Another grenade?
When Lucius walked up to the fifth floor, he saw that the horde of zombies was blown to pieces. There were charred limbs and blood everywhere on the floor. Flames were burning on a few spots, telling him what had caused all of this. The horde of frenzied zombies was defeated in a short time while the rest wandered aimlessly through the corridor as if they were stuck. Had these zombies eaten everyone in this hospital?
But Lucius immediately had his answers.
"Not all…"
Lucius continued his search in the hallway that was covered in flames. He knew a person caused this. Finding this person and killing him was his plan. Lucius remembered the smell of Sun Qi's blood, even if he ran far away, Lucius would be able to track him. But the thing was, he didn't know the details about the sniper.
Lucius sniffed the scent of fresh blood in the air, distinguishing it from the scent of zombies' decaying blood. It's human blood.
Lucius stood in front of the door of the surgical equipment management room. Here it is!
Lucius' hand rested on top of the doorknob and twisted it. But instead of pushing the door open, he took a step back and stepped to the side. Manipulating the blood to open the door.
Bang!
Sure enough. The bullet left a hole on the corridor wall at the moment the door was pushed open. After making sure the shot was fired, Lucius stood in the doorway to peek into the room.
"Hmm... it's just a mechanism?" Lucius looked at the SVD that was placed on the table. There was a simple mechanism, with a rope tied to the trigger of the SVD and the other end attached to the door handle. When the door was pushed open, the gun would automatically pull the trigger and shoot in the direction of the door, depending on how hard the door was pushed open.
Originally, Lucius had planned to throw a high explosive grenade into this room, but when he saw that the room was empty, he changed his plan.
When Lucius walked into the room to look closer, Qi Tiexin was hiding on the ceiling, at the corner of the walls like a spider.
Now! Qi Tiexin leaped into Lucius' back. As a battle-hardened sheriff, his combat experience was far more superior than Lucius. He strangled Lucius' neck from behind with both of his hands.
Under a D-ranked Esper's power, an ordinary person would've died from a broken neck. But a guy who could walk casually among zombies was certainly not an ordinary person.
Qi Tiexin didn't dare to underestimate his opponent and used his full strength to lock Lucius' neck so he couldn't breathe. He would die from being strangled.
No way!
Lucius's scarlet eyes flickered. Suddenly, Qi Tiexin felt a sharp pain in his chest as if his heart was pricked by countless needles, loosening up his grasp.
At this moment, Lucius grabbed Qi Tiexin's arms and directly slammed the tall, 1.9-meter man with an over-the-shoulder slam. Slamming him down on top of the ground with a heavy thud. Lucius didn't stop there. He stomped on Qi Tiexin's head that had fallen to the ground. But the man blocked it with his arms. The ground around them cracked and crumbled as it couldn't withstand Lucius' immense strength. As a mid-rank vampire, his strength was magnified fivefold of a normal human. His power was no joke! But the opponent wasn't a normal person either. Qi Tiexin roared, his hands directly blocked Lucius' attacks. His muscles tensed up as hard as a rock.
Lucius was caught off guard by Qi Tiexin's sudden outburst of power and crashed into the wall behind him. The tall man immediately stood up, taking his opportunity to land a punch straight towards Lucius' head. This guy… he's no joke!
Lucius held out his hands in front of him as Qi Tiexin's fist pounded into his body. Shortly after, Lucius heard the sound of his bones cracking.
"You're a physical enhanced Esper?"
He could feel Qi Tiexin's power from the exposed muscles.
"Hmph! Whatever monster you are, you'll be dead today!" Qi Tiexin's fighting skills were far superior to Lucius'. The vampire was completely unskilled against a battle-hardened sheriff.
He could win! He was determined to fight with Lucius to death. But after seeing Lucius was cornered by his attack, he had a glimmer of hope! This weird guy wasn't that terrifying as he looked! He just could move freely among the zombies! I could win! Qi Tiexin roared again, taking advantage of the situation to corner Lucius. After he defeated him, he could join his wife and son and left this cursed city!
"Die!!!!"
