NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 8: Chapter 8
Ashburn stood alone, facing down 41 mutant zombies. It was just him—against them all. He gripped his knives tighter, mind sharp and focused. 'If any of these mutants are as strong as those two my shadows lured away… this could get messy.'
"Roar!" The zombies surged forward, eyes gleaming with feral hunger. Among them, a blue-skinned zombie stood out. It waved a hand, pulling moisture from the air and shaping it into high-pressure water jets that shot toward Ashburn with deadly force.
Ashburn dodged, twisting his body to avoid the searing jets. He mentally marked the zombie's position—it had to die the moment he found an opening.
"[Flash Step!]" His form blurred, and in an instant, he reappeared behind the horde, blades ready to carve through the closest threat.
His eyes immediately locked onto a spider-like mutant zombie, its twisted form crawling unnaturally across the floor.
Ashburn lunged, knives flashing toward the base of its skull… but Dozens of eyes snapped open across the spider mutant's back, each one fixating on him.
Ashburn aborted the attack, launching himself backward just as the spider zombie's limbs lashed out, piercing the space he'd occupied a moment before.
The mutant raised its abdomen, and in an instant, a thick web shot toward Ashburn. He barely dodged, twisting to the side just in time. But there was no chance to recover—the web latched onto a nearby wall, and the spider mutant yanked itself forward, closing the distance in a blink.
Ashburn tightened his grip on his knives, crossing them in front of him just as the mutant sprouted four sharp legs, all lunging to impale him.
'Fast!' He managed to block the strike, but the sheer force sent him rocketing backward, boots skidding across the floor.
Pain flared in his hand. One of the legs had pierced straight through his palm, and blood now dripped steadily from the wound.
'What a pain…' Ashburn scowled, annoyed but unfazed. He didn't even bother trying to stop the bleeding. Why? Simple. His recovery speed was already well beyond human limits. Even now, the wound was slowly knitting itself closed—and in less than a minute, it would be fully healed.
Ashburn surged forward, closing the gap between him and the spider mutant. He sidestepped a sudden jet of water, only to be forced into a sprint as earth spikes erupted from the ground, narrowly missing him.
His eyes flicked across the battlefield, searching for the zombie controlling the earth—but there were too many moving bodies, and no clear sign of the culprit.
'Forget it.' He refocused on the spider zombie, determined to end the fight quickly.
But just as he shifted his attention, a web appeared before his face. Ashburn's eyes widened. The spider hadn't turned around to shoot the web from its butt.
'It can shoot webs from its mouth too?!' Reacting on instinct, Ashburn activated [Flash Step]. A surge of explosive speed propelled him forward, his movement doubling in an instant. The web missed by inches, snapping harmlessly through the air as Ashburn blurred past, the short burst of speed leaving the spider scrambling to track his movements.
'Damn.' Ashburn glanced at his status. 250/575 HP. That single punch from the dragon mutant had done that much damage, that spider attack only did 50 damage.
The only reason he was still standing was thanks to his title, [Undead Slayer], which boosted his HP by 25%. Without it, he'd probably already be on the ground.
Ashburn readjusted his grip on his knives, irritation flickering across his face. 'This assassin build… it's not enough.'
Speed and precision were useful, but the moment he couldn't dodge, he was done. He didn't want to be someone who only thrived in ambushes and quick kills. He wanted to be a one-man army, someone who could stand his ground in any fight without worrying that a single mistake would cost him everything.
"[Flash Step!]" In an instant, his speed surged by 50%, and he blurred forward, shooting towards the spider mutant. The creature twitched, caught off guard by his sudden reappearance. It raised its extra limbs, moving to block the expected strike.
But Ashburn didn't strike. Instead, he threw his knives straight at the spider's face. The spider reacted on instinct, snapping its limbs up to block the blades
Ashburn was far faster than the spider. It wasn't speed that gave the mutant an edge—it was reaction time, sharp enough to track his movements.
But the moment it moved to block the knives, it left itself wide open. Ashburn kicked off the ground, his momentum boosted by his high Power stat.
Boom!
His fist slammed into the spider's face, the impact reverberating through the air. But it didn't fly backward. Ashburn didn't let it.
He followed through, twisting his body and driving a second punch downward, slamming the spider's head into the ground with brutal force.
Crack!
The skull caved in, and the mutant went limp. Ashburn barely had time to breathe, he leaped back, narrowly dodging a barrage of abilities—beams, spikes, and blasts—raining down on his position.
"Arise." Ashburn's voice rang out, sharp and commanding. Darkness burst forth, swallowing the spider mutant's corpse. A heartbeat later, the creature rose again, its form now cloaked in shadows, eyes glowing faintly. Ashburn exhaled in relief.
"Go. Web them up." The shadow spider sprang into action, opening its mouth and firing thick strands of webbing toward the advancing undead.
Ashburn jumped back, watching for an opening. The moment one appeared, he burst forward, closing the distance in an instant. His target?
The water-shooting zombie—easily the most dangerous threat on the field. Its high attack power made it a priority kill. But not all 40 zombies were focused on the spider.
Shink!
A massive earth spike erupted from the ground, hurtling straight toward his chest. Ashburn summoned his knives, crossing them in front of him just in time to block the strike.
Ashburn rocketed backward, barely keeping his balance as he skidded across the ground. But his eyes stayed locked on one target, A zombie with an earth-like arm, its limb seemingly fused with the ground.
'That's the one.' It didn't take long for Ashburn to connect the dots. 'It can only control earth while its hand is in contact with the ground.'
He frowned, mind racing. 'Earth isn't the fastest element, so it's probably sensing vibrations to track my movements.' Without hesitation, Ashburn summoned another knife.
With a sharp flick of his wrist, the blade shot toward the earth zombie, aimed straight for its head.
"Watch out!" The Water zombie called out, the earth zombie reacted quickly, Its earth-fused arm ripped free from the ground, retaining its hardened form as it swung up to block the incoming knife. The blade clanged off the rocky surface, deflected at the last second.
'Makes sense.' Ashburn sighed, eyes narrowing as he analyzed the situation. 'This isn't an Alpha-level mutant. Its flaw is obvious—that arm can't change form. This must be a Beta-level mutant.'
Without hesitation, he activated [Flash Step]. His speed surged by 50%, and in an instant, he appeared before the Earth mutant zombie, his hand gripping its head. Just as he expected, slow.
The zombie barely had time to react before Ashburn twisted, snapping its neck and tearing its head clean off.
But there was no time to celebrate. The water mutant zombie retaliated, firing a high-pressure jet straight at him. Ashburn darted sideways, narrowly avoiding the blast.
"Arise." Darkness burst forth, swirling around the earth zombie's lifeless body…And then… nothing. The skill had failed.