Kaius, Chris, and Kayla left the hotel and got back onto Highway 401. Since most of Kaius’ undead army had been destroyed in the battle against the cursed beasts, Kaius activated Lesser Reanimation on all the Ash Spider corpses along the way.

Numerous blood trails could be seen on the highway leading into the fields.

“So many people were killed by these spiders,” Kayla clasped her hands at this unnerving sight.

“We can only hope the majority escaped back to Milton,” Chris consoled.

“Careful, we have company!” Kaius shouted.

The grass beds in the fields popped open once more as dozens of Dust Spiders jumped out at them.

The trio took out their weapons from their inventory. Kaius defended the right side with the support of a few reanimated Ash Spiders, while Chris, Kayla and the remaining reanimated Ash Spiders took care of the left side.

Kaius weaved and dodged the incoming Dust Spiders. Before they even had a chance to land on the ground, he brandished his sword and sliced through them with ease. Bloodthirst also continuously activated its Blood Absorption skill.

On the other side, since Chris and Kayla’s levels were higher now, they also didn’t have much trouble taking care of the Dust Spiders, especially since they had help from many reanimated Ash Spiders.

As the trio ran and fought, Kaius did not forget to cast Lesser Reanimation on the corpses of the Dust Spiders to further replenish his undead army. The more they fought, the more reanimated Dust Spiders Kaius controlled. As a result, the battle gradually became easier.

After running and fighting for an hour, the trio finally escaped the ambush range of the Dust Spiders. Both Chris and Kayla managed to level up once more during the battle, while Kaius managed to absorb one unit worth of Blood Essence.

When the trio eventually reached the northern entrance to Milton, they saw the soldiers standing guard had tense expressions.

“More survivors!” One of the soldiers shouted.

Another soldier ran up to the trio and asked “Are you guys ok?”

“Yeah,” Kaius nodded. “I guess you guys heard about what happened during our trip to Mississauga?”

“We did,” the soldier replied. “How could Mississauga have fallen just like that…”

“How many people came back?” Kayla asked anxiously.

“Approximately half,” the soldier’s expression turned dejected.

“At least half survived,” Chris tried to be optimistic. “Are they being relocated somewhere?”

“Yes, they’re now being evacuated towards Burlington or Oakville. You guys should go too.”

Kaius turned to Chris and Kayla, “you guys should go evacuate. I need to go talk to Captain Diaz.”

“You’re not coming with us?” Kayla asked with a concerned expression.

Kaius shook his head. “I’m going to stay here and help defend the city.”

“What? Are you crazy?” Chris chimed in. “That’s a zombie horde we’re talking about! Even if it’s you, it’s still too dangerous. Plus, they have an entire company of soldiers defending here.”

“I have a bad feeling about this time. Don’t worry, I don’t plan on dying anytime soon.” Kaius forced out a smile.

“You… just be careful, ok?” Kayla saw that Kaius had made up his mind and no longer tried to persuade him.

“Don’t die, alright?” Chris patted Kaius’ shoulder.

“Hm. You two stay safe as well.” Kaius waved and parted ways with the two doctors.

A few minutes later, Kaius met up with Captain Diaz and his two lieutenants inside the police station.

“First, let me express my gratitude on behalf of everyone here,” Captain Diaz said in a grateful tone. “If it weren’t for you and the two doctors, many more people would have died.”

“Let’s skip the formalities,” Kaius waved his hand. “What’s your plan for combating the approaching zombie horde? I heard there are about 800 of them, including four evolved zombies. And don’t tell me to evacuate; we both know how serious the situation is right now. You need every bit of help you can get.”

“…You’re right,” Captain Diaz reluctantly agreed. “My men are fortifying our defenses as we speak. We have enough firepower to deal with the 800 regular zombies and I’m confident in taking out one of the evolved zombies with the support of a lieutenant and several soldiers. But the remaining three evolved zombies will be left unchecked and can easily break through our defense line.”

Kaius thought for a moment before speaking, “Instead of trying to kill one evolved zombie, can you and your men just stall two evolved zombies for 30 minutes? I’ll take care of the remaining two during that time.”

“You’re crazy!” Lieutenant Bartello interjected from the side. “Only the Majors in our army are strong enough to take on an evolved zombie one on one, but even they’re not confident of winning against them. Yet you’re saying you can kill two of them by yourself?”

