58

"Always know where your enemies are before and after a fight!" How could Cheng Yang have forgotten the golden rule of the apocalypse he had been taught in his past life?

Most monsters would ignore another horde even if there were humans, but Grave Seekers were notorious scavengers known for their cunning. With them blocking the exit, the sturdy walls that had acted as Cheng Yang's shield had become his shackles.

The walls were too tall to climb so he needed to make a choice. Break through the Grave Seekers at the back or try to force his way through the Imperator Sarcosuci.

The latter was obviously a bad choice. Not only were there hundreds of Imperator Sarcosuci but the Elite High Grade commanders were lurking somewhere in the horde.

The only real choice was to use the exit he had planned to originally. He just had to hope that there weren't too many Graveseekers.

Cheng Yang wasn't worried about dying at the hands of a Grave Seeker. He had enough Health Recovery potions to forcibly kill at least three hundred Low Grade monsters if need be. He was more worried about getting tied down and being caught in the iron grip of an Imperator Sarcosucus' jaws. If that happened, his potions would only delay an inevitable death.

After making a decision, Cheng Yang gave up on killing any more Imperator Sarcosuci and sprinted towards the Grave Seekers. Seeing him approach, the Grave Seekers readied their pitchforks to strike at him.

Cheng Yang, who didn't want to get caught in between the two monster hordes, took a running jump. His momentum carried him forward as he sailed over the Grave Seekers below.

The monsters were dumbfounded. Although they're smarter than most beasts, Cheng Yang's actions took them completely by surprise. Cheng Yang landed right behind the horde, cleanly dodging their initial attacks.

Cheng Yang hit the ground and rolled. The moment he landed, The Grave Seekers in the back thrust their pitchforks into his body. At the same time, a mass of icy petals burst into existence

The petals tore apart the monsters, leaving them with a pitiful amount of Health. Cheng Yang, on the other hand, only took three damage, about the same amount that most of the Grave Seekers now had. Such weak attacks merely tickled.

Although having weapons gave the Grave Seekers one of the highest damage values as Low Grade monsters, they were useless in front of Cheng Yang's Physical Defense unless they had the Armour Piercing attribute

Cheng Yang did his best to dodge every attack. Although he wasn't always successful, nor was he afraid that the Grave Seekers would kill him, he had remembered the cost of letting his guard down. Thankfully, this lesson hadn't taken his life.

As the apocalypse progressed, monsters would evolve to the point that even normal attacks would have the power of a skill. Their attacks would gain attributes such as Armor Piercing. However, there was one attribute that could instantly end a person's life: Vorpal. Under normal circumstances, if an attack would dismember or decapitate a target, god's rules would only allow it to deal damage. However, if the attack had the Vorpal attribute the limb would be cleanly separated. Liu Hau had lost an arm to exactly that attribute in Cheng Yang's previous life; if Cheng Yang wasn't careful, he might lose his head in this one. No matter how much Health you had, being decapitated by a Vorpal attack was game over.

Since monsters could add special attributes to their attacks, it was a given that humans could do the same. Right now all that mattered was hitting the opponent but, whether by using a skill or finding a weapon that had one, the addition of these special attributes would completely transform how humanity approached combat.

Being able to effectively use special attack attributes required a good amount of experience and honed combat sense. Few people were able to adjust to this shift in time; those that didn't ended up in a shallow grave.

This mass culling of Professionals was what allowed Cheng Yang to become one in his past life. As the second generation of soldiers, he was given the chance to adapt to the new style of combat without becoming complacent when it was easy. However, he almost fell into that same trap after reincarnating. Had this not been the early days of the apocalypse, he very well could have died today.

Once the second Petal Blizzard was unleashed, the monsters surrounding Cheng Yang were cut down like wheat.

Cheng Yang did not hesitate to take a few steps forward, then jumped again and fell to the front. Then he tossed out another ice thorn.

Having created an opening, Cheng Yang used the opportunity to perform another long jump.

At this time Cheng Yang was twenty meters away from the exit. Grave Seekers continuously poured into the alley while the Imperator Sarcosuci charged forwards from the other side. Even if he had made a few mistakes, Cheng Yang wasn't an idiot. By jumping over the Grave Seekers at the front, he had drafted them into becoming his meat shields.

