Zombie Domination

Meanwhile, at the weapon site, Kevin, who had just finished charging the weapon, spoke into his earpiece. "The energy's full. Ready to fire at any time."

Sebas glanced at his console, where the gauge pulsed at maximum. "Excellent, Mr. Kevin," he replied with calm courtesy.

From the perimeter, Rea's voice broke in, edged with panic. "Guys, the enemy's closing in!"

"Then ready your blade, Rea," Cindy ordered, her tone sharp and unwavering.

Kevin's eyes flicked to the outer monitors, watching the swarm approach in waves. His hand tightened around the earpiece. "Will you all be alright out there?" he asked, voice low.

Belle's response came steady, almost cool. "Don't waste your focus on us. Just concentrate on your task."

Even as she spoke, the first wave of flying fish-like creatures descended, shrieking as they hurled themselves at the defense line. The air was suddenly alive with snapping jaws, whipping tails, and flashes of reflected light off their scales.

Cindy raised her rifle, the barrel flashing with rapid bursts. At the same time, her eyes narrowed, a faint glow crossing them as she activated her skill [Hidden Spot]. The battlefield shifted in her vision, weak points flaring like faint lights across the swarm.

Gunfire cracked through the air. Lucy's body blurred and twisted, feathers erupting from her skin until she had fully transformed into a massive bird, diving into the chaos with talons extended. She tore through the flying fish, scattering blood and scales midair.

Belle crouched low, her calm gaze locking onto one target after another. With her skill [Headshot], each bullet she fired struck with surgical precision, piercing eyes, cracking skulls, dropping enemies in quick succession.

"Found it," Cindy announced between shots, her voice steady. "Their weakness is at the base of their wings, shoot or slash there and they'll fall fast."

"Got it!" Rea shouted, blades shimmering as he darted into the swarm. He unleashed his skill [Mirage], his form splitting into shifting afterimages. Blades sliced in arcs too swift to follow, carving across wing joints with deadly accuracy. The air filled with the shrieks of mutilated fish-creatures crashing to the ground.

Rea grinned, breathing heavily but exhilarated. "Nice call, Cindy. That made things a hell of a lot easier."

Lucy soared above them, wings beating violently as she ripped through the swarm. "Cindy, that information was too general to be called helpful," she shouted, her voice sharp with irritation. Without pausing, she dove again, talons tearing another flying fish apart midair.

Cindy's brows furrowed, her finger tightening on the trigger as she snapped back, "Excuse me? What did you just say?" Bullets tore through the swarm in rhythm with her frustration.

Even amidst the bickering, the group continued cutting down the creatures one after another. But Sebas's urgent voice crackled through the intercom, calm but commanding. "Focus! The cannon's barrel is clogged with them. We can't fire unless you clear it out."

Belle immediately shifted her rifle, her expression cool and steady. "Copy," she replied, already lining up her next shot. She unleashed a flurry of precise gunfire into the mass of creatures swarming the cannon's mouth, but the sheer number of them made progress slow.

Rea planted his feet firmly on the ground, flipping his blade into a reverse grip as he looked up at the writhing mess of wings and teeth above. A confident smile crossed hia lips. "Leave it to me. I'll take care of the ones up top."

"I'll cover you," Cindy called out, reloading quickly with a sharp motion.

With a powerful leap, Rea propelled himself upward, landing on the massive structure of the weapon itself. His blades glinted under the battlefield's dim light as he sprinted toward the congested barrel, ready to carve a path.

The swarm thickened above the cannon, countless wings cutting through the air as the flying fish circled in on Rea. He spun his blades in a flash, carving through their ranks, his body flickering with the afterimages of his [Mirage] skill. Scales and fragments rained down, but still, more poured in from the darkened skies.

Cindy's voice rang out as she fired relentlessly from below, her pistol glowing faintly under the skill's mark. "Too many! I can't thin them fast enough!" Each shot struck true, but the sheer numbers swallowed every opening she created.

Up above, Rea twisted away from another ambush, his blade slicing through three more in a single arc. "Tch, these things are starting to get really annoying!" he shouted, frustration edging into his tone.

Suddenly, a sharp gust followed by a shadow streaked past him. Lucy, in her avian form, dove like a thunderbolt and slashed her talons across the swarm, scattering bodies in every direction. Rea staggered from the sudden intervention, wide-eyed. "Whoa! Where did you come from—?!"

