Kaius looked at the vial of green liquid thoughtfully.

“Although this item is useless for me, it could be a crucial item if used at the right moment.” Kaius immediately stored the vial inside his inventory.

The remaining random skill box gave a General passive skill.

Name

Lesser Mana Affinity

Category

Skill Book

Class Use Restriction

None

Description

Upon use, allows the Player to learn the passive skill: Lesser Mana Affinity.

Lesser Mana Affinity: increases base MP by 100.

Kaius stored the skill book inside his inventory instead of using it himself. Since Kaius already had a large mana pool and possessed multiple passive skills that reduced skill mana costs or increased mana regeneration, having an extra 100 MP wouldn’t make much of a difference to him. So he decided to save this skill book for now.

Crash!

A small mound of rubble suddenly crumbled, making loud noises. A human hand emerged from underneath all the debris, desperately trying to grab onto anything.

Alerted by the noise, Kaius commanded Dio to go check out the situation.

Dio crawled up to the side of a nearby building and sprayed out strands of spider silk at the human hand and several large pieces of debris around it. With a forceful tug, Dio pulled out the human hand alongside the large pieces of debris.

*Cough* *Cough*

A male soldier threw a coughing fit as he gasped for air. After several seconds of violent coughing, the male soldier finally stopped and laid on the ground in pain.

Kaius walked over and saw that the male soldier was someone he knew.

“Lieutenant Bennet?”

The male soldier turned his head.

“Kaius?”

“Lieutenant, you’re alive!” Kaius hurriedly walked over with an expression of joy. “What happened here? Are there any other soldiers still alive? Where’s Captain Diaz?”

“Captain, he…” Lieutenant Bennet’s expression turned gloomy at the mention of Captain Diaz. “We were ambushed. Hundreds of zombies and two Flickers suddenly appeared from within the city. The captain was killed before we even realized what was happening.”

“The two Flickers easily killed off a dozen of our soldiers in a matter of seconds. Our defense line collapsed, and we were quickly overrun by zombies from all sides. I lured over a hundred zombies into a building and threw out all my grenades, hoping to take them down with me. Somehow, I was lucky enough to survive the collapse of the building. While I was being buried alive down there, I could only lie there helplessly, listening to the dying sounds of my fellow soldiers through my radio.”

Lieutenant Bennet finished recounting the battle with a saddened expression. When he looked around at his surroundings, his eyes widened in horror as he noticed all the undead around him.

“Zombies! Kaius, run! I’m done for. I was bit by a zombie, so I’ll probably turn any minute now. You need to run while you still can!”

“Actually… these undead are controlled by me,” Kaius looked at the lieutenant with an awkward expression on his face.

“Good, you… what?” Lieutenant Bennet couldn’t help but doubt his hearing.

“Wait, before that, you said you were bit?” Kaius furrowed his brows.

“Yeah,” Lieutenant Bennet nodded and lifted his right arm, showing a deep zombie bite.

Kaius fell into deep thought for a moment, before finally speaking up.

“In the future, if human civilization collapses, are you willing to follow my command and help me rebuild?”

“What are you talking about?” Lieutenant Bennet looked Kaius with a face full of confusion.

“If human civilization collapses and the military chain of command is broken, will you follow my command and help me build a safe haven for the remaining humans?” Kaius looked into Lieutenant Bennet’s eyes with a serious expression.

Lieutenant Bennet was taken aback by Kaius’ serious tone. He thought for a moment and replied, “if there is a next time, I will help you build that safe haven. Now, it’s my turn to ask you for a favor.”

Lieutenant Bennet let out a gentle smile and asked, “Can you kill me and let me die as a human? If I turn into a zombie, I won’t be able to meet my soldiers in the afterlife.”

It was Kaius’ turn to be taken aback. He shook his head and said, “I’m afraid I can’t do that lieutenant, because it’s not time for you to die yet.”

Kaius took out a vial of green liquid and placed it in Lieutenant Bennet’s hand.

“Drink this.”

“What is it?”

