Don’t fall! Don’t fall… Shit!

Jumping over a broken box of potatoes, Robert lowered his head right in the air to avoid the wild swing of pitchfork. Still, it managed to hit the top of his helmet, breaking his balance. Rob clumsily felt on the butt but had to move the next moment to avoid another strike. Not standing up, he turned around, while making a round hit with his shield. The metal edge struck the knee of the stableman from the side, sending him down. Another hit broke the temple of the attacker together with the beaten-up shield, leaving Rob with bloodied remnants on the leather strap. Flying chips blinded him for a moment, which almost was capitalized by another infected.

He never thought he could do a roll behind in brigandine armor, but the need to evade the hit of the axe made his body move on its own. His upwards-stretched leg hit the jaw of the infected, pushing him behind and giving Robert enough time to stand up. Kicking one more time to win some time, he continued his escape, while looking down not to miss possible obstacles. And there were a lot – bodies from previous battles, boxes, bags, utensils, and more. All that needed to be noticed and avoided in time, while occasionally hitting the nearest infected.

One of them tried to jump through the stall, but unfortunately for him got stuck and fell down, putting his neck right under Robert’s boot. The crack from a broken neck was heard clearly, but he didn’t stop to check the damage because other “zombies” were not so unlucky. Another one almost rammed into Rob, barely giving him time to react. He still managed to turn to the side at the last moment, but maniac gripped his mace. It didn’t take even a moment of hesitation before Robert had to let go of the handle. The freed hand helped him to lose the leather strap on what was left of the shield. The shoulder bash pushed aside an old lady with glowing eyes only to catch a glimpse of a swinging blade.

Ducking under it, Rob threw the leftovers from the shield directly into the face of a sword wielder. However, the attempt to disorientate and to obtain failed, as another swing cut not only through the air but also left a deep mark on his armor. His hidden metal plates held, but the sheer force pushed him back, right onto the lady with a distorted face. Her mana-imbued claws pierced his back, sending a wave of pain. Luckily, they didn’t go deep as he instinctively jumped forward under the flying sword. The blade ended up severing the neck of the old “zombie” and getting stuck, which allowed Robert to strike back. His knife entered the side of the infected, but before Rob could get it back, he noticed the rushing figure in full armor and with purple light, going through the visor.

Inner cursing didn’t stop him from acting. Turning the blade in the wound and hitting the injured infected with the elbow Robert made the latter to knee. That created him a good stair, which he immediately used, jumping on the top of the stall. The glowing sword that cut through the body of the “zombie” showed that it was the right decision. However, he didn’t have time to celebrate as shaking construction might not handle his weight. Rob had to jump over the next one before the previous would break apart. He managed to do only a few more jumps before a violent cough together with glowing patterns paralyzed him, halting all his actions. That of course led to the clumsy and painful fall to the ground.

This time the symptoms lasted what felt like an eternity. Robert was cursing and shouting in his mind to move, but while the patterns were glowing, everything seemed to be futile. His body just refused to obey. All his willpower, his wish, and his desire to live were pointless before this infection. Still, he didn’t wasn’t to give up as the mere moment it ended, Robert pushed himself up… right onto the fist of the “zombie” knight. The punch sent him flying right into the nearest stall and simultaneously tearing the strap on his helmet. The wood handled the force, adding more pain to his body. Especially, when his own metal helmet landed on himself.

It took Robert a couple of seconds to recover from the hit, changing the spinning surroundings before his eyes into stable ones. He unsurprisingly found the gap in his teeth as well as a few more wounds that he missed under an adrenaline rush. Moreover, Rob felt an odd sensation in his body as if he was trying to breathe in forcefully more air than he could handle. The torrent of “air” was pushing simultaneously from outside and inside, making him feel himself both empty and filled. It could sound strange, but he indeed felt that way – as if something was decreasing in size inside him, despite being full. That gave me a lightheaded feeling of being overflown with energy and the urgent need to move. To act. To hit. To kill.

Wait, wait, wait… Is it starting? My murderous behavior of maniac? But it’s more like an overdosage of energy drinks with drugs and not an all-out berserk state. I am not a specialist, but books often describe trips like this. Maybe my inner mana flow balances it… And where the fuck is the knight? I am lying here as a dumbass or movie hero in the most crucial moment with motivational flashbacks of the past in my mind… and nobody is trying to finish me. Oh, that's how it is. Of course, of course, now they started their infighting! Holy crap, we could have waited one fucking hour, and it would be so much easier!

While Robert was thinking it, the knight’s sword cleaved in half into another infected. A few were already lying motionless beside him, all cut by an imbued longsword. The glowing claws of “zombies” tried to pierce the armor, but clearly failed – the energy protection didn’t disappear after its owner turned into a mindless aggressive maniac. One more emerged from behind the knight, giving Robert the ability to look over his surroundings.

