According to what Theos understood, the restructuring had made him stronger, and that was enough. Indeed, by using the restructuring on Theos, she had modified his body, allowing him to unleash all his latent potential. However, it didn't stop there; the reasoning behind it was much more complex than what an average human could imagine. His body, his mind, all his senses were exploding.
Theos felt stronger than ever. He took a few steps toward Isha, as if he had stepped out of a bubble where time was frozen, and the world had changed. What should have been a peaceful and quiet city was now a terrible disaster, a true chaos. The city had been trampled by the dead.
Stunned, Theos noticed that there was no one around him, but now many people were approaching him. Yet he instantly knew that they were not in their normal state. **Huh?** How had things deteriorated so much? Isha was slowly retreating behind these people, who were merely additions to the scene.
Are they dead? The corpses charged at Theos as soon as Isha had retreated enough.
— Kill them! Theos whispered, determined to eliminate them.
— My dear Theos, these aren't even fragments of divinity. Let's have some fun. We won't get bored, will we? she replied mockingly.
The enemies came toward him, arms outstretched, driven solely by instinct. Like in judo, their goal was to grab him; their mouths leaned forward, aimed at biting him. In this case...
Theos advanced his right foot and bent it slightly. It was a good way to position himself, with his right hand pointed downward and his left hand bent, of course with open palms. When the first man, resembling a corpse covered in bruises, with bulging eyes and a mouth full of blood, was within a meter of him, Theos pushed off his right foot and pivoted. The centrifugal force allowed him to deliver a powerful kick with his left foot, sweeping the ground.
The dead man's skull was crushed in the process, but the shockwave caused him to fall. As there were many corpses in his alignment, this created what one might call a snowball effect. One row had just fallen, but to prove that it was just a drop in the ocean, the horde of the dead did not stop; they were very close.
However, something was wrong, Theos thought. In the distance, Isha's calm voice echoed:
— You have good judgment, have you noticed? The fresher they are, the livelier they are.
No, it wasn't just that; they weren't all that lively. Was it a process? How much time had passed since this morning? Could all this chaos really have been generated in such a short time? Theos was drowning in confusion.
There was a true disparity between the reality Theos perceived and that which the world perceived; he was out of sync with time, as if he had suddenly sent to a near future.
Theos paid no attention to these thoughts; his goal was clear: the more he dispersed these reflections, the more this desire to kill her, to twist her neck, to destroy her, would fade. He shouted at Isha:
— Are you going to hide behind those things?
— And that's how you're going to reach me? she retorted.
Theos grabbed the arm of one of the dead to his right, punched it in the chin, lifted it, and used it as a kind of slingshot, sweeping the other corpses around him. The dead man's head was thrown toward Isha, but she remained impassive. As with Theos's punch, she merely tilted her head so that it passed her by.
They're not very bright, and their movements are very basic, Theos thought. But I mustn't let myself be overwhelmed and dragged to the ground. Indeed, the enemies' objective was to devour him. Therefore, preventing them from touching him and being pulled to the ground was the best possible solution: no hold could protect him from being bitten by so many enemies.
Jaws flew, arms; for every blow Theos landed, corpses fell.
— Shut up! Theos yelled, annoyed. Too many enemies were bearing down on him. He had just realized that unlike a street fight, where even if there were several opponents, they could not attack at the same time, the undead did not have this problem. As long as there was a bit of space, each of them could bite. It was truly a puzzle and required a high level of vigilance to handle.
Isha stood quietly, watching the hordes of the dead attack Theos. Fortunately for him, or unfortunately, they were in an open space. In short, there was plenty of room, though no place to flee. Theos knew he was going to die soon.
Whether it was she who killed him, the dead who devoured him, or his body collapsing, he was destined to die from that moment on. Unleashing all his potential and fighting as he did came at a price.
He didn't know what she had done to him, but he immediately understood the effects: his heart pumped his blood faster, his blood circulated more rapidly, and the amount of information his brain could process simultaneously had increased. All his senses were sharpened.
He felt strong, and his brain continually released various substances that inhibited the sensation of pain and fear, although the fact that he even felt any was already debatable. He felt powerful. However, his opponent smiled, showcasing her superiority over him, which irritated him to no end.
— I'm going to kill you! he shouted.
He needed to make his way through. Theos decided to compress his muscles to unleash explosive speed and reach Isha quickly, the shockwave pushing the dead behind him. He struck those in front of him while continuing to run, his speed constantly increasing, as was the tearing of his muscles, but he didn't realize it.
His speed was no longer in the realm of athleticism; it was in the realm of machinery. He mowed down all the dead in his path.
But suddenly, an enormous pressure, as if coming from nowhere, crashed down on him. The natural regulation of his body had already disappeared, symbolizing that the effort involved was more than his body could handle. This time, it felt as if his stomach was boiling, and he suddenly felt nauseous.
He had stopped running, but this sudden change in speed was not without risk; his body had been overstrained, blood began to seep from numerous pores in his body, and his eyeballs turned scarlet, too many blood vessels had burst there.
—Have you finally understood? Isha exclaimed. All those dead that you torment without remorse in an attempt to kill me, even if they are dead and have no right to life, where do you think their souls are?
— Ah, you should be able to see them, right, Theos! She began to laugh.
Sinister halos began to appear in Theos's field of vision.