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3. Rising against the tide of the dead

'Feels like this could work,' he chuckled, as he thought of something. 'Never expected to use you so quickly,' he said out loud as instincts made him use his mind to sync with the beast soul, something that synced easily as if it's been done by him over a hundred times.

Graa!!

The eerie sound of an undead echoed throughout the bar, but this growl wasn't coming from a zombie but from the transformed Christopher.

Inching forward with steady steps in his zombie form, slowly but steady towards the zombie, the zombie which was a predator now became a prey in the blink of an eye.

Being intimidated by Christopher's slow steps, the zombie could be noticed to have been shivering slightly as if it as seen a superior one and a predicament was looming over its head ready to strike at any moment.

Christopher in his zombie form suddenly dashed forward with speed that shouldn't be possessed by a zombie, he made a grabbing motion as he aimed for its head

Puchi!

The head of the zombie was crushed under the impact of the pressure in his palm and encephalic matter was was all over the ground as if mistaking it for a canvas.

[Level 2 Zombie killed...]

Christopher cleared the words that were reflecting in his retina almost as soon as they arrived as he felt he had to focus.

'Gross, I never thought that clown's head would be so fragile,' he said out loud as he wiped his hand and looked at his palm with a grin on his face. 'This beast soul ain't so bad after all.'

Then he looked at his palm and muttered to himself with a grin on his face 'this beast soul ain't so bad afterall.'

'P-please don't hurt me, don't h-hurt me, I can sense you still retain intelligence compared to the other mindless zombies,' the old man said while hugging his legs like a young boy shivering from the cold nights of winter.

Christopher didn't know whether to cry or to laugh as he placed his grotesque hand on his head, indicating his frustration. 'Retain intelligence, mindless zombie, you really know how to thank your helper, old man.'

'S-sir, I didn't mean to offend you, please spare this old man,' the old man quickly said as he leaned forward to hug Chris's leg, ignoring the fact that he was hugging a zombie.

Christopher quickly bent down to meet the old man as he raised him up, feeling the old man's still shivering body. He complained, 'Old man, you really want my ancestors to punish me. I would step on my ancestors' legacy if you keep treating me like this.'

He paused before going on to say, 'Besides, I'm still a human like you who was lucky to stumble upon a beast soul, and this beast soul helps me to transform into a zombie.'

'B-beast soul? W-what is that?' the old man said with a shaking voice.

Christopher didn't reply but willed back as he transformed back to his true form.

'Y-you are s-still y-young?' the old man stammered as he was stunned with Chris's tenderness.

'Didn't I tell you my ancestors would get angry if they caught me allowing you to worship me, they would surely beat sense into my numb skull,' he spoke feeling slightly frustrated from the old man's treatment.

'Ok ok young hero, I would treat you according to your wishes, but thank you for saving my life.' the old man didn't push things further since he was understanding how he was putting the young man in his front into a difficult position.

'Elder, you can just call me Christopher' Chris said politely as he bowed slightly since he has been cultured with martial arts.

'Ohh so its actually Christopher, thank you once again, from now on I Hughes Stones pledge my life to you, I would follow you even to the depths of hell.' the old man said said with one hand on his chest and the other hand raised at a right angle pointing towards the ceiling.

'Old man I'm suddenly starting to regret saving you instead of helping someone else as too many people in the bar were in similar positions as you, who told you I'm going to hell?' he pointed at him and reprimanded, obviously not expecting an answer from Elder Stones.

'Huh... y-young hero, we are being surrounded by the zombies in the bar, and it s-seems we are the only survivors left,' Elder Stones said in a stiff voice.

Christopher raised his head as he finally realized the entire situation in the bar, he saw that he and Elder Stones were the only lucky ones who faced a zombie each; the other patrons and staff of the bar were overwhelmed with a minimum of two zombies each.

He also noticed that there were some humans writhing on the floor as an aftermath of being bitten or scratched by a zombie, only for them to rise up again after few minutes with their crackling joints and join the army of the dead in recruiting more members into their ranks.

Noticing that there were only two uninfected people in the bar, their attention were drawn onto them, baring their teeth like fangs and making deep guttural moaning.

'Elder have you made a kill of any zombie today?' Chris asked

'No I haven't, if not I should have gained a beast soul like you and slain that zombie with ease'

'Of course I knew it but I just wanted to be sure, because that would increase the odds of us getting out of here alive'

'Ohh, do you really want me to f-fight alongside you?'... Elder Stones paused then continued 'This Old man's fist are now rusted and weak, I would be crushed with ease, although I don't wanna be a burden but I still have things I need to do before I die.' he said with his eyes now reminiscent of a kitten's.

'hahahaha..' Christopher laughed hard clutching his stomach as if oblivious of the situation he was in. 'Old man you really know how to justify your shamelessness.' he gave him a sidelong glare.

Elder Stones didn't dare to look him into the eyes as he knew his cunning ways as been exposed, he was so ashamed of the fact that he wanted to use a man young enough to be his grandson has his meat shield.

Christopher sighed as he understood the old man's struggles he went on to say 'I don't promise your survival because my safety comes first and I don't think I owe you anything neither do my ancestors owe you, I would only try my best to bring you with me, but if situations arises where I would be helpless, I won't hesitate to abadon you' he paused and added ' the world is now like that of the movies and novels where survival is for the fittest.'

'But let's focus on the problems at hand, my beast soul seems to be a little strong, and I should be able to slay some zombies, but we would have to fight on a striaght path until we get to the exit, because even if I have the strength to deal with them all, my stamina would have depleted by then, so just run closely behind me as you follow my tracks.'

He willed for his beast soul and transformed into a zombie as he dashed forward into the army of the dead as Elder Stones followed him at a safe distance

Using his fist, his claws and his legs to work wonders in the crowd of zombie, aiming for the head of each zombie that crossed his path, he overwhelmed the zombies with the strength of his beast soul, using his legs like an axe and his fist as a mace.

Leaving a trail of blood behind, the current scene of the bar was something that would terrify even a fully grown adult not to talk of a young man who was just welcoming adulthood.

Every fist he threw and every kick he gave made him inch closer to the exit, but nothing lasts forever, not even a beast soul seemed to last forever, the power of the beast soul started wearing off gradually as Chris was still fighting.

He noticed this issue and gritted his teeth has he exerted more power to kill as much zombies on his path as possible, to have an easier time when it finally wears off completely.

Finally the beast soul wore off and the strength he used vanished like smoke, but he still didn't stop in his track, but became more careful as he was no longer immune to the claws and bites of a zombie.

Looking at the exit that was now drawing near him after the intense fervor he put into this massacre, he used his pure strength to drive forward now, he wasn't facing zombies as strong as the one he soloed before but what was happening now was his disadvantage against numbers.

'Christopher can you still keep going?' he heard the voice of the old man who had been following him since he began his massacre.

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