33 Chapter 33

"Farm? FARM?!!!"

Rage and astonishment consumed Jericho. He was no saint for the sins he had committed as an assassin, but such an immoral act is considered an unforgivable crime.

To Jericho, any human lives were disposable. He didn't give a damn about the thousands of lives on this cruise ship. All he knew was that the people who were kind to him were in the same vicinity.

It was an extremely simple deduction. Since this foul woman regarded Utopia's passengers as livestock and would even go out of her way to eliminate him, there wasn't a doubt she meant harm to Jay and Esther.

He viewed them as benevolent people, human beings actually worth protecting.

Feeling the icy smooth surface of the blade of his knife, Jericho hurled it at Elita expeditiously.

The knife sped towards the woman's plump chest where the human heart situated. However, a translucent veil concocted before her chest, enveloping Jericho's speeding weapon and decelerating it until it came to a full stop.

The moment his knife pummeled and hit the ground, Jericho elbowed the sliding glass door behind him. Cabin balcony doors on cruise ships are weathertight, designed to be able to withstand pressure changes, yet Jericho shattered it with ease, compensating with his incredible strength. Using the momentum, he back flipped on to the balcony to create more distance between them.

"Interesting!"

Leering at Jericho provocatively, Elita brushed her fingers across her thick lips and sneered.

"I adore boys who retaliate. They make the chase more fun."

As she completed her sentence, Jericho sensed alarming danger.

Without hesitation, he fled towards the balcony handrails while swerving to the left. Sharp fingernails swept passed his shoulders, Elita's black nail polish symbolizing death.

Grabbing the painted handrails laced with condensation, Jericho propelled himself upwards agilely and latched onto the balcony on the upper deck. Hoisting himself up, Jericho found several naked zombies staring hungrily at him.

One of the male zombies was missing his private part, his nonexistent dong substituted by an atrocious bite wound from which blood was still streaming.

Deducing from their appearance and exposed injuries, these naked zombies were a group of university students having a orgy outdoors when some of them turned.

Jericho has always considered intercourse, and whatever sexual activities it entailed, as a rather unorthodox concept. If he had the luxury of time, he might have started to criticize or laugh at this hilarious scene. But now was not the best time.

As the blustery sea breeze whizzed by, fluttering long hair caught Jericho's attention. Balancing on the balcony railings, the sinister woman beneath him took an effortless step off her footing. But she somehow didn't fall. Standing atop translucent liquid that enveloped her bare feet, the woman levitated in the air while grinning ominously.

"Run little boy." Elita licked her lips, coaxing her prey to make his escape. "Run."

Her casual tone conveyed malice as if it had contained a curse. Dodging the castrated zombie, Jericho leaped upwards once again to reach the next deck. Temporarily, he had no solution against the freak hot in pursuit. Not only did this woman overpower him, she also possessed a strange ability. For now, he'll have to stall for more time and seek for crucial opportunities to strike back.

Rolling onto the balcony where no zombies dawdled, Jericho lifted the plastic sunbathe loungers and dropped it over the railings in hope of delaying the crazy woman. Bursting through the sliding door, Jericho hopped over a sofa in his way and made his way out the door. Kindling his palms with light, Jericho sprinted as his light banished the darkness lingering along the empty corridor.

Although it was explained that most guests were present in dining venues, it was bizarre how he hasn't even met a single wandering zombie other than the ones who were engaging in an orgy at the balcony.

"So you like playing dirty huh? Throwing chairs at the chosen one?" A taunting voice emanated from behind, causing Jericho's golden hair to stand on end.

Jericho's unparalleled assassin's instincts instigated him to duck as an unknown substance zoomed over his head, smashing into the wall up ahead. Transparent liquid oozed out from the puncture in the wall, forging into floating needles before launching at Jericho again.

Brandishing a knife, Jericho sliced through the needles launching towards him. However, as Jericho's knife cut through the coagulated substance, liquid vapor detached from the decimating body, skimming past his flustered cheeks.

That was when Jericho finally had a good look at what those unidentifiable liquid were. The magical liquid which he had been wary of all along, was none other than water.

The unassuming, odorless water that humans drink on a daily basis snipped a cut on Jericho's cheek, causing droplets of blood to trickle down.

Channeling his energy, Jericho turned around to fire a charged beam of light. The piercing light sped through the long corridor, expelling the looming darkness. Running towards the stairwell, Jericho felt the beam behind his back being intercepted as the warmth of the light vanished.

As he advanced towards the upper decks, his suspicions grew stronger. No zombies or survivors obstructed his path. It was as if Utopia was a ghost ship, uninhabited by any form of life.

The crazy woman soon caught up to him and they begun to exchange attacks. Their colliding projectiles decorated the walls, damaging infrastructure around them.

"I never expected such a powerful superhuman on this ship! You'll be the highlight of my farm!"

