Chapter 256 Dog Barking
The sound of the Gilded Form shattering echoed through the air.
Earlier, the ray attack had already caused cracks on it, and this strike made it shatter.
Actually, the strike was off target.
William's right hand had gone numb earlier, but thanks to the few seconds Gemma bought him and the healing power of the Bloodstride Boots, he could barely move it. This was already quite impressive.
When he swung his professional skill, he could only roughly control the direction. The strike that was supposed to hit Throat Seizer's head landed on its body instead.
Although it wasn't fatal, it still dealt a heavy blow to Throat Seizer. The color of the Gilded Form had dimmed, clearly indicating that the injury had weakened its innate skill.
The Metal Osmium Person and the Hellhound were almost recklessly pounding Throat Seizer's head.
Some foul blood flowed from Throat Seizer's nose and mouth. Despite its high evolution level and the Gilded Form which was known for its defense, it couldn't withstand such hacking and smashing. The immense force caused a concussion, injuring its brain.
The level-four Throat Seizer let out the most piercing scream since the battle began.
The surrounding zombies went completely berserk. They didn't care about their own safety and wanted to rush to William, the Hellhound, and the Metal Osmium Giant. Those with innate skills used them, and those without used their hands and mouths to attack these three targets.
Before the battle at the main gate erupted, there were still over 360 level-two zombies and 42 level-three zombies. As the fight progressed, the number of high-level zombies greatly decreased, but about ten level-three zombies remained. Apart from the level-three zombies killed by William's group, each death of a level-three zombie cost dozens of survivors lives. Many level-three zombies were worn down by survivors using a strategy of trading their lives for injuries.
Now, Throat Seizer had summoned all its subordinates to rescue itself. The survivors took this opportunity to kill many high-level zombies, but there were some level-three zombies to reach the core of the battle.
Many survivors' eyes were bloodshot, and blood flowed down their cheeks like tears. No matter how they hacked and smashed their weapons at the zombies in front of them, they couldn't stop these creatures from attacking William.
Just then, a voice shouted, "I'll handle this!"
Cecil, who had been severely injured in the battle at the stone gate, had somehow returned. He stood behind William with a giant shield, blocking attacks for William.
Jack, Candice, and Natalie appeared beside Gemma and fought desperately, while Lucy used one hand to help Gemma grab the tentacle and the other to continuously cast Air Shield on William, Hellhound, and the Metal Osmium Person. She even found time to cast a Restoration Spell on William.
However, her face visibly paled due to the immense mental strain.
Clarissa, who had been inconspicuously fighting with other Evolving Persons, brought Leah and two other Evolving Persons to William's other side. They were not in good shape. As one-star Evolving Persons, they didn't have sharp weapons like Edge of the Moon. Their only advantage was better protective gear, but this wasn't enough to make their lives easy among level-two and level-three zombies.
If it weren't for their previous experiences making them willing to sacrifice for each other and uniting from the start of the battle until now, they might have already been overwhelmed by the zombie horde.
But they were still in a dire state. Clarissa and another woman, Aubrey, were already severely injured. If it weren't for the ongoing battle, they might have already collapsed.
But there was no time for rest, no time for pain.
With the distraction provided by Darryl and Sasha's teams, they were fortunate enough to reach William's side.
Aubrey threw herself onto the tentacle that William was holding with his left hand. She glanced at William, gave a bitter smile, and said, "Let me take over. You go fight."
She wrapped the elastic tentacle around her wrist and used her other hand to wedge it between the tentacle and William's waist, which had slightly loosened due to the damage. She glanced at Gemma, opened her mouth, clearly planning to bite the tentacle like Gemma did.
She suddenly smiled and said to William, "After the nightmare days at the beginning of the apocalypse… I thought I'd never let another man get on top of me. Guess you're different. Shame… no time for that now. Let go!"
While she was speaking, Leah, who had just been standing there, was impaled through the chest by a zombie's claw. The zombie then used its other hand to tear Leah in half. Blood splattered onto Aubrey, who had just spoken to William, jolting her back to reality. Aubrey screamed and bit down on the tentacle!
Taking advantage of the moment, William twisted his body and broke free from the tentacle's grip. Aubrey used her last bit of strength to quickly press down on the tentacle, wrapping her arms tightly around it.
Her strength was far inferior to William's, but she managed to restrain the tentacle, though she couldn't maintain control. Her body was instantly dragged towards Throat Seizer. Another woman who had come with her saw this and threw herself onto Aubrey, both of them holding onto the tentacle tightly.
The dragging motion paused but didn't stop. Clarissa shouted and also jumped in, all three women pressing down on the tentacle.
William switched Edge of the Moon to his left hand and decapitated the level-two zombie that had killed Leah. He glanced at the three women being slowly dragged towards Throat Seizer, gritted his teeth, told Cecil to protect them, and leaped towards Throat Seizer. He swung Edge of the Moon with all his might, the Knife Light crossing the short distance and slashing Throat Seizer's head.
During his second strike, a zombie's mutated tail struck William's leg, causing him to stumble to the side.
During his third strike, another zombie lunged at him, wrapping its arms around his waist, its fanged mouth biting into his right rib.
During his fourth strike, a level-three zombie broke through Sasha's warband's encirclement, leaped up, and aimed a sharp bone spike at his head!
Many people closed their eyes, feeling their strength drain away. They knew William couldn't dodge this blow. The abdominal injury, the awkward left hand, and the zombie clinging to his waist all made it impossible for William to evade.
Many wondered if they had given up everything to protect each other and fight to the death, only to end up like this.
William's heart sank.
He was out of options. He could try to twist away, try to turn a killing blow into a crippling one, and buy himself a few more seconds to deliver one final, desperate attack.
If he killed Throat Seizer, he could keep fighting.
But if he failed, he would die here.
The battlefield fell silent in an instant. Everyone, every zombie, focused their gaze here, awaiting the final judgment from.
Suddenly, a dog's bark rang out.
