The seven-foot-tall cheetah didn’t wait for the zombies to attack. It launched itself at the nearest grade-2 zombie.
The zombie pulled its onyx claws out to hit the beast. However, the cheetah struck it down before the claws were even fully out.
Blaze thought, standing behind the thousands of zombies. At first, he thought having so many of them with him was overkill.
Yet after seeing the beast in action, he thought he should have prepared more. Perhaps should have made a couple of bone turrets there as well.
The cheetah charged through the crowd, mowing the grade-2 zombies like they were nothing.
At times, Blaze had difficulty keeping an eye on it. The creature was just too fast, even with its bulky stature.
All he saw was a trail of sparks as the zombies were struck down. It was strange because it hadn’t used its lightning a second time.
Blaze noticed something else.
As the beast kept running around, the frequency of sparking increased.
A minute later, the cheetah unleashed another bolt, this time headed right towards Blaze.
Despite knowing what happened to the other undead, he didn’t budge.
At the last second, a shield appeared in front of him, tanking the damage as the lightning scattered.
Saturn had jumped between them, holding a massive shield made of Mryme’s exoskeleton. The lightning had no effect on the shield.
However, the cheetah had unknowingly exposed itself.
"Huh, interesting..."
Blaze found it odd that the beast was running around so much. Usually, a cheetah would only speed up to chase prey or to run from a predator.
But this beast was running all over the place, even though the zombies were too slow to counter it.
It had a reason for sprinting around. The cheetah wasn’t showing off its speed, but it was charging up.
Triboelectric effect.
Honestly, the theory Blaze had in mind for it was bafflingly comedic. Yet, it was the only explanation he could think of.
The triboelectric effect was more commonly known as static electricity.
The comb and hair experiment, where one magically lifted bits of paper with the help of the comb?
Only in this case, it was on steroids.
The cheetah kept running around so the air would generate enough friction to charge up its fur.
The beast would then store this charge somewhere, like an electric eel. Perhaps a place that was connected to its horn.
When it had stored enough, it would unleash a lightning bolt from its horn.
However, there was an obvious flaw in the theory.
The spire hadn’t stopped its fountain of rotten blood. A wet surface wouldn’t generate any static electricity as the liquid would carry it away.
Not to mention, blood behaved differently when compared to water. If anything, it was more likely that the cheetah would electrocute itself while attempting to store charge in the rotten rain.
"Its fur," Blaze mumbled. "That should have something to do with it."
As his mind wandered through possibilities, he shook his head. He could think of scenarios later. Defeating the cheetah was more important.
Other than the electricity, the cheetah also had its speed, sharp claws, and a horn. All of which had made it dominate even grade-3 zombies.
Blaze tilted his head, his eyes never leaving the beast. Its speed was the bane of the zombies, but not for long.
"The shield," Blaze said, extending his hand towards Saturn. "Wet the ground with your slime."
The king of frogs obeyed. Saturn’s bloated throat bulged as he spat thick crimson streams of slime across the ground. The thick liquid smelled foul and, honestly, disgusting, even to Blaze. But it was a necessary step.
After all, no matter how dangerous the cheetah was, it had one obvious weakness.
"Its abilities are useless if it can’t run."
The cheetah lowered its head as if preparing for another shot. The zombies swarmed around Blaze as a wall to protect him. The shield would tank the damage, but Blaze wanted to lure the beast.
Sure enough, the beast, wanting to hit Blaze, jumped over the zombies to close the distance. However, it slipped as soon as its paws hit the ground.
There was a loud crash as its paws gave away. It skidded on the ground, knocking over zombies like bowling pins.
With its fall, a large part of its coat was drenched in slime. It rendered the beast incapable of storing any more charge.
The zombies it had been killing left and right suddenly felt more intimidating. Honestly, its speed was the only reason the cheetah had dominated over a thousand undead.
The cheetah snarled, struggling to get up. Numbers that didn’t matter minutes ago came to haunt it now.
It was overkill, just as Blaze had imagined.
The zombies stepped closer, eager to taste the beast’s flesh.
The undead froze on Blaze’s command. As he walked towards the beast, the zombies parted, scared to stand against their master.
As he got closer, the cheetah bared its teeth, hissing in fear and rage.
Unfortunately, Saturn didn’t appreciate that. Its tongue wrapped around the creature and yanked it off the ground.
It tried to rip the tongue away with its claws, only for Saturn to slam it to the ground. Before it could even recover, Saturn whipped it back up and smashed it down again.
After ten hits, the cheetah didn’t have the strength or intact bones to do anything. Its bold roars turned into painful whimpering.
Blaze had heard the cheetah’s bones crack with every impact. There was no way such a beast could have survived, yet miraculously, it was still breathing.
Saturn reached for it again, only to have its tongue smacked by Blaze.
Saturn looked at Blaze guiltily before stepping back. Blaze then approached the cheetah and squatted next to it.
"You fought well," he said, patting the cheetah’s head. "I would have tamed you alive, but I need your nucleus more than you."
Blaze’s tendrils crawled up the cheetah’s body like snakes before coiling around its neck. The beast didn’t let out any sound as the tendrils snapped its neck.