Suzanna’s sword rippled and lit up, then she slashed at the neck of the zombie. Suzanna struck out at her highest possible speed, because she just saw a zombie taking an arrow. She knew she had to kill the zombie with one blow.
The zombie did not try to block the blow. It held up its sharp, dagger-like fingers, and reached for Suzanna’s chest. The zombie might have been a swordsman once, but its soul had already fallen, and what was left was only a senseless body. The knowledge and the fight skills it had accumulated over the years disappeared as well. The attack was purely instinctual. There were no tricks to it.
Suzanna had the advantage of speed and of attacking first. When the zombie was only a few feet away from her, her sword was already slashing at its neck. Even for the most powerful people in the world, a blow to the neck by a senior swordsmaster would be deadly. Suzanna’s sword sheared through the zombie’s neck, and the head flew backwards. The stench was almost suffocating. However, the zombie’s movement did not stop, and its sharp fingers continued reaching out towards Suzanna.
Suzanna was shocked, but she was experienced in battle, and had fast reflexes. She kicked the zombie in the abdomen, and jumped backwards to avoid the attack. The zombie did not fall until Suzanna was at least twenty feet away.
The zombie that was wounded by Anfey’s arrow had a large hole in its chest, the shrubs behind it were clearly visible through the hole. Because of the wound, its movement was slowed and it lagged behind the other zombies. Suzanna moved out of the main horde’s way and jumped towards the rear of the group. She landed not far from the wounded zombie, who lunged at her, waving its arms frantically. Its own blood spraying onto the ground.
The rotting organs and the foul scent of the zombie’s blood made Suzanna very nauseous. The zombies began to surround her, and Suzanna was forced to jump into a nearby tree.
The zombies swarmed the tree, clawing at it. The trunk became very fragile under the sharp nails of the zombies, and it didn’t take long for them to hollow out the trunk. However, Suzanna jumped onto a nearby branch, and they were not able to realize their hope of killing Suzanna.
A pale light struck one of the zombies as they prepared to follow Suzanna. The light left a wound the size of a small bowl on the zombie, but the zombie did not fall to the ground. Instead, it stood where it was, shaking its head, as if it was trying to wake up from a dream.
It was in a zombie’s nature to hunt. Attacks and its companion’s death did not distract the zombies. They stood under the tree, clawing at its trunk with their nails.
"Their heads!" Riska called as he circled around.
"I know," Anfey said and notched another arrow.
The zombies had not yet finished clawing at the tree when Anfey attacked them again. The arrow took a zombie’s head off. Dark smoke rose from where the neck broke, and its large head was only hanging on its neck by bits of skin.
The zombie’s arms reached back and grabbed its head, then it slowly placed the head back onto the broken neck. Before Anfey could react, the zombie shook and fell to the ground. Zombies were much stronger than a normal person, but a wound like that would still be fatal.
This attack could not distract the zombies, either. They kept on roaring at Suzanna and clawing at the tree. Suzanna noticed the zombies’ problem as well. She returned her sword to the sheath, and jumped onto another tree. She broke off a branch and waved at the zombies, hoping to attract their attention.
"Why aren’t they attacking us?" Riska frowned and asked.
"Maybe because zombies love beautiful things as well," Anfey said, grinning.
"Quit joking around," Riska said and rolled his eyes.
Three other necromancers headed towards Suzanna. Anfey had been waiting for the necromancers. The zombies wouldn’t do much. Before all nearby trees were destroyed, the zombies were only lumberjacks. There were plenty of trees, and Suzanna shouldn’t be in danger.
One of the necromancers waved his hand and released a dark ball of energy. Unlike the magic Anfey had seen a few days ago, the black ball was much larger, and looked as if there was a face in it, surging.
White light appeared and shot through the black ball. The arrows Anfey used were materialized element arrows. Compared to normal weapons, an element arrow was much more powerful against magic. The repelling nature of elements maximized the destruction. The black ball first deflated like a balloon, then it exploded, turning into countless black strings that floated through the air.
The necromancer screamed in agony, his right arm destroyed in the explosion. Another arrow hit the necromancer’s body, and he fell to the ground. For a zombie, wounds like this could not even hinder their movements. For a human, however, it was fatal.
The two other necromancers stared at their companion in shock, then they turned and fled. "It’s elves!" one of them called. Usually, only the elves could use element arrows. It was not surprising that they had come to this conclusion.
Anfey turned to the zombies. Now, it was less of a battle and more of a game. The zombies fell one by one, but the others were distracted by Suzanna, who was throwing branches at them. Their one track mind did not allow them to focus on anything other than the thing right in front of them.
The remaining necromancers disappeared into the bushes, and did not return. Anfey continue to aim his arrows at the zombies. Before he could take out the last zombie, Suzanna jumped down from the tree crown and slashed at the zombie. After a flash of white light, the zombie slumped to the ground with only half of its head.
Suzanna turned and grinned at Anfey, then she began walking towards the magic array in the clearing.
Anfey returned the bow to his dimensional ring. He had thought this would be a difficult battle, and didn't expect the zombies to be such easy targets. If he had known this, he would have stayed hidden and taken the zombies out. That way the battle would have ended much faster.
"Riska, do you know what kind of magic array that is?"
"No," Riska said, shaking his head. "I don't know what it is, but I think it should be easy to destroy. I’ll go check it out." He levitated into the air and chased passed Suzanna.
The entire clearing was concealed by a magic array, and people on the outside could not see what was going on inside. However, they could see shadows of movements on the inside, and hear the sound of fighting and cursing.
"I thought there were only a dozen zombies left," Anfey said, frowning. "How did they turn into so many people? Riska, can you destroy it?"
"It’s easy," Riska said. He pointed to a nearby bush, and nodded at Suzanna.
Suzanna walked over to the bush and struck the bush with her sword. The earth split open and revealed a black stone tablet with strange runes carved onto it. Riska brushed off the soil and looked at the tablet. He nodded at Suzanna again, who pressed her sword against it. With a flash of white light, the tablet shattered into a dozen pieces.
The kekkai over the clearing began shaking, and cracks as fine as spider webs began spreading all over it. "This is it," Riska said with a relieved sigh. "Creation is hard, but destruction is easy. It seems like the necromancers had been here for a while. Neither the kekkai nor the magic array are things you can set up overnight."
Anfey frowned and turned to the clearing. The magic array was destroyed, and what was happening inside the kekkai became apparent for those outside of it. When the people saw the blue sky appear above them again, they all sighed with relief. In the middle of the clearing, there was still chaos. Suddenly, a shrill scream ripped through the air, "My god, it’s zombies! Zombies!"