Chapter 133

Heavy-caliber rounds tore through the bodies of the ex-humans surrounding him. It was hard to tell if the door gunner was aiming specifically at Jake, struggling to hit him due to his constant movement, or if he was just indiscriminately spraying fire at every mutant in sight. The heavy-caliber bullets tore at the bodies of low-level ex-humans, shredding them apart. The weak mutants, like walkers and leapers, stood no chance of survival against such relentless fire.

In just a few seconds, most of the mutants surrounding Jake were torn to shreds. The door gunner unleashed a continuous barrage, bullets pockmarking the rooftop and kicking up clouds of dust. More ex-humans continued to emerge onto the rooftop, and the roar of the machine gun competed with the shrieks of the mutants for dominance. As the door gunner adjusted the muzzle of the weapon to aim at Jake, he quickly darted to the side.

He ran around the Electro anomaly hovering above the center of the roof as the door gunner struggled to track him, failing miserably. He was moving too quickly for the shooter to land a hit. Out of the corner of his eye, Jake noticed the anomaly pulsating more violently, waves of vibration hitting him with increasing intensity. The thunderous roar of the machine gun and the heavy-caliber bullets striking the Electro were undoubtedly disturbing it. If this went on a little longer, the anomaly would likely activate. The two occupants of the chopper either didn’t notice the Electro or simply couldn’t care less.

Jake hardly killed any mutants during this wave, as most of them were taken out by the door gunner. Instead, he simply ran in circles around the Electro, pursued by the ex-humans. As soon as they emerged from the rift gates, they chased after him while the Demon manning the machine gun gunned them down. The shooter was inadvertently making Jake’s task of completing the challenge much easier and quicker.

On one hand, it was a good thing; on the other, he was hardly gaining any XP during this wave since most of the mutants were being mowed down by the door gunner. It was unfortunate. He would have preferred to kill all the mutants by himself for the extra XP, but there seemed to be nothing he could do to change the situation. He couldn’t take down the chopper, as it hovered just out of reach, far too high for him to jump and attack.

Leading the chopper from this position wouldn’t be possible either. If he left the boundaries of the challenge, he would trigger a thirty-second countdown. He doubted he would be able to lead the chopper away, lose it, and then return to the challenge area within thirty seconds.

So, it seemed all he could do was keep running in circles while the door gunner took out the ex-humans emerging from the portals. At least there was a silver lining—he would be able to finish the challenge quickly enough to earn the cloaking ability as a reward.

As Jake continued running in circles, he stole occasional glances at the chopper hovering above the building. A crooked smile played on the door gunner’s lips as he mowed down the mutants. They were sitting ducks for him, easy XP. Even the shamblers and whippers struggled to withstand the devastating barrage of fire he unleashed. The heavy-caliber rounds tore through the organic layer protecting their bodies with ease, shredding it to pieces in mere seconds. It took him just a couple of seconds to tear to shreds a well-protected enemy like a shambler or whipper.

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The door gunner kept slaying mutants in droves, with a wide grin on his face and a gleam of excitement in his eyes. For him, it was pure fun—the mutants couldn’t fight back, so he wasn’t in any kind of danger at all. Some of the creatures stopped chasing Jake, glaring up at the chopper in frustration, which made them even easier targets.

What worried Jake, however, was the Electro, which pulsated harder with each bullet that struck it. The bullets that passed through the anomaly weren’t affected by it in any visible way, which was why neither the pilot nor the door gunner had noticed it yet. Jake, however, could see that the anomaly appeared to be charging with energy. It might go off at any moment. As he continued to run in circles, he made an effort to keep his distance from the Electro. If it suddenly triggered, he wanted to be as far away from it as possible.

He didn’t even bother engaging the ex-humans, letting the door gunner deal with them. As soon as the challenge was over, he would run away and take refuge in one of the buildings. Judging by the rate at which the gunner was killing them, it wouldn’t be long before the challenge ended. For now, all he had to do was focus on staying alive and avoiding the deadly spray of machine gun fire.

It wasn’t long before the ninth wave was over. Five seconds later, the final wave began. This wave had a total of two hundred mutants, featuring all types of ex-humans: walkers, leapers, shamblers, whippers, slashers, and chasers. A few wraiths, capable of becoming invisible, also emerged from the rift gates to join the fray.

For a moment, the door gunner stopped firing, staring down at the scene unfolding on the rooftop. He clearly didn’t understand why the mutants kept materializing. Nevertheless, shaking off his confusion, he reloaded the machine gun and resumed mowing down ex-humans in droves. Given how quickly and easily he eliminated all kinds of ex-humans, Jake didn’t expect the final wave to be much more difficult or longer than the previous one.

At some point, he found himself surrounded by three slashers and two chasers. Despite being outnumbered by such powerful ex-humans, he handled the confrontation with ease. He couldn’t help but remember his very first encounter with a slasher during the tower-climbing challenge. Although he had won that fight, the slasher had inflicted a deep slash on his shoulder and cut off two of his fingers.

However, that fight had taken place a long time ago, and now Jake was much stronger than before. He didn’t even bother to extend his blades and was using his claws instead, successfully blocking nearly every attack. Occasionally, a slasher would cut him with a sword, or a chaser would slash at him with its claws, but the injuries were superficial and healed quickly. While he used his own claws to deflect their attacks, he employed his tentacles to slash and stab at his opponents.

Half the head of the chaser in front of him blew apart in an explosion of gore as a heavy-caliber bullet hit it. Then a slasher’s body on his right thrashed violently under the barrage of machine-gun fire. The chopper’s door gunner had dealt with most of the weaker ex-humans and now targeted Jake and the mutants he was fighting. Just as Jake turned to escape the line of fire, he felt a round slam into his shoulder. The force of the impact jolted him, nearly causing him to lose his footing, but he managed to keep his balance.

Another slasher thrashed about as heavy-caliber rounds perforated its body. When the door gunner aimed at another ex-human, something unexpected occurred. The Electro anomaly, which had been continuously hit by bullets, seemed to decide it’d had enough. The hum and vibrations emanating from it intensified dramatically, and the spheroid form of the anomaly emitted a blinding light.

The door gunner ceased firing the machine gun, staring in awe at the anomaly, which he had not noticed before. Even some of the ex-humans paused in their pursuit of Jake and turned their heads to gaze at the Electro, which glowed brighter and brighter. Then it suddenly exploded with waves of magical energy.