The shots did save up enough time for everyone to run a few more steps ahead, but the Zombies left within this small group were Tier 3 at minimum.
They charged over like rabbit dogs, and easily caught up to the running players. '...Shit.' Jason cussed as he ran even faster, yet still making sure to remain behind.He had long deactivated his form, and his ERG was slowly building up back to 30. Yet it was still below ten at this moment, which meant the average stamina of a human.Sooner or later, he would slow down.Meanwhile Adolf did not stop firing his gun, but the Tier 3 and Tier 4 Zombies were tough enough to at least deflect the bullets with their bare bodies.And taking in the fact that they were undead, made them more frightening."Kya!!" The little girl that had been running with the lucky woman suddenly tripped and fell.The woman holding her hand subconsciously paused, but when she got a glimpse of the rushing Zombies, she continued to run.Unfortunately, the fear was great, and it caused her to trip and fall down as well. Both little girl and woman were about to become preys to the wild Zombies.Ba-dump~The woman hurriedly took the little girl into her embrace, and hid her face within her bosom. She was fearful, and thus trembled as the thunderous steps got louder and closer.Da‐Da-Da~Ba-dump~ Ba-dump~The got closer...BA-DUMP~...And closer.Her heart beat raced at speeds that she never knew of, as the Zombies got closer and closer. 'Lord, please save me.' She prayed as they continued to get closer and closer.BA-DUMP~The scent of death became real, and she could feel the breeze caused by their charge, and their pungent smell.The woman suddenly thought about the life and death experience she had moments ago, and her breathe came to a halt.She was afraid. She was afraid of dying. She didn't want to die. She wasn't ready yet. But death was right before her face!!Her heart beat stopped at such thoughts, the world fell silent, and only her thoughts echoed out loud. 'Lord... please, SOMEONE!!'The woman trembled to herself at the face of death. The young girl hid her face away at the face of death. Everything else was ignored, and at this point, she was not even sure.Yet they were met with more silence.'Am I... dead?' She thought and opened her eyes. It felt like a lifetime had occurred, and her thoughts were at tranquility. But the moment she opened her eyes–"RAAGGHH!!!"A Tier 4 Zombie appeared right before the face of the woman, and she could see the insides of it's mouth. And it felt like time had slowed down for her.But that was briefly, for the moment she realized that the Tier 4 Zombie was right before her face, her mind perceived everything at a normal pace.And it was about to swallow her face whole with a single bite. Until–"Fuck off!!"Bang!!The Tier 4 Zombie was tackled by a fast rushing figure, and they both fell to the sides. The figure, which was Jason, hurriedly got up and placed his hand on its face.He activated his two Talents at the same time, which he believed could directly deal great damage, if not kill this thing.[ Fireball (Level G) - Conjurs a Fireball within one's hands, that deals 50% magic damage equivalent to the user's INT ][ Fire Blast (Level E) - Releases a burst of flames within a linear direction of the user's arm, dealing 100% the user's INT ][ Your two Flame-type Talents have resonated. Your flames can deal magic damage worth 200% INT ]Boom!!An explosion worth almost a hundred points of damage exploded ontop of the Tier 4 Zombie Lord's corpse, directly exploding its head into charcoal.But behind him, tens of Tier 3 and Tier 4 Zombies were only a few inches away from him, but for a moment, Jason was unphased.It was as if he knew he would not die. Or rather, these people would not let him die!!Tatatata!!Tatatata!!And alongside Jason's thoughts, was Adolf's valiant war cry, "Rrraaaaaaaggghhhhh!!!" He roared out while releasing a massive barrage of bullets.And at the same time, with a clear mind, no fear within, Jason appeared besides the two and picked them up using his enhanced strength. And along with enhanced speed, he rushed away.His stamina (ERG) was quite low, and after the massive barrage of bullets, even Adolf was low on stamina. Yet they still ran.Jason the last, and Adolf a step ahead of him. The Zombies being fast on their tail. Getting closer and closer to them."Earth Sink!!" Joe placed his hands on the floor and drained all his stamina to release his Talent to the extreme.And his hard work paid off, as the ground behind Jason became mushy, then muddy, like quicksand. The Tier 4 Zombie Lords that rushed in with their speed also fell deeper into the mud.Some being halfway deep, slowing down their progress greatly, and giving everyone the chance to run for their lives."Run run run!! And don't even think about looking back!!" Roared Adolf as he picked up the exhausted Joe from the ground.Everyone ran, and Jason was behind everyone. His thoughts went on an overdrive as he read the notices that appeared when he killed the two Tier 4 Zombie Lords.