Seeing the massive boulder hurtling toward her, Chu Lian didn't dodge. Instead, she thrust out her right fist and struck the front of the rock head-on.
With a sharp crack, countless fractures spread across the boulder's surface before it shattered into innumerable fragments, crashing heavily onto the ground with a series of rumbling sounds.
She shook her hand with a pained expression. Though she had blocked the boulder on purpose to test the limits of her current strength, she hadn't considered whether her body could actually withstand such force.
The rock was indeed smashed to pieces by her immense power, but she didn't come out unscathed. Her right hand had gone completely numb, leaving her unable to exert full strength for a short while.
The instant the boulder shattered, the ground beneath her feet collapsed with a loud crash. That was because both the impact of the boulder's weight and the power behind her punch had been transferred into the earth below.
Had she not done that, she would have been forced backward by the recoil, unable to remain so calm and steady in place.
"Catching a boulder barehanded, huh? That's enough stupidity for one day. Never again." Indeed, when a three-meter-wide boulder comes flying your way, a normal person's first instinct would be to flee—not to block it with their body. Only Chu Lian, wanting to test her own strength, would do something so reckless.
"Still, at least now I know where my limit is. That makes things easier. I'll have more tactical options later." She shook her right hand to ease the numbness, feeling rather pleased with the result.
Once her hand recovered, she adjusted her grip on the Seven Illusions Bow and drew the string back once more. As it reached full draw, a slender, refined arrow appeared on the string.
But during that brief pause, the smoke surrounding the giant zombie slowly began to dissipate, and the horde of zombies started closing in on her again.
Unfortunately for them, as with the previous times, the closer they came, the slower their advance became—until, in the end, all of them stopped dead three meters away from her, unable to take another step forward.
This was the preliminary application of momentum—an aura that radiated absolute dominance. Within its range, any weaker enemies could not approach, while non-hostile targets enveloped by it could even gain protection and stat bonuses if their strength was much lower than hers. It was essentially a fusion of a "group aura + personal shield + weak repulsion field."
Whoosh... The arrow left the string like a missile, accurately striking the giant zombie through the thin veil of dust. A brilliant burst of spiritual power erupted upon impact, forming nine long chains that wrapped tightly around its massive body.
"Roar…" came a furious bellow as the smoke completely cleared, revealing the zombie's enormous, uneven body—its flesh gouged and pitted by spiritual damage yet slowly regenerating. It swung both arms, hurling chunks of stone toward Chu Lian, but its feet remained fixed in place.
"As expected, it's trapped. The Americans really did their job right—this thing's strength is mostly sealed away. Restricting its movement like that... For a zombie that relies purely on physical strength and can't use energy attacks, it's an unsolvable debuff." Chu Lian dodged each flying boulder with ease while carefully observing the giant zombie, finally discovering why it couldn't move.
Behind it was a massive tail. Because it was positioned near a mountain and the tail was tightly wedged into the rock, Chu Lian hadn't noticed it earlier.
Seeing it now only made her more puzzled. "With its regenerative ability, even if it lost its tail, it should recover quickly. At worst, it'd be weak for a bit—but why stay trapped like this?"
The zombie's regeneration didn't come from an inherently powerful healing factor, but rather from its ability to devour other zombies—using their flesh and blood to fill its wounds, allowing rapid recovery.
Chu Lian had discovered this accidentally while dodging the thrown stones. There were always many zombies swarming around it, and whenever she injured the giant, those nearby zombies would instinctively shuffle beneath its feet—where a huge mouth would open and devour them whole. After consuming them, its wounds would heal at an accelerated rate.
"What a disgusting ability... It seems I'll have to clear out every zombie around it before I can finish this." With that thought, Chu Lian once again gripped the Seven Illusions Bow tightly. Slowly drawing the string, she poured all her spiritual power—along with the energy gathered by the Spirit Convergence Device—into the three arrows that materialized on the bow.
"This time, I'll make sure you're left all alone, commander of the dead." With that thought in mind, she released her fingers. The three arrows shot forward, landing in the air above and around the giant zombie—front and both sides—before detonating. In an instant, countless arrows rained down from the sky.
"System Notification: Congratulations, Host. By combining the Seven Illusions Bow's 'Thousand Feathers' skill, you have created a new skill of your own—firing more than three 'Thousand Feathers' simultaneously to seal the enemy's movement and summon a ten-second rain of arrows upon the designated area. The system has automatically named this skill 'Arrow Prison.' This is what I'm supposed to do, so don't thank me~ Mwah~ ❤"
"Pfft..." Chu Lian felt both delighted and speechless. Creating a new skill on her own was exciting enough, but why did the system have to act so cutesy? Not only had it named her new technique without permission, it even told her not to thank it. "Seriously? Acting cute at a time like this?"
She was still smiling helplessly when the last part of the message nearly made her stumble. Losing her balance, she barely managed to dodge a falling boulder that crashed into the spot where she had stood a moment earlier.
