Holy Blood 8

Chapter 8 already haha. I hope the weekend is treating everyone good. 

Chapter 8

I looked around taking in as much of the situation as possible. It looked like the farm hands had all been turned into zombies and other undead. They wielded rusted axes, pitchforks, hoes, and other manner of farming tools. I suspected this area would normally be easier, but the undead possessed one major advantage over the players. 

Even being low level, they still possessed the famous corpse poison. If a person got bite, starched, or rotted blood on them they would die soon after. I observed one person die roughly ten seconds after his leg was bitten. I still didn’t understand why the overwhelming number of players weren’t able to simply overrun the zombies. 

“It looks like the spawn rates were adjust when the area was flooded with players,” Henry commented looking the field over. I hadn’t heard him speak this whole time, so it caught me off guard. 

“What should we do?” Lulu asked. 

“I say wait for a bit and let them all die. That way we get to keep any prizes for ourselves,” Rocco said while checking the balance of his swords.

“Personally, I agree, but I do plan on growing this into an organization later down the road,” Wizard said with a hand on his jaw.

“Let’s just chose a party and focus on just trying to reach them if we can. Unless those zombies are weak individually then it might not even matter if we want to help them,” I said from the back of the group.

There were hundreds of players and zombies each. even with my support, I doubted that I could get the party through that hell version of a farm. All the zombies looked basic. We had been observing for roughly three minutes, but I didn’t see any instance of magic being used on the mob side. I figured if we could link up with at least two parties we could hold a decent line against the undead.

“That is true. Alright we’ll head for…” Wizard trailed off as he examined the various groups in the field. 

Of the ones nearest us, there was a group that looked to be trying to retreat. They had two tanks in their group that appeared to be sporting some decently covering armor. They were taking turns taking the brunt of the zombies while the party slowly moved back towards the first line. It was a strategy that might allow them to reach safety, depending how much damage the zombies were getting through that armor. 

“That one,” I said pointing to the group. 

“As good as any, I suppose,” Wizard agreed. 

To reach the group we would have to cut our way through nearly twenty zombies plus any that might be attracted by the fighting. It would be easier if we could send a message to the epithet group, but that classic MMO feature wasn’t available. It was only good old fashion talking and shouting, which we didn’t want to do in case it attracted unwanted attention.

“If we can reach the halfway point, I’ll be able to throw some heals their way. That should make them understand we come in peace,” I said.

“Alright, Hoop. You lead, you have the thickest armor of us. I think it should last a few more bites compared to Rocco. Long distance, I’ll mark a target and we’ll focus fire until we get a gauge on their strength. We are still in the early areas fo the game, so they might be more bark than bite. Abaddon… do your thing,” Wizard said throwing a grin my way. 

This was where a priest should shine but trying as we approached the first four zombies nearest us, I still couldn’t initiate an attack on them. I really need to find a work around, or this game is going to get really old really fast. Surely, the makers of the game considered something like my case happening. Actually, I take that back, my class and race was chosen for me. Any rational player would have to have a serious aversion to combat to pick this combo.

Hoop charged down the small bank that surrounded the field from the forest. It was odd, as you normally expect the warrior to have a loud war cry, but Hoop charged completely silently. It looked like the undead had their aggression zones like a normal game but past that was regularly senses, so if they heard him, they would attack him. Rocco followed behind him, staying in his shadow. 

“Weakness!” I heard Lulu chant next to me. 

A wave of purple energy flew from her hands. It collided with the two foremost zombies and they slowed considerably. Hoop slammed into the first with his shield, his momentum sending the zombie tumbling. He used the force from the abrupt stop to bring his sword around on the next zombie, scoring a gash from shoulder to waist.

Next, a fireball and an arrow that leaked energy flew into one of the zombies in the rear. The fireball blew off its right arm and the arrow sank dead center where it’s heart would have been. The zombie fell over but was clearly not dead yet. With the math we worked out from the shadow octopuses along the way that put its LP over five hundred. A magic missile flew in sinking on the other side of its chest and the zombie stopped moving. So between  six and eight hundred LP total then. 

The zombies all reached Hoop by this point and were banging on his shield or he was parrying with his sword. Using the sense, I got while we made our way here, I could tell that his LP was going down around fifty points with each hit, and that was with a shield. That meant the zombies were geared to the extreme towards physical damage. 

Rocco peeked out from Hoop’s shadow and dug both his swords deep into the zombie that Hoop scored against earlier. The zombie just glanced down at the blades sticking from its gut then reached forward to claw at Rocco. Rocco shot backward but failed to pull his sword free before the zombie scored a line against his wrist. He screamed for the briefest of seconds but still managed to gain the attention of at least three more zombies.

“Sanctuary!” I chanted throwing it over Hoop as it would cover Rocco in the process.

It was second later when I realized my mistake. The two zombies banging on Hoop’s and the one the was clawing for Rocco were blasted back nearly ten meters. Right into the main group separating us from the group we were trying to reach. Sure enough, they all turned towards us and started towards us. 

“Well fuck,” Wizard moaned.

