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Page 12
Just before the disaster struck, several dignitaries and celebrities landed at the airport. Although many of them were infected and died, there were still thousands of survivors when others escaped into the airport afterward.
However, the number of combat personnel was quite limited, and the fire monsters on the other side of the cross-sea bridge attracted the attention of the security forces, which led to a lapse in the security of the terminal. The survivors panicked and fled in all directions under the attack of the monsters, which made the situation completely worse.
"This is...this is absolutely terrible."
When the Flame Demon reappeared on the other side of the cross-sea bridge, Nanri Kaori, codenamed Dahlia, couldn't help but sigh. Although they had sent out a distress signal, it was uncertain whether reinforcements would arrive in time.
Guns spewed flames, and the undead monsters leaping between floors were like elusive killing machines. The constant casualties caused the security personnel's morale to plummet.
Forced to cover the escape of ordinary people from the terminal, Nanri Rika, after weighing the threats, chose to first try to eliminate the monsters ravaging the terminal to prevent the two monsters from joining forces.
Yes, the airport security personnel all believed that the two monsters might be working together to kill all the living. As for why the fire monster on the other side of the bridge was wasting time burning the dead, that remains unknown.
Perhaps those monsters have ulterior motives.
With his right hand wielding a flaming iron chain and his left hand holding a fire axe, Niu Kun transformed once again into a demon spreading flames in the cool morning sea breeze, stepping onto the cross-sea bridge and continuing forward.
Large numbers of burning corpses became wailing remains in the fire, and burning cars became the backdrop. Niu Kun felt that the originally boring grinding game had suddenly become somewhat enjoyable, but it was a pity that the 'experience points' given by the corpses were still too few.
"Almost there, almost there, almost there... Hmm? That's..."
Niu Kun, who was about to smash through the cross-sea bridge in one breath, looked towards the battle taking place at the airport, paused for a moment, and then realized that it was the monster he had encountered that night... What kind of monster? Moreover, according to Nakaoka Asami's description, it seemed that the monster was also the one that slaughtered the survivors in the mall.
"Interesting. This time, I won't let you escape again."
Niu Kun hadn't expected that guy would relentlessly chase him all the way here. It seemed that his target was indeed him. Immediately, Niu Kun put away his fiery spiritual energy, then transformed into a running man, speeding through the horde of undead. He ignored those that didn't block his way, and eliminated those that dared to block his path with a chain or an axe.
"Damn it!"
Nanri Kaori gritted her teeth. She had clearly hit the undead monster, but it was not killed and seemed to be unaffected.
"It... hit!"
Pulling back the bolt, Nanri Kaori fired again, this time hitting the undead monster once more. The bullet passed through the monster's spine; if it were a normal creature, this shot would have broken its spine.
But the undead monster only rolled once on the ground, twisted a few times, and quickly recovered, allowing it to launch an attack again. As for ordinary submachine guns or pistols, the damage was negligible.
Perhaps it was the threat posed by Nanri Xiang that enraged the undead monster, which immediately abandoned its other targets and charged towards Nanri Xiang.
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Critical Point
"Asshole!"
Nanri Kaori fired another shot, but unfortunately, it missed this time. Nanri Kaori cursed inwardly, then quickly got up, abandoned the sniper rifle, and drew a pistol for self-defense, preparing for a final, desperate battle.
"The monsters from the other side of the bridge are charging over too?!"
Standing on a shipping container, Nan Lixiang turned around and saw Niu Kun rushing towards her again. She couldn't help but sigh. Suddenly, she felt that these two monsters were overestimating her, as they were both rushing towards her.
However, what surprised Nanrika even more was that the undead monster that had been rushing towards her suddenly slowed down, as if it was struggling and hesitating.
"what happened?"
Nan Lixiang felt a sense of doubt, but she quickly forgot about it. The bull-headed monster that had put away its flames was already upon her. Nan Lixiang's face tightened, and she raised her pistol, pointing it at Niu Kun.
A series of gunshots rang out, some bullets hitting Niu Kun and others hitting the ground, but Niu Kun only frowned and jumped onto the container. Before Nan Lixiang could change her magazine, Niu Kun lightly punched her in the abdomen.
