After the twenty-some survivors scrambled onto Juggernaut’s body, they saw Flora Bloom facing seven Level 3 zombies alone and fearfully scurried to hide at the rear of the giant beast’s back.
Seeing that no one was helping, Flora Bloom, wanting to end the fight quickly, summoned Vert down to join the battle.
The youth in white didn’t shrink back. He clutched a wound on his arm that had long since stopped bleeding, his eyes glittering with excitement.
He had originally mingled with the humans out of sheer amusement, curious to see if they could actually rescue the hostages. He had waited and waited, and finally, the rescuers had arrived.
He just hadn’t expected the rescuer to be such an interesting human girl.
Except... that belly? ’She’s even pregnant.’
The youth in white watched with great interest as Flora Bloom faced the seven Level 3 zombies by herself. For a long moment, he just stared, his blood-red tongue darting out as if with a mind of its own to lick his deliberately pale lips.
’Evolved creatures? A giant alligator and a mantis? This human is rather interesting! Such a gorgeous face paired with such a delicate frame... I wonder how long she can hold out?’
Flora Bloom was indeed starting to feel exhausted. She had shattered the skulls of three Level 3 zombies with three swings of her axe, but the remaining four still managed to clamber up.
Juggernaut, for all its power, had no way to deal with the zombies that had climbed onto its back. And just then, the High-level zombie that appeared to be their leader arrived on the battlefield!
"Juggernaut, pull back! Don’t let that High-level zombie get on your back!"
"RAWR!" A massive roar erupted from Juggernaut’s great maw. At the same time, Vert, enjoying its aerial advantage, sliced the heads off three of the four Level 3 zombies with a single sweep of its scythe-like limbs. The last one was thrown from Juggernaut’s back as the beast suddenly accelerated.
But in that same instant, the High-level zombie arrived.
It didn’t just arrive—it leaped right in front of Flora Bloom, getting in her face and swiping a claw at her belly.
This High-level zombie was male. Unlike Isla Preston, it wasn’t from the Control System, so its build was much stronger and taller than that of an average zombie.
But Flora Bloom found one thing very strange. Isla Preston was a High-level zombie who was as mentally agile as a human, capable of speech and communication. This zombie, however, only seemed to attack her on impulse. Aside from guttural roars when it exerted itself, it hadn’t said a single word.
Furthermore, its eyes lacked the humanlike intelligence she had seen in Isla Preston’s. It was more like a simple-minded brute—all brawn and no brain.
GASP! In her alarm, Flora Bloom threw herself backward. A layer of water cushioned her fall, preventing her body from jarring on impact. A thick, multi-layered water shield materialized between her and the High-level zombie, separating them.
But Flora Bloom had still underestimated this High-level zombie.
The intelligence and physical attributes of a High-level zombie were typically no different from a normal human’s; in fact, their intellect could even be superior.
It closed the distance with blinding speed, and with a single swipe of its claws, it tore through her water shield, which burst apart in a spray of water, its defensive properties gone.
And that was just a physical attack. With her powerful spiritual power, Flora Bloom could sense the active Wind Element energy gathering around the High-level zombie. It was preparing a major attack.
The very reason Flora Bloom had thrown herself backward while raising the shield was her lack of confidence in her Middle-Level Water Ability’s power to block an attack from a High-level zombie.
Her fears were confirmed. She couldn’t even block a single claw swipe, let alone the major Wind Ability attack it was currently brewing.
A High-level Wind Ability... its area of effect would be immense. She would have nowhere to run!
At this point, even with so many people watching, her only choice was to suddenly vanish and take refuge in her pocket dimension.
The thought ’I need to get into my dimension’ had barely formed when a massive wave of energy washed over her, suppressing her spiritual sea and her superpower, binding her in place. Not only that, but Flora Bloom felt the space around her solidify in an instant, becoming a sealed box. The very air grew still, and she had to struggle just to breathe.
Flora Bloom’s superpower was suppressed, and she couldn’t even move her body. She could clearly sense her pocket dimension, but she was unable to use her will to enter it.
"Heh, you seem to have the scent of my kind on you."
Unlike Flora Bloom’s water mist, this sealed space allowed those outside to see in, but not to hear.
Flora Bloom could only watch as the humans cowering at the tail end of Juggernaut’s back stared at her in terror, their mouths wide open in screams she couldn’t hear. Unfortunately, she was just as deaf to the sounds outside as they were to the sounds inside.
The man’s voice seemed to come from everywhere at once, an ethereal sound in the sealed space, like an echo in a lonely valley that resonated in her very soul.
As the voice spoke, the man in the white tracksuit suddenly appeared before Flora Bloom.
The High-level zombie’s Wind Ability was now fully charged. The youth’s voice sounded in her ear again as his pale, slender, almost sickly hand pinched her cheek.
"Such a lovely, pitiable little face." The man looked at his own hand, then held it before Flora Bloom’s eyes. Sharp, blade-like claws sprouted from his fingertips.
"Such a pretty face. If I were to rake my claws across it, you’d cry for a long, long time, wouldn’t you?" He spoke with a grin still plastered on his handsome face, but his eyes had turned ruthless and terrifying.
The High-level zombie’s Wind Ability and the youth’s razor-sharp claws struck at her body and face simultaneously. Flora Bloom had no time to react, and with the space around her locked down, she couldn’t escape into her dimension.
It was all happening too fast.
’It’s too late.’
Juggernaut was paralyzed by the spatial barrier, unable to move. Outside the barrier, Vert hacked at it furiously, but to no avail.
A single thought screamed from the depths of Flora Bloom’s heart—’This isn’t fair!’—but she could only watch, helpless, as the two lethal attacks descended upon her.
She didn’t close her eyes. She stared at the youth in white, burning his face into her memory—the face that wore an expression of casual indifference while delivering a killing blow.
Finally, a vortex of wind like a miniature tornado descended upon her, grazing her forehead as it bore down on her body. At the same time, she felt the icy chill of the sharp claws on his slender fingers against her cheek.
The pain and sensation of death she expected never came. First, a soft, aquamarine light enveloped her. The moment the High-level zombie’s tornado hit it, this layer of light shattered instantly.
After breaking through the aquamarine barrier, the wind tornado continued to sweep toward Flora Bloom. The youth’s claws also pierced the barrier, continuing their path toward her face.
"Not bad. You even have a little defensive trinket like this! Still, it’s not enough..."
The youth hadn’t even finished speaking when a soft white light flared from Flora Bloom, enveloping her completely. Within this gentle glow, the wind tornado actually began to dissolve.
The smile on the youth’s face gradually faded. "What is...?"
Flora Bloom felt a pleasant warmth spread through her, as if a thick, warm coat had wrapped around her, protecting her.
The thing that had blocked both the High-level zombie’s ultimate wind attack and the youth’s claw strike was none other than the dress Faye had given her—the one she called her "battle dress."