BXBX NOVEL Chapter 29: Follow me to Victory.
A combination of factors kept the 15 ft zombie on the ground. First, it received {Withstand} once again, thus it could not twist its body for power as its frame was "locked" from turning. Next, its right arm got dislocated out of its socket. Third, I blasted its right knee to the point I almost died.
"The strikes of our blows get weaker due to loss of momentum, but it is too dangerous to let it move freely. Shit!"
Bella\'s voice served as the group\'s direction. I didn\'t know when, but the Brazilian cop got acknowledged as our group\'s second in command. I wondered if the reason they followed her was due to her own skills or her status as my lover? Probably both, if you asked me.
"Aki! Have you found any weaknesses yet? Darling said you and Bella could do it, right?!"
"{Gather} doesn\'t work like that, Benelli-san! I can only record what I see, I cannot find something without knowing it like Smith-san can!"
"Jasmine! The southerner said {Perceive} also played a factor, did you find anything?"
"I am sorry, all it does it makes my vision better, It\'s impossible for me!"
The panic from their voices were already approaching breaking point. My girls were all Formless, and this underground world had brainwashed them to believe that they were trash. Unable to break free from that, they still had not only insecurities but also a crippling fear of being cast aside. Truly leaving one\'s comfort zone was hard.
Currently the girls were on its shoulders and were desperately trying their best to take out its left arm. If they succeeded and we could pin this bastard to the ground, we had a shot at winning.
The zombie tried to struggle on pure instinct right now. There would normally be no way to kill this thing, but using desperate tactics, we took out two of its limbs.
"Taurus-san It is no use! None of the steel weapons can perpetrate the skin!" Aki reported.
Even Robyn started to fear for her life. "Oy glasses! Once Liv runs out of souls this guy will break free! We need to bail now!"
"This is suicide! We don\'t have enough power to kill it! Rendering it helpless is already good enough for Formless! Let\'s leave it to the manifested!" Jasmine added.
They were not wrong, by every standard for Formless our achievement was already good enough. But why stop there?
"JAS! Let\'s go breaker! If we can at least take out an arm!"
"Denied! Didn\'t John say we are forbidden from using it again!
Josephine began to shriek in hysteria, "WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE IF WE STAY HERE! Not even a dog wags its tail for nothing! I can hear them! The undead horde is coming! The other reapers are all dead!"
Bella kept cursing in panic, "FUCK! Already? What do we do? Shit! What can we do? Think!
Think Bella! Liv! Can we use your new {fate}?"
"DON\'T! Liv will die if she does! Let us retreat! There should be a powerful person under the deck! This is not our battle!" Aki instructed, the fear in her voice evident.
"AKI, let me at least die with my honor!"
"Shut it Liv! If that thing does not die, your old man would laugh at you being a dickhead! Strewth! The wanker is healing! Its shoulder popped back on. We need to run!
NOW!"
"It heals? FUCK! Go to the place where Judas lost his boots, you cheating bastard!"
{Interpret} seemed broken. Were the girls speaking in their mother tongues? I tended to forget because they were excellent warriors, but my girls all had the notion that they were trash hammered into them. Liv and Jo were even suicidal to a degree. If not for me, they wouldn\'t even be here, thus they were my responsibility.
"Right, I said as much, didn\'t I?"
Everyone should have reached level 3, Jasmine had {Snipe}, Robyn had {Hike}, the others should have four more new skills. Bella believed that with Liv\'s skill we had a chance.
\'Then let\'s go with that first,\' I mused.
The girls were so preoccupied trying to keep the boss down that they didn\'t notice me. This damn bastard was healing at breakneck speed. Both its shoulder and leg were already free from injury. We did not have any time to waste. I moved towards Liv and grabbed her by the left horn of her helmet and pulled her down to face me.
"Liv, give me your new {fate} and I will kill this bastard for you. Believe in me."
Despite being such a powerful warrior, the northerner had terror in her eyes. But my gaze didn\'t waver in the slightest. My declaration was hard to believe, but I refused to lay down and die. Perhaps she found hope in my words. The woman embraced me and kissed me sloppily.
