Chapter 89: Zombie King x Ex-Girlfriend (11)

Lyra and Senior Sister Claire sprinted at full speed down the chaotic, blood-stained industrial corridor, dodging overturned equipment and shattered glass.

As they rounded a corner, Claire whipped her head around, her eyes scanning the empty hallway. "Lyra! Where are the rest of our vanguard team members?!"

Lyra, who had spent the last twenty minutes sneaking around the Base B archives and dodging guards, blinked innocently. "Uh..."

Claire glared at her, stopping in her tracks as she crossed her arms with a furious scowl. "Don’t tell me that even after I explicitly warned you to stay put, you sneaked around and got separated from the group- !"

"You can scold me later, Sister! You can even punish me however you want... if we manage to make it out of this hellhole alive!" Lyra begged frantically, grabbing Claire’s sleeve and tugging her forward as the dragging footsteps of approaching zombies echoed down the hall.

Before Claire could fire off another harsh lecture, a massive, rusted steel wrench came hurtling through the air from the side alleyway, aiming straight for Claire’s head!

"Look out!" Lyra yelled. With a sudden burst of adrenaline, she lunged forward, kicking the flying metal wrench away with her combat boot, and glared straight ahead.

Standing at the end of the corridor was a towering, grotesque figure wrapped in tactical gear. Its jaw was elongated, its muscles bulging unnaturally.

"What kind of mutated zombie can throw heavy tools?!" Lyra shrieked in absolute disgust.

Claire raised her rifle, her face turning pale. "Look at its shoulder markings... They’re Level 3 variant mutants! There are three of them, and they possess tactical intelligence! It will be way too hard for us to deal with them in this narrow hallway without backup!"

Realizing they were completely cornered, Claire and Lyra turned on their heels and bolted down the opposite corridor.

They reached the main industrial gates of the warehouse, but the iron shutters were tightly, jammed from the outside. There was no escape. They were trapped inside the courtyard, and the three massive Level 3 zombies were closing in fast, surrounding them from all sides.

System! Lyra screamed frantically inside her mind. When is the Male Lead and his team arriving?! He isn’t going to let his precious Senior Sister die right here, right?!

Ding!

[ HOST, THE MALE LEAD AND THE VANGUARD SQUAD ARE BREAKING THROUGH THE OUTER GATES RIGHT NOW! PLEASE TRY YOUR BEST TO SURVIVE TILL THEY REACH US! ]

"You are so utterly useless!" Lyra grumbled back, her eyes darting desperately around the courtyard.

Suddenly, her gaze locked onto a steel rescue chain hanging from an overhead crane, its lower end dangling right near the open window of the second-floor control room. An idea flashed through her brain!

"Sister! Look at that chain!" Lyra shouted over the roaring zombies. "Hop onto my back, grab the chain, and climb up! I’ll boost you!"

Claire stared at her in utter disbelief. "What about you?! If I go up, you’ll be left down here alone!"

"Don’t worry about me! Just go!"

Lyra planted her boots firmly on the concrete, cupping her hands and hoisting Claire up with all her strength. Claire grabbed the steel chain just as one of the Level 3 zombies lunged forward with a bloodcurdling roar!

From the second-floor window, Claire raised her rifle and pulled the trigger, blasting the lunging zombie right between the eyes and saving Lyra from being crushed

"Lyra! Catch hold of the rail!" Claire yelled down.

Lyra took a step back, but as she looked up at the three hideous, rotting Level 3 zombies advancing toward her with dripping black sludge and exposed ribs, her modern sensibilities completely revolted.

Tsk! This is way too fucking ugly!

Without a single second of hesitation, Lyra ripped a clean strip of fabric from the hem of her jacket and tied it tightly around her face, completely blindfolding her own eyes

What the heck is she doing?! both Claire watching from above and the System inside her head thought simultaneously, their jaws dropping in absolute shock.

Lyra couldn’t deal with fighting them with her eyes wide open! The zombies were simply too hideously disgusting to look at without wanting to throw up! Relying entirely on her acute hearing and spatial memory, Lyra trusted her instincts.

SWISH!

Guided by the wet, gurgling sounds of the approaching beasts, Lyra whipped out her steel hunting dagger, lunging forward with blind precision!

STAB! SLICE!

Her blade drove straight through the soft temporal bone of the first mutant, and she ducked beneath the second, plunging her dagger deep into its throat!

The ground beneath her boots was slick and sticky with dark blood. As the third giant zombie collapsed, Lyra accidentally slipped through the gap between their rotting legs, sliding across the bloody floorboards until she tumbled right through an open doorway into a side office, slamming the security door shut behind her.

She leaned against the door, panting heavily as she pulled the blindfold off her eyes. Phew... I survived.

Suddenly- BANG!

A deafening explosion echoed from the outer gates as the reinforced iron doors blasted open!

The Male Lead’s rescue team had officially arrived!

