[Location: Zone Z - Shopping Mall Atrium]
[Time: 12:00 AM]
[Status: Arson in Progress]
The atrium of the abandoned mall was silent for a split second. The massive white cocoon hung from the ceiling like a pendulum of death. Beneath it, the floor swarmed with thousands of fist-sized spiders.
Ryan aimed the Pandora Flamethrower.
Violet stood beside him, clutching her flask of [Alchemist Fire].
"Grog," Ryan said calmly. "Do you like roasted marshmallows?"
Grog blinked behind his tiny gas mask. "Grog likes... burnt meat."
"Close enough."
Ryan pulled the trigger.
FWOOOOOSH!
A jet of blue-orange flame erupted from the nozzle. It wasn't normal fire; mixed with Violet's chemical accelerant, it was a sticky, napalm-like substance.
The stream of fire hit the massive web structure covering the escalators.
CRACKLE. HISS.
Webs are naturally flammable. These webs vanished instantly.
The fire climbed up the strands at incredible speed, turning the entire center of the mall into a towering inferno.
"SKREEEEEEEE!"
A piercing shriek shattered the glass of the storefronts.
The cocoon burst open.
The Broodmother fell.
BOOM!
She landed on the second-floor balcony, crushing a railing.
She was hideous. A spider the size of a tank, with chitinous armor plated like steel. She had eight glowing red eyes and mandibles dripping with green venom.
[System Warning: Boss Encounter.]
[Enemy: The Broodmother (Level 35).]
[Status: Enraged (You burned her house).]
"She looks angry," Felix whimpered, hiding behind Grog.
"Of course she is," Ryan shouted over the roar of the fire. "I just evicted her! Annabelle! The Crystal!"
The massive High-Grade Mana Crystal had fallen from the burning cocoon and landed on the third floor's glass walkway.
"I get it!" Annabelle shouted.
She didn't run up the stairs. She jammed her dagger into the wall and climbed straight up like a lizard.
Meanwhile, the Broodmother spotted Ryan.
She opened her mouth.
THWIP! THWIP!
She didn't shoot webs (they would burn). She shot Acid Spikes.
"Shield!" Ryan yelled.
Ryan shifted Pandora instantly.
"Form Change: Riot Shield."
CLANG! CLANG!
The acid spikes hit the energy shield, sizzling dangerously.
But they had a bigger problem.
CRASH!
The barricade at the front entrance collapsed. The vending machine Grog placed there was pushed aside by the sheer weight of the bodies.
The Zombie Horde poured in.
Thousands of Feral Ghouls flooded the ground floor. They looked up, saw the fresh meat on the second floor, and began climbing the walls and the burning escalators.
[System Alert: Pincer Attack.]
[Below: 5,000+ Feral Ghouls.]
[Above: Level 35 Spider Boss.]
[Survival Chance: 2%]
"We are sandwiched!" Violet screamed, throwing a poison vial at the zombies below. It melted five of them, but fifty more climbed over the melting bodies.
Ryan looked at the situation.
Most people would panic.
Ryan looked at the Fire Sprinkler System on the ceiling.
"Felix!" Ryan grabbed the unlucky boy.
"Y-Yes boss?"
"See that pipe on the ceiling? The one labeled 'Gas Line'?"
Felix looked up. "Yeah?"
"Throw your shield at it. Miss it."
"Miss it?" Felix was confused. "Okay, I'll try to hit the spider!"
Felix threw his wooden shield with all his might, aiming for the Broodmother on the balcony.
Whoosh.
The shield flew... missed the spider completely... hit a hanging light fixture... ricocheted off a pillar...
CLANG.
And smashed directly into the valve of the main gas line running through the ceiling.
HISS.
Gas began to leak out, mixing with the smoke and fire.
"Everyone! Gas masks tight!" Ryan ordered. "Run to the roof access! GO!"
They sprinted towards the service stairs.
The Broodmother jumped down to block them. She raised her massive front legs to impale Grog.
"GROG SMASH BUG!"
Grog roared. He didn't use a weapon. He ripped a metal bench bolted to the floor and swung it.
WHAM!
He hit the spider in the face, knocking her back a few inches. It wasn't enough to kill her, but it bought them time.
"Move! Move!"
They scrambled up the service stairs to the 4th floor.
Annabelle met them there, holding the glowing blue Mana Crystal (size of a football).
"Got it, Papa!"
"Good girl!" Ryan grabbed the crystal and stored it.
Behind them, the zombies were swarming up the stairs. The Broodmother was climbing the walls.
And the gas from the leak was filling the atrium.
Ryan stood at the door to the roof.
He aimed his Pandora (Handgun Mode) back at the atrium filled with gas.
"Hey, Chat," Ryan winked at the drone. "Cool guys don't look at explosions."
He fired a single incendiary bullet into the gas cloud.
CLICK.
BOOM.
The atrium turned into a blast furnace.
A massive explosion rocked the entire building. The pressure wave blew the roof access door open.
Ryan and his team were thrown onto the snowy roof by the force of the blast.
Inside the mall, the Broodmother screeched as she was engulfed in flames. The thousands of zombies were incinerated instantly.
[System Notification: Multi-Kill! x500]
[System Notification: Boss Defeated (The Broodmother).]
[Fear Points: +15,000]
[Level Up Progress: 99%]
Ryan stood up on the snowy roof, dusting off ash.
Smoke poured out of the skylights. The mall was collapsing inward.
"That," Ryan coughed, adjusting his mask, "was a successful shopping trip."
User_Slayer69: "HOLY SHIT! He blew up the mall!"
User_RichKid: "Michael Bay would be proud. [Gift: Fireworks x10]"
"We aren't safe yet," Violet pointed at the sky.
The explosion had attracted attention.
Not from zombies.
From the Lich King's Patrol.
Three massive Bone Wyverns (flying skeleton dragons) were circling above the city. They saw the fire. They saw the humans on the roof.
They shrieked and dove down.
Ryan looked at the edge of the roof. It was a 50-story drop.
"We need a ride."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the [Scroll of the Frost Bone Dragon].
It was single-use. He had used it at the Academy.
Wait.
He didn't have another scroll.
"Uh oh," Ryan froze. "I forgot to buy a refill."
Grog looked at the diving Wyverns. "Boss? Where is Fluffy?"
Ryan looked at his System Shop.
[Shop Level 3 Locked (Cooldown: 24 Hours due to Admin Interference).]
"Plan C," Ryan shouted. "We hijack a Wyvern!"
"WHAT?!" Felix screamed.
Ryan tapped his Pandora watch.
"Pandora... Form Change: Grappling Hook."
A long chain with a hook shot out from his wrist.
Ryan aimed at the leading Wyvern diving towards them.
"Grog! Grab my waist! Everyone, hold onto Grog! We are going for a ride!"
The Wyvern opened its jaws to bite them.
Ryan fired the hook.
THWACK.
It wrapped around the Wyvern's neck bone.
"JUMP!"
Ryan jumped off the roof... into the void.
The team followed (screaming).
The Wyvern tried to pull up, but the sudden weight yanked it down.
They were swinging through the air, thousands of feet above the radioactive city, holding onto a pissed-off undead dragon by a thin chain.
Ryan laughed maniacally into the wind.
"Next stop: The Lich King's Castle! No ticket required!"