Last Ruler Of The Empty Throne

"Wow, congratulations, Cynthia!" Jenny beamed at her, eyes shining with genuine happiness.

"Yeah, lucky," Jon muttered, clicking his tongue as if he wished he'd gotten the item himself. 'Maybe one of those orbs will have a Black Realm treasure', he thought wistfully.

And Cynthia simply smiled and placed the golden hairpin in her hair.

"Gasp..."

"Woah..."

"Wowww..."

The hairpiece highlighted her beauty even more, that even the likes of the beauty lord became like a commoner to her beauty. Even Laura became very curious about the treasure after seeing her beauty, but she suppressed her desire and just greeted,

"Congrats..." Laura smiled a bit and nodded, 'I can just check later.'

With all that said and done, Jon and his group rejoined the others outside.

The shocked expressions from Jon, Jenny, and Cynthia had already given it away that they got something, however no one was bold enough to ask.

'Was there a treasure in there all this time?' the blade lord bit his lip tightly as he watched Cynthia.

'If only we had found that.' it seemed the poison lord was of a similar mind. The lords were of a mind that if they had the treasure, they wouldn't have lost like that. And she glanced at the beauty lord beside her.

The beauty lord was actually the smartest of the lords, so she expected her to have realized the same thing. And true to her thoughts, the beauty lord was frowning too. However, she was thinking ahead, 'Would we have won with that.' Which was was the correct way of thinking.

The release of power she felt from Jon still sent shivers down her spine. And she didn't think a treasure could actually block that.

So, she shared with the remaining leaders what she thought using signs. And it was to wait.

It seemed, these lords hadn't given up yet.

However, Jon had returned to his thoughts. 'Why didn't the watch notify me...' he had said he would forget but, he found himself thinking about it more and more.

Then he had a crazy thought, 'What if it actually doesn't recognize it as a treasure or it's broken.' but looking at it again, it was working perfectly.

His gaze then shifted to the Beast Lord who had also followed them to the room. 'I guess I'll need to have a chat with him soon.'

Without sending the lords and fighters back to the cafeteria, they all resumed to their destination.

...

After about ten more minutes of walking, they arrived at a large expanse of land. The ground was filled with gravel and wired fences around it.

This was the place the buses were occupied, repaired and maintained. And they were hundreds of neatly parked buses all over the land and considering the buses were not used all the time, there were a lot.

However, it wasn't perfect again,

There was dried and fresh blood on the ground. Some buses were already fully burnt, half burnt or even split.

There were even some large black holes in some places, the people who exploded and the last problem, the zombies that were scattered around.

Immediately they arrived, the zombies had noticed them and were now approaching. At this point, the zombies had taken a step forward.

The average weakest zombie was now at an average level of 8 and were already jogging, it was a grim reminder of the world they were fighting in.

However, it wasn't at a level they couldn't handle.

Within five minutes, the car park was cleared and secure of zombies. Now, they could turn their attention to the buses. After a quick survey, they counted around a hundred vehicles still in decent condition even after the countless destroyed buses they first saw upon entering.

For the university, especially at Palflic, it wasn't strange to them that they could gather that number of buses. The university was a prestigious one, even in the continental scale.

So, they had to be prepared for any situation, even the situation that one that entailed evacuating all students and staffs in the school. No one could have predicted a disaster of this magnitude, and now, it seemed the preparation of several years was paying off.

With no time to waste, they all boarded the buses and turned back to the cafeteria.

On their way, they hadn't forgotten to clear the road of small and large items that could cause a blockage, allowing the convoy of buses to move smoothly as they headed back.

A Few hours Earlier,

Back at the cafeteria, tension filled the air as the first group returned, bringing unsettling news about new monsters. These were the people who ran away as soon as they spotted a different monster.

The survivors were then put on the edge. Whispers of rumors began spreading quickly through the cafeteria.

"I heard something happened to them."

"W-What..."

"H-How..."

Fear began taking root in the minds of the survivors. What made it worse was the fact that the deserters didn't know what happened afterwards. The group of leaders assigned to watch over the survivors were having a hard time suppressing the panic around the cafeteria.

Just as the murmurs and panic reached a fever pitch, a second group burst through the doors of the cafeteria and announced,

"Everything is fine, they are going to continue."

"Jon's a monster, you should have seen him!"

"But Tunde… he didn't make it…"

They spoke in fragments, but the atmosphere shifted. A cautious calm returned, and while most survivors were just relieved, they could still hope, while the others like lecturers, staff and former school executives pressed for details, trying to gauge the real dangers outside.

So, to pass time and settle their minds, they listened to the stories of the second group.

And finally, after a few hours, the sound of engines began to reach them, distant but steady.

Vroom... Vroom... Vroom...

There was a strange harmony and comfort in the sound, a pulsing rhythm as dozens of buses approached.

"Is that..."

"It is..."

"Did they do it..."

People rushed to the windows and door, straining to see what was approaching.

And the moment they spotted the line of buses, their eyes widened, and as if an infection spread, a wave of cheering erupted through the cafeteria.

"They brought the buses!"

"Yes! We're getting out of here!"

"Woah!"

Relief and excitement washed over them instantly. Tears of joy and shouts of celebration filled the air as the buses began to take their position outside the cafeteria. For the first time since this ordeal began, hope felt real.

And they clung to it as if it were life itself.

In the days they'd spent surviving, they'd endured the unthinkable, zombies, strange monsters, and a level of psychological strain no one could have predicted. People had made friends, enemies, even alliances. Rumors of gangs, betrayals, romances, and heartbreak had trickled through the group. There had even been attempts to use Jon's reputation to manipulate others or guarantee safety and respect.

Desperation had driven many to try to flee or take matters into their own hands and rebel, many people even died as a result of these problems and these were among the issues Tunde was about to inform Jon of.

And now, none of it mattered.

With the convoy of buses rolling in, the shadows lifted, replaced by a glimmer of peace.

As Jon's group exited the buses and entered the cafeteria, the crowds cheering reached an unfathomable level.

What Jon saw immediately he entered were the emotions: relief, joy and hope.

'Was it really this bad?' he wondered, glancing over the crowd with his Moon Gaze. He really hadn't been aware of what was going on till now.

Scanning the survivors, they were less in number than he remembered. Some, he guessed would have tried to escape may have met worse fates. Some probably committed suicide. And it stung a bit to him. Even though he had no qualm in killing due to his trait, that didn't mean he was a killer. So, he didn't have anything to say as he saw the low number of survivors.

Then Jenny stepped forward, raising her hands to calm the crowd. After getting her desired response, she began,

"We brought enough buses to get everyone on board. We'll start clearing the path out of the school, and in two or three days, we'll be ready to leave this place for good." Her excitement was contagious, sparking hope that caught like wildfire.

"Pack your things, everyone. The military or some form of aid will be out there, following proper procedures. We will survive this." Jenny clenched her fists, her conviction spreading through the room like a current.

And the cheers erupted again, echoing through the cafeteria. In this rare moment of happiness, they savored it, knowing that soon, they would face the real question,

What comes next?