The second female lead Dual Cultivates

The shaking did not stop even after 5 minutes which was unusual. It just proved Maria's theory of it not being any normal earthquake but the shaking did seem to be lessening with time.

"What kind of earthquake was that? It lasted too long to be normal" Suna sounded freaked out but also vigilant. They all had realized that things in the Grand Canyon were not as peaceful as they had hoped them to be.

Maria just found herself accepting her fate. How dare she even think things would change once she reached here? Things never change for their group and that was a core concept for them.

"Shit. We were too late. Looks like we'll need to spend the night here" the elder brother sounded disappointed and angry at the prospect. But there was also an air of defeat around him which seemed uncharacteristic of what Maria knew of him. (Not that she knew much)

Something had scared the elder brother enough to keep him with the trio even when he wanted to escape. Something out there was dangerous and it made far too much sense for Maria and her friends to get caught up in the cross-fire. It was like a divine power was guiding them.

"Fuck. They are here already today. Listen, do not open the door even if it gets knocked. We do not need to invite anyone tonight or ever" the elder brother sat down as he covered his younger brother's ears to block the noise out.

Maria wanted to ask him more about that but the knock on the door stopped her short. She shared a look with Nao and the eldest decided to check the threat out. She stood up before anyone could protest and walked toward the door.

"Oiii, don't open it. You'll get us all killed if you do that. Hey, stop your friend before she does something foolish" the elder brother sounded freaked out as he watched Nao move toward certain death. He clutched his younger brother tightly and waited for the worst.

He had watched stronger people being killed by those devils. The girl might have captured him but she had no chance of being able to survive those devils.

The door opened slowly and the elder brother clutched his younger counterpart for dear life. He would protect the younger, just as his parents had protected a few years ago. He would not allow their sacrifices to be in vain.

The shadowy reached for the female and touched her face. It was all over now and the female had no chance of survival. She would be sucked dry to her bone and then devoured by the devil.

Or that was what was supposed to happen. But instead of that happening, the hand passed right over the female's face, not even stopping to feel anyone, and then the door closed.

"I hate zombies but at least they are dumb. Well then, what should we do next?" Nao asked as she parted the curtains to have a look outside. People walked around without any rhyme or reason except to quench their unending hunger.

This single incident infirmed the trio of major happenings going around them. And the picture being presented was not pretty, to say the least. It was no wonder that the duo had been so cautious with the females.

"Is that what those devils are called? They started appearing out of nowhere one day and took over our friends and family. Now only a handful of people are left" the younger brother explained as he dragged himself toward the window.

He looked sad and it tugged at Maria's heart to see. The kid was far too young to be having this kind of trauma. But sometimes things happened beyond anyone's control.

"They seem to be looking for something in the area so they must have a master as well. I don't want to get involved with them so let's wait for them out" Nao observed as she closed the curtains.

These mindless zombies were harmless to the three demons but their sheer number would slow anyone down. This was the only reason Maria decided to hold back for now.

"Anyway. Who are you, people? You look surprised to see those devils but you also don't fear them. They ignored one of you as well where they would have previously killed people for doing the same" the elder brother asked but the fear was not as omnipresent as it had been before.

Instead, there was curiosity visible in the man's eyes which made for a far better outcome for the group. Curiosity was something they could manipulate to their advantage to get the desired result.

"We're not fully human so those zombies don't see us as food. You don't need to fear for our safety" Suna explained in a cheery voice which caused the brothers to freeze.

It did not click inside Maria's head instantly why the brothers froze like that, but once it did, she wanted to smack Suna for her bold explanation. They should not be telling their secrets to everyone they meet.

"Y-You're w-w-what? Are you here to k-kill us? Please don't" the elder brother's voice had a little shake as Maria decided to bring her hood down and show her unusual appendages. There was no point in hiding how she was any longer anyway. And maybe seeing a familiar face would help as well. (That is if they recognized her)

But they did not seem to have recognized her face. They just panicked even more which was beginning to get irritating fast. Suna was trying to reassure them but it seemed to not be registering inside the brother's mind.

"That's it. I was not planning to harm you but you're irritating me now. Sit down or it will hurt" the pair of brothers instantly stopped fiddling around and focused on Nao.

Maria decided to let Nao handle the introduction and tell the brothers about what they wanted from then. Fear was a big indicator to get people to do what Noa wanted and Maria was not above using it. Besides, Nao had experience in dealing with these things.

"I could take you there but we won't be coming back out alive if I did. There is the leader of devils in there and it'll get us if we venture closer. I won't subject my brother to this fate" the elder brother cried out as he held the younger one closer.

But this made Maria's eyes narrow.

The demon that caused this mess and those zombies searching around for something seemed like something Maria needed to pay attention to. And her companions seemed to think so as well if the looks being passed around seemed to indicate something.