"Zombies!" gritted Jake.
However, the zombies he was currently looking at didn't get bitten by a zombie to turn to one.
Instead, they drank a pill that transformed them into one.
This transformation made Jake realize that there was something bigger in play.
The "zombie potion" was definitely not known by the upper class of Aztec. In fact, Jake could bet the King had no idea of it.
Yet, here it was, something that defied logic.
'Hmmm….,' Jake noticed another abnormality.
In contrast to zombies not being able to manipulate [Spirit Essence], these zombies in front of him could as he currently see the senior zombie conjuring up a large ball of flame!
*Bwah!*
The flame was thrown with an astounding speed just two times slower than Jake's speed.
However, the lethality was not in the speed. It was in the burning presence it had!
Seeing the flame up close, its radiance blinded his eyes as Jake ducked nevertheless.
His clothes caught on the flame as it ignited causing Jake to look like a beacon of light.
He was about to put off the flame when he sensed the familiar [Finger Guns] being shot in his direction!
*Pa!* *Pa!* *Pa!*
This time, the [Finger Guns] were much faster than they were previously. Jake could barely find a loophole in the formation as he danced like a snake.
After escaping the attack, the flames on his clothes died out due to the speed of his evasion.
Once again, the tunnel descended into darkness as the zombies stopped using their [Spirit Essence].
Gazing in the direction of perceived hazard, Jake analyzed, 'There are no ordinary zombies, and by that, I don't mean special zombies. They are different from that, in that they are able to wield [Spirit Essence].'
His eyes grew colder as he found out something strange, 'Worst, it seems like they are able to retain their intelligence----'
Jake instantly went on as his sixth senses noticed a small disturbance bulldozing its way to his direction.
He got in his stance, trying to take it by surprise and finish this once and for all.
In the darkness, he pictured the disturbance, most likely a zombie, one foot away from him.
He tried to choose a finishing attack move, but decisively chose something else as he didn't know which zombie it was, and that would affect the accuracy of his attack!
Also, the zombie kept running in his direction, it didn't stop, which indicated that he could somehow sense Jake.
'Their sense of smell!' figured out Jake.
Zombies were known for their incredible sense of smell. It was way better than the heightened sense of smell cultivators acquired.
It was definitely enough to pick out Jake's smell and work on that.
*Whew!*
The moment the zombie got within his vicinity, Jake bent low and swept his feet around in a circle.
*Bang!*
His leg tripped the zombie, but it also got injured as the strength of just the zombie's barefoot was immense.
This made Jake wonder what the hell was happening.
This was the umpteenth time everything didn't follow the rules of logic.
Newly turned zombies, no matter their previous lives' strength, would only possess the strength of a [Realm-0] cultivator.
Yet, this particular zombie could best him in terms of physical strength. Even worse, the zombie had greater strength than their previous state as human beings.
Probably, this was why the senior turned the both of them into zombies, just so they can have the required strength to end the long battle.
Jake sighed as he started to get headaches, 'F*ck! It will soon deactivate.'
Knowing this, he activated the full ability of his [Akashic Eye] and tried to end this.
With clear composure, he looked sideways as he saw [Finger Guns] shot at him again.
Despite that, with his full abilities, the bullets came in slow motion to him.
Jake ignored it as he grabbed the already recovering zombie, which was revealed to be the senior zombie, and punch him in the chest with his sore muscles, still managing to blast it away temporarily.
Following his attack, the [Finger Guns] had already gotten within a hairbreadth distance from him.
Without looking, Jake bent in a strange way and all the bullets went past him. Previously, he had already memorized the new formation of the attack, so he was able to find a loophole without even looking at it.
Using pure speed, he waltzed to the junior zombie, still with a hole in his chest, and punched its face.
Black blood splattered on his body as the attack went through.
While fighting, he sensed a disturbance in the air behind him and reacted quickly.
Jake coiled around the junior zombie. He held it by the neck, using his nimble finger to lock its head up.
