Chapter 57 Zombie Centaur
It was only 3 pm in the afternoon when they arrived in the cafeteria.
Quite a few things seemed to have changed, but nothing was exactly noteworthy enough for Dilan to feel excited about it.
A batch of arrows was lying on the ground next to Ailee, and there didn’t seem to be much more for her to do.
She was satisfied with the way her arrows had turned out, which was why she looked at them fondly.
Dilan averted his attention from her after he saw this, and his eyes flitted to the food.
After eating a few plates of food, Dilan focused his mind on recuperating his mana.
Before fighting the Zombie Centaur he would have to be at his best in every aspect.
As such, his mana had to be fully replenished.
This took a mere hour, which was also enough for Dilan to get used to wield the longsword that had belonged to the Kobold Captain.
It was much better to fight than initially expected.
Thus, he was confident to defeat the Zombie Centaur, which was why he went toward the cafeteria’s doors the moment he was prepared for the face-off.
Oliver and Ailee were also ready, along with Kathrine, who rushed towards him the moment she saw that he was ready to depart.
Her entire body was taut as wire due to the tension, and the others noticed that as well.
Dilan was just smiling faintly before adjusting a few things that were attached to the backpack before he walked outside the cafeteria.
Taking a second glance at the Log of the Ancient, he added a few more bonus points which he was planning to receive through specific meanings.-.
The final result was reassuring, and he climbed up the stairs all the way to the second floor without any hesitation.
No horned rat or Krendel could be spotted or heard around them.
This was a little bit weird, but none of them could focus on this as everyone’s attention was fixated on the stairway that led to the third floor.
Reaching the fourth floor after the Zombie Centaur was defeated shouldn’t be too difficult as the location of the stairs was known.
Ignoring the possibility of further problems that he might run into, Dilan reached the third floor that was lit up brightly, unveiling every corner of the room.
Thus, he could easily distinguish the Zombie, whose entire body was made out of dozens of zombies as if they had merged into one existence.
The lower body of the 2.5-meter-tall zombie was that of a horse, while its upper body was a zombie with four arms.
Dilan was not even sure how many corpses had been devoured in order to create the tightly compressed construct of the Centaur’s shape.
However, it was terrifying enough for each of them to understand that defeating the beast wouldn’t be as easy as expected.
This got even worse when Dilan noticed that the Zombie Centaur saw him the moment he emerged from the stairways.
The Zombie Centaur issued a weird mix of growling noises before it retreated a few steps.
Its hooves clopped against the floor as it charged toward him, and its speed gave the monster a huge disadvantage.
Not only was Dilan yet to reach the third floor completely, but his position prevented him from reaching his maximum possible speed from a standstill.
Dilan clearly understood this, which was why he ignored the others’ existence for a moment.
He activated the [Thunder Step] ability with the Captain’s Spear chosen as his weapon.
Thus his Agility shot up to 12.7 all of a sudden.
Catapulting himself towards the Zombie Centaur, Dilan could tell that his speed was higher than that of his opponent.
However, that was the only trait of his he presumed to be higher because he noticed something that made him worry.
‘The Zombie Centaur’s lower and upper body are not in sync but are acting separately? Am I fighting one or two opponents right now?!’
Dilan was confused, but he had no time to think about the answer as he shot forward.
Faint currents of electricity shrouded his feet as he turned into a flash of lightning that would zoom through the air in the blink of an eye.
Within a single second both Dilan and the Zombie Centaur clashed against each other.
While Dilan slashed out with the Captain’s Sword, the Zombie Centaur seemed to rely on its lower body to initiate the first attack.
Attempting to run over Dilan, the monster used its heavy weight and high speed to its advantage.
It emerged right in front of him, forcing Dilan to retreat.
But that was not exactly difficult as his flexibility and high Agility didn’t let him be overwhelmed.
However, what bothered Dilan was the fact that the counterattack, which followed suit, didn’t work at all!
While evading the Zombie Centaur’s charge, he had slashed out with the Captain’s Sword.
It was able to pierce through the hide of Tier-1 Level 0 monsters, but what Dilan could inflict on the Zombie Monster was but a mere scratch.
