Blood Warlock: Succubus Partner In The Apocalypse Chapter 5 - A Closed Battle

Beijing University ranked among China's most esteemed institutions and stood as a globally vital center of learning that attracted students from abroad, covering an enormous expanse.

The grounds stretched over numerous acres, transforming the university into a compact city on its own; it featured supermarkets, karaoke lounges, and various eateries that tempted students to linger onsite rather than straying far.

Merely four hundred meters lay between the boys' dormitories and the sports arena, yet with every path overrun by threats like zombies, advanced bugs, and wildlife mutated into savage monsters, navigating that brief stretch turned into a daunting ordeal.

Bai Zemin surged ahead without mercy, swinging his blade repeatedly in fierce strikes.

En route, he had rescued five additional souls, swelling the ranks of those trailing him to approximately twenty-four survivors.

A fellow wearing gold-framed spectacles and boasting a notably attractive look conversed with a coed who gazed at him with evident adoration. He went by Lian Xuan and held the position of vice president in the school's student council.

Prior to the cataclysm, Lian Xuan shone as an exemplary scholar with top-notch marks, and coupled with his charming visage, he drew plenty of female admirers; even in this transformed era, a handful of women who had endured eyed him with curious flickers in their stares.

Lian Xuan had ventured into battle out of absolute necessity back then for survival's sake. Now at level 3, he managed to dispatch two or three zombies solo. Upon stumbling into Bai Zemin's band, he teetered on the brink of being hemmed in by six zombies, sealing his fate.

Once Lian Xuan felled two zombies and Bai Zemin dispatched the remaining four, he merged with the team and assisted in eliminating wandering undead; indeed, even for a warrior like Bai Zemin, who continually clashed with and slew beings surpassing his own level, ensuring no strays breached the defenses around such a sizable assembly wasn't entirely risk-free.

Swoosh!

All at once, a verdant blur emerged far off, barreling toward the cluster of more than twenty individuals at breathtaking velocity.

Bai Zemin had scarcely eliminated a mosquito spanning nearly twenty centimeters when that verdant blur had already pierced his protective barrier before he could respond, manifesting directly before Lian Xuan.

Lian Xuan's complexion drained of color, and he stumbled back a pace.

He held his own against several zombies, but should a massive bee or an altered hound possessing superior swiftness arise, he stood no chance of even responding!

Since Lian Xuan had solely slain zombies thus far, he secured bonus stats only from the initial four or five encounters, all in endurance. Furthermore, he had invested the six points from his level gains into power, rendering his quickness nothing special.

Lian Xuan clutched the girl he'd been speaking with and flung her toward the peculiar blur without a second thought, ducking behind her for protection.

The verdant blur lunged abruptly, and in the following moment, the girl's frame severed into halves. Crimson sprayed in all directions as astonishment and disbelief gleamed in her gaze prior to her demise. In her boldest fantasies, she couldn't have foreseen that the typically refined, courteous, and gallant Lian Xuan would execute such a ruthless deed so swiftly.

Terror gripped the survivors, prompting a few to bolt haphazardly every which way. Some froze in place from fright, while shrewder ones sidled nearer to Bai Zemin, viewing him as their lone beacon of hope.

Regarding Lian Xuan's egotistical deed, it escaped everyone's notice... Everyone but the captivating and alluring yet simultaneously guileless Lilith. Though an act like that couldn't evade detection by one of her caliber, her expression lacked scorn or revulsion; she had witnessed far more heinous acts than this mere glimpse, all for the sake of enduring another day.

The verdant blur moved with such rapidity that none could counter its pace. This bizarre entity abruptly appeared to sense an opportunity, rocketing toward Bai Zemin at horrifying swiftness.

Evidently, the beast had discerned that he offered the ultimate boost for its progression.

A chilling tingle numbed Bai Zemin's scalp, and he reflexively hoisted his sword in a level guard.

Clang!!!

