Once he arrived in front of them, he said, "Today, we will be clearing Block 1 Zone 2. We will invite other survivors to join us, while asking them to carry the food and water jugs they can as we fight zombies."
They nodded excitedly. Eric stared at them for a while and suddenly walked past them as they followed him behind. Once he arrived at the intersection, he turned to his right and saw the West Gate of the university… filled with third mortal stage zombies and second stage zombies with some mindless zombies mixed within.
The others turned to the right as well, and saw the horde of zombies, with some were a menace, causing their hair to stand on ends. A chill ran down their spine as they simultaneously turned their heads to the Emperor.
He said, "This is why our task is by no means easy. If we can cross this intersection without alarming them with our presence… that will be impossible."
Of course! They thought at the same time. They completely underestimated the quantity of zombies since they were looking at Block 1 Zone 2. There were some third mortal stage zombies and mindless zombies, but there was no second mortal stage zombie.
Yet, on the west gate, there were many second mortal stage zombies, causing their countenance to turn solemn.
"There will be no turning back. Let's massacre them." At the same time, he released a wave of energy, enveloping his allies.
Axel and others suddenly felt their strength increase after hearing the Emperor's voice. Their morale was bolstered, discerning their heart burns with the desire to accompany him on his mission. Hence, staring at the horde of monsters, momentarily terrorizing them earlier, suddenly made them tremble in excitement.
Axel spread his arms, grasping the double knives, turned his head forward, and was the first to dash at the nearest mindless zombie on the other side of the zone. Of course, he did not forget about their task to clear Block 1 Zone 2, so he headed their first—not on the horde of zombies on the west gate.
However, within his expectations, the commotion of fighting alarmed a portion of the zombie horde on the west gate—particularly, the nearest intersection.
Zoe followed him, with Birdy flapping his wings and attacking some mindless zombies. Zoe, on the other hand, actually targeted a third mortal stage zombie.
It was a Ravager Zombie with claws and as fast as her. Her claws compared to the Ravager Zombie were small, but her martial arts surpassed the crude fighting style of the Ravager. Her Beast-Claw Rend—without needing to form her hands into claws since she has brass knuckles—targeted the weak points of the Ravager Zombie, ending its life.
Her fighting was simply raw and beast–alike. She did not even have to use her ability. However, she used the Wild Hunt Blitz, entering the berserk state. In fact, the Wild Hunt Blitz was the only core technique the Emperor did not write how to activate. He wrote instead to communicate with beasts and learn how to enter the berserk state.
The muscle boost ability by Birdy was similar to berserk, so she learned from him and now was able to take down a third mortal stage zombie.
She was elated, but her happiness was far from over when she was targeted by another third mortal stage zombie and was engaged in a battle again.
Spotting her battling against creatures on the same stage as her, the others felt like their pride was tested and followed her. They did not hesitate to pick a third mortal stage zombie, causing their battle to intimidate mindless zombies, helplessly watching on the side. Of course, they only followed their instinct, those who did not have one were killed during the battle.
Watching them on the side, continuously providing them energy from his Unyielding March, made Eric smile. Behind him was Michelle, firing stones from his Y-shaped slingshot one after another. Suddenly, she was surprised her stone exploded when it collided on the head of the third mortal stage zombie, instantly ending its life.
"T-That…"
"Don't worry. That's my flame." Her eyes widened, staring at the Emperor's back, seemingly becoming more enigmatic.
Eric, on the other hand, was calculating the energy consumption on his Unyielding March, providing five people at once, while occasionally synchronizing his Pyromancy.
He ruminated. Every breath recovered all my energy. That will take three seconds at most. One second recovered half, two: more than half, and three for full. If I only provide Pyromancy to Michelle, since she attacks every one and a half seconds, then I can still fight, using martial arts and pyromancy. However, if I keep that style, I won't be able to use the Imperial Mandate.
Suddenly, his eyes flashed. He saw a second mortal stage zombie, sneaking behind Zoe's back. Zoe was deeply concentrated fighting against a third mortal stage zombie she had just killed and was about to perform a jab at the mindless zombie.
Necrotic Hunter. Silent Pursuit. Eric read the information of the second mortal stage zombie sneaking behind her. Its agility was actually B-. However, even if Zoe would not be able to dodge it, fate is fate, and he could rewrite it.
Hence, Eric shouted, releasing the energy of the Imperial Mandate in his voice, "Zoe will not be struck."
The energy was deeply concentrated and directed at the head of the Necrotic Hunter, pausing his movement for more than a second, enabling Zoe to react and try to shift her body away. However, that was enough. Eric had been limiting his distance to them, so he could quickly react if they were in danger.
He leapt and directly punched at the head of the stunned Necrotic Hunter with the third axiom.
A sonic boom soon reverberated, instantly exploding the head of the Necrotic Hunter. Even the mindless zombies behind it were thrown away from the impact.
It was unfortunate he was not able to imbue pyromancy since the Imperial Mandate instantly consumed half of his energy. Thankfully, his martial arts used qi energy, not the energy…