Chapter 57 Dead
?Zayn couldn't believe that damaging the Core of the Undead was not enough to defeat the Undead, however, that was exactly what happened right in front of him.
The Skeleton's movements were much slower than before but it did not magically empower Zayn to face its headbutt head-on, quite literally. His skull would break which was why his body reacted instinctively as he pushed his feet against the intact part of the skeleton's ribcage to increase the distance between himself and the Skeleton's head.
He was still gripping the silver iron shortsword tightly in an attempt to deepen the cut in the Core of the Undead as the blade was pulled out of the Skeleton by force.
This worked to a certain degree and resulted in the movements of the Skeleton slowing down even further. The Undead's terrific combat awareness seemed to be decreasing rapidly as well. Under normal circumstances, Zayn would take this as a good sign but he was still reeling from the shock of witnessing the Skeleton that kept moving even after its Core of the Undead had been damaged.
That had never happened until now and it was certainly not normal!
Zayn crashed into the ground and frantically struggled to move as he saw the Skeleton's armored leg kicking out at him repeatedly. His pupils dilated at the sight of the leg lunging at him like a python would lung at its prey. For a moment, his mind blanked out and he could only subconsciously move the silver iron shortsword between his body and the incoming kick to shield himself.
The Skeleton's kick impacted on the flat side of the silver iron shortsword was smashed into Zayn's body. His intention was to block the attack with the sword but it ended up absorbing the shock of the Skeleton's kick before the remaining force impacted on him, flinging the 14-year-old teenager through the air.
While Zayn was flung around, the Sparrow Spirits were trying their utmost to distract the Human Skeleton. However, there was only so much they could do. The weaker Sparrow Spirit didn't have many soul particles left in its body. It was barely enough to create one large fire needle which it shot at the exposed Core of the Undead.
Forced to block the attack, the Skeleton moved its upper body before it looked straight at the Sparrow Spirits with the Soulflames that flickered brightly in its eye-sockets. It slashed out and cut through the weaker Sparrow Spirit that split in half just like that.
The Wisp of the Spirit returned to the Grimoire of the Ancient where it could recover from the exhausting battle. Zayn was trying to make use of the short timeframe the weaker Sparrow Spirit bought him to get up from the ground to finish off the Skeleton.
However, it was at this moment that he realized that the weakened Human Skeleton was not yet done. It towered in front of him just as he got onto his knees. The Skeleton's arm was lifted high into the air and the soulflames in its eyes flickered grimly as it cleaved down with the Dao Saber.
Yet, rather than staring at the Undead in terror, a victorious glint could be seen in Zayn's eyes.
"Forgetful bastard, I am not alone!" He growled out loudly as the stronger Sparrow Spirit emerged next to Zayn. The Sparrow's beak was wide open and a bright fire needle had already materialized within it. The fire needle was released at once, crossing the short distance to the Core of the Undead in an instant.
"Bullseye, bitch!" Zayn thundered as the stronger Sparrow Spirit collapsed on the ground. It turned into a wisp just like his other Spirits had and returned to the Grimoire where it would recover from exhausting its entire energy at once. 𝐟re𝐞w𝐞𝒃𝓃𝒐𝐯𝚎𝒍.c૦𝚖
On the other hand, Zayn couldn't disappear like his Spirits. He was exhilarated to see that the Human Skeleton had stopped moving, but it was worrisome to see that its bones had yet to scatter all over the ground. Understanding that the Skeleton was a little different from the Undead he fought before, Zayn chose to end the Skeleton for good. It lay deathly still, which gave him the opportunity to pierce through the purple marble once again.
This time, he didn't only cut the purple marble but he pierced through it before he twisted the silver iron shortsword inside the marble, breaking it apart into a hundred pieces.
And only when he broke the marble apart did a reaction follow behind. The bones of the Skeleton were not held together anymore and they all rained down to the ground as relief flooded through Zayn's veins.
Zayn ignored the bones that fell on him and evaded only the Dao Saber that clanged on the ground too before his attention turned over to the Soul Wisp that emerged from within the Skeleton's Core of the Undead.
The Soul Wisp was oddly big even if compared to Jens' Soul Wisp and it felt a little bit weirder absorbing the Soul Wisp's soul particles when he grasped them.
It was obvious that the soul particles were ownerless since he was able to absorb them without an issue but the Soul Wisp and its soul particles looked and felt different.
Zayn absorbed the soul particles readily and could immediately also sense that they were more vigorous as if they had been refined.
'Refined soul particles? Is that some sort of reward given for finishing some special System Mission or was that dude not only a monstrous war veteran but also in possession of a special constitution?'
He was not sure about the correct answer but what he could tell was that the soul particles of the Human Skeleton were much more potent than the soul particles he had obtained from Jens, Phillip, or the hundreds of Goblin Skeletons earlier.
His body was overflowing with energy, which was a great feeling. However, it was even better to know that his opponent had finally been defeated.
Zayn was pretty sure that he had more luck than anyone else and that the combat prowess of the Skeleton had been weakened in its fight against the Blessed it killed before but none of that mattered now.
What mattered was that he was still alive, that the Human Skeleton was dead, and that his progress would skyrocket the moment he would finish annexing the soul particles that squirmed inside him vigorously.
It was just a matter of time until he could use the soul particles to fill his Soulring which would increase his strength drastically. By then, his progress would accelerate even further. After all, he was bound to manifest a few more Spirits in the near future.
As for continuing to fight against the Undead, Zayn didn't see the need to do so.
His task had been completed successfully, after all!
**
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