His warning came too late as the zombie's teeth had already sunk into his comrade's neck. As the soldier's flesh was torn away, his eyes widened in shock, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood, "Cough!"

Stab!

The soldier who was bitten couldn't even process how fast the zombie had moved when a rotten hand pierced the back of his head and the light on his widened eyes dimmed.

Watching their comrade being eaten alive, some soldiers couldn't hold back and vomited on the spot, while the rest stood frozen in terror with their pale faces.

As everyone was drowning in fear, a shadow moved past them at a fast speed.

Clang!

The sound of metal clashing rang through the area, and they saw their captain's longsword locked against the zombie's claws.

"Roar!!"

The small zombie let out an enraged roar, furious that this prey interrupted its meal. A second later, it pushed against the longsword and lunged at him.

Looking at the torn flesh caught between the zombie's teeth and the blood dripping from its mouth, the man narrowed his eyes coldly and his body was emitting thick murderous intent.

As the zombie rushed toward him, he flipped his body, barely dodging its attack.

The zombie turned around and aimed its claws at the back of the man's head.

The next moment, he crouched down and used one arm as a pivot, twisting his body before delivering a powerful kick to the side of the zombie's head.

Duagh!

The impact sent the zombie flying.

BAM! Crack!

The zombie crashed into a wall with its body embedding into the cracked surface as debris and dust fell around it. Although the zombie felt no pain, it was clearly annoyed.

It struggled to free itself, but before it could come out from the cracked wall, the man had already appeared in front of it with his longsword raised high.

Sensing danger, the zombie opened its mouth wide, and a wind blade shot toward him.

"Roar!!!"

It was too late for the man to dodge and he had no choice but to swing his longsword at the incoming attack.

Boom!

The collision between his longsword and the wind blade sent him flying backward, knocking him to the ground.

Seeing the zombie preparing another wind blade, one of the soldiers shouted, " Captain, be careful!"

The moment he heard the warning, the man immediately rolled to the side, barely avoiding the attack.

Boom!

The wind blade struck the ground instead, leaving a long, jagged pit.

When the man stood up, the small zombie had already disappeared from sight. A moment later, he felt a sharp gust of wind from his left and instinctively raised his longsword.

CLANG!

The zombie's claws collided against his blade and it let another angry roar, "Roarr!!"

Fatigue weighed on the man's body, but his gaze turned ice-cold as he said, "It's time to finish this."

As soon as he spoke, he flicked his hand, and a small whip of black flame shot from his palm toward the zombie's chest.

The moment the flame touched its rotten body, it flared up as if doused in gasoline. The zombie's dull grey eyes shifted as it sensed danger, and it stumbled back.

Noticing it was trying to escape, the man swung his longsword diagonally at the zombie's head. A second later, the zombie's head tilted and fell to the ground with a dull thud and its body collapsing right after.

"Roar!!!"

As soon as the small zombie died, the surrounding zombies let out roars one after another and pounced at the soldiers.

Without the suppressive pressure of the small zombie, the soldiers regained control of their bodies and aimed their guns at the group of zombies.

Even though gunfire would attract more zombies—and hitting the gas pumps would be dangerous—they were exhausted and had no other choice. If they didn't fight back, they would die.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

While the soldiers continued firing their guns, the man's face turned pale. Using his fire ability had placed a heavy burden on his already exhausted body. Taking several deep breaths, he steadied himself.

As he lifted his gaze, he noticed a crystal glistening under the red moonlight. Bending down, he picked up the transparent crystal and flicked it a few times to clean off the rotten brain matter and black blood. Once it was clean, he saw two silver lines running across its surface.

His eyes glinted for a moment before it returned to normal. He put the crystal into his pocket before sheathing his longsword. Then, without hesitation, he rushed toward his men, drew his gun, and opened fire.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The fight against zombies lasted another hour before the last zombie was finally killed.

The roaring of zombies outside the gate echoed through the night accompanied with the banging sound against the gate, but no one spoke.

Standing beneath the red moonlight, the soldiers showed no joy or relief at having survived a life-and-death battle. Instead, their faces were shrouded in sorrow over the loss of their fallen comrades.

Jin Xuyan clenched his fists and said, "Anyone who was injured, step forward."

At his command, eight soldiers stepped forward, their gazes firm despite their bodies being full of wounds and clothes being covered in rotten flesh and black blood.

A soldier, standing tall with his back straight, took another step forward. He looked at Jin Xuyan with a smile and said, "Captain, I'm not willing to die without a fight. Please allow me to go out and kill as many zombies as I can. When I can't hold on anymore, I will take my own life."

"Captain, I want to fight too," another soldier added.

One by one, the rest of the injured soldiers voiced their requests to go out and fight to death.

Watching their wounded comrades prepare for their final battle, the remaining soldiers lowered their heads as silent tears slipped down their faces.