The dark figure descended like a cannonball, rushing towards them with lightning speed and thunderous silence.
Beyond the whistling wind, they heard no sound.
"Clang!"
A deafening clash echoed as weapon met a hard, external shell.
The dark figure attacked with extreme speed.
Even Mo Chen barely had time to react.
Just as the dark figure was about to strike, he suddenly raised his hand, his saber still sheathed.
The scabbard directly collided with the dark figure.
A sharp metallic shriek ensued.
Caught off guard, the dark figure suddenly flapped its wings backward.
In the dim light, everyone finally saw it: a grotesque zombie that resembled a hybrid of a bat and a human.
Its head was small and sharp, as if atrophied.
Its eyes glowed with a terrifying blood-red hue, fixated on them.
Failing in its initial assault, the creature rapidly flapped its wings and lunged forward again.
"Retreat!" Zhu Hui shouted, her hands quickly condensing a layer of frost.
She pointed her finger sharply in the monster's direction.
The creature's face was instantly encased in a thick layer of frost, as if frozen solid.
But within two seconds, the monster's face twitched unnervingly.
The frost cracked instantly.
It revealed its terrifying fangs once more and lunged forward unimpeded.
Mo Chen seized the opportunity, drawing his saber.
He swung it fiercely towards the bat-zombie's forehead!
The massive creature somehow twisted mid-air.
It narrowly dodged Mo Chen's full-power strike.
Mo Chen's pupils constricted. How was that possible!
The others watched in stunned silence.
Nie Yuan was still frozen, his mouth agape.
In his nearly month-long stay at the airport, he had never encountered a mutated zombie with such formidable combat power!
His mind flashed back to a skilled companion, surrounded by three lurkers, torn apart and dismembered in an instant.
Facing such insurmountable terror, all prayers for survival seemed futile.
Luo Shu, his eyes burning with ferocity, drew his reinforced cleaver.
He began to parry and weave against the monster.
But this zombie seemed to possess both human intelligence and the silent movement of a bat.
Its every move was unpredictable, its attack routes impossible to anticipate.
"Swish!" It dodged Mo Chen's attack for the third time.
It then flapped its wings, sending Luo Shu crashing to the ground.
Its red eyes glowed brighter as it lunged directly towards the motionless Luo Xiao Le.
These humans were proving too difficult; it now aimed to pick off the weakest and escape.
Seeing it target Luo Xiao Le, a fierce glint flashed in Mo Chen's eyes.
The next second, as if teleporting, he sprang forward, tapping his foot and charging towards the bat-zombie.
His dual sabers slashed at the zombie at a bizarre angle.
But then they curved in mid-air.
The blades turned, and with incredible speed, they sliced beneath the zombie's wings.
"Gaaah!" The zombie shrieked in pain.
It suddenly looked up, howling silently towards the sky several times.
As if calling for something.
Then it lowered its head, looking at its severed, broken wing with hatred, glaring fiercely at Mo Chen.
"Well done!" Nie Yuan couldn't help but praise internally.
The zombie ceased its advance.
Instead, with a malevolent expression, it retreated two steps backward.
Then, it suddenly opened its sharp maw and spewed out a volley of long, sharp red spikes!
"Damn it, is this thing a bat or a porcupine?" Luo Shu, propping himself up and retreating desperately, felt a pang of despair.
The spikes poured towards them like an endless torrent!
Even with the defensive clothing Luo Xiao Le had provided, evading them all was impossible...
Once hit by these spikes, even if not instantly killed, mutation would be almost inevitable.
Were they truly unable to escape this time...?
"Huddle close to me!" Luo Xiao Le, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly shouted.
Before the others could react, they felt the surrounding light abruptly dim.
Then, it was as if they were suddenly enveloped by something.
The sound of the zombie's spikes hitting like rain echoed from above.
"What... what's happening? Have we been swallowed by something?" Luo Shu was utterly bewildered this time.
"Don't move, don't speak," Luo Xiao Le's voice echoed calmly from the darkness.
Her tone strangely instilled a sense of peace.
Outside, the monster, perhaps missing its target for the first time with its spikes, let out a frustrated roar.
"Awoo!"
It raged outside.
Then they heard its footsteps charging towards their location!
"This is it..." Zhu Hui's heart sank into despair.
"Squelch!"
Unexpectedly, a familiar sound suddenly rang out.
Like slicing through salmon... the sound of flesh being rent apart echoed from directly above them.
After a few thuds of impact,
Silence gradually fell outside.
The group suddenly felt the sky brighten.
Everything around them reappeared.
The zombie's black blood slowly flowed towards their feet...
Only a few chunks of minced meat remained before them... their color suggesting they belonged to the bat-zombie from moments ago...
"What in the world... happened?" Nie Yuan was utterly stunned.
Luo Xiao Le slowly withdrew her hand from her pocket.
Finally, she could breathe a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness her bell was big enough!
It could cover all these people.
At that critical moment, her stiffening finally wore off.
Upon turning, she had seen the terrifying scene of spikes showering down upon them!
Without a second thought, she frantically rummaged in her pocket.
She instantly pulled out her reinforced large bell.
Without hesitation, she deployed it immediately!
Enveloping everyone within its confines.
It was this action that saved their lives.
Her heart was filled with panic.
Even if she had woken up a second later,
The scattered remains on the ground, might not have been from the bat-zombie...
But from them.
"Um... should we keep moving forward?" Luo Xiao Le didn't want to explain too much; she had a gut feeling the danger in this place had not yet passed.
"Was that big bat... summoning its companions?" Luo Shu's voice trembled slightly.
One of them was already so difficult to handle.
Even Mo Chen had almost been overwhelmed.
If more came...
The thought sent shivers down their spines, and they trembled uncontrollably.
Forgetting about what had just happened,
They turned and fled.
Nie Yuan ran a few steps, then glanced back at Luo Xiao Le.
A growing sense of doubt filled his mind.
Why had the zombie been so ferocious before,
But the moment it attacked Luo Xiao Le,
It was eliminated within a minute...
And in a way that no one could have foreseen?
Did this scrawny girl... possess a hidden ability?
His intuition told him that during those few seconds when the light had been obscured.
Luo Xiao Le must have made a significant move, doing something secretly.
"We're almost there!" Nie Yuan's voice held a hint of excitement.
Just a little further and they would reach the stairs to the upper floors!
His companions should be nearby.
"Your companions are now at the entrance of the duty-free shop!" Zhou Xiao Jun once again focused his energy, extending his ability to scout ahead.
"Wait... they seem to be surrounded by zombies!" His eyes were wide with terror.
During his scouting, he had clearly heard the roars of zombies converging in one area.
They were rapidly approaching Nie Yuan's two companions.