Bang! Thud! Bang! Bang!
As more and more pitch-black monsters began to climb outside the bus, launching attacks against its windows, the entire bus quickly turned into a drafty shack, and the situation became precarious; a fierce battle between humans and monsters officially began.
The main force of the human side was evidently the long-haired ghost summon of the short-haired girl. Her summon was incredibly fast, with formidable attack power. Its figure flickered continuously inside the bus, using its ten long, sharp claws to shred any monster daring to rush towards the rear of the bus, where the short-haired girl was located.
However, the monsters had a significant numerical advantage, and the long-haired ghost seemed to have little ability for group damage, only able to take down enemies one by one. Its existence was also very special and couldn't physically block the attackers, leading to some monsters eventually breaking through its defenses in the chaos.
But things didn't end well for those monsters that passed the first line of defense, as they were met by the long-sword youth Wang Zhifan standing in front of the short-haired girl.
Wang Zhifan stood in the middle of the aisle, about two meters away from where the short-haired girl was intently controlling her summon. The Wolf-Slaying Blade in his hand slashed out silver-white glimmers, cutting down any pitch-black monsters that got close, turning them into large chunks of dead flesh that scattered across the floor and seats nearby.
Each of his strikes was so decisive and clean, without the slightest hesitation or any flashy moves—only the simplest and most effective attacks, adjusting his striking rhythm appropriately to match the number of enemies.
When monsters first started rushing towards her, the short-haired girl initially intended to pull her long-haired ghost summon back to the rear of the bus to shrink the defensive line. But when she realized the warrior youth in front of her was quite capable, easily handling these approaching threats, she immediately felt relieved, opting instead to use her summon to pull monsters away and reduce the pressure on their side.
Their cooperation was quite seamless; the short-haired girl continuously controlled her long-haired ghost within the bus, striking left and right and causing continuous carnage, attracting the hatred of most of the pitch-black monsters, who, seemingly lacking intelligence, launched futile attacks against the intangible enemy.
Wang Zhifan was tasked with clearing out the monsters not distracted by the long-haired ghost and chose to charge towards them. In this cramped bus environment, standing in the aisle allowed him to handle four or five monsters attacking simultaneously because his Wolf-Slaying Blade was sharp enough, his sword skills sufficiently practiced, and his strength and stamina far exceeded that of ordinary people, enabling him to last a long time.
"These ordinary Gray Realm monsters don't seem too powerful... They feel even weaker than the big gray wolf from the first instance..."
Slashing through an airborne pitch-black monster, Wang Zhifan pondered to himself.
Initially, he took his first encounter with Gray Realm monsters quite seriously, assuming their strength would be formidable, and believed he needed to seize the chance to desperately escape to carve a path to survival. But he realized the only troubling aspect of these creatures might be their sheer numbers; individually, they couldn't withstand even two moves from him.
However, as Wang Zhifan pondered this, a particularly large monster outside the bus approached a nearby window, lowering its massive head and drawing his attention.
This was the unique leader monster that had appeared at the rear when the Gray Realm monsters were first introduced. It finally reached the bus, standing upright with its exceptionally tall and disgusting body, using its ugly and sinister gray eyes to survey the interior.
"Does this creature have some intelligence?"
The human-like action immediately heightened Wang Zhifan's alertness. In his understanding, what was terrifying wasn't the monsters' savagery but their cunning resembling humans'. He immediately shouted to the short-haired girl behind him without turning around:
"Quick, use your summon to lure it away! Leave the remaining monsters here to me!"
"Don't rush!"
However, the girl behind him disagreed with his thoughts and instead offered a more aggressive suggestion:
"Let's finish clearing out here and then team up to take it down! Maybe we can get some good rewards!"
"?"
Upon hearing the girl mention rewards, Wang Zhifan's brows furrowed because such a claim exceeded his understanding. According to the information he had, killing Gray Realm monsters didn't yield rewards, and after having slain nearly twenty of them with no rewards at all, it confirmed that his prior information wasn't wrong.
"Could it be that only unique Gray Realm monsters drop rewards?"
While calmly eliminating approaching enemies, Wang Zhifan quickly analyzed internally. He believed the girl behind him wasn't speaking nonsense; her uncommon and powerful profession likely meant she wasn't just an average player and might have more intel about the Gray Realm.
"Alright."
Thus, Wang Zhifan didn't show any surprise and promptly gave the girl a stable response, agreeing to her team-up invitation.
This was actually a natural change once both sides' strength became clear. Initially, they thought they were the weaker party, hoping to hold out until the Special Administration Bureau personnel arrived. But after fighting for some time, the two realized their capabilities and cooperation were quite good; not only could they fend off the monster attacks, but they could also gradually eliminate them, making caution unnecessary.
But just as they were conversing, the tall monster outside the bus took action. Perhaps it understood their plan to take it down, as it soon stopped merely observing through the window and raised one of its pitch-black, stinking, and grotesquely long arms, thrusting it through the window towards the pair at the back, aiming primarily at the short-haired girl shielded behind Wang Zhifan!
"Are you ignoring my presence?"
Seeing this, Wang Zhifan coldly chuckled to himself; he initially thought the outside monster had high intelligence, but now it seemed to be at a toddler level.
"Break for me!"
He swiftly slashed like a silver wheel, chopping off the heads of three ordinary monsters simultaneously. Then with a small jump and furious slash, he viciously struck the monster's arm protruding through the window with the luminous blade of the Wolf-Slaying Blade!