Chapter 34: Died Again
“Roar!”
The blood zombie lunged at me with its gaping maw, its explosive speed beyond my expectations. In an instant, it was in my face, biting down!
“!”
Its hands slammed into my shoulders, shoving my small frame to the ground. Its fangs aimed for my neck!
“Ugh!”
Though my reaction was slow, I wasn’t paralyzed by fear. As my head hit the hard floor, my right hand drove the dagger into its mouth.
“Raaargh!!!”
The blood zombie pinning me screamed in pain, blood gushing from its mouth onto my face. My vision blurred, and a searing pain shot across my skin!
“Damn it! Its blood is corrosive!?”
I roared internally, but didn’t hesitate. I twisted the dagger sharply, dealing more damage. My mental energy surged, and the dagger shot out like a magical arrow, piercing flesh and bone, lodging in the ceiling. No monster, not even a low-tier blood zombie, could survive a brain-skewering like that.
“Ah… ha… ah…”
The corrosive blood burned my face and chest, and I couldn’t open my eyes. Judging by the zombie’s stillness, I’d killed the bizarre intruder in my home.
Struggling, I pushed the corpse off me, reaching to wipe the blood from my face.
But as I did, my hand felt something sticky.
“?”
Confused and blind, I didn’t know what was happening.
I crawled on the floor, the intense pain fading into numbness.
“…Damn it… am I really going to die again?”
Fury and despair filled me—life was going fine, and now this monstrosity shows up…
With that thought, I fought to stay conscious, but it was futile. Soon, I blacked out.
After an unknown time, my consciousness stirred, then snapped awake. I bolted upright.
I was in the living room—luckily, I’d cleaned recently, so the floor wasn’t filthy, or I’d be covered in grime.
Dazed, I turned mechanically to look behind me. Sure enough, the blood zombie, its head pierced by my dagger, lay by the door. A trail of blood and flesh scraps stretched from there to me.
My mouth twitched as I touched my face.
…It was fully healed, but the ordeal left a mental scar.
Without my Immortal Bird nature, I’d be dead again.
That corrosive blood, splattered across my face, was a death sentence.
My entire face must’ve been melted off. The flesh and blood on the floor were proof—the sticky stuff I’d felt was probably my own dissolved tissue.
“…That’s disgusting.”
Scratching my cheek, I sighed helplessly.
Why am I so unlucky? Each death is worse than the last… Will I end up killing myself next time?
I thought wryly, shaking my head, then stood to deal with the corpse.
Blood zombies aren’t like normal creatures. Their brains are already corrupted by vampire blood, turning them into obedient monsters with no hope of salvation. That’s why I didn’t just disrupt its brain with mental energy like I did with the landlord and mercenaries—minor damage wouldn’t cut it. The whole brain had to go.
In that split second, I couldn’t muster a mental attack. Launching the dagger was my limit.
But I was too cocky. If I hadn’t assumed it was just a harmless thief, I wouldn’t have lost a life… well, I can revive, but still.