“Your second chance at life.”

Lieutenant Bennet looked at Kaius with an incredulous expression. He let out a wry smile and said, “Whatever this is, it can’t possibly make my situation any worse than it already is.”

Lieutenant Bennet popped out the cork and gulped down all the green liquid. A refreshing sensation coursed through his entire body.

“This… feels great. Now will you tell me what this green liquid is?”

“Not yet,” Kaius shook his head. He materialized Bloodthirst and handed it to the lieutenant. “Take this sword and activate its Blood Revitalization ability.”

Lieutenant Bennet held onto the sword and checked its status. When he saw its stats and abilities, he was shocked once more.

“I’ve never seen such a powerful sword!”

Lieutenant Bennet followed Kaius’ instructions and activated the Blood Revitalization ability, using up the final Blood Essence.

Powerful streams of life force flowed into Lieutenant Bennet’s body from Bloodthirst. After using the Final Stand skill during the fight against the zombie horde, he had entered into a weakened state where all his stats had decreased by 90% for 240 hours. However, after absorbing the streams of life force from Bloodthirst, he felt a portion of his strength returning.

“Such a powerful ability!” Lieutenant Bennet muttered in amazement as he returned Bloodthirst to Kaius. “Now, back to the green liquid…”

“It’s the cure for the zombie virus,” Kaius smirked.

“Are you serious?” Lieutenant Bennet’s eyes nearly popped out of their eye sockets. “Where did you get it from? Can it be mass produced? Ah! Why did you waste it on me?”

“Ok, calm down first,” Kaius felt a headache from the string of questions.

“Calm down? How can I calm down! This is the cure for the zombie virus! Can you imagine how many people we could save with this cure?” Lieutenant Bennet became very animated.

“Ok, first of all, this was the only cure I had,” Kaius held his hand up to stop Lieutenant Bennet from talking any further. “Second, I got this from a random item box that an evolved zombie dropped. However, now that we know something like this can be obtained, we just need to kill more evolved zombies and we’ll eventually obtain more cures.”

“Aiii… what a pity,” Lieutenant Bennet felt disappointed after hearing how Kaius obtained the antiviral. “Ah! I almost forgot.”

Lieutenant Bennet stood up straight despite his injuries and saluted Kaius.

“Kaius, thank you for saving my life. I owe you one. If the scenario you described before really comes to pass, I’ll keep my promise and follow your lead.”

“Good, that’s all I wanted to hear,” Kaius let out a smile. “So, does the military have a plan for how to handle our current situation?”

“Yes, I need to contact headquarters and request reinforcements. Come with me to the local police station. We have equipment there that we can use to contact headquarters.”

Kaius and Lieutenant Bennet quickly made their way to the local police station.

The local police station was completely empty. The duo made their way to the police chief’s office. On the police chief’s desk was a medium sized military radio.

Lieutenant Bennet started to fiddle with the radio.

“This is Lieutenant Bennet stationed in Milton. Can anyone hear me? Over.”

Only static sounds came out from the radio.

“This is Lieutenant Bennet stationed in Milton. Can anyone hear me? Over.”

Static sounded out once again. However, after a few seconds, a voice finally responded from the other side.

“This is Lieutenant Balle. I hear you loud and clear. Over.”

“I need to make an urgent report and request reinforcements…” Lieutenant Bennet began to describe the current situation in Milton.

After communicating on the radio for over an hour, the request for reinforcements was finally approved.

“Hang tight Lieutenant Bennet. A SOFCOM squad will arrive at Milton in two days. Over.”

“Copy that. Over.” Lieutenant Bennet ended the radio communication. Turning over to Kaius, he said, “It’ll take two days for reinforcements to get here, but the good news is that it’s a special forces squad led by a Major.”

“Hm,” Kaius nodded. “In the meantime, why don’t we head over to Oakville? Since Mississauga had fallen as well, I’m worried the cursed beasts might invade Oakville given how close the two cities are.”

“Agreed, let’s go.”