Qi Tiexin had cornered Lucius, and he swung down again with a straight punch towards Lucius. But Lucius, who had been struggling to resist Qi Tiexin's attack, turned his head sideways just like when he was dodging Qi Tiexin's bullet. Ultimately dodging his inevitable punch.
The heavy fist struck the wall, shattering the entire wall.
Qi Tiexin's eyes radiated a vicious light, met up with Lucius's scarlet eyes.
He's a monster?
Lucius glanced at the way Qi Tiexin had shattered the wall, and then at his pant breaths.
"I say... Are you an Esper?" Lucius' lips cracked open, displaying his terrifying shark-like teeth. "You're protecting someone, right? That's why you stopped running and came to fight me."
So what if it's true?! Qi Tiexin was a hundred percent sure that he could stop this monster! Even kill him! This is the only way, after that, he could leave with his wife.
"I won't let you hurt anyone, monster!"
Qi Tiexin's breath was already starting to get irregular. He was very annoyed by Lucius, a guy with a weird body scent.
"This is really great, will they consider you a hero?"
"Shut up!"
Qi Tiexin launched an attack at Lucius once again. He had to finish this monster quickly. Only then could he leave and live out a normal life with his wife and son. Full of hope, Qi Tiexin's movement became reckless. But not long after, he noticed Lucius' hands were suddenly covered in fresh blood.
Whose blood was that? Qi Tiexin's eyes widened, unable to believe what he saw.
"Hey.. did you know?" A mocking smile appeared on Lucius' face as he showed his bloody hands to Qi Tiexin. "Only mourning awaited a hero's death."
"Wha...what?"
Qi Tiexin lowered his head in horror and discovered that a bloody hole appeared from his chest where his heart originally was. And what Lucius had in his hands were Qi Tiexin's beating heart!
A D-rank physical enhanced Esper was only about six times as strong as an ordinary human, his flesh was as hard as a steel plate. But Lucius was a vampire, his sharp nails weren't just for show. For him, steel was not much different from paper.
This sheriff underestimated him, or he was getting impatient to protect someone and catch up with something. Under Lucius' pitying gaze, Qi Tiexin's tall body collapsed weakly to the ground. A large amount of blood sprayed from his chest.
"How pathetic, hero." The crimson heart in Lucius's hand was crushed and burst. Blood stained Lucius's body.
Humans had always been like this. Any faith, persistence, and morality could only become words stuck inside their throat before death.
What faith, what perseverance, what virtue, in the face of death could only turn into a few words stuck inside their throats. Survival is the most important thing. Why bother caring about others?
"On this doomsday, one target is down."
Lucius cleaned the blood on his body. Now, it's time to go to retrieve his little prey that had escaped.
The dead were always forgotten. But Lucius didn't receive the system notification of despair point he gained yet. Maybe because he wasn't desperate before he died. But when Lucius turned around to leave the room, he found that the human wasn't dead!
"What?!" Lucius looked down at the original body that had fallen to the ground and lost its heart!
"I...won't let you take another step... "Qi Tiexin used the last ray of strength he had in his life to grab Lucius's foot. And with his other hand, he took out a grenade and pulled the safety pin!
Wait, this can't be serious. A human body couldn't move after their vital organ is destroyed. But this man… Why is he still able to move?!
Just why?!!
Lucius saw Qi Tiexin smiled eerily. His eyes filled with vengeance, bloodied as he looked at the monster in front of him.
"I won't allow you to leave this place! Let's die together, monster!"
He growled, and the grenade in his hand exploded.
I'm sorry… Rui Er…
The moment flames engulfed him, he wanted to see Lucius' panic look. But… Why was he still laughing?!
Facing the grenade explosion that would blow him up to pieces, Lucius laughed. He laughed joyfully.
Boom!
Flames swept the entire corridor, everything in the surgical prep room was destroyed by the violent explosion. The room was reduced to rubble as the fire spread. Leaving the room in a miserable state with broken glass and tiles, as well as charred marks.
After the explosion was over.
"How pathetic."
A membrane made of a large amount of blood surrounded Lucius's body, protecting him from all the damage from the earlier explosion.
