Fourfold Struggle
The notification sound chimed in his mind, confirming James's demise. Lucas let out a sigh of relief. Whether James succumbed to the agonizing pain of his burning flesh or the frozen ice choking his oxygen supply, Lucas wasn't sure which factor sent James to the afterlife. But if the notification sound arrived ahead of Lucy's observation, the former scenario was more likely.
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[Level 6 Mutated Human Killed, Awarding 60 Exp!]
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A sudden silence fell upon the scene.
"Well, isn't that anticlimactic?" Lucas quipped, breaking the tense atmosphere.
"Well, not for me," Lucy shot back.
Her response coaxed a brief chuckle from Lucas before he quickly composed himself.
"James didn't appear to have any special items on him, so steel skin must have been his skill," Lucas analyzed, nudging James's decaying corpse with his foot and cringing at the gruesome texture.
"Anyway, let's step out. Looks like James is dead, twice over. What are those group leaders up to, anyway?" Lucas mused, walking over to Lucy.
Lucy nodded in agreement, her need for sleep intensifying after the gunshot shock—though she was grateful for Lucas's swift reaction.
As they opened the door and stepped out, they were greeted by an unexpected sight.
"Well, hello there," Lucas greeted with a forced smile, facing the four group leaders who had gathered in front of the room.
"Lucy, fight!" Lucas suddenly cried out.
Reacting instantly, Lucy drew her weapon, ready for any threat. Lucas, wielding his dagger, charged at Thomas, recognizing him as the most formidable opponent. Eliminating Thomas seemed the most prudent course of action.
Thomas readied his cleaver knife and advanced as well, a chilling determination in his eyes. Lucas couldn't help but shiver at the thought of that blade cutting through him.
"Fire shield!" Lucas invoked, simultaneously lunging toward Thomas with his dagger aimed at the neck.
As Lucas closed the distance, Thomas stepped back and attempted to strike Lucas's fiery shield. Unfortunately for him, the shield held strong, deflecting the blow.
Recognizing the unyielding barrier encircling Lucas, Thomas reluctantly stepped back.
"Tyler, help me distract him!" he commanded, urging the leader of Group 2, who stood nearby.
Utilizing the moment Thomas sought assistance, Lucas swiftly drew his jian and lunged at Thomas. Unfortunately, the confined space they fought in limited their maneuverability. Lucas's attack met the wall as Thomas adeptly evaded the strike, simultaneously hammering his cleaver knife against the fiery shield, causing ripples in the orange barrier.
'Who even invented cleaver knives? This is getting ridiculous,' Lucas thought, anger mounting. While he had no qualms about killing another person, the fear of losing his life was a powerful motivator.
With the countdown of his thirty-second skill timer edging closer, Lucas stole a glance at Lucy. She was contending with the frozen adversaries nearby, and Lucas couldn't help but feel relieved. 'At least she's holding her own.'
"Hurricane spiral!" Lucas muttered; his words lost in the growing whirlwind he conjured. The wind swirled around him, merging with the cold gusts emerging from his ring.
Spotting the impending danger, Thomas attempted to evade, but Lucas was ready. "Fire blaze!" he exclaimed, and the flames erupted from his ring surged toward Thomas, engulfing him. 'You might have experience on your side, but I have my item ability—and hopefully, it counters yours,' Lucas reasoned.
Caught off guard by the sudden inferno, Thomas became engulfed in the blazing heat, his senses obscured by the flames and the agonizing pain. Swept up in the spiraling hurricane, he collided with Tyler, who had been incapacitated by the gusts and fire.
As the flames merged with the tumultuous vortex of the hurricane spiral, the searing pain coursed through Thomas, but he refused to betray weakness by crying out, even though the ordeal felt as though he had been struck by a truck.
Observing the crimson and orange spiral, Lucas marveled at Lucy's agility as she nimbly handled the approaching foes from the stairs.
"She's surprisingly fast," Lucas muttered, appreciating her contribution that granted him extra time to focus on Group Leaders 1 and 2. 'Thank goodness they don't possess item abilities.'
Shaking his head, he chided his envy for James's power. 'I don't even have a skill yet, and James was bestowed one—quite unfair for a man who spent his days holed up in a hotel.'
With resolve, Lucas strode toward the smoldering spiral, realizing that Thomas, having entered the flames later, could still be alive. The fire hadn't extinguished rapidly due to the vigorous winds, but its spread had expanded due to the influx of oxygen.
As the spiral's fury ceased, both men collapsed, their bodies battered by collisions with various surfaces. The painful burns, sustained for nearly half a minute, left Thomas groaning in agony as he endeavored to rise and reclaim his cleaver knife, intent on confronting the persistent teenage adversary.
