GRRR! GRRR!
No matter how much Aron tried, the engine simply didn't start. "Damn it all!" Frustrated, he punched the steering wheel, but the situation didn't get any better.
Millie and Jackie, who were watching him try again and again, could only shake their heads in regret. If they could get any of these motor vehicles to act, their journey would have been much easier.
Finally focusing her gaze on Aron, Jackie shook her head and said in a plain voice, "Give up, it's not worth it. The admission of mana in the atmosphere seems to have made combustion impossible...!"
This was not the first time Aron heard these words, but this time he had no other choice but to accept the situation as it was.
But now they will have to walk for a hundred kilometers to reach the army camp. Suddenly the journey looked impossible; traveling alone for hundreds of kilometers—was it even worth it?
But thinking about his family, he steeled his heart and decided to take the risk.
Just at this time Millie, who had been silent all this while, spoke. "It's been too long. Should we go back to check on him?"
Aron frowned noticing the concern in her voice; he didn't like this.
Jackie, however, shook her head. "Let's wait for some time, then we will leave on our own..."
Jackie had barely finished speaking when the sound of footsteps came from behind them.
It was Xavier who had finally managed to calm down. Still, Zerin's words continued to reverberate in his head.
"Are you humans any different...?"
Xavier's eyes instantly narrowed as her words reverberated in his head. No, I cannot let a demon affect my mind.
Upon noticing the trio he simply nodded his head to acknowledge them. Then in a low voice he asked, "So what's the plan?"
The voice that came out of his throat was still hoarse, causing the others' expressions to change slightly. The scene of Samuel's death had shaken them to their core, a scene straight out of their nightmares.
Still, after a moment of silence, Jackie replied in a plain tone, "The plan is simple: we reach the military camp as fast as possible."
"Simple enough..." Xavier nodded.
The time in their hands was already limited, so there was no point in wasting any more time. With Xavier taking the lead, the group moved, covering a significant distance rapidly.
Notifications continued to echo in Xavier's head one after the other.
[You have absorbed the soul essence of Level 15 Mutated Dog. +2 Agility, +1 Stamina]
[You have leveled up]
[You have reached Level 10]
Without him even realizing, Xavier managed to reach level ten. He was not the only one who was getting stronger; Jackie and others also crossed the level 5 barrier. Aron was no longer the strongest among them; his position was taken by hearty and cheerful Millie.
Xavier made a note of this in his head and turned his attention to [Cumulative Executions: 160].
He was nearing another milestone; he couldn't help but anticipate what reward he will get for reaching the 200 milestone.
Other than that, his kill streak had once again reset back to zero as he had failed to kill a monster in one hit. After all, it was no longer an execution if it required two hits.
Xavier knew it made sense, but he missed the death will aura that surrounded him. He could feel himself getting stronger with each kill, senses becoming sharper, to the point he could predict the attacker's next move.
Something like a sixth sense.
While moving, Xavier looked toward the sky. They had less than one hour of daylight left. After that, he himself wasn't sure just how fast the situation would deteriorate, but he was sure about one thing: there was no way things were going to get better.
It was at this time Millie's urgent voice came from ahead. "Guys, come here fast! There is a family stuck in this car. We have to help them."
Xavier frowned. He wanted to say they didn't have much time left, but he realized it would be too heartless to leave them alone when it wouldn't take much effort for them to help.
So with that thought in mind, he rushed in Millie's direction.
By the time he reached there, Jackie and Aron were already there.
They were trying to forcefully get the car door open but the lock seemed to have malfunctioned.
Xavier frowned at this scene. Walking closer he simply said, "Step aside, let me deal with this."
Aron shook his head. "I can handle this...?"
Xavier's expression chilled. "I said step aside. Don't you understand simple human language?"
He already had a bad impression of Aron after he tried to block his way in prison. This guy was already on his nerves; he was showing restraint by not directly doing something really ugly.
The look in Xavier's eyes made Aron's heart skip a beat. Without another word, he simply walked to the side. The two girls remained non-committal.
Xavier snorted and grabbed the door handle and with a defiant yank, the car door handle was already in his hands. With a strength of more than 36 points along with the bonus given by his equipment, his strength was almost four times that before the apocalypse; it was no joke at all.
The first thing that he saw was a mother hugging a little girl no more than eight years of age. Tears were running down the mother's face; even the girl looked slightly distressed.
After getting out of the car, the mother profusely thanked Xavier.
"Thank you so much for helping us..."
Xavier looked at this scene and didn't know what to say. He wasn't used to something like this, but as the saying goes, there's a first time for everything.
After this short break, the group once again continued to move. With the mother and daughter pair, they rescued several other people from all sorts of situations. Now their group had grown to more than ten members, a sizable target for zombies to attack.
His thoughts had barely reached this point when he suddenly heard a loud, bloodthirsty howl from the distance. All those who heard it felt as if their heads were hit by a hammer.
A colossal tiger, more than ten feet long, was running in their direction; fire plumes seemed to cover its entire body, igniting everything in the monster's path.
Xavier was focous shifted to the red window floating above the creatures head.
[First Sequence Fire Breathing Tiger Level 30]
[Weakness - An old injury on its left paw]