Chapter 29: Fangs and Spear

The pale zombie grinned, showing rows of thin, needle-like teeth.

Even the surrounding wolves instinctively backed away from it, sensing an apex predator in their midst.

Lothe rested the Inferno Dragon Spear casually across his shoulder, his eyes cool and unbothered. "So... you’ve finally shown yourself."

The creature answered with another grotesque smile.

Then it vanished.

Boom!

The floor beneath its feet exploded into gravel. The pale zombie materialized directly in front of Lothe, its blood-red tongue lashing out like a bullwhip.

Clang!

Lothe raised his spear shaft to block. Instead of the wet impact of flesh, the strike rang out like steel striking steel.

Lothe’s eyes narrowed. The tongue whipped around the black metal of the spear shaft, locking it in place.

An instant later, a thick, sticky crimson fluid oozed from the muscle, coating the metal.

Hiss!

Wisps of acrid black smoke rose where the liquid touched the spear. Acid.

Lothe twisted the spear handle with violent rotational force, snapping the tongue’s grip before thrusting straight for the creature’s forehead.

Shhk!

The pale zombie tilted its neck by half an inch. The spear tip grazed its ear, missing a fatal strike. In the same motion, its razor-sharp claws swiped downward across Lothe’s chest.

Lothe leaned back just far enough to avoid being disemboweled, a few loose strands of his hair floating down into the dust.

’Fast. Much faster than the others’.

The pale zombie grinned, its eyes flashing with unnatural intellect. Its tongue shot forward again, but this time it didn’t target Lothe’s flesh—it targeted his weapon.

Puchi!

The tongue wrapped twice around the spearhead, pulling back with terrifying hydraulic force.

Lothe gripped the shaft with both hands and pulled against the momentum, but the creature’s raw strength surpassed his own.

The Inferno Dragon Spear was ripped from his fingers, flying twenty meters across the ruined hall before burying itself deep inside a reinforced concrete pillar.

Gasps echoed through the library.

"His spear!" Nyren shouted, her hand instinctively reaching out.

"Stay back!" Adrian warned.

The pale zombie didn’t miss its opening.

It lunged with explosive speed, its claws aiming for his throat while its tongue snaked around from his left flank, completely sealing his escape routes.

For the first time since the fight began, Lothe smiled.

"You think... I only know how to use a spear?"

Purple light flickered deep within his pupils.

[Skill Activated: Spatial Blade]

The space surrounding the pale zombie distorted into sharp, geometric planes.

Three invisible blades of compressed air condensed around its limbs.

The creature’s instinct flared, warning it of unseen danger. It twisted mid-air, but it was too late.

Slice! Slice! Slice!

The first spatial blade sheared through its left shoulder joint. The second severed the tip of its tongue. The third carved a long, deep wound across its ribcage.

Black, sludge-like blood sprayed onto the tiles.

The pale zombie tumbled backward, landing hard on one knee.

It hissed, its red eyes locking onto Lothe with newfound caution.

Then, to everyone’s horror, the wounds on its body began to squirm.

Black veins writhed across the open flesh, knitting the shoulder and ribs back together in seconds. Even the severed tip of its tongue bubbled, extending back to its original length before retracting into its maw.

"It regenerated..." a student muttered in despair.

Professor Sy’s face darkened. "No... its cells are adapting in real time."

The pale zombie slowly rose, its eyes fixed on Lothe. It no longer rushed in blindly. Instead, it began to circle him, its weight shifted low, waiting for the slightest opening.

Lothe remained calm, his gaze shifting toward the Inferno Dragon Spear embedded deep in the distant pillar.

Too far to sprint, he analyzed. If I run for it, it catches me in the open.

The zombie grinned wider, seemingly realizing the exact same thing.

Boom!

The floorboards shattered beneath its feet as it shot forward like a cannonball. Its tongue whipped from the right while its claws lunged from the front.

Lothe didn’t step back. He stepped directly into the attack zone.

He leaned his upper body back, letting the crimson tongue sweep past his shoulder.

In the same breath, he drove his Qi-infused right fist straight into the side of the zombie’s jaw.

Bang!

The heavy impact snapped the creature’s head sideways. Before it could recover, Lothe spun low and landed a brutal, heavy kick directly on its knee joint.

CRACK!

The leg bent backward at an unnatural angle, forcing the zombie to stumble.

But before Lothe could follow up with a lethal blow, the broken knee joint snapped back into place with a sickening pop.

"Tsk," Lothe clicked his tongue. "Annoying."

The pale zombie let out a high-pitched screech and vanished from sight.

This time, even Lothe’s eyes couldn’t track it. He instantly expanded his [Spatial Perception] to its limit.

Within his mental domain, time seemed to slow down. He could track the displacement of air, the vibration of the floor, and the sudden concentration of Qi directly behind his shoulder.

Behind me!

Lothe ducked.

Shhk!

The tongue sliced through the air an inch above his head, wrapping tightly around the concrete pillar behind him.

The zombie pulled hard on its tongue, using it as a winch to fling its entire body toward Lothe from above, both claws descending like axes.

Lothe raised his left forearm, catching the creature’s wrist to redirect the crushing weight away from his neck.

Rip!

The second claw swiped across his right sleeve, leaving three shallow, bleeding lines along his arm.

Pain flared, but Lothe’s expression didn’t change. Instead, his lips curved upward.

"Got you."

The pale zombie realized its mistake a second too late. Its tongue was still wrapped around the exact pillar holding Lothe’s spear.

Lothe extended his open right hand.

Whoosh!

The Inferno Dragon Spear vibrated violently in the concrete before tearing free, flying across the hall like a black lightning bolt.

The zombie instinctively turned its head toward the incoming sound. That fraction of a second of lost focus was all Lothe needed.

His fingers wrapped tightly around the shaft as the spear returned to his grip.

The familiar weight settled into his palm, perfectly balanced.

[Attribute Check: Strength 30 | Agility 25]

[Skill Activated: Blazing Horizon Spear Art]

Purple, heat-shimmering Qi flooded the black metal.

Lothe stepped forward, his spear shooting forward in a blinding, continuous barrage.

Thrust! Thrust! Thrust!

The first strike targeted the zombie’s throat. It barely dodged.

The second pierced toward its chest, forcing it to twist aside.

The third, fourth, and fifth thrusts followed without a single millisecond of delay, leaving trails of purple heat that burned the air around them.

The pale zombie’s movements grew frantic. For the first time, its instincts couldn’t keep up with the overwhelming speed of the assault.

Desperate, it opened its jaw and lashed out with its tongue one last time.