<h4>Chapter 196</h4>


    "This is too creepy," Alvira muttered quietly while brandishing her knife in a defensive position. She was cautiously looking around at the foliage surrounding the group, preparing herself for something to suddenly spring out at them.


    "Just keep--" Snowbunny began to speak, but she immediately noticed movement in a thick group of foliage near her.


    Her rapier was thrust towards the foliage with blinding speed, but the only response she received for her efforts was the pained cries of a small mammal.


    "A little jumpy," Typhoeus muttered with a slight chuckle.


    The group travelled further into the necrotic mist. It seemed to get thicker as they moved closer to the Necropolis, but only ever hovered close to the ground, creating a disturbing horror-esque atmosphere.


    "It looks like there are two zombies ahead," Merlin said while signalling for everyone to stop moving forward. "Undead encounters are likely going to be verymon now, as we''re almost near the city. Let''s still try for stealth, we don''t want to alert every undead in the city, or we''ll be swarmed and mauled within moments."


    "Yeah, I don''t really want to get mauled to death, just my personal preference," Alvira quipped.


    "Take them out quietly and efficiently, we''ll use these ones as practice as they''re isted," Merlin said, signalling for Zankoku, Snowbunny and Alvira to take care of the two zombies.


    Those three nodded and dashed forward, slipping in and out of sight through the various patches of thick bushes and shrubbery. Merlin observed as the trio made contact with the zombies.


    Snowbunny, being the fastest of the group, lunged forth and ambushed one of the zombies with a flurry of sword strikes from her rapier, doing a fair amount of damage for a piercing weapon. It seemed as though she was aiming for the zombie''s muscles, rather than its vital organs, as when the flurry of blows had ended, the zombie fell to its knees, helplessly.


    Arge dagger flew towards the zombie''s head, piercing it right through the eye socket. Alvira followed behind it shortly after, now brandishing what he could only describe as a meat cleaver. She plunged the cleaver straight through the zombie''s skull, splitting it in half.


    Thest participant of this trio slid out from the bushes, on the opposite side of the zombies to the girls. After clearly observing that the zombie was locked in on Snowbunny, as she was the first to appear, it had its back to him, giving him a perfect opportunity to strike.


    Zankoku unsheathed his de as he lunged toward the monster. His first strike connected, severing the zombie''s torso from its legs.


    After quickly recovering from the back swing, and well before the zombie''s torso hit the floor, he muttered an incantation before he shed at the zombie once more, liberating the creature''s head from its torso.


    ''They''re efficient,'' Merlin thought to himself, ''Honestly, it''s hard to believe that they''ve been ying this game for only a few weeks now, their development speed is incredible.''


    "Why''d you just send those three out?" Typhoeus asked.


    "They''re the fastest attackers in the group." Merlin responded, "Tiny''s and your weapons are cumbersome, and Nora''s long-ranged attacks won''t be that effective against higher-level undead."


    "They''ll be our strikers if we need to deal with some isted monsters, you guys should hold the fort, guard the escape route and provide backup when required. We''ll need to save Tiny for bigger threats, like any monsters that need bludgeoning damage, and your weapon would be hard to use in tight alleyways." Merlin said, "This is just the most efficient method, and it''ll likely result in us living through the worst-case scenario."


    "Fair enough," Typhoeus responded. "What about you?"


    "I''ll assist them if there are too many to deal with, but I''ll be focusing more on utility and guidance if possible," Merlin responded.


    "Themander and strategist of a raid team." Typhoeus remarked.


    "Precisely." Merlin said, "And healer if we need one."


    The trio who dealt with the zombies had just made their way back to the group, Alvira was still wiping zombie gore off her dagger and cleaver.


    "How''d we do?" Zankoku asked Merlin.


    "You did great. Fast and efficient, perfect for our striker team." Merlinplimented them.


    "Striker team?" Snowbunny asked.


    Merlin briefly exined everything he had just informed Typhoeus, Tiny and Nora about.


    "Right, so our priority is clearing a safe path for the group, right?" Alvira asked.


    "That''s a big factor for this raid, yes," Merlin responded, "If we can avoid getting swarmed by trash undead our lives will be much easier."


    "Alright, let''s do this!" Alvira shouted, to which she was shushed by everyone almost immediately.


