I thought about getting a rope and climbing down the wall, but where would I find one? The whole place was in chaos.
"What should we do? Both gates are closed!" one of the people shouted, clearly having a mental breakdown.
"Should we barricade ourselves in?" another person chimed in.
"Does anyone know where the magma crystal is stored?" I asked, looking around the group.
Everyone seemed puzzled by my question until a merchant suddenly spoke up, claiming he knew and offering to lead me there.
The magma crystal is a rare resource found only in the realms. It forms when magma crystallizes, resulting in a substance with explosive properties. Initially used for mining, its power was later harnessed in wars. The crystal shone brightly in history due to its affordability and its readiness for use straight from the source.
"I know my warehouse has around a ton of it," the merchant said, drawing suspicious looks from the group.
A ton might not sound like much, but even a single kilogram is enough to obliterate a four-story building. Storing so much in one place was incredibly dangerous. Normally, such a stockpile would require notifying the authorities to establish proper defenses in case of an accident.
"Hey, everyone has to make a living somehow. Don't look at me like that," the merchant added, clearly flustered by the judgmental stares.
"Alright, everyone, listen up. We'll use the magma crystal to make an escape route," I announced, outlining the plan and urging everyone to help transport the explosive material.
The warehouse wasn't far, but even so, we lost three fighters on the way. On the bright side, we gained nine more as we progressed through the city, bringing our numbers up to 22.
With everyone working together, we managed to start moving the magma crystals toward the nearest wall.
"Everyone, listen up! Find cracks in the wall and insert the magma crystals into them. Before setting them off, make sure to warn everyone nearby," I instructed, raising my voice so everyone could hear.
Thanks to my strength and leadership, people respected me and quickly followed my orders.
The urgency of our situation united us. Failure meant certain death for everyone, leaving no room for hesitation.
"To the rest of you, start building a barricade using materials from the nearby houses. When the explosion goes off, the barricade will help us fend off the zombies that are sure to swarm this area," I added.
Following my command, the unarmed members of the group searched the wall for suitable spots to place the crystals, while those with armor fought off zombies and worked on constructing the barricade.
"We found a crack! Everyone, get away from the walls!" one of the guys shouted, urging others to back off while we sealed down the street from both sides and found a good hiding place.
Boom!
A massive explosion erupted, and as the dust settled, we saw a hole around the size of our fist with a crack around it.
Everyone had grim expressions the explosion caused weaker damage to the walls than we'd expected.
"Don't be discouraged just keep doing it and we can blast the walls open! Everyone else, please prepare to fend off our guests," I said, turning around just in time to strike a zombie as it tried to break through the barricade we'd set up.
The zombie's head was pierced, but it tried to reach out to me with its arms. Using my other arm, I grabbed a stick and pushed the zombie away from my sword. The creature stumbled back, only to be trampled under the feet of other zombies as they surged out of the streets and houses after hearing the explosion.
We even saw survivors in the houses, waving at us to be rescued.
"Don't waste your energy trying to kill them. Just hold them off," I instructed the people on my side, then sent a runner to relay the same message to the others.
Using the stick instead of my sword, I pushed the zombies back when another explosion went off. This time, the hole had grown larger—now about 50 to 60 centimeters in diameter.
I knew this fight would be long.
As we fought off wave after wave of zombies, they grew closer and closer, and the barricade wouldn't last much longer.
"Everyone, drop the magma crystals at the zombies! The barricade can't hold for much longer!" I shouted, then took a magma crystal from my supply. With a lighter I found in one of the houses, I ignited it and threw it into the zombies.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
In a clear success, the crystals detonated, killing or incapacitating many zombies.
Boom!
Another magma crystal exploded, and the wall was on its last breath, soon opening up a way for us to escape.
The zombies quickly took up the spots vacated by the previous ones, and the barricade was once again in clear danger.
Just as I was about to order another wave of magma crystals, a roar erupted, and the zombies became even more frenzied.
"ROAR!"A zombie stood out—a hulking, muscular figure over 2.5 meters tall, trampling any zombie in its path as it drew closer to the wall.
"There's already a mutated one?!" one of the people next to me exclaimed in a high voice, his fear evident.
Mutated zombies are different from humans—they don't need to ascend to gain strength. Instead, consuming human flesh or other zombies is enough to trigger their transformation. This one had been eating for days.
"Wait, isn't that Mayor Belnoz?!" one of the survivors suddenly recognized the mutated creature.
Mayor Belnoz—a former leader, now transformed—caught a nearby zombie and threw it at us.
The zombie collided with the barricade, causing part of it to collapse, allowing other zombies to pour through.
"Hold the position! I'll deal with the mutant myself."
