Leaving the comforting warm yellow lights of Sector C Shelter, we stepped back into the death-shrouded grey world.
This was a long, narrow alley on the shaded side of the commercial district. Skyscraper skeletons loomed on both sides like giant tombstones, squeezing the four-meter-wide asphalt road until it felt suffocating. Because sunlight never reached here, the air was colder and stickier than elsewhere. Puddles of black water stagnated on the ground, smelling of mold and sewer rot.
"Too quiet."
I gripped the Tang Dao tighter. Cold sweat slicked my palms. Every step crunched on gravel—crunch, crunch—sounds that were amplified infinitely in the dead silence, like tolling bells.
No wandering zombies. No scavenger crows. Not even the wind howling through the ruins.
This was unnatural.
In a zombie-infested city, an absolute "vacuum zone" like this only meant one thing. There was an apex predator here. Its aura was enough to make every lesser creature within hundreds of meters flee in terror.
"Careful. Silence."
Shadow took point. No proud strut this time. He lowered his body, belly almost brushing the ground, moving with extreme caution. Hackles raised. Golden pupils constricted to pinpricks, staring into the thick, unmelting shadows deep in the alley.
"It's up ahead."
Shadow's voice echoed in my head, heavy with unprecedented seriousness. "Aura is restless. Bloody. It is... feeding."
"Feeding?" I blinked, picturing zombies eating corpses. "Eating people?"
"No. Eating its own kind." Shadow licked his lips, exposing white fangs. "To break through the bottleneck of evolution, it needs massive energy. Ordinary flesh isn't enough. It's hunting other variants."
We rounded a massive pile of construction waste. The view opened up.
It was a small plaza, formerly an open-air parking lot. Wrecked cars formed a natural coliseum around it.
In the center of the plaza, a massive black shadow crouched.
Even from fifty meters away, in the dim moonlight, I felt the suffocating pressure rolling off it like a physical wave.
It was too big.
Crouched there, it looked like a heavy armored vehicle. Its skin wasn't the grey, rotting flesh of normal zombies. It was dark grey, like granite. Covered in cracked patterns that glowed faintly red, as if magma flowed beneath. Hideous bone spikes protruded from its back and joints, forming natural skeletal armor.
Right now, it was holding a corpse—crushed beyond recognition—and chewing on it like a chicken leg. Crunch. Crunch. The teeth-aching sound of breaking bones was terrifyingly clear in the silent night.
This wasn't a zombie. This was a prehistoric beast wearing human skin.
[WARNING! High-Level Bio-Field Detected!] [Target Lock: C-Rank Variant · Rock-Armored Tyrant (Evolution Critical State)] [Danger Level: EXTREME] [System Advice: FLEE IMMEDIATELY! Survival Rate < 1%!]
Red warning boxes flashed madly on my retina, almost blocking my vision.
"Rock-Armored Tyrant..." I swallowed hard. My legs felt like jelly. "That name doesn't sound like something we can mess with."
"Prepare for combat."
Shadow's voice, however, trembled with manic excitement. "It is at the critical point of evolution. Internal energy is extremely unstable. This is its strongest moment, but also its weakest."
"Weakest? You sure?" I watched the monster crush a skull like a cookie. I didn't believe it for a second.
"Its senses are sharp now. Stealth is impossible. We have to assault." Shadow laid out the tactics fast. "I'll draw aggro and attack joints. You find an opening. Use your blade. Stab the eyes or the armpits—soft spots. Remember: Don't get greedy. One hit and run! With its strength, a graze will kill you!"
"Understood!"
I took a deep breath, forcing down the fear. Wealth comes from danger. Let's do this!
The moment we finished talking, the behemoth moved.
It stopped chewing. Slowly raised its head.
On that massive head, no nose, no ears. Just a mouth full of jagged teeth splitting the face to the ears, and a single, massive eye in the center of the forehead.
The eye was bloodshot, cloudy, emitting a chaotic red glow. It swept the darkness like a searchlight.
It "saw" us.
