"W-What?!" Nicholas failed to process what Eric had just said.
Eric did not give him time to explain. He grabbed his hair, and pulled him.
Nicholas tried to struggle, but Eric's grasp was impossible to escape.
Everyone could only watch helplessly, not daring to take a breath, lest they disturbed the zombies.
However, Eric was clearly aiming for that, and discerning his confidence, they would not stop him.
As Eric was approaching the zombies, aside from normal zombies, third mortal stage zombies noticed him, growling at him.
There were three Ravager Zombies, with emaciated bodies, but with elongated limbs and razor-sharp claws, tearing the flesh of the Bulwark Zombie, seemingly trying to find something.
Eric received information from the system.
{Name: Ravager Zombie
Stage: Third Mortal Stage
Abilities: Rend & Ruin
Strength: C-
Agility: C+
Durability: D+
Stamina: C-
Intelligence: D+
Remarks: Extremely aggressive. Might not be stronger than Bulwark Zombie, but it is intelligent enough to fight in the hit and run tactics.}
Eric felt strange. How do you know? He questioned the system, or rather, Yeobui, but he did not reply.
When Eric looked back on the past, Yeobui indeed has a strange ability to analyze individuals with such precision just by a single glance.
Eric tossed the unnecessary thoughts at the back of his head as he threw the panicking Nicholas at the corpse of the Bulwark Zombie and took out the red crystal on his pocket.
Nicholas landed an inch away from the Bulwark Zombie, but the normal zombie only spared a glance at him, before focusing on eating the Bulwark Zombie.
The Ravager Zombies, on other hand, were enraged. They did not kill the normal zombies since the latter was only eating the corpse compared to their desire to search for the red crystal, but Nicholas' presence disturbed them.
However, before they took action towards him, their attention was instantly snatched away by the red crystal on Eric's hand, to which he deliberately showed them.
"Isn't this what you are trying to find?" Eric smiled brightly.
The Ravager Zombies did not hesitate anymore and bolted towards Eric. They moved in different directions, attempting to divide Eric's attention.
However, Eric merely smiled and took a battle stance after clutching the red crystal.
When others noticed his action, they were speechless.
Michelle was just about to ask Axel if Eric had any weapons with him, for clearly, he was attempting to fight the erratic zombies with sharp claws.
However, their heart skipped a beat when they finally understood that Eric wanted to fight them bare-handed.
No one uttered a word. They were simply too flabbergasted. They even held their breath as three agile, erratic zombies bolted at Eric in different directions.
They stared at the Emperor intently, wanting to bear witness of his full power.
As soon as Eric took his battle stance, with his right foot stepping backward and his open palms–left forward, right on the side of his chest–took their respective positions, he mumbled and closed his eyes, reminiscing of the past.
"Grand Celestial Strikes: The Eightfold Axioms."
Also known as Heavenly Sage's Eightfold Destruction. A fist technique that embodies the Eight Great Principles of the Cosmos, each strike aligning with a fundamental truth of martial enlightenment. Each Axiom manifests in a different striking method, allowing the practitioner to transition between destructive and controlling forces seamlessly.
Ixcahua was known to master every martial art, until a saying, "Even if you cut all of his limbs, his teeth are enough to end your life," spread around in the Murim World. Nothing could escape the Eye of the Sage.
Hence, even his fist technique was equal to his dual-knife technique. As always, he could not deliver the hundred percent effects of the technique, but it was already beyond the skills of individuals on his level to master it.
Only the Heavenly Sage who underwent a rebirth could.
Once the Ravager Zombies were less than a meter away from him, Eric took a deep breath–aligning on the Heavenly Sage Breathing Technique–and held it.
"First Axiom: Heaven Shatters, Earth Bows."
Also known as Sky-Quaking Fist. He hammered down his fist to the ground, carrying the full weight of heaven.
Once his fist collided to the ground, a slight tremble, a bit less impactful compared to Bulwark Zombie, suffused through the earth in a meter radius.
The Ravager Zombies instantly lost their footing and fell to the earth one by one. Eric utilized the chance to bolt towards the nearest Ravager Zombie, knowing that their immobilized status was only temporary.
The primary purpose of Sky-Quaking Fist was a downward hammering strike, and since the Ravager Zombie was below him, he instantly used the same technique to crush through the skull of the Ravager Zombie.
The Ravager Zombie was fast enough to react, but Eric's flawless strike left no room for the Ravager Zombie to counter attack instead of defending.
The Ravager Zombie instantly died and Eric immediately grabbed the dark-red crystal.
The other Ravager Zombie soon regained their footing as they stood straight. The trembling lasted only in an instant compared to the Shockwave Slam, but it was all because Eric could barely deliver its full potential.
The nearest Ravager Zombie swung its razor-sharp claws at Eric.
Eric narrowed his eyes.
Rend and Ruin… I see. He finally understood why there was a Ruin beside Rend, an ability that could tear into two pieces. After all, their claws were vibrating at a high-frequency, causing the claws to be capable of ruining the flesh of their enemies after tearing them.
Once Eric understood the lethality of the Ravager Zombie's claws, he supposedly should not have blocked it. However, the second axiom forced him to do so.
Furthermore, he could only use three techniques at once and he was only limited to the first two axioms.
It was also the same as the dual-knife technique, but he was able to activate the third technique all because of the Last Stand Resilience.
"Second Axiom: Flowing Cosmos Reversal."
Also known as Void-Wave Fist. Eric opened his fist, and blocked the claws with his open palm. It was a soft yet irresistