Nemesis TX was an upgraded version of the zombie monster, with enhanced physical abilities and regeneration. Its HP being 200, it won’t go down nor will it go up. It was as if being on 200 HP was the criteria for this evolution.

Only a damage of 200 will kill it now. But neither the Shotgun nor the Axe can deal such damage.

The monster leaped into the air and landed in front of Noah. It stomped its fists to the ground creating another shockwave. Noah fell to the ground trying to escape.

Before he could move, a punch had sent him flying in the air. His HP had come down to 30% in one blow. The monster roared again as if it enjoyed the outcome.

Noah quickly regained his senses and took cover near a haystack.

“Only 5 bullets left. Gotta save them.” He used a medkit to raise his HP. Equipping himself with the axe, he circled round the monster.

Aiming at its neck Noah lunged into the air. But the monster could spot him easily as if its intelligence has also increased.

Nemesis used the back of his hand to sway the attack. Noah fell to the side while evading the blow. “This is getting tougher each minute.” Noah fell back and thought of a plan.

There was an abandoned barn house behind them. Noah fired his shotgun at Nemesis and ran towards the barn. The monster parried the attack and chased Noah.

The first step was successful. Noah easily lured him to the barn. “Now what?”

Noah looked around but couldn’t find any shotgun bullets. The things he found in the barnhouse were some bandages, a painkiller, a scope and …

“No ammo here. I am running out of shotgun bullets. How will I….” Noah gave a pause.

“Wait. If I can use that properly, then maybe...Let’s do it.” Noah had devised a plan instantly.

The zombie boss Nemesis followed Noah into the barnhouse.

As soon as Nemesis entered, it was hit with an incoming shotgun pellet to the heart. The monster covered its heart immediately. Noah still fired another round. No significant damage caused but it had made the monster angry. Noah fell back to the farthest end of the barnhouse and hurled a Molotov Cocktail at the monster, who was charging at him.

Zombies are weak to fire. The Molotov lit up like a candle, burning the monster. Though it was not taking any significant damage, the sense of being scorched was not pleasant. It rushed at Noah to take him down.

Noah dodged its strike as he propelled himself to the other side. Without giving it much time to react, he attacked the monster as fast as he could. The reaction time of the monster had also become slow while on fire. This time Noah used the axe to strike its spine. The monster roared in pain and tried to pull the axe out.

“Everything is in place. Now it's all or nothing.”

Noah threw both the sticky bombs.

Not at the monster but at the gas canister behind him. The other thing that Noah found in the barnhouse was a gas canister. He had used it to set up a perfect trap and led the monster to it.

1 Molotov = 80 HP (Regenerated 50%) + Slow Regeneration + Slow Reaction

1 Sticky Bomb X 2 = 100 HP

1 Gas Canister = 100 HP

Even if the monster had recovered from the Molotov damage, the rest would have been enough to take it down. The bombs burst on the gas canister with a huge bang and the monster disintegrated into a puff of smoke.

“Genius..” Principal Beck sprang up from his cozy chair. He was keeping an eye on Noah’s screen all this while. The ingenuity displayed by Noah sparked an euphoria in Beck. However, looking at his clueless guests, he calmed down and continued to observe the match.

Even though Noah had run a distance, he took some damage as well.

Zombie Boss Killed. The Event - Revenge of the Dead has ended.

Noah received the reward - EM RailGun Spell card. It can be used only once. But the damage it will produce, can even level towns.

“Phew. So much for this thing. I have to leave this place fast.” Noah put the card in his inventory.

He was about to leave the barnhouse when he felt something and stepped back.

A bullet flew right in front of him. It would have hit him if not for stepping back. His sixth sense had alerted him of the danger.

“A sniper. There is a sniper.” Noah’s eyes widened as he started breathing heavily.

“That was a close one. They must be waiting for me to get the rewards.”

“But how will I get out of here now? The zone has also started. It will reach here in 1 minute. I need to think of something, fast.”