"ROAAAARRR—!!!"
A deafening roar. A visible shockwave of sound swept the plaza.
Gravel danced on the ground. Car windows shattered in unison—CRASH! I felt like a sledgehammer hit my chest. Blood churned, ears ringing. I almost coughed up blood.
"Go!"
Shadow barked and launched the first attack.
He became a golden lightning bolt, drawing a beautiful arc in the air, straight for the Tyrant's face.
"Wind Blade!"
A cyan blade, more solid and sharper than ever before, whistled toward the Tyrant's neck.
CLANG!
A crisp sound of metal on metal. Sparks flew.
My eyes widened. I couldn't believe it.
The Wind Blade that sliced zombies like butter and cut through steel doors... it hit the Tyrant's neck and only left a shallow white scratch on the rock-like skin!
Didn't even break the skin!
"What?!" I gasped. "How thick is that hide?!"
The Tyrant was enraged. It was huge, but not slow. Shockingly fast.
It swung an arm thicker than my waist. With a howling wind, it swatted at the airborne Shadow like a fly.
BOOM!
Shadow twisted in mid-air, barely dodging the slap.
The Tyrant's palm hit the concrete. The ground exploded into a crater. Gravel flew like shrapnel. Dust billowed. If Shadow had been half a second slower, he'd be a meat pancake.
"Don't space out! Attack!" Shadow yelled at me while dodging frantically. "Don't give it room to breathe!"
I snapped out of it.
Boss fight started. No turning back!
I inhaled sharp. Strength +2 engaged. Two hands on the blade. Charged from the flank.
Tyrant was focused on Shadow. My chance.
"Open up!"
I aimed for the back of the knee—no bone spikes there. Looked like a weak point.
Tang Dao, carrying all my momentum, chopped down hard.
KLANG!
Another loud impact.
This time, I felt like I hit a solid steel plate.
Massive recoil traveled up the handle. The web of my thumb burst open, blood flowing. The Tang Dao vibrated violently, humming a sad song of protest against this impossible target.
On the Tyrant's knee... a cut maybe an inch deep. No blood. Its muscle density was so high it clamped the wound shut instantly. Like a scratch.
"How... how do we fight this?"
Despair rose in my gut. Not the same weight class. My attack was like a toddler punching Mike Tyson.
But even a scratch is annoying.
The Tyrant turned its head slowly. That single scarlet eye locked onto me.
The moment it looked at me, my blood froze. Biological fear. Like a rabbit locked by a predator. The courage to run evaporated.
"ROAR!"
It ignored the agile Shadow. Raised a massive foot. Stomped down at me.
That foot blotted out the sky. Suffocating pressure. Like a mountain falling.
"Dodge!!!" Shadow screamed from the distance.
I wanted to dodge. But my legs felt like lead. Fear delayed my reaction by half a beat.
The giant foot was falling.
"GET AWAY!"
I roared. Survival instinct squeezed out the last drop of strength. I dove sideways, rolling on the ground.
BOOM!
The foot stomped where I just stood. Ground collapsed. The shockwave blew me away.
I rolled, covered in dust. Scrambled up. Organs felt displaced.
"This monster... can't be killed!" I gasped, shouting at Shadow. "Retreat! I don't want the 500 Energy! Life matters!"
"Retreat?"
Shadow hopped onto a broken pillar. Looked at the Tyrant with a complicated expression. "Too late. Look at its eye."
I looked.
The red eye was glowing brighter. Unstable, violent red light poured out of it. The cracks in its skin began to ooze magma-like light. It looked ready to explode.
The air grew hot. Pebbles on the ground vibrated.
"It's... evolving?"
"Not just evolving." Shadow looked up at the sky. "Heaven and Earth do not tolerate it. An anomaly is coming."
I looked up.
The grey sky had gathered a swirling mass of ink-black clouds. Low. Oppressive. Touching the rooftops.
Inside the heavy clouds, purple lightning snaked. Muffled thunder rumbled.
"Is that... a Tribulation?!"