The Deceiver's Path - Chapter 120 - Zombies, Zombies Everywhere (Patreon)

Piper watched the undead host surge forward and raised her longbow. She peered down the length of the arrow, aiming at the closest zombie. Holding her breath, she released and the arrow streaked forward; it slammed into the creature’s head and burst out the other side of its skull. A kill notification followed, but she ignored it.

“We need to fall back!” Piper shouted. “We’re sitting ducks if we stay out in the open.”

There must be hundreds of zombies rushing toward them. And there was a good chance they’d simply overwhelm them if they didn’t fall back. They needed to find somewhere more defensible.

As she called out to her group mates, she released a string of arrows at the shambling horde of undead. Not every hit scored a kill, but she was thinning out their numbers.

“We’ve got this,” Zenos said, hefting his war hammer. “They’re only low-level zombies after all, and we all have uncommon classes.”

“They’re a lot tougher than they look,” she shouted back, her words barely rising above the moaning of the undead. As the horde drew closer, the sickly smell of death was quickly becoming intolerable. She wrinkled her nose, wishing she had some way to block out the stench.

I’m definitely going to need a bath after this, she thought. Would it be too much to ask to fight some pleasant-smelling flower monsters for once?

“What should I do?” Vespera asked, her breath coming in shallow gasps. “I’ve never seen so many undead in my life. How are we supposed to fight them all?”

“Just stick by my side,” she replied, trying to sound encouraging. “I’ve faced worse things in the past.”

“Like what?” Vespera cried out, panic seeping into her tone.

“Just trust me.” Piper ran a hand through her hair with exasperation. “We can handle these zombies.” Then she turned to the others already advancing on the horde. “Fall back to me. We have to stay close together so we can fight them as a group.”

“Are you kidding?” Ophelia said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “I’m not hanging back while you get all the glory.”

Watching her group mates continue to advance, she realized they were completely ignoring her order to fall back. “Darn Ophelia,” she muttered under her breath before raising her voice to get her friend's attention. “Get your butt back here now! We’re completely screwed if the zombies surround us!”

Ophelia grimaced and froze in her tracks. With a glare that should have turned Piper to stone, she stomped away from the zombies. As she moved, she raised her hand, and a shining tear in reality opened in front of her. She plunged her hand into the rift and withdrew a sword that burned with the light of the midday sun.

The aura from the sword made Piper flinch back. A prickling sensation spread across her skin, followed by a painful itch. She immediately recognized what her friend was holding: Ophelia had another angel sword.

The sight of the celestial weapon gave Piper pause. This was something Ophelia hadn’t told her about, and her friend told her about everything. Had the weapon been a gift from the Celestial Realm, like her bow? And why had Ophelia kept its existence from her?

“I don’t want to die.” Vespera grabbed Piper’s sleeve and frantically pulled on it. “Please, we can still run!”

“You’re not going to die.” She gently freed herself from the woman’s grip. “But I need you to stand and fight. Do you think you can do that?

“I… think so?”

“Stay close to me, and I’ll keep you safe. I promise.” She was about to say more when a zombie wearing tattered peasant garb reared up in front of Ophelia. In one smooth motion, Piper loosed an arrow. The projectile punched through the zombie’s eye and sent it crumpling to the ground.

Piper continued to loose arrow as fast as she could. But already, her quiver was starting to run low. She was beginning to realize that a non-magical quiver had some serious limitations.

“Zenos,” she called out to the mage. “Take up a position in front of me to give me space to cast.” When Zenos ignored her order, swinging his war hammer around to nearly behead a zombie, she shouted, “That means you, noise mage!”

She didn’t like being forced to yell at them, but she refused to fail as a group leader like Basil had. If she had to raise her voice to get them to listen, then that was what she was going to do. No one was going to die under her leadership.

“No need to yell,” Zenos replied, scowling. As more zombies closed in on the man, he shimmered and reappeared in front of Piper. He almost stumbled before catching himself. Grinning, he said, “That’s always a bit disorienting.”

