"Well then, better get going."
After I left Mia, I tried to find the girls and the brute.
At this distance, I could no longer see either. In this darkness, I didn't even know how to spot a flying gorilla going faster than the speed of sound.
The ground was still littered with burning corpses, so at least I knew the direction to go.
"{Endure}."
I began running at full speed with Red on my shoulder. After about a minute of running, I lifted my gun and pointed it behind me. Right now, due to {Carry}, I weighed only a quarter of what I used to. Fifty lbs. was about the weight of a five- or six-year-old.
Feeling that I could give myself a little boost, I then began firing the 1911 blindly behind me.
The repeated gunfire pushed me forward. Normally, this would not work. But if you were in motion, the softest nudge could affect your direction and speed. I didn't know if what I did helped, but if it did, I wouldn't mind.
"BROAAAOAARRRRRR"
I then heard an extremely loud crash, along with a very bloodthirsty roar. Preparing for the worst, I scanned the horizon with {Perceive}.
"Shit, having 10x would be amazing right now. {Reload}," I complained.
The 1911 continued to fire round after round. Due to {Endure}, I didn't feel any arm strain, but I swear that I felt the recoil push me forward like a mini rocket. Each round made me go a little bit faster, or so I hoped.
Then, a huge figure loomed over the edge of my vision. It looked faint, but it was definitely the Brute. It looked like it was in combat with flies as it flailed its arms about. I corrected my heading and prepared to bash myself into this gigantic piece of shit.
"{Sight} {Identify}, {Expose}, {Withstand}. Okay, Red, it's time to fulfill your purpose for humanity."
Red, who looked delirious from blood loss, didn't even respond as his head bobbed around. I holstered the gun behind my back as I ran. The hot metal seared my skin as I freed my other hand.
"Ouch, that was way too hot."
Well, whatever. I then held Red by the neck and his groin. I held him sideways like a wooden plank.
"Be sure to remember me wherever you go afterwards, Red. And thank you for your sacrifice."
I continued to run in this position, aiming for the backside of the brute's right knee. If this gigantic zombie had a human's bone structure, it would fall down if I hit the back of its knee from behind.
The closer I got, the more I could see. Amari was down for the count near his target.
'I managed to hit him. Wonderful.'
The Brute's left shoulder seemed like it had gotten dislocated from its socket. Thus, it flailed one arm to smash its enemies while the other just flopped around like a wet noodle. But, the most important part was that it no longer walked. It stood completely still.
"Amazing, Jasmine did a great job aiming for that."
The brute roared nonstop as it tried to crush the shadows dancing around its body. When I tried to focus my eyes, I noticed the long blonde and black hair of the ones jumping around.
Jasmine was shooting the zombie at point-blank range. She used its back and shoulder as footholds. Josephine was poking the thing in the eyes over and over with flying lunges. When she got the zombie's attention, she would run around it to confuse it.
As this all went on, I belatedly noticed something weird about how the monster fought.
"The bastard cannot turn! Holy fuck! That's genius! Did Liv cast {Withstand} on that thing?"
Right, {Withstand} could be cast on objects too, as well as people. I granted it to the Reapers I used as meat shields to make them tougher. They wouldn't move anyway, and I could just deactivate and throw them away afterwards.
{Withstand}'s main benefit was to negate kinetic energy. It meant nothing to the 15-foot giant. Small people's strikes barely registered. So, they used the demerit of {Withstand} to control the bastard instead!
I surveyed further, looking for Bella, Aki, Liv, and Robyn. I found Aki and Liv throwing spears at the Brute. Bella and Robyn were running around. They were collecting the same weapons from the ground.
"What the hell are you guys doing? Are they trying to probe for a weakness?" I mumbled to no one in particular.
Well, I could only guess that without cheat {Fates}, trial and error were to be expected. But they completed their task - to stop the thing from moving. As I got closer, I scanned Amari and noticed he was bleeding from the head and no longer moved.
"He should not be dead yet, right?" I felt a deep sense of worry as I hoped. I was not ready to take on Mia yet. At level 3 and having a giant-ass gorilla body, he should still be alive.
