19 – Blooming
“Roar … grr!”
The abandoned cars littering the street were crushed by the zombie stampede.
Zombies infected by the Blacklight Virus were faster than humans!
Even Exorcists couldn’t escape.
The distance between hunter and prey was shrinking more and more!
Lu Qiu smelt the scent of death.
But it still wasn’t enough. The levels of these zombies were too low, they couldn’t catch up to the other infected!
“Ladder!”
Dana shouted all of a sudden.
Everyone turned their gazes and discovered that an alley actually had an iron ladder!
They were in the slums.
The buildings here were not tall. This ladder could be directly climbed until the roof.
Maybe … these zombies wouldn’t climb up the ladder.
Therefore, everyone grasped at this straw …
“I’ll go first!” Stein immediately stepped on the ladder, before climbing to the top of the building in the blink of an eye.
The silver-haired young woman easily jumped to the top of the story. Her ease … her lack of fear towards the crowd of corpses, it showed that her only purpose was to look after these powerless humans.
With regards to this exceedingly strong Exorcist, Doomsday was still far away.
Lu Qiu was the third person to climb the ladder, followed by the two young americans and lastly by Yuriy.
The zombies had already flocked and flooded the entire alley when Yuriy was climbing the ladder.
“Grrrrr! Uh!” They raised their hands with the desire to catch Yuriy’s leg.
Yuriy’s survival instinct erupted and he dodged those zombies’ claws by a hair’s breadth, before climbing to the roof of the story.
But just as Yuriy had managed to climbed to the roof …
“Why … aren’t you escaping? Hurry up!” Yuriy was panting. He discovered that everyone else stood where they were without budging.
There was an endless zombie spree down below … if they wasted their time here, then they would be eaten neck and crop.
But, when Yuriy saw the look on their faces.
That … look was known as terror! Or as disbelief …
Yuriy followed their line of sight and looked into the distance. He suddenly lost the control over his legs from fear, before sitting on the ground.
“Wh … what is … that …” Yuriy’s pupil’s shook as he looked towards the distance.
A building that looked just like the devil’s lair …
The four-story-tall building had completely lost its original appearance.
As if tentacles, scarlet blood vessels enclosed the inside and outside of the building, forming thick muscle tissues. That flesh covered the entire building. It seemed to be writhing faintly and gave one the sense that the building was alive.
A hive!
A hive … appeared?
Lu Qiu felt like this was his lucky day. The Blacklight Virus had actually given rise to a hive so soon.
Lu Qiu was previously baffled by the sudden increase in level-2 infected.
The cause was this hive appearing at the edge of the city!
This was the ‘Head-Quarters’ of the virus. As long as this nest existed, the infected would be incubated …
Level-2 infected and above, no matter if Hunters, Brawler Hunters … there would be an endless number of them just like this swarm of zombies.
Just as everyone was thinking that they were safe from the building that looked like the devil’s lair.
“Grrrrrr!!
A gust of wind blew against their faces. There was a huge impact followed by tremendous amounts of dust pervading the roof.
All the weak people were knocked to the ground by the impact.
Just as the dust subsided …
A blood-stained monster appeared in front of everyone. It was on its fours, with it’s scarlet muscle tissue exposed and its sinister and sharp claws lacerating the floor.
A level-2 infected hive guardian … a Hunter!
“What the h.e.l.l is that?” Stein instinctively clenched his rapier after seeing this monster.
But in the next instant, this monster was covered in ice crystals, before a shiver-causing cold started spreading.
“Quick, run.” The monster turned into an ice sculpture with the snap on her fingers, followed by an ice-cold voice and the dissemination of a similarly cold temperature.
“Captain Daren, You want to stay behind and safeguard our tail?” Stein walked forwards and looked at the crowd of corpses down below. The Ghouls seemed to be incapable of climbing the wall …
Stein recovered his usual calm.
“How can we do this? As agents of G.o.d in this world, no matter how strong our enemies are …
“Grrrr!”
There were several deafening roars.
Noises from the roof being shattered came from all over. Several dozens of level-2 infected appeared out of the blue; among which, the Hunters were in majority …
But there was not one among them without a hideous and vomit-inducing appearance.
