Global Devourer: I Survive by Slaughtering Beasts

Chapter 4: The Alpha's Fall

The dust from the shattered ceiling began to clear, showing the horrifying creature standing in the middle of the room. The mutated alpha zombie was nine feet tall, with thick gray skin like solid stone and arms as long as tree trunks. Black veins pulsed across its heavy chest, and its jaw was split open, dripping acid onto the wooden floor.

Behind the barricades, the students screamed in terror. The rich boy who had talked back earlier began to wet his pants, crawling under a metal desk to hide.

"Stay back and keep quiet," Chloe snapped at the others, grabbing a heavy iron leg from a broken chair. Her eyes remained locked on Kai, watching how he would react to this mountain of muscle and death.

Kai did not flinch. He adjusted his grip on the broken iron pipe, watching the black and green venom light swirl around the metal. His mind was completely calm. He did not feel panic or rush in blindly. His system stats had given him high agility and strength, but against a beast three times his size, brute force alone was foolish. He needed to be smart.

The alpha zombie roared, a sound so loud it rattled the glass windows. It slammed its giant fists together, creating a shockwave that blew away the loose paper on the floor. Then, it lunged forward like a runaway train, heading straight for Kai.

Kai waited until the very last split second. When the monster’s massive fist was only an inch from his nose, Kai used his boosted agility. He stepped to the side like a phantom, letting the fist smash into a heavy oak pillar behind him. The pillar shattered into tiny splinters.

Before the beast could pull its arm back, Kai moved. He drove his poison-coated iron pipe directly into the monster's left knee joint.

CRACK!

The iron pipe tore into the flesh, and the dark green venom immediately seeped into the open wound. The alpha zombie let out a painful howl as the poison began to burn its nerves, forcing its giant leg to buckle.

"First joint down," Kai murmured cold words under his breath.

The monster swung its giant left arm around in a wide arc, trying to crush Kai like a fly. Kai did not try to block it. He ducked under the heavy arm, sliding across the slick floor, and popped up right behind the beast's right leg. With another powerful strike, he slammed his pipe into the back of its right ankle.

[Venom Paralysis Activated! Target Speed Reduced by 30%!]

The alpha zombie stumbled heavily, its massive body shaking as the paralysis spread through its lower body. It turned its ugly head around, its red eyes burning with wild rage. It opened its wide mouth and spat a glob of black acid directly at Kai's face.

Kai tilted his head sharply to the left. The acid missed his skin by a hair, flying past him to melt a large hole into the concrete wall behind him.

Taking advantage of the monster's open stance, Kai leaped off a nearby desk. He flew high into the air, aiming his pipe at the monster's shoulder blade. The dark energy around his weapon flared brightly as he slammed the iron pipe down with all the strength in his body.

BANG!

The impact broke the monster's left shoulder bone, causing its giant left arm to hang limply by its side. The alpha zombie dropped to its uninjured knee, roaring in pure agony. It tried to grab Kai with its remaining good hand, but its movements were getting slower and stiffer under the continuous burn of the snake poison.

Kai landed lightly on his feet behind the creature. His heart was beating fast, but his breathing remained completely steady. He could see every opening, every weakness in the monster's posture.

"You are nothing but stats to me," Kai said softly.

He kicked the back of the monster's bad knee, forcing the nine-foot beast to drop its head down to Kai's shoulder height. The alpha zombie tried to snap its jaws forward one last time, but Kai was already stepping inside its guard.

With a powerful upward thrust, Kai drove the sharp, broken tip of his iron pipe straight through the monster's left eye socket, pushing it deep into its brain.

The alpha zombie froze. Black blood poured out of its eye and mouth, splashing over Kai's arms and chest. The giant monster trembled for a single second, then fell forward with a heavy crash, shaking the entire floor of the study hall.

Kai stood over the corpse, pulling his iron pipe out with a wet squelch. He placed his right palm on the monster's gray head.

"Extract," Kai commanded in his mind.

A thick, dark purple light rose from the alpha zombie's chest, hovering over its heart before shrinking down into a small, glowing purple orb. The orb floated into Kai's hand and absorbed into his palm.

[Target: Mutated Alpha Zombie (Tier 1 Elite)] [Extraction Successful: +15 Strength, +10 Stamina, +8 Agility!] [Rare Skill Core Acquired: Undead Command (F-Rank)!]

A wave of information flooded Kai's brain. The Undead Command skill allowed him to use his mental strength to raise and control low-level dead bodies, turning them into loyal shadow soldiers that obeyed his every command.

Behind him, Chloe and the rest of the students slowly walked out from their hiding places. They looked at the giant monster lying dead on the floor, then at Kai standing untouched in the center of the room. The rich boy who had cried earlier was shaking so hard he could barely stand, looking at Kai with pure worship and terror.

"He killed a giant monster by himself," one girl whispered, her voice trembling. "He is not human..."

Kai ignored their hushed chatter. He turned his attention back to the massive corpse before him, feeling the new skill humming inside his soul.

As the alpha monster collapses, its dead eyes glow faint purple, and three surrounding corpses slowly rise to their feet, bowing their heads toward Kai.