"I supposed that the ones who remained here have decided to give their items in exchange for protection and food. With that out of the way, we want you to see what will happen to the others as soon as they get out from this sanctuary." Roger pressed a button, and the giant screen projected multiple images with the main actors as the beings that decided to leave.

"This is not to scare you but to instill in you the reality of our situation," Roger added.

Outside, the demons, elves, and humans went their own ways, and like expected, they formed groups within their races and marched onwards on the hordes of zombies.

The first clash happened as soon as they got out of the walls and gates. Ryu didn\'t expect the undead numbers were staggering from a horizontal perspective. It was overwhelming, and some of the humans were eaten or torn alive after just minutes.

The elves were struggling too to get out from the sheer number of zombies they had to face. They already used items to aid them, and some managed to break away with their speed.

The demons had the least casualties as expected, but others weren\'t so lucky. Using each other\'s as a sacrifice, they escaped amidst the chaos.

Eventually, some already managed to escape in the city, and the camera shifted angle in the city landscape.

It was barren with vehicles on the road and dilapidated metal frames hanging from destroyed buildings. There wasn\'t much undead, but a group encountered strange creatures that sniffed them out.

Dogs, tigers, lions, wolfs and all sorts of undead animals attacked them when the monsters captured their scent, and unlike the slow zombies, these animals were fast and strong.

"Even beasts. .. ?" Ryu murmured as he watched what was happening on the screen.

"It\'s not just beasts," said Nash, who stood by Ryu\'s side. "There are others that are much worse."

One camera shifted angle and showed a weird-looking creature that was giant in size. Everyone didn\'t know what it was, but it was so ugly and disgusting, like hordes of undead got stuck together to create a giant blob of rotten flesh.

"W-what. .. What is that thing?"

"Mutated zombies," Roger said. "They\'re creatures that had some level of intelligence and are difficult to kill."

It was intimidating and ugly looking and slow to boot. But a group of elves was having a hard time fighting against it. Every time they deal damage or manage to tear a chunk of its flesh, it grows back a new.

"The best way to defeat it is to shred it to pieces or bomb it to smithereens." Roger nodded to himself.

Fortunately, the elves have items they threw at the mutated zombies to reduce it to mince paste. But as soon as they defeated one, another appeared and another and another. Until dozens of mutated zombies flanked them on all sides.

Not for long, the room was pierced with cries and screams from those who ventured outside.

As he watched the goring event, Ryu was glad that they had stayed in the sanctuary. It was not only the hordes they had to worry about as soon as they got out. They had to cover their scent, too, if they wanted to escape the beast\'s nose. After that, they had to avoid the mutated zombies and fight the Lich if they wanted to get out from this hell hole.

"Why didn\'t you tell them?" a human said and confronted Roger. "They could have been warned of what was waiting for them outside."

Roger raised a brow and crossed his thick, hairy arms. "Would they listen? Would that have changed anything if they don\'t experience it first hand?"

The human shut his mouth before he spoke in stutters. "E-even still. .. they could have been more prepared."

Ryu doubted that. Those who left were confident in their abilities. The Lich didn\'t even perturb them, and without experiencing it first hand, he doubted that they would listen and stay behind.

It wouldn\'t be a problem if magic weren\'t canceled in this world. It must have been designed that way to make everyone\'s life a living hell.

Roger faced everyone and said, "Alright. I hope that all of you have seen the real horrors outside. Your items aren\'t enough to guarantee survival in this world. To navigate and escape this apocalypse, we must plan and work together.

"All of you will be segregated into jobs depending on your items and abilities, so make sure to cooperate if you don\'t want to end up like those guys outside."

Everyone looked at each other. Roger showed them those images because he wanted to instill fear in them so they would give up their items and stay in the sanctuary to help out rather than venture into the outside walls.

It worked for one after another everyone took out their items willingly and lined to give them to Roger while some staff went inside and questioned everyone about their abilities and what they\'re good at.

Some of the slaves and servants didn\'t have enough items though, and they were forced to join the scavenger squad with pale faces.

Ryu was in a dilemma. He could only give the expensive precious stone he acquired in the first islet; the rest were items he couldn\'t afford to give up. But what was precious stones\' value in this apocalypse?

Absolutely Zero.

It didn\'t have any use in this world.

Besides the precious stones, he had five lizard tails, Ursula\'s bottle, Nereid\'s Grimoire, Legion Steel, Horned Mackerel, a weird dagger, and that Djinni pot.

Those were items he couldn\'t afford to give up.

He looked at Rosa and said in a serious tone. "I don\'t have any items I can give. I\'ll be going in the scavenger group."

Rosa didn\'t comment, and she sweetly smiled. "Same."

.. . Huh?

Ryu was confused, and Rosa flipped her hair. "I don\'t want to be stuck here and do odd jobs. I\'d rather explore the city and see what I\'ll find."

Was that really all?

That was not the only reason. Rosa wanted to be with Ryu but was too prideful to say it. Ryu was her only support in this world. It was no problem if she could still use her spells, but she wasn\'t confident with just her items alone.

Besides, she felt at peace whenever he was around. There was something about the halfbreed that made her feel like everything would be okay as long as he was there.

Rosa\'s heated face shifted to the side when Ryu looked at her with a confused gaze.

Must be a beast thing. She thought.