"We are one!"
As the bone spike pierced through The Stitcher's final skull, the woman's face on the head suddenly opened her eyes, whispering like the abyss.
For a moment, Clark felt time freeze as he plunged into darkness.
"Don't you remember me, child?"
The tightly held bone spike loosened, and Clark stared blankly at the face emerging from the darkness. It was a familiar face, withered, fine wrinkles at the corners of the eyes, and a kind expression. It was his deceased mother.
Clark trembled all over, his thoughts seemed to come to a standstill.
"Clark! Clark, wake up quickly!"
Lynn looked anxious, continuously using her psychic powers to stimulate the frozen Clark, who seemed as still as a stone sculpture, while on the other side, she exerted all her mental strength to establish a barrier.
The zombies were too close, and the stench of blood was overpowering. The autonomous psychic suppression emanating from the mutants was constantly breaking through the barrier's effect.
One layer, two layers...
Whenever the barrier was breached and zombies rushed towards the three of them, she immediately used her psychic powers to create another barrier, it shattered, and she created it again.
The horde of zombies repeatedly roared, like ants on a hot griddle. With her psychic powers depleting rapidly, Lynn's face quickly turned pale. Even with her high psychic abilities, she couldn't sustain the continuous release of skills dozens of times! At this rate of consumption, her psychic powers would be completely exhausted in a maximum of 15 seconds!
The zombies gathered in front of the three people, although they were once again concealed and blinded by psychic powers, the strong smell of blood caused the horde to gather more and more, and in the blink of an eye, they surrounded the three. The scene was extremely eerie.
Although Clark had just inserted the bone spike into the final head of The Stitcher, he had fallen into stasis a few seconds ago.
The last woman's head of the monster had lifeless white eyes, and the two stared at each other. Flesh and blood wriggled, and the monster's destroyed head was slowly regenerating.
Arnold was coughing up blood profusely, and the hole in his chest was like a twisted faucet, with the beating heart faintly visible.
If it weren't for his awakened talent providing him with exceptional resilience, he would have already died from such injuries. His breath was becoming weaker and weaker.
Lynn's face was filled with despair as she remained in hiding, unable to make a move to attack The Stitcher. Arnold was on the brink of death and couldn't deliver the final blow. Even if both of them were to attack, it seemed unlikely that they could penetrate the monster's defenses.
What should I do? Lynn was frantic. The three of them were surrounded by a horde of thousands of zombies, and she couldn't even think of escaping with Clark and Arnold.
Meanwhile, The Stitcher was rapidly regenerating visible injuries. Once The Stitcher fully regenerated any one of its heads, there would be no doubt that all three of them would die.
As 15 seconds passed in the blink of an eye, Lynn exhausted her last ounce of mental strength to create a barrier. The zombies in front of her had grown impatient, and through repeated attempts, it seemed they had become immune to the effects of her barrier.
Is there really no hope? Lynn's face grew pale as she tightly gripped the weapon in her hand. She had at most two seconds left. After the final layer of her mental barrier shattered, she would have to face the horde of thousands of zombies alone.
"Hiss." Suddenly, the snake-shaped carving on Clark's wrist moved. Lynn turned to look in surprise at the sound.
What is this? The little snake seemed to have just woken up and lazily stretched its body before opening its mouth, as if it had just yawned.
The black dragon tilted its head, its golden vertical pupils showing a puzzled look as it stared at Clark, who seemed to have turned to stone. A second later, the black dragon suddenly straightened its body, as if it had caught the scent of something delicious.
"Swoosh!" Like lightning, the black dragon suddenly darted into the last remaining head of The Stitcher. After a moment, it burped in satisfaction.
Just as the black dragon shot out, the head of the woman who had been facing Clark suddenly let out a sharp, agonizing scream. Blood and tears slowly flowed down her pale face, her features contorted in agony. Bang! Just a second later, the head shattered.
"Ding, successful kill of the second-tier mutant, The Stitcher!"
A large amount of spiritual energy overflowed from The Stitcher's massive body and flowed instantly into the black dragon's body.
"Ding, obtained item (white): Stitching Thread!"
"Ding, obtained common equipment (white): Stitching Shell."
"Ding, obtained special item (blue): Heart of Fusion!"
"Ding, obtained fine equipment (blue): Resentment Blade!"
"Ding, obtained C-grade skill book: Rampage Charge!"
"Ding, obtained C-grade skill book: Flesh Regeneration!"
"Ding, completed the Rescuer mission, rewarded with: Anti-Toxin Serum *3!"
"Ding, Rescuer mission has refreshed, please check immediately!"
The system notifications kept flooding the screen, and at the moment The Stitcher died, Clark's consciousness also returned. He felt as if he were a drowning person suddenly reaching the shore, suddenly regaining his ability to act.
"Clark!" Lynn couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when she saw him awaken.
Damn it! Clark's mind raced. He had somehow been trapped in the illusion created by The Stitcher! The notifications of items gained were overwhelming, but he didn't have time to think about why The Stitcher had suddenly died, let alone check the rewards he had received.
His mental barrier shattered, and the tormented horde of zombies instantly went berserk, charging madly toward the three of them.
Arc Slash! Clark reacted lightning fast, twisting his body and using the bone spike in his hand to slash at the surrounding zombies. Rows of heads were severed, only to be replaced in an instant by the surging horde.
"Clark, Arnold is in bad shape!" Lynn, her mental strength depleted, also wielded an axe, holding her own against the zombies.
After becoming an Awakened, her attributes had reached the limits of human potential. Though her attacks were uncoordinated, her strength allowed her to kill many zombies.
"Bloodstone!" Clark hurriedly turned back, taking out the bloodstone from his ring and placing it on Arnold's chest. A rich surge of life energy flowed into the wound, and flesh began to regenerate.
This won't work; there are too many of them! Without a way to deal with them en masse, even though he could kill a group of zombies with a single strike, it was like trying to stop a flood with a bucket. He needed to use the Soul Scream again!
Clark hesitated. His current mental strength was far from enough to charge the gauntlet. The last time he charged it, he had been unconscious for five days. If it weren't for the fact that the tattooed man tried to steal the gauntlet and got turned into jerky, he might have been unconscious even longer.
If only the black dragon hadn't absorbed all the energy from the gauntlet. He tried to communicate with the dragon, only to find that it was asleep again, as if it would only move when it encountered "food."
In just ten seconds, the space where the three of them could survive rapidly diminished, especially on Lynn's side, where she was struggling to hold back the zombie horde.
Arnold's injuries were severe, and even with the bloodstone rapidly repairing him, it would take some time. After all, his physical attributes were significantly different from Clark's, and his self-healing speed was much slower.
Clark's expression grew resolute. There was no time to hesitate; he had to do it! If he fell unconscious again, he could have Arnold and Lynn take the anti-toxin serum back to Viola and the others!
"Lynn, when I go unconscious later, take the anti-toxin serum and go save the others! I've told you where to find them!" Clark tried to communicate with the gauntlet, preparing to charge it.
A childish yet discontented voice sounded, "I need to eat to have strength."
In an instant, a dense and substantial surge of mental energy, almost like a physical substance, replaced Clark's own, rushing into the gauntlet. The blood-red patterns lit up, and it was fully charged!