Zombie at level six was unlike anything Adam had encountered so far. It was taller, bulkier, and its movements were slow but brimming with tension—like every part of its body was simply waiting for a command to destroy. When the toppled shelf blocked its path, Adam considered retreating and trying again to attack from the shadows.
He glanced at the zombie, ready to withdraw and strike from behind once more—but then he saw it. The creature wasn't going to let him escape. It grabbed the metal shelf with both hands and effortlessly lifted it above its head, hurling it straight at Adam.
Adam froze as he watched the shelf flying toward him. At the last moment, he threw himself to the side, rolling across the floor. The air sliced across his cheek like a blade. The shelf crashed beside him with a thunderous clatter, splintering into pieces and cracking the floor beneath it.
His eyes widened in disbelief. "What the hell…" he muttered, staring at the shattered wreckage. He hadn't expected a zombie to possess such raw power. His plan had relied on gaining the upper hand—not facing off against something that could throw furniture like toys.
He tried to rise, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught a shadow—already looming over him. Without thinking, he rolled aside just as the creature's fist slammed down into the floor with a deafening boom. The concrete cracked, leaving a shallow crater where Adam had lain a second earlier.
Using the momentum, Adam rolled forward, then pushed off the ground with both hands and sprang to his feet in one swift motion. He stumbled back several steps, adrenaline slicing through his thoughts like a cold knife. "Since when are zombies this strong?"
He backed away, scanning the surroundings. The sight of the fractured floor sent a chill down his spine. One hit from that monster—and he'd be nothing but pulp. A head-on fight was suicide.
The zombie roared and, without hesitation, charged. Like a rampaging bull, it thundered forward, every step shaking the ground. Adam raised his weapon, but instead of trying to block, he dodged at the last second. The beast barreled into the wall with bone-crushing force, shattering plaster and leaving deep cracks.
Adam stared wide-eyed. "He doesn't think… He just charges and smashes."
A crooked smile crept across Adam's face.
He started moving, positioning himself to bait the zombie into another charge. It roared again and surged forward. Adam waited. One second... two...
This time, he didn't dodge right away. He let the zombie get close. The creature swung wide with a brutal punch that tore through the air. Adam ducked sideways at the last possible instant, feeling the wind of the strike brush through his hair.
The zombie stumbled slightly, thrown off balance by the missed attack.
That was the moment Adam had been waiting for.
He swung the metal rod with full force at the creature's temple.
CRACK!—the metal rang against the skull with a dull, resonant thud. Adam froze for a fraction of a second, stunned by the utter lack of reaction. No flinch, no stumble—nothing. It was as if the blow had barely ruffled the air.
"He didn't even feel that."
Before Adam could finish his thought, the zombie swung again, nearly striking his chest. A split-second difference was all that saved him.
He staggered back, thrown off balance.
"I can't fight it head-on. I have to immobilize it."
He focused, took a deep breath, and charged again, this time with a clear objective. As the zombie turned toward him, Adam lunged low, almost crawling toward its legs.
He struck the knee just below the kneecap with everything he had. A muted crunch echoed, but the creature didn't fall.
Adam took the risk—he stepped to the side and struck again, aiming for the inside of the joint, just beneath the thigh muscle. The rod thudded against flesh with a hollow sound, and the zombie's leg quivered under its own weight. The beast wavered, its foot skidding slightly across the dusty floor. Its fingers clawed for balance, digging into cracked tiles. The knee buckled reluctantly, the body resisting the damage.
But gravity had no mercy.
It fell hard onto one knee, its back tensing like a drawn bowstring. Its breath turned into a growl full of fury and pain.
The third strike was decisive—Adam hammered it into the same weakened spot. The knee gave way with an inhuman creak, and the zombie crashed onto its side.
It lay still for a moment, then tried to lift itself on its elbows. Muscles flexed beneath gray skin, fingers scraped the floor in search of leverage. It pulled itself up slightly, raised its head—its eyes burning with blind rage. But its leg betrayed it. As it shifted weight onto it, the limb collapsed like a snapped branch, and the beast crashed down again, howling in frustrated agony.
Adam seized the opportunity. He jumped onto a nearby crate, launched himself off of it, and rained down strikes upon the creature's skull with all the strength he could muster. The first blow jerked its head to the side. The second tore skin, splattering gray blood. The third hit the same spot—this time, something cracked. The fourth shattered bone, and the zombie suddenly thrashed, gripped by a panic-like frenzy. Its arms flailed wildly, and its body writhed in spasms.
Adam didn't stop. The fifth and sixth strikes hit even harder, pulverizing more bone. The skull began to cave in, blood and fragments mixing with dust.
After a dozen or more savage blows—each leaving deeper cracks, the sound of splintering bone mingling with the beast's dying gasps—the zombie finally convulsed and lost all tension in its muscles. Its body slumped lifelessly to the floor.
[Essence Record — Kill Confirmed] [Target: Zombie (LVL 5)] [Target: Zombie (LVL 6)] [Reward: +4 STR | +2 VIT]
From the corpse rose a small gray box—floating gently, slowly spinning above the lifeless body as if patiently waiting.
Adam stood motionless, panting hard.
"That was… way too close," he whispered, more to himself than anyone. "One hit and I would've been done for."
And then—clapping.
From above, perched on one of the shelves, sat Valeria. The lazy smile on her lips contrasted with the gleam in her eyes, shining like rubies.
"For a man who saves beauties falling from the sky," she said with a grin devoid of fear, "you're surprisingly brutal."