Zombie Queen transmigration into a book

They divided the spoils among themselves before they remembered Julian and Ethan, who were hiding in the corner.

"Leader, what should we do with those children? I’m not about to take them with us to hunt more monsters," one of them asked, his tone laced with displeasure. He wasn’t about to burden himself with those two.

"But we can’t ignore them when we come across them. It doesn’t seem right." Another man argued back, his conscience pricked at the thought of ignoring those children—he had a girl child waiting for him at home.

"Are you trying to morally kidnap us?! I wasn’t the one who forced them into the dungeon. They walked in on their own two feet, and the guards even let them in. Remember, we are here to make a living, not to become saviors!" the woman’s raised voice echoed through the surroundings.

Julian sat up and walked out with Ethan on his back.

The argument grew fiercer, with some insisting they should take the children back, while others refused to take on such a burden.

The leader remained silent, allowing them to voice their opinions. His gaze briefly caught Julian’s figure, and a flicker of indescribable light passed through his eyes. He reached a decision.

But he did not speak yet; he waited for Julian to say what he wanted to say.

"Please, can you take us along? We’ll only follow behind and won’t be a burden if a fight occurs." Julian pleaded calmly, his gaze unafraid as he faced the adults.

He just needed them to handle the monsters they encountered while he protected Ethan.

"You’re trying to use us as free—" the man was interrupted before he could finish.

"It’s settled. Make sure to keep up; we wouldn’t stop to help you." The leader agreed, his tone authoritative, making it clear his words weren’t up for debate.

"Thank you," Julian said sincerely, gripping Ethan’s legs.

He could feel his warm tears sliding down his neck and hoped Ethan wouldn’t wake up until he took him out of the dungeon, fearing Ethan wanted to go back to find his mother.

"Let’s go! Kid, keep up." The leader instructed as everyone began to move, leaving the bloodied scene before the dungeon spawned another rat-like monster.

....

Outside their illusion, Eva faced the sunflower plants, which crept closer to their resting place.

Mist poured out of them in waves, thickening as if it wanted to hide their presence.

Her heart sank; she felt she had encountered a man-eating flower — first it would put them under an illusion, then swallow them whole when they were defenseless.

The more Eva guessed, the deeper her frown grew, and she looked down at Ethan and Julian’s unconscious figures. She had to protect them until they broke free of the illusion of their past.

To make matters worse, the three-day access period to her space had ended, and she would have to wait until the next day to enter again.

Their beasts were all gathered here, but the snake and Wolfy, under their master’s influence, had fallen unconscious as well, leaving only her and Foxy.

If not, she could have sent both of them into her space, but no, that option is impossible at the moment, leaving Eva almost pulling her hair in frustration.

"My problems just had to multiply. Sigh... I have to hold on until tomorrow." Eva murmured to herself, her hands reaching for her weapons as she stood to face the endless stretches of sunflower fields.

"Foxy! Guard them well." She commanded, stepping in front of the boulder and facing her flowers with full concentration, though her mind was racing with how to deal with all these flowers without delay.

Using her energy bomb was out of the question; with Ethan and Julian here, the only option was to fight.

But seeing the field of swaying sunflowers, a chill crept up her spine, and she broke out in a cold sweat.

"You only have to hold out until they wake up," she muttered to herself encouragingly as she gripped her daggers and inhaled deeply to steady her mind.

As if the sunflowers could sense their opponent’s readiness, they shed their seemingly harmless guise.

A sharp shriek echoed through the air; the sunflowers shook frantically, their centers opening to reveal jagged, sharp fangs.

"Damn." Eva cursed, her jaw dropping to the floor in shock.

She wasn’t expecting this at all. At most, she had thought a monster was hidden beneath the sunflower, ready to swallow them while they were unconscious—not the sunflower itself suddenly going berserk.

...

Julian stood before Ethan, his daggers dripping with blood as he faced the leader.

On the ground, the once lively members now lay scattered in corpses, each bearing either a slit throat or a pierced heart.

They had all died by Julian’s hand a moment earlier; all of this was caused by Ethan’s seemingly innocent request.

*Earlier*

They were traveling through the middle floor of the dungeon. They had fought every monster they encountered, but it hadn’t been easy; each of them was injured, and their energy was steadily dwindling.

"We have to leave here or find somewhere safe to rest," one of them suggested after landing a killing blow on the slime-dripping monster.

His face scrunched in disgust; he wasn’t the only one. Everyone was disgusted when their weapons were caught in the slime.

The leader noticed that everyone agreed with the suggestion and muttered in response.

"Then we head back. The dungeon would close—" His words were cut off by Ethan, who had just woken up.

"Please, can you go back? I’ll pay you in potions or gold coins. I need to bring my mother back," Ethan pleaded hoarsely, his voice trembling with barely suppressed tears.

He slid down from Julian’s back and emptied everything from his space bag to prove he could pay them for the job.

The five of them watched in stunned silence as the heavy purse of coins hit the ground, followed by piles of differently colored potions rolling forward, along with weapons and dungeon loot spilling out. Their eyes gleamed with greed.

Everything there could sustain them for more than three years without ever having to risk their lives in a dungeon death trap again.

Julian’s heart sank; he was a step too late to stop Ethan from revealing his wealth to strangers.

And when he saw the greed in their eyes, his heart sank, and he instinctively reached for his dagger in his space bag.

"Help me bring my mom back, and I’ll give you everything. Please help me!" Ethan bowed his head, tears streaming down his face as he pleaded.

They all exchanged looks, each seeing greed in the others’ eyes, and they instantly knew everyone shared the same idea.

It’s not that they didn’t want to help the poor child; they were exhausted and had people to feed back home.

"Sorry, kid. Leave those things on the ground and get out of here. We can’t help you, and this is payment for saving you earlier." One of them muttered righteously, glossing over the fact that he was trying to rob a child.

He had a child to feed; she needed vitamins to stay healthy, and he was ready to do anything to make that possible, even if it meant going against his conscience.

"No, we can’t let them leave. They should come from wealthy homes. What if they sent some after us? We need to." She didn’t finish her sentence, but her hand sliding over her throat made it clear what she meant.

Ethan froze at their words, stunned that they were trying to kill him rather than help him bring his mother back.

Julian wasn’t shocked; he had encountered this kind of person before while hunting in the dungeon.

He stepped in front of Ethan, blocking Ethan from view as he turned to the leader, who remained silent while the other argued.

But the next words that left his lips chilled Ethan’s heart, crushing every hope in him.

"We kill them. It’s safer that way; there’s no need to argue and draw monsters our way. My cut will be higher." The leader muttered calmly, not hiding the greed in his tone.

The four moved closer to Julian. They spread out, surrounding Ethan and Julian from all sides, while the leader stood to the side to watch—he wasn’t going to attack, but they dared not withdraw his share of the loot.

"Kid, don’t struggle. You can’t beat us. Just accept your death, and you’ll die without pain." One of them muttered carelessly, not taking Julian seriously.

He felt the boy was putting on a brave front and nothing more.

Julian remained silent, his gaze darting between the four as he recalled their strengths and weaknesses he had observed over all the time they had faced those monsters.

Then he disappeared, reappearing behind the strongest of the four and slitting her neck before she could react.

His actions were smooth and without hesitation in taking a life.

They were stunned, their reactions sluggish. Julian used the opening to kill another man before the remaining two finally snapped out of it and attempted to activate their powers against him.

The moment they underestimated him, the faster they died.