CHAPTER 271: A TIRESOME VICTORY

To think that only buildings would prevent zombies from entering... the walls remained stable until the Stage four and five zombies started to attack.

Thanks to the help from Jiang Roulan and her mother, we endured.

"John... is that thing going to come back?"

"I don’t know."

That’s all I could reply to Qinglan, because that monster could have easily continued fighting.

We were exhausted from the prolonged fight, and that mutant seemed able to regenerate both damage and stamina with a few moments’ rest. Li Ya stabbed her halberd into the ground and leaned on it, her breathing heavy and erratic.

"That thing was dangerous, the hairs on my neck are still standing."

"Heh, were you that scared?"

Shen Yifei taunted Li Ya, but Yifei herself was leaning against a massive chunk of stone while panting like a dog in heat.

"Don’t get cocky, I’m sure you pissed yourself in fear."

"Hmph!"

With the flick of her hair, Yifei turned to face me, her shimmering blue eyes filled with curiosity and delight.

I smiled back before checking my sword, the edges blunt and warped. Despite its durability, the monster we fought exceeded the level of gear we all used. However, I wondered if that Xeno-Type was the next stage of a Ghoul, the eerie white flesh protected by that sleek black exoskeletal armour.

The wall behind was too quiet.

Not silent, because the low crackling pop of gunshots still echoed, but the mass of zombies groaning in unison faded. Their movements, actions, and danger became much weaker after the Xeno-Type transformed.

The rhythm of battle had collapsed.

No more waves crashing against the stone walls, Brute’s tossing Hunters and Blade types onto the wall. They returned to mindless beasts.

It almost felt empty.

The sense of powerlessness lingered after facing that mutant. I grabbed my sword so tightly while scanning for the monster that my fingers and knuckles turned white. Broken stone lay in chunks around us, the flames of Li Ya’s halberd still guttering faintly, while Yifei’s spear dripped black ichor onto the flagstones.

And Mu Qinglan, standing closest to me, still had Endless Night raised like she couldn’t quite believe it was over. Her shoulders rose and fell with each breath, blade trembling and eyes scanning the horizon as though expecting that smooth, black silhouette to reappear any second.

"It ran," Li Ya muttered, voice rough, almost bitter. Her halberd slammed against the wall with a dull clang. "That thing... it actually ran."

"Of course it did, after seeing our true power!" Yifei added with an excited tone, pulling her weapon free of the cracked stone as she checked the golden blade. "But... where did it go?"

Her words asked the question in everyone’s mind.

Especially mine.

Because.....

Because it didn’t show up on the minimap created by the System.

The soldiers around us didn’t hear or notice our struggles, because they were starting to win. The Horde’s numbers began to wane.

A ragged cheer went up from the nearest squads, recruits slamming rifle butts against the wall, some even collapsing to their knees in sheer relief. To them, the nightmare was over, and the Horde scattered, the great monster gone. Victory.

But we knew it wouldn’t be over so easily.

I wiped the blood from my lips, forcing my battered body upright.

The elemental qi still coursed through me, stabilising wounds that should have left me unconscious, but it wouldn’t last. I could already feel the strain beneath the surface, the way my bones ached from holding too much power at once.

"Roulan," I called out hoarsely, and the familiar figure appeared through the haze. Dirt and blood covered her bodysuit with a cut across her cheek, but her eyes were steady as ever. Her previous commanding aura felt stronger, and a group of soldiers followed her like lost chicks.

She looked at us, her face blank before slowly smiling.

"You look like hell."

"Haha." I couldn’t hold the laugh. "You should look in a mirror."

Her lips pressed together, but she didn’t argue or get mad. She just nodded, knowing as well as I did, until we killed every zombie and the soldiers accounted for... There was no rest.

Tang Wei’s voice carried up the wall next, sharp as a whip. "Hurry up! The patients are wating, Medic Squad get moving. Get the wounded off this wall now!"

