Chapter Sixteen: Breaking Through the Encirclement

Chapter Sixteen: Breaking Through the Encirclement

Thousands upon thousands of zombies surged together, forming a massive tide that crashed against the fragile defensive line held by Juster and Loretta.

"Damn it! Furious Thunder Spirits, unleash your power and destroy everything—Heavenly Thunder Strike!" Juster slashed upward, cutting down a tier-five zombie crow attacking Loretta from above, then spun to knock away several bone arrows shot by tier-three skeletal archers. He unleashed a wide-range spell against the advancing horde of tier-three berserk zombies and tier-one skeletons.

A patch of dark clouds gathered overhead, then heavy bolts of lightning rained down, striking the zombie and skeleton hordes, reducing them to charred remains.

Another bolt of lightning struck a zombie crow lunging at Loretta, turning it to cinders as it fell to the ground. The lightning came from Little Snow, who was covering Loretta. Calling out with her distinctive "Gawu Gawu" cry, she knocked down the incoming flock of zombie crows, protecting her companion.

Meanwhile, on Sakuya's side, her group hadn’t yet been besieged by zombies and skeletons, but they faced a deadlier pursuit: a pack of tier-five zombie hounds.

Sakuya hovered above the survivors, relentlessly hurling throwing knives to slay zombie hounds, zombie crows, and berserk zombies closing in.

A zombie hound’s skull was pierced by five knives in an instant; it staggered and collapsed. Yet, five more hounds charged at a woman trailing behind.

Four hounds fell swiftly, but the fifth knife missed its mark, and the woman’s left leg was seized in the beast’s jaws…

Her mouth bound with white cloth, the woman could only utter muffled cries. The others, struggling for their own survival, had no time to help her, and the remaining hounds quickly caught up.

Within seconds, her lower body was devoured, the agony forcing her to bite through the cloth and scream. Those who glanced back fled even faster, terror-stricken. Have you ever seen blood-soaked hands, nails torn from clutching the earth while resisting being dragged by hounds? Have you seen a face so mangled that only a single, despairing eye remains, pleading for help? Sakuya, slaying the undead, spared a glance at the woman, then, with cold resolve, ended her suffering with a final knife.

"Ding! Survivor lost, nine remaining. Soul Crystal reward reduced to 100,000."

The synthetic voice startled Juster, confirming Sakuya’s side was in trouble, prompting him to make a swift decision.

"Loretta, hold the line. I’m planting mines—let’s blow these monsters to pieces, then retreat." Juster unfurled the Fallen Angel Wings as a shield, laying mines at the eastern gate. “Idiot Steps on My Mine”: each mine cost 5,000 Soul Crystals, immensely powerful, capable of lethally damaging creatures up to tier-six within a ten-meter radius, with effective damage extending to twenty meters. Upon detonation, the mine would emit a synthesized voice, "Ahahaha, idiot, idiot!"

"Understood. Be careful; I can hold here," Loretta replied, spreading her Fallen Angel Wings for protection against bone arrows, continuing to suppress the advancing zombies and skeletons.

"All set, let’s go!" Three minutes later, Juster finished laying mines and called out to Loretta, who was about eight meters from the encroaching undead. He soared skyward.

"Alright, take this, you damned souls!" Loretta's face twisted with bloodlust as her Pandora essence transformed into the PS124 triple-barrel shoulder-mounted rocket launcher.

With a thundering blast, smoke and flames erupted, flesh and shattered bodies raining down, a mushroom cloud rising as Loretta herself was propelled skyward.

"Hurry, we can’t worry about Sakuya’s side now…" Juster shouted to Loretta, but his words were cut off by the system.

"Ding! Survivor lost, eight remaining. Soul Crystal reward reduced to 50,000."

"Damn, we have to move faster!" Juster activated Flash Speed, racing toward Sakuya.

"Gawu Gawu!" Little Snow and Loretta, hearing him, also transformed into streaks of white light, following.

"Boom! Ahahaha, idiot, idiot!" As they sped away, a massive explosion echoed from Carter Town, followed by the electronic voice…

The scene shifted to Sakuya.

A small girl was impaled by a bone arrow, pinned to the earth. The horde soon buried her beneath their mass. Compared to the earlier carnage, this was less grotesque—unless one counted the girl’s severed, spinning arm splashing blood as it flew.

"Move! Don’t stand there—there are more and more of them!" Sakuya continued unleashing a barrage of knives, shouting at the terrified survivors below. She too was far from composed, forced to dodge incoming bone arrows and zombie crows moving as swiftly as tier-seven Lightning Leopards. Her clothes were torn and rumpled; if not for her Time Charm, “Sakuya’s Custom Stopwatch” skill, she would have been wounded.

"Ah, damn it! Let go!" The young warrior stumbled, his great sword thrown aside. He looked down to find a zombie he’d previously bisected clutching his leg. Watching his fleeing companions and the approaching horde, despair overtook him…

"Thunder racing through the sky, strike my enemies! Chain Lightning!" ×2—two voices, ethereal and divine, pulled the young warrior back from the brink. Lightning leapt at light speed through the horde, charring every zombie black, paralyzing them before they collapsed.

The stench of death was overwhelming, now tinged with even more rot. The young warrior kicked away the zombie, covering his nose and mouth. Suddenly, a powerful force lifted him off the ground; the earth receded, wind rushed in his ears, and he looked up into the face of the handsome Juster, who had stayed behind to delay the main zombie force.

"Thanks! Sakuya has the survivors heading that way," the warrior gasped, and was carried toward Sakuya, tossing a mysterious black object behind as they sped away.

"Boom! Ahahaha, idiot, idiot!" The unique sound of the mine echoed again.

"Hmm? What was that sound?" the warrior wondered, recalling the odd voice.

"Nothing! …Wait—Loretta, hurry and support Sakuya!" Juster replied absently, then saw Sakuya gathering everyone on a hillside, alchemizing stones for them to hurl at climbing zombies while she alone defended against the airborne crows. Though the crisis eased somewhat, the survivors’ stamina was nearly spent; it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed. Juster shouted his orders.

Loretta wasted no words, producing her PS124 triple-barrel rocket launcher mid-air and unleashing a round at the undead.

With a deafening explosion, most of the zombie horde was annihilated. Juster hurled the young warrior into the group, then turned and unleashed a Lightning Slash at the remaining zombies, wiping them out.

"Thunder racing through the sky, strike my enemies! Chain Lightning!" ×2—Loretta and Juster surrounded the zombie crows attacking Sakuya, chanting the spell in unison, without need for gestures or glances.

"Silver Charm: SilverBound!" Sakuya, seeing their arrival, unleashed one of her own finishing moves.

Lightning danced, knives sliced through the air, the zombie crow flock was blasted into cinders, raining down onto the earth. Only a few survived.

Gunshots rang out, and all undead creatures were wiped out—completely.

"Finally, it’s done," Juster exhaled, landing from the sky.

"Watch out!" ×2—Loretta and Sakuya, descending, shouted at Juster’s back.

"Gawu Hora!" A white blur flashed by; Little Snow discharged a lightning bolt as thick as a barrel behind Juster.

The smoke cleared, revealing Juster shielded by his Fallen Angel Wings, and behind him, a burnt carcass of a zombie hound.

"Thanks, Little Snow." Juster folded his wings, gently stroking Little Snow as she landed softly on his shoulder.

"Gawu."

PS: Only a few chapters remain—next volume, Infinite Terror! Hehe! According to the recommendations of our loyal readers, Loretta will become the heroine! Self-control, how noble! Hehe! Little Snow: Gawu Gawu.