*Roar!*
By the time Jake was done, a large red flame was breathed in his direction. The attack resembled a dragon's breath of flame as the red fire became unceasing and constantly burnt what the senior zombie thought was Jake, but actually the junior zombie.
The intensity of the flames was made clear to Jake who arms and fingers were not spared from it. The flames burned his exposed parts like a barbecue.
Feeling the impossible pain, in time, Jake released his arms from locking the junior zombie and just hid behind it, using it as a shield.
The attack went on for what could be counted as three full minutes before it stopped, leaving the decayed skin of the junior zombie charred and left vulnerable.
Not wasting his time, Jake used the opportunity to take down the junior zombie. He weakly hit the head of the zombie and it broke apart from its body.
Counting his every minute, Jake blitzed in the direction of the senior zombie. He didn't need his sixth sense to tell me its direction. He just had to trace the angle of the attack and viola! He had it!
While running, he ruminated, 'The junior zombie was way weaker than previous self. It felt more like a zombie. Something is off with the senior zombie, and I have a guess....'
It didn't take him more than three seconds to find the senior zombie. It laid on the ground, weak and feeble, possibly due to its last attack.
Seeing its state already confirmed Jake's conjecture, 'In truth, it was not actually a zombie, at least, not a full one….'
He walked up slowly to the tiresome zombie still bound by the limits and restrictions of the human body.
Staring coldly at it in the eyes, he placed his hand on its chest and felt a warm heartbeat that was slowly dwindling.
'It is a hybrid! The potion was to turn him into a hybrid, making it regain the qualities of both sides. However, it didn't work for the junior as it was already dead,' smiled Jake.
He had first had his guess when he attacked the senior zombie. His attack had displayed the zombie's red blood which was highly unusual as zombies have black blood, not red blood.
'But this is not successful! Zombification has a side effect. It slowly devours the human side of the zombie and also kills it. So, one, it would become a full zombie. Two, after time, it would die due to not being able to stabilize its zombie state. Hahahaha, interesting.'
The second time he had attacked the senior zombie, it showed dark-red blood, different from its previous red blood, leaning toward the black spectrum.
That was when he knew that the transformation was still going on, and it had not yet reached the end.
When Jake fought the junior zombie, it felt weakened and died rather too fast. This denoted that it was already dying before, as zombies are known for their tenacity. If a zombie didn't have that, then it wasn't a zombie!
After his assessment, Jake balanced on his broken foot. After the fights he had gone through, it was only getting worse and worse.
He held his right leg and stamped the chest of the defenseless senior zombie who was already in a state of deficit.
*BOOM!*
The finishing attack broke past the defenses of the body and destroyed the senior zombie's heart.
Not wanting to waste any more time, he positioned his right leg at the head of the zombie and smashed it! Destroying both the human part and the zombie part of the senior zombie.
Looking at the disgusting scene, Jake smiled, 'It is over!'
He had only won due to perseverance and wit which was just a few levels above the dead corpses.
He went to the location of the energy crystal and fell beside it while managing to turn it on, brightening the tunnel.
He smiled as he understood what was happening, 'I have also entered the state of deficit.'
The state of deficit was a term in the cultivation world used that represented what happens to a cultivator when he goes beyond his energy limit.
For example, the senior zombie used an attack he didn't have the required energy for. The attack was successful, but he was left vulnerable and paralyzed.
In Jake's case, he had monitored his energy consumption, but he still entered the state of deficit. This was because Jake had fought multiple times. One should not forget that Jake was a [Realm-1] cultivator.
If even a [Realm-2] cultivator was pushed by the long and strenuous battles to a state of deficit, what say him?
The senior zombie was probably hoping to finish the battle as he would enter the state of deficit if the battle prolonged. All the while, he was dishing all sorts of fiery attacks, so such outcome was due.
Laughing in his head, Jake mocked the state of his body as his [Akashic Eye] de-activated!
It had also gone past its limit, staying for a total of twenty minutes!
The moment it de-activated, the side-effect, in the form of massive headaches and a slurry mind claimed him as he lost consciousness.
Body and mind. Collapsed.