Outside, it was not only a sniper but a total of 5 people who were observing Noah from the shadows. They were waiting for him to get the rewards. Now they can attack him and fetch the prize. Two of them approached the barhouse from the sides as Noah was not coming out. The zombie event had ended so there was nothing to fear for them. Also, if Noah came out to attack, the sniper would do its job.

Noah racked his brain to find anything that can help him out of this predicament.

“2 bullets left in the shotgun. An axe. 3 Smoke Bomb. Rest all used up. This is no way sufficient. Wait, there is something I didn’t check till now. The event rewards from the Goblin mission earlier. It gave me a spell card right!”

Invincible Mario Spell Card - No damage taken for 30 seconds upon use.

“Great. Not just great, this is Awesome.”

Noah took a deep breath. “It would have been useful to keep this card till the end but now it's needed more. All is well.”

Noah used the card - Invincible Mario Spell Card and started counting the seconds. He had measured the distances of the opponents near him by hearing the footsteps. He immediately threw 2 smoke bombs at the entrance of the barnhouse. The attackers were approaching it slowly when Noah came out of the smoke and took the head off of one of them with a headshot. One shotgun bullet left.

The sniper was waiting for Noah to come out and he took the shot. To everyone’s surprise, the headshot was deflected, no damage taken. “How is this possible?” Everyone started wondering.

The other attacker was shocked and confused at the same time. Noah used this moment of hesitance from him and took him out. Another clear headshot and pop goes a death crate.

All bullets used now. He quickly checked their crates and found 5 shotgun bullets. No time to switch guns. Only 15 seconds left. Noah looked around to find another 2 attackers approaching him. He quickly reloaded the shotgun bullets. In the meantime, the sniper has also shot him twice with no effect. He kept aiming at Noah’s head. He couldn’t believe his eyes every time the bullet deflected.

Noah rushed at the 2 attackers and clutched them perfectly. He knew he would not take any damage. So it was nothing to fear. Only 7 seconds left. Noah was out of ammo. He had to search for a weapon among the crates.

“Shit. No sniper. I have to take out the Sniper using an Assault Rifle.” He found an M16 Rifle equipped with a 4x scope. Noah picked it up and set it to single-shot mode. Now he has to identify the position of the sniper. 3 seconds left.

He stood up and let the sniper shoot him. The sniper was waiting for Noah and took the headshot. Again no damage taken.

“How is this possible? Is that a cheat?” he kept wondering.

But Noah had seen the muzzle flash. He found out the sniper’s location. He aimed his M16 at the sniper and fired. A rapid single tap of 10 bullets was throttled like a spray. The sniper had also fired back. Both of them went down.

Noah was hit on his shoulder. One of the bullets had grazed the incoming sniper bullet and somewhat changed its trajectory. The effect of the spell card was over. His HP was down to 80. The sniper, however, left a crate in his demise.

Noah carefully observed the surroundings. But there was none left. He took out a Medkit and healed himself quickly. Noah’s total kill points stand at 7 now. He quickly gathered all the loot he could, from the crates. He even looted the sniper’s crate and found a MagnumPi Sniper, the sniper with the highest damage. If not for the spell card he was a goner.

The zone had already approached when he was taking out the sniper. He used up all his painkillers to increase health while looting in the Void Zone.

So decrease and increase of health simultaneously balanced it out. But that could not be done much longer as he was running out of painkillers.

Noah stocked up his inventory and rushed out of Valle de la Muerte using his Aero-X Fenrir bike. In some time, he had caught up with the zone.

The next destination is a town near the Barren Hills where Noah expected the next zone to shift. There Noah was supposed to meet up with Melv.

2 hours have passed already. The last hour remains.

On the other side, one of the attackers at the barnhouse in Valle de la Muerte had contacted Ton and informed of Noah’s position. Not hearing back from them, Ton clearly understood the situation. Opening his map, Ton looked at the zone and predicted Noah’s next stop. He instructed Kaisha to take some party members and attack Noah. They left immediately.

Ton hovered his index finger over the map location.

“So this is where you will be decimated. The town of Dubrovnik. Winter is coming. Hahaha…”

…