Splat! Blood sprayed from Clark's mouth as a terrifying punch pierced through his chest. His body, like a cannonball, was sent straight into a horde of corpses, and the blood only made the horde more frenzied.
Decaying arms, numerous and relentless, reached for his limbs, engulfing him like a swarm of ants. He felt powerless and frozen. The loss of blood was causing his consciousness to blur. With a bitter smile in his heart, he realized that trying to kill The Stitcher, even with all attributes suppressed except for strength, was too difficult.
The Stitcher, truly a pinnacle of the second tier, was the nightmare of all survivors in the previous world. It was hard to imagine how terrifying it would become when it advanced to the third tier after devouring all the zombies here.
The horde bit and tore, and rotten arms reached into his opened chest, attempting to feast on his heart, much like the memories of his previous life before dying.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The ground shook, and the heavy and frenzied charge was terrifying.
Though his vision was obscured by the horde, Clark could sense The Stitcher approaching frantically from the small mountain of corpses.
He couldn't help but sigh and slowly raise his right hand. He had hoped to save this last resort to fight The Stitcher until the end, but now it was a necessity.
"Soul, howl! Hum~!" The air twisted and distorted.
The Hand of Soul Devourance in his right hand instantly emitted a blood-red brilliance, illuminating the entire hall through the horde. Then, an invisible shockwave suddenly erupted in a circular pattern. "Bang, bang, bang!" Like a series of exploding light bulbs.
In an instant, thousands of zombies nearest to Clark had their heads turned into a burst of blood mist, and their decaying bodies were annihilated into fragments by an invisible force.
A single strike cleared the field! The scattered body parts on the ground were as if cut by the scythe of the Grim Reaper. Within a radius of about 40 meters centered on Clark's fallen body, all the zombies were dead.
The charging Stitcher, too, was instantly stripped of nearly half of its flesh by this mental shockwave and was sent flying backward. On its broad shoulders, the third head, which had already been severed by Clark, was completely turned into a blood mist.
"Roar!!!" Perhaps all the remaining heads of The Stitcher had consciousness, as the power of the Soul Howl, equivalent to that of a third-tier being, caused triple the damage.
As he fell to the ground, The Stitcher clutched the central head with both hands, while the other head on the side closed its eyes and wailed in agony.
The immense scream of pain, capable of shattering glass, spread like a shockwave in all directions. Taking advantage of the brief respite he had gained from the Soul Howl, Clark struggled to get up and took out the Bloodstone from his spatial ring.
"Ding, successful use 2/3."
A rich surge of life energy flowed into his body from the Bloodstone, and the flesh around the previously transparent wound began to grow rapidly.
Clark felt fortunate that without the recovery items he had obtained before coming here, he would be utterly incapable of fighting in his current condition.
Not far from him, The Stitcher seemed to have fallen into madness under the influence of this mental shock and had ceased its attack. It remained to be seen how long this effect would last.
Unfortunately, the original plan had been to ambush The Stitcher, with Arnold blocking the zombies. Clark would then engage the monster in combat alone with the shared mental power of Lynn. When the damage reached The Stitcher's critical point, he would unleash the Soul Howl to kill it.
But now, wounded and unable to fight back, he could only wait for his injuries to heal, wasting precious time when the monster was unable to resist.
"Clark!"
Arnold, who had jumped down from the fourth floor, sprinted towards him, closely followed by a dense horde of zombies.
"Hold off the horde first, while I recover."
Clark weakly directed Arnold. His previous Soul Howl had killed thousands of zombies in an instant, but there were still many zombies left inside the mall. Arnold hurriedly confronted the horde, buying time for Clark's recovery.
However, like rain pouring down, zombies directly jumped down from the broken third-floor mall floor, showing no fear. In the blink of an eye, a large number of zombies gathered on the first floor again.
"Lynn, reinforce the psychic barrier!"
Lynn, who was hiding on the fourth floor, had not been targeted by The Stitcher's attacks. Therefore, the invisibility effect on her remained intact. She had no close combat abilities and could only handle small groups of zombies. Inside the narrow confines of the mall, if she were to take action, she would be overwhelmed by the horde. She nodded repeatedly and quickly focused on using her skills.
"Forget it, don't waste your energy." Suddenly, Clark's face turned grim as he interrupted Lynn's spellcasting.
The Stitcher, who had been thrown into madness by the mental shock, had now regained its mobility. The central head, which had remained closed, opened its eyes, and Arnold's expression mirrored Clark's, equally grim.
"This monster... it's disgustingly revolting!"
On the enormous head, fist-sized eye sockets were filled with dozens of pallid eyeballs, and the creature swayed. Just 0.1 seconds later, The Stitcher, now locked onto Clark, charged once again like a high-speed locomotive.
Clark took a deep breath, holding his dagger in front of him. His injuries were healing rapidly, not fully recovered yet, but he had just enough combat capability.
Seeing the second charge approaching, Clark communicated rapidly within the team, using their internal communication.
"Arnold, come to my side and create an opportunity for me in two seconds!"
"Received!"
Arnold, with full concentration, slapped down zombies trying to get past him and turned to face Clark, preparing to act.
"Boom! Boom!"
The Stitcher's charge came in an instant. Unlike the previous unprepared attack, Clark quickly crushed a vial and swallowed a potion. The potion's effects had not yet worn off, but he couldn't afford to waste any time; the attribute boost left no room for any gaps.
"Boom!" A deafening roar filled the air as, influenced by the previous mental shock, The Stitcher's charge this time proved ineffective. Its massive body only shattered the mall's support columns.
The opportunity was fleeting. It was now or never! "Leap! Thrust downward!"
Clark leaped into the air, dodging The Stitcher, and landed behind the monster. He grabbed the bone spike and drove his entire body's strength into a piercing attack on the monster's head.
"Sizzle!" The bone spike penetrated the head, and The Stitcher let out a final, painful wail.
"Arnold!"
The black bear, Arnold, appeared, his face fierce, and charged directly at the wounded Stitcher. A bear and a monster, two colossal beings, collided instantly, and the severely injured Stitcher was knocked to the ground in an instant.
"Die!"
With a massive bear paw raised like a hammer, Arnold struck the monster's head with all his might.
"Bang!" With a full-force blow, Arnold's face turned pale, and his hands ached. The Stitcher's other head only slightly dented, and the full-power strike couldn't break through its defense.
"Roar!" The Stitcher roared, and the last remaining head commanded its body. Its enormous hand struck the black bear pinned beneath it.
"Splat!" Arnold's back instantly collapsed, his entire shoulder smashed into a pulpy mess, blood mixed with organ fragments.
"Move!" At Clark's command, Arnold forcefully shifted his body, revealing the last remaining head of The Stitcher beneath him.
"Step and thrust downward!" Clark's voice was low, and he focused all his strength into this one strike, waiting for Arnold to give him the time he needed to gather his power. Victory or defeat hinged on this one move.
The target: the last remaining head.