Although Nan Lixiang had undergone extensive combat training, the absolute difference in their physical strength made her as weak as a child in front of Niu Kun. Any fighting skills were meaningless if she couldn't keep up with Niu Kun's speed and power.
Even though Niu Kun held back, Nan Lixiang was still completely unable to defend herself. The moment she was hit in the abdomen, Nan Lixiang felt as if she had been hit by a car. The intense pain spread from her abdomen to her whole body, her mind went blank, and she instantly lost all strength. She opened her mouth, coughed dryly, and curled up and fell down.
"Uh, did I use too much force? I hope I don't get killed."
However, Niu Kun didn't have time to check on Nan Lixiang's condition. The undead monster seemed to be trying to escape again. Niu Kun's muscles twitched violently, and several pistol bullets embedded in his chest were squeezed out.
Then Niu Kun jumped off the container and strode towards the undead monster. The undead monster stared intently at Niu Kun, its twisted muscles trembling slightly. Driven by some unseen force, the undead monster followed closely behind Niu Kun.
However, due to the remaining rationality within himself, he did not launch another attack on Niu Kun for a long time. The undead monster was not Komuro Takashi who had been resurrected. He was just a ghoul who inherited the body of the living Komuro Takashi. His fragmented memories of the past could not be pieced together into a complete consciousness, and he also lacked sufficient intelligence.
Its instinct is simply to devour more fresh flesh and blood to evolve itself, but the reason it was 'resurrected' and reshaped was to fight against the outsider Niu Kun, so it cannot go against its mission, but it is also instinctively afraid of Niu Kun.
So it tried to devour as much flesh and blood as possible to grow stronger and to delay the battle as much as possible, but unfortunately it could no longer dodge. When Niu Kun rushed over, the undead monster had no choice but to fight.
As their eyes met, a surge of killing intent suddenly erupted. Without much of a pointless exchange, both sides understood each other's purpose. There was no room for negotiation between them; only one could survive.
With a low growl, the undead monster lunged at Niu Kun, but Niu Kun swung his arm first, unleashing the still-warm iron chain. With a piercing whistling sound, the undead monster's body twisted like rubber, narrowly dodging the chain's blow.
But the undead monster that continued to pounce on Niu Kun was struck on the forehead by Niu Kun's axe. The fire axe, carrying tremendous force, slammed the undead monster directly to the ground.
The undead monster with an axe blade embedded in its forehead was not dead. Instead, it opened its mouth and stuck out its tongue. The sharp tongue pierced Niu Kun's ribs like an arrow, but Niu Kun did not change his expression and kicked the undead monster away.
At the same time, he swung the iron chain again, and after a swing, the chain wrapped around the undead monster. Then, Niu Kun used his arm to pull the undead monster back, spun it a few times in mid-air, and slammed it heavily onto the ground.
The concrete floor was smashed, and pebbles flew everywhere. The undead monster that was bound by iron chains was actually broken in two. Niu Kun was slightly stunned. Was it dead?
But then he saw the dead monster, which had been cut in two, sprout countless disgusting fleshy buds in the blink of an eye, and it instantly reconnected itself, breaking free from the chains. Before Niu Kun could react, it opened its mouth and bit at Niu Kun again.
"Tsk, wouldn't a physical attack work?"
Niu Kun snorted coldly, raised his right arm and let the undead monster bite him. Sharp fangs pierced through Niu Kun's tough demonic skin and muscles, but a more mocking and cold smile appeared on Niu Kun's face.
"If physical attacks don't work, then let's use some magic."
As his right arm was bitten, Niu Kun released the fire axe with his left hand, then spread his five fingers and, with a move called "Black Tiger Strikes the Heart," his fingertips pierced deeply into the corpse monster's chest.
A burst of flames appeared in an instant, but under Niu Kun's control, it stopped expanding outwards and instead compressed and gathered inwards as much as possible. However, Niu Kun's elemental control was still relatively limited at the moment.
But the undead monster, which was biting Niu Kun's right arm and had its chest pinned by Niu Kun, sensed something was wrong. The temperature inside and around its body was rising rapidly, the illusory flames were gradually solidifying, and its own flesh and blood were becoming ignition points.
The undead monster tried to struggle and escape, but Niu Kun held it tightly. Soon, flames spewed from the undead monster's mouth and nose, followed by its eyes and ears, and the flames burned fiercely from the inside out.
