Chapter 856: The First Elimination
After the suppressive fire from the Warden Units came the second line. The Flamethrower Towers ignited, sending torrents of fire sweeping across the swarm of insane Zombies.
The crawling ones were immediately caught in the blaze, as they convulsed violently before collapsing to the ground, charred...
The traps followed next.
Hidden spike mines burst upward, skewering clusters of sprinting corpses. Wire nets with conductive coils were activated, electrocuting anything that touched them.
Anna, who could also see the situation from the command room, couldn’t help but feel impressed.
This was the first time she had seen these traps in action...
"That’s... brutal."
Shane didn’t answer. He watched as the swarm began to break apart, hundreds burning, hundreds more crushed as the Warden Units and other defensive structures worked together.
But soon, Shane received a report from the Elves positioned at the Watchtowers...
Through their radio, Shane confirmed that there seemed to be special Zombies sighted and they had some glowing red veins on their skin.
According to the system before, they could be Bloodmarked, Corrupted, or Infested Class Zombies. However, there way to make sure of it until they get kill confirmation and get notified by the system of what they have just killed.
Shane nodded at this as he didn’t feel pressured. They were also just starting...
"So it begins..."
He turned to the nearest comm officer.
"Send word to the second defense line. Keep the Warden Units in front. And tell the snipers, if they see something glowing red in that horde, aim for the head."
***
Outside, amid the smoke and burning fields, something larger began pushing through the horde, it was as huge as a Tyrant Zombie, or it seemed more like an Armored Butcher Zombie with its large belly. However, with the glowing red veins, Shane believed that it was most likely the Bloodmarked Zombie...
"Let’s see how long they can endure... before we start using real firepower." Shane muttered.
At this time, from atop the northern wall, a cold wind brushed past Tieria’s hair...
His mechanical left eye focused faintly beneath the scope of his rifle. It was a masterpiece called Night’s Whisper, a Legendary-Grade Rifle that he had obtained.
Unlike modern firearms, Night’s Whisper didn’t fire conventional bullets.
It used compressed spirit energy cartridges to propel crystallized rounds that could pierce through steel plating, or in this case, the skulls of Bloodmarked monsters.
The rifle vibrated softly as Tieria adjusted his aim.
Through his mechanical eye, he could magnify the scope’s view severalfold, allowing her to see past the flames and smoke that filled the horizon.
Of course, he was no longer using the eye he had obtained from Lysandra, but it was already something even more impressive and expensive.
At the moment, his target was the hulking creature pushing through the burning field.
It had a huge frame with red veins all over its body that pulsed like magma under its skin. Each step it took crushed smaller undead beneath its weight.
"Target locked..." Tieria whispered.
The mechanical gears in his left eye focused faintly as the targeting system synced with his rifle.
Soon, a faint circle of light appeared within his scope. It was the predictive trajectory display unique to her ocular implant.
’Three seconds... steady... wind: two knots west.’
He exhaled, and time seemed to slow.
Soon, his finger squeezed the trigger.
A blinding flash erupted from the barrel.
The round streaked through the air, and it was not invisible. It was like a silent comet and struck the creature’s forehead dead center!
Bang!
The Butcher’s skull erupted in a shower of red fluid and fragments, as the red glow in it body slowly faded.
Just like most of the Zombies, their brains were their weakness as well.
Soon, the system notification immediately echoed in her mind...
[ You have eliminated a Bloodmarked Butcher Zombie ]
"Confirmed kill." Tieria muttered as he swiftly reported to Cloud or on the radio, the identity of the Zombie.
"Bloodmarked Butcher... One down."
"Good shot, Tieria..." Shane replied as he needed this information about the new types of Zombies since Cloud was already compiling them for analysis.
[ Recording confirmed. Updating global threat data. ]
Cloud reported.
Then, the zombie’s information was added to its database.
On the other hand, Tieria reloaded, as another spirit energy cartridge slid into place.
Soon, his glowing eye tracked the battlefield below, scanning for new variants as the Warden Units continued their mechanical slaughter.
But the waves weren’t stopping.
From the east and west sectors, more clusters of Bloodmarked crawlers appeared.
Some were climbing over burning carcasses, with their limbs regenerating faster than before.
That was when Sona and Otto stepped onto the western rampart.
Both wore adaptive mage armor made by the shelter’s engineers. It was light, flexible, and designed for rapid mana discharge. One could see that they were carrying a dozen Mana Crystals on their belt that they could use to replenish their energy.
They were Shane’s slaves, bought in the Vault of Chains. Of course, they were now freed citizens of his land and with the two of them, Shane knew that they could equal a tank or two as long as they have enough supply of mana.
Sona, the Frostborn Arcanist, or what Shane liked to call as Ice Magician, extended her hand and cast a spell.
"Encroaching Winter."
Suddenly, a sweeping current of frost burst outward, covering the front lines with an expanding wave of ice.
The ground crackled as it started freezing dozens of fast-moving zombies mid-charge. Their limbs shattered seconds later as the temperature plummeted.
Beside her, Otto’s eyes glowed faintly red.
He calls himself the Celestial Sunslinger, but Shane just calls him a Fire Magician... Soon, he slammed his palm onto the frozen ground.
"Pyro Array... Burst Sequence Gamma!"
Soon, a fiery energy erupted beneath the ice-covered zombies.
A second later, they detonated.
The mixture of fire and ice created a massive explosion of steam that covered the battlefield in a suffocating mist...
"Good start... Now, let’s get serious." Shane muttered as he looked at the flying Zombies behind the horde of crawling and running Zombies...