\'She seems inexperienced, but feisty nonetheless,\' I inwardly thought.
A new {fate} downloaded in my mind and I saw a chance of victory. When our lips parted, I lovingly caressed her face with my free hand. Her eyes now burned with determination.
"Thank you. Now follow me to victory," I ordered.
"I will."
No other words need be said. I then yelled to the others, "Everyone, I will be asking for you all to place your lives in my hands. But in exchange I will kill this fucker. Follow me and I will give you victory! Anyone who does not wish to do so must leave now!"
Right, the plan had to many variables, but I believed in our {fates}. I would not let others tell me what was not possible. I have done far too much to just give up. Expecting at least someone to leave, I waited.
Yet no one did and Robyn even cracked a joke. "Well? What are you waiting for, wombat?"
I couldn\'t help but smile. "First, leave only a hundred souls on you and give me everything else. Then follow me to the horde and kill as much as we can. I need to get to level 3 before we can fight this bastard."
Josephine asked a logical question. "But darling, how do you even know what your level 3 skill is?"
"I feel it in my gut. It will be our key to victory."
"Your gut? You understand that makes no sense, right honey?"
"Smith-san, you are asking us to gamble our lives on a feeling?" Aki questioned in disbelief.
"What wombat, you think you will grow wings or something?"
Before I could even respond to Robyn\'s sarcasm, Jasmine gave an affirmation I didn\'t expect.
"Then let us do that," she said, dashed towards me and then continued.
"Tell me where your soulgem is."
I pointed to the lump on my neck and Jasmine placed her index finger on it. Within the same second, I felt a warm sensation. This flow of warmth had to be the soul transfer. She then nicked her finger with an arrowhead and forcefully inserted her finger into my mouth.
"I gave you every soul I had. My 3rd ability is {Snipe}. Do not make me regret this. I beg of you, save my sister."
Before the others could question her, Bella jumped and landed beside me. She similarly touched my neck then gave me a kiss.
"My 3rd ability is {Shutdown}. My life is completely in your hands, honey."
One after another the girls all gave me every soul they had as well as their new {fates}. They then all began arming themselves and got into formation. The formation was pointed towards the incoming zombie horde.
\'No matter what happens, after today, I will protect you all as my own,\' I swore in my heart.
I then joined the formation and raised my fist.
"We will be killing as much as we can in order to prepare an attack against the Brute. I now have over 3000 souls on me. They should ignore you all and target me alone. I need a thousand more. At my signal you are all to run as far away from me as you can, understood? Liv, please cancel {Withstand} on the Brute."
The moment {Withstand} was turned off the Brute used both hands to stand up and looked my way. However, before it could act a giant black gorilla tackled the zombie to the ground.
"Amari?"
The primate then replied with a deep, masculine voice.
"You have balls of steel reaper. I originally already resigned to my fate. But if even the Formless had yet to give up, it would be pathetic of me to do so first. I will pin this bastard down as long as I can. Show me this victory you speak of."
Oh, I had forgotten about him, luckily he wasn\'t dead.
"Watch me then! Keep him grounded as long as you can. Girls, let\'s move!" I commanded.
Like a train, our group murdered zombies as we moved. I originally needed only 3000 souls to level up, but to use the plan I had in mind I needed more. Like Josephine said before, it was impossible to know what your new ability was before you evolved.
However, the very nature of {fate} made me wonder. I originally thought rewinding for bullets was a waste, so I wished to regain only my ammunition and then {Reload} was born. What if {fate} listened to your wishes whenever you gained a new skill? Didn\'t {kismet} get created the same way?
Right now, what I needed was the ability to not die but remain where I was. This diverged greatly from what {Rewind} was supposed to be. The question was if {Rewind} would answer my call.
In this land of the dead caught between a zombie army and a rank D boss, my girls and I charged into certain death all for a single hope of victory. The insanity of it all made my feelings come out abruptly.
"I refuse to die here. COME AT ME!" I roared.