Before moving, Axel checked the quest window once again.
Right now, they'd only killed half of the 500 normal zombies needed for the quest. Meaning there's at least 250 more zombies around the barrier. That also meant that it would be way too dangerous for Arianne to jump into battle with the Giant Zombie right then.
It came way earlier than they expected!
Axel gritted his teeth and thought.
'Arianne can't head out just yet. It's too dangerous with all the smaller zombies around. But we can't delay too much and let the Giant Zombie get too close either, or we'll easily lose our barricades.'
Their original plan was simply to let Arianne handle the giant one by herself. However, if she did that now, then she'd definitely be swarmed by the smaller ones, too. In short, she'd be overwhelmed by numbers and fall without a doubt.
"I'm heading out!"
Arianne, however, seemed fearless. She drew her silver sword and marched forward, only to make Axel raise his voice in panic.
"Wait! There are still too many zombies! Wait until we thin them down a bit first!" he then turned to the rest and growled. "Use all the spears if you need to! We need to reduce their numbers before that big one comes close!"
The Giant Zombie was in the middle of the spotlight, so it was hard to miss. Right now, it was roughly 100 meters away from them. Given the swarm of zombies standing between it and the barricade, it should take at least two minutes before it could reach their side.
"One minute!" Axel shouted. "We'll make it so you can rush out in one minute, so sit tight for now!"
Arianne hesitated. She knew the dangers of a Giant Zombie, but more than that, she, too, didn't want to sacrifice her life in vain. If she rushed out right now and fell, then she could tell that the camp would fall with a high probability.
"I understand." Thus, she sheathed her sword once again. "Then, I shall help thin the crowd for now. Princess Eve, allow me!"
"Y-Yes!"
She rushed to the weakest edge of the group, and the closest to the Giant Zombie. As soon as she stood beside the stack of wooden spears, she didn't hesitate and grabbed two at once, wielding one in each hand.
"HAAAP!"
And with a powerful wave, she impaled multiple zombie heads in one strike.
"Again!"
Of course, with two spears in hand, that meant she could attack twice in one turn. Another group of three zombies became skewered by her spears, felling a total of six zombies in a second.
As expected of one who has experience fighting, the way she wielded the spears was beyond efficient. Within the next five seconds, she downed over thirty zombies instantly... an insane pace!
'Couldn't she wipe all the zombies out by herself even if she rushed out now?'
Axel thought inappropriately.
However, he quickly shook his head, dismissing the thought.
As the saying goes, if something can go wrong, it will. Rather than risking it, it'd still be better if they minimized the variables involved so that Arianne could focus on her fight against the Giant Zombie alone.
"I can't dally either!"
Axel copied what Arianne was doing, grabbed a second spear, and tried to attack multiple enemies at once. However...
"RAAAGH!"
When he thrust both spears, the one in his right, his dominant hand, barely pierced the second monster's body. As for his left spear, it barely even went through the first one.
"Damn, is it this difficult?!" he cursed, pulling both spears back. "But Arianne's doing it as if it's so easy!"
But the problem wasn't only that either.
Stabbing with his non-dominant hand caused it to twist awkwardly, making his wrist hurt a little. He could tell that if he forced himself to continue dual-wielding, he would sprain his wrist soon enough. Thus, he quickly ditched the second spear and focused on one.
However, he still did the thing Arianne was doing. Stabbing multiple targets at once like a skewer.
With two hands holding the shaft, the thrust was more stable and powerful, allowing him to stab three enemies in one strike. Not to mention, there were no awkward movements involved, so he could easily pull the spear back and thrust it forward without much delay.
"Keep up the pace!"
Axel shouted as he downed five zombies every second. With every new kill they claimed, the battlefield would become safer for Arianne, after all.
While keeping an eye on the Giant Zombie, they continued slashing down the enemies.
Then, exactly one minute later...
"Alright, this is enough!"
Arianne, seeing that only a few dozen zombies were left and were focused around the barricades, threw the wooden spears she held and drew her sword.
"Arianne von Plassus! Rushing to battle!"
Axel turned around to see her jump over the tall barricade as if it were a simple fence and dash toward the Giant Zombie in the distance.
As she ran, she waved her sword toward the nearby zombies, cutting their arms or legs without stopping. But unlike when using the wooden spear, the cut zombies didn't melt down instantly. Instead, they remained cut up and slowly turned around, as if to chase Arianne, who had injured them.
"The fuck?!"
Axel, seeing this, quickly felt danger. After all, if her sword couldn't kill small zombies, he doubted it could properly finish off the bigger ones.
Without missing a beat, Axel drew the sword he got during the first night's rewards. Then, he placed the barricade before him into his inventory and jumped forward.
"RAAGGGGH!"
He swung the heavy blade with both hands, slashing horizontally.
An amateurish movement, but deadly enough toward the nearby zombies nonetheless. Those who got slashed by the blade, just as with the wooden spears, melted into a stinky goo without delay.
"So swords do work on them!" he gasped. "It's not like they're immune to slash but weak to piercing attacks!"
As soon as he confirmed this, he moved outside the barricade and continued slashing around, clearing the nearby zombies until he could spare a moment to return the stored barricade.
"Now..."
He gripped his sword's hilt tightly, using it like a walking stick, and stabbed into the ground. His eyes went sideways, seeing the slow zombies walking toward him, lit by the ambient of the floodlight and the light from the campfire.
"Bring it on! I'll wipe you all out!"
And with fierce determination, he ran forward, dragging his long blade along.