CHAPTER 137: CHAPTER 137: THE LAST STAND (2)

The cultists followed the shield guy as they charged towards Blaze. Instead of confronting them, the latter yawned. The laid-back attitude angered the humans.

But then...

"Too slow," he mumbled and disappeared from their sight.

"What?"

"Where did he go?"

"Nico! Above you!" June yelled.

Blaze appeared above them out of thin air. Nico, the shield guy, looked up and saw the fleshy tendrils wrap around the necks of those around him.

"Cut them off!" he yelled, but it was too late.

Blaze twisted in the air. Six severed heads swirled around him as he did, showering the place in fresh blood.

All of it happened in mere seconds.

Nico stood there, stunned.

Wasn’t Blaze supposed to be weak with his horde being the source of his strength?

He might be the most powerful undead we’ve ever faced.

Nico thought, gritting his teeth.

Blaze was too fast for them to keep up. Their plan of keeping him busy until June was ready was crumbling right before their eyes.

Meanwhile, Blaze dropped onto his feet right between the cultists. On one side were Nico and the rest of the attackers. On the other side were June and the healers.

It looked like the battle was over as soon as it began.

But then, Blaze turned back, ignoring June.

"Don’t worry," he said, juggling the six severed heads with his tendrils. "I won’t interrupt you. Charge your abilities to the fullest. Pour everything you have into it. Until then, I’ll play with your friends."

He was toying with them yet again!

"Like hell you will!" Nico roared, rushing ahead.

The posture, the stance, everything was similar to Raven’s charge. But the human’s version of the attack lacked one crucial thing.

Momentum.

Nico was technically pushing his shield ahead, which was buried in the muddy ground. The friction and drag acted as negative forces, slowing him down.

It was a move of desperation. One that Blaze found laughable.

Nico hoped the shield charge would send the zombie flying. It would give them time to escape. At least a few of them could cross the barrier then. The rest would stay back and try to finish Blaze off with June’s arrow.

However, the impact he had hoped for didn’t happen.

"What the..."

Nico kept pushing the shield, but it refused to budge. He peeked from behind the hunk of metal and saw that Blaze’s tendrils were pushing the shield back, while he stood there, his arms crossed.

"That was your big plan?" Blaze asked, stepping closer. "Honestly... you humans prove you’re nothing more than trained chimpanzees every time I see you."

Nico tried to pull away, but the tendrils wrapped around his shield, refusing to let go.

Instead, Blaze flexed his fingers and punched the shield. The impact produced a loud ring before Nico was knocked several steps back.

Nico dug his feet and shield into the ground, coming to a halt after dragging through several yards. His hands went numb from the impact, yet he smiled.

His strength... it isn’t much!

Blaze’s punch was impactful, yet it didn’t even put a dent in the shield. Compared with his speed, his strength was lacking.

"We can win as long as we restrain him!"

Nico yelled, but stopped when he suddenly felt light. He was so hopeful after finding out Blaze’s weakness that he didn’t notice when his shield broke in half. It was cut cleanly through the middle!

"How is this possible?" Nico mumbled in disbelief. "How can a punch cut a shield in half?"

He looked up and saw something weird.

Blaze’s right arm was crackling like thunder, and his fingers had turned into sharp blades. The ring he heard didn’t originate from a punch, but from those sharp blades as they cut through the shield.

"Then that force..."

Nico’s face fell when he realized it wasn’t a punch that shoved him back, but a mere swing of Blaze’s blade-like fingers. He didn’t think he’d have survived a punch from Blaze without losing his arms.

"Oh, you’re alive?" Blaze asked, leaning forward. "I thought the blades would cut you in half along with your shield. I guess I misjudged the thickness. Alright, let’s run it again."

Nico just stood there, wondering how to deal with Blaze.

Seeing him in such a state, the other grade-4 enforcers charged towards the zombie lord.

"We’ll deal with him," one told Nico. "Focus on recovering your strength first—!"

Thud!

The enforcer couldn’t finish the sentence as his body split in half from the waist. The other grade-4 suffered a similar fate.

It all happened so quickly that the enforcers themselves didn’t realize it until their severed bodies hit the ground. Their faces remained frozen with horror as their lifeless eyes showed the disbelief they felt before dying.

The same expression was present on everyone’s face. Blaze stood there, unbothered by it. With a flick, he shook their blood off his hand with disdain.

"I know this is an all-out war," he said, looking at the rest of them. "But know this. I’m not interested in the rest of you. Those who aren’t interesting will meet their end swiftly, so think twice before interfering."

Nico’s knees trembled as he watched the two strongest grade-4s cut down in an instant. Together, they had nearly killed Breaker. Yet they hadn’t even lasted a second before being killed.

"He’s not a grade-4..." Nico whispered.

He didn’t need to say it out loud as everyone realized it.

Blaze was a grade-5 undead. Perhaps the only one on the planet.

The realization turned their resistance futile. No matter how many of them there were, there were some things numbers couldn’t overcome.

Defeating a grade-5 zombie without a single grade-5 human was one of those things.

"Nico, get away!" June yelled, unleashing a stream of light at Blaze.

Blaze saw it and smiled.

The light was more condensed than the one that hit Breaker. It was evident that the humans had gone all out, pouring every bit of their strength into the attack.

The arrow resembled their desire to live, their desire to destroy Blaze.

It was their last stand. Their only hope.