The air was filled with a burnt smell, and the struggles of the undead monster grew weaker and weaker. The scorching flames even burned through the undead monster's muscles, and even the exposed bones were ablaze.
Niu Kun looked at his left hand, which he had pulled out from the chest of the undead monster, with a slight puzzlement. In his palm was a ball of glass that was changing shape... well, it looked a bit like a freshly heated glass ball, about half the size of Niu Kun's thumb. And from within the 'glass ball', there seemed to be faint, shrill screams.
[The World Agent—the zombie Komuro Takashi—was killed by its host, causing a significant increase in the world's erosion level.]
[The world's erosion has reached a critical point; the labyrinthine ruins have begun to devour the inhabitants, and the host's control over the ruins is increasing.]
[Target defeated, initiating soul energy extraction!]
You have gained 100 points of Soul Energy!
You have obtained the Bronze-tier artifact [The Twisted Remnant Soul of the Undead]!
You have obtained the Bronze-tier artifact [The Undead's Charred Heart]!
"Not bad, not bad... This guy is Takashi Komuro, and he's given me another reward!"
Suddenly, Niu Kun felt a thought and subconsciously looked up at the sky. But before he knew it, a dark and gloomy cloud slowly appeared in the sky, and in the shadows, it seemed that countless blood-red demonic lightning bolts were churning in the cloud.
This world is dead, and it is destined for destruction.
The remnants of the ruins that Niu Kun had encountered when he first arrived in his mind flashed through his mind. This was a world where death was inevitable, but the manner of death would vary. And now it seemed that he was about to be devoured by the labyrinthine ruins.
Niu Kun shook his head slightly, holding the 'glass ball' containing twisted flames inside. He looked at the ground again. After being burned, only a small piece of flesh remained. It did look somewhat like the shape of a heart, but it was charred black, as if it would shatter at the slightest touch. However, it was not so fragile when held in his hand.
Chapter Thirty: Conclusion and Reconstruction
"What a pitiful protagonist! Not only was he killed twice, but his soul and flesh were also turned into strange materials."
Niu Kun sighed. He didn't have any ill feelings towards Komuro Takashi, but he also had no intention of giving up on the two materials. After all, one thing is one thing, and how could he lose something he had already obtained?
Then, Niu Kun received a notification from the ruins in his mind that the scheduled task had been completed and he could now leave the area ahead of schedule.
However, if Niu Kun wants to stay any longer, he can only wait until tomorrow morning at the latest, after which he must leave, because this is a world that is destined to be destroyed, and with the intervention and devouring of the labyrinth ruins, the destruction of this world will be brought forward.
A roaring sound came as two armed helicopters and a transport helicopter finally arrived, but they did not find the two reported monsters. However, the survivors at the airport told them that the two monsters had been engaged in a fierce battle, but the battle was over.
The victorious fire monster then left the airport with a surviving SWAT officer. The airport survivors hoped the military could help search for the monster. A transport helicopter landed first, and two armed helicopters quickly searched the road before reporting that they had not found any trace of the departing monster and prepared to return.
"Xiang! I'm so glad to see you're alright!"
Shizuka Marikawa excitedly rushed towards Rika Minami, who looked strange and surprised. Rika Minami had thought about many things, but she never expected to be alive and to see her friend under such circumstances.
"Um... Shizuka, I feel like it's a bit early to say it's nothing now, no, um, or rather, could you explain it to me?"
Nanri looked around at the group, and the sense of absurdity grew stronger. The biggest thing that the group had in common was that they were all women, and... they all seemed to be very beautiful.
Then, recalling how she had been captured alive by that ferocious monster, a very ominous guess welled up in Nanami Rika's mind. Could it be...? And then it was quickly confirmed by Marikawa Shizuka.
The fire monster that captured her was an extremely lecherous demon, and they were all... slave girls of that demon. Nanri Kaori's friend, Shizuka Marikawa, had also been violated by that demon long ago.
"But...you guys seem...okay, um..."
Nanri Saka scratched her head, unsure how to describe it. In short, she felt that this group of female slaves, who had been captured by all the monsters, was a bit strange, or rather, too normal, to the point that Nanri Saka felt something was very wrong.