Their run through the former trading place filled with infected led to focusing on his own survival. He didn’t notice the point time when he stopped looking after others and just concentrated on the end goal in the form of the tower. Robert still managed to make two-thirds of the way, before the damn knight appeared before him. From his lying position, he couldn’t find the rest of his group, but he was sure they were not better than him. Maybe not William – that lucky bastard seemed to be a special case in any scenario.

Okay, let’s get up before this metal-headed berserk will notice me… Shit, of course, he notices me the moment I think about it. Fuck! What do I have? Only an axe and nothing else. Okay, let’s do it. I just need to kill him – what is hard about it? Oh, shit!

Pushing him to the side, Robert barely managed to avoid the thrust of the sword. Another fast swing made him duck under the blade, shortening the distance. The fully cladded knight tried to change the trajectory of the blade, but Rob countered it with almost clenching to the opponent. What followed was a jumping headbutt into the closed metal helmet of the knight with his uncovered forehead. The result was expected – the glowing armor dispersed all kinetic energy, not even hurting Robert in the process. Still, that obstructed the vision of the armored “zombie”, giving Rob the ability to grip the handle of the longsword.

For a few moments, the knight tried to wrestle for it, betting on his bigger strength. Unfortunately for him, Robert appeared to be not weaker at all. Moreover, the constant surge of energy to fuel the armor and sword’s blade somehow didn’t give the knight the ability for power outburst as others infected showed. That led to a strange parity where nobody could overpower each other. The infected knight tried to hit Rob, but it led to the same result of dispersing kinetic energy. The punch from the huge fist in the metal glove looked scary, while in reality didn’t even push back him. The thought of a plushy bear made Robert smile, which might trigger the angered yell from the infected.

The enemy’s armor for a moment lost its glow. That was followed by the new attempt to punch Rob in his grinning face. However, the latter was aiming for that in the first place, willingly provoking the enemy, who by the influence of rabies wasn’t the brightest. Therefore, noticing the signs of changes the posture, he was already moving backward, while his left hand kept holding the handle of the sword. The glove of the knight still brushed through his cheek and hit his own palm, throwing him out of balance for a moment before Rob answered by hitting with his axe right into the visor. The blade didn’t manage to break through the tough surface and got stuck. That still made the knight trigger his energy protection back and opened him for Robert’s shoulder throw.

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Falling on the ground, the enemy managed to keep his sword from dropping, but it only led to a worse situation when Rob pushed over with all his weight. The imbued blade started to cut through the mana-imbued armor, simultaneously using mana from the knight to sustain both sources. The clouded mind of the infected tried to find the solution, but the quickness of the process didn’t allow him as Robert was in a better position and had the same level of strength, which only decreased the available time for proper countermeasures. Moreover, he couldn’t see anything as his visor was blocked by a protruding axe. The moment the knight stopped sending his energy into armor in an attempt to hit the opponent, Robert immediately hit the backside of the axe with a fist. The spike on the opposite side pierced his palm but pushed the weapon deep down right into the skull.

You are not so scary when your abilities and weakness are known, asshole!

Holding his wounded hand, Robert stood up, looking at the corpse of the knight. It was his third kill of such a formidable enemy, but it was the first time when he managed to do it on equal footing and without the usage of luck, with a complete absence of armor and any advantage. For a moment, he felt real pride in his own growth. There was a chance that infection had an impact on the opponent’s skill by some degree, but he was sure that currently, he was on the level of the average knight. At least in terms of physical strength and maybe even combat prowess.

I might even catch up with William. Of course, he is strong but… Oh, crap!

The immaterial blue arc cut through the air right in front of his face, making Robert jump back from a scare. He immediately turned his head to where it came from only to see the figure of his friend with a raised sword in his hands. Looking in the opposite direction, he noticed another infected knight with a huge cut directly through his chest armor. The newly appeared “zombie” managed to make only one step forward before dropping down motionless, clear dead after a single strike, despite using mana on his armor.

Or not… Nope, I am not even fucking near that cheating bastard. What the hell?!

“Don’t stand there like a tree, Stick! We don’t have time!” William shouted, waking up Robert from a stupor.

“Where are others?” Rob asked, quickly picking up his axe before starting to sprint after his friend. The pain in his body was slowly disappearing as if his wound was healing, but he didn’t have time to check his current status screen. His feeling of being an inflatable balloon hadn’t disappeared – the streams of mana, both from outside surroundings and through inner channels to inter-dimensional space, were working on fullness.

“Your eyes… are glowing. And you have patterns,” instead of answering, William told, while making a gesture to follow him. In the next moment, his long sword severed an arm of the infected, before killing him with the same ease.

