Chapter 152 Base Defense Battle
The packed mass of monsters suddenly burst into a blinding light.
Even in the morning sun, those red rays were dazzling.
Then came the flames.
Marcus and the others, retreating among the ruins, saw for the first time the horrific sight of bodies turning to ash in an instant.
Before, such scenes were only in movies with CGI. Now, it was real, right in front of them, making them forget their fear of death, just to see what had happened.
The once arrogant monsters were now scattered black ash, with deep knife marks on the ground in all directions. Anything caught in those marks was sliced apart, leaving broken bodies on either side.
The black ash and severed limbs created another gruesome scene after the explosion.
At the center stood a figure, shield in the left hand, blade in the right, standing tall and proud.
The survivor mumbled, "It's... it's Will..."
A survivor's mouth was dry, wanting to say something but unable to form a complete sentence.
Marcus had always been amazed by William's strength, but now he finally understood he had underestimated him. This young man's power was beyond comprehension. He couldn't fathom what that earth-shattering strike had been.
William was panting, his body slightly rising and falling with each breath. Due to the high temperature, the bits of flesh and blood on his body had dried, sticking to his clothes and making him look dirty and disheveled.
But neither the survivors on the ruins nor the mutated creatures on the other side looked down on him for this. Even the ordinary zombies, which lacked much intelligence, showed instinctive fear.
They felt a natural, deep-seated dread of a powerful presence.
The second-level mutated creatures were even more agitated, quickly retreating and putting distance between themselves and William.
They were truly afraid; with a certain level of intelligence, they could sense the terror of this killing god far more acutely than their lower-level counterparts.
The entire battlefield fell into an eerie stillness for a moment.
William had just used a combination skill; Seal: Flame Blade. It was a mix of Radiant Seal and Blade Master.
Unlike when he was a one-star Evolving person, he had just used it three times in quick succession, targeting three different directions.
Two-star evolution enhanced the body in all aspects. Profession skills required survivors to have a profession, but the power of these skills was closely related to the user's abilities.
When William was a one-star, he could at most use two fully combined profession skills. Even then, it might overdraw his mental energy, though the power was immense and traceable.
Now that he had evolved to two stars, his mental energy had significantly increased. Although he still couldn't use Seal: Flame Blade four times, as it involves many complex factors, using it three times was no problem.
Moreover, this move was faster and more powerful.
Throughout the previous battle, he hadn't used any high-consumption mental energy abilities like the basic Coagulation and Arousal spell, saving his strength for this powerful strike.
And it had indeed been effective.
Marcus said, "Boss, we've bought enough time."
Marcus's face was flushed. He wasn't the powerful one, but as a fellow human, he felt a sense of pride and spoke with a slight stutter.
William's cold gaze swept over the nearby corpses and mutated creatures. Amid their chaotic retreat, he turned and walked step by step up the ruins, disappearing from the monsters' sight.
Moments later, a violent explosion sounded. Two tall buildings were demolished in a controlled blast, creating massive ruins that completely isolated the southern district from the other areas, blocking the incoming monsters.
In the distance, Owen's eyes still held the afterimage of William's strike. His face twisted, and his body trembled violently before he let out a silent howl.
This silent howl incited most of the zombies and mutated creatures outside the base into a frenzy, launching attacks on the base from various directions.
Anthony ordered, "Hurry, stack those sandbags."
He added, "Over there, pour the oil."
Anthony instructed, "Move the stones to the wall; we're running low on bullets, so we'll have to use these."
After the explosion, Anthony became the busiest person in the base, directing the survivors to reinforce the ruins and organize defenses in other areas.
Many were puzzled or even dissatisfied with Anthony's sudden takeover of the base's leadership. However, in the face of a zombie siege that threatened everyone's survival, his leadership won their compliance.
Everyone busied themselves with repairing the defenses, and many voluntarily defended the areas under heavy attack.
Effectiveness aside, the morale was significantly higher than before.
By dusk, the zombie attacks outside gradually subsided. As the zombies retreated, many survivors in the base collapsed to the ground, feeling the joy of surviving a catastrophe.
Throughout the day, the base faced multiple dangers. The ruins in the southern district, allowed some mutated creatures to climb up, making the defense there particularly heavier.
If not for the steadfast defense by Jack, Candice, Michelle, and others, Hope Base might have already become a restaurant for the zombies.
In fact, near dusk, several second-level creatures launched a final assault, forcing William, who had been recovering his mental and physical strength in a room, to return to the battlefield with his team to drive the monsters away.
As night fell and both sides ceased fighting, the day's death toll was staggering.
From the chaos of the previous night to the end of the defensive battle tonight, Hope Base had suffered over three thousand casualties! Most of these were deaths, with only a few hundred injured.
It was the cruelty of the apocalypse; sometimes, even a minor injury could mean death without an immunity potion.
In a clubhouse in the eastern district, the leadership of Hope Base gathered.
William sat cross-legged in a corner, eyes closed, recuperating. His team members were scattered around, watching Anthony, Donovan, Marcus, and three others who had performed well in today's battle discuss matters.
Among these three, one was an Evolving person who had previously been under Simon's command and had a good reputation, which was why he had survived until now. The other two had participated in the morning's defense of the ruins with William.
Anthony said, "The injured have been tied up according to Mr. Wright's instructions."