A few minutes later, the duo got on the only military vehicle that hadn’t been destroyed during the battle with the zombie horde and drove straight to Oakville.

Along the way, Kaius shared a bit more information on his abilities to make the lieutenant get used to him summoning and controlling undead creatures.

“So, you can summon skeleton creatures and control regular zombies.”

“That’s correct.”

“And you have two evolved zombies under your control as well?”

“Yup.”

Lieutenant Bennet was at a loss for words seeing Kaius’ nonchalant attitude.

“Do you have any idea how lucky you are to have obtained these skills? I doubt even the Majors in our military are a match for you. You might be as strong as our Colonels. Are you sure you don’t want to join the military?”

“Oh look, we’ve arrived,” Kaius completely ignored the lieutenant’s last question.

The military vehicle pulled up to the west entrance of Oakville.

Oakville is a quiet little city situated right beside Lake Ontario. It is the home of many wealthy individuals.

The city is far from any portals and have many other cities that act as a layer of defense; hence the residents barely saw any zombies or cursed beasts over the past year. But this didn’t stop the various wealthy families from hiring professional bodyguards to further strengthen the security of the city.

There was also no lack of food since the city was able to receive plenty of food from its neighbor city Milton or fish for seafood from Lake Ontario. Overall, life in Oakville had barely changed compared to other cities.

Unlike other cities that Kaius had encountered so far, Oakville’s west entrance only had one soldier guarding it instead of two.

The duo got off the car and walked up to the soldier.

“I am Lieutenant Bennet from the city of Milton,” Lieutenant Bennet introduced himself. “What’s the current status of Oakville? Were the evacuees from other cities able to arrive safely?”

“Sir!” the soldier saluted. “The city is operating as usual, sir! We have received all the evacuees from other cities and have temporarily settled them in makeshift tents alone Bronte Road. We were waiting for orders from your company to return them back to their own cities, sir!”

“I’m afraid they won’t be able to return anytime soon,” Lieutenant Bennet shook his head. “The defense in Milton had fallen and I’m the only one left of my company. But we did manage to eliminate the zombie horde. I’ve already requested reinforcements from HQ, and they should arrive in Milton in two days. Where’s your platoon leader? I need to have a talk with him.”

“Platoon leader Hughes should be in the police station by Dundas Street, sir!” the soldier answered.

“Hm, at ease soldier.”

Lieutenant Bennet and Kaius got back inside their vehicle and drove to the police station.

Along the way, Kaius asked about the military force inside Oakville.

“How come that soldier referred to Hughes as platoon leader instead of lieutenant? I thought all platoons were led by lieutenants?”

“Oakville is a bit special,” Lieutenant Bennet explained. “Due to the city’s lucky location, it barely had any encounters with zombies or cursed beasts. And since many wealthy families living here hired their own personal forces, the military only sent half a platoon here led by a soldier that was only level 19, with the rest of the soldiers in the platoon being around level 13. Soldiers can only be promoted to lieutenants once they reach level 20 and choose their class.”

“But now that Mississauga had fallen, doesn’t that mean Oakville is extremely vulnerable to attacks given the lack of coordination between all these hired forces?” Kaius wondered.

“You’re right,” Lieutenant Bennet nodded. “Hence, we need to talk to Hughes ASAP and strengthen our defenses on the north and northeast sides of the city.”

After a short drive, the duo arrived at the police station on Dundas Street and walked in the front door.

The atmosphere in the front lobby was extremely relaxed. There were soldiers huddled together playing cards; hired security personnel were reading magazines; even the local police officers were surfing the web. Everyone was behaving as though the portals had never appeared and the world was still normal.

“Attention!” Lieutenant Bennet shouted, attracting the attention of everyone in the station.

When the soldiers saw Lieutenant Bennet, they immediately dropped their playing cards and stood at attention. The hired security personnel and police officers only watched silently.

Lieutenant Bennet surveyed the room and spoke, “Where’s Hughes? I need to speak with him urgently.”

A tall man that stood at 182cm came out of an office and saluted the lieutenant.