Well, that makes sense now. And here I thought I have already enough strength to wrestle against a trained warrior who is higher by a head. Nope, it had to be my own strength outburst, completely missed by me.

“Where are others?” repeated his question Robert, pushing away the wounded “zombie”, who despite his limping movements, tried to obstruct their way.

“Angela and Sir Antony are already near the entrance, trying to close the doors. Others are… lost,” noticeably pausing before muttering the last word, William thrust his blade directly into the face of the infected. The glowing sword pierced the skull, before the next motion cut through the bones, destroying the head of the “zombie” in the process.

They reached the tower in less than a minute, killing half of a dozen mad citizens, but that was only a drop in the sea as many more were entering the trading square, following the shouts and yells of their kind. It triggered another wave of bloody massacre between them. However, it was only a matter of time before the infected would notice them, continuing their chase.

“I see he is not dead somehow, despite his miserable state. I am sincerely surprised,” commented Angela, when they approached.

“How is the result?” asked William, ignoring a caustic remark from the magician. Sir Antony sighed, before answering.

“Not good. I managed to shut one leaf, but the other one is dead stuck. I can try to cut through, but it might make it even worse. You decide what we will do.”

Using their discussion, Robert threw a glance inside the tower only to find the lack of anything noticeable. The small hall with few banners ended with wide stairs, which went around the massive building. Such a layout only confirmed his previous thoughts about the similarity to a prison. It made sense after taking into account how knights treated mages.

“We need to hurry and get inside before more creatures will appear. Let’s go! Now!” not hiding her anxiety, shouted Angela.

“They have seen us already. They will definitely follow,” shook his head Robert, taking a deep breath.

His state started to worsen. His clouded mental exhaustion mind was constantly being attacked by odd foreign thoughts, while his body felt overfilled with energy in a bad way. He felt refreshed and full of strength. Even his wounds were not disturbing him. However, simultaneously he felt his body as if it was another remote-controlled machine, and not his own. Moreover, the glow of strange patterns easily shined through holes in his clothes and armor. Rob could barely hold himself from taking the action. The bad attitude from Angela, the arrogance of Sir Antony, the cheating luck of William – everything made him angry, creating an enormous desire to wipe out those bastards from existence. To make them pay for what they had done. To bathe in their blood. To enjoy their screams of agony and pain. To smirk, looking at their mutilated dead bodies.

Shit… it is really happening…

With sheer willpower, Robert tried to suppress those thoughts, but it didn’t help. It was as if he was trying to close the huge pipe without a valve, just with his bare hands. Therefore, he did the opposite – increased the number of pipes to overflow maniacal thoughts with others. His modified mind started to recite old books that he had read, to name the things he was seeing, to count from one to eternity, to speak strange gibberish from made-up words, etc. Simultaneous torrents of information managed to decrease the pressure on him, helping him to return to ongoing discussion. Despite the mental toll, it indeed helped him to clear his mind.

“…can’t stay behind when the order of Marquise was quite direct – to follow and help Sir William. Moreover, I don’t entirely trust you, mage, and your kind, who in a chase for changing their status deliberately used your creation against ordinary innocent citizens,” looking directly at Angela, Sir Antony ended his speech.

“I never was or ever would be with them. Moreover, you don’t trust me? When you were the one who wanted to abandon your precious order in the first place! Only because of Sir Kane's nobility, you are here, still having your precious honor,” the magician parried, hitting the ground with both her staves.

“Please, there is no point in arguing right now. We are almost there. We need to work together for…,” William tried to reason with them, but both only glared at each other with anger.

“I will do it,” Robert told with a heavy sigh, starting to check his gear. His tattered armor gave a tolerable level of protection, while the axe blade had lost only its sharpness. The weight and its form hadn’t disappeared, only partly limiting its effectiveness. At least there was an additional spike on the other side. Therefore, he just repeated his words louder, when noticed the absence of reaction.

“I will do it! I will stay here to hold the door. It will win sometimes and luckily no infected will follow in the tower afterward… Stop it, William. I am barely holding myself from attacking anyone. My equilibrium state will not last long before I will be pushed into similar mad and aggressive behavior. I am done, but you have your grand mission. So do everything possible to make it happen. Go!”

Robert shouted in the end, which immediately led to them start moving. Angela almost dragged William inside, whispering to him something with a serious face. Sir Antony stopped for a moment, before nodding deeply and following others. Rob barely held himself from shoving a middle finger directly into the face of the knight and ruining the moment, which was way too dramatic for his liking.

Of course, now I’ve got your respect… Hypocrite… So, I can see around a dozen approaching infected, and maybe more will come later. Let’s see how long my regeneration ability can sustain me in new conditions without the Core but with a constant flow of mana. The final dance is coming!