As their leader plummeted toward the ground with piercing screams, the goblins panicked, and we seized the opportunity to attack. It might seem cruel that we did nothing, but I had already told Bea that they had the immortal ability. Even if they didn’t, what did you expect me to do?
First, we attacked all the goblins at the windows. When they retreated into the building, we entered through the second floor. We attacked all the goblins we saw, including those who were barricading the door. This allowed the rest of the nymphs, aracnes, and humans to help us defeat the remaining goblins.
However, the fight had attracted new visitors, as we heard the roars of zombies and the flapping of wings seemingly heading in our direction. The human leader, who introduced himself as Cliff, started giving orders.
"The smell of blood attracts zombies and monsters, so we’re leaving. It will be worse if we bring the women and female students, because the more we are, the easier it is for zombies to come and the slower we can move. So, those who want to protect them and play knights in shining armor can stay here and die. Keep in mind that we still don’t know
if the goblins have done something to them and infected them. The rest, follow me."
"You're going to abandon so many people."
"No, I’m leaving them under your protection. Let’s see how you protect and feed so many dead weights. There’s no room for kindness in the apocalypse, especially when you’re weak and your survival is at stake."
Although it seemed a bit cruel, I believed that in his place, I would have done the same. In any case, there was no time for moral debates. The humans left, abandoning the women, elderly, and children. Only a few families went with them.
"Do you think meteorites associated with arachnes and nymphs fell here because it’s a female residence?"
"It’s a possibility, but right now, we need to focus on defending ourselves. Arachnes, can your silk slow down zombies? Cover the entire ground around the residence. Nymphs, you can control plants, earth, and water, right? Earth and plant nymphs, barricade all the doors and windows. Water nymphs, stand by. How does water affect the arachne’s silk? And why didn’t you barricade the building earlier?"
"It’s waterproof. And about barricading the building, Cliff said that would cut off our escape routes since we are faster than zombies and can escape by running. Well, his words were, 'You don’t need to run fast, just faster than the rest. The useless ones will finally have a purpose.' Besides, I think he didn’t trust us; he always kept us under watch, and we had to sleep on the first floor."
"And the goblins from the third floor upwards?"
"Yes, initially they were going to be on the second floor, but they were convinced they were more useful as archers. On the fourth floor were the women, the fifth the elderly, the sixth the fighters’ families and children, and from the seventh to the tenth were the students and staff originally here, as this was their residence at first."
"We’ll do a headcount and inventory of food later; right now, we need to protect ourselves."
While the female monsters were finishing their preparations, seven lions with eagle heads, forelegs, and wings, and ten lions with a woman’s head and eagle wings appeared.
Power: Griffin
Level: 1
Exp: 0/40
Energy: 40/40
Rarity: Epic
Race
Epic races can switch from their original form to the epic one, taking 5 minutes and spending 40 energy points.
A being can only have one race. Offspring will inherit this race.
Body of a lion with an eagle's head and wings.
Gain 6 stat points in two stats: strength and speed per level.
Both forms have the following abilities:
* Fast Flight
* Enhanced Boost
Power: Sphinx
Level: 1
Exp: 0/40
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Energy: 40/40
Rarity: Epic
Race
Epic races can switch from their original form to the epic one, taking 5 minutes and spending 40 energy points.
A being can only have one race. Offspring will inherit this race.
A creature with a woman’s head, a lion’s body, and eagle wings.
Gain 6 stat points in two stats: intelligence and strength per level.
Both forms have the following abilities:
* Guardian: Can associate with a place as protected, spending 40 energy points. Can only have one lair. Cannot move more than x*10 meters from it, increasing all physical attributes by x.
* Mental Attack: Perform a mental attack on a being, spending 5 energy points per use.
When the sphinxes saw us, they shouted in a deep voice:
"Please don’t attack us! We come with no ill intentions! But we can’t say the same for those following us!"
We didn’t even have to ask who was following them, as three zombie griffins and two zombie sphinxes were quickly approaching.