“Quick, run …” She repeated this sentence, before cold air begun to gradually spread around her.
“That …” Stein looked around at the suddenly emerging monsters and finally couldn’t help but begin to retreat after considering for a moment.
“Al … right. Captain Daren, Your splendor shall be praised by G.o.d. May G.o.d bless You …”
Stein finally regained his reason, before saying those words …
Before he even took a few steps.
The hunters suddenly roared.
Just like an alpha in a pack of wolves giving the signal to attack the prey.
Then, something unfathomable happened!
Zombies clutched their claws around the iron ladder’s bars … before starting to climb the ladder!
They can evolve … they’re learning!
“Quick … escape!” Stein once again became unsettled, before running towards the back of the story. There was another iron ladder that could be climbed to a higher ground.
“Dana, take my hand and don’t look back.”
The only one, beside the Exorcist team’s Captain, that could currently maintain their reason was the young american man.
Yuriy and Stein had their minds filled with fear
As for Lu Qiu?
He currently had a very delighted smile …
It was about time to push this frenzy to the limit.
Lu Qiu followed the others.
“Don’t leave me …” Yuriy also run to the back while scared. He reluctantly looked towards the silver-haired young woman that stayed behind.
Finally, for the sake of his life, he still chose to escape.
After everyone had left, the silver-haired young woman suddenly erupted with a formidable power, before stomping her foot and beginning blocking the zombie raid.
But against such numbers, the strength of a single person would eventually seem negligible.
The zombies seemed to act in a premeditated manner. They crossed the young woman’s defensive perimeter, before rushing towards the escaping group of people.
Everyone that continued with their escape climbed towards the higher story.
Just as everyone had climbed to a higher story, they then discovered that the zombies still persisted in pursuing them!
The only thing that they could do was to continue escaping.
n.o.body wanted to face this endless tide of zombies …
There was no way to beat them!
But humans’ endurance had a limit.
Even the lofty Exorcists were no different.
When climbing the third iron ladder, it became obvious that the endurance of Yuriy and the reporter Dana had reached their limit.
But the survival instinct prompted them to continue escaping.
The zombies were in hot pursuit … in just a little bit, they could eat the tasty human flesh. How could they stop now?
“Stop! Don’t come near me!”
When Julius was climbing the fourth ladder, he felt that his limbs were already out of strength. But he still gave his all and climbed …
He just wanted to get away from those monsters!
Humans had a limited endurance, but zombies didn’t. In the end, the final victor in this game of tag would be the zombies that only knew slaughter.
Stein had realized it while climbing the fourth iron ladder.
If they continued like this, then once their strength was depleted …
That would be the moment of their deaths.
Dana and her cousin climbed closely behind him, while Lu Qiu was even closer …
Stein surveyed the endless sea of zombies down bellow … the nerve-wracking roars that those monsters issued seemed to be their way of cheering for their meal …
Can’t run away! This thought surged in Stein’s mind.
A voice sounded beside Stein’s ears.
“Exorcist Daren …” Lu Qiu arrived beside Stein: “These zombies only desire human flesh and nothing else …”
It’s time …
Lu Qiu looked at Yuriy down bellow. Although he was at his limit, yet he still struggled to climb.
Such death throes were heartbreaking. Currently, this child should be full of fear and unease. But there was no despair … he was still fleeing, still hoping that he could escape.
Only when he fell into despair, only then would the seed buried within him develop into a beautiful flower.
Therefore, Lu Qiu felt that he should add a minor catalyst to this seed …
The final catalyst!
“If you give them … then perhaps they’ll slow down.”
Lu Qiu’s pupils under his black-rimmed gla.s.ses bloomed with a disturbing radiance, yet n.o.body could see it under the protection of his Disguise Gla.s.ses.
There was only one man in Lu Qiu’s sight.
The so-called agent of G.o.d, the kindhearted proxy, the Church’s … Exorcist that had been scarred silly by the zombies!
You self-proclaimed kindhearted Exorcist from the self-proclaimed righteous Church … what will you do?
What will you do in this situation?
Show everyone … your abominable true colors once more.
