Chapter Nine: Fierce Battle in the Nest of Corpses

[Prompt: "Bile Spray" from the "Spitter" has inflicted minor damage on you. For the next ten seconds, you will suffer two points of corrosive damage per second and be subjected to a frenzied assault by the corpse horde.]

[Prompt: The living dead, stimulated by bile, have doubled their attack power (damage now eight points), heightened aggression (attack speed now fast), until the bile's effect wears off.]

Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!

The pungent odor of green bile instantly incited the horde of corpses into furious howls. They rushed past the Spitter standing at the door, charging toward Embers’ position like starving tigers, sealing every route and enclosing the two against the villa’s wall corner. In an instant, damage notifications rained down relentlessly.

[Prompt: You received a normal attack from a "Living Dead," you suffered zero damage.]

[Prompt: You received a normal attack from a "Living Dead," you suffered zero damage.]

...

Fortunately, the twelve defense points of the active soft bio-suit provided Embers with the courage and confidence to endure. Facing the frenzied living dead, he did not retreat a single step, leaving space for Cup of Wine Growing Strong to deal damage.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Though two bolts felled one living dead, another immediately took its place. With the horde still numbering over twenty, their madness made Cup of Wine Growing Strong’s heart race. Yet what astonished her more was that no matter how fiercely the living dead struck and shoved, Embers did not retreat. Even knowing it was the bio-suit granting him invincibility, witnessing those withered hands swinging before her yet unable to touch her, she felt a deep sense of reassurance.

He really is quite formidable!

So thought Cup of Wine Growing Strong, her hands never ceasing as the crossbow bolts flew. In a short time, she and Embers together dispatched six living dead.

At this point, four seconds had passed since the bile’s effect began.

If things proceeded as expected, Embers could easily hold out for a minute. When the two were cornered against the wall, even the Spitter was pushed to the outskirts by its own minions. The pair were separated from it by the crazed horde, as if divided by an unbridgeable chasm, allowing them to focus on attacking without worry.

Until a living dead’s hand struck Embers’ head.

[Prompt: Your head has been attacked for the tenth time in one battle, triggering the combo-break effect.]

[Prompt: For the next five seconds, your head’s defense level will decrease by one, from "Weak (12)" to "Very Weak (5)."]

[Prompt: If your head is attacked during this period, the break duration resets to its initial state!]

Crack!

A sound like shattering glass echoed in Embers’ ears, and the damage prompts changed.

[Prompt: You received a normal attack from a "Living Dead," you lost three health points.]

[Prompt: The equipment effect "Virus Resistance (Very Weak)" of your "Bloodvine Bracelet" activated, granting immunity to the "Virus Infection (Very Weak)" effect attached to the attack.]

Three points of damage!

It seemed insignificant for Embers, whose maximum health was now fifty. However, with more than twenty hands capable of inflicting this damage, even a hundred health points would not last long. Thankfully, due to their physical overlap, not all the living dead could attack Embers at once. Most hands reached for his bile-stained chest, so as long as he focused on defense, he wouldn’t suffer too much.

But now, Embers couldn’t fully defend, for not far away, the Spitter was preparing another bile spray. If hit again, there would be no beast hide to shield him, and it would likely strike his face, since the living dead before him were so malnourished their bodies were shriveled and hunched.

The nauseating scent of dark green bile chilled Embers to the core. Driven by strong aversion, he somehow fused Professor Miao’s techniques and displayed remarkable skill in both offense and defense.

He held his breath, focused, and multitasked—attacking left, blocking right, parrying high and low. While fending off the corpses’ hands, he slashed with his claws for finishing blows. Though not perfectly defensive, over the next six seconds, he suffered only five hits, surviving the bile effect with eleven health points and once again suppressing the horde, reducing their number to just ten.

Ten living dead posed far less threat than before the battle began, and with the next bile spray still brewing, if players were allowed to attack freely, the horde would soon be eliminated. The Spitter realized this and decided to intervene personally, squeezing its round corpse body past the now docile living dead, steadily closing on the pair.

Cup of Wine Growing Strong prepared to attack, but Embers, having just downed a basic healing potion, said in a deep voice, “Take out the blood vessel first!”

Her large eyes filled with confusion. Had it been ten seconds earlier, she might have argued, but seeing Embers’ unwavering resolve, she swallowed her doubts, raised her crossbow, and shot at the nearly depleted corpse nest blood vessel.

Splurt!

Its life extinguished, the blood vessel could no longer sustain itself, instantly severing its connection to the flesh tumor and falling to the ground with a splat, dissolving into blood that flowed everywhere. At the same time, the white-clad living dead’s health dropped sharply, still slumped in the blood pool without moving, confirming Embers’ judgment. Only its faint sobs grew louder, revealing a chilling desolation.

Roar!

Seeing its nest blood vessel destroyed, the Spitter could no longer restrain itself, swinging its bloated hand down on Embers.

The Spitter, towering a full head above Embers, easily targeted his head. Instinctively, Embers raised his arms to block, but the Spitter’s strength level reached six, easily knocking his arms aside and smashing down on his head.

[Prompt: You received a normal attack from "Spitter," you lost eight health points.]

[Prompt: The equipment effect "Virus Resistance (Very Weak)" of your "Bloodvine Bracelet" activated, reducing the attached "Virus Infection (Weak)" effect. With your life level at four, you are immune to the weakened "Virus Infection (Very Weak)" effect.]

The Spitter’s attack, at average level, delivered eight damage to Embers’ already vulnerable head. His health, barely recovered to half, was knocked down to just forty percent. The only consolation was avoiding viral infection, sparing him further misery.

Under normal circumstances, facing the Spitter’s formidable stats—one hundred twenty health, strong attack and defense—Embers should have teamed up with Cup of Wine Growing Strong to attack. But now was not the time to kill the Spitter, at least not before all eight blood vessels were destroyed and the white-haired living dead eliminated. Embers had seen the Spitter’s skill details through his updated Eye of Investigation, making him wary of its unrevealed “Parting Gift.”

This skill triggers an explosion upon death, spraying bile over a wide area and dealing blast damage equal to its attack power.

Staring at the Spitter’s round belly, Embers doubted the explosion wouldn’t affect the white-haired living dead. Thus, he had Cup of Wine Growing Strong focus on destroying the blood vessels while he faced the powerful enemy alone.

As the Spitter raised its massive hand again, Embers switched weapons to the reinforced energy baton. Since its attacks couldn’t be blocked and the cramped space made dodging difficult, he abandoned defense and opted for direct confrontation. As he took another hit, the baton extended into two short swords, smashing down onto the Spitter’s head.

[Prompt: You activated the weapon effect “Energy Infusion” of your reinforced baton, raising attack level by one for the next three attacks.]

[Prompt: You used the active skill “Staff Technique: Headshot,” lowering the target’s head defense by one.]

[Prompt: You dealt fourteen damage to "Spitter."]

[Prompt: Spitter’s agility is below five, unable to ignore the “Slow” status of “Ordinary” level; for the next five seconds, attack and movement speed decrease by twenty-five percent.]

The twenty-five percent slow effect made the already sluggish Spitter move like an elderly man. Embers followed up with two furious attacks, dropping its health to just over forty. The slow effect also gave Embers a chance to evade, and in a state of heightened concentration, he managed several extreme dodges, avoiding all head blows for five seconds.

[Prompt: Combo-break effect has ended; head defense returns to normal.]

This prompt reinvigorated Embers.

Not only had the Spitter’s threat diminished, but now the counterattack could truly begin!