Zenos pivoted to meet a charging zombie, and caved its head in with his weapon; the flesh exploded like an overripe melon. Three more creatures launched themselves at him, sending him reeling back. He gripped his war hammer with both hands and struggled to hold them at bay.

Piper rapidly launched an arrow at one of the undead creatures grasping at air mage, but she sucked on her teeth as her shot buried itself in its jaw. The zombie continued its attack, seemingly unconcerned with the arrow sticking out of its mouth. Thankfully, her next shot pierced its brain, dropping it to the ground.

“Thanks,” Zenos panted as he kicked a zombie back before striking the other with the butt of his weapon. As the zombie staggered to the side, he swung his war hammer in a downward arc, crushing the undead’s head. But a dozen more appeared to take the creature’s place.

Ophelia retreated a few paces to plant herself in front of Piper with her burning sword held high. A moment later, Vespera did the same with her staff, her entire body trembling. Unless the milkmaid managed to calm her emotions, Piper doubted that she would be much use in the fight.

“You’re going to be fine, Vespera,” she said in a soothing voice. “We’re going to make it through this together.”

The red-haired woman nodded slightly before her resolve seemed to stiffen. At least she faced the oncoming wall of zombies without shaking, which was an improvement.

Piper watched as Ophelia gleefully hacked away at the zombies, her blade easily slicing through their putrefied flesh. Notifications piled up in her vision, but she continued to dismiss them. Now wasn’t the time to get distracted, as she had to concentrate on her casting.

As the zombies crowded around them, she mentally ordered her concealed demons and illusory knight to attack. On the trip here, she’d summoned Gretch and Sarnyxia, along with the illusion of the Amazonian knight she’d used so often in the past. To keep them secret, she cast [Shifting Veil] on the demons to disguise them as humans, before adding another layer of the spell to turn them invisible.

After her fears of an ambush had been confirmed, she’d ordered her minions into position near the flank of the undead horde. They should have reached the spot by now, so she dropped the [Shifting Veil] and ordered them into action.

A moment later, the demons appeared and launched their attack. Sarnyxia, who appeared as a dark-haired young woman, led the assault, tearing through the ranks of the closest undead. A single punch blasted five of the zombies apart, which made Piper raise her brow in surprise. Clearly, her summons had learned some new skills during her time away.

The three summons cut through the zombies like a wolf pack through a flock of sheep. Each blow from Sarnyxia destroyed multiple dead at once, while Gretch bounced around slashing wildly at the creatures, and the illusory knight hacked apart any enemies within reach using her massive two-handed sword.

A scream made Piper pause her casting. Somehow, a zombie had knocked Vespera down and was scratching at the woman with its bony fingers. Already, the front of her dress lay in tatters, and fresh blood spattered with each strike.

Piper dropped her bow and cast [Shifting Veil]. Three-pronged illusory claw weapons appeared on both of her hands, which she hoped would mask her demonic abilities from the others. Then she launched herself forward, while activating [Tail Strike] and [Quick Claw] at the same time. Her tail plunged into the zombie’s skull, while her claws tore out its throat. The creature flopped forward onto Vespera, dead before it hit the ground.

The young woman continued screaming, pushing and kicking at the undead creature until it slumped to the side. She desperately wriggled free, her face covered with blood and black ichor. But to her credit, even though she was injured and appeared terrified, she retook her position back in the line to face the next wave.

A notification flashed in Piper’s vision.

Congratulations! Your racial skills Quick Claw and Tail Strike have evolved to become Demonic Lashrend, Level 37.

The claws and tail of a shadeling demoness are formidable weapons used to quickly dispatch their opponents. This racial skill allows you to combine attacks in a deadly combination to overwhelm an opponent's defenses.

Piper felt a surge of excitement at unlocking her second evolution. The first had been a spell, but now she knew she could combine and improve her skills. When she had time later, she’d have to try to figure out some other combos to unlock.

Retrieving her bow from the ground, she faltered as she sensed an incredibly powerful aura flare from among the ruins. She lowered her weapon slightly and watched as a horrifying amalgamation of flesh emerged from what must have been an unseen basement. She used [Identify], immediately receiving a skill level, which was a bad sign.