“Platoon leader Hughes reporting for duty, sir!”

Kaius used Eye of Mana on Hughes.

Name

Danny Hughes

Class

None

Level

19

Health

Normal

Mana

95/95

Strength

29

Vitality

28

Dexterity

28

Intelligence

10

Skills

???

“The stat difference is like night and day between a level 19 Player and a level 20 Player after class change,” Kaius thought to himself.

“Hughes, Mississauga had fallen. We need to start building up our defenses in the city right now,” Lieutenant Bennet said in a serious tone.

“Yes sir! Awaiting orders, sir!” Hughes replied.

“I want the north and northeast sides of the city covered in ditches and barricades,” Lieutenant Bennet commanded. “Also, check up on all our equipment. I want a summary of how many guns, ammo, and other weapons we got here.”

Turning to the hired security personnel and local police officers, Lieutenant asked, “Why are you guys still sitting here? We’ll need all the help we can get to defend against any potential beast tides. Go check up on your weapons and prepare for battle.”

The police officers promptly started moving. All the hired security personnel however, stayed where they were.

A blonde-haired man with an athletic build looked over and said, “Lieutenant, our only obligation is to protect the clients that hired us. If there’s a beast tide, we’ll simply take our clients and escape to somewhere else.”

Lieutenant Bennet looked at the blonde-haired man and narrowed his gaze, “Who are you?”

“The name’s Elroy Dubois. My colleagues and I are from Titan Security,” the blonde-haired man named Elroy replied.

Kaius used Eye of Mana on Elroy, thinking the man must have some strength if he dared to talk to the lieutenant in such a relaxed manner.

Name

Elroy Dubois

Class

Assassin

Level

32

Health

Normal

Mana

160/160

Strength

50 (+3)

Vitality

29 (+3)

Dexterity

84 (+5)

Intelligence

13

Skills

???

“Such a high-leveled Player!” Kaius was inwardly surprised by Elroy’s high stats. “Looks like he even has equipment given the additional increases in his stats.”

“Lieutenant, if they don’t want to help out, then let them be. We need to focus on building up our defenses,” said Kaius.

“Hmm, you’re right,” Lieutenant Bennet nodded.

Right at this moment, a soldier ran into the police station with a panicked expression.

“We’re under attack by a beast tide!”

“Damn it! Which direction are they coming from? North? Northeast? Northwest?” Lieutenant Bennet questioned.

“None of those! They’re coming from the east!”

“How’s that possible? The east side is Lake Ontario. Don’t tell me those spiders from Mississauga can swim?” Lieutenant Bennet asked in disbelief.

“No, we’re not getting attacked by the spiders from Mississauga. These are sea creature type cursed beasts from the lake!”

“What?! We’ve never been attacked by sea creature type cursed beasts from Lake Ontario before. How can there be cursed beasts from there now?” Lieutenant Bennet was bewildered at the unexpected situation.

“Looks like it’s time to earn our keep,” Elroy stood up and left the police station with his four colleagues.

Two other groups of hired security personnel also left in a hurry.

“Lieutenant, we need to go check out the situation and start evacuating all the civilians,” Kaius interrupted from the side.

“You’re right,” Lieutenant Bennet regained his cool and nodded. “Attention all soldiers, grab your weapons and head to the east side immediately. Your top priority is to protect the civilians while telling them to evacuate northwest to Milton.”

After giving a slew of orders, Kaius and Lieutenant Bennet got back into their vehicle and drove east. It didn’t take long before they arrived at the east-most main road called Lakeshore Road East. What they saw was like a scene from hell.

Numerous civilians were running for their lives. The countless cursed beasts from Lake Ontario mercilessly killed and devoured every person they came across.

Human body parts and blood splattered everywhere. Horrified screams echoed across the entire lakeshore.

Lieutenant Bennet got off the vehicle and immediately jumped into action.

A few dozen meters away, a family of three was desperately trying to get away from a group of cursed beasts. The dad carrying a little boy tripped over some debris and fell.

