[Feral zombie killed...]
[Feral zombie killed...]
.
.
[Requirements for Elite evolution met!]
[100/100 Feral Cores Obtained!]
[Commencing Elite Zombie Girl Evolution...]
A violent, dark crimson light exploded from Summer’s chest, wrapping around her small body like an impenetrable cocoon.
The dark energy seeped into her skin, rebuilding her muscles, strengthening her bones, and refining her undead core.
The agonizing pain from her broken ribs dissolved instantly as her pale flesh knitted itself back together at incredible speed.
[Evolution Complete!]
[You have successfully evolved into an Elite Zombie Girl!]
[All stats increased by +10!]
[Please select ONE Elite Racial Trait from the following options:]
[Blood Frenzy: Increases physical strength and agility by two hundred percent when health drops below thirty percent.]
Summer read the trait with a frown. Health drops below thirty percent to activate? She didn’t like to be in such situations.
She’d rather overpower her opponents.
[Good thought. It’s not suitable for your battle style. Though this would’ve helped you fight that Psychokinetic Feral Boss.]
[Death Armor: Generates a dense bone shield around your body that thickens with every point of physical damage you receive. It can stack up to two times your constitution.]
This looked good. Still, she had to take damage to stack the shield. Even though it was an overpowered trait to unlock, it would never suit Summer, who preferred a high-speed, lethal attack style.
[Selecting this trait will also force you to invest your free points into constitution. Your main attributes are Agility and Strength. You will be confused about your priorities, and your fighting style may cause conflicts in the future.]
’Oh.’
[Soul Wail: Release a sonic wave that paralyzes the minds of all targets within 2.5 times the INT radius.]
’This...’ Summer’s eyes brightened. This sounded so cool! With this trait, she could paralyze that zombie, right?
"I choose this..." Summer said excitedly.
[Not so fast, little girl. There is something else too...]
[Shadow Mirage: Grants short-term invisibility, allowing the user to bypass all physical, magical, and mental defenses of opponents. Cost: 10 Mana for 10 seconds.]
Summer’s jaw almost touched the ground. But she didn’t move...
[Chubby cheeks?]
"Hm?"
[Why aren’t you choosing?]
"I am waiting to see if there is a better trait to choose from," she said.
[Do you think traits are like random pebbles on the ground?]
’Oh..’
Summer didn’t waste any more time. The memories of her fists bouncing uselessly off the Boss Feral’s purple shield were still fresh in her mind.
Only she knew how much she yearned to blast through its psychokinetic defenses and pull that light yellow core out of its brain.
She couldn’t wait any longer as hunger began kicking in her stomach.
’I choose Shadow Mirage,’ Summer declared mentally.
[Racial Trait ’Shadow Mirage’ acquired!]
[Class Skill ’Puppeteer’ upgraded to Elite Level!]
[Elite Puppeteer Effect: The master can now forcibly evolve controlled puppets to a tier directly below the master’s current tier.]
A sweet smile spread across Summer’s pale face as she felt the overwhelming power surging through her veins.
Backdropped by the ruins, this scene was too eerie, yet breathtaking...
*
* *
Back at the ruined intersection, the battle had turned entirely disastrous.
A loud, sickening crash echoed across the asphalt as One’s massive nine-foot frame was violently blasted out of the dust cloud.
The four-armed giant tumbled across the street, smashing through two concrete pillars before coming to a hard stop against a pile of rubble.
Dark blood poured from deep slashes across his chest, and his lower two arms hung limp at his sides.
The Boss Feral hovered slowly forward, its enlarged head pulsing with a thick, ominous purple glare.
Beside the rubble, the human survivors were at their absolute limit. Jacob lay on his knees, coughing up blood while using his cracked bat to support his weight.
Ilas sat slumped against a wrecked sedan, her hands trembling as she failed to ignite even a single spark of fire.
Ella stood directly in front of them, her legs shaking violently as her bat hung loosely in her grip.
Captain Robin and his three soldiers were out of ammunition. Their armor was dented, and their faces were pale from blood loss and sheer exhaustion.
"Is this... where we die?" one of the soldiers muttered, his fingers slipping off his empty rifle as he stared at the approaching, floating nightmare.
The Boss Feral raised both of its gaunt hands. An immense pressure filled the air, making the surrounding dust particles freeze in place.
The survivors could feel their chests tightening as the invisible hydraulic press began to close in around them.
Ella gritted her teeth, tears of pain blurring her vision as she took a single, agonizing step forward.
She looked back at her family, then toward the dark alleyways.
Summer was nowhere to be seen. Did Chubby really abandon them? Ella refused to believe it. She didn’t want her mother’s reasoning to be true.
Absolutely not. Chubby was too straightforward and naive. She would never do that.
The Boss Feral snapped its fingers, preparing to flatten the entire group into meat paste.
Everyone closed their eyes, awaiting the inevitable impact.
Suddenly, an unnatural, terrifying coldness spread across the entire intersection. The temperature plummeted in a split second, frosting the cracked windshields of the wrecked cars.
A strange, phantom sensation swept through everyone on the street, as if an icy, invisible phantom had just walked directly through their bodies.
The crushing pressure hanging over the humans vanished instantly.
The Boss Feral’s hollow purple eyes widened in alarm. Its throbbing brain tissue pulsed frantically, sending out telekinetic scanning waves in every direction.
But its senses returned nothing. There was no sound, no signature, and no visual threat in front of it.
The creature was completely blind to the threat hovering right beside it.
Without warning, the air directly behind the Boss Feral’s enlarged head rippled like disturbed water.
A small, iron-clad fist materialized out of thin air, coated in a dark crimson aura. The shimmering purple kinetic barrier that had protected the Boss Feral from bullets, fire, and One’s massive strength failed to activate entirely.
The fist bypassed the psychokinetic shield as if the barrier did not exist at all.
BOOM!
The iron gauntlet smashed straight into the back of the creature’s enlarged skull.
The Boss Feral did not even get the chance to let out a screech. The immense force instantly caved in its translucent skin, exploding its brain matter and grey fluid across the shattered pavement in a violent spray.
The headless, emaciated corpse hovered in midair for a fraction of a second before collapsing heavily onto the bloody street like a puppet with its strings cut.
Silence descended over the battlefield.
Jacob, Ella, Ilas, and the soldiers stared at the headless corpse with their mouths agape, their minds completely blank.
The monster that had effortlessly crushed an armored truck, beaten a nine-foot giant, and pushed a squad of trained soldiers to the brink of death had just been killed in less than a heartbeat.
Above the falling corpse, the shimmering air dissolved completely, revealing a pale young girl landing lightly on her feet.
Summer stood calmly over the dead Boss Feral. In her small, pale hand, she held a large, pulsating core that glowed with a light yellow energy.
The dark red blood of the monster dripped from her iron gauntlets, but she did not pay it the slightest attention.
Without hesitating, Summer brought the yellow core to her mouth and bit down hard.
Crunch.
All the onlookers flinched at that sound.
"Um.. so sweet. Like... like a strawberry candy."