He couldn't deal with Nanlixiang for the time being. With only one day left, Niu Kun planned to make the most of it and collect as many supplies as possible. He wasn't sure how long he would be staying at the maze ruins, so he wanted to take as much as he could.
Just as the helicopter arrived, Niu Kun had returned temporarily with Nan Lixiang and several guns they had picked up. After hearing the roar of the helicopter, he led the women to hide.
Niu Kun couldn't believe he could withstand the heavy firepower from the helicopters. Fortunately, the two armed helicopters only lingered there briefly before returning to the airport and parking, showing no intention of continuing the search.
Niu Kun then relayed his message to Saeko Busujima: once enough supplies were collected...
"...leave?"
Saeko Busujima was a little confused and wanted to ask for more details, but Niu Kun was already busy cutting grass again. He planned to kill a few more zombies before leaving.
[Soul energy is full; demonic bloodline evolution is possible.]
[Does the host wish to evolve into a demonic bloodline?]
"Yes."
[The evolution of the demonic bloodline has begun; the demonic bloodline is undergoing an advanced mutation!]
[Demon bloodline advancement and mutation complete! [Minotaur Demon] form abilities enhanced! Gained a bit of power and the mutated skill [Dominate Humans]!]
[Dominate Humans (Level 1): The host can cast a Dominate spell on humans and humanoid creatures once. The target should not exceed your own rank. If the Dominate spell is successful, the human will obey your commands for one hour (note that commands to commit suicide or self-harm have a very high probability of awakening the human from the Dominate state). However, if the spell fails, the target may launch a frenzied attack on you. This type of spell can only be cast once per day!]
[Host: Niu Kun]
Race: Minotaur.
Identity: Relic Inheritor.
Rank: Upper Second Tier.
Alignment: Lawful Evil.
Attributes: Strength 18, Agility 14, Constitution 16, Intelligence 11, Perception 14, Charisma 10.
Language: Abyss Language, Chinese.
Talents: Killing Soul Devourer, Combat Instinct, Labyrinth Recollection, Dark Vision, Fluid Enhancement.
Skills: Charge, Recklessness, Flame Aura (Level 3 [Elemental Change]), Dominate Humans (Level 1).
Family members: None.
Soul Energy: 17.3/600.
From day to night, Niu Kun only rested briefly and ate some food before leading the women to continue chasing the horde of undead. The changes in the sky became increasingly obvious, and even the women sensed something was wrong, causing panic to surge up again.
Niu Kun, unusually, stopped harassing them and instead continued killing the undead all night long, as if he had some irreconcilable hatred for them. He only stopped when it was dawn again.
"The time... is almost up. I can already feel the fragility of this world."
The erosion of the labyrinth ruins is accelerating the destruction of this world. Niu Kun couldn't help but sigh. He couldn't change anything, and could only bite off a piece of flesh from the dying world to fill himself, like a hyena.
It was early morning, but the gloomy sky was filled with a sense of oppression. Even ordinary people would have the realization that the end of the world had come, and a sense of sorrow would silently well up in their hearts.
"Is this world... really going to be destroyed? Then..."
Miyamoto Rei murmured listlessly, then subconsciously looked at Niu Kun, hoping to find hope in him. Not only Miyamoto Rei, but the other women also looked at Niu Kun one after another.
Saeko Busujima suddenly understood what Niu Kun meant by leaving yesterday. Perhaps Niu Kun really did have a way to escape this world on the verge of destruction. However, what about their relatives who hadn't been found yet...?
Faced with the expectant and eager gazes of the women, Niu Kun chuckled, appearing calm but deliberately remaining silent. Oh, right, even if he did speak, they wouldn't understand. As for continuing to search for people, Niu Kun had little interest.
After collecting another batch of supplies, Niu Kun waved his hand, and the outline of a huge bronze gate appeared, spreading a deep and mysterious aura.
"That is..."
"What..."
The women stared blankly at the bronze gate that had appeared out of thin air. Finally, urged by Niu Kun, they slowly started the Hummer, towing three small trucks loaded with supplies, and drove them slowly into the wide-open bronze gate.
[The world: Highschool of the Dead, has ended.]
[Mission: Increase World Erosion Level. Completed.]
[Reward: Labyrinth Ruins Control Level, calculated, increased from 0.001% to 0.01%.]