Wyatt reacted on instinct, his will to live far greater than his fear of death. With a flash, his Talent activated and his sword was already at Zarek's neck—fast and swift, harsh and quick…
But also predictable.
There was no variation, no surprise, no skill. Zarek's eyes didn't even flinch in the slightest as his body came to an abrupt stop. His knees compressed under the load, his quads bulging under the strain with such ferocity it seemed the pant leg of his sweats would shred to pieces.
Zarek's momentum came to a sudden stop, but the ground was too slippery between the piles of flesh and the Crimson Rain. At first glance, it looked as though Zarek had made a mistake that cost him his life. Without traction, how would he stop?
And yet, as he slid forward across the ground, Wyatt realized something…
His sword was moving too fast.
Chi.
The sword passed through the air so close to Zarek's nose it just barely nicked him, grazing along the thinnest layer of skin as though a papercut gliding into place.
But Zarek's actual body continued forward seamlessly, popping up from his stopping position to arc his machete at Wyatt's head.
Click.
BANG!
Zarek moved again, his wrist shifting.
DENG.
A bullet collided with the flat of Zarek's machete as his shoulder rammed right into Wyatt's chest.
It seemed that one of the guns had finally decided to fire properly. Zarek might not be able to shrug off bullets just yet, and he also wasn't fast enough to react to them either, but what he could do was use his Scouting Skill to read the trajectory the bullet would fire along—if successful—and block that path ahead of time.
Wyatt was launched through the air, flying back so fast he slammed into the sand and cement wall. His ribs cracked even through his combat armor, and he hacked up a mouthful of blood.
Zarek's body pivoted to the side, casting a glance at his Godsfall Steel machete to check the damage. It could probably deflect a bullet from a handgun easily enough, but a rifle was a different matter entirely.
As expected, Zarek saw fine-line cracks on its surface. They were subtle, but they were certainly there.
Unfortunate, indeed…
What was more unfortunate was that someone would have to pay for that.
—
[Dexterity has shown great progress]
—
[Dexterity: E+]
→
[Dexterity: EE]
—
Zarek's blade suddenly accelerated mid-swing. He seamlessly settled into his new stats without the slightest adjustment period. He had already been here before—what adjustment did he need?
A head flew into the skies.
Click.
Another misfire, another head.
They had severely overestimated themselves and their weaponry. What they failed to account for was the fact that not only would the heavier rain interfere with the world's laws more… but so too would the actual soaking of their rifles.
How long had they been out here? How many rain droplets had fallen into those magazines? Onto their triggers? Into the crevices of their components?
Zarek stabbed a man right through the gut, twisted his wrist, and carved out a path just above his hip.
Click.
BANG!
The bullet came from Zarek's back, but as he carved out the man's belly, he had already used the momentum to pivot around the latter's body.
He sensed the convulsion of the man as the bullet ran through him, but Zarek only seamlessly beheaded him, moving onto the next target.
He butchered humans with the same ease as Turned. No, he was even more savage.
Humans didn't have Godsfall Droplets to sever. If he wanted them dead, they had to be down to their very last hints of vitality, and even then he would still cut their heads off just in case.
It took more energy, but he had seen too many carelessly lose their lives to an enemy wanting to drag them down with them even on their last breaths.
He would never make such a mistake. If they wanted to think of him as a butcher, they were free to do so.
In his eyes, they were no different from pigs to his slaughter. Standing in his way made them all his enemies, and he only treated enemies with one thing.
Death.
The last of the gunmen fell to the ground, their necks spurting with fountains of blood, their guts disemboweled, and their eyes blinded by a streaking blade that cut even their skull in sections.
Wyatt was the only one remaining, everything happening so fast around him that he had only just barely managed to stand.
If it wasn't for the Crimson Rain falling from above, one could tell that he would have been as pale as a sheet. Holding his sword up with one hand, and bracing his chest with another, he tried to back up from Zarek, only to realize that there was nowhere to go.
The wall felt steadier to him now than ever before. Suddenly, he felt just like all those Turned.
The wall was right there. With their stats, they should have been just so easy to climb, so easy to maneuver, so easy to deal with…
And yet it felt like their peaks were a world away.
Zarek didn't move fast, his steps steady. His arm suddenly swung out, decapitating a Turned that had managed to make it through the field of mush to stand right in front of Wyatt.
"I… I… the teams… yes… there are three of them in the field… yes, three… we're trying to cut down the barricades you all made in the recent… recent expeditions so that we can smoothly… smoothly take over your territory once… once the rain is finished… wh-while you're occupied by—by the zombies…"
"And what numbers are attacking GFI right now?"
"N-n-none… we—we weren't p-planning for a direct con-conflict right n-now."
Zarek nodded slowly, then walked away.
Wyatt's feet trembled, piss running down his leg. He had survived. He really had…
His vision went blank. Even until the very last moment, he didn't know that he had died at all.
Zarek's eyes landed on the Hub again. If Pensare wasn't attacking GFI directly, then Priya should still be fine for now. He could focus on gaining some more.
As he had said, his goal tonight was to hit D Class, and he had to do that no matter what. There wouldn't be another chance to improve so fast anytime soon.
The faster he could do it, the faster he could return to Priya, and the less likely something unexpected would be to happen.
Even if this Hub is useless, I can use it to lure in some Mutants, hopefully…
As for Pensare's actions, Zarek didn't care for the time being. He wouldn't overextend himself for the sake of helping GFI, though he would if it meant training. However, it just made more sense for him to target the Hub over moving to a new area right now.
However, when Zarek did finally carve out a path to the Hub, what he saw left him standing in silence for a very long while.
**
"There's no movement at the bridge, but the other two checkpoints seem to have been compromised. GFI will be dealing with attacks from at least two sides soon."
Van Hollen raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with the bridge?"
"Hard to tell. But it was also the easiest location to capture, and the easiest to defend too, so it's not too surprising."
"Mm." Van Hollen nodded slowly. "Once they're occupied and a bit lulled, we'll attack the condominium."
"And the main target is Synghe's daughter, correct?"
"The attorney general would definitely be pleasantly surprised if we caught her, but that isn't the main point for now. If it happens, good. But our main concern is sowing discord and ensuring that those under GFI don't trust them to protect their subordinates well."
"Understood."