[Juliet's POV]

The music at the celebration party continued. Surrounded by a crowd, Alison basked in the crowd's repetitive praises.

Suddenly, a deafening boom came from the city walls. Overlapping growls and roars of zombies tore through the atmosphere.

Terror erupted instantaneously. People in the crowd screamed, "It's a swarm of zombies! A massive swarm of zombies!"

A guard ran over, staggering along the way. "The lightning barrier on the right of the base has been breached. There's a massive gap. Zombies are coming through soon!"

Jeffrey's face fell. He leapt to his feet while Lucas tightened his grasp on his weapon, wearing a tense expression.

Alison went pale with fright. She hid behind both men immediately, frantically explaining, "How could this be when I've clearly reinforced it? I… I've exhausted my powers for today. You guys have to figure something else out!"

Someone called out, "Quick! Get Juliet out here!"

The guards rushed toward the dark cells immediately and dragged me to the center of the square, though I was barely clinging onto life.

Immediately, everyone's attention was on me.

"Have her block the gap!"

"She has protective shielding powers. She won't die!"

"Just sacrifice her to save everyone else in this city!"

Jeffrey shut his eyes for a moment. When he opened his eyes again, only iciness remained in his gaze. "Go block the breach, Juliet," he ordered.

Lucas opened his mouth to speak, but he only managed to say one thing—"Quit wasting time!"

As I stared at them, I felt unusually calm. "Alright. I'll go," I said.

Step by step, I headed toward the gap in the city wall. I neither struggled nor bawled my eyes out.

[Host's vitality: Two hours remaining. Protective shield status: 90% damaged.]

I looked at the system notification before my eyes. For the very first time, time felt exceptionally long. While everyone watched on in relief, I deactivated my protective shield powers, throwing myself straight into the sea of zombies.

"Juliet!"

Jeffrey's eyes went wide with horror, and his instincts pushed him to rush forward. Meanwhile, Lucas turned as white as a ghost as he took a step forward.

The moment they both sprang into action, Alison grabbed onto them, holding them back with all her might.

"Don't go. It's too dangerous! She will be fine. She has powers. Let's stand guard here for now!"

Held back forcefully, Jeffrey and Lucas had no choice but to watch as I became buried in the swarm of zombies.

In the next moment, the system's voice reverberated through everyone's minds.

[The host, Juliet Cox, is dead. Execution protocol is complete. The savior's mission status: Failed. The protective barrier is no longer in effect.]

Everyone in the square fell into a dead silence.

Then, someone asked in a trembling voice, "Where did the system come from? Isn't… Isn't Alison our savior?"

Waves of questions poured in, and Alison turned deathly pale. She feigned composure as she yelled, "Don't be afraid, everyone. I'm doing my best to mend the walls!"

She gathered her lightning powers in an attempt to cover the entire base with it once again.

However, in the next second, the lightning barrier that had previously surrounded the entire city with ease stretched less than 20 feet before it began flickering violently.

With a loud rumble, the flickering sparks, along with the lightning barrier that was previously there, vanished into nothingness.

The true apocalypse was finally here.