Kaius shook his head. “I can’t kill two by myself yet, but by the time the battle starts, I’ll be able to. Since your scouts reported that the four evolved zombies consist of two Bruisers and two Devourers, if you can keep the two Bruisers busy for a while, I’ll sneak around the back to kill the two Devourers.”

“That’s practically suicide!” Lieutenant Bennet finally spoke up. “You’ll be up against two Devourers and hundreds of zombies all by yourself.”

“Since I dare to do this, then I’m obviously confident in my ability to stay alive,” said Kaius. “Let’s stop wasting time arguing about this. Even if you reject my plan, I’m still going to sneak around the back to attack the two Devourers anyways. Plus, it’s not like you have a better plan.”

“Sigh…” Captain Diaz felt a headache coming on. “We’ll go with your plan then.”

“Captain!” Lieutenant Bartello looked over in surprise.

Captain Diaz held up his hand to stop further discussions.

“You heard him. Even if we don’t agree, he’ll just go out and do what he wants anyways. In that case, we might as well try to get the attention of as many zombies as possible to increase the likelihood of his plan succeeding.”

“You better not die on us,” Lieutenant Bartello said to Kaius in a stern voice.

“Don’t worry, I don’t plan to,” Kaius replied leisurely with a smile.

Everyone went their separate ways to prepare for the upcoming battle. The rest of the day passed by in the blink of an eye.

The first rays of sunlight pierced through the horizon, illuminating the city.

Based on the intelligence reports gathered from the scouting squads, the zombie horde was estimated to arrive at Milton by the next morning.

The entire company of soldiers and Kaius stood behind the metal fences guarding the west entrance to the city. Everyone waited with bated breath for the arrival of the zombie horde.

One hour passed by slowly. Another hour passed. However, the zombie horde was nowhere in sight.

“What’s going on?” Lieutenant Bartello wondered out loud.

Captain Diaz frowned. “Bennet, send out a scouting squad.”

“Roger,” Lieutenant Bennet complied and gave orders to a group of three soldiers.

Shortly after, a scouting party drove a car out of the defense line and headed west on Highway 401.

Approximately ten minutes later, the scouting party finally spoke up over the military radio.

“Captain, we see the zombie horde! But they’re just… standing there, not moving…”

“What do you mean they’re not moving?” Captain Diaz shouted into the radio.

“I mean it literally, Captain. The entire zombie horde is just… wait! They’re on the move now! We’re retreating. Based on their speed, they should be here in half an hour.”

After disseminating the news to the rest of the soldiers, everyone heightened their alertness. Each minute that passed by felt like an eternity.

Shadowy figures slowly began to appear over the horizon. One zombie appeared after another like an endless sea of death.

“Everyone, weapons hot!” Captain Diaz shouted into the radio. “Wait till they get closer.”

The first group of zombies finally entered firing range.

“Fire!”

“Die zombies!”

“Eat lead, zombie scum!”

All one hundred soldiers in the company let loose their automatic rifles.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Short bursts of firing accurately found their marks, mowing down the first group of zombies in a matter of seconds. The zombies from behind callously stepped over the corpses of the fallen zombies and marched onwards.

The soldiers kept a stoic expression and continued firing. Everyone exuded the aura of a well-trained soldier.

“Rawr!”

Off in the distance, two Bruisers roared angrily and charged out recklessly. Two Devourers followed closely behind in their rolling form.

“Why are the evolved zombies joining the battle so soon?” Captain Diaz furrowed his brows. “Based on our intelligence reports, don’t they usually march forward at their own pace and only join the battle once they’re close enough?”

“Something doesn’t feel right,” Kaius had an ominous feeling about this battle. Not willing to wait any longer, Kaius left the frontlines and took a detour around the north side of the city to engage the Devourers as planned.

“Focus fire on the Bruisers!” Captain Diaz shouted.

A dozen soldiers immediately switched targets and concentrated fire on the two Bruisers. However, the soldiers couldn’t help but become shocked at what they saw next.

Everyone had expected the Bruisers to continue charging forward while taking the bullets head on; however, the two Bruisers had grabbed several regular zombies with their wide arms and held them in front as a shield.

“What?!”

“They can do that?”

The soldiers were stunned by the Bruisers’ unexpected action.

The bodies of the regular zombies were quickly shredded into sieves by the concentrated fire. However, the two Bruisers also managed to shorten the distance from the defense line; they were only one hundred meters away now.

