The next moment, everything in Tsubasa's field of view slowed down.
The movements of zombies, the trajectories of bullets, and Tank's punch all become slow-motion scenes like from The Matrix.
Tsubasa's stats increased rapidly. With his enhanced Perception, every weakness of Tank was clearly laid bare before his eyes.
"RAWRRRR!" The enormous, muscular monster suddenly swung its fist at Tsubasa. Its fierce punch created visible ripples in the air.
But under the Extreme State, the Tank's punch was ridiculously slow to Tsubasa, who easily sidestepped it. He then tossed the grenade in his hand toward the Tank's chest, and immediately turned and fled.
*KA-BOOM!*
The grenade exploded violently against the Tank's chest. A large amount of shrapnel fragments embedded deeply into its muscle and flesh. Filthy blood continuously gushed out.
"RAWRRRRR!!" The Tank let out a furious roar. It abruptly lifted a broken concrete pillar with both hands and hurled it forcefully toward Tsubasa.
Tsubasa frowned as he attempted to turn and dodge.
But at that moment...
The Smoker, lurking among the horde, launched another surprise attack.
Even though this monster's tongue had been blown off by Kakeru, it had cunningly remained hidden within the zombie tide, never leaving. Now, it darted out again, launching a sinister ambush.
*THUD!*
The dull sound of the broken concrete pillar hitting the ground still echoed in the ears. The instant stone chips scattered, the lurking Smoker lunged like a striking viper, its shriveled body reeking of the stench of the dead.
Filthy blood dripped from its mouth where its tongue had been destroyed, and the half-stump of its tongue, covered in drool and blood, looked particularly hideous.
Tsubasa's enhanced Perception under the Extreme State instantly locked onto the Smoker; he twisted his body with force from his core, sharply tapped his left toe against the ground, and drifted half a meter sideways like a swallow, narrowly evading the claw swipe that could tear through steel plates.
Before the Smoker could land, Tsubasa's right hand was already reaching for the handle of the kukri knife at his waist.
*SWOOSH!*
A metallic light flashed. The blade stabbed directly into the hideous old wound on the Smoker's neck.
That was the penetrating wound Kakeru had blasted open with a shotgun earlier, and it was still oozing filthy blood.
*STAB!*
The kukri knife accurately pierced the gap of the old wound; Tsubasa violently twisted his wrist, and the blade instantly shredded the Smoker's carotid artery.
*SPURT!*
Blackish-red blood spurted out like a fountain. The Smoker made a rattling, deflating sound; its shriveled body convulsed as it fell, its claws still scratching the ground aimlessly. Before long, it completely lost all signs of life.
[Player Tsubasa Shiraha has killed the Special Infected - Smoker! 800 Game Points are awarded!]
Even though the Smoker was dealt with, the crisis was clearly not over yet.
*BOOM!* *BANG!* *RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!*
"RAWRRRRR—!"
While Tsubasa faced Smoker, the attack on Tank from Hayato and the others continued.
Grenades, Molotov cocktails, and a torrent of bullets rained down... Facing the endless barrage of attacks, the Tank was completely enraged.
"RAAAWRRRRR!!"
The furious roar made the air tremble. The Tank clutched its chest, its deep red muscles constantly writhing, forcibly pushing out countless embedded bullet casings.
The group's attacks had failed to cause any real damage to it, only scratching the surface of its skin.
*DRIP!* *DRIP!*
Blackish-red blood streamed profusely through its fingers. The Tank's hideous face twisted even more terrifyingly due to the intense pain. Its mountainous body suddenly charged forward, each step cracking the ground with fine fissures. Its right hand grabbed a half-shattered concrete wall nearby, brutally snapped it off, and violently hurled it forward!
*WHOOSH!*
The concrete wall whistled through the air. It instantly smashed several students who couldn't dodge in time into bloody pulps.
The group's formation was instantly disrupted, and their fierce, relentless offensive was forced to halt.
*SWOOSH!* *SWOOSH!* *SWOOSH!*
Tsubasa seized the opportunity to counterattack with magic, Multiple Electro Arrows, continuously firing multiple lightning arrows, attempting to block the Tank.
*ZZZZT!* *ZZZZT!* *ZZZZT!*
Blinding lightning surged forth. The entire area was filled with dazzling, brilliant white light. The lightning arrows merged into a continuous stream, repeatedly striking the Tank and making the monster roar repeatedly in pain.
Its movements, which had been incredibly swift, visibly and rapidly slowed down. Clearly, the paralysis effect of the Electro Arrow had been triggered.
"An opportunity!" Tsubasa's eyes lit up; he suddenly crouched low, sprinted rapidly across the horde of zombies, pulled a kukri knife, which he had sheathed before, with his right hand, and viciously brought it down onto the wrist of the Tank's hand that was holding the concrete wall.
*SLASH!*
This strike was incredibly precise. It landed exactly in the joint gap of the Tank's wrist.
That spot was where the shrapnel had embedded deepest after the grenade explosion, making it the weakest point on its entire body right now.
*THUMP!*
The blade struck the Tank's hand bone but could not penetrate further. A flicker of surprise crossed Tsubasa's eyes.
The Tank's bone density far exceeded that of ordinary zombies; even though the kukri knife was sharp enough, Tsubasa's blade only managed to embed halfway.
"RAWRRRRR!" The Tank roared out in pain and abruptly released the concrete wall it was holding. The wall crashed heavily onto the ground, shattering into debris.
"Now!" Tsubasa decisively used the reactive force from the strike, pushed off the broken wall with both feet, leaped into the air, and lunged straight for the Tank's back.
"RAWRRR!" The Tank noticed something was wrong and tried to turn and swing a punch, but the paralysis from Electro Arrows still slowed its movements by half a beat.
That half-beat was enough to be fatal.
"Die!" Tsubasa's eyes were bloodshot; his left hand gripped the dense muscle of the Tank's nape tightly, and he channeled all his strength into his right hand with the kukri knife. He then viciously brought the kukri knife down onto the spinal column at the back of the Tank's neck.
*CRACK!*
The sound of bone cracking even drowned out the shrieks of the zombies.
The Tank's body suddenly stiffened, its furious movements instantly ceased, and its massive head tilted weakly to one side.
It tried to struggle, but its spine had been severed, its nerves broken, and its limbs began to twitch uncontrollably.
Tsubasa released his grip, jumped off the Tank's back, and fired three consecutive shots at the Tank's head to deliver the final blow.
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
Bullets pierced the Tank's skull. Brain matter mixed with blackish-red blood splattered out.
The Tank's enormous body swayed, then crashed to the ground with a rumble. Soon, it became completely motionless.
[Player Tsubasa Tsubasa has killed the Special Infected - Tank! 2000 Game Points are awarded!]
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
Gunshots rang out again. Hayato and the others continuously fired their weapons, covering Tsubasa's retreat.
*KA-BOOM!*
It was unclear who threw the grenade. The sudden burst of fire stirred up smoke that rushed toward the sky, causing the horde's advance to abruptly pause.
Deactivating the Extreme State, Tsubasa endured the intense pain from overexerting his body. He leaned against the broken wall, breathing heavily, and finally let out a sigh of relief as he looked at the motionless bodies of the Tank and the Smoker.
✱✱✱
Translator's Corner:
If you find any typos or grammatical errors, please report them in the comments; I'll fix them right away! If you have any constructive criticism or suggestions, please leave them in the comments! Thanks for reading!