Chapter 297: Chapter 203: Ferocious
Just as he was certain he was about to die, a scene flashed through Norman Ross’s mind.
A Zombie had ambushed an unfamiliar teammate from behind. He’d seen it. But if he went to save him, he would have to give up on the Zombie he was fighting. He couldn’t bring himself to do it. He reveled in competing with his teammates over their kill counts during breaks, and he was always number one.
So, he thought, ’I’ll kill this one first.’
...Was this karma?
Norman Ross felt it... the Zombie’s sharp nails digging into his skin...
Just then, an immense force suddenly yanked him up, and he found himself flying through the air.
A teammate from The Power Corps caught him.
He looked at his rescuer in a daze, but their eyes were fixed on what was in front of them.
There, Paige Summers stood with her long knife, moving like wind and shadow. In what seemed like the span of a few blinks, the Zombies’ heads rolled onto the ground one after another.
By the time Norman Ross could focus his eyes again, all the remaining Zombies had been eliminated.
But there was a second wave!
Paige Summers stopped, her back to them. She flicked her blade. "What, are you just going to stand there and watch me kill them all?"
No way!
Absolutely not!
The dramatic scene unfolding before them was so turbulent that the young members of The Power Corps couldn’t quite tell if what they felt was fear, resentment, or... profound jealousy.
She was clearly about the same age, yet this woman seemed light-years ahead of them in every way! Whether in strength, mentality, or courage!
Even her back seemed to say, ’You? You’ve still got a long way to go.’
How could they accept that!
With a fire of frustration simmering inside them, the group threw themselves into killing Zombies with renewed vigor.
Even Norman Ross.
After recovering for a moment behind the others, he gritted his teeth and charged forward. It was as if he wanted to pay back the humiliation he’d suffered at the hands of the Zombie, or perhaps erase the memory of the pathetic man everyone had just witnessed.
One of them charged too recklessly, hacking at the first Zombie he saw.
He was so focused that he failed to notice how quickly this Zombie had appeared before him, or that its two powerful arms were nearly three times as thick as a normal Zombie’s!
’Damn it!’
Paige Summers had sprinted over the instant she noticed something was wrong, moving as fast as she could. But whether by design or chance, the Zombie had appeared at the point farthest from her.
She could only watch as it effortlessly tore off the team member’s arm and began to chew on it with a sickening CRUNCH.
Thankfully, she was still in time to save him as its other claw reached for him!
She shot forward like a cannonball, instantly knocking the team member aside, but she used a controlled burst of force so the impact wouldn’t be too great.
At the same time, she raised her long knife to block the sharp claw!
The two collided with a loud clang of metal on bone.
Paige Summers realized this Zombie’s strength was greater than her own!
This was not good news.
Fortunately, she was more agile.
Wrenching her body to one side, she dodged her own blade, which had been forced down and was about to hit her head.
The Zombie’s arms were longer than it was tall. After she skillfully deflected one, it slammed heavily onto the ground, instantly cracking the earth.
Paige Summers swung her long knife at its neck, but the Zombie raised its arm to block the blow.
As expected, it left only a faint mark!
It reminded Paige Summers of that mutated Zombie from before, the one whose whole body was as hard as metal.
But compared to that one, the one before her now was even stronger.
’This one’s tough!’
As she thought this, the Zombie seemed to feel the same way.
After blocking her attack, it didn’t continue to fight her and finish off the prey at hand like other Zombies would. Instead, it purposefully started moving toward the area behind her.
Not far from her, a team member was struggling against other Zombies.
Paige Summers attacked it at least eight or nine times in a short span, but the Zombie simply used its arms to shield its head and neck.
’It was as if it were saying, ’Go on, hack away. As long as I protect these spots, you can’t kill me!’’
A flare of anger rose in Paige Summers.
Not only that, she was also worried about that team member’s safety.
Someone was shouting his nickname.
"Pebbles! Get out of there! Fall back! Fall back!"
But the Zombie he was fighting wasn’t one he could finish off in an instant.
Seeing the long-armed Zombie about to reach him, Paige Summers had no choice but to temporarily give up on it and turn to save the man.
Just then, a series of earth spikes shot out from the ground, one of which impaled the Zombie in front of Pebbles. His reaction was quick enough; the next moment, he was sprinting back toward the group.
The long-armed Zombie was definitely not faster than Paige Summers, and in the end, she managed to intercept it.
It seemed extremely impatient, desperately trying to shake off Paige Summers.
After sending out the earth spikes, Ben also hurried over.
The two of them confronted the long-armed Zombie, positioned at a 45-degree angle to each other.
"Fall back!" Paige Summers said in a low voice.
The team members who were still launching Fireball and Water Arrow superpowers now realized their presence wasn’t much help.
The long-armed Zombie’s massive arms could not only block Paige Summers’s long knife but were also unfazed by their superpowers. A simple swing of its arms could swat all their attacks away.
The Fireballs were especially dangerous; if it deflected them, they could easily hit Paige Summers or Ben nearby.
Realizing Paige Summers’s command was for them, the team members all retreated.
The other Zombies had already been mostly wiped out, so this marked the end of their last fight.
Here, only the long-armed Zombie remained.
The long-armed Zombie was enraged by this. It swung its arms violently, attacking Paige Summers and Ben while letting out a howl.
Ben also let out a low cry.
It was just a single sound, not loud, and very deep. It was almost immediately drowned out by the long-armed Zombie’s howl.
But Paige Summers still heard it.
She was close, and besides, she was all too familiar with his cry.
Back when they were near Norgate, he had used this same tone to summon other Zombies, except that sound had been much louder, with a longer, drawn-out cry.
She was stunned for a moment.
’Why would Ben make a sound like that now?’
But she would soon find out.
The long-armed Zombie, which she had expected would take a grueling fight to defeat, suddenly stopped its furious howling. Its movements also paused for two seconds.
Just as Paige Summers realized she had to seize this opportunity, it spun around and fled. And it wasn’t just running... it was absolutely scrambling for its life!
Everyone was stunned!
One of the team members over there rubbed his eyes hard. "D-did I just see what I think I saw?"
The guy who had just finished rubbing his eyes confirmed it. "It ran away! For real!"
Everyone’s gaze snapped to Paige Summers in unison.
After a long moment, someone bravely spoke up. "Did even the Zombie see our Vice-Captain’s true nature?" The speaker was indeed a member of The Power Corps, but he swore there was no sarcasm in his words.
Admiration! It was pure admiration!
If someone was so ferocious that even Zombies were afraid of them... he would definitely say, "Please, don’t ever stop!"
