"I want to try heading north. An unusually large army was placed in the north. If the underground city wasn't there, it's probably because it has to keep an eye on something very important."
"Maybe it's Algrad."
"Algrad?"
"I'm not sure. I've heard that Atezia used to have a holy city as a religious center, but now it's in the Revarent region."
"I don't know what's there, but let's stop by and take a look. It won't be a waste of time."
They agreed on that and both headed north, where Genevieve believed Algrad was located.
**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**
Most of the Revarent territory, if not the wastelands filled with dead trees, was dominated by a large swamp area. Sonata and Genevieve found it more difficult to find wild animals and Devals for supplies compared to the West. This was partly due to the fact that the animals here had also become Undead.
Genevieve, who had gone out to fetch water, was almost attacked by a zombie wolf. She stared at it for a long time, too scared to move, but before it could rush in and gnaw her throat, Sonata emerged and kicked one of them until its head was knocked off, chasing away the rest.
He looked at the trembling Genevieve and went to comfort her, hugging her tightly. He had brought her with him partly to alleviate the loneliness of traveling alone, but he also enjoyed playing the hero in situations like this.
However, he knew that these reasons alone were not enough to justify bringing her along, especially since she had no fighting abilities. He wanted her to see more of the world, but for her safety, she should stay away from him.
But similar incidents kept happening, and Sonata was able to save her every time, bringing them closer together.
While passing through a small village, Sonata and Genevieve spotted a man, a woman, and a boy acting suspiciously. They immediately guessed that the three were trying to sneak out of the village. However, as everyone knows, Revarents are not merely zombies, so it's not safe to attempt an escape in the morning.
All three of them were being chased by imps. Although these small devals are less than half the height of a human and have wings, tails, and childish, unattractive appearances, they become doubly dangerous when they group together. If the three villagers were left alone, they would become prey for these imps.
"Let's help them," said Genevieve as she pulled out her knife and prepared to use it. It was a knife that Doc had given her for self-defense, but she had never had a chance to use it. Surprisingly, she felt more confident in herself. Perhaps it was because she had underestimated the Imps who looked like children.
When she rushed over, Sonata could not stop her in time. But when he saw that Genevieve was able to kill the first one, he thought that she had finally succeeded in protecting both herself and others for the first time. So he let her continue taking care of the Imps.
They were not as strong as expected. Sonata could kill each one with a single attack. He tried to cover up the traces of the battle using only the nearby stone fragments as weapons. A few moments later, a whole herd of about thirty imps had been massacred.
"Poor position," Sonata said as he looked up at the darkening sky. The stench of the little devals' blood would attract the undead here, and it would not be a good thing.
"Thank you guys so much. Our family will never forget this kindness," said one of the grateful survivors.
"So where do we go next?" asked Genevieve as she held them back, seeing that everyone had finished thanking them and prepared to continue their journey.
"Don't mess with him," Sonata warned Genevieve. "You must take care of your own life. The fact that we risked showing up to help is enough."
The torrential rain failed to wash away the smell of blood. On the contrary, it spread all over. Sonata had agreed with the family, consisting of a father, mother, and three children, that he would only help them leave the area after Genevieve urged him to continue helping if possible.
As the sun was obscured, the undead began to move. Some sprang up from the ground where they had been hiding, while others appeared seemingly out of nowhere, as if they had emerged in the pouring rain.
"Erfez!" the mother screamed, pointing to a large zombie in the distance. The three children were so frightened that they ran in the opposite direction. Genevieve yelled for them to stop, but it was no use.
"That's not a normal zombie," Sonata said. Not only was it a few times the size of a normal person, but he could also sense that it had special powers.
An anti-matter gun was fired, and an enormous energy shot precisely through the body of the special zombie. The upper half of its body was so shattered that not even the remnants could be seen. However, the lower half of its body continued to move forward.
Sonata prepared to aim and shoot the remaining half of its body, but then he saw that there were many hordes of zombies appearing behind it. With such a large number, he should have been alerted earlier. This gave him confidence that they had just emerged in an unusual way.
"Let's escape," Genevieve grabbed Sonata's arm, but he smirked with joy. He was looking at a picture of a special type of zombie merging with other zombies.
"This guy is devouring another zombie," he said, pointing at Erfez, who was not only regaining his perfect form but growing bigger with eerie speed.
From a height of just a few times that of a normal human being, it now towered over Mantodiavas. But it didn't stop there. Its body continued to engulf the other zombies like an endless thirst.
Zoommm
The gun was fired several more times, shattering its body. Both its arms and legs were scattered to shreds before reuniting in the blink of an eye. Sonata was not alarmed, as the revived fragments were obtained from the flesh of the corpses that had been drawn to compensate.
The part that was fired upon by the gun until the sublimation could not be returned as well, showing that its recovery was not without limitations.
Genevieve stood trembling in fear. She should have run away, but she could not because Sonata had not retreated a single step. He continually fired, focusing on blocking its movement. Even though the gun beeped and sent out a red light, he did not stop.
Erfez rushed in, but was immediately pushed back. It fluctuated in size, becoming smaller and larger in response to the alternating attacks and absorption of the undead. Sonata had already counted two thousand zombies that had been consumed, but their numbers showed no signs of decreasing. He estimated that there might be even more Undead behind the special zombies, possibly up to ten thousand.
Genevieve fought as hard as she could, dispatching any Undead that came close with the knives that Doc had created. Although they appeared to be normal knives, like the Replica Frakarian Sword made by Devan, they had hidden gimmicks. In addition to their sharp blades, they could generate UV light specifically for combating the Undead.
"It's going to overheat," Sonata remarked in response to the non-stop screaming of his gun. The enormous power of the gun was not suitable for use with a handgun like this, and the more it was used, the more it exceeded its limits.
"You're the ones who came with the giant ships in the sky!" A deep, low voice resounded, emanating from a giant figure attempting to rush straight in.
"You can talk too," Sonata grinned, his fingers still ringing on the trigger.
"Zombies shouldn't have this level of intelligence," Genevieve paled, having never seen anything as terrifying as this before.
"I am Erfez, the greatest creation of Dark Jester. Don't compare me to normal zombies," said the giant creature.
"It's not that different from a normal one," Sonata remarked, reaching into his jacket. He retrieved a round, flat bomb, unfastened it, and threw it.
Three short-range neutronium bombs landed on the ground, causing many zombies to disappear. However, it did not end there; the detonated bombs remained afloat and exploded again, repeatedly bombing the horde of zombies that had rushed in. Erfez was the only one who knew to stop running, but the others were unable to halt their momentum.
Despite their vast numbers, the zombies were eventually destroyed by the bombs that continued to explode until their enormous numbers were reduced. Sonata then switched to the low-power mode of his gun and began to pick off the remaining zombies one by one with his precision shooting skills.
Seeing this, Erfez realized that the tide had turned. The reserve would soon run out, and Sonata would be able to deal with it easily.