“Throw the grenades!” Captain Diaz reacted.

Several soldiers were just about to pull out the pins from their grenades when they heard warnings from their fellow soldiers.

“Careful!”

“Acid attack!”

Two globs of acid projectiles shot straight at the defense line.

The soldiers leaped for their lives in a delta split and managed to avoid getting melted by the acid.

The two Devourers had stopped 2km away from the defense line at some point and exited their rolling form. Their mouths in the middle of their body had opened wide and spewed out globs of acid at the defense line.

“This…”

“They can do coordinated attacks too?”

The shockingly intelligent actions of the evolved zombies caused wide-spread confusion amongst the soldiers.

Without giving the soldiers any breathing room, two large figures appeared right outside the defense line.

Clank! Clank!

Two Bruisers easily tore apart the metal fence and broke through the defense line.

“Shit!”

The two Bruisers charged in different directions and swung their large fists at the soldiers.

Crash!

Two soldiers got smashed into the side of a building. Their ribcages were caved in by the impact. Blood spurted out of their mouths as their bodies slumped to the ground, never to get up again.

While the two Bruisers wreaked havoc in the defense line, Captain Diaz issued out new orders to keep the situation under control.

“Bartello, Bennet, go draw the attention of the Bruisers and activate your defensive skills. I need two groups of ten to go support them. Buy me 30 seconds!”

Captain Diaz ran a few dozen meters behind the defense line and began to channel his spell.

30…

29…

Bartello, Bennet, and twenty soldiers immediately formed two separate encirclements around the two Bruisers.

Intermediate Strength Enhance!

Intermediate Vitality Enhance!

Intermediate Dexterity Enhance!

Lesser Strength Enhance!

Lesser Vitality Enhance!

Lesser Dexterity Enhance!

The soldiers cast every enhancement skill they had.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

With an enhanced physique, the soldiers moved around much faster and shot with greater accuracy.

Rawr!

The two Bruisers roared in anger at the pesky bullets hitting them. They searched around to find objects to throw at the soldiers but found nothing of substance. Captain Diaz had pre-emptively removed all large objects such as cars around the defense line to prevent the Bruisers from using them as weapons.

Not finding anything useful, the two Bruisers resorted to picking up the metal fences and flung them around like sharp whips.

Whoosh!

The sharp edges of the metal fence ripped through the air, threatening to cut through several soldiers’ bodies in half.

Shield Wall!

The metal fences bounced off the translucent barrier. Standing behind the barrier, the soldiers kept shooting at the Bruisers to distract them.

3…

2…

1…

Somewhere behind the defense line, a source of immense heat suddenly sprung up.

A three-meter-long flaming red spear appeared above Captain Diaz. The heat from the spear even distorted the surrounding air.

“Keep it locked in place!” Captain Diaz shouted. With a point of his fingers, the Pyro Spear soared through the air towards one of the Bruisers, leaving behind a trail of flame sparks.

Sensing the immanent danger, the targeted Bruiser tried to escape.

Shield Wall!

Shield Wall!

Bartello and Bennet pincered the Bruiser, blocking off its escape routes with their Shield Wall skills.

With nowhere to run, Bruiser could only face the Pyro Spear head on. It held up both of its arms in front to protect itself.

Arrrggghhh!

The Pyro Spear penetrated both of Bruiser’s arms like a hot knife through butter and continued to pierce through Bruiser’s right chest. One third of the Pryo Spear could be seen sticking out the other side of Bruiser’s chest.

Thud!

Bruiser fell to its knees. The Pyro Spear continued to melt through its muscular body as though it was made of wax. Bruiser’s vision blurred. The smell of its own burning flesh travelled up its nostrils.

Grrrr…

Bruiser let out a low growl, struggling to stand up. The Pyro Spear had melted a gigantic hole on its right chest area, exposing charred inner organs.

Fire Rain!

Twenty-seven fire balls flew over from the distance and struck Bruiser all over.

Arrrrhhhhh….

Boom!

Bruiser combusted into a pillar of raging flames. The surrounding soldiers couldn’t help but back away due to the intense heat.

Thud!

Bruiser fell over onto the ground. The flames continued to burn its motionless body. Two white orbs of light floated out and hovered above.

A few dozen meters behind the front line, Captain Diaz heard the sweet sound of the level up notification from the System.

