Chapter 6- City In Hell (Part 2)
The moment Rein stepped into the city, the entire landscape around him shifted greatly. A strong smell of blood, burning buildings, and gunpowder filled his nostrils. The sound of screams and gunshots echoed in the distance, mixed with the jet engines roaring above his head and the law enforcement speaking through their large microphones to the panicked masses, trying to contain them in any way and failing miserably.
All around him, the Undead roamed the streets, chasing their targets or simply moving aimlessly, searching for their next victim. The sight was straight out of a nightmare. Rein didn't know how he was going to deal with that situation, but he was certain it wasn't going to be easy.
'The agency is on the other side, hmm, it's going to be extremely hard to somehow navigate this city.' He frowned.
"Raaaa!!"
As Rein was contemplating how he should move, an Undead rushed toward him from the other side. Looking at it, Rein brandished his sword before he rushed forward.
*Swish*
With a swift move, he sliced its head off. The monster's neck splurted a fountain of blood before it fell to the ground, dead.
[You have killed a level 1 Undead.]
"Hmmm, interesting. I'm starting to recall how to use a sword again. It should be easy to take these weak ones down. However, I doubt these are the only ones I will come across."
Sighing, Rein looked around him before he started jogging through the street. There was not a single safe road he could take as they were all infested with Undead, Mutated monsters, and all kinds of creatures.
'I can take unpopulated paths, but even those are probably not empty.' He mused as he crossed the road.
'Raaaa!!!'
As he was moving, two more Undead rushed toward him rapidly. Rein didn't hesitate as he dashed forward, his eyes sharp and focused. Reaching his targets, he didn't immediately swing.
'Time to try my new ability out, I guess.' He mused. With a single thought, the mysterious energy called Life Essence moved within his body at a rapid pace as it condensed into his hand. Then, a purple halo appeared around it, only visible to him and those who could sense Essence.
Then, Rein slammed his hand into the monster's face as he pushed him down with immense force. The monster couldn't even resist as it found itself falling.
*BANG*
Its head slammed into the ground violently, cracking the concrete as it exploded into many tiny pieces. A faint ringing sound echoed in the surroundings as the purple halo around Rein's hand shone mysteriously.
"..."
"Raaaa!"
Before Rein could even react to what had just happened, the other monster attacked, so his body moved instinctively as he stabbed the monster in the mouth, skewering its face as it stopped, and then he stared at it.
"..." His eyes were deadly cold. "Goodnight."
*Swish*
[You have killed 2 Level 2 Undead.]
[You have gained +2 strength, +2 stamina.]
[You have levelled up.]
[You have gained +3 points to allocate freely.]
"Nice. I finally levelled up again." Rein muttered. 'But, what just happened now. My Gravity Manipulation cracked its head with ease.' He frowned.
The power he felt in his hand at that moment was unlike anything he had experienced before. He felt like his hand weighed a ton, but not to him and rather to anything he would touch. It does explain why the Undead's head exploded in such a gruesome manner. It simply couldn't resist that Gravity.
'It's like my body immediately decided what to do on its own. But, I can also get my hands and body lighter, possibly making me move faster.' He thought to himself. 'There is so much I could do with this.'
The potential was simply infinite. Rein was certain that with every level, he would get stronger, and his ability would become even more terrifying. Standing up, Rein looked around him before he started running again.
He could still see people running around everywhere, and the chaos was very much present everywhere. However, it was clear that the number of normal people had diminished greatly and with each passing second, the number of Undead increased rapidly.
'I cannot remain outside for long. I won't be able to survive if I don't get to my destination quickly enough.' He thought to himself as he took a turn into a small alley that was a shortcut toward his destination.
There, he found a couple of Undead roaming around. So, he swiftly killed them before they could even react as he continued running. He didn't want to even stop to see if he received an artefact or a skill.
Taking a sharp turn, he continued navigating the small path, trying to avoid the more populated areas. His eyes looked left and right, searching for any potential enemy. A few Undead were the only thing he came across, and his sword sliced through them like they were nothing.
Eventually, Rein reached a rather open path through a neighbourhood in the upper parts of the city.
