Hearing the bolt slide home, Pandora finally unleashed herself completely.
She took a deep breath of the blood-tainted air, a scent she’d grown used to without even realizing. Her gaze swept toward the end of the street. A few wandering zombies, drawn by the noise, were staggering toward them.
“Elsa.”
Pandora called out.
“I am here, My Lady.” Elsa’s voice was right beside her.
“Transform.”
A thrill of anticipation ran through Pandora’s voice.
The next moment, Elsa’s figure began to blur. Blood-red thorny vines, like living serpents, erupted from her limbs and torso, twisting, coiling, and re-forming at an incredible speed!
Light flared, and a bloody mist churned.
An instant later, the handmaiden was gone. In her place stood a greatsword of blood-red thorns, its design ornate but its edge terrifying, shimmering with a demonic red light!
Pandora reached out and grasped the hilt.
The cold touch, the familiar wave of dizziness… The thorns pricked her palm, a sharp sting that was a constant reminder of the anemic 【Price】 she was always paying.
But at the same time, a surging power, so great it felt like it would burst her body, flowed from the hilt into her very being!
Holding this sword, she felt as if she could “see” the wind, could “hear” the faintest trickle of fluid dripping down a distant zombie’s throat.
So this… was what Elsa felt. This was what it was like to possess this “human weapon.”
Pandora looked at the zombies shambling closer, their movements stiff and mechanical.
An unprecedented, almost arrogant confidence rose in her heart.
However, in the next moment… that overconfidence shattered completely.
“Hhhh—”
The zombie in the front spotted her.
It let out an excited low growl and suddenly accelerated, lunging toward her!
Here it comes!
Pandora’s eyes narrowed. She mimicked Elsa’s posture, sinking slightly, gripping the hilt with both hands. With all her strength, she swung upward from below, aiming for the zombie’s chin!
She had imagined it, just like Elsa—a single, diagonal strike cleaving the creature’s head in two.
However, she had overestimated the body that had been pampered for fourteen years. She had never undergone any real training. She was so focused on mimicking the powerful overhead swing that she completely ignored the crucial elements: the unity of waist and stance, the technique of generating power.
Her swing was clumsy. Awkward.
More like… she was using a giant club to “smack” the zombie!
THUMP!
A heavy, muffled crash.
The immense force sent the zombie flying backward, tumbling through the air twice before slamming onto the ground several meters away, where it lay dazed.
Pandora froze.
She looked down at the greatsword in her hands, then at the dazed zombie sprawled out in the distance, which was trembling, trying to get back up…
What… what was she doing?
Playing tennis? Damn it!
A moment later, the “smacked” zombie shakily got to its feet again. Its movements were a little slower than before, one of its legs seemingly broken, but it still stubbornly, staggeringly charged toward Pandora.
What tenacious spirit… Was it really because she was just that terrible?!
At the same time, the other zombies behind it had drawn near, closing in on her!
This is bad!
Pandora’s heart clenched.
“Hhhhah—”
A zombie was already upon her, its rotting claws carrying a foul stench as they swiped at her face!
“!”
Pandora’s mind went blank. Her body’s instincts made her stumble back a step. At the same time, she gripped the sword with both hands, holding it horizontally across her chest.
CLANG!
Claw met blade. The strength of Elsa’s sword was beyond doubt; it wasn’t damaged in the slightest. But the immense impact sent a jolt through her. Pandora nearly lost her grip, staggering backward three or four steps before she could barely steady herself.
Pathetic!
Pandora panted, her heart hammering against her ribs. More and more zombies were drawn over, gradually forming a circle around her. Their snarls made her break out in a cold sweat, her back tingling with fear.
For the first time in a real fight, Pandora felt the threat of death.
No, she couldn’t let this continue! To have all this “power” and yet fight so miserably! She refused to accept it!
Just as her mind raced, ready to abandon all reason and flail the sword around wildly, looking for a chance to escape… Elsa’s voice suddenly echoed in her mind!
【My Lady, calm down.】
This voice wasn’t the cold, mechanical system prompt. It was Elsa’s familiar, cool tone, sounding directly in the depths of her consciousness.
【Fighting isn’t just about strength. Stay calm. Feel my presence. Feel… the sword.】
Pandora’s body jolted. She subconsciously loosened her grip, her fingers, which had been white-knuckled from tension, relaxing. Her attention shifted from its panicked, useless spinning and returned to the battle before her.
【Yes, just like that.】 Elsa’s voice sounded again, with a strange, guiding cadence. 【Now, My Lady, watch your enemy. Don’t look at its face, look at its shoulders. The moment its shoulders move, you can predict its next move.】
Pandora obeyed instinctively, locking her gaze onto the zombie’s shoulders.
【Good. It’s about to pounce. Don’t retreat. Take one step forward and to your left.】
Elsa’s voice was like a precise command. At that very moment, the zombie indeed hurled itself forward with a roar!
Pandora had no time to think. Her body, following the command in her mind, lunged sharply forward and to the left!
“Hhhh—”
The zombie’s claws missed her face by a hair’s breadth, the gust of wind from its swipe stirring her hair.
That was close!
Pandora’s heart pounded with residual fear, but she had no time to dwell on it, because Elsa’s voice sounded again!
【Now! Relax your wrist. Don’t use brute force. Use the spine of the blade as an axis. Turn your wrist, letting the edge trace the shortest possible arc. Target: its neck!】
As Elsa spoke, a strange sensation bloomed in Pandora’s mind. It was as if a faint, ghostly trajectory for the swordplay appeared before her eyes! That trajectory pointed precisely at the opening in the zombie’s neck!
Pandora didn’t even need to think. Her body naturally, instinctively, followed the guidance of that path and moved!
Shiiiink!
The blood-red greatsword traced a beautiful and fatal arc. There was no deafening crash, no heavy impact. Only the soft, muffled shunk of a blade parting flesh.
A head, launched into the sky.