“Honey, no!” The mom looked behind in horror. Four large claws were about to grab onto the dad and little boy.

Shield Wall!

A translucent barrier formed in front of the dad and little boy, blocking the four large claws.

“We’re saved!” The mom looked over and saw Lieutenant Bennet. She ran over to her family and helped the dad stand up. “Honey, are you ok?”

“Yeah –” the dad only had time to utter one word before seeing a huge shadow descend upon them.

Boom!

A gigantic claw clashed against the translucent barrier, causing large cracks to appear right away. The barrier was barely able to hold on for one second before shattering into pieces. The gigantic claw continued its trajectory and crashed down on the family of three, flattening them into meat paste.

Pfff!

Lieutenant Bennet spewed out a mouthful of blood due to the backlash of having his barrier broken. He was still in a partially weakened state, so his Shield Wall only had a fraction of its original defensive capabilities.

“Lieutenant!” Kaius ran over to help Lieutenant Bennet. “Shit! How strong are these things?”

Eye of Mana!

Name

Ironclaw Crab

Class

None

Level

10

Health

Normal

Mana

5/5

Strength

29

Vitality

17

Dexterity

10

Intelligence

4

Name

Steelclaw Crab

Class

Rank 1 Evolved Cursed Beast

Level

23

Health

Normal

Mana

20/20

Strength

90

Vitality

60

Dexterity

45

Intelligence

13

The Ironclaw Crabs were platinum-colored crabs that stood at one meter tall. Red pigments spanned across the top of their two claws. One claw was the size of half of its body and had high crushing power. The other claw was very small in comparison but had extremely sharp edges for cutting and stabbing.

The Steelclaw Crab was a larger version of Ironclaw Crab. This creature was three meters tall, and its entire body was colored in a darker shade of platinum.

“Its vitality is 60, but its actual defense is probably a lot higher due to its hard shell,” Kaius made a quick guess about the Steelclaw Crab.

“Lieutenant, take these spiders and go help the other civilians evacuate,” Kaius summoned all the reanimated Ash Spiders and Dust Spiders he controlled. “I’ll handle this large crab.”

Lieutenant Bennet paused for a moment before nodding, “Hmm, be careful.”

Lieutenant Bennet and the reanimated spiders quickly ran towards another area to help the civilians.

Kaius turned his attention back to the five crabs in front of him.

“Since you guys are trying to overwhelm me with numbers, then don’t blame me for doing the same.”

Kaius sneered and summoned his undead army.

“Come forth!”

Hundreds of zombies and skeleton warriors came out of the Netherworld, with Dio and Cenos taking the lead. The remaining level 10 Skeleton Soldier also stood at the front.

Nether Lord’s Aura!

All the undead creatures received a 6% increase to all their attributes.

“Kill!”

The zombies, skeleton warriors, and the level 10 Skeleton Soldier spread out along the shoreline to engage the Ironclaw Crabs. Dio and Cenos took on the only Steelclaw Crab.

Kaius glanced around and estimated that there were over 400 Ironclaw Crabs along the shoreline, which outnumbered his undead creatures 2 to 1. However, he was confident that as long as he took down the Steelclaw Crab, he and his undead army can clean up the remaining Ironclaw Crabs.

Slash!

Cenos quickly ripped apart the four Ironclaw Crabs in front of her with her razor-sharp claws so that she and Dio can concentrate on the Steelclaw Crab.

Dio aimed his spinneret and sprayed out countless strands of spider silk to entangle the Steelclaw Crab.

Snip! Snip!

Steelclaw Crab waved around its small claw and cut off most of the spider silk; however, there were too many strands of spider silk, so some were still stuck to the large crab and hindered its mobility.

Sudden Burst!

Cenos’ speed increased to the extreme and dashed around the Steelclaw Crab with lightning speed.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

Cenos struck out numerous times with her claws; however, her attacks could only leave behind shallow white marks on the hardened shell of the Steelclaw Crab.

“Its shell is too hard,” Kaius frowned as he observed the battle. “Dio, keep it distracted. Cenos, aim for its leg joints.”

