scrambling backward until he was stepping safely behind the armored figure of the Supreme Commander.

Through the settling cloud of grey dust and debris, a small, chilling figure stepped forward across the threshold.

Summer walked slowly into the brightly lit chamber, her footsteps making soft, deliberate echoes against the stone floor.

Her dark golden gauntlets gleamed ominously under the hanging lanterns, and the heavy, suffocating aura of her shadow domain rolled off her small frame in heavy, suffocating waves.

The jagged arcs of corrosive shadow energy crackled around her boots, eating away at the rug beneath her feet.

Her crimson eyes, still shimmering with residual tears from the painful memories, locked directly onto Austin Pitman with an ungodly, predatory intensity that made the young man’s blood run cold.

Austin stared at the terrifying little girl marching toward him, his throat tightening as a primal sense of dread gripped his chest.

He had expected assassins, rival officers, or mercenaries, not a child radiating the presence of an apocalyptic monster.

"You... what on earth are you?" Austin stammered, his voice cracking with rising terror as he pointed a trembling finger forward.

"Me?" Summer answered, her voice dropping into an icy, deadpan register that carried the finality of an executioner. "I am your death."

Austin was taken aback for a moment, wondering where the hell he had offended this little girl. It was not as if he had never offended little girls before. However, none of those previous victims were left alive to hold a grudge.

That was when the urgent reports from one of his covert spies flashed through his panicked mind.

"You are Salma Al Mansari’s daughter!" he exclaimed, his teeth grinding in realization.

"I am Summer," she acknowledged, her voice flat and empty.

"Summer?" Austin went momentarily silent. How could he ever forget that name? She was the sole reason he had been forcibly ousted from the central territories of the country in disgrace.

Yet, despite the surge of recognition, he was smart enough not to let any of that anger show on his face.

Since the little girl had successfully broken into this heavily guarded cave without causing any commotion outside until now, there had to be a powerful figure aiding her from behind.

His eyes darted past her small shoulders, scanning the dark corridor she had just walked through.

There stood a majestic woman clad in darkness.

Salma Al Mansari...