[Blood Shield]
Summoning blood to form a shield strong enough to partially deflect attacks. One time use exchange price was 5.000 despair points.
"You just killed five thousand people with one grenade."
The blood that surrounded Lucius turned into liquid and splashed to the ground. Qi Tiexin's body was charred like charcoal with a piece of flesh still burning, but most of him was incinerated by the flames.
"It's kind of pricey."
Lucius flicked the blood on his body. His clothes were in a miserable state, dirty and torn. Even though he was a vampire, he liked a clean look.
[System detected that the host has killed a Level-2 life form. 7.000 despair points will be rewarded.]
"Huh?" Lucius heard a sudden reward notification in his head. "What's going on? There's extra rewards for killing Espers and Exorcists?"
[Correct. Higher life forms were harder to exterminate. Hence, extra points will be rewarded for killing threatening evolved life forms.]
"Esper." Lucius looked at the flame that engulfed the room, "Your death brought me merits." Lucius looked at the incinerated corpse that was still smoking. Even after death, he still clung to Lucius' feet.
"Uhhh!" A zombie outside the door was drawn by the blood. It noticed the flaming corpse on the floor, about to devour the corpse. Soon, the corpse would transfer into the zombie's stomach.
....
Bang!
A gunshot rang out, and the brain of the zombie that walked into the door burst open. Its body collapsed next to the door.
Lucius held the SVD, his finger still on the trigger, the gun smoking. Lucius threw the gun at the corpse, looking at how he was being incinerated by the fire instead of being eaten by the zombies.
He silently walked out of the room that was going to be consumed by the fire. Closed the door, scanned the hallway, and tore off his burnt clothes.
"Now, it's time to take care of my escaping little prey."
Lucius spent three points of despair to exchange a jet-black jacket with a hood. After putting it on, he put on the hood and headed upstairs. Under the hood's shadow, Lucius' eyes glowed with looming excitement.
...….
I made it!
Sun Qi simply wanted to cheer! After he arrived on the roof, a government helicopter sent to rescue him landed on the roof. Now, the helicopter was hovering over the hospital. From the helicopter, Sun Qi watched another helicopter rising from the hospital below. If he remembered correctly, that helicopter should be taking the sheriff's wife, right?
Although he didn't know where the sheriff had gone, Sun Qi was now full of joy and couldn't help but giggle. Damn, finally, he could escape this hellish place.
Sun Qi had a sense of superiority when soaring from the helicopter. He looked at the zombies roaming the streets below. And the fleeing humans on the streets below.
I've been saved...
I'm a survivor! At last, I escaped from that monster!
While scanning the chaotic city scenery below, Sun Qi suddenly saw another dark figure emerge from the hospital's roof.
Who was that? Did some idiot was late for the rescue team? Just when Sun Qi was gloating, his smile suddenly froze because he locked eyes with someone.
Lucius took his hoodie to the hospital roof and watched as the helicopters flew around the city. There were about dozens of them constantly transporting survivors and helping them escape the city.
That's not right. They shouldn't run away. Lucius stood at the edge of the roof. Looking up at the two helicopters hovering above the hospital.
When Sun Qi met Lucius' eyes, his body froze. Fear kept spreading from the bottom of his heart. But what can he do? Even if he was powerful, he couldn't hit the sky, right?
I'm saved!
"I'm saved, monster! You can't touch me now!" Sun Qi, proud of himself, shouted loudly at Lucius, which was ineffective because his voice was drowned by the loud helicopter engine noise. But from his gesture, Lucius could comprehend what Sun Qi was saying.
Saved? Even if you dream, there's a limit to that dream, human… Lucius spread out his hands. His eyes glowed under the shadow of his hoodie, giving Sun Qi a diabolic smile.
No… it's impossible, right? I'm in a helicopter now. There's no way he could hurt me! No way! Sun Qi comforted himself. But suddenly…
What is that thing? Sun Qi suddenly noticed a large amount of jet-black flocks appeared from around Lucius. They continuously emit loud sharp noises! That's a crow's cry!