Kaius materialized Bloodthirst in his right hand.

“Let’s see how hard your shell is after I decrease your vitality to below 30.”

Vital Break!

Corrosive Armor!

Wrapped in a coat of dark energy, Kaius joined the battle as well.

Dio kept a distance and sprayed out spider silk to hinder the Steelclaw Crab’s mobility. Cenos switched to a supportive role as well to keep the large crab distracted. Kaius lurked around from behind to attack the large crab’s hind leg joints.

Clank! Clank!

Kaius struck the joints with two successive hits. The Steelclaw Crab turned around to deal with Kaius; however, he had already backed off to a safe distance.

Taking this opportunity, Dio sprayed out more spider silk to entangle the Steelclaw Crab, while Cenos struck the large crab from the side. Steelclaw Crab was forced to turn its attention back to Dio and Cenos once again.

Under Kaius’ command, the trio was able to display great teamwork to allow Kaius to rack up Vital Break stacks.

Two hits, four hits, six hits…

The hind leg joints were struck repeatedly by Kaius. In a matter of minutes, they had been struck over thirty times. Dozens of strands of dark mana could be seen wrapped around the hind leg joints.

“Cenos, now!”

Cenos contracted her muscles and activated her innate ability as well as her skill.

Sudden Burst!

With her speed raised to the max, Cenos burst forward with an unstoppable momentum.

At the same time, Kaius also activated his Leather Vambrace’s skill to further increase his strength.

Focused Strike!

Kaius and Cenos each aimed at a different hind leg joint.

Snap! Snap!

Weakened by the 33 stacks of Vital Break, both of Steelclaw Crab’s hind legs were torn off by Kaius and Cenos’ attacks.

Enraged, Steelclaw Crab completely ignored all distractions from Dio and turned around. It raised its large claw high up and smashed down at Kaius and Cenos.

Boom!

The heavy blow created a large crater that was four meters in diameter. Chunks of pavement and dirt flew up all over the place.

When all the dust finally settled, the figures of Kaius and Cenos were nowhere to be seen.

Right before the large claw hit them, Cenos had activated her skill, grabbed onto Kaius, and retreated to safety.

“Dio!” Kaius shouted from a few meters in front of the Steelclaw Crab.

Obeying his master’s command, Dio leaped at the Steelclaw Crab from behind and bit down on the exposed hind leg joints.

Paralyzing Bite!

Dio injected a large quantity of paralysis venom inside Steelclaw Crab’s body. The venom expanded inside and quickly made its way up to the heart and brain.

Steelclaw Crab tried to fight back, but it was rapidly losing control of its body.

Thud!

Steelclaw Crab eventually slumped down onto the ground, no longer capable of moving.

“Great work you two,” Kaius complimented. “Now, time to finish off this oversized crab.”

Kaius was about to pierce his sword through Steelclaw Crab’s mouth and up its brain when he suddenly felt a sense of danger. Without hesitation, Kaius instinctively backed away from the large crab.

Half a second after Kaius jumped back, a glob of yellow mucus landed on Steelclaw Crab’s mouth.

Sizzle! Sizzle!

The yellow mucus slowly melted away the hardened shell covering the mouth area, exposing the soft insides.

“This…!” Kaius suppressed his shock and promptly turned to look towards the direction of the sudden attack.

A three-meter-tall snail was slowly making its way up the shoreline from the lake. Its shell had fifty shades of gray. Behind it, hundreds of smaller snails could be seen crawling out of the lake. These smaller snails had rainbow-colored shells.

Eye of Mana!

Name

Rainbow Snail

Class

None

Level

11

Health

Normal

Mana

5/5

Strength

33

Vitality

18

Dexterity

8

Intelligence

4

Name

Fallen Rainbow Snail

Class

Rank 1 Evolved Cursed Beast

Level

26

Health

Normal

Mana

20/20

Strength

85

Vitality

80

Dexterity

35

Intelligence

15

Kaius furrowed his brows.

“This is getting troublesome…”