[ Infinity Extraction Complete!! You have extracted the Level D Talent - Madness Screech ][ Infinite Extraction Complete!! You have extracted four Distributable Points ][ Infinite Extraction Complete!! You have extracted the Level E Talent - Undying Resolve ][ Infinite Extraction Complete!! You have extracted four Distributable Points ][ Your ERG has increased by two points ][ Your INT has increased by one point ][ Your AGI has increased by one point ]'As expected from Zombie Lords. I wonder if they can control other zombies since they're lords and stuff.'He read through everything and realized that killing Tier 4 Zombies gave him two oriented points each. Which was actually amazing.Or maybe it was because his level was low, and he obtained more from the opponent?He was not sure, but he hurriedly called out his Template. As for why he did not receive anything from the other twenty or so Tier 2 and Tier 3 Zombies, was because he did not have enough time to extract anything from them.It was kill, and move on.[ STR: 11 ][ AGI: 13 ][ VIT: 5/11 ][ ERG: 7/34 ][ INT: 31 ][ Talent: Infinite Extraction - SSS ]–[ Distributable Points: 14 ]Jason first ignored everything and checked the number of Distributable Points he had. Seeing the number, he was glad and immediately distributed them.Speed would be more important, but then again, he had Talents to add up to that. Plus, he could not leave these guys here, lest they would die.Then Strength, not now. Vitality, also not now. Even if he increased these two, he would still die with a single full-blown attack of a Tier 4 Zombie.Plus, his Vitality was already low, and was slowly recovering. Then Intelligence, it was also out of the way for now. But it could help him keep calm under stressful situations.Hence he chose Stamina and Intelligence. Five points sent out to Intelligence (INT) and nine points to Stamina (ERG).This gave him a bit more stamina than before, hence more energy to run. And to run they did, for the threat of death was thick and potent behind them.'Damn. Where did we go wrong? Hell I should have agreed to form a team in the first place!!' Jason thought, self-blaming himself for being in this situation.Had his arrogance not taken over him, he would have just told them that the opponents were Tier 2 and above. 'Fuck!!' He cussed and ran, making sure to stay behind everyone."RAAAAGGGHHHH!!!"Then suddenly, out of the blue, a powerful Zombie roar rang out, and directly caused fear within everyone that heard it....!!![ You have been affected by an unfathomable being above your rank or your knowledge ][ The Fear status has affected you ][ Those with INT below ten will be affected by an Absolute Paralysis effect. The higher the INT, the lower the effect range ][ You have been affected by a three second Paralysis Effect ]...!!!Jason suddenly dreaded his fate more than ever.From his knowledge, everything he obtained data of a Prey or predator, he will get information of it's next subsequent ranks.Now, he had information of a Tier 4 Zombie, meaning that even Tier 5 and Tier 6 Zombies could not hide away from him.But these messages before him claimed he could not understand the level of The attacker. Was it a Tier 7, Tier 8 or even the current strongest Tier 9 Zombie?Jason did not know, but he knew that three seconds were a lot. And worst of all, that was only him, most people here had less than ten points on most of their stats.'Fuck!! Jason you've gone and done it now.' He thought, bitter and in regret. His heart was being torn apart as he was considering whether to escape by himself, or stay with these people. But staying was sure death, yet he was blaming himself they were in this situation. Hence he found the decision a hard one to make. 'What now?' He thought, also going through all his Talents, and what he could use through his soroundings, but to no avail. '...Is this really it? The end of my journey? Fuck, but it just only begun!!' He thought and thought, but to no avail. He was so focused, he did not feel the little girl within his embrace nudging at him. His focus was on the noises his enhanced senses could pick up from far away, of multiple Zombies rushing towards them at full speed. Woosh~ Woosh~ Woosh~ Woosh~ They were like arrows flying through the air, piecing through the wind with barely any resistance on their bodies. 'Shit. Time is ticking. Time is ticking. There's not enough time.