"Stop thrashing so much," Lucy snapped, her wings cutting through another cluster. "You're throwing off your balance."

More fish surged toward them, drawn to their movements. Rea gritted his teeth, blades flashing as he kept cutting down anything in reach. "Easy for you to say! They're all aiming for me!" His voice strained as he twisted past another barrage of snapping jaws.

From below, Belle steadied her rifle, her voice calm despite the chaos. "Hold it there, I've got you." Her skill activated [Headshot] and her bullets pierced through the horde with surgical precision, clearing a path around Rea's flank.

Lucy, circling high above, spotted the path clear. "The way's open, I'll drop you down!" she called, already swooping lower.

"Wait, don't—!" Rea's voice cracked with panic, but Lucy didn't hear, or didn't care. With a sudden release, she let Rea go.

"IDIOT!!" Rea screamed as the world flipped around him, air roaring past his ears. His body plummeted like a stone, but at the last moment his blade shimmered with the flickering haze of [Mirage], slowing his descent. He landed in a graceful crouch, breath catching in his chest.

But the relief didn't last. At the far end of the cannon's mouth, the swarm of flying fish shifted unnaturally, clustering together in a spiraling formation, as though trying to block the barrel itself.

Rea grit his teeth, opening his comm. "I almost died, you bastards!"

From below, Cindy's dry voice cut in, unbothered. "Didn't ask. Just focus on clearing them."

Rea exhaled sharply, adjusting his grip on his blades. "Already on it." He inhaled deeply, his stance lowering, then released his breath slowly, centering his focus.

Energy surged through him, and his [Mirage] skill erupted to its fullest form.

[Ultimate Skill : Thousand Bloom Waltz].

His body blurred into countless afterimages, weaving in elegant arcs. Each slash left behind shimmering trails, and from those trails, illusory petals scattered like a storm of falling cherry blossoms. The air filled with their dazzling glow as the fish screamed and split apart, their bodies sliced in perfect synchrony.

When the motion stilled, Rea stood at the cannon's edge, surrounded by a silent snowfall of pink light, the swarm around her collapsing in a cascade of shredded wings and scales.

The last of the glowing petals faded into nothing, leaving only shredded corpses of the swarm raining down. Rea straightened, brushing an imaginary speck of dust from his shoulder, his blades gleaming in the dim light.

From below, Belle let out a low whistle through the comm. "Pretty flashy for someone who was screaming a second ago."

Lucy, still flapping her wings above, laughed. "See? Told you I'd get you there. You're welcome."

"Welcome my ass!" Rea snapped, cheeks flushed with equal parts exertion and embarrassment. "You nearly killed me!"

Cindy, reloading with mechanical calm, chimed in, "Well… at least you died gracefully. Those cherry blossoms were a nice touch."

Rea's eyebrow twitched. "Gracefully?!"

Even Sebas, usually too formal for jokes, muttered over the line, "Impractical as it was, the result was… effective. But perhaps next time, a little less theatrical?"

Rea groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "Unbelievable."

The cannon's hum deepened, the chamber glowing brighter as the charge reached completion. Sebas's voice came calm but firm through the intercom.

"Good job. Thanks to you, the weapon is fully charged."

Rea leapt down from the platform, landing lightly but grimacing as the heat from the weapon seared his skin. "Too hot up there. I'll leave the oven to you guys."

They thought it was over, until Cindy's voice cracked, sharp with unease.

"Wait… look at the corpses. They're… moving."

Rea scoffed, blades still slick with ichor. "I'll check them later. For now, focus on defense."

But Belle, steady behind her scope, whispered, "No… she's right. I see it too."

The battlefield stilled for a breath, then came the wet, tearing sound of flesh splitting open.

Schluck… crack…

One of the fish corpses ruptured, spilling a cluster of glistening orbs onto the ground. Eggs. Dozens of them.

Cindy's hand trembled around her pistol. "W-what the hell is that…?"

The orbs quivered, pulsed, then split. Tiny, slick bodies wriggled free, sprouting translucent wings that buzzed furiously. One after another, the carcasses around them split, unleashing swarms of grotesque dragonfly-like creatures.

The air filled with the high-pitched drone of their wings, the sound rattling in their skulls.

Rea bared her teeth, gripping his blades tighter. "You've gotta be kidding me..."