Genius Warlock

As the heated atmosphere subdued, Oliver asked his question.

“I heard the fighter crew and the mercenaries ran into this place while exploring the contaminated zone, but how did Mr. Arthur get here?”

Arthur, who had a golem prosthetic arm, smoked a cigarette and answered.

“Wuu… I happened to get here while getting rid of zombies with my guys.”

“Can you explain a little more?”

Arthur looked at Oliver for a moment, then pulled out a map from his arms.

He had a more detailed map than Oliver had, and he pointed to a skull mark.

“We went here, and we were attacked by a horde of zombies.”

“Isn’t it a dangerous place where zombies appear in large numbers?”

“Yeah. Originally, we never planned on going there, but we couldn’t catch as many zombies as we thought for the number of people on our team… So, we decided to take the risk…”

It didn't seem like a bad idea.

As long as they had the necessary equipment and numbers, it felt like they could deal with the zombies.

However, it felt possible only if the conditions were normal.

"When we entered the area we couldn't see the zombies, but suddenly… zombies started shooting guns or throwing bombs from above the building. They rushed toward us from all directions as if they were waiting for us."

It was as Oliver had expected.

"We were perplexed, yet we responded properly, but the real problem was the swarm of zombies kept coming. In the end, we decided to… run away, and somehow reached this place."

"… Did Mr. Arthur come first? Or did Mr. Hugh come first?"

Goodman mercenary battalion commander Hugh answered Oliver’s question this time.

“We came in first, then those friends, then these solvers, and lastly, those guys. Ah, no… you guys are the last.”

Sam said to Hugh as he repaired his gun.

“Wow…I never thought you were the kind of person who shared his things?”

“It’s called thinking smart, warlock. If we alone had kept this place, we would have been captured. We lacked manpower and supplies, so how do you expect us to fight those zombies?”

Hugh’s judgment felt right. It was thanks to the increase in manpower and supplies they seemed to have put up a proper fight against the zombie hordes.

"But now, we’re at our limit. We almost ran out of bullets and bombs."

Hearing that, Oliver nodded his head without saying anything.

Their situation seemed really bad.

Having run out of bullets, bombs, and emotions, all that was left for them was to fight with their bodies.

Of course, there were those who had excellent physical abilities, but even so, it was only a matter of time before they died against a large number of zombie armies.

It really was a catastrophic situation.

For everyone inside the building, the situation did not make any sense, but for Oliver, there was something else that did not make any sense.

He did not understand how the zombies are controlled so meticulously, and above all, he did not understand why the Solvers and mercenaries were targeted.

As these thoughts kept circling in Oliver’s mind, suddenly…, Joseph’s image popped into his head.

His Master, who made him come to Landa with a lie and tried to lure him to the offering altar.

“Mr. Warlock, Please. Please once again use that powerful firepower to sweep away the zombies and open a way out. Then, we will take responsibility and protect Mr. Warlock.”

Hugh’s words were sincere, and he seemed to want to get out of this situation as quickly as possible.

As Hugh was trying to persuade Oliver, a mercenary rushed down from upstairs and screamed urgently.

“Captain, come quickly!”

“What? Why?! Are the zombies attacking again?”

“No, that’s not… Please come up and see this yourself.”

At those words, Hugh stopped the conversation with Oliver and went up, followed by Knuckle Joe, Sam, Arthur, and many others.

Of course, Oliver was one among the many others.

“What the hell is going on?”

"More zombies have come. That alone is absurd, but the problem is there's that fu*king thing among the zombies."

“What the fu*k are you talking about?”

“Do you remember the Battle of Dunken Forest?”

"Sadly, I do."

“It’s somewhat similar to what we saw back then.”

“……Fu*k.”

Hugh rushed to the top of the building while swearing.

On the top of the building, a mercenary armed with heavy weapons, a Solver, a Wizard, and a Warlock were on alert, and all of them were looking at one place.

Their gaze was on a group of zombies that looked fresh as if they had just died.

Those zombies were not just armed, they possessed intelligence, unlike ordinary zombies.

It was faint, but they had emotions, and it was the first time Oliver had seen anything like that.

It was like the zombies that failed to be zombified.

But… unlike Oliver, others seemed interested in something different.

“Is that Lich?”

Oliver turned his gaze to where the man was pointing.

Among the hordes of zombies, there was a zombie wearing a colorful cloak, with a mummy-like shriveled face.

Hugh asked Joe while pointing to the zombie in question.

“Do you think……it’s a Lich?

“I don’t know, does Lich exist?”

Others also asked nearby warlocks and wizards whether it was Lich, and at that time, Oliver spoke softly.

“It doesn’t look like a Lich…, it’s more like a Corpse doll.”

“Corpse doll?”

“Yeah, it’s like a zombie doll made with black magic, adding mechanical parts, and special processing, that’s what it looks like.”

Oliver said confidently.

He saw a similar one in the past when he was dealing with Puppeteer Glyph, and the ones standing outside the building felt very similar to those Corpse dolls.

It had the same unique sense of alienation of someone entering and controlling another person's corpse.

No one doubted Oliver's words and Hugh even asked as if he had lost interest in them.

“Then, can you sweep that as well?”

Oliver focused his gaze on Hugh's eyes and shook his head.

“No…it seems difficult. In addition to those corpse dolls, if you include the ones hiding, there are seven more in total. Even if the small zombies are swept away by bombing, the corpse dolls will come out and stop us. Even if we get stopped for a moment, the zombies will come from all directions and surround us.”

It was not certain, but everyone went silent as if they understood instinctively.

