Damien ignored the fleeing survivors and instead focused on the massive beast charging towards them. Within the blink of an eye, it was only a few meters away, closing in on them rapidly.
Damien's heart pounded against his chest, but he pushed the fear aside. "Finch, find somewhere high enough! We need to weaken it before it gets too close to us!" he shouted.
Without hesitation, Finch leaped onto the remains of a nearby car and then scrambled up the side of a collapsed wall, positioning himself above the battlefield. His crossbow crackled with energy as he conjured a volley of arrows made from primal energy.
Meanwhile, Damien planted his feet firmly on the ground, drawing on the Sanguine Arts. His veins pulsed with the power of blood energy, and his body became shrouded in a crimson aura.
With a flick of his wrist, Nightshade appeared in his hand.
The massive beast barreled toward them, its roar reverberating through the school grounds. Damien knew he couldn't face it head-on with his current strength.
As the beast swung its massive, clawed hand at him, Damien dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the blow that shattered the pavement where he'd stood moments before.
He slashed at the beast's arm with his longsword and it sliced through its tough hide with little resistance. Dark blood spurted from the wound, but the massive beast seemed unfazed, the attack only intensified its fury.
On the collapsed wall, Finch focused on the beast's exposed back while firing a barrage of arrows. The arrows embedded themselves into the creature's ridged spine, causing it to bellow in rage.
It suddenly turned its attention to Finch, who launched himself from the wall just as the beast swiped at him, demolishing the structure with a single blow.
"Keep moving!" Damien shouted while charging forward. He intended to draw the beast's attention away from Finch.
Damien gathered his primal energy and unleashed a blast of blood canon from the blood reserves in his backpack. The crimson energy slammed into the beast's chest and the impact staggered the creature, forcing it to take a step back.
~Roar!~
The massive beast let out a painful roar, but it regained its balance and lunged at Damien with renewed fury. It was faster than he'd anticipated.
Damien barely had time to raise his sword before the beast was upon him. The force of its attack sent him skidding backward, his boots digging deep into the cracked pavement.
Finch, who was now back on the ground, saw his opening. He channeled all his strength to formed a single, compact arrow. The arrows surface was shimmering with an almost metallic sheen.
With a grunt of effort, he fired it directly at the beast's exposed flank. The arrow struck, piercing through the creature's hardened bone armor and sinking deep into its flesh.
~Roar!~
The beast howled in pain, thrashing violently as it tried to dislodge the arrow.
Damien saw his chance and summoned every ounce of his remaining power, the primal energy within him surging to its peak. With a fierce battle cry, he leaped forward, driving his longsword into beast's chest, aiming for its heart.
The blade pierced through the creature's tough hide and into its heart. For a moment, the beasts's eyes flared even brighter, its roar echoing with a mix of rage and agony.
But then, as the primal energy spread through its body, its movements slowed down and the fiery light in its eyes dimming. With a final thrust, Damien severed its head from its body and the monstrous corpse collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.
The familiar white orb once again appeared from the dead beast and entered their bodies. Damien, breathing heavily, pulled his sword free and stepped back, the crimson glow around him fading.
Finch approached cautiously, stormpiercer still crackled with residual energy in his hands.
"You alright?" Finch asked, his voice tinged with concern.
Damien nodded, wiping sweat from his brow. "Yeah. That was… intense."
They both stared at the fallen beast, its body now lifeless.
"Let's move," Damien said after a moment, "We should get to the school coliseum quickly."
Finch nodded in agreement, and together with the four remaining survivors, they continued down the infested street, leaving the broken corpse of the massive creature behind them.
As the group pushed on, Damien quickly observed the survivors who had stayed behind instead of fleeing. Among them were two males and two females, most of whom he recognized.
One of the males was Clarke, a librarian staff member, and the younger one was Bryan Stone, a 12th-grade science student and Vice President of sports. In addition to his prestigious position and family influence, Bryan was also the crush of many young girls at Dawnstar Academy.
Of the two women, the taller one was his English teacher, Miss Susan. She possessed a certain grace and a mature charm that captivated her students.
Although she was in her late twenties, she showed enough courage, even in such a dire situation, by staying with her students instead of abandoning them, which earned Damien's nod of approval.
The younger woman was a rather odd one, spotting medical glasses and a face almost entirely covered in freckles. She clung to Miss Susan with a fearful expression as they advanced.
Damien jokingly thought to himself, 'She looks like a perfect match for Finch.'
As if he knew exactly what Damien was thinking when he glanced at the freckled girl, Finch glared at him with a threatening gesture, inciting a rare moment of light-heartedness since the start of the apocalypse.
*******
About forty minutes later, after countless killings and narrow escapes, the outline of the school coliseum became visible.
A journey that had taken less than ten minutes before the apocalypse now required a full forty minutes. But instead of feeling depressed, the group heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of the massive structure.
Damien cautiously led the group closer to the coliseum, carefully observing his surroundings. It was well-known that the areas near the coliseum were usually packed with students—both male and female, day students and boarders.
But now, there wasn't a sign of any zombies or monsters treading the grounds, which raised the duo's alarm even higher.
Damien calmly led the group of survivors to higher ground under a large tree, a few meters away from the coliseum. Upon reaching the higher ground, the sight before them sent chills down their spines.
In front of the coliseum was a densely packed group of zombies, numbering up to a hundred.
They stood clustered in front of the building, scratching and slamming on the huge doors with no sign of leaving anytime soon. The sight of this undead army filled the survivors with renewed panic and dread.
However, having learned their lesson, they remained still instead of fleeing and turned their gazes toward the two young heroes in front. Seeing the duo's expressionless faces in the face of the zombie horde gave them a sense of assurance.
Damien ignored the pitiful expressions of the survivors as he discussed various solutions with Finch. "What do you think?" he asked.
"There are two paths available to us currently. Firstly, the most obvious solution, I think, is to wait patiently for them to slowly depart or hope that a wandering survivor draws their attention. Secondly, one of us could draw their attention and lead them away from the vicinity," Finch replied thoughtfully as he adjusted his glasses.
"I'll go..." Damien began, but he was cut short by the situation unfolding before them.
The zombies in front were being taken out by multiple beams of red and white light. The beams appeared rapidly from the western side of the coliseum, causing damage as zombies fell one after another.
The duo glanced in that direction and saw a group of four closing in on the zombies. The two individuals in front were obviously evolved long-range primal warriors.
One of them was a young man and he released a barrage of white beams from what appeared to be a pair of pistols. Strangely, despite the visible gunfire, only a muffled sound could be heard, barely audible even with their enhanced hearing.
The gunman's partner was clad in an eye-catching full-body army suit, a caped hoodie, and a black, half face mask which revealed her to be female. She was currently releasing flaming beams from her hands, which pierced the zombies and set them ablaze immediately.
Deeming the new group capable, Damien and Finch told the survivors to stay put and dashed into the fray, not wanting to be outdone by the newly arrived fighters.