"Shing—"
[Lin, evade rearward]
Prometheus's warning jolted Lin. His ingrained instinct drove him to immediately roll forward. A pitch-black blade cut over his head, and the figure wielding it performed an anatomically impossible reverse-joint movement, changing the horizontal slash into a vertical one, aiming straight for Lin's neck.
This time, Lin heard the air being sliced. He supported himself with one hand and instantly drew his pistol, firing at the ground.
The fired bullet was live ammunition. It ricocheted off the ground at an oblique angle, changing direction and hitting the blade.
"Bang!"
Lin rolled to his feet and rapidly retreated with quick, small hops. The pitch-black shadow pursued relentlessly, now using two blades, which, like two fine black threads, combined to hack at Lin's face.
In that instant, Lin quickly estimated the enemy's height and weapon length: average speed, close-combat type, expert movement.
He grabbed the hilt of the sword on his back, pressed the switch, and a sky-blue electromagnetic field instantly sprang forth, momentarily halting the approaching long blades. Then, he immediately drew Raikiri and delivered a straight, unforgiving cut toward the shadow's face!
"Sizzle—"
The blue and black blades clashed first. The force was evenly matched. Then, Lin's blade erupted with a dazzling light. A violent surge of electricity burst forth, repelling the shadow.
"Hiss—"
The black figure adjusted its posture mid-air, stabbing its twin blades into the ground to halt its backward momentum.
The two "people" stood a distance apart, allowing Lin to clearly see what had attacked him, though he had already guessed when he saw the two blades.
"Onimusha Zombie..." He pronounced the difficult name.
A high-level Zombie named for its resemblance to a Far Eastern warrior and its two terrifying long blades. Unlike ordinary Zombies, which were slow and had simple movements, it utilized various combat techniques.
Lin's reaction to seeing the Onimusha Zombie was neither surprise nor seriousness, but confusion.
Why this type of Zombie?
While Lin was distracted, the Onimusha Zombie charged again. Its speed was not fast; Lin's own speed could easily handle it.
Ultimately, the Onimusha Zombie's "high-level" status was only relative to common Zombies. An average soldier would have more than enough skill to deal with a Zombie of this level.
Lin's sapphire-blue visual display lit up abruptly. He stomped his right foot, propelling himself forward parallel to the ground, pouncing at twice the speed of the Onimusha Zombie.
"Shing!"
A grating screech of friction suddenly rang out where the blade edges met!
Wielding Raikiri in a reverse grip, Lin countered the Zombie's charge. With a flash of lightning, the Onimusha Zombie reacted, stopped its momentum, and crossed its blades in a block. But Lin immediately withdrew his force after the blades clashed and delivered a direct front kick to its abdomen.
Its similar humanoid structure made it easier to deal with than a Honkai Beast. Lin knew the weak points of every human joint and the defensive gaps in various stances. As long as the Zombie attacked in a human posture, Lin would have a massive advantage.
Kicked back once more, the Onimusha Zombie attempted to repeat its tactic of stabbing its twin blades into the ground. But this time, just as it performed the motion, a burst of blue lightning shot toward it.
The sense of mortal danger forced it to instantly retract its blades in a reverse-joint movement to deflect the lightning. The sky-blue streak revealed its true form mid-air: Raikiri, which Lin had thrown.
Now, the Zombie couldn't fully dissipate the force, meaning it exposed its weakness.
A dark figure darted out. The helmeted person grabbed Raikiri mid-air, landed behind the Onimusha Zombie, and then a perfectly rounded sky-blue full moon blossomed from his center.
"Crack..."
The pitch-black long hair, the pale white body, the purple-white core—split into two with this single strike.
Like building blocks, the Onimusha Zombie fell to the ground in two pieces.
"..." Lin didn't look back at the corpse. He slowly returned Raikiri to its slot in his backpack with a clear "clink" sound.
[Mission completed]
Lin glanced at Prometheus's text in the upper right corner, then stated heavily, "No, not yet."
Killing the Zombie hadn't taken much effort, but the mission itself had too many suspicious points. His priority now wasn't to report but to investigate this strange incident.
"Prometheus, disconnect all communication with the Moth of the Flame. Do not allow anyone to connect to the channel."
[Disconnected]
Lin took three quick steps to the Onimusha Zombie's corpse and started examining its body and the two blades.
Everything was structurally normal. No issues. It was an ordinary Onimusha Zombie.
But the mere presence of this Zombie was highly abnormal. It had no climbing structure. How did it break through the height of that wall?
He walked to the side of the wall facing Changkong City and looked down. With his night vision, he could see the machine guns operating normally below, and the wall was smooth and unmarked.
In other words, it was impossible for it to have climbed up by stabbing its blades into the wall one by one.
Did a space-manipulating Zombie or Honkai Beast help it up?
Aside from the Second Herrscher and her companion Honkai Beast, it was unlikely for other Zombies or Honkai Beasts to have this ability, but Lin had to temporarily consider it a possibility.
Lin looked down, lost in thought.
The mission itself was sudden, and the description only contained vague terms like "special Zombie." Upon arrival, Lin encountered an Onimusha Zombie that could only be marginally called "special."
It was as if someone had deliberately thrown out a random Zombie to placate him, assuring him that the report was true.
This aligned closely with Lin's intuitive guess, which was why he cut off communication.
Lin tossed the corpse back into Changkong City and said to Prometheus: "Prometheus, link to the Fifth Branch's city network. Check the surveillance for any helicopters flying over the city before and after the mission was issued."
[Yes, searching images... No flying objects found]
"..."
Lin lowered his head, silent.
This result was not unexpected, so the answer was obvious.
"Immediately connect to the Fifth Branch's communication."
[Beep—Connection failed]
Lin instantly rolled over and leaped down from the high wall, sprinting at maximum speed toward the direction he came from.
The black eyes, which had gradually warmed up over the recent days, once again sank into an unfathomable depth.
Inside the Fifth Branch, Fifth Science Department.
"Mei, get inside now!"
Kevin slammed his gun stock into a Taloned Zombie, double-tapped its head with two shots, then grabbed Mei's hand and shoved her into a room, slamming the door shut.
"Boom!"
"Leave this to me. Don't come out until I've killed all the Zombies!"
Kevin immediately turned, dodged a Scythe Zombie's vertical chop, and opened fire, riddling it with bullets.
Flesh and blood splattered.
The Fifth Science Department was coated in the color of blood and fat.
Monsters roamed this place that was supposed to breed human hope.
Death descended upon humanity's brightest minds, the scientists.
In less than an hour after Lin left the Fifth Branch, Purgatory had descended here.