Chapter 177

Chapter 177

"Blood?"

Asked Rete, sniffing the air.

"I'm not so sure. I smell a hint of fish, but that could just be another cabins meal."

""

Simon remained standing and his face was deathly serious.

Rete continued,

"I don't know about the smell, but the train did suddenly slow. It's rattling so bad it's getting uncomfortable to si H-Huh?!"

Rete, as her gaze moved to the window, felt her eyes widen. She jumped up to get a closer look.

"What in the world is that?!"

In the vast pastures outside the train, a group of crimson-red zombies were running toward the train, leaving a trail of blood.

That wasn't the end of it.

A loud banging was heard from the window they were looking through. Rete let out a startled yelp and backed away into Simon.

"Holy shit! What are those things?!"

[Kieeeeegh!]

Zombies started sticking to the window. It was probably the same in the other rooms, as screams tore through the entire car.

The zombies screamed in excitement upon seeing living humans, starting to pound the windows with their fists. Some were even climbing up onto the ceiling of the train.

"Rete, wait!"

Simon walked boldly forward and examined the window full of zombies.

'Just when did they get here?'

A red magic circle was drawn on the train carriage, visible between the mass of zombies. More were being summoned from it.

Shatter!!

The glass window in the cabin behind them was broken through and zombies flooded into the first-class car. Shrieks of horror echoed from all directions, and panic ensued.

"Tsk!"

Rete was the first to run out into the corridor.

On the tip of her finger bloomed a magic circle. Countless divine arrows shot out of it, piercing the hearts and skulls of zombies.

"These red zombies It's probably Heavenly Blood!"

Slam!

Simon appeared behind Rete, kicking away a zombie that was aiming for her neck.

"Those heretics who've got the whole Federation on lockdown?"

"Looks like it. They use their own breed of undead called 'Blood Zombies'. They can be tricky, having resistance to purification spells."

Rete, after sending another volley of divine arrows, jumped up on a chair in the guest room.

With a flutter of her skirt, she stomped in the head of a zombie in front of her, using the caved-in skull as a stepping stone to leap backward in the air.

As she flew through the air, her eyes flicked between a dozen zombies and she drew the sign of the cross.

{La Broche}

Psshhk!

Pshk!

Zombies staring up at her found themselves impaled by divine spears that rose from a magic circle drawn on the floor.

Smash!

Beyond the impaled zombies, another zombie flew all the way down the hallway and into the solid wall. Little remained of what could barely be described as its limbs.

"Phewww."

Simon walked slowly after it, zombies lunging at him from the left and right with their horrible screams.

{Strength}

{Haste}

{Endurance}

After casting the three blessings on himself, Simon swung his fist. It quickly rearranged the face of any zombie unfortunate enough to be on the business end of it.

[Keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeegh!]

[Kieeeeh!]

Enraged, more zombies blindly charged in.

Thud! Crush! Pow!

One zombie was left without a lower jaw, another lost its legs, and the one that got close enough to bite Simon's thigh from behind found its teeth unable to puncture the skin blessed with Endurance.

Simon smashed its skull with his elbow.

'There's no need to get hasty. Just keep breathing and take them out one by one.'

No matter how many of them came at him, Simon's movements were crisp and clean. Rete had to do a double take as she watched Simon fight.

Spat back Simon as he dislocated a cultists arm.

The people in the car watched the two battle in awe. Little did they know that the two were actually Kizen's Special Admission No.1 and Efnel's First Chosen, the best of both their respective factions.

"H-Help!"

"There are undead at the back, too!"

The problem was people running away from other cars. Human and zombie became one in the blur of the battlefield, so properly identifying enemies and fighting them was difficult.

It wasn't just once or twice that Rete had to cancel her divine spear spell because of the people screaming and fleeing.

"This won't do."

Said Rete.

"I'll play backup, so you fight alone. You can handle it, right?"

It sounded reckless, but Simon laughed as if he'd been waiting for it.

"Great! I was about to suggest that, too."

"Ah, this hurts my pride."

She muttered before kneeling down in place.

She spread a barrier around her with the sign of the cross before clasping her hands together and beginning to pray.

Whirrrrrrrrrr!

Divinity began swirling around her like a hurricane.

'Having Rete in support is really reassuring.'

As he studied light magic, it wasn't just once or twice that Simon got surprised by Rete's skill.

Soon, a dazzling light flashed, and a myriad of blessings filled the carriage.

{Mass Haste}

{Mass Endurance}

{Mass Downer}

Whooooooooosh!

It was more than he expected. Countless light magic circles were drawn on the ceiling of the train, scattering light on passengers to grant them high-quality buffs.

The speed of the fleeing people suddenly increased dramatically. And even if they got hit, the zombie's fingernails and teeth couldn't pierce the people's skin.

The zombies were no longer a threat. On top of that, light magic even stabilizes sanity. Seeing the chaos subside in an instant, Simon let out a sigh of admiration.

{Mass Heal}

{Curse Break}

This time, it was healing and purification. Zombie bites recovered completely, and even the symptoms of infection that appeared around the bites vanished.

Curse Break also applied to people with red necklaces around their necks. The necklaces shattered completely.

Simon shouted,

"All right, everyone! It's safe now, so please evacuate in an orderly manner!"

Because of Rete's support, no one died. Simon fought off the remaining Heavenly Blood cultists as he led people out.

Crush!

Simon's fist smashed a zombie's face. But in the brief moment he was distracted, a cultist at his flank completed a blood arrow and fired.

Thunk!

In front of him, Rete's barrier swirled into existence like a painting, blocking the arrow. Then, Simon flicked a water bottle off the floor with the tip of his foot and shot it at the cultist with a spin kick.

Rete released the barrier with the perfect timing, and the water bottle struck the cultist directly in the face. He screamed in pain as he fell to the floor.

"What's all this fuss about?!"

"You guys can't even deal with a single car?"

Cultists were flooding in from the back. As they did, a light magic circle was drawn under Simon's feet.

{La Vitesse}

Fwoooooooosh!

A gale wrapped around Simon's body. His hair and clothes fluttered frantically in the whipping winds despite there being barely a breeze in the rest of the car.

Simon grinned and got ready to pounce. This was a blessing exclusive to Rete that gave a strong buff for a short period of time.

'With this, I'll!'

Simon met the charging cultists head on, a green trail following behind.

Jumping from wall to floor to ceiling, Simon tackled each individual cultist into the nearest surface with enough force to hear bones shatter.

When Simon finally came down to the floor, the five cultists rolling across the floor were a mural of blood.

"Phew."

Rete shook out her sweat-soaked hair and pushed herself up from a cabin chair.

"Are you done yet?"