Without wasting much time and effort, he swung his sword upward toward the neck of the monster, which was still stretching out its long arms.
The monster's head flew into the air, landing several meters away before rolling to a stop after hitting a piece of debris.
The last monster in the area let out a loud roar upon seeing its companions dead and charged straight at Kael.
He rolled to the side, hooking his leg around the monster's, making it stumble and crash to the ground.
Kael immediately jumped onto its back, driving his sword into its head and pushing it through until the blade pierced completely.
Without wasting a second, he sprinted toward the underground parking lot, where he found the last monster descending to the lowest floor.
He quickly jumped toward the unaware monster and swung his sword horizontally, slicing its head clean off.
Without hesitation, he ran toward their hiding place, but when he got there, the little girl was nowhere to be seen.
All that was left was his backpack, while the food and drinks were now just empty wrappers. However, his pistol was also missing.
'Where did she go?' he wondered and looking around.
But the little girl was nowhere to be found. He had intended to leave this place with her after obtaining the sword he needed.
"Mira?!" His voice echoed through the parking lot.
But there was no answer. He called out again, louder this time.
"Mira!!"
Still, no reply. A bad feeling crept into his chest. After all, it was that little girl who had brought him to this place.
"Sh*t!"
He ran around the floor, searching for the little girl, but she was nowhere to be found. Even if she was dead, her body was also missing.
Finally, he heard the sound of roars coming from outside the mall ruins.
He ran his hand through his hair in frustration, muttering, "It seems I have to find her first."
After returning to grab his backpack, he walked through the area to look for Mira.
If he came across any monsters entering the mall, he didn't hesitate to kill them.
However, despite searching for the little girl up to the fifth floor, she was still nowhere to be found.
He also couldn't go any higher, as the upper floors had completely collapsed.
Looking out from the ruins, under the dim moonlight, he saw dozens of monster silhouettes moving amidst the city's debris.
But there was no sign of the little girl anywhere near the mall ruins.
He glanced at the watch on his wrist. It was now nine at night.
"I can't wait any longer," he muttered, turning around and descending the mall ruins, heading outside.
Not all the monsters that had appeared yesterday had returned to this place.
He didn't know exactly where the gate these creatures emerged from was located, but he suspected it was near an open field not far from where he stood.
So, he decided to head there, convinced that the second gate would open in that area.
***
He walked along the dark, deserted streets of the city.
Occasionally, he came across one or two of those creatures, but it didn't take him long to eliminate them.
The atmosphere was eerily haunting, with no lights illuminating the way and not even the faintest sound to break the silence.
There weren't even the usual noises of small insects like crickets.
Kael kept moving toward the soccer stadium, located about three kilometers from the mall ruins he had just left.
He suspected that the second gate would appear there, just like the first one.
By the time he arrived, the clock showed it was already ten at night.
He entered the stadium, which had partly collapsed, passing through a doorway that no longer resembled its original shape.
Inside, the smell of blood wasn't overwhelming, and there were only one or two bodies—or severed human heads—scattered around.
'Looks like nothing happened here earlier today,' he thought.
And he was right. Coincidentally, the stadium had been under renovation that day, meaning there had been no matches or events there.
Normally, there would have been soccer matches or, if not, other big events, like concerts or even political gatherings.
The interior of the stadium was severely damaged, with spectator seats overturned everywhere and the grass field looking as if it had been churned up by a giant tractor.
He looked up toward the area where reporters would usually broadcast the matches.
The reporter's box wasn't heavily damaged and remained in its place, though its glass windows were completely gone.
Carefully, he navigated through the debris of scattered seats and climbed the stairs leading to the box.
From there, he observed the entire stadium.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The atmosphere was still eerily silent and dim, illuminated only by the moonlight.
He placed his backpack down, took out some food and drink, and sat while gazing at the stadium's interior.
It was now eleven at night.
After finishing his meal, he cleared away the wrappers and continued to sit, staring at the stadium.
In his previous life, he wouldn't have been able to think like this.
He would have been terrified, desperately trying to save his own life. He wouldn't have been curious like he was now, approaching the place where the gate was expected to open.
Suddenly, his eyes caught some movement in the stadium, specifically in the western section of the seats from where he was currently located.
It seemed there were some humans there.
"Hope they're lucky enough to survive," he muttered, leaning his back against the intact wall of the box.
His gaze remained fixed on those survivors, and he noticed that they were not Awakened.
The Ambrossia, which had suddenly appeared in this world alongside various other items, was not available in large quantities. However, it was incredibly potent, capable of instantly turning someone into an Awakened.
This item quickly became highly sought after and fiercely contested during the early days of the apocalypse.