The remaining Bruiser roared with rage and rampaged all over the place. Taking large strides, Bruiser arrived in front of a group of soldiers in the blink of an eye. Ignoring the bullets that bounced off its thick skin, Bruiser swung its powerful fists.

Splat!

Without the protection of Shield Wall, several soldiers were crushed into meat paste instantly.

“Retreat towards us!”

Lieutenant Bartello and Bennet shouted as they ran towards the remaining Bruiser. Nobody had time to go pick up the loot from the dead Bruiser.

Panicked yells and gunfire rang throughout the battlefield as the soldiers tried to disengage from Bruiser.

Bruiser seethed with rage and threw out one powerful punch after another.

Splat! Splat!

The heavy blows popped the soldiers’ bodies balloons. Blood and guts splattered all over the ground.

Shield Wall!

The two lieutenants finally managed to reach Bruiser and cast their barrier skills.

Bang! Bang!

Deafening noises filled the soldiers’ ears as Bruiser pounded the barriers without remorse.

Crack. Crack.

Small cracks began to appear on the barriers.

“Captain! Hurry!” Lieutenant Bartello shouted, wanting Captain Diaz to cast another Pyro Spear.

“30 seconds!” Captain Diaz shouted back.

30…

29…

Veins bulged on the lieutenants’ foreheads and beads of sweat rolled down to their chins. Their flushed faces were accompanied by their heavy breathing. The immense pressure of trying to maintain Shield Wall under Bruiser’s relentless assault placed heavy burdens on the lieutenants’ bodies.

The soldiers fired at Bruiser like madmen, trying to alleviate some pressure from the lieutenants. They couldn’t use their grenades since that would cause friendly fire on the barriers.

Splash! Splash!

Two globs of acid landed on the translucent barriers.

Sizzle! Sizzle!

The green acid melted through the sturdy barriers as though it was a thin sheet of paper.

Bang!

Bruiser’s powerful fists delivered the final blow on the barriers, shattering them into pieces.

Puuu!

The two lieutenants sprayed out a mouthful of blood due to the backlash of their barriers being broken.

Two soldiers with the fastest speed dashed to the lieutenants’ side to help them retreat. Working in conjunction, the remaining soldiers tossed over a dozen grenades at Bruiser.

To the soldiers’ surprise, Bruiser took a huge leap forward; it jumped over the grenades rolling on the ground and swatted at the airborne grenades that were tossed with an overhand throw.

The soldiers watched in horror as half the grenades flew back to them. They tried to evade but it was too late.

Boom!

The grenades rolling on the ground blasted Bruiser from behind, sending it tumbling forward a few meters. Numerous deep, long gashes could be seen on its back, with shrapnel embedded within. Blood poured out continuously, dyeing its grey skin in a dark red color.

The airborne grenades exploded right in the soldiers’ faces. A large chunk of their faces had been blown off. Brain matter and blood oozed out from their heads.

Bruiser let out a painful snarl as it got back up. With nothing else holding it back, it started to run rampant behind the defense line. Even in its injured state, the soldiers were simply no match for it. Every punch it threw out claimed the life of a soldier.

A brown-haired soldier gritted his teeth and steeled his resolve. He pulled out the pins from his grenades and charged at Bruiser in a desperate attempt to perish together.

As though it had grown some sort of intelligence, Bruiser grabbed a large piece of the pavement that got blown apart by the grenades earlier and flung it at the approaching soldier.

The brown-haired soldier only had time to widen his eyes in horror before he was struck by the large piece of pavement and flew backwards.

Boom!

Body parts and chunks of pavement blasted into the air.

Further back in the defense line, Lieutenant Bennet looked over at Lieutenant Bartello with a resolute gaze.

“It seems I have no choice but to use that skill earlier than planned. I’m counting on you for the remainder of this battle.”

Lieutenant Bartello stayed silent for a few seconds before finally nodding, “Leave the rest to me. But promise me you won’t overdo it.”

“Don’t worry, I still plan on fighting for a long time after this,” Lieutenant Bennet nodded reassuringly.

Lieutenant Bennet took in a deep breath and sharpened his gaze.

Final Stand!

An intense aura burst out from Lieutenant Bennet’s body. His muscles expanded and grew denser at the same time. His veins bulged on his flushed face. An overwhelming power coursed through his body, making him feel as though he was invincible in the world.

Lieutenant Bennet quickly checked his own status. Thanks to the enhancements from his skills, his vitality temporarily surpassed Bruiser’s.