Lu Qiu glanced at the female reporter Dana and her cousin already sitting on the ground. They were already at their limit.
“Right … ah …” When he heard Lu Qiu’s remark, Stein suddenly saw the light!
Thereupon, a trace of a smile once again appeared at the corners of his mouth, before he narrowed his eyes and went beside the iron ladder.
Looking at Yuriy struggling to survive and the endless sea of zombies desiring human flesh bellow him.
“Stein … Daren?” Yuriy climbed to the edge of the building, only a step short from temporary safety.
But when he lifted his head, he found Stein standing in front of him with a smile.
He looked up at Stein. That smile, no matter how many times he saw it, Yuriy still felt fear of it.
“You know … little Yuriy …”
“Did something happen? Wu ahhh!”
Yuriy cried out in pain as Stein stepped heavily on the hand with which he held onto the edge of the building.
“For how many years have I been raising you? Three? Five? I’ve been raising you from the moment your parents were sentenced, right?”
Stein was still smiling, but there was an indescribable cruelty to it.
“Stop … stop! Stein Daren! Stop!” Yuriy had already realized what Stein wanted to do. He endured the pain in his hand and pleaded repeatedly.
“Stop what?” Stein’s smile suddenly turned into a sinister expression, like that of an evil spirit, as he was stepping on the hand with which Yuriy held onto the edge of the building: “You bottom feeder! If not for the orders of the Church, I wouldn’t have to raise you until now! You useless thing, you only know how to waste my time and energy!”
“Yuriy! Now that there is a use for you, you’ll have to repay me, right?!”
Stein was stepping firmly on Yuriy’s hand. He retrieved his rapier and pressed its tip against the hand with which Yuriy held onto the edge of the roof.
“I want to live! I must live! I’m different from you, I’m an elite of the Church! There are still a lot of things in this world that I haven’t experienced! I can’t die here! Now, even your maggot-like life can be useful! You should feel honored, little Yuriy!”
“Stein Daren! Please stop! I beg you! Save me!”
Yuriy instinctively turned his gaze towards Lu Qiu. He discovered … that Lu Qiu had extended his hand. He made a cut-throat gesture with his thumb, before the corners of his mouth opened and closed, as if trying to convey something.
But then, Yuriy realized what Lu Qiu said.
‘Rebirth!’
In this moment!
Yuriy felt a severe pain!
“Wu wa ahhhh!!”
Stein mercilessly cut off the hand with which Yuriy held onto the edge of the building with a slash.
Yuriy’s pupils dilated as he watched the sky and Stein with his twisted expression getting gradually further away, before realizing that he was falling into the sea of zombies.
Stop …
Stop!
I don’t want to die …
Once the zombies saw that their food had dropped, they pounced at it!
They grabbed Yuriy and then bit and tore at his flesh.
It hurts so much! Yuriy’s eyes gradually dimmed … he watched as the sky and this world slowly faded away …
It hurts so much! It hurts so much! It hurts so much! It hurts so much! It hurts so much!
He felt his flesh being bitten and torn bit by bit and his bones being gnawed on!
It hurts so much!!
Don’t want to die … I don’t want to die! Yuriy shouted within …
There were zombies emitting a putrid, b.l.o.o.d.y and deathly stench everywhere, which constantly flooded Yuriy’s mind. His blood stained his body. The sounds of his body being torn apart and his viscera being torn into fragments, before being eaten …
A variety of senses blended together.
“I … don’t want to die, ahh!!!”
Yuriy gave it his all and managed to issue his last words, sounding just like the roars of a monster!
“What was that?” Stein looked down from the edge of the roof and discovered that the zombies that were originally tearing a biting at Yuriy were swallowed by large amounts of scarlet tissue.
Applause reverberated in this inappropriate moment.
Stein turned and discovered Lu Qiu incessantly clapping his hands while standing at the edge of the roof. The corners of his mouth adopted an unsettling smile, as if celebrating something.
“Its blooming! Such a beautiful flower!”
So … beautiful!
Nearly a thousand zombies were swallowed by that scarlet muscle tissues, before a deafening roar of a monster sounded.