“Whoops,” I said with a chuckle while throwing a heal on Rocco and Hoop. I was really glad this game allowed for dual casting without a special skill. 

“I didn’t want to try it so early and so exposed, but I don’t want to experience a death in this game,” Lulu said with a moan. Then in her what I was starting to call ‘casting voice’ said, “Arise! Soulless one!” 

The zombie they managed to kill a few seconds ago twitched then exploded in spray of gore as its skeleton appeared to rip itself free. The skeleton wobbled like it wasn’t sure if it’s legs could hold itself up then it turned in a flurry and drove both its hands into the zombie next to it up its elbows. It pulled the zombie close as it unlocked its jaw and clamped around the zombie’s neck. Black blood and flesh flew in all directions as the skeleton tore the zombie apart. 

“What the fuck?! Why is the undead killing the undead?” Hoop shouted then brought his sword down on the neck of the injured zombie. 

“Who the fuck cares! Just kill these before the rest reach us,” Rocco shouted back, the need for quiet gone. 

“Really? Fucking necromancy?” I asked Lulu, who seemed completely drained. 

“Found something in the library that allowed me to unlock the class,” she replied weakly, “that cost me most my Astral energy and it is basically feral. It’s safe as long as there are enemies for us to kill but once the battle is over, we will have to kill it. I think I have to find or do something to get the magic that actually binds them to me,” Lulu explained. 

“So, there are ways to change your class?” I asked curiously.

“I’m not sure, it said it was a path that a witch can go down, so I assumed there are only better or other versions of the class you already have,” she answered.

“Damn,” I cursed then chanted my healing spell for Hoop.

The long-range section of the group send another round of attacks and finished off another zombie which left Hoop clear for a moment. He took the chance to readjust his grip and stance. Rocco retrieved his sword that was still stuck in the zombie. Lulu’s pet was already charging at the closest zombie which thankfully was already aggressive to the party. 

The party moved up a bit, with the long range roughly where Hoop and Rocco were before. Emory was checking over the bodies to see if there were any reagents that he could use for his potions. When he was done, I quickly offered them to the Goddess. I had to smirk when I got the distinct feeling of disgust from the undead. ‘So Otris doesn’t like the undead, noted,’ I thought to myself. 

The next group of zombies meet Hoop’s shield. I had to say I was impressed by the amount of space the half giant was able to protect with his bulk. I also felt that some type of skill was at work since the zombies seemed overly focused on him. I vaguely remembered that most ‘tank’ classes had a way to pull enemies to themselves. 

Te other party saw that we were making our way towards them and adjusted their angle of retreat. If we were able to quickly kill these five zombies, then I would be able to heal the other group. The long range launched their spells and downed one instantly. Lulu’s pet was also going ham on another zombie. You couldn’t even see the original white bones. They were so coated in black tar-like blood. 

“Remind me not to piss you off,” I said idly next to Lulu.

“Haha that’s right! Fear my pow…” Lulu started to say when her pet literally exploded into shards of bone. It managed to tear apart the zombie it was elbow deep in and did some damage to two other zombies. Those two zombies turned long dead eyes full on Lulu. They turned red and unlike the other zombies that shambled, took off at a dead run towards Lulu.

Hoop saw the event but was unable to do anything as he had three of the zombies beating on his shield. I reacted quickly, jumping in front of Lulu and the rest of the long-distance group. They had just launched their volley at another of the zombies banging at Hoop and needed a few seconds to recharge. A moment later the two zombies collided with me, I used my wings as makeshift shields, but the pain was still considerable. 

I felt my LP drop like a stone as the zombies tore into my wings leaving bloody gashes. Feathers flew around me like a sickening snow. I jerked my wings open forcing the zombies to stumble back a few paces, then used the newest spell I had in my repertoire. 

“Cone spell,” I shouted. 

I really didn’t have a chance to check if my LP fell enough for me to do actual damage but I just hoped for the best. A cone of red light formed in front of me. Then the light appeared to solidify into blades as what reminded me of a grinder formed. The two zombies were literally ripped to pieces, as well as the five zombies behind them. 

If the battle could pause for a second, I felt that’s when it would have happened. The long-range group all gasped at me before Wizard shouted at them that they still had targets to destroy. I quickly offered the corpses or what remained of them to Otris. While I still felt the feeling of slight disgust from the offering, I also got a pleased feeling. I felt she liked things that I managed to kill my self better than offerings from my parties’ members. 

I quickly threw a heal on myself and Hoop as he was getting close to the critical zone. The heal and offerings combined got me back to normal levels. Hoop also jumped back to safe levels. Rocco managed to get his wrist clawed…. Again. So, I threw a heal on him. 

The rest of the battle proceeded much smoother. Hoop tanked while I healed. After the excitement died down, I moved forward and was able to throw some heals over to the other group. Their reactions were hilarious with the back group starting to cheer. Only another minute or so and we hooked up and the defense took turns blocking the undead. 

“Isn’t… isn’t this the prefect opportunity to farm?!” Hoop asked while he took a break.