Ding! Your skill, Identify has reached Level 21.

This was followed by the creature’s information.

Flesh Golem, Level 250

Piper diverted her knight from the zombies to deal with the new threat. She controlled the illusory woman as she rampaged through the zombies, chopping them apart with her greatsword. When the summons reached the flesh golem, she followed Piper’s orders and reared back to launch a devastating strike to end the creature.

The greatsword sailed through the air and lodged itself in the creature’s bulk. A terrible scream tore forth from a hundred undead throats, but the strike left almost no visible damage. The golem had simply shrugged off the blow from her powerful knight.

Piper’s mouth dropped open in shock as the creature reached down with mismatched limbs to lift the Amazonian woman up. Almost effortlessly, it hurled the knight across the valley. The armored woman cartwheeled through the sky before crashing into a mass of zombies and knocking them down like pins.

While she desperately tried to figure out another way to stop the golem, the others hacked and pummeled at the seemingly endless waves of undead. During their short battle, the surrounding bodies had grown so numerous that they now formed a wall of corpses, forcing the next wave of zombies to scramble over their own fallen.

While she debated using her Shadowflame Temptress spells to deal with the advancing golem, her demon summons finished cutting their way through the diminishing horde to reach the knot of aspirants. As they took up positions on either side of her, the others watched the new arrivals warily.

“Who in the name of the Emperor are you?” Zenos asked. “Are you adventurers?”

Piper hurriedly mentally ordered her demons to concoct a lie.

“Hello, fellow aspirants,” Sarnyxia said flatly, looking at Piper with exhausted disappointment. “We have come to save you.”

“They’re friends of mine,” Piper said quickly. “I told them we might need help with this quest yesterday.”

“Oh, so we’re friends now?” Sarnyxia asked. “In that case, why do you insist on making me fight these disgusting things? I have far better things to do.”

Before Piper could reply, the hulking flesh golem scrambled over the corpse wall, wailing like a banshee. Dozens of misshapen and swollen arms groped for Piper as she hastily raised her bow, preparing to fire. But the undead creature no longer moved at a ponderous pace like a giant sloth; now it charged forward with terrifying speed. It would be on her before she could loose more than a single arrow.

With a pained sigh, Sarnyxia darted forward and leaped into the air. Crying out with exertion, she swung downward in a chopping motion, her hand burning with a dark power. The bottom edge of her palm struck the golem’s head, carving through its face and continuing downward. As the creature tore open from its head to groin, a disgusting river of dark fluids poured out.

Sarnyxia landed lightly on the rocky soil, and in front of her, the golem split in half with a sickening squishing sound. A few strands of skin resisted, stretching taut before snapping. Then the rotting corpse collapsed into little more than a pile of oozing jelly at the demoness’s feet.

Congratulations! You have slain a Flesh Golem, Level 250.

A significant bonus to experience has been granted for slaying a higher-level creature.

Ding! Your race, Shadeling has reached Level 87.

Ding! Your race, Shadeling has reached Level 88.

Ding! Your class, Deceiver has reached level 87.

Ding! Your class, Deceiver has reached level 88.

Ding! Your class, Shadowflame Temptress has reached level 26.

Ding! Your class, Shadowflame Temptress has reached level 27.

Zenos stopped to gape at the disguised demoness. “Who are you?”

Instead of responding, Sarnyxia did her best bored impression; she wiped her hand off on a tuft of grass. “Truly a disgusting creature,” she said. “Shall I dispatch the others?”

To Piper’s side, Ophelia cut down two bloated, fly-infested corpses, suddenly leaving the group in an island of calm among the sea of undead. The zombies continued to mill around on the other side of the corpse wall, but they made no further moves to attack. Either someone had commanded them to stop, or they had developed a healthy fear of Sarnyxia.

Piper pressed her lips together. The destruction of this horde could save countless lives in the future. And it would help Vespera get credit for the quest, along with giving the young woman a few levels.

Nodding at the others, she said, “Let’s finish this fight.”