Leon dashed forward, knocking Smith off his feet. The guy retaliated with flaming punches which Leon blocked with the flat of his katanas. He flipped over the cushion, then slashed at Smith's shoulders, drawing blood.
"Fuck!"
Smith cursed, feeling the stinging pain from the cut. He didn't expect Leon to be that vicious—even toying with him. That attack could have definitely cut off his head. Yet, Leon only slashed his shoulders.
Furious, he threw a punch with all of his strength.
Pa!
Unfortunately, Leon caught his arm tightly, then smoothly closed in and elbowed his face.
Crack!
Blood spilled from the man's nose as he stumbled back, disoriented.
'Pathetic.'
Leon thought dryly, then stabbed his katana straight into Smith's throat.
Hukk-!
The throat bled as life slowly drained from Smith's eyes. Then, his body collapsed to the ground.
Outside, the three first level evolved and four ordinary humans were getting anxious. They even considered rushing in but remained outside. Smith had specifically prohibited them from entering. Only asking them to stay on standby.
When the sound of fighting seized, they were confident Smith had killed the new guy.
In that haunting silence, they stood tense, waiting for Smith to come out. Finally, the door creaked open and he stepped out.
Not Smith—but Leon.
He wiped the bloodstains around his mouth, then slowly licked his lower lips.
"He's not enough."
He muttered, eyes shining with perverse hunger. Although it only took some time, he had consumed Smith's body, leaving only bones and unwanted parts. Still, the man's energy barely fueled his evolution.
"Are you kidding me? He killed smith?"
One of the ordinary guys said, his grip on his gun tightened.
"Goddamnit! I knew we should have gone in."
Another one, evolved, said in shock and rage as he rushed to attack Leon with a double-edged sword.
Kaiser eyed the weapon, already deciding to pick it from the man's corpse.
Before long the man could even reach Leon, two blade cuts already appeared on his thighs.
'When—?'
He thought, dumbfounded.
He hadn't even seen Leon move. By now, Leon was not something a first level evolved could match. Tethering on the brink of evolution, his strength had soared above even the top ranks of the first level. Not even ordinary second level evolved could contend against him.
"K-Kill him!"
The man with the sword shouted at his other companions who were equally surprised. However, the apocalypse had taught them to being vicious and unyielding even in the face of stronger foes.
As the three evolved moved to engage Leon in close combat, the four non-evolved stayed back and readied their guns, taking any chance they saw.
This was their regular formation. The evolved would close around the targeted enemy, while the non-evolved would fire occasional shots of bullets to disrupt the target's attack or movement.
"Come..."
Leon exhaled. Then, he moved.
The world seemed to blur as the metallic scent of blood suddenly filled the air. The three evolved, alert and sensitive, felt something was wrong.
Soon, they found the reason. One of them collapsed, his body mutilated by several sword marks. Their eyes widened, cold sweat rolling down their spine.
Leon had just attacked yet one of them was already dead. How?! At least the guy should have been able to react and stall for a while.
Or... Could it be...?
"He's a second level evolved?!"
Someone shouted in shock, completely misunderstanding the situation.
Leon didn't give them time to think though, he attacked.
Clang!
This time, the evolved realized he couldn't be taken lightly and activated their class abilities. The first guy lit up with green runes on his shin while the other simply had his sword become more deadly.
Immediately, their auras changed and they grew stronger—strong enough to block Leon's strike together.
The white haired zombie didn't care, though.
"Kill..."
He whispered to himself, then attacked again and again.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Sparks flew in the air as the weapons grinded against each other in a brutal contest of strength. Veins bulged on the evolved's faces when they realized they could barely match Leon's strength together.
'What kind of monster is he?!'
Their thoughts synced.
Suddenly, the guy with green runes suddenly turned into a green poisonous fog that enveloped Leon.
Unperturbed, he calmly stopped breathing and closed his eyes. Then using only his ears and sense of touch, Leon closed in on the other evolved.
Bang!
He sheathed a katana and punched the evolved's ribs with his free hand, cracking some bones. The guy was thrown away from the force, blood spilling from his mouth.
Cough-! Cough-!
Pain flooded the man's senses as he struggled to stand up. To cover for him, the four marksmen opened fire at Leon while the other evolved stubbornly clung onto Leon, believing that the latter couldn't hold his breath for long.
Leon calmly undermined their efforts as he threw his second katana. It flew through the air with a sharp sound and stabbed into the injured evolved's head with a sickening crunch.
Gasp-!
One of the non-evolved gasped, horrified. Then he bolted. He was deeply scared, traumatized even. By now, the whole village should have been aware that a fight was ongoing and reinforcements should be on the way.
Seeing one of them flee, the others didn't hesitate. They ran for their lives. The green rune evolved felt rage boil in his gaseous form as he dispelled the ability and decided to face Leon alone. At least, he'd stall him enough for reinforcements to arrive.
"Haaaahhh!"
With a brave shout, he lunged at Leon, his sword raised. Indifferent, Leon deflected the attack and kicked him hard in the stomach, sending the man flying.
"You brought this upon yourself." Leon said flatly as he crouched beside the man, his deep inhuman eyes narrowed slightly.
Looking at him from the ground, the green rune evolved finally saw the crystal hidden under Leon's bangs.
"You... 're a zombie?" He choked.
He had never seen such an intelligent zombie. Of the first level at that.
Leon barely shrugged. "You can say that."
Then, he calmly snapped his neck, killing the evolved. Although he won, he had expended a lot of energy and thus, decided to consume the three evolved for replenishment. Perhaps he could even get a skill or two.
"Now, now... Where are the reinforcements?"