They were sorounded. Every corner of this barrier was full of Zombies that kept up gathering around them. They were like worms squirming above each other within a small bucket. They were numerous. More than the hundred that they began fighting with. The situation was now beyond even Jason's might. Most of everyone looked at Joe, who also had a pale expression. Even Adolf besides him was stricken by fear as well. Then they moved their eyes to Jason, who also seemed fearful. Then they looked down in defeat. Their strongest warriors saw no hope, what of them? Beatrice also trembled in fright, and hurriedly held Jason and Anabella's hands. It was a subconscious action of hers, and both adults had no time to think about that. But Anabella did though. She also wanted to hug Jason's arm to feel safe, but was more afraid of him, than the Zombies outside. Even she could not explain that fear. It was a subconscious feeling. Meanwhile, Jason frowned and used his high INT and Talent, [Twi
They froze, as fear caught up to them. But Joe was still a man of action. He took charge of the situation. "Alright. We are moving on. Don't grab the others, and just keep pushing on. Pull your legs if you're tired." He said, and everyone once again marched on through the tunnel he was creating. None wishing to be the last person in the line. Meanwhile, the last person himself, Adolf, frowned as he looked back. 'That kid isn't here yet. Is he planning on running away?' He thought and turned to look back. He could still see the pit a few meters behind him. Due to the light from the pit. And it was obvious that there was no one coming after him. 'That brat. How could he–' But just as he was about to cuss at Jason, an explosion abruptly rang out and caused small tremors to appear within the tunnel. "The fuck?!" Adolf looked back in shock, and from here, he could see smoke and dust falling into the pit like a heavy downpour, and devouring any hint of light observable. The fear everyo
The shadowy figure instantly transitioned from where it stood... and appeared before him. It was as if it displaced itself from space, and shifted positions. Or rather, as if it was always before him, and only made its presence be known. "..." And it's appearance was so sudden, Jason just saw his whole entire vision turn dark. This thing appeared right before him, to the point where his nose barely touched it. And he could smell its iron-like scent, that was similar to that of blood, and hear its slow, regulated breathes that were similar to those of humans. But slower. And heavier. Jason did not even see how it moved. All he knew was that his life flashed right before his eyes. And his heart forgot to synchronize with its body. One man. One shadow. They stood toe to toe, and breathed into each. But nobody was sure what they were breathing into each other. Life? Or the more likely, death? Anabella also shakily looked back, and was mesmerized by the scene she saw. Not only her.
The crater was once more left in deathly silence. With the only sound being that of the wiggling tentacle shadow roots, reminiscent of splashing mud. And if one took a look at the area where the man was swallowed, they would see tentacle shadow roots, which seemed like multiple worms clustered together. It was disgusting. And repulsive. But what was worse, would be the follow up sounds of breaking bones, and grinded meat. Loud enough to be heard by everyone. ...!!! It made them shiver in fear. Joe even cursed within his mind, 'Son of a b*tch. What is wrong with this thing?' He thought in disgust, and apparent fear. Worst of all, the bump within the shadows that represented the man's buried body, was slowly, ever so slowly, being reduced in size. Until it was leveled perfectly with the ground. And also signifying the complete defunct of the unfortunate man. ...!!! And this only brought more fear to the people's hearts, erasing the very concept of hope they knew of. The shadowy
The shadowy woman stopped looking at her, and turned to look at other preys that it could easily attack. And that would be... 'Oh shit.' Joe, himself. She did not say anything and burst towards his direction. Her speed was very fast, being far faster than anything he had faced till this point. Not even the fastest athlete could compare. 'Shit. She's too fast.' He thought. It felt like a bull car was charging over at 40 miles per hour. And he was but an ordinary human, with more power than others. But he was also a fighter. An ex gang leader. "Earth Pike!!" He placed both hands on the ground, and strained himself to use his Talent. The earth below him shot towards the charging shadow woman, like a spear ready to piece through her chest. But she easily maneuvered it with a twirl-like turn. This allowed her body to shift sideways, and letting the earth pike to brush past her waist instead. 'Dammit. She dodged it. She's too fluid with her movements.' He thought as he pulled back. The
'But it's enough!!' He thought, and he charged towards the barrier with Beatrice. One duplicate charged towards Joe, and the other went towards the shadowy woman. All the while, the shadowy entity just stood and watched. Seemingly intrigued about the situation, and how Jason was still alive. "..." Meanwhile, the shadowy woman saw Jason become three, from one. And at first, she was stumped on which one to attack. But after seeing one charge at her, she charged at him too. 'Rank me up.' The duplicate commanded, and immediately after, his Rank increased once. Now, he was a Rank 3 Combatant... and most importantly, his Energy was back to full. [ You have spent 900 Energy units to promote yourself to the next rank ] [ You are now Rank 3 ] [ All your statistic index have increased by three points each ] [ Your ERG and INT has further increased by seven points each ] [ Your STR has increased by three points ] [ Your AGI has increased by three points ] [ Your VIT has increased by fi
'Holy fuck God, Read the mood!!" Hr thought in absolute panic. Anabella's heart sank, and she buried herself into his arms. Beatrice and Roy squeezed in between them. Jason was slightly overwhelmed, but still made sure to hold on tightly to Joe and Adolf in each hand. Fortunately, the Talent's effects finally kicked in, and he burned two hundred points without hesitation. And at that point, the shadowy woman's blade was already inches away from piecing through Anabella's back. But fortunately for them, they vanished instantly, escaping a hellish nightmare. Wam~ The shadowy woman's blade suddenly pieced through nothingness, and that almost broke up her balance. "...!!!" But she managed to stabilize herself, and stood there in shock. Twice. She was fooled twice today, which made her angry, yet wary of Jason. Meanwhile, the shadow entity did not move, and turned its head. It's eyes seeing through a distance of a couple of miles, and there, it saw Jason and his group appear. It ha