A thunderous metallic impact resounded. The verdant blur compelled to halt as its might closely mirrored Bai Zemin's.

At last, Bai Zemin could discern the form of the fiend assaulting him.

The verdant blur proved to be an enormous mantis towering almost two meters. Its fearsome gaze locked onto him, brimming with lethal malice. Its pair of massive, sickle-resembling front limbs bore down intensely on the Xuanyuan Sword, striving to drive Bai Zemin rearward.

Should this have been Bai Zemin prior to acquiring the Xuanyuan Sword, retreat might have ensued. Yet, owing to the sword's infusion of twenty power points, he managed to hold parity, if just barely.

"Be careful! That mantis doesn't specialize in strength at all! Its current speed must be almost twice as fast as yours!" Lilith's voice echoed in his ear, supplying critical insight.

Truth be told, even absent her alert, Bai Zemin recognized his pace lagged far behind this mantis. Earlier, without his instincts and fortune, his skull would have parted from his shoulders unbeknownst to him.

Bai Zemin growled as he thrust ahead with full force, repelling the mantis. Then, devoid of delay, he channeled every accumulated stat points into agility.

In an instant, his sinews toughened while gaining suppleness. Bai Zemin sensed a surge akin to electricity coursing through him, sparking a faint prickle that swiftly faded.

Swoosh!

The almost two-meter mantis vanished, reappearing before Bai Zemin the next breath, its sickle limbs chopping downward.

Yet now, the empowered Bai Zemin tracked its motions with clarity.

Clang!

Bai Zemin and the mantis dove into fierce melee, each bent on the other's destruction. For endurance, for growth, for amplified might.

To the onlookers, only fleeting shadows danced amid ceaseless metallic rings. It struck them as inconceivable that a human could duel such a horrifying beast on equal terms without faltering. Only then did Bai Zemin's prowess dawn on them.

Though Bai Zemin's battle savvy remained middling and his blade work lacking, the Xuanyuan Sword ranked as a scarce artifact able to breach nearly any defense under level 40. The mantis clearly hadn't attained that threshold, evident in the minute fractures spiderwebbing its sickles with every strike.

Nevertheless, as an innate predator wielding its sickles from inception, the mantis outmatched him in martial finesse.

Each boasted unique edges, locking the fray in a momentary impasse that hinted at deadlock.

Droves of zombies, drawn by the clamor of conflict and the potent aura of vitality, shambled closer.

Bai Zemin swiftly noted them and grasped that continuing thus would doom all survivors and even himself to encirclement. After all, while the mantis might scorn infection, he could not.

Hardening his resolve, Bai Zemin scanned the terrain and gradually withdrew, enticing the mantis to a chosen locale. Arriving there, he expended sixty mana points to forge six crimson chains from the spilled ichor of slain zombies.

The mantis visibly startled, and the tethers bound its frame securely. Its actions faltered as two chains snared its sickles mid-swing. The creature thrashed wildly in bid for freedom, stretching the bonds on its limbs to near-snapping tension.

Bai Zemin's expression shifted upon witnessing this, and he dashed in promptly, cleaving at the beast's crown with utmost vigor.

Following a gleam of razor light, the mantis froze briefly before its head tumbled earthward, pursued by a geyser of gore erupting from the stump.

[You have obtained the soul power of Great Fast Mantis level 25. Agility +14, Strength +10, Magic +10, Mana +10].

[You have leveled up and reached level 10. You get 2 attribute points to distribute freely].

[You have leveled up and reached level 11...].

[You have leveled up and reached level 12...].

[You have leveled up and reached level 13. You get 2 attribute points to distribute freely].

A vast sphere of soul essence emerged from the Great Fast Mantis's remains and absorbed into Bai Zemin, vitalizing him and elevating his abilities further. Moreover, he surged four levels in one go.

Additionally, the mantis yielded further rewards upon perishing. Beside its carcass lay 1 red orb, 1 orange orb, and 1 scroll.