Growl...
The growls of the large zombie army could be heard as they turned and faced Lucien and the rest.
"Grkkk..."
A call rang out as the half-step One-Star Zombie finally noticed them. Its call made the zombies move. They raced towards Lucien.
"Time for us to face our fate. Charge!"
Lucien shouted as he took the lead. Immediately, Mai followed as the whole army of Semi-Awakeners and Awakeners moved.
The two opposing sides inched closer and closer as the ground trembled beneath their feet.
Finally, the two sides clashed, and the first line disappeared instantly.
The humans were pushed back as their faces twisted in horror.
For Jeff and the other Awakeners, even though they knew it wouldn’t be easy, they expected the Semi-Awakeners to be stronger than normal zombies or at least equal But who knew? As they were growing stronger, so were the zombies.
The normal zombies’ hides were thick like a rhinoceros’s—if not worse. Their cold weapons only caused a few centimeters of damage on the zombies’ skin.
Their bullets barely pierced their skin. The bones of the zombies were like titanium.
For Jeff and the other Awakeners, this was unexpected.
And he was at a loss.
"General, should we fall back and help them?" Just then, someone spoke to Jeff. His restless body turned, and his distant eyes returned to focus.
"Yeah... yeah, they will be fine..."
"Right?" Jeff said as he flashed a smile, but even he couldn’t believe himself. Still, he knew they had a much greater foe to battle.
For the Awakeners, a hundred of them would face forty-two elite zombies. If they failed, then the 3,900 Semi-Awakeners were meat for slaughter. So they had to win.
"Yes, sir," the soldier said as he and the others charged into battle.
"Please hold..." Jeff whispered as he faced forward and targeted one of the elite zombies.
Boom...
Their speed was multiple times that of the Semi-Awakeners as they created inches-deep craters while clashing with the elite zombies.
Thud...
Boom...
A fierce gale spread around as the two forces reached a stalemate.
The Awakeners smiled. Even Jeff did.
At least for their own battle, their calculations were correct. Even if the elite zombies were stronger, two well-coordinated Awakeners could take them out.
Plus, they had sixteen additional Awakeners who could assist if needed.
This battlefield was theirs to win.
But at the lower end of the battlefield, things were worse.
"Come on, pieces of shit!" a soldier shouted, blood flowing from his head as he held a small pistol.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bright flashes of light filled the area as he shot at the dozens of zombies around him.
Beside him and on the ground were his comrades, yet he stood his ground.
Not because he wasn’t scared—in fact, he was terrified. But he knew if they broke this line, it would all be over. The shelter would be gone. So he had to stand there, even if he was the only one within this few-meter radius.
Bang...
Bang...
Click...
"Damn it..."
The gun jammed as he smashed it into the ground.
He raised both fists, getting ready.
Tears uncontrollably fell from his eyes as he waited.
Finally, the first zombie reached him, and he threw a punch at its green face.
Boom...
A dull sound rang out as the zombie’s movement paused.
But before he could be happy
"Rrrrippp..."
His forearm flesh was ripped as intense pain overwhelmed him.
"Aaaaaa!"
He screamed, but another wave of zombies tackled him, and he fell to the ground as everything slowed.
Bam.
His back hit the ground. His eyes looked weakly as zombies fell on him one after another.
They tore his flesh, eating him alive as his guts spilled out.
"Misha... I’m sorry I couldn’t fulfill my promise..."
His eyes grew distant as he saw a small child cheering him on.
"Fuck you..."
The sound returned as everything snapped back to normal.
Click.
"No!"
A nearby comrade shouted, but it was too late. A small bomb was triggered and exploded.
Boom.
The ground quaked as the grenade went off.
"Damn you!" the comrade shouted, his voice hoarse.
It had only been a few moments, yet he had lost many friends in this battle.
He couldn’t take it anymore and charged toward the surviving zombies, ripping their heads off.
Thud...
Far from them, Jeff watched as the elite zombie hit the ground. He gasped as multiple claw marks covered its body. His breathing was heavy as he shouted:
"Are you guys okay back there?"
Even through the fighting, the Semi-Awakeners still heard Jeff. Their physical abilities, especially hearing had improved to a certain extent.
They heard him loud and clear.
But they couldn’t afford to get distracted, or they would lose their lives.
Jeff felt his heart tighten as he looked at the hundreds of humans they had already lost.
"No... I must support them..." Jeff said, preparing to withdraw.
"General!"
A young voice was heard as a soldier, not older than 17, shouted.
"Graaaagh!"
A zombie roared as the young soldier shoved his arm into its mouth.
"Do what you must do and leave the rest to us!" the soldier shouted as he smiled. Then he ripped the zombie apart, and instantly another jumped on him, ripping his face apart.
This was witnessed by Jeff, but the shocking thing was that even without a face and with blood pouring out, the soldier continued fighting.
Jeff clenched his fists.
"Tch..."
Jeff turned forward, his eyes colder and more determined.
"Your sacrifices will not be unacknowledged!" Jeff shouted across the battlefield.
Of course, the soldiers heard both the young soldier and Jeff, but they were in a dangerous fight and couldn’t respond. However, hearing this, they all smiled and stopped defending.
Now they were exchanging injuries, trying to kill as many zombies as possible before they died.
"General, over here!" someone called from the side as Jeff snapped back to focus, gave the crazed Semi-Awakeners one last glance, and then moved to support his Awakeners.
Of course, Lucien and Mai weren’t playing.
At the forefront, Lucien and Mai finally met the Half-Step One-Star Zombie. Strangely enough, just being this close, they both felt a terrifying pressure weighing them down. Their overall abilities were reduced.
And it wasn’t an ability or a skill, but a trait, an advantage of something that strong simply existing.
"Cover me..." Lucien shouted to Mai, refusing to back down.
Mai nodded as she moved alongside Lucien.
Lucien shifted to the right side and threw a punch, but the Half-Step One-Star Zombie easily dodged it.
"Got you..."
Lucien grinned as the zombie looked up—and Mai was already a meter away from it, her punch carrying a small gale as it struck the zombie’s face.
But just as Lucien and Mai thought they had succeeded, a change occurred.
Boom!
Boom!
They barely saw how the zombie moved, but it struck both Lucien and Mai, sending them flying through the air and crashing into an almost-collapsing building, causing it to collapse completely.
The noise was so loud that the battlefield went silent. A pin could have dropped and been heard.
The soldiers all had the same thought
Were their leaders defeated that easily?