We threw fireballs at them, but they withstood the first one and approached at very high speeds. The first two zombie griffins tried to attack me, and although I managed to avoid the first one, the second one grabbed me. However, it was worse for him because, although he scratched my wings, he was covered in white fire, causing him to let go. I threw fireballs at both and killed them. Bea took care of the other one, while the newcomers kept the sphinxes busy. They seemed afraid to get too close, and the zombie screams stunned the griffins, but Bea and I weren’t affected. Since the zombies were distracted trying to attack the rest, we threw white fireballs at them, destroying them almost instantly.
But we couldn’t rest; more zombies were approaching, this time the “normal” kind, though there were also some red, blue, and green ones. We retreated to where we had set up the arachne webs and set them on fire with our red fire. The zombies burned and only left their cores. While the water nymphs extinguished the fire, and the arachnes replaced their webs and collected the crystals, the sphinxes and griffins approached to talk to us.
"Thanks for saving us. The zombies were chasing us when we heard many screams."
"Is anyone infected?"
"Yes, but don’t worry. We know what to do, though it saddens us."
"It turns out my abilities allow me to cure the zombification process. We can cure them, provide safe lodging and food, but in return, we’d like you to swear loyalty to us and give us the meteorites. We’re thinking of establishing a city and will need guards."
They looked at each other, and after a general nod, they asked.
"Alright, but what do you mean by swearing loyalty?"
"You can’t divulge our powers, lie to us, harm or deceive us. You must listen to our orders, but you’re free to follow them or not."
"Huh? So if you order us to sacrifice ourselves, we can simply refuse?"
"Exactly. I know that disregarding your freedom and opinions will do more harm than good. But we would still be your leaders."
"I think those are good terms. After all, the meteorites stopped working."
While I was healing the wounded and infected, one of the sphinxes hesitantly said.
"By the way, we come from a part of the city where there’s still resistance against the zombies. Would you be interested in coming?"
"If there’s such good resistance, why did you leave?"
"Because a couple of us got bitten. We thought we could heal them somehow. As you can see, it didn’t work out."
"How many of you are there?"
"A lot, more than two thousand. All the griffins, harpies, and sphinxes escaped the zombies by flying. We joined with sirens and nymphs and have a small settlement by the sea. Food isn’t an issue, but it’s getting harder to defend ourselves."
"In that case, we’ll go there. But first, we need to call our companions; we should leave before nightfall."
"Perfect, they’ll be happy with your arrival. Actually, there have already been attempts at leadership, but the last few battles have been disastrous."
While I stayed talking to them, Bea went back to inform the rest. After what seemed like hours (but was probably only half an hour), Dani and the others arrived.
"Sorry for the delay, we encountered some zombies on the way, but it wasn’t too bad. I’m Dani, this is my brother Ale, these are Miguel’s sisters, Ángela and Carlota, and this is Costas. My sister Bea informed me of the situation. Are you ready?"
As I looked at the others, I nodded. We were first going to make a trip with the arachnes to inform them of the situation and then come back for the rest. Ale, Ángela, and Costas would stay to protect the residence while the rest of us went. Ale wasn’t too happy.
"Miguel, isn’t it my turn this time?"
"Ale, how many times do I have to tell you this is serious? Keep in mind I can also see the classes everyone has. If you’re worried about not contributing, we’re sure to fight more
than we want."
We set off at a good pace. Even more arachnes joined us, saying they had been hiding and were afraid to show themselves to the others. Thus, our group of 30 “people” reached some barricades where numerous griffins, harpies, and sphinxes could be seen.
Power: Harpies
Level: 1
Exp: 0/30
Energy: 30/30
Rarity: Rare
Race
Epic races can switch from their original form to the epic one, taking 5 minutes and spending 40 energy points.
A being can only have one race. Offspring will inherit this race.
Female being with the upper part of a beautiful woman, bird wings instead of arms, and the lower part of a bird.
Gain 2 stat points in three stats: speed, charisma, and agility per level.
Race abilities:
* Wind Control
* Shrill Song