51 Chapter 51: Dance of the Dead (1/2)

”You think these zombies can kill me?” Miyazawa Miyako sneered as she glanced around. The hordes of undead had spread out to surround her, but she showed no trace of fear. I didn't know what the heroes went through during the past six months, but evidently it had toughened them up. That, or they still treated this whole thing as a fucking game.

I shrugged.

”Worth a try, I guess?”

”Oh, just kill yourself!”

I shook my head at Miyazawa's curse. The zombies stirred, and then lunged at her. Miyazawa scoffed before she danced and weaved through the massed hordes, slicing and striking with her rapier. Her pinpoint accuracy allowed her to strike at their vitals, but since they were already dead, her attacks had little effect.

”!”

They were zombies, after all. Stabbing them in the heart or piercing their kidneys weren't going to put them down permanently. Even if she succeeded in amputating or severing their limbs, the zombies continued to drag themselves relentlessly after her. Moaning, they grabbed or scrabbled at her dainty feet, forcing her to evade.

”How persistent!”

With lightning-quick strikes, she dismembered a few zombies, ensuring they wouldn't get up ever again. Spinning around, she delivered a series of elegant strikes that kept a few more at bay while flaying others alive. Or dead.

Her speed and agility remained undiminished. No matter how many zombies threw themselves at her, Miyazawa was able to cut them down or keep them at bay. As expected of a hero…her stamina seemed limitless. At this rate, I would run out of zombies before I could beat her.

However, I had no intention of turning this into a battle of attrition. I never counted on my zombies to beat a hero in their current state.

”Thousand Astral Graves!”

The thousand and eight gravestones burst out of the ground, shielding us from the sun and casting shadows over the clearing. All around Miyazawa, the zombies crackled and transformed, growing and mutating.

”W…what is this?!”

Miyazawa's jaw dropped as she witnessed the changes and enhancements. Several of the zombies had grown to several times their size. She glared at them and backed away, but her rapier was still raised defiantly.

The first zombie lunged at her, followed by the rest. Miyazawa dodged them, but just barely. The enhanced zombie's fist struck the ground, smashing a crater and sending shards of rock and earth flying into the air.

”Guh!”

Miyazawa shielded herself from the rubble, and then gracefully landed several meters away. Spinning around, she jumped back, staying light on her toes as a second zombie pulverized the ground where she had landed.

”…strong!”

”I don't know what you did, but your zombies certainly are a lot stronger now. But…so what? All that power is useless if they can't hit me!”

I merely smiled back.

”…!”

Miyazawa realized that something was amiss and her eyes narrowed as she focused on me. Gritting her teeth, she charged at me, only to stop and jump back when another zombie lunged at her. She kept her distance and safely evaded them.

But not for long.

”Ah…?!”

A zombie finally succeeded in tackling her, knocking her to the ground and pinning her.

”N…no! How…?! This is impossible!”

Miyazawa struggled, trying to lift her rapier up and slash the zombie, but it firmly pinned her to the ground with its superior strength. Even as she kicked and flailed, and actually managed to almost dislodge the zombie from holding her arms, more of the zombies piled on top of her, grabbing her legs, biting her shoulder and tearing chunks of flesh from her neck.

”AAAAAAAH!”

Miyazawa kicked and screamed, but she was ruthlessly held down and fed upon. Mana swirled around her as she attempted to cast spells to blast them off, but the sheer number of zombies throwing themselves on top of her as well as their increased magical resistance nullified most of the damage. Even if they were scratched and flayed by the wind spells or thrashing rapier, their enhanced bulk and lack of a sense of pain allowed them to relentlessly tear at her.

”How…?! How?! What the hell are these…these monsters?!”

I said nothing. Thousand Astral Graves didn't just enhance the strength of my zombies, but also their speed, both movement speed and reaction speed. And their intelligence as well. As such, my zombies suddenly jumped back when a tornado of mana exploded out of Miyazawa's body. Most of the zombies reacted fast enough and evaded the attack, but the few unfortunate to be close enough were ripped into shreds.

”I'll kill you!”

Miyazawa was wailing as she clutched her wounds, blood streaming from her fingers. She glared at me and slowly lowered her rapier, the once pristine silver hilt now stained with blood. A whirlwind whipped around the thin blade, as she pointed it at me.

However, she wasn't given any time to fire it off. My zombies had clustered around her, pouncing and distracting her. Miyazawa gracefully jumped and dodged, spinning around and falling into her confident rhythm. Staying light on her toes, she hopped, spun, whirled and danced about, staying one step ahead of the zombies. Even as she elegantly evaded every single one of their attacks, perspiration dripped down her face.

It wasn't just from her wounds. The increased speed and ferocity of my zombies had made it difficult for Miyazawa to dodge easily and it was all she could do just to stay ahead of them. She knew that just one small mistake, one slight slip or misstep, would lead to her death. Gritting her teeth, she continued to dance desperately, keeping out of reach of her predatory partners, who were all scrambling after her like obsessive fans.

”!”

One of the zombies had enough and unleashed a freezing blast of mana. The ice rapidly spread across the ground and caught Miyazawa's feet just as she landed. She froze – not literally – when she tried to move, only to find herself rooted to the ground.

”…no!”

With a cry, she tugged at her legs to break free of the ice, but that split second of inaction was more than enough. A mountain of zombies tackled her, knocking her down and breaking her feet from the tremendous impact.

”AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Wailing in agony and despair, Miyazawa flailed and fought desperately, but wise to her spells, my zombies disarmed her. Literally. One of them tore off Miyazawa's sword arm and chewed on it, spitting the silver rapier out and sending it bouncing off the ground. The rest ripped into Miyazawa in a frenzy, allowing their bloodlust to consume them.

”No! NOOOO!”

Miyazawa attempted to cast that same hurricane spell that had tossed the zombies off her earlier, but the catastrophic injury and massive loss of blood had disrupted her focus, not to mention the excruciating pain she must be feeling right now. With so many factors disrupting her concentration, it was impossible for her to cast her spell to blow the horde of undead away. Even with the strength of a hero, she couldn't win against the sheer number of zombies piling on top of her.

I strode forward and picked up Miyazawa's rapier. Raising my head, I glanced in the direction of my poor victim. Miraculously, Miyazawa was still alive despite my zombies tearing into her mercilessly. Her eyes lolled back and she stared at me pleadingly.

I glanced away in disgust. If our positions were swapped, she wouldn't think twice about finishing me off. I didn't understand why my former classmates harbored such an irrational hatred against me but they were more than happy to kill me over the most ridiculous of reasons.

There was no reason why I should show mercy to them.

”Take her eyes,” I commanded softly.

My zombies obliged happily, yanking Miyazawa's eyeballs brutally out of her sockets and savoring them like delicacies. Miyazawa screamed and hollered, tears gushing out of her empty sockets and mixing with blood.

Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

I ignored her.

I shut out her cries of pain, even as I did my best to push the memory of her haunting, pleading gaze out of my mind.

*