"Ah, what do we have here? Another one for the master's collection? And this one's a fighter as well" the voice sounded emotionless but Maria knew nothing good could come out of it. The body in front of her looked almost like a child's, which made it difficult for Maria to be able to guess the correct age range.

Lifeless eyes stared back at Maria which made her nervous looking back at them. She had never liked to look at eyes that held no emotions in them. (It reminded her too much of the patients that had lost hope)

"Are you not going to reply? Are you a defective human?" The child asked if its soulless eyes stared right into Maria's own. It seemed as if the child saw Maria but at the same time could not comprehend who he saw.

Had Maria been mistaken for a human? Even with her bunny ears right on display? Surely the kid was not as stupid as to think that normal humans had bunny ears outside of special circumstances.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Maria asked as she instantly jumped back to maintain a distance between herself and the kid. The kid might loom harmless at first but there were so many factors here.

And the things that looked most harmless were often the most dangerous out there. Maria should know since she was often seen as a harmless person as well. The mask of being a 'sweet harmless Oracle' was one only worn by her to fool the public.

"Who is Pika? Well, Pika is Pika and Pika is the master's possession. Pika is here to make sure the master gets new toys in their possession and makes them happy" it got Maria how the child's voice did not change throughout the sentence.

The creepiness came crawling back as she realized that the kid was not normal. Several cuts on the kid's body should have hurt but the kid acted like they were not even there. Many of the injuries Maria could spot would have left even the veterans at a loss but not the kid marching toward her.

It was clear that either the kid had a high pain tolerance or the kid could not feel the pain. Was the kid a zombie as well?

Maria had never seen or heard about such a self-aware zombie before but there was always a first time for everything. And the world was a big enough place for Maria not to ever question what could or could not happen. She was a prime example of this subject herself.

"Don't try to resist Pika" Maria dodged the rather clumsy attack being made at her by the child-like zombie and she tried not to let herself attack back the kid with too much force. She wanted to subdue him, not kill him off.

But if the kid kept up his attempts, Maria was not sure how much longer she could just sit back and dodge. Not because she was not powerful enough, but because she was running short on time.

She needed to find a way to get away and inform her group of this new development. Her system was recording it all but sending it over would have to wait. Otherwise, her battlefield would get invaded by Suna and Nao which would attract even more attention.

"Stop running away from Pika. We'll sure we'll have a lot of fun together" the child was too random in his attacks and managed to get inside Maria's guard a few times to scratch her. It was not difficult with Maria not giving it to her all but it was still a shame.

The nails managed to scratch her arms which gave Maria a burning sensation. There was poison in those nails and it hurt to be subjected to it. But Maria's demonic side neutralized it within minutes. That was a benefit Maria liked about her new body.

"Pika doesn't understand. Why did the human not become Pika's friend?" The zombie had stopped to look at Maria in confusion. It had stopped as soon as those nails had gazed at Maria's arms and the kid's face had turned into eager anticipation.

But soon it was replaced by confusion as well as a heartbroken expression which paired well with the kid's face to make Maria feel guilty. Darn her and her feelings that made Maria hesitate to attack the confused kid.

"Pika is confused but Pika was told to kill anyone who doesn't want to become Pika's friend. Pika is sorry for her next action" Maria felt the tone change before the moment of the body in front of Maria changed as well.

The lazy attacks from before had a force behind them that should have been impossible for the small body to be able to produce. And yet those fists made an impact that left Maria in a need to defend herself.historical

Now that things had come to this, she had no other choice but to fight back and knock the kid out as soon as she could. It was a matter of both their safety.

Her magic swelled but the harmless type just slid off of the zombified girl. Since she was no longer living, normal spells like spells or slowdown did not have an effect. It was going to get tougher from here on out.

"Please give up. Pika doesn't want to hurt you" Maria had no other choice but to deploy a blunt weapon on the kid. Chances are, the kid would not even feel it once he was hit but Maria still felt a smudge of guilt as the handle of her knife made contact with the kid.

The body collapsed without even a hint of pain or complaint and Maria immediately dashed for safety. The noise being made during their small fight had alerted other zombies of her placement and many had already started to make a move toward her.

And zombies were a difficult race to deal with. They are often tricky and difficult to kill. Maria could already see all the trouble they would bring her if she allowed them anywhere near herself.

"Sorry kid. Bit stay down for now" Maria used a powerful binding spell to keep the zombie in place and finally started returning to her friends. Such troublesome matters needed to be dealt with as soon as possible and Maria did not want to drag it out any longer.

As sorry as she felt for the zombie kid, she had other living matters to tend to. This minor infraction caused in this one town was not worth all the effort Maria would have to put in to do her work.