"You don’t seem surprised?" John asked Shinon as they entered the crematorium.
"Should I be?" Shinon replied, his eyes vigilant as ever, scanning the room for any zombies that might not have appeared on his retinal map, but everything seed clear. "If anything, it makes more sense that you and Sable share similar abilities."
"I guess not," John shrugged, leading the group to where the first nest was supposed to be, and it didn’t take them long to find it.
After all, the putrid sll would be hard to miss, even for the most insensitive noses. But even if that were the case, the mountain of corpses would surely be impossible to ignore.
"They have been at it for a while..." Nix mumbled, kneeling down to check the condition of the nearest corpse. "This body itself is weeks old."
"Whatever, can’t we just get this over with and leave!?" Lina exclaid.
For soone who enjoyed making a paste out of the undead a while ago, she was oddly sensitive to the gore before her. As for Alex, she remained as impassive as ever.
Though it was a silly observation, Shinon thought Alex looked more energetic and life-like when she took over the undead’s body than she was in her own.
"But what’s with all the skeletons? Colony nests aren’t this advanced, are they?" Nix said, ignoring Lina’s pleas.
As Nix pointed out, the structure of the nest itself was weird. So far, every nest Shinon had encountered was covered in corpses, and that was it. However, the nest before them was a bit different.
The zombies’ skeletal remains protected the nest’s outer portion, while hundreds of skeletons had clogged the way leading up to the nest. But why would the undead need to defend their nest like that?
After all, humans could just remove the skeletons and destroy the nest either way. It was just a hunch, but Shinon thought there was a chance that the zombies were trying to protect the nest from sothing other than humans.
"Nix is correct..." Alex mumbled. "It doesn’t look like a colony nest."
"Strange," Lina chid in. "Could it be so kind of trap or a decoy?"
"Whatever it may be, we need to do what we’re here for," John said, addressing the group. "Let’s get rid of these skeletons first, then I’ll burn the nest, and we can proceed to the second one."
As the girls moved to clear the skeletons, Shinon stopped them. he had a better plan.
"It would take us hours to clear a path through this ss," he said, taking out a ’silent death’ grenade. "I have a little sothing that can make our job a bit easier."
"A grenade?" Alex questioned. "It would... clear the skeletons. But the explosion-"
"That’s what makes it special," Shinon replied, his eyes shining with excitent. "There is no explosion. But we might need to head outside... or the result will be horrific."
"You sure about this?" John asked Shinon because, in case of a mishap, he would be held responsible, not Shinon.
"Absolutely."
The group exchanged glances but decided to let Shinon do his work. They trusted his skills and were eager to see how the blacksmith’s latest creation worked.
Shinon triggered the grenade and flung it into the centre of the group of skeletons as everyone sought cover outside the crematory. As it landed, a green corrosive mist began to shoot out from the grenade, quickly filling the room.
The mist lted the skeletons into a mushy material like magic. The sight of the once-lifeless bones dissolving before their eyes was both srising and terrifying. The ’Silent Death’ grenade’s power was undeniable, quickly dispatching the skeletons that had built up in the chamber.
However, the grenade’s impact did not end there. The green acidic mist expanded further, reaching the outside shell of the zombie nest. It began to disintegrate the nest’s defences as it ca into contact with the rotting debris.
Once the mist had done its work, it disappeared, leaving no trace behind. Shinon signalled the all-clear, and the group cautiously entered the building.
Much to their surprise, the group of surprised and scared of the scene before them. The skeletons were now nothing more than a puddle of goo, and the nest had lost its nacing appearance.
"Looks like the ’Silent Death’ lived up to its na," Lina remarked, her eyes still wide with amazent at the sight before them. "I can’t imagine what the grenade would have done to a horde instead of re skeletons."
"More or less the sa would happen to them," Shinon comnted while analysing the result of his creation. "although I might need to see the result myself."
Shinon could still see small chunks of bones intact amidst the goo, but all in all, the experint was a success.
anwhile, John walked towards the exposed core of the nest, "Well, we can’t let this opportunity go to waste. Let’s finish the job."
Saying so, John ignited the lighter and used his abilities to manipulate the flas towards the nest.
"So you can’t conjure flas on your own," Shinon remarked. "You are sowhat different than Sable, after all."
"Hehe, sis has always been the talented one between us," John replied, his eyes never leaving the nest.
The group watched cautiously from a safe distance, ready to respond to unexpected developnts. Just as the job was about to be completed, a sudden movent in Shinon’s map caught his attention.
However, before he could react, a massive arm shot out from the burning nest, grabbing John’s arm with a bone-crushing grip.
"Argh!" John scread in pain as his arm was crushed.
"John!" Alex shouted, her eyes wide with fear.
"Shit!" Shinon cursed loudly before racing towards John.
He knew whatever was lurking inside the nest wasn’t an ordinary zombie, and if they didn’t free John from the creature’s grasp, it might drag John to his death.
Shinon unsheathed the Blade of Chaos, its green edge shining. He swiftly and precisely brought the deadly weapon down on the nest, slicing through the zombie’s arm and freeing John.
The creature erged from the smouldering remains of the nest, its rotting flesh and sunken eyes revealing its ugly face. The zombie was massive and imposing, its appearance more grotesque than any Shinon had encountered before.
"What the hell is this creature?"
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