Determination flashed in Daddy Ye's eyes and he activated his class.
Boom!
A heavy pressure erupted around him as his body doubled in size. His muscles strained against his clothes, begging to be released.
[Berserk], his class, allowed him to tap into his energy reserves and use them up for a one-time boost. Unfortunately, the aftereffect was that he would be unconscious for two days.
Old Pipe was shocked when Daddy Ye suddenly transformed, but he quickly understood the younger man's decision. The zombified beast they were facing wasn't just any regular zombie or beast. It was very intelligent, cunning and dangerous.
Snarling at them, it attacked the duo, lashing out its claws repeatedly.
Using his hammer, Old Pipe knocked aside one paw while Daddy Ye met the other paw with a swing of his axe. Both sides staggered, but the zombie beast recovered faster.
It lunged at Daddy Ye again, claws denting his axe. Before it could deliver a follow-up, Old Pipe smashed his hammer into its side. Lightning erupted.
Boom!
The zombie beast was lifted off its feet, crashing into a nearby truck and turning it to crap. Shaking itself without a grunt, the beast snarled at the duo, then charged at them.
....
Behind them, Ice, Little Tiger, and Shadow; the driver were forced to face the brunt of over fifty different zombie beasts.
Little Tiger ducked, the beak of a zombie bird snapping shut above him. Before the bird could retract its neck, Shadow stabbed it twice with his daggers.
Shrieking, the bird retreated, only to be replaced by a zombie pig. The onslaught of the creatures left them unable to even glance at how Ice was doing. Thankfully, the creatures were only of the First Level.
Ice on the other hand, wasn't doing so well. A zombie bull knocked her off the ground while a zombie dog sunk its teeth through her shin, almost breaking the metal.
With a quick slice, she severed the dog's maw, then staggered to her feet. Malice flashed in her eyes as she unleashed a storm of blizzard, cutting and freezing the wounds on her opponents.
...
Perched atop a high rise building, Leon and Anna stared at the growing chaos curiously.
"You might want to intervene now, right?" Leon said, not looking at her.
Beside him, Anna stood draped in a dark cloak that flapped in the wind. At her side, a sword was sheathed calmly, hanging from her waist.
Without a word, she leaped off the building.
The sound of her cloak flapping in the air attracted the attention of the humans briefly and what happened next shocked them.
Boom!
The asphalt cracked beneath the new arrival's feet, a subtle tremor spreading.
"Who's that?" Shadow asked, watching the figure draped in black warily.
"I don't know." Ice panted, slicing a zombified sheep into two. Unfortunately, the brief pause was going to cost her. From behind, a zombie hyena lunged at her, its fangs raised to bite her neck. Ice watched in horror as the maw closed in.
Before anyone could react, the figure moved.
Slender feminine hands unsheathed the sword slowly, then—it blurred.
The sword moved like a whip with a mind of its own. It cut the neck of the zombie hyena and struck six other zombie beasts instantly, their bodies falling to the ground one after the other.
Moving like a snake, the blade slithered back to form a straight sword. In a heartbeat, the figure moved. Their form weaved between the creatures, bodies dropping wherever they passed.
At this point, even Old Pipe and Daddy Ye had noticed the new arrival. In just a few minutes, the figure had killed all the First Level zombified beasts and finally turned to clash with the Second Level Zombified beast.
Bang!
The moment the two clashed, a fierce wind blew and they were both pushed back.
The wind blew away the hood covering their head, revealing their features. Short blonde hair and sharp brown irises—the gaze as sharp as swords.
"Isn't that...?" Daddy Ye muttered. However, now wasn't the time to care. They to help kill the creature.
Old Pipe struck with his hammer, but the creature blocked with a single swipe of its paw. At its other side, Daddy Ye's vision blurred, barely clinging to consciousness, yet his hulking figure struck the axe against its back. The sound of bones cracking filled the air but the creature held on.
Shrugging off the attack, it swiped at the girl who skillfully flipped over its claws.
Before she landed, her sword elongated again and slashed at its flank, cutting through rotten flesh.
Old Pipe swung his hammer, repeatedly striking the body of the creature with short bursts of electricity. Daddy Ye also proved to be a formidable force. His axe kept breaking the bones in the zombie's body, despite the fact that it healed almost immediately.
"Die, Bastard!"
Old Pipe bellowed as his hammer smacked the side of the zombie's head. The neck bones twisted unnaturally, then reset with a sickening crunch.
The creature's relief ended there.
The Whipsword girl appeared above it, then stabbed her sword down. Before she even reached it, her sword elongated and coiled around its neck. The moment her feet touched the head, the blade spun like a meat grinder. Flesh was shredded instantly and the head fell off.
The five from Evermore Refugee camp stared at her in shock at how easily she cut its neck. The creature's hide was thick, even Daddy Ye's axe could only cut half-deep marks which healed moments later. Yet, the girl had cut off its head without much struggle.
Looking at the corpses around, Ice muttered under her breath. "Damn."
They had come here for a simple scouting mission, yet they had almost lost their lives if not for the stranger who helped.
'Why does she look familiar?' Ice thought, tilting her head.
"Anna..."
She heard Daddy Ye mutter.
"Anna?"
Suddenly, she realized. This was the same shy girl from last time. However, everything about her had changed since then. Her face was expressionless. Her eyes washed over them with a familiar chilling intensity.
"You're here." Old Pipe sighed, inwardly shocked. Of course he recognized Anna too. Her countenance was sharp, like that of a seasoned warrior. And her strength was obvious. She could take on five of them combined and hand their asses to them.
"I suppose he's here too?" Ice added, scanning around.
Suddenly, she spotted him. He was leaning against the wall lazily, staring at them with an indifferent expression. Leon ignored her. His gaze fixated on Old Pipe. He didn't say a word, but his question hung in the air.
What was their decision?
Old Pipe sighed, then gestured to an open building—a restaurant.
Minutes later, Leon and Old Pipe sat opposite each other, their respective followers standing behind them.
"You said you wanted to recruit us. To where exactly? What faction?" Old Pipe asked. He needed to know.
"To my faction of course." Leon deadpanned. "Where else?"
"So you have a shelter." Old Pipe nodded. "What's the population? And how many evolved have you got?"
Leon cocked his head. "Sounds like a probe."
The air instantly turned chilly. Anna's hand moved towards her sword.
But before anyone could move, Leon waved it off.
"Nevermind." His gaze softened. "We're three. All evolved."
Old Pipe's brows dropped. Just three?
"You're not planning on saving other people?" He asked.
"Saving humans? That's your job, not mine." Leon shrugged.
This made the Evermore group realize. This guy, although a humane zombie, had less humanity than a normal human.