The zombie was unbelievably strong, like a humanoid beast straight out of a nightmare.
Even so, the weight of the armored vehicle managed to slow Bulldozer down a little.
But before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, a slender figure appeared behind Bulldozer. Her face twisted into a sinister smile, terrifying to behold, as she charged forward at an inhuman speed.
Laura had evolved significantly. She had already ford a crystal core and awakened her ability: [Phantom Dash].
When her speed reached a critical threshold, she could enter a state of invisibility. This eerie ability allowed her to approach her targets without a sound, completely undetected.
One of the ard soldiers was firing ahead, his focus locked on the charging zombie.
But as the female zombie closed the distance, her speed increased dramatically. In the blink of an eye, she vanished.
"Huh? Where'd she go?"
The soldier froze, his target suddenly gone. He frantically scanned his surroundings, trying to locate the horrifying figure.
And then, in the next mont—
A grotesque, grinning face appeared right in front of him, so close their noses were nearly touching.
"Wha—"
The man's eyes widened in terror as he instinctively tried to back away.
But Laura's razor-sharp bone claws sliced through his neck like a knife through butter. With a swift flick of her wrist, his head was sent flying, landing far away with a sickening thud.
"She's here! She's coming!"
The nearby soldiers panicked, their faces pale with fear. Among them was an Awakener in the Neurocore stage, who reacted the fastest. He gripped his alloy steel blade tightly and charged at Laura with a roar.
Laura's figure blurred and disappeared again.
When she reappeared, she was already behind the Awakener.
With a sickening squelch, her claws plunged into his lower back. In one brutal motion, she ripped out his kidney.
"AAAAHHH!"
The Awakener let out a blood-curdling scream before collapsing to the ground, convulsing in agony.
"This is insane!"
"She's... she's a Phantom Infected!"
"Run! Get out of here!"
The remaining soldiers, their will to fight completely shattered, turned and fled in terror.
"Hehehehe~~"
Laura let out a chilling, maniacal laugh as she chased after them. With every few steps, she brought another one down.
Her claws, dripping with fresh blood, left a trail of crimson behind her. Her eyes glead with exhilaration, reveling in the thrill of the hunt.
Michael and the other core team mbers noticed the chaos unfolding nearby. Even the Awakeners couldn't hold their ground against Laura.
"We have to stop her! We can't let her keep slaughtering like this!"
"I'll handle it!"
Xander stepped forward, volunteering once again. He was confident that his lightning-based abilities would allow him to match her speed.
Of the 500 ard personnel they had brought, 80% were already dead. Only about a hundred remained.
Electricity crackled around Xander, arcs of lightning dancing across his body as his energy surged violently.
Just as he was about to confront Laura, a sudden, overwhelming pressure filled the air.
From the distant street, it felt as though a tidal wave of blood was rushing toward them.
Everyone froze, their hearts gripped by an instinctive fear. The oppressive aura was suffocating, a primal force that made their very souls tremble.
The true king had arrived!
Everyone turned to look, their eyes drawn to the figure standing in the middle of the street. It was a tall, slender young man dressed in a pristine white shirt, spotless despite the chaos around him.
His expression was cold, his hollow eyes devoid of any emotion. The way he looked at them—it wasn't like he was looking at people. It was as if he were staring at corpses.
"What... what is that? Is it a zombie?"
A female Awakener hesitated, her voice trembling with uncertainty.
Michael's frown deepened as he studied the figure.
"Yeah... I've never seen a zombie like this before. My guess? He's the real Zombie King."
"He feels... dangerous," muttered Evan, a psychic Awakener whose sharp instincts rarely failed him.
The sudden appearance of yet another Zombie King only heightened the tension. It felt like they were being dragged deeper into an abyss, step by step.
Xander, however, was growing impatient. He knew that if they didn't start taking down so of these Zombie Kings, their situation would only get worse. His frustration boiled over.
"Then I'll take care of you first!" Xander growled, abandoning his pursuit of Laura and charging straight at the young man—Ethan.
As a lightning-type Awakener, Xander's speed was incredible. Electricity crackled around him, his body a blur as he shot forward like a bolt of lightning.
Michael didn't stop him. When it ca to raw offensive power, Xander was the strongest in their group. He was the "blade" of their Operation King Hunt team.
But what happened next left everyone completely stunned.
The mont Xander got close to Ethan, his speed suddenly dropped. It was as if he had run straight into quicksand. His movents beca sluggish, his body heavy and unresponsive.
"Damn it! Xander's in danger!"
Michael's instincts kicked in, and he imdiately began thinking of ways to provide support.
But it was already too late.
Ethan's Domain of the Dead had enveloped Xander. As Xander struggled to move, Ethan casually walked past him. Without even breaking stride, Ethan reached out and plunged his hand into Xander's skull, pulling out a glowing white crystal core.
The ease with which he did it was chilling. It was like soone casually picking up an apple from a coffee table as they walked by.
Xander's eyes widened in shock, his pupils dilating as the light faded from them. His face froze in an expression of disbelief and terror.
A mont later, his lifeless body crumpled to the ground behind Ethan.
Before anyone could react, a pack of elite zombies sward Xander's corpse, tearing it apart and devouring it in seconds.
"Oh my god..."
Michael and the others were frozen in place, their minds struggling to process what had just happened. They hadn't even seen how Ethan killed Xander. And Xander—Xander, their strongest attacker—was dead.
This zombie was beyond terrifying.
"It's a Phantom Infected!"
"This... this is a true Phantom Infected!"
Michael's face darkened, his heart sinking into despair.
The others were equally shaken. Fear spread like wildfire among them.
"Are we... are we all going to die here?" the female Awakener asked, her voice trembling, tears welling up in her eyes.
Michael quickly tried to calm her down. "No. If we can figure out his abilities, we might still have a chance to survive. But we can't stay out here. We need to find cover—now!"
"Agreed!"
The group imdiately moved toward a nearby building. The female Awakener used her tal manipulation ability to bend the steel reinforcents in the walls, creating a large hole for them to enter.
The three of them quickly climbed inside, followed by a few other Neurocore-stage Awakeners and about a dozen ard soldiers.
Outside, the remaining hundred soldiers were still fighting, but there was no ti to wait for them.
"We can't worry about them now!" Michael said firmly, his eyes hard. He had already decided to leave them behind.
The female Awakener didn't argue. She used her ability again to seal the hole in the wall, bending the steel back into place.
Michael, still uneasy, used his earth-based powers to reinforce the walls further. Layers of sand and stone piled up, thickening the walls until they were nearly 30 feet thick.
Every door, window, and crack was sealed tight. The building had beco a fortress, cutting them off from the chaos outside.
For a mont, the group finally felt a sliver of safety. The noise of the battlefield faded, leaving behind an eerie silence.
"Phew..."
Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief. For the first ti in what felt like forever, they could breathe.
The ard soldiers who had made it inside felt especially lucky. They knew that if they had been left outside, their fate would have been sealed.
But as they enjoyed this brief mont of peace, the scene outside turned into a slaughterhouse.
The soldiers who had been left behind continued to fight, but their efforts were futile. So of them suddenly realized that the Awakeners were gone.
"They... they abandoned us!"
"What do we do now?"
Two soldiers exchanged panicked glances, their faces pale.
Before they could co up with a plan, a pack of elite zombies descended on them, tearing them apart. Blood sprayed everywhere as their screams filled the air.
The street was filled with the sounds of agony and despair. The soldiers had no way out, no chance of survival. They were trapped in this hellish nightmare, overwheld by a crushing sense of helplessness.
All they could do was wait for death to claim them, lost and broken in this brutal apocalypse...
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