The medics all snapped their spines straight and followed her finger, rushing to the nearest wounded. Soon, the battlement was filled with stretcher-bearers weaving past scattered corpses and spent shell casings—the smell of smoke and blood mixed in the air, thick enough to sting the eyes.

Yet even with this relief of survival, I caught the flickers of doubt and unease. Veterans exchanged grim looks on the walls. Because everyone had seen it—the way that monster changed, the intelligence in its movements and that it chose to flee instead of fighting.

The display of intellect caused everyone to worry.

I caught Mu Qinglan’s gaze, and she looked back at me with the faintest tremor in her expression. Her lips parted as if to speak, but no words came. Instead, she stepped closer, her hand brushing against mine on the hilt of the sword—a silent confirmation.

We might have survived....

But the war was far from over.

***

Despite defeating the mutants and Stage Fives, it took hours to kill the last zombies.

I let out a slow breath, lowering my blade at last. The ache in my arms caught up with me immediately, every tendon screaming from overexertion. Still, I didn’t drop it. I couldn’t—not while the memory of that thing’s teeth and tail was still so sharp in my mind.

Just the thought of it made me nervous.

I felt a cold sweat down my back.

Mu Qinglan stepped close, brushing her sleeve across my jaw to wipe a smear of blood I hadn’t noticed. "John, don’t push yourself too far," she murmured. Her voice was steady, but the tremor in her hand betrayed her.

"Yeah... I’ll take a rest." I lied.

She didn’t argue; her eyes became sharp, and she turned away with a huff.

But she remained close to me, just behind my shoulder, as if to offer her silent support.

Li Ya leaned her halberd against her shoulder, flames still faintly dancing along the steel. "If that’s what a Horde can evolve into... we’re fucked," she said bluntly. The attempt at a joke fell flat, her tone a shade too grim.

Tang Wei approached with long strides, shotgun slung over her back, cheeks flushed red under the dirt covering her face. Her eyes scanned me from head to toe as if making note of every wound. "You overdid it again.... look at your combat suit full of holes."

I huffed. "My bad Wei-Wei, did you worry?"

"Well, I’m glad you are all alive and well...."

Yifei rejoined us last, spear in hand, after teasing Li Ya. She went to search the area and help clear the remaining zombies near the tower. She looked exhausted, with pale cheeks and bags under her eyes... and silent. Yifei was never quiet.

"Since we’ve managed to clear this horde. Everyone should go and get some rest. Leave everything to me and the others."

They hesitated, and some clearly wanted to argue, wanting to hover, but eventually dispersed to their squads. Mu Qinglan lingered a heartbeat longer, her gaze heavy on mine, then followed.

"Understood John." Qinglan left first... she reached out to me, but her hand dropped without power, her weak smile revealing just how exhausted she was.

Tang Wei helped Li Ya up, and the pair both looked at me with a strange glow, "Come to our room later, we have something important to tell you, John."

I exhaled and turned toward the inner steps of the battlement.

Each step felt heavier than the last, and even I was exhausted to this level.

What I saw there almost stopped me.

"What’s wrong John?" Yifei’s voice came from beside me as she climbed to the top.

The streets were chaotic, with damaged roads and corpses from both humans and zombies alike. It seemed the zombies crossed the other walls. Civilians streamed out of the shelters, not to run, but to work. Old women and children ferried buckets of water up to the walls. Men with tired eyes dragged carts of food, rice porridge steaming in battered pots, to feed the soldiers. Groups of teenagers carried stretchers together.

It wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t orderly like before...

Yet I felt a strange sense of pride when watching them all try so hard.

"John, are you alright?"

Shen Yifei leaned on my shoulder, the dull weight a sense of comfort as she hugged my arm.

"Y-Yeah... just, I didn’t think we could hold it off so well."

During the estimations with the help of the System, she estimated that at least half of the troops and civilians would die... but at most just over a thousand died on the battlefield.

"You did amazing, be proud."

A soft kiss to my cheek followed her praise.

The cheeky Yifei was nowhere to be seen, but the soft, affectionate Yifei came to say hi.