Water seeped through the gaps between cabin doors along the corridors, concocting into spears as Elita laughed maniacally.

Shattering the water spears with his concentrated light beams, Jericho proceeded to create distance between him and the woman. Although the woman's strength far surpassed his, Jericho's expertise and meticulous combat techniques has allowed him to survive till now.

"Aren't you claiming to be the chosen one? How could a coldhearted monster like you be chosen by god?" Jericho reprimanding her provocatively, trying to distort the woman's attention span.

"God? A holy god?! No no no no no no little boy…"

Elita's hair straggled wildly over her face, shielding her craze infused eyes.

"No god will ever love a criminal like me! I worship the devil!"

Elita's revealing clothing has by then slid down to her waist from the intense battle. Ripping off her clothes to undress herself, the woman expose her naked buxom body. Her magnificent sculpture of a body were blemished with protruding scars that lined up orderly across her flat stomach.

Shaped like coffins, the ugly scars across her belly induced a sense of decay and dread. Tiny names were tattooed over the compact patches of disfigurement, mimicking gravestones.

"This one is Dave Pichard Jr. And this one is Zelkjo Crow. And this one is…"

Plucking on the lumps of healed scarring, Elita laughed dementedly as she introduced her victims one by one with pride.

"I was chosen by the devil! A serial killer's dream! I was selected as her ambassador!"

Before she could continue further, a fist has already appeared in front of her face. The woman's skin rippled as Jericho bashed down hard, sending her flying into the walls. Retreating quickly, Jericho advanced towards the upper decks. Despite this critical attack, he knew that sending a second strike wouldn't succeed.

Crawling out from the ruins, Elita's bruised face fumed with rage as she shrieked.

"Run little boy! Run! I'll reserve a spot for you right under this scar!"

Temporarily escaping her grasp, Jericho finally reached the end of the stairwell, which lead to Utopia's glorious pool deck. Surrounded by glass panels, sunlight filtered in, washing over Jericho.

"HELP ME!"

Muffled wails of distress disrupted the tranquil environment, traveling into Jericho's ears. Turning around to attend to the source of the cries, Jericho's long awaited question was finally solved.

Outside, Utopia's amusement zone and outdoors pools were blanketed with a blue veil, secured onto railings and pillars. The veils undulated up and down as humanoid figures attempted to break free. Instead of water, the pools were filled to the brim with whimpering men and women. Several figures guarded the perimeter of the containment areas devoutly, punishing the restless survivors by whipping ropes.

"Hey! Who are you?"

"Stop right there!"

Witnessing the approaching boy, none of the guards underestimated him as they charged at him wielding lethal weapons. They were like Aristaeus, pious followers of their Master Elita, who had prophesied the great apocalypse and promised them eternal glory.

"Mommy, someone is distracting the bad guys." Hearing the commotion outside, a little girl ceased her whimpering as she clasped her mother's hands.

Tears trickled down the mother's face as she comforted her daughter by nuzzling her forehead. She would die for a hug, but her hands and legs were tied. In fact, every survivor, including children, within the pool were bound by ropes that limited their movements.

Frankly, she didn't not bear any hope. This wasn't the first rescue attempt by survivors. Anyone who defied these crazy cult members were either slain or thrown into the torture chamber and locked in with zombies.

Just as she thought, the screams of horror and clashing soon ended.

"See mommy! The bad guy lost!" The little girl began to cheer while the other trapped survivors threw her defeating or disapproving glances. Amidst all these people, she was the only one still beaming with pointless positivity.

"Be quiet honey. They might come back to hurt us again." Hearing footsteps, the mother hushed her daughter.

"No, I really mean it mommy! The bad guys were the ones screaming!"

The little girl hopped in the confined area triumphantly as a warm ray of sunlight landed on her.

Sunlight began to pour in as a small figure lifted the veil, chopping off the sturdy ropes secured to it. The survivors gasped in awe as precious sunlight blessed upon them. The rich sun casted Jericho's shadow onto the dumbstruck passengers, helping them adjust their eyes to the sudden change in brightness.

The guards who were able to quell any rescue attempts were now lying unconsciously on the floor and writhing in pain, unable to regain the strength to fight. Firing a beam of light from his palms, the rope that restricted the little girl was scorched in half.

"Hello… Hi."

Under the sanguine gaze of the survivors, Jericho mustered up the courage to broach the interactions he had in mind. Just like Jay and Esther had been trying to teach him, he relaxed his face, and presented his brightest smile.

"Come with me. I am here to help all of you!"

Free from her constraints, the little girl smiled back as she reached out her arms.

But at this very pivotal moment, a jet of water surged towards the little girl, gleaming piercingly.

"Watch out!"

Jericho's composure eclipsed as he shouted out desperately. The speeding jet of water sliced through flesh and bones as a red line appeared around the skin.

Crimson blood diluted by water splattered onto the ground, shimmering under the radiance of the sun.