The distance to the brute shrank. I could now hear the girls and the monster's low growls.
Right, focus. In most video games, the fastest way to kill something big is to send it as close to the ground as possible. Making this zombie kneel would be the goal of my strike. Once we are face to face with it, something should stick.
All this time, I had not stopped running. But my legs already felt heavy like lead. Still, I pushed them onward. Force was mass multiplied by acceleration. You needed to increase one or the other if you wanted more power in your strikes.
'So, if you cannot make yourself heavier, make yourself faster instead. If all else fails, I could have the girls send me airborne and beat this bastard from a high enough altitude. Gravity is also a reliable way to increase speed,' I thought.
A few seconds later, I grew close enough to see and hear the battle without [Fates}.
As Jo was with them, she should be able to hear me from this distance.
"JO! TELL THEM TO HIT BEHIND THE LEFT KNEE! I WILL TAKE DOWN THE RIGHT!"
I noticed the sisters quickly stop their attack and head towards Bella's group. In less than a minute, they all started attacking the spot behind the left knee. Annoyed, the Brute tried to grab them from behind. It also raised its left knee in response to the attacks by the girls.
"Perfect. Just stay in that pose, you bastard."
If you stood on only one leg, your center of gravity would be off. Taking a blow behind your knee would send you crashing. With that in mind, I braced myself for impact. The body has an instinct to protect itself. Even if you intended to crash, you would find yourself pulling back at the last moment.
The only exception to this rule was if you were doing it due to anger or bloodlust. Those two things had the power to override instinct. At this moment, my desire to kill this bastard is intense.
"You are the reason I cannot go home, you fucker. I will enjoy murdering your undead ass. {Save}."
I was going so fast that the wind began to cut my face. Thus, I could only imagine what would happen to Red and me when we smashed into the hard skin of the undead brute.
"Well, let's find out. Thank you for your sacrifice for science, Red. See you in another life."
We now had less than two miles left before the impact. Due to the brute being in a pathetic state, Red and I could attack it unhindered. My arms were now already sore from holding Red, but it should be over soon.
"LIV! CANCEL {WITHSTAND}!"
I noticed the girls looking my way as I approached. Seeing my speed, they should have guessed how strong the impact would be. Bella had everyone clear out. Dumbfounded, the brute kept trying to look behind pitifully.
"Let's go."
At the last mile, I used Red to cover my face and prepared for impact. The moment we met the Brute's tough skin; I heard all the bones in Red's body shatter from the impact. Due to {Withstand} and {Endure}, he would not lose momentum. But the counterforce would still strike his body.
The same held true for me. As the kinetic energy ran through my arms, I felt my wrists and forearms break and fracture. Before I could even scream, the pain traveled to my arms and shoulders. They similarly couldn't endure and collapsed.
My momentum pushed me forward regardless of my state. Red and I were soon flattened like pancakes against the Undead Brute.
Before I could figure out what to do next, Red's body burst into a bloody mist. I then felt my entire chest pressed from the back. The sounds of my ribcage breaking from the strain also sent shivers down my spine.
'I am going to die.'
Without the ribcage, my heart would be next. Not good. I need to pull out immediately.
'This should be enough, right?' I worried in my mind.
"{Rewind}."
My body turned into light particles as I was returned to my save point. I turned my gaze towards the boss monster as he screamed in agony and face-planted into the ground. Despite the success of my attack, I felt paralyzed from my close brush with death. If I had been a second slower, I would have died.
"Get on him and take out his other shoulder!"
I heard Bella command the girls. They moved like a real combat group; they moved as one. Everyone except Liv and Robyn brought spears and started stabbing the Brute's working shoulder.
The Northerner and the combat joey took war hammers and smashed the spears deeper, like nails. Seeing the tenacity of my girls I knew I could not stay down.
"Calm the fuck down, John. We're alive; deal with it and move on," I reprimanded myself.
As I forced my wobbly legs to stand, I took a deep breath and moved toward the boss. I already decided, this thing dies tonight, or I will.