Name

Michael Bennet

Class

Guardian

Level

20

Health

Injured

Mana

10/100

Strength

43 (+3)

Vitality

89 (+39)

Dexterity

46 (+12)

Intelligence

16 (+3)

Skills (active)

General

Intermediate Vitality Enhance (25MP): temporarily increases Vitality by 9. Duration: 30 minutes.

Intermediate Dexterity Enhance (25MP): temporarily increases Dexterity by 9. Duration: 30 minutes.

Guardian

Shield Wall (15MP): create a translucent wall-shaped barrier in front of the caster. Barrier is two meters tall, three meters wide, and five centimeters thick. Barrier thickness increases if caster is wielding a shield before casting. Duration: 10 minutes.

Final Stand (25MP): increase caster’s strength by 3, vitality by 30, dexterity by 3, intelligence by 3. Vitality stat decreases by 5 every minute. When the skill ends, if caster’s vitality is below 10, suffer severe injuries and permanently decrease all stats by 90%. If vitality is at or above 10, decrease all stats by 90% for 240 hours. Able to pre-emptively cancel skill before duration ends. Duration: 25 minutes.

“Hey! Zombie freak! Over here!” Lieutenant Bennet yelled at Bruiser while running over, trying to attract its attention.

Lieutenant Bennet picked up a large piece of broken pavement on the way and hurled it at Bruiser.

Bam!

Grrrr!

Bruiser cried out in pain as the large piece of pavement hit the open wounds its back.

Turning its attention, Bruiser locked gaze with Lieutenant Bennet and charged forward.

“Come on!”

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The heavy steps from Lieutenant Bennet and Bruiser caused the ground to shake. Both of them jumped towards each other and clashed in midair.

Crash!

Lieutenant Bennet managed to block Bruiser’s powerful punch but got smacked back down into the ground. The ground caved in where he fell, creating a small crater with a two-meter radius. Thanks to his high vitality, he was able to recover quickly and leaped at Bruiser once more.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Bruiser threw out one powerful strike after another. Although Lieutenant Bennet’s vitality surpassed Bruiser’s, his strength was still well below 80. Hence, he could only take a beating while he stalled for time.

3…

2…

1…

“Hold it in place!” Captain Diaz shouted from the back of the defense line.

Lieutenant Bennet went all out and dove at Bruiser’s legs. His powerful arms locked Bruiser’s legs in place.

Bam!

Bam!

Bam!

No matter how hard Bruiser punched, Lieutenant Bennet did not loosen his grip one bit.

Grrrr!

Panic appeared on Bruiser’s face as the Pyro Spear hurled towards it.

Rawr!!!

Bruiser let out a defiant roar and tried to stop the Pyro Spear with its hands. The immense heat of the Pyro Spear melted through Bruiser’s hands as though they were made of paper. It continued its trajectory and pierced through Bruiser’s head. Melted flesh dripped down on Lieutenant Bennet’s back, who was still holding onto Bruiser’s legs.

Thud!

Bruiser’s headless body fell backwards. Two orbs of white light floated out from its body.

“Yes! We killed both Bruisers!” Lieutenant Bartello shouted joyfully as he pumped his fist in the air.

“Great work everyone! Just hold on a little longer!” Lieutenant Bennet spoke into his radio while lying down on the ground. He had suffered severe injuries due to the beating he took from Bruiser while stalling for time.

“Great work Captain!” Lieutenant Bartello turned around to face Captain Diaz, who should have been standing a few dozen meters behind him. However, to his surprise, Captain Diaz was nowhere to be seen.

A round object rolled along the ground and hit Lieutenant Bartello’s foot.

Looking down at his foot, Lieutenant Bartello’s mind suddenly went blank.

“Cap…tain?”

Captain Diaz’s severed head stared back at him with an empty gaze.

Hiss! Hiss!

Lieutenant Bartello slowly turned his trembling head towards the hissing sounds.

A few dozen meters away, two Flickers stood beside Captain Diaz’ headless body. They hissed at each other with their sharp, long tongues, as though arguing who gets to eat this body.

Uggggg!

Countless grunting sounds came from within the city. A few hundred meters behind the two Flickers, 200 zombies slowly marched towards the soldiers.

A zombie with a small body and a big head led the way for the 200 zombies.

Sweat rolled down from Lieutenant Bartello’s forehead. He wanted to move, but the horrifying sight rooted him firmly in place.

“How… Impossible…”