    "Stealth... Be stealthy." Typhoeus muttered to Alvira while giving her a look of concern.


    "Don''t worry, I got this." She responded.


    The group continued through the valley, finallying across the first hints of an intelligent civilisation, roads and fences.


    "We''re here... Wee to the Necropolis," Merlin muttered as he stepped onto the road. His hands were wrapped around the handles of his sheathed daggers.


    The group all brandished their weapons as they stepped onto the road that led into the city.


    Their surroundings quickly shifted from the lush foliage to what was likely once the perfect example of a medieval city, now turned to ruin.


    Large houses made of stone, brick and wood formed the main sight as the group nced around the city. It was clearly once a prosperous city, likely benefitting from its geographical position and all the abundant natural resources surrounding it.


    What was once a thriving city, however, was now a deste ghost town, where nothing but a few undead roamed every other street.


    The striker team dealt with any undead they came across as the group travelled further into the city.


    They seemed to arrive at what was once an open za in the jungle of buildings that seemed to double as a local market area. There were plenty of stalls scattered around the ce, each seemingly featuring some sort of item or produce for sale. Therge market itself had several undead crowding around it. Rather, it was thergest gathering of undead that the group had seen since they entered the ursed city.


    The scent of rotting produce andrge amounts of blood filled the air, creating a nauseating concoction that almost drove Nora over the edge with a single whiff.


    "A ughter of all the civilians," Merlin muttered, "It was a massacre."


    From the red-dyed stone floor to therge crowd of undead, it would have been obvious to anyone what events urred at the market.


    A small squeak escaped Snowbunny''s lips. Merlin quickly turned to face her, but he quickly noticed that her attention was locked on something within the market.


    Following Snowbunny''s line of sight, Merlin''s eyes locked onto the figure of what seemed to be a little girl.


    The little girl turned around, allowing Merlin''s group to observe its appearance. The girl was quite obviously a zombie, if not for the fact that it seemed to be at home amongst the walking dead, half of its face had been eaten off.


    As the little girl shambled around, the stuffed toy that was hanging from their belt swayed back and forth. It was some sort of bipedal bear that had likely seen better days.


    "Right, let''s backtrack." Merlin said, "We don''t want to attract this horde."


    The rest of the party nodded, and they quietly retreated from the infested marketce.


    "What if there are zombies hidden in the houses?" Zankoku asked.


    "Well, then it''d be best if we didn''t get their attention," Merlin said, "Having them banging on windows or shattering ss will announce our general location to every zombie in the area."


    "And if that happens?" Zankoku asked.


    "Then we run like hell," Typhoeus interrupted the conversation.


    "What he said," Merlin said, agreeing with Ty.


    "Understood," Zankoku nodded.


    After ying a few more small groups of undead, the raid team had gotten a little further into the city.


    "This was easier than expected," Alvira said, "Although I was hoping there would be more variation in monster types, all we''ve been doing so far is killing zombies. I thought there were going to be vampires or skeletons at the least."


    "Hold your horses, we haven''t even gotten close to the city centre yet, let alone the western side of the city," Merlin said while trying to ensure that she didn''t get too cocky. "Most of the higher level undead will be in dungeons underneath the city, like in a catb or cave. But that doesn''t mean that there won''t be threats above ground..."


    "Why the west?" Nora asked.


    "That''s the direction where the undead had originallye from," Merlin exined, "Therge wall that separates the eastern region from the monster-infested wilderness ends abruptly before reaching the city."


    "There''s also a convenient bridge that spans the river. I''d imagine that''s where therge majority of high-level undead monsters are." Merlin said, "Or to the northwest, to the town of Sparta that is rather close to this city. That town was also overrun by the undead."


    "Zombie Spartans?" Typhoeus asked with a surprisingly excited expression on his face.


    "Calm down, we''re not rushing off to Sparta just yet." Merlin said, "We''d get steamrolled, our levels are barely enough for this area of the Necropolis."


    "Aww," Typhoeus muttered with a sad sigh.


    At that moment, Merlin could feel faint vibrations in the ground underneath him, followed a few moments after by a faint thumping sound.


    The vibrations and noise grew in power each time they urred, after a few moments, it was strong enough that most of the group could feel them.


    Something clicked in Merlin''s mind, and his eyes suddenly widened.


    ''Oh, crap.'' He thought to himself.