Cheng Yang desperately scrabbled forwards, jumping when he could. Even though the damage was negligible, every time Cheng Yang was hit by a pitchfork, his heart wept. For a Mage, being trapped in a monster horde was a tragic fate.

Fortunately, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. The last Grave Seeker in the horde had just entered the alley so as long as he could escape to the road, he would be free!

Cheng Yang excitedly jumped towards the exit, letting his guard down once again…

"Fuck!" Cheng Yang couldn't help but swear. His momentum had carried him directly into a pitchfork.

A Standard Grade Graveseeker had hidden itself among the lower level fodder. Cheng Yang hadn't thought about it but why wouldn't this horde have a leader? With a cold fury, Cheng Yang placed the end of his stave on the leader's head.

With a pop, the leader's head was blown off. Cheng Yang's Icicle Blast skill dealt sixty six points of damage so only the most powerful Standard Grade monsters would be able to avoid dying in one shot.

At the same time, the two monster hordes finally clashed. Using their numbers and size, the Imperator Sarcosuci turned the alley into a meat grinder. Although it was true that monsters would start fights with each other, how could one horde ignore another trying to steal their prey?

With frightening speed, Cheng Yang meat shields were turned into puddles of blood.

Seeing this, Cheng Yang became anxious. He needed to quickly kill the Grave Seekers in front of him and escape!

After a few seconds, Cheng Yang was able to reach the end of the alley. When he did, he saw something horrifying. The remaining Imperator Sarcosuci had moved to block off the end alley's exit themselves!

"Fuck! Which bastard said that bestial monsters weren't smart?!" Before reincarnating, Cheng Yang had only been a better than average soldier, so his mistakes were understandable. After all, he had already died from them once. If the elites from his past life could see this, they could only regret that they hadn't been given this chance instead of Cheng Yang.

Cheng Yang broke out into a cold sweat. If not for those Grave Seekers trying to take advantage of the situation, he would have been forced to fight his way through the entire horde of Imperator Sarcosuci.

Without hesitation Cheng Yang sprinted in the opposite direction. There was no way he was going to give those monsters a chance to trap him. He's already made enough mistakes today.

As he ran, Cheng Yang downed a Health Recovery Potion. Watching his Health climb back to full helped Cheng Yang calm down.

Any so called champion sprinters from before the apocalypse would be forced to eat his dust but, Cheng Yang still felt it wasn't fast enough. The horde commander had proven to be incredibly crafty, forcing Cheng Yang to stay on guard.

"So that's how it is." With a whoosh two massive bodies ran in front of Cheng Yang to block his path.

Bigger than an ordinary Imperator Sarcosucus, the two Elite High Grade commanders were able to entirely block of the street with just their bodies. Even compared to the Standard Grade Imperator Sarcosucus he had killed before, these monsters were gigantic.

Having calmed down, Cheng Yang was able to address this problem with a level head. Would he be able to fight both of them at once? If he was able to kite them, victory would be trivial but they probably wouldn't let him. It was possible they intended to stall him so that the other monsters could encircle him. What trick had these monsters planned?

Cheng Yang let out a self deprecating laugh. "Why are you thinking so much, all you need to do is fight them."

With a firm resolve, Cheng Yang charged towards the wall of scales.At the same time his stave lit up with a frosty light. With a burst of cold air, Cheng Yang fired an icicle into the head of one commander.

Cheng Yang truly was a lucky bastard. On the first hit, Icicle Blast's freezing effect was activated. Even if it was huge, it couldn't escape god's rules, cold icy tendrils wrapped around its joints.

"I won't be dying today!" Cheng Yang roared. He climbed over the nearly immobile monster and lept past it.

The other commander wasn't going to let its prey escape so easily. Its huge tail swept towards Cheng Yang like a train. Even if the air current it created was frightening, it wouldn't be enough to instantly kill Cheng Yang. Although he was in the air, Cheng Yang's rich combat experience allowed him to use the attack as a springboard.

With an earsplitting boom, the commander's attack sent Cheng Yang flying into the distance.

Even if he hadn't been an elite, he had still survived for a year in this damnable world!