Chapter 340: Crystallization Skill

Chapter 340: Chapter 340: Crystallization Skill

Seraphina Sullivan raised an eyebrow slightly. She knew what Sean Chandler was talking about.

The [Crystalization] Skill was one of their spoils from the ’Aberrant Radiation’ instance they had cleared previously.

And the source of the Skill was an [Aberrant Rock Bug] that Seraphina Sullivan had captured and given some "special treatment."

That bug’s original Ability was [Rock Mimicry].

It specialized in Disguise and basic defense.

However, after Seraphina Sullivan analyzed it with her [Eye of Simplification], she discovered that the bug’s carapace had a unique composition. When subjected to extreme heat, it had a very low chance of transforming.

So, with the help of Fat Flame, they performed a bit of "forced evolution" at Scavenger’s Farm.

Ultimately, the unlucky rock bug underwent an agonizing transformation in the intense heat.

Its carapace took on a brilliant, crystalline appearance, and it evolved into the rarer [Aberrant Crystal Bug], whose defensive capabilities were markedly higher.

The Aberrant Crystal Bug gained the [Crystalization] Ability.

It could instantly cover part or all of its body with a highly durable, magic-resistant layer of Diamond Crystal Armor.

Sean Chandler seized the opportunity. Using a [Receiving Card], he killed the freshly-evolved crystal bug and successfully acquired the [Crystalization] Skill.

Sean Chandler had been looking for a suitable opponent to test this new Ability’s effectiveness in a real fight.

[Seraphina Sullivan: Don’t get carried away! There’s probably more to a special zombie than just great Power.]

[Sean Chandler: Understood. I’m going in.]

Seraphina Sullivan ended the communication, took a deep breath, and focused her full attention back on her scope.

She adjusted her rifle’s muzzle slightly, tracking Sean Chandler’s figure as he moved rapidly between the buildings.

She saw her role in this encounter as the observer, the support, and the final failsafe.

The moment Sean Chandler was in danger, or if that Butcher Zombie demonstrated an unexpectedly troublesome Ability, her bullet would fly.

「Down below.」

Like an agile cheetah, Sean Chandler bounded through the ruins. In just a few leaps, he was rapidly closing in on the square.

A faint blue light began to shimmer around him.

It was the surging of his own Energy.

At the same time, fine, transparent crystalline patterns, like frost on a windowpane, began to spread across his skin. His [Crystalization] was silently ready.

At the edge of the square, the Butcher Zombie also seemed to have detected the rapidly approaching life form.

It stopped roaring at the sky. Its dark-red "gaze" snapped toward the direction Sean Chandler was charging from, and it let out an even more vicious roar.

It slammed its fists together.

The impact created a dull, heavy clang like clashing metal, and huge bone blades instantly sprouted from its wrists.

But to Seraphina Sullivan and Sean Chandler’s surprise, the monster didn’t immediately charge in itself.

Instead, it threw its head back again.

It let out a peculiar, high-pitched roar—one filled with menace and command!

Unlike its earlier, challenging howls, this roar’s sound waves seemed to carry a special psionic pulse that rapidly spread outwards.

Skill [Frenzied Roar]

In the next moment, a chilling scene unfolded.

The ordinary zombies wandering aimlessly around the square and in the ruined alleys, as well as those watching from afar, all reacted as if they had received an undeniable command.

Their murky eyes snapped toward Sean Chandler in unison as guttural, responsive groans escaped their throats.

Immediately after, they abandoned their usual shamble, surging toward Sean Chandler from all sides with a near-frenzied urgency!

They were moving much faster than normal, forming the vanguard of a gray-black corpse tide!

"ROAR—!" The Butcher Zombie, however, remained in place, its arms hanging limply as its dark-red eyes coldly watched Sean Chandler get swarmed.

It was like a commander directing from the rear, sending in cannon fodder to wear down the enemy’s stamina and resolve.

Seeing this from her vantage point, Seraphina Sullivan frowned, alarm bells screaming in her mind.

’Something’s not right... This zombie’s behavior pattern!’

She stared intently at the Butcher Zombie.

’It didn’t just mindlessly charge in for a brawl. Instead, it knew to send the normal zombies to swarm him first, trying to drain Sean Chandler’s stamina and Energy... Does this mean special zombies aren’t just stronger, but are also starting to develop... rudimentary intelligence? Or at the very least, more advanced tactical instincts?’

A chill ran down Seraphina Sullivan’s spine at this realization.

If special zombies generally possessed some degree of intelligence or combat instinct, the mission’s difficulty and danger would be far greater than they’d anticipated.

They would no longer be predictable beasts, but cunning enemies who knew how to exploit their environment, their numbers, and even their own Special Abilities.

Undying and fearless of pain.

The threat posed by special zombies multiplied.

[Sean Chandler, be careful! This beast might actually have a brain! Don’t get bogged down by the swarm; find an opening and go for the source!]

She immediately sent the warning over the comms, her sniper’s crosshairs already drifting over the Butcher Zombie’s vital points—its head, its joints.

Sean Chandler’s expression didn’t waver in the slightest, despite the tide of common zombies surging toward him.

He couldn’t even be bothered to raise a defensive stance against these rotting corpses.

"Crystalization!"

With a low shout, he fully unleashed the new Power within him.

His exposed skin—his hands, neck, and cheeks—was instantly covered in a layer of brilliant, translucent crystal that refracted the distant, faint light!

This was no thin veneer. The crystal rapidly thickened and spread, and in the blink of an eye, his entire body seemed to be carved from the purest, clearest diamond, gleaming with a hard, cold luster.

[Crystalization] Skill, activated at full power!

At this moment, Sean Chandler looked like a diamond war god, descended upon the post-apocalyptic world.

He no longer needed any fancy moves. Facing the surging tide of zombies, he chose the simplest, most brutal method:

A charge!

That’s right. A charge!

"BOOM!"

He bent his knees slightly, cracking the ground beneath his feet. Then, his entire body transformed into a brilliant streak of light and slammed head-on into the zombie swarm!

CRASH!

CRACK!

CRUNCH!

A cacophony of dull thuds, cracking bones, and flying bodies erupted all at once.

His crystallized body granted Sean Chandler an unimaginable defense. The claws and teeth of the common zombies couldn’t leave so much as a scratch on the crystal surface.

What’s more, the kinetic energy of his charge was terrifying.

Any zombie he collided with was either sent flying with shattered bones and torn ligaments or was simply smashed into a pile of gore.

He was like a runaway diamond train, plowing a gruesome path straight through the gray-black tide of bodies, utterly unstoppable!

His charge was so fast that in the blink of an eye, Sean Chandler had broken through the zombies’ encirclement.

Carrying his unstoppable momentum, he charged right up to the Butcher Zombie before coming to a sudden halt.

His gaze, from beneath the crystal, coldly locked onto his target.

However, this powerful Skill was not without its price.

After activating [Crystalization], Sean Chandler could clearly feel his two other primary powers—[Beastification] and [Demon Beast]—being noticeably suppressed and rejected. He couldn’t access them at the same time.

This was likely a natural conflict between powers of different attributes.

’If I could activate the absolute defense of [Crystalization] at the same time as the ultimate attack and speed of my [Demon Beast] form...’

’The very thought was almost too good to be true. Even I think that would be ridiculously overpowered.’