Oliver did not know who was behind all this, but this was enough to gauge the other person's skills.

Sam asked, casting black magic on the bullet.

“Can’t we just kill those Corpse dolls and move forward?”

“The Corpse doll is stronger than you think, so it will not be easy. In particular, the corpse doll down there seems to be made in a much better than what I had seen before.”

Oliver said that based on what he learned from Puppeteer Glyph's book.

“Then, what should we do? Just wait until the bullets and emotions run out and the zombies enter the building?”

“Um…, can’t we get help from the soldiers guarding the area around the contaminated zone?”

“No, that’s impossible. The City Defense Force guys out there care for only themselves, the reason they sent us here in the first place was to avoid taking any risks.”

"Um… But isn't the situation unusual right now?"

"Yeah, but they will only move after everyone here die. Above all, there is no way to contact them to come. Communication device doesn’t work well in the contaminated zone."

“Didn’t you communicate with Mr. Joe earlier?”

"That's because it was inside the same contaminated zone. Communication with the outside is difficult."

As if to prove his argument, Hugh showed Oliver a crackling communication device. There was absolutely nothing to be heard other than noise.

They were trapped inside a building surrounded by swarms of zombies with no way of communication, no bullets, and no emotions.

The whole situation did not have a single advantage. Oliver thought he'd better take everyone and try to break through.

Even if he could not save everyone, Oliver thought at least he would be able to run away.

‘What will happen if I focus on running away while covering my body in [Black suit]…’

"Fu*k… Do we have to stake our lives on the basement side then?"

Hugh said in frustration.

“Is there a basement?”

“There is an underground passage connected to the sewer in the basement of this building, so I have sent some to explore where it leads to.”

Sam said gladly.

"Oh really?!"

“Uh, but it’s so deep and complicated that everyone is having a hard time. It’s so dark that it’s even staggering, so it’s hard to differentiate between the left and right, up and down, as if someone was playing a prank.”

As it became difficult to escape from the building, everyone placed their hopes on the last straw, and in the midst of that, someone came up from the lower floor as if he brought a message from God.

The person who came was covered in dust, and he looked very happy.

“Captain! Come downstairs! Looks like we’ve found a way to live!”

⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩

Hearing the news, everyone went downstairs.

As Hugh said, there was a basement under the building, and it was dark and dusty.

It did not seem like it was simply due to the aging of the building.

It had a strong sense that the basement itself was built just as a pass-through with no use and a group of people could be seen through the pit of dust.

Most of them were mercenaries and soldiers, and there was one face that Oliver knew.

It was the warlock who spoke to Oliver as soon as he entered the Contaminated zone.

“Mr. Jaby……”

“Haha…It’s nice to see a familiar face here.”

Hugh who was next to Oliver said to his subordinate.

"Make the lantern brighter… I can't see anything properly!?"

The light grew stronger, and with that Jaby's face became visible. His face was bruised as if he got beaten.

"What happened?"

“We met this guy while checking the escape route along the underground passage.”

“Why were you there?”

"Hahaha…it's because Sir. Wizard ordered a search."

“Seems like the situation isn’t perfect there either.”

"That's right…I'm glad I didn't die. I originally followed as a guide, but I couldn't even do that…"

“Where are they? Wizard and Druid.”

"They’re recovering in a safe building. Zombies are pouring in endlessly, and they’re exhausted…"

“You guys are also in the same situation as us, huh…”

While Hugh was thinking, Jaby spoke to him.

“……If it’s okay with you, how about joining us?”

"What?"

"I'll guide you. Everyone, unless you're an idiot, can understand what situation we are in, right? Something is terribly wrong here. Zombies are pouring out from everywhere, they have guns and are shooting, and doing everything.”

No one had any concerns or objections to Jaby’s proposal.

Of course, it was a natural reaction when surrounded by hordes of zombies that kept coming. Everyone thought they had to work together to survive.

“Well, okay… If we join forces with a powerful Wizard, our chances of survival will increase. But can we all move at once?”

“That’ll be a bit difficult. There will be so many people and there is a limit to the number of people that can go along the dark narrow underground aisle.”

“Then what shall we do then?”

“That’s a problem too…who wants to go last?”

“Hmm… then, should we draw lots?”

While everyone was exchanging opinions about this and that, Jaby intervened and gave advice.

“If possible, I would like talented people to come first. For example, Mr. Hugh, Mr. Warlock, and Mr. Arthur…. Sir. Wizard is sensitive right now, so I think it will be best if he sees the talented guys first. You know, young wizards, how eccentric.”

Soon, everyone decided to go with Jaby’s plan and thought about how to move, and at that moment, Oliver walked over and stopped in front of Jaby.

Everyone looked at the scene with a dumbfounded expressions on their faces, including Jaby.

“……?”

“Mr. Jaby, where is the wizard?”

“……Hiding in a certain building. Avoiding zombies.”

“Can you tell me specifically what kind of building it is?”

“Well…I don’t know about that either.”

“Didn’t you say you are familiar with this contaminated zone?”

“…I know it well, but I don’t know everything.”

Oliver nodded as if he understood.

Hugh tried to ask what was going on, but Joe stopped him as if he noticed something.

“Um… I’m curious. Can I ask you a question?”

"……Yes, what?"

“Who are you?”

“I’m Ja…”

“Not the outside, I’m asking the one who’s controlling the inside.”

“……”

“……”

“……”

A deadly silence surrounded the whole place.

“Huhuhuhuhuhu… Interesting. When did you notice?”

(To be Continued)

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