Standing on the sidelines, Lucas seized the opportunity and swiftly brought down his jian, striking the man next to him right at the neck.
A sharp pain erupted at the base of Tyler's neck, causing him to falter and stumble forward toward the stairs. Desperation fueled his every step, his only desire being to escape. Glancing back, he caught sight of the boy standing behind him.
The four of them had been vying for James's position over the past few days, but the power of James's gun and the abilities he had gained on the first day rendered their blades and knives ineffective. Their plan had been to employ the children as a means to test James. Upon reaching the room after Ethan's summons, they had heard a horrific, ear-piercing scream, yet it was impossible to discern whether it belonged to James or the two children. So hoarse and thunderous was the sound.
Refusing to take any chances, Tyler refrained from entering James's office, instead choosing to wait and watch as the children emerged. He believed that compared to bullets; the children posed a negligible threat. What could a pair of inexperienced youngsters possibly do against them? Perhaps they had used some sneaky trick to eliminate James.
Tyler soon realized how gravely mistaken he was. It wasn't that the children were stronger than bullets; they were stronger than firearms. His thoughts had been misguided. The young boy, whose name Tyler barely knew, flung his dagger at him with precision.
A surge of fear engulfed Tyler. He hurriedly attempted to evade the impending impact, his pace quickening. The excruciating pain radiated through his body, and his injuries were searing, reminiscent of molten flesh. There was no time to calculate a strategic avoidance; the hallway's confines were limiting.
In a sudden blur, a sharp agony struck the back of his head, causing his body to convulse and jerk involuntarily. His scream echoed through the hallway as he crumpled to the ground.
Lucas surveyed the aftermath of the battle, observing the lifeless bodies of the men Lucy had engaged. She stood before the stairs, wielding her katana and fending off the approaching foes.
"Her skill is remarkably effective in crowded situations," Lucas commented to himself, walking toward Thomas, who lay sprawled on the floor, glaring at him with undisguised hatred.
It appeared that Thomas was unable to stand any longer. Meeting Lucas's gaze, he eventually averted his eyes, lowering them to his knee. While caught in the vortex of the spiraling wind, his cleaver knife had spun about, and in the process, had inadvertently sliced his knee joint multiple times before the tempest subsided.
Despite the pain coursing through his body, he resolutely remained upright, refusing to crawl like an animal. Before he stood the boy, a clear understanding of the situation prevented the boy from immediately ending his life.
"What is it that you want?" Thomas asked, his voice a hoarse echo akin to a dying horse's call.
The boy's inquiry hit Thomas as expected, and he braced himself for the line of questioning.
"So, you guys' resort to consuming human flesh?" Thomas anticipated this inquiry as well.
"What of it? Does it really matter?" he retorted.
"It matters," the boy affirmed.
Thomas's cynical reply followed suit. "Do you wish to sample it?"
"Not at the moment."
"Ah, so you're tempted as well?"
"I won't yield now. I can't guarantee my stance in the future. However, our food supplies are still ample. Why did your group turn to cannibalism?"
"Why not?" Thomas countered, spitting at Lucas in defiance.
His saliva landed halfway between them, collecting on the floor.
An oppressive silence hung over their exchange, punctuated only by the sound of footsteps approaching. With the boy positioned behind him, Thomas was compelled to turn his head. His gaze settled on a young girl draped in a white robe, steadily making her way toward them. His vision then flitted to the morbid tableau that followed her—mountains of crimson-drenched corpses, their forms intertwined in macabre patterns across the floor.
A weary exhalation escaped him. His pride lay shattered, overshadowed by the stark reality of death that surrounded him. He found himself bereft of escape routes.
Admitting defeat, he beseeched, "Just end me."
"First, tell me the reason for your cannibalism. And is your group the only one involved?" the boy inquired.
"We were the sole perpetrators. James was a former cop. I used to work as a butcher. Ethan owned this hotel. Tyler practiced law." He sighed, eyes flickering to a frozen corpse. "Chris, the brains of our operation, has proven that even intellect falters against freezing."
The boy's voice carried disbelief. "So your group embraced cannibalism even before the apocalypse?"
"Yes. What's the difference? Humans consume meat; this is no exception."
"In that case, how does Sarah's child fit into your depravity?"
"The girl?" he echoed.
"Yes."
"She stumbled upon us," Thomas responded.
Lucy had been silently absorbing the conversation. Having heard enough, she interjected abruptly, "You deal with him; I'm worn out." She then proceeded downstairs, driven by the need to check on Sarah.