Even if the first layer of the Zombie Centaur’s defense was not particularly thick, it looked like its lower body was far stronger than any beast he had ever encountered.
This made things certainly more difficult, and it forced Dilan to retreat.
Turning around without losing its tremendous speed, the Zombie Centaur didn’t take all that long to charge at him for the second time.
However, this time, the Zombie Centaur’s upper body leaned forward, all four of its arms wide open and ready to lunge out at Dilan and tear him apart.
It was quite obvious that the monster was not playing around, but neither was Dilan!
While the Zombie Centaur had turned around, Dilan had already gulped the contents of the Vial of Strength, providing him with a boost of [+5 Strength] for 30 seconds!
In the beginning, Dilan had hoped that it would be possible to fight the Zombie Centaur using his usual tactics and not be forced to use the Vial of Strength.
But a single clash had been enough for him to understand that it was necessary for him to go all-out!
Rather than being severely injured, or possibly dying by saving the resources for later, it was more important to use them and survive, even if that meant he had to use precious treasures.
This was also the reason why Dilan got his hands on another Vial and consumed it without hesitation.
[Risk taker] treasure
Can be consumed once.
Enhances all stats by 10% for 10 seconds. Weakening of all stats by 20% for 10 minutes after the buff wears off!
Advantageous effects were considered as buffs, which meant that he would get a debuff, also called as a disadvantageous effect, after only 10 seconds.
This debuff would weaken him for 10 minutes, which meant that he had to win the battle before the 10 seconds ended.
It was a risky tactic to make use of the Vial that he had just consumed, but the moment he saw the Zombie Centaur, it was obvious that this was a type of monster he couldn’t face with his current stats.
And that was even though his current stats were already extremely high.
However, this was not everything Dilan had done in order to increase his strength.
Before consuming the Risk-taker potion, Dilan used the remaining 15 Status points he had received by leveling up.
As such, his current stats were extremely high, with his raw Agility stat having reached a round figure of [10].
With all boosts, he was close to an Agility that was 15 times higher than the average human before the Primordial Ascension!
Thus, Dilan knew that 10 more points were more than enough for him to be able to do everything he needed to.
Just at this moment, a bolt of lightning shot out from the stairs that connected the second and third floor.
It was Kathrine’s Lightning strike ability, which she had fired, just to pierce into the Zombie Centaur’s back.
A large hole could be seen in the zombie’s back, but that was the only indication that she had attacked the monster.
The Zombie Centaur didn’t even flinch despite the gaping hole that tore out a significant chunk of its flesh.
It kept moving, like a predator, its eyes glued on Dilan.
But that didn’t scare Dilan as he shot forward.
With the Captain’s Sword pulled back and raised high in the air, Dilan was ready to use all his might to kill the Zombie Centaur.
Thus, when his eyes began to gleam brightly, and his movements became smoother all of a sudden, he decided to tolerate being scratched to let the Zombie Centaur come a bit near him.
It was not as if he would die from a single scratch, to begin with.
Taking that into consideration, Dilan shot ahead.
He evaded the four arms of the Zombie Centaur when they reached out for him.
This required him to twist his body at an uncomfortable angle repeatedly and jump upward and sideways to not get caught in its hold.
A moment later, he noticed that his robe was cut through.
Unfazed by it, he used all his might to slice off the head of the Zombie Centaur.
Or at least, that was what he planned.
All of a sudden, the Zombie Centaur stopped abruptly as its hooves screeched against the hospital floor in an attempt to prevent Dilan’s blade from beheading itself.
Just a small part of its head was cut open from the side as Dilan’s blade narrowly missed hitting it accurately, revealing its brain and the Bronze Essence crystal.
The definitive crack of its bones breaking and crushing under its weight and the jerk they could not sustain owing to its sudden halt, made the Zombie Centaur momentarily lose its balance.
‘Its speed should be much slower now!! I can just cut off its arms and then finish it off!!’ He thought, just to hear a sudden voice from further away.
“Move back!!” Ailee suddenly screamed a warning at top of her lungs as a bluish hue shimmered faintly around her eyes, “It has two actively working brains, not one!”