The eastern sky blazed red. Fire and dust danced in the air, accompanying thousands of relentless growls echoing along the eastern wall. Piles of zombie corpses littered the defensive line, yet the attack had not stopped. It never would—until one side was completely annihilated.
"GRRRRRRRRHHHHHHH!!!"
A zombie leaped from the rubble, its fangs thirsty for blood. But before it could even touch the ground—
CRACK!
Its head shattered, struck by the knee of a man with messy hair and a wide grin.
"Heh… haven't even had breakfast and already welcomed by the stench of rotting flesh," Zuki quipped, stomping on the zombie's head until it lay still.
That was Zuki—the craziest Arcanist on the front lines. Behind his foolish demeanor hid a nightmare for the undead. He laughed during battle, hummed as blood sprayed, and danced atop the corpses of his enemies.
Beside him stood a tall, muscular man, his armor vibrating slightly over flexing muscles. Sparks of electricity crackled from his palm, dancing to the rhythm of his heartbeat.
"Zuki, focus. We still don't know where that strange zombie is," said the man, his voice as deep as thunder holding back lightning.
"Relax, Raka," Zuki replied casually, spinning and kicking another approaching zombie into the wall. "We just need to find the one walking funny, like a lost chick without its mama!"
"GRRRRRHHHHHH!"
"Whoa! Look, it answered!" Zuki laughed loudly. "The zombie gets me, bro!"
Above them, a woman with short hair and a beautiful face—contrasting sharply with her athletic, six-pack-laden body—floated in the air atop broken stones. With a flick of her hand, the ground beneath the zombies suddenly shot upward, impaling and toppling them one by one.
"Don't joke around too much, Zuki," she said flatly.
"Citra, you gotta learn to smile a bit. The world's burning, but that doesn't mean your heart has to."
Citra only shot him a sharp glare before toppling another zombie with a stone pillar crashing from the side.
"It's been all day and that weird corpse still hasn't shown up. At this rate, we're gonna miss dinner," Zuki complained.
Raka stroked his chin, clearly weighing a difficult decision, and sighed. "Zuki."
"Yup?" Zuki replied.
"Looks like we'll need to rely on the Beast."
Upon hearing Raka's words, Zuki grinned with anticipation. With a stomp and a low growl, his body began to change. Muscles bulged, hair sprouted along his arms and back, claws extended from his fingers, and his human face transformed into a snarling, fang-filled snout.
A wolf now stood where Zuki once was. Yellow eyes glowing, muscular frame radiating bloodlust. He lifted his head and sniffed the air.
"Awoooooooo!" his howl pierced through the chaos of war.
"Now it's clearer," he muttered. "Their scent… it's heading toward the northern ruins of the second layer."
But before they could move further, a wave of regular zombies blocked their path—more than fifty of them, advancing like a tide. Yet none of the trio stepped back.
Zuki pounced first—tearing through the leading zombie and ripping open its gut. Blood sprayed as he spun, smashing his knee into another zombie's face, embedding it into the dirt.
Raka crushed two zombies with his bare hands, their bones cracking beneath his strength. One tried to strike from behind, but caught an elbow to the jaw, then a final blow that left it motionless.
Citra fought with speed and precision. She slid under a zombie, hooked her leg to trip it, then shattered its face with her elbow. She dodged another strike, then kicked the next zombie in the neck with a swift heel.
"GRRRRRHHHHHH!!"
Screams filled the air as the zombies were destroyed by bare hands. Blood, guts, and bones flew everywhere. No flashy magic, no explosions. Just movement, power, and instinct.
Zuki shredded three zombies with a single swipe of his claws. One bit into his arm, but he grabbed its head and slammed it repeatedly into the ground until it was unrecognizable.
"Drooling, huh?!"
Raka and Citra exchanged glances, shaking their heads and exhaling deeply. They knew that once Zuki transformed, his power and senses increased drastically—but it also made him fight like a wild animal. Sometimes, he even forgot his teammates… or that he was human.
As the battlefield fell silent, Zuki raised his head and sniffed again.
"That scent's stronger now... but something's off. Like... pressure."
And sure enough, four massive figures emerged slowly from the rubble. Their bodies were covered in copper armor, standing nearly two meters tall, moving slowly but with terrifying presence. They marched in unison, unlike typical aimless zombies. And from behind them... another figure appeared—smaller, with a blank stare, but its movements were far too human.
"GRRRRRHHHHHHHH!!"
"A zombie with abnormal behavior?" Citra asked quietly.
"Could be the 'strange one' the guards warned us about," Raka replied.
Zuki spat. "Don't care who it is. All I know is—they stink."
The four copper zombies charged at once.
BOOM!
One rammed Raka with its shoulder, slamming him into a steel pole. But Raka stood up, blood trailing from his forehead, and countered with a heavy punch to the gut.
"Thunder Fist: Static Pulse!"
Not meant to kill—just to paralyze. In that split second, he twisted its neck with raw power, snapping it with a loud crack.
Zuki fought two at once. He clawed out the eye of one, got thrown against a wall by the other, then sprang back and double-kicked it in the chest, sending it tumbling.
"Feral Fang: Maul Drive!" he roared, tearing into the zombie's throat until the head ripped off.
Citra was surrounded by a copper zombie and the overseer. She fought back, blocking strikes with bruised arms. The copper zombie kicked her down, but before it could strike again, roots burst from the ground, wrapping around its legs.
"Gaia Bind: Rootlock!"
She stood, charged her arms with energy, and smashed her knee into its face—then again with her elbow.
Raka rushed to help, his hand sparking with lightning. He punched the ribs of the final copper zombie. But then the overseer let out a strange sound—and from behind, a zombie darted forward and slashed Raka's chest open. Blood sprayed.
Raka dropped to his knees. "Khh... damn it..."
Zuki saw it. His eyes blazed. He let out a furious roar and charged.
"Feral Fang: Alpha Blitz!"
He slammed into the overseer at high speed, dragging it across the ground. But the zombie fought back, clawing at him. Blood ran from Zuki's cheek. They clawed, bit, and struck each other fiercely.
Citra joined in, dropping a large boulder to trap the overseer's leg.
Raka, bloodied, summoned his last strength.
"Thunder Chain: Final Surge!"
Lightning burst from his hands, crashing into the pinned overseer.
Zuki leapt high, then dove—
"Feral Fang: Predator's Drop!"
His claws pierced the overseer's chest.
"GRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
The body flailed, thrashed, then finally... stilled.
Zuki stood, chest heaving, his fur soaked in blood. Raka lay gasping, Citra leaning against the wall, hands trembling.
Then Zuki turned to the sky and howled.
Awooooooooooooooooo!!!
On the eastern wall, that howl marked the end of one of the fiercest battles of the day.