For the next half an hour, they moved through the damp, decaying urban maze. They saw targets, charged forward with escalating arrogance, and executed their kills with increasing efficiency.
Yong, nursing his hand, used his knife first every time, and Xin relied heavily on his rebar. The cumulative influx of soul power was unmistakable.
Finally, the moment they had been chasing arrived simultaneously for the two followers. A distinct, pleasant surge coursed through their bodies—a warming sensation that mended their minor aches and energized their muscles.
Zero Order (Mid).
Yong and Xin looked at each other, their eyes wide with exhilaration. They had done it. They had ascended in rank.
Huo, watching their excited faces, felt a flash of irritation. He, the true leader, had not evolved yet despite several kills. He quickly suppressed his displeasure, knowing that his initial rank was already far higher than their new status. My time will come. I need a bigger meal, a High Rank corrupted.
Their collective arrogance peaked. They were three Mid Rank evolvers. They were invincible.
They stopped to rest under the overhang of a dilapidated building, hidden from the persistent drizzle. As they casually chatted, a monstrous shape shuffled into view down the wide, abandoned street. It moved with a terrifying sense of purpose, its frame not the typical skeletal charcoal, but a dense, dark grey, its exposed ribs like segmented armor, and its single eye glowing with malevolent intelligence.
It was a lone Zero Order (High) corrupted.
A chilling wave of raw, oppressive Aether immediately washed over the three boys. They froze. The aura of the creature was like a lead weight pressing down on their chests, instantly recalling the terror they had felt facing the horde at the park. They were terrified.
"H-High Rank," Yong whispered, his former excitement replaced by a dry, metallic taste of panic.
"One of them..." Xin breathed, his grip tightening so hard on the rebar that his knuckles went white.
Huo, though his body screamed for retreat, immediately remembered his goal: the massive, sweet reward. A High Rank corrupted. If we take this down, our rank will surge. We'll be closer to Lin Kai's level in one go! Who cares about the fear when the prize is this huge?
He spoke with forced calm. "Listen to me, brothers. It's alone. One High Rank against three Mid Ranks. The payoff will be enormous, enough to make us truly superior. We experimented earlier: when two or more people kill a corrupted, the soul power is distributed equally based on contribution. We are a team. We will share the glory and the power."
The notion of shared, immense rewards was the final, fatal push. They were convinced of their collective strength and their genius in understanding the distribution of soul power. They were not afraid that only the one who delivered the final blow would get the benefit; they would all ascend.
Without a second thought, blinded by greed and recklessness, the three charged forward.
Xin led the charge, aiming his rod at the corrupted's heavily armored left arm, hoping to break the joint. Yong followed, swinging his knife low toward the exposed right leg. Huo leaped high into the air, summoning all his Aether for a devastating, downward strike aimed at the High Rank's armored neck—his signature attack.
CLANG!
Huo's kick connected, and the sound was like striking a church bell. The force instantly rebounded, sending a sharp, painful vibration up his leg. He had inflicted absolutely no damage.
The High Rank corrupted barely registered the blow. It simply shook its body once, a jarring, powerful vibration that rippled outwards.
Yong and Xin, who were still mid-strike, were tossed aside like rag dolls, skidding across the wet street and colliding with the ruined walls. Huo, witnessing the terrifying lack of effect, instinctively executed a messy backflip to create distance, landing heavily on his knees.
No... this isn't right. It's supposed to be damaged!
They scrambled back to their feet, their bodies screaming in protest, the initial rush of adrenaline dissolving into cold, creeping dread. They charged again, desperately attacking, dodging, and weaving, but the result was the same. For minutes that felt like an eternity, they battered the High Rank, only managing to scrape a few superficial, charcoal flakes from its dense hide. The corrupted was not tired; it was merely annoyed.
Helplessness began to wash over them—a paralyzing, suffocating fear. The High Rank was less a target and more a monstrous, unflappable wall.
"This is not working! We need to pull back!" Xin yelled, his voice strained and cracking.
"Run! RUN!" Yong screamed, completely abandoning any pretense of courage.
As the three Mid Rank evolvers turned their backs to flee, the High Rank corrupted released a deep, resonant vibration. It wasn't an attack, but a soundless, psychic call—a rallying cry amplified by Aether.
Huo's mind immediately registered the horrifying truth: multiple auras, Low and Mid Rank, were converging rapidly from the surrounding streets. The High Rank hadn't been an easy target; it had been bait.
Panic exploded in their chests. They couldn't fight a whole group. They couldn't even scratch the leader. They ran, their desperate footsteps splashing in the muddy rain, every single thought consumed by the single, primal urge to escape.
CHOMP!
A Mid Rank corrupted, faster and more focused than the others, leaped from a shadowed alleyway and latched its jaw onto Yong's neck.
A piercing, guttural scream tore from Yong's throat. He felt the teeth crush bone and tear flesh, and a burning poison—the corrupted Aether—rushed into his bloodstream. His consciousness began to blur, commands failing to reach his limbs. He stumbled, falling hard onto the slick pavement.
