Reinforcement

The zombie general did not pause for breath, he probably did not need it after his lungs and other organs had rotten away. Unlike Arthur, the zombie general's body did not need oxygen to function. Being an undead had its natural advantages.

The enemy picked up the staff and charged right at Arthur, who was still kneeling on the ground from the powerful kick to his chest. The dull pain was radiating from his chest but Arthur knew he had no time to nurse his wound. The enemy had already followed up with his attacks.

Arthur opened his mouth and channelled a shot of vocal materialization at the zombie general. The young man's shout echoed across the room as it formed a wall to block the general's way.

Due to his previous experience, Arthur knew the wall of force was not enough to tip the general or even push him back. However, that was not the young man's aim. His shout was merely to stop the general in his tracks, to stop him from getting closer to Arthur.

There was a valid reason behind this.

'I have to make sure the general doesn't get too close to me. He is much more versed at close-quarter combat than I am. If I can keep him at a safe distance away from me, things should be in my favour. After all, a long-ranged combat favours me more than it does him.' Arthur thought to himself.

Arthur's shouts had a farther reach compared to the zombie general's staff so the young man's assessment was not wrong… that was if the general did not have other tricks up his sleeves that he had not showcased yet.

The zombie general stood where he was deflecting the blows from Arthur. He tried to get closer but the shouts held him back.

There was a deep frown locked on Arthur's face. 'It's good that I'm holding him back for now but this cannot go on forever. As an undead, he has much more stamina than I do. I'll need to come up with a solution before I run out of juice.'

Arthur reached into his pocket and an idea formed in his mind when his fingers curled around an object that he found in his pocket.

He kept up the assault of shouts and quickly used his hand to form a circle on the ground.

While that was happening, something else changed with the zombie general's stance. Probably he got tired from deflecting Arthur's blows. In any case, the general planted the staff into the ground with the bell side facing up.

Arthur thought the general was going to reattempt his jump into the air and meteor strike him from above again. Arthur channeled his force and shot it at the general.

To Arthur's surprise, the general did not lift himself up into the air like Arthur imagined he would.

Instead, his bony fingers reached towards the bell and rapped at it lightly. The musical instrument sounded from the touch. Similar to before, a shield was created and it bounced Arthur's attack right off.

Arthur would not have been so worried if that was all the bell did. After his voice died away, Arthur heard other noises coming from corners of the room that made the young man's heart squeeze.

There were rustling of deliberate footsteps and slow moaning beyond the rim of light cast by the piece of moonlight in his lamp.

"Those are the moving sounds of rotting zombies!" Based on the audio cues, this was the conclusion that Arthur came to. It was not a conclusion that he would have preferred but one that Arthur had come to expect.

Before this, he had already connected the dots in his mind. The zombie general peeled his eyes open right after the bell rang. Back then, Arthur already had the suspicion that the bell had the ability to summon the dead back into [un]life. Now, with the bell raising an army of rotting zombie, it had all but confirmed Arthur's suspicion.

Nevertheless, having that knowledge was of absolute zero help to Arthur. It did not change the fact that he was getting swamped by a gang of rotting zombies on top of having to fend off a powerful zombie general.

Eventually, a rotting zombie shuffled its way out from the shadows. Its mug was as ugly as Arthur remembered. The rotting zombie continued to make a beeline at Arthur like a hungry patron heading right for his meal.

'At least it's consistent with its target and preference,' Arthur thought bitterly. 'I'm sure more is to follow.'

Arthur looked behind him and he could hear footsteps coming from that direction as well. The young man was surrounded!

'I need to stop them from getting close to me!' Arthur channeled his voice and utilized the upgraded version of vocal materialization. His voice materialized in the shape of a sphere around Arthur.

Then, Arthur took in a deep breath and pushed the wall forward. Arthur's voice rippled across the room in a circular motion. It pushed the rotting zombies back. Many of them toppled over like bowling pins.

The zombie general was the only one unfazed by the force in Arthur's voice. He stood his ground, brushing Arthur's force right off.

The rotting zombies that fell to the ground, picked themselves right up. They continued their tireless march towards Arthur. A little push was not going to stop them, their body was more resilient than that.

Arthur of course, already knew that. He only wanted to push them back so he could take care of them from a safe distance. Other than that, he had a reason why he did not want the zombies from getting too close to him.

From his previous experience, Arthur knew the easiest solution to take care of these zombies was to pluck their heads right off. Using both vocal materialization and voice tossing, Arthur summoned a mobile guillotine to deal with the undead mob.

The sharp blade saw through the ranks of the zombies easily. The rotting zombies might prove to be a powerful adversary earlier but after Arthur was familiar with its weakness, killing them was as easy as taking candy from a child for Arthur.

While Arthur was in the middle of mowing down the competition, he heard a shift in the movement of the air. He turned his head and saw the spear of a staff coming right at him!