The entire place has been wrecked beyond recognition. Many cars crashed into houses and trees, which caused massive damage to the infrastructure.
However, that wasn't what made Rein stop. Instead…
"Roar!!!"
In the heart of that street was a large creature, almost 7 ft tall, slumped down as it seemingly feasted on the corpse of an Undead.
'A dog…?' He frowned as he stared at it. That creature's fur, ears and then its eyes and mouth that looked like those of a rather big dog… Except this creature looked far more terrifying.
Its canines had grown a lot, and its eyes looked dead but still immensely aggressive. The second problem was that there was no other path except the one that the dog was blocking.
"..." Rein clenched his teeth before he brandished his sword.
'That thing looks really strong. Definitely way stronger than these scrubs I've been killing.' He frowned as he thought of a way to attack it. Just purely from its presence, Rein could tell that this dog was far more threatening than anything he had faced so far.
To kill it, he had to be smart about it. So, he crouched down and started sneaking behind it very slowly, trying to stay in its blind spot.
'Dogs have strong eyesight, but also a very bad blind spot. If I could use that to my advantage, maybe I can get close enough to where I can ambush it.' He mused as he closed the distance.
The monster was too busy chewing the flesh of the dead human. Its mouth was dripping with blood as he desecrated the corpse, pulling an entire leg at one point and starting to eat it. The sight would send chills down anyone's spine.
After long, intense seconds, Rein reached within meters of the monster. He hid behind a trash can as he watched. It had its back toward him, completely exposed. However, he didn't attack immediately as he waited for it.
At the same time, his hand moved down as he grabbed a small stone. Aiming with his hand, he channelled his Life Essence as he activated Gravity Manipulation, making the stone considerably lighter.
Then…
*Flick*
Flicking the stone, it flew like a bullet as it slammed into a crashed car on the other side of the road, making a loud ringing sound. The dog immediately looked up.
'Now!' Rein jumped out of his hiding spot as he rushed toward the monster. That second he won with the monster completely confused was more than enough for him to ambush.
*Swish*
Lunging forward, he stabbed with his sword, piercing the monster's back as the blade sank deep into its body.
"ROARRR!!!!!" The monster roared loudly in pain as it yanked its body away.
'I need to sever its spine!' Rein held onto the blade as he tried to run it to the side, damaging the spine and paralysing the creature. However, before he could do that, the monster had already opened its mouth and tried to bite him while shaking its body.
Rein tried to dodge the bites, knowing that he would be in deep trouble if those fangs sank into his body.
"ROAR!!!!"
The monster's violent movements threw Rein left and right, while his sword didn't budge. Its hide was so thick that even a blade as sharp as his wasn't enough to cut through properly.
For several seconds, he struggled to stay balanced while dodging the countless bites and scratches the monster tried.
'Come on!' He frowned as he noticed that his sword was starting to slip out. 'I will fall!' He cursed.
So, Rein tried to think of a different idea before he got screwed over. He looked down as he released one of his hands.
'Fuck it. This either kills it or it will be really bad.' He clenched his teeth as he channelled his Essence.
Infusing his hand with a lot of energy, he activated his ability, putting every point of power into his hand as the purple colour flared wildly.
Then, Rein slammed his hand into the sword handle from the side at full force. The immense energy released in one instance as the sword twisted and the blade started rising out of the monster's body at a diagonal angle.
*CRACK*
That was when he heard a crisp cracking sound, and the monster suddenly halted all its movement, and its eyes widened before it fell to the ground motionless.
"Ugh…" Rein dropped to the ground roughly as he rolled a few times before slamming into a tree. He breathed heavily as he held his side. 'That was a really bad fall. Shit.' Looking under his shirt, he saw that a piece of metal had lodged itself into his side quite deeply.
Cursing, Rein grabbed the piece of metal before he yanked it out and clenched his teeth from the sharp pain. Blood started oozing out of the injured spot, but Rein ignored it and stood up.
Staring ahead, he saw the dog, lying there, twitching subtly.
'I hit its spine.' He mused. 'But… It didn't die yet.'
He had to deliver the finishing blow.