With that, I drew several magma crystals and, using my stick, hurled them towards the Mayor.
Feeling threatened, the mutant grabbed zombies around it and hurled them at the incoming magma crystals. Two managed to reach their target and exploded shortly after impact.
The zombies around the mutant were cleared, but the mutant itself didn't sustain much damage beyond some burned skin.
Enraged, the mutant charged forward into the barricade, blowing a big hole in its center.
Dropping the stick to the ground, I drew my sword and aimed for the mutant's stomach, but only managed a scratch on the surface.
The mutated creature looked at me with a menacing gaze, and I met its eyes awkwardly.
Raising its arms to strike me down, I dodged to the side and sliced at its arm, but only left white marks on its flesh.
Damn it! I need to use spiritual energy to even hurt it, and I don't have much left. I can't gather spiritual energy while I'm fighting either.
I only have enough for two more attacks after this then, I'll be left only with enough energy to buy time for others to create an escape route for us.
Others, seeing the dire situation, were scared and wanted to run away.
"Stay in position!" I shouted. "As I said, I'll deal with the mutant. You guys hold off the regular zombies!"
I couldn't pay much attention to them as I dodged the mutant's relentless attacks.
Due to its bulk, the mutant's movements weren't very agile. I struck at its Achilles with spiritual energy wrapped around my sword, slicing its leg off.
"ROAR!" it cried out in pain as it lost one of its legs and could only limp around.
When it tried to grab me with its remaining arm, I dodged back and forth, keeping its full attention on me. After I sliced off its leg, it no longer paid attention to anyone else it was completely enraged by me.
Unable to capture me, it started throwing anything its hands could grab and lift. However, being on the ground limited its throws, making them easy to dodge for me.
Soon, another explosion echoed around the wall, and people cheered.
"The wall has collapsed! Everyone, get out quickly!" the man next to the hole shouted.
People started flooding the hole, giving up their positions to escape. The small size of the hole made it only possible for one person at a time to escape, but with the chaos of everyone trying to leave, it became harder.
Soon, everyone had escaped, and I was the last one left, still having to hold off the mutant.
The zombies on all sides closed in on me. Using my last bit of spiritual energy, I created a blast, sending the zombies back a few steps, enough to entangle them with each other.
As I crawled through the hole, zombies swarmed into the place, but with the last remaining magma crystals, I threw them at the zombies. The explosions buried the zombies under the rubble as the wall collapsed.
Turning around, I saw the others already running into the forest, and soon I followed them.
Two black-coated figures appeared on the city walls not long after.
"Leader, should we hunt down the few rats that escaped?" one of the black-coated figures asked.
"No need for us," the other black-cloaked figure replied, looking at the rubble. Soon, a muscular arm broke through, and the figure searched around for its prey. Failing to find it, it erupted into another roar, summoning more zombies to the area.
"Isn't it incapable of chasing anything? That guy sliced off one of its legs," the black-cloaked figure said, puzzled at his leader.
"Heh, that would normally be the case, but the Great God has blessed me with this item." The leader took out a pulsing black meatball, holding it up. With a swift movement, he threw the meatball in front of the mutant.
The mutant immediately grabbed the meatball and devoured it.
Soon, the muscles all over its body began to squirm and reform. Its size slowly expanded from the original 2.5 meters to an enormous 7.2 meters. It gained an extremely big belly with arms like battering rams just one leg was taller than a normal person.
The other black-cloaked figure was stunned by the sight.
"How is this possible? Shouldn't these mutants be punished for appearing here?" he asked, stunned, speaking to his leader.
The leader paid no attention to him as the mutant turned its attention to them. It grabbed the guy and stuffed him into its mouth.
The leader only smirked as he walked away.
"You shouldn't have betrayed the order. Otherwise, I would have let you live, Jacob," he said, shaking his head at his former colleague, who was now being eaten alive.
Soon, the mutant turned to face the city and roared again.
"ROAR!"
Zombies swarmed out from the city, transforming it into a dead place, and started marching towards the people who had escaped. The mutant had unfinished business that it must settle.
If anyone saw it, they would be shocked. The zombie that appeared in this realm was a horde leader, a creature on Earth that typically required the intervention of third-realm evolvers to take down. But even if they shared this news, no one would believe them. This kind of event had happened before, only for the realm to intervene, killing the horde leader or forcing it to ascend—something that, for zombies, meant death.
With the mutant leading the way, the zombies started following it out of the city, leaving everyone who arrived puzzled about what had just happened.
Our protagonist, Dax, had no idea what monstrosity was chasing him down. If he had known, he would have surely killed the mutant instead of crippling it and leaving it in the city.