novelraw Chapter 152: Zombies
Chapter 152: Zombies
Loren witnessed everything happening, pretending not to have seen it.
Just faking death, nothing special. What Loren was waiting for was the mastermind hiding behind it all.
"I was wondering why there were so few wandering souls here. So you converted them all."
"Who?"
Upon hearing the voice from behind, Loren whirled around sharply. A robed figure wearing a bird-beak mask had suddenly appeared behind him—this was the attire of a Plague Envoy.
Simultaneously, from the envoy's words, Loren gleaned a crucial piece of information.
He had also noticed the reduction in wandering souls and even suspected Loren was responsible. This indicated one thing: the one causing the wandering souls to decrease was not him, but someone else.
"So, the reduction in wandering souls wasn't your doing?"
Loren didn't answer, instead firing a question back.
"Then it seems there's a misunderstanding.""Indeed."
The two instantly reached a consensus, and then simultaneously raised their hands to unleash their killing moves.
A crack suddenly appeared before Loren, from which a semi-transparent ghostly claw reached out, aiming straight for his throat. Meanwhile, Loren hurled a dead fetus wreathed in bloody aura towards his opponent.
Sneakily chanting incantations during casual conversation had long become common practice among mages, though the skill to chat and chant simultaneously was mastered by few.
The moment he unleashed his attack, the Plague Envoy felt victory was assured. Crimson Tide Nova wasn't fast;
with his speed, dodging it would be easy. Meanwhile, the ghostly claw he summoned had already touched Loren's throat.
Next, as long as he sidestepped to evade Loren's magic, victory would be decided in an instant.
But events unfolded far beyond his expectations. The ghostly claw passed right through Loren's body. And just as he was sidestepping, Crimson Tide Nova suddenly changed direction, directly entering his body before exploding. The explosion from the inside out caused his black robe to swell.
"I underestimated you."
The Plague Envoy removed his mask, spitting out fragments of internal organs, yet he remained lively and vigorous.
"......"
Loren saw his face. He still had a face, and could still spit out internal organs. This meant he wasn't an ordinary Plague Envoy. Typical Plague Envoys were reduced to just a layer of skin, with all sorts of filth beneath it.
Moreover, being able to use necromancy also indicated he definitely wasn't a regular Plague Envoy.
And that earlier strike hadn't been easy on Loren either. This Plague Envoy's attack carried soul damage;
Void-walking couldn't completely nullify it.
Though he appeared unchanged, Loren was indeed injured. This was the first time the High Tower had been breached.
But comparatively, the Plague Envoy's injuries were more severe. However, the surrounding corpses gradually stood up, beginning to encircle Loren.
Loren glanced at these corpses. Unlike corpses controlled by a necromancer, they resembled zombies more than undead.
Loren even spotted some familiar faces among them—the people he'd seen on his way here, those who came searching for their relatives' bodies. They had all joined the zombie ranks.
"A necromancy that can infect the living? Truly dangerous."
If these zombies were a bit stronger, the God of Plague would really have a chance to turn the tables on the other gods.
Loren had seen Plague Envoys use this kind of magic in the game. Its strength wasn't impressive;
it was useless against powerful foes, but it worked quickly for massacring cities.
Rather than calling it magic, it was more like a virus fused with magic, a manifestation of the God of Plague's authority.
Especially since the zombie virus could lie dormant, only erupting after infecting a certain number of people. Very dangerous.
Now Loren also understood why the Canaan Kingdom had suddenly carried out a city massacre—it was to research this inhuman thing, the zombie virus.
And judging by the current situation, they had already achieved some research results. The Plague Envoy returned here precisely to conduct experiments.
Loren took note of those zombies directly converted from living people. They all bore bite marks. This indicated that, at least for now, the zombie virus didn't have the ability to directly transform people into zombies. They needed to first use necromancy to turn corpses into zombies, then use those zombies to infect others.
"Apologies, but you must die here today."
If the Plague Envoy were allowed to take the data back today, the Canaan Kingdom's research progress on the zombie virus would leap forward significantly. This was not something Loren wanted to see.
But simultaneously, Loren felt a surge of excitement. Since obtaining the Sin-Burning Flames, Loren truly hadn't used this move in combat.
The Sin-Burning Flames weren't very mobile;
they could only appear directly in front, unable to be thrown like a fireball. After all, it was only a sixth-tier magic;
having some limitations was normal.
Taking advantage of the Brilliance Potion's effect still being active, Loren once again pressed the blade against the sheath.
The Plague Envoy also keenly sensed something was wrong and immediately chose to act. Instantly, a soul-piercing scream echoed in Loren's ears, and countless invisible arms firmly immobilized him. This move was just for control;
the real killing blow was yet to come. But he wouldn't get the chance to use it.
Loren drew Requiem. Flames instantly engulfed him, incinerating along with the hands gripping him.
"What?"
The Plague Envoy clearly hadn't seen such a spectacle before and immediately lost his composure. Loren charged forward like a ghost;
he truly didn't know what to do.
With his internal organs damaged, the Plague Envoy's chanting had slowed considerably. Before his next magic could be released, Loren's blade fell upon him.
"Diagonal Slash!"
Loren used only the most basic martial skill. The martial skill wasn't the main means of attack;
the Sin-Burning Flames on Requiem were.
The moment it made contact with the Sin-Burning Flames, the Plague Envoy's body was instantly vaporized.
Having committed so many inhuman acts, his sins had reached a terrifying level. Only with the combined enhancements from the Judgment card, Sin-Burning Flames, Lurking Fangs, Brilliance Potion, Requiem, Ring of Wisdom, and a series of other buffs did such an effect occur.
When Loren's slash passed through, no blade mark was left on the Plague Envoy's body. Instead, it was as if a chunk had been directly erased by an eraser, half his body vanishing outright.
The Plague Envoy's half-skull fell to the ground. Seizing the moment while he was still stunned, Loren dispersed the Sin-Burning Flames, grabbed his skull, and a few seconds later, Pluto's Mouth completely devoured the head.
[Devour successful, Intelligence +3.]
The body wasn't complete, so the attributes only increased Loren's Intelligence. But Loren was more than satisfied. This was equivalent to the reward for leveling up three times consecutively, and Loren's experience points also reached the threshold for a level-up.
"Next, it's time to deal with these zombies."
A dense mass of zombies had already surrounded Loren. Now, they weren't just creations of a necromancer;
they had long broken free from the necromancer's control, becoming independent entities.
These zombies were precious data. To delay the Canaan Kingdom's research, and for his own experience, Loren decided to eliminate these zombies.