Suddenly, a large number of crows appeared around Lucius, their raven feathers fluttered down around Lucius. Under Lucius' command, these crows let out sharp cries and rushed towards Sun Qi's helicopter!
[Summon Flock of Crows]
Summon a large number of crows from the underworld to gather around the host.
Exchange cost 5.000 despair points, one-time use.
Another 5.000 lives in exchange for the ability.
Lucius didn't just intend to kill Sun Qi alone as the number of crows was in the hundreds. A few crows controlled by Lucius plunged into the helicopter's propellers without any fear of death. Blood splattered everywhere, and the helicopter lost its balance.
The same thing happened with the helicopter that Sun Qi was in.
It's impossible… I've escaped!
As the helicopter descended from the sky, Sun Qi's heart was filled with despair for a moment.
I'm clearly... escaping...
Boom!
A violent explosion caused by the helicopter hitting the building lit up the night sky.
[Gain 5 Despair Points]
After receiving this notification, Lucius confirmed Sun Qi's death. But that wasn't the end. "Running away is not good, you all…" Lucius stretched out his hand. The flocks of crows under Lucius's control did their old trick of rushing into the helicopter's propellers at the cost of their own lives. Causing dozens of helicopters to go out of control, crash into tall buildings, or plummet to the ground with black smoke.
Explosions rang out all over the city, breaking through the silent night.
Am I setting off fireworks? Lucius tilted his head.
"This should be considered splendid fireworks show."
Lucius spread his hands once again. The rest of the flocks continued to search for the rescue helicopter that was attempting to rescue the survivors from the city. Explosions after explosions, the despair points Lucius gained began to rise steadily accompanied by the humans who had been filled with hope, but that hope eventually turned into despair. The small number of crows still allowed a few helicopters to fly to the edge of the city without any hindrance. And one of them seemed to have taken off from this hospital.
But Lucius didn't have the time to bring down every helicopter. After admiring the splendid firework show. Lucius overlooked the city perimeter from the hospital roof.
Lucius was originally a blood-sucking vampire rejected by humans. So, of course, he didn't dare to live in the heart of the city. That's why he lived on the outskirts of the city. He could clearly see how the New Federation of China blocked off the access around the city perimeter.
So this was at the edge of the city.
With his vampire eyesight. Lucius could barely see the 10-meters high wall made of steel. A few lights shone above the wall, along with some figures that looked like armed soldiers. And some heavy armored vehicle below to guard it. The zombies who approached them were immediately shot.
"Tch…"
These were the reasons that prevented the Black Light virus from spreading to other cities. Lucius ticked his fingers a little impatiently. The surviving crows gathered in a clump, trying to break out of the city. But as soon as the black clouds made of crows almost reached the city perimeter, bullets came shooting at them. A large number of guns were focused on taking down the crows. They were just ordinary crows, not immune to bullets. Within a few seconds, the remaining hundreds of crows were all shot down and fell from the sky.
Human forces were strong in times like this, especially when they were united. But… no matter what, Lucius had to break through that wall as soon as possible to let the Black Light Virus spread. Breaking the blockade means he will earn more despair points. The despair points that Lucius possessed now were 10.073 points.
Lucius stood on the roof and kept looking at the wall that blocked the way out. The wall was the only thing blocking the virus right now. After that, Lucius glanced on the street, filled with a horde of zombies chasing Humans who survived the helicopter crash. They tried to run away, but the zombies caught them easily. Slamming them to the ground before tearing their body apart, chewing their flesh. The zombie roar was heard all over the city. But a single bullet could finish them. This was a drawback of the normal zombies infected by the Black Light virus.
Lucius recalled the scenery with the Hunter. The Hunter alone could overturn an entire barrack. Human firearms had no effect on it. He was only injected with a portion of the serum. Then… What if the full dose of the Black Light virus was injected into a human's body? Lucius had a malicious idea in his head. No dilution, or decreasing the dose. A complete full dose of the virus!
"I found something interesting..." a surviving raven waved its wings and landed on Lucius's finger as he raised his hand. "System... exchange me another sample of the Black Light Virus."
Lucius planned to build a few more monsters. The current zombies were far from being a catastrophe for humans.