"This definitely isn't Ayase's managed system... it must be the system's own AI operating autonomously again. Honestly, what a ridiculous personality." Ayase's consciousness was still in deep sleep, clearly exhausted. Without her control, the system's primary intelligence—normally just a background assistant—had surfaced.
Judging from its behavior, its personality was a mix of mischievous imp and hyperactive otaku girl—someone who'd clearly absorbed way too much internet culture for her own good.
"Forget it, I'll deal with it later. I still have a giant zombie to take care of." Pushing aside her amusement, Chu Lian's expression grew serious once more. Watching the enormous zombie that was bound by her spiritual chains, she noticed that all the surrounding undead had been wiped out by her 'Arrow Prison.' Now, only the giant stood there, solitary and restrained—a sight that filled her with a tense anticipation.
Simple ranged attacks alone, even ten consecutive 'Unstoppable' shots, wouldn't be enough to deal significant damage. The only way to end this quickly was to get in close and crush its head.
But she didn't believe her close-combat ability would grant her much advantage before such a monstrous opponent. Even using 'Teleport' to confuse its perception wouldn't guarantee that she could wound it every time. Its body was simply too tough.
So far, aside from the oppressive aura it exuded and its ability to hurl massive stones, it hadn't revealed any other powers. But if she got injured... Inori would definitely keep her promise and make her pay dearly afterward.
"Lian'er, you should learn from them." Suddenly, the memory of Ayase's words before their departure echoed in her mind—the analysis of the three experts from the Otherside, and that one last piece of advice. Combined with the 'Battle Soul' will awakened through the Divine Spirit Art, her heart grew resolute.
"No matter how many forms you take, I will defeat you. If I can't even beat something that can't move freely, then I might as well give up struggling altogether." She fired another arrow at the giant zombie. Upon impact, nine chains of spiritual energy emerged once more, replacing the previous set the moment they dissipated.
'Heaven Lock'—a technique passed to Chu Lian through the Divine Spirit Art. It transformed spiritual power into nine chains that bound the enemy's body, suppressing one-tenth of their total power and restricting their movements. While the chains remained, the target's speed dropped by over thirty percent.
It was a powerful debuff skill. Against opponents vastly stronger than herself, it might not do much—but against a large enemy close to her level, its effectiveness was extraordinary.
"Partner, from here on... it's my turn." She let the Seven Illusions Bow revert into a sigil that reappeared on her left hand. With a light tap of her foot, her body shot upward, flipping gracefully before landing several meters away. Her right hand closed around the hilt of the Void Greatsword.
Then, with a powerful thrust of her legs, she launched herself forward like an arrow, speeding straight toward the giant zombie several hundred meters ahead.
"Roar..." A deep, furious growl shook the air once again. Ever since being wounded by its desired prey, the giant zombie had been consumed by uncontrollable rage. Seeing Chu Lian daring to charge straight toward it finally ignited that fury in full.
It twisted its massive body, grabbing a ten-meter-wide boulder with both hands and hurling it at her. The sheer power behind the throw was immense—so immense that even it felt a surge of fatigue. The muscles in its arms burst open, spewing foul, black blood that splattered to the ground, instantly corroding a wide patch of earth.
Gripping the Void Greatsword tightly with both hands, Chu Lian watched the enormous boulder hurtle toward her—but instead of dodging, she thrust the sword straight ahead.
The passive ability Deathblow on the Void Greatsword activated. Under its effect, the giant boulder was like a block of tofu before her blade—it was effortlessly pierced straight through the center.
Fragments of shattered rock exploded outward as Chu Lian broke through the airborne debris. Her sudden appearance so close to the zombie stunned it completely. By all logic, that attack should have sent her flying—smashed to the ground by the massive rock. Never could it have imagined that her sword carried such an absurdly overpowered ability as Deathblow.
Now, faced with Chu Lian's approach, the giant zombie had no means left to defend itself. It could only watch helplessly as she closed in.
"Farewell..." Though the enemy turned out to be far weaker than she had expected, Chu Lian still poured nearly all of her spiritual power into her next move. Swinging the Void Greatsword in a powerful cross slash, she unleashed Void Slash—cutting the zombie's head cleanly into four pieces. Then, tossing a spiritual power bomb behind, she immediately activated Teleport, vanishing from the area.
Boom! A violent explosion resounded across the battlefield. The giant zombie's enormous body toppled like a collapsing skyscraper, crashing down with an earth-shaking rumble.
"Surprisingly... that was easier than expected?" Within Chu Lian's spiritual perception, the monster's aura had vanished entirely—it was dead.
And yet, an uneasy feeling lingered in her heart.
Why did she still sense danger?
Just as that thought crossed her mind, the giant zombie's tail—previously buried deep within the mountain crevice—suddenly let out a sharp, piercing roar that rattled her skull. Her vision blurred for a split second.
When she came to, something had already struck her full force, sending her body hurtling backward through the air...