The labyrinth housed many dead ends. Countless turns and paths with only three actually leading to the center. Her goal was to extinguish all the red dots, so she deliberately ventured into the fruitless paths despite her accurate map.
For the first twelve zombies, she utilized her full speed and strength allowing her to kill them all with a single precise slash.
Then, Alex maintained a moderate speed. Her focus was to increase her proficiency with the once unfamiliar chakrams.
In order to vary her techniques she faced multiple foes at once, gaining the ability to manipulate her weapon even in the most tight corners. She refrained from using her feet and solely focused on her weapons before deciding to improve single handed fighting.
To achieve this, she threw one of her weapons and killed a farther zombie. Next, she used the other one, to slash the necks of the two closer and aggravated creatures. That wasn't enough to kill both of them, forcing her to kick one and plunge her weapon below the face of another.
She finished off the injured and disoriented creature by decapitation before retrieving her second chakram.
For the subsequent battles, Alex expertly employed the chakrams while limiting her speed and strength to a little less than her foes. This allowed her to truly practice her techniques and skills with her new weapon.
The pale blue light from the torches shone, illuminating a long dreary passage that seemed more malevolent than the rest. A girl with shoulder length maroon hair lightly strolled down this passage. She passed an opening to the left which held only the remains of once aggressive creatures : killed by a single slash, either to the neck or through the abdomen.
After that, there was another opening to the right. This one housed a more gruesome scene, with the bodies thoroughly disfigured by countless cuts, both shallow and deep.
'Open interface'
She magnified the maze icon even more, her green dot unmoving while a larger round red remained a few metres ahead.
Tapping on [ Progress ], Alex was unsurprised with what she saw.
[ Progress ]
Spirit shards: 2470
[ Stage 1 ]
Zombies killed: 123
She closed the interface and observed the vibrant green hue lacing her chakrams.
The chakrams themselves retained their fresh state, not even a spec of grime could be seen. The black handles reflected the pale light of the torches. The handles themselves were smooth, but the intricate surface patterns allowed for proper friction. The double curved blades on each weapon tilted above the handle, adding to the complexity of the weapon. On each onyx handle, there was an almost imperceptible button.
Unfortunately, the appearance of the chakrams created a stark contrast to that of the owner's. Alex's shirt had become a canvas for a hideous amalgam of zombie remains. The fate of her shorts was no different. Her boots had both sand and innards allowing her attire to fully record her journey thus far.
The girl in question did not seem to mind this as she marched down the gloomy corridor.
'This pressure…' Alex's face twisted in displeasure. She recalled the fake librarian that had once released a mystical form of pressure upon her. One which targeted her very essence, although this one was pitifully weaker; at that time she could not feel it clearly, but now she could. Something inside of her was revolted by the intangible pressure. She ignored this feeling as she knew it came from her instincts and not something foreign.
She moved even faster and soon reached an opening twice her size, laced with white material. It was an entrance of sorts.
Now, the pressure had multiplied still incomparable to that of the librarian's. Nonetheless, Alex remained unaffected.
Beyond the entrance was an unnatural darkness, that no light from the corridor managed to break through. The black had created a barrier to the light. Alex took note of this detail yet took a single step in.
Following her action, the entire room was illuminated by a pale blue light and countless torches. Similar to the bunker, this room appeared more like a waiting room; it was entirely empty with only a single door opposite the entrace, and a giant zombie the size of five at the center of the room.
It was three times Alex's height, causing her to wonder how it had even gotten in here. It turned to face her completely and she examined the hulking abomination.
Like the other zombies, it greatly resembled a human. However this one had no rot, only ash grey skin. On its enormous head, were two eye sockets holding pulsing red orbs. This one did not seem under weight, rather it was extremely bulky. It's muscles told of the strength it could unleash when provoked. All its body parts were intact, the biggest concern for Alex were the razor sharp talons on its arms that were longer than that of her weapon.
' I highly doubt we're meant to fight this thing. '
Alex took a deep breath and watched as the beast slowly approached her before rushing to the beast with her arms behind her.
On interception, she ducked between the creatures legs as she slashed both chakrams on the sides of its knees. Her eyebrows furrowed with concern as her blades only left shallow marks. The beast in question was extremely slow, Alex's only advantage.
The creature now looked furious. It stared at Alex then released a beastly roar. After releasing its fury it ran to attack its assailant, only to realise she was gone.
Alex did not waste any time and dashed to the side, running behind the beast only to attack the back of its knees. The creature turned around, hoping to grasp her. She waited until the very last moment before evading the attack racing for the back of the knees. She launched a flurry of brutal slashes until the beast tried to capture her once again.
The zombie remained unaffected by her attacks and relentlessly pursued her. It stomped, slammed and struck. The girl only zoomed past its attacks and assaulted the knees.
At first Alex was slightly worried by the overwhelming strength of the zombie, but that is all it had -overwhelming strength- nothing more. The zombie would fall very soon and Alex's stamina was still at its best. The green colour of her chakrams had not dwindled even slightly.
Soon enough the beast fell down flat on its hideous face in the midst of a stomp attack.