"H-Huo! Xin! Guys, come back, fast! Save me! Please!" Yong wailed, his voice already losing its human timbre, becoming a frantic, distorted bleat. "These bastards are coming! I'm good, just drag me out! Save me!"
Huo and Xin skidded to a stop, turning to see Yong thrashing on the ground as the first wave of Low Rank corrupted converged on him, their hands already tearing at his fallen body.
Huo looked at his lifelong classmate, his eyes utterly cold, calculating the risk. Going back is suicide. He's already compromised.
"Yong, take care," Huo announced, his tone indifferent, completely devoid of empathy or regret. "We will remember you, don't worry. Now we need to go; there is important work to be done."
Xin, equally terrified and selfish, mumbled a nonsense excuse about needing to secure the area, then turned and ran, following Huo.
Yong watched them abandon him, the crushing realization of their betrayal stealing the last vestiges of his human consciousness. His hands were already being ripped apart by the frenzied corrupted. With the maximum loudness his failing body could muster, he shrieked, a sound of pure, incandescent hatred:
"UGH! You guys! I will not forgive you! Just wait! I will come for you! I CURSE YOU GUYS TO DIE A HORRIBLE DEATH! UGHHH!"
His voice suddenly cut off, replaced by the sickening sound of flesh being torn and chewed. Yong's body went slack, and the black, corrupting Aether completed its work, turning him into another mindless, enraged monster.
Huo and Xin ran faster, the enraged, dying curse of their comrade echoing in their ears. They didn't spare a second thought for him; the only thing that mattered was survival.
But the corrupted group was relentless. After a few seconds, a Mid Rank corrupted leaped high, attempting to tackle both of them. They dodged, adrenaline searing through their veins, only to see the horde gaining on their heels.
Huo's mind snapped. Survival instinct morphed into evil genius.
Running shoulder-to-shoulder with Xin, he suddenly turned and delivered a brutal, unexpected kick directly to Xin's stomach. Xin cried out in pain, the unexpected force sending him tumbling sideways and backward, directly into the path of the oncoming horde.
Xin's scream was short, sharp, and cut off by a chorus of snarling, chewing sounds.
Huo didn't hesitate. He didn't even turn his head. One less threat. One more second.
In that moment of calculated betrayal, however, another Mid Rank corrupted seized the opportunity. It lunged, sinking its teeth deep into Huo's arm.
Pain, white-hot and immediate, flared up Huo's limb. He roared in agony, felt the sudden, burning injection of corrupted Aether into his vein, but the pain only fueled his desperate sprint. He knew he was bitten, but he didn't care. His only objective was the apartment, Lin Kai, and safety. He had to be saved.
Unbeknownst to him, the corrupting process was already beginning. The skin of his bitten arm, and slowly creeping toward his torso, was taking on a faint, eerie, charcoal color, and a sickly purple glow pulsed in the veins of the wound.
He ran for minutes, using every last reserve of his strength, the fear of the horde driving him faster than he had ever moved in his life. He finally spotted the familiar, fortified apartment building. The horde was still yards behind, lumbering but persistent.
With a final, desperate burst of energy, Huo reached the building and frantically pounded on the window, his voice raw.
"Hey, guys! Please! HELP ME! The corrupted are coming in a group! You have to do something, quickly!"
The sudden, frantic yelling shattered the peaceful calm within the apartment.
In the adjacent room, Lin Kai instantly woke from his nap, his purple eyes snapping wide open, already glowing with cold, focused Aether. He recognized the sound of absolute, panicked terror. Simultaneously, the members of the group—Rong, Professor Shen and others—all heard the scream and instantly moved to the windows, their sleep and conversations forgotten.
They saw Huo, staggering, his arm already sickly and charcoal-colored, and behind him, a growing, dark mass of charging, low-level corrupted.
Lin Kai wasted no time. He didn't use the stairs; he simply leaped from the third-floor window, landing silently on the pavement next to the terrified boy.
Lin Kai's deep, purple eyes immediately registered the fatal bite on Huo's arm and the slow, horrifying transformation already taking place. He connected the dots instantly: This boy snuck out. His recklessness has now brought the danger to our door.
Lin Kai's attention shifted immediately from the dying boy to the approaching horde. The priority was the group's survival.
"TAKE YOUR WEAPONS!" Lin Kai commanded, his voice cutting through the building with the sharp, unquestionable authority of a leader. "BIG FIGHT IS COMING! PREPARE FOR BATTLE!"
His group, unlike the cowardly trio, immediately complied. They knew their leader's assessment was absolute truth. One by one, they filed out of the room, swiftly descending the floors, and burst into the street outside the apartment building.
Rong drew her twin knives, and even Professor Shen stood ready with a simple, sturdy axe with others taking their battle stance. They formed a tight, focused battle stance in front of the building, prepared to defend their sanctuary.
Huo, terrified and now completely disregarded, stumbled behind a nearby concrete pillar. He looked at the group of eighteen people, then at the rapidly approaching black horde, and his face twisted in disbelief and fear.
He couldn't trust this small group. He had survived by betraying his friends; now he was relying on the very person he despised to save his life from the mess he had created.
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