However, Lyra was trapped inside the locked office and couldn’t simply walk out the front. Looking around the room, she spotted a glass ventilation window leading to the alleyway. She clenched her fist, punched right through the reinforced glass, cleared the shards away, and scrambled out onto the exterior metal staircase, leading her back up toward the second-floor catamarans.

Claire should be around here somewhere... Lyra thought, sneaking along the metal catwalk. Oh, please don’t let anything bad happen to Senior Sister! She’s the only one who can help me navigate this crazy base and win over the Male Lead!

As she hurried down the second-floor corridor, a terrified scream suddenly pierced the air!

Lyra stopped, peeking over the metal railing down into the central atrium. Surrounded by a dozen aggressive Level 2 zombies was none other than Seraphina Gold, the original Female Lead! The holy saintess was tripping over her white healing robes, weeping as she dropped her medical kit.

Tsk... deal with it yourself, Lyra rolled her eyes, turning on her heel to walk away.

Ding!

[ WARNING, HOST! URGENT SYSTEM OVERRIDE! YOU MUST SAVE THE FEMALE LEAD IMMEDIATELY! ]

"Bruh! Where is your precious Male Lead?! He’s supposed to save her!" Lyra complained loudly in her mind.

[ HOST, THE MALE LEAD IS CURRENTLY OCCUPIED RESCUING SISTER CLAIRE ON THE OPPOSITE WING! ]

Lyra rolled her dark eyes so hard they almost got stuck. With a frustrated huff, she vaulted over the metal railing, dropping down into the atrium to pull Seraphina out of danger, dragging the golden-haired girl around a blind corner before slipping away silently into the shadows so Seraphina wouldn’t even realize who saved her.

However, her heroic extraction didn’t go completely unnoticed.

From the opposite end of the corridor, the reddish-haired Vice Captain emerged, his rifle smoking. Seraphina blinked her teary hazel eyes, looking up at him with breathless adoration. "Vice Captain... thank you so much for saving me!"

The reddish-haired guy blinked in confusion, scratching his head. "Uh... yeah! No problem, Miss Gold! Just stay behind me!"

Lyra, who was stealthily trying to sneak away to find Claire, watched the interaction from behind a concrete pillar and let out a dry, sarcastic gag. Unbelievable.

Meanwhile, in the western wing of the complex, Senior Sister Claire had sustained a nasty leg injury from a falling steel beam during the explosion. Kael Noctis had personally rushed through the horde, cutting down every mutant in his path, to scoop Claire up into his arms and carry her to a secure, barricaded medical tent.

The moment he ensured Claire was safe and receiving basic first aid from a medic, Kael’s cold emerald eyes darkened. Without a single word, he turned around and marched right back out into the chaotic courtyard to slaughter the remaining horde.

Lyra’s eyebrows furrowed as she watched him from the second-floor landing.

Ding!

[ WARNING! THE MALE LEAD IS ENTERING A CRITICAL BATTLE STATE! HIS DARKNESS VALUE IS SURGING RAPIDLY! IF HIS CORRUPTION METRIC GOES OUT OF CONTROL, HE WILL LOSE HIS HUMAN RESTRAINT AND END UP KILLING EVERYONE IN THIS BASE ALONG WITH THE ZOMBIES! ]

"Why is your Male Lead always one second away from committing mass murder?!" Lyra said, huffing in exasperation as she gripped her dagger. "Also, why on earth are the zombies even attacking him?! Isn’t he supposed to be their supreme Zombie Lord?!"

[ Host, because he hasn’t fully awakened his complete sovereign core yet, his biological suppression aura is unstable! He can’t control unevolved Level 3 zombies that are high on adrenaline and crystal bloodlust! ]

"Shouldn’t the Female Lead step up to use her holy light and save him now? Let’s just wait and see!" Lyra crossed her arms.

However, as precious minutes ticked away in the bloody courtyard, Seraphina Gold was nowhere to be seen- she was currently hiding safely in the medical tent with the Vice Captain, too terrified to step outside!

"Useless! Absolutely useless!" Lyra sneered in pure irritation.

Realizing that if she didn’t act right now, Kael was actually going to slaughter every single human in the base- including her. Lyra didn’t hesitate a second longer. She vaulted over the second-floor railing, dropping straight down into the bloody courtyard and running forward to intercept him.

Down in the center of the courtyard, Kael Noctis was standing amidst a sea of slaughtered mutant corpses. His shirt was torn, his broad shoulders heaving, and his dark broadsword was dripping with thick, black blood. His piercing emerald eyes had completely lost their human clarity, turning into a terrifying, pitch-black abyss of unhinged, violent rage as he raised his sword to strike down the final remaining Level 3 beast.

Before his blade could swing-

SWOOP!

A small, familiar floral scent cut through the stench of rotting blood.

Before Kael even realized what was happening, a soft, warm, and frantic body suddenly threw herself forward, wrapping her slender arms tightly around his broad, muscular waist from behind, burying her face into his blood-stained back!