The flame crashed against Silver, who absorbed most of the impact but was sent flying back. Its metallic form looked molten, and thankfully, Silver was still alive. Shane knew this with his unique connection to it.
"Hang in there, Silver!" Shane shouted as he threw a handful of Zombie Cores in its direction. Aside from metallic substance, the Metal Slime could also consume Zombie Cores, so he was hoping that it could recover a bit with those cores. As long as his pet wasn't dead, he had plenty of ways to make it recover because of its unique state.
After that, Shane charged forward, activating Energy Wave once more, followed by a barrage of attacks with his Light Flameblade.
The blade then clashed against the molten bodies of the Fire Leader Zombies. They may have a tenacious body, but with the Legendary Sword and the strength that he had, it was just a matter of time.
As he engaged the last two zombies, the Light Flameblade's Inferno Burst effect activated. A torrent of fireballs erupted from the blade, engulfing the enemies in several more explosions.
Finally, when the flames dissipated, the zombies were reduced to a pile of charcoals.
"Ahh…" Shane felt pity after seeing the Light Flameblade cracking… The Fire Leader Zombies were just too much. Furthermore, he used the Inferno Burst quite a lot, and it certainly ate away its durability.
Nonetheless, the system announcement appeared after defeating them.
[ Level 40 cleared. Preparing Level 41 ]
Shane let out a deep breath, wiping the sweat from his brow.
Then, at this time, Silver wobbled back to his side. Its metallic surface was already dimmed but still functional.
"You did great, buddy," Shane said, giving Silver a pat. "But something tells me it's only going to get harder from here."
As he said this, he fed more Zombie Cores to the pet.
Shane then quickly drank an Elixir of Restoration to recover his stamina. Feeling a bit hungry, Shane ate some granola bar that had been stored in his Inventory for quite some time.
He even drank some tea to calm his nerves.
When the next Zombies were about to appear, Shane changed his weapon from the Light Flameblade to his Epic-Grade Silver Sword.
Of course, his current armor, the Mutated Python Set, was also not in good condition, so he swiftly changed to his Great Survivor Set.
Then, before he was able to finish changing his set of clothes, the announcement already appeared.
[ Level 41 initiated. Opponents: Five Brute Zombies. ]
"Brute Zombies?" Shane muttered as he knew about their existence but hadn't really fought them before.
Well, he only knew that these Zombies were skilled in combat… They wouldn't just pounce to take a bite on your body, and they like beating people up before eating them.
This was a strange type of Zombie and normal bullets were basically ineffective against it. They have a high resistance against piercing and slashing…
Of course, it wasn't absolute… With enough sharpness and strength, they could still be cut by blades and swords.
Suddenly, a low growl from the Zombies reverberated through the arena. The five muscular Brute Zombies started approaching him.
The Brute Zombies were terrifying to see…
Standing nearly three meters tall, their bodies that were supposedly rotting had overgrown muscles instead.
The most troubling thing about them was their skin with patches of exposed bone. This certainly added to their monstrous appearance.
Needless to say, they had arms that were unnaturally long and ended in massive fists. Shane could believe that they were capable of smashing through concrete with ease.
'Well, I should still be stronger than them with my stats alone.' Shane thought as he looked at the Brute Zombies' faces.
It was a bit unnerving seeing their sinister smirks, as though they were imagining how they'd play with their prey before eating them up. Well, that was the feeling he got after seeing them.
One Brute Zombie slammed its fists together, creating a thunderous crack that echoed in the air. The others grunted and began pacing like predators, their yellow eyes locked onto Shane.
'What? That one is the leader?' Shane mused as he couldn't help but notice that one of them seemed to be acting as "squad leader".
Although they were all Brute Zombies, as the system stated, he couldn't help but feel surprised to see that there was still a hierarchy among them.
It was such an interesting discovery.
"Alright, you big brutes," Shane muttered, gripping his Silver Sword tightly.
"Let's see how tough you really are."
Then, the Brute Zombies charged forward after seeing Shane's provocative gesture.
Their heavy footsteps shook the ground.
Shane could only rely on his boosting skills as he activated Adrenaline Surge…
This Survivor Skill was probably one of his most useful skills due to its low cooldown and nearly no side effects after usage.
'There's only five of them… Let's try to relax for now…' Shane thought to himself as he decided to finally slow down…
Since he wasn't dealing with sound attacks or fireballs that could burn him this time, he knew that it was time to recover…
With his current Agility, he wasn't worried about being caught by the Brute Zombies. Furthermore, he could also use this time to analyze their movement patterns since he believed that he would be facing dozens of them soon.
Once he got used to them, it would be a lot easier for him to deal with the next Brute Zombies.
Indeed, Shane did that, but he decided not to take too much time.
Of course, the others must've done this in earlier levels as well. They must have incapacitated the Zombie by cutting off their limbs and leaving only their torso and head.
That way, they could have plenty of time to relax and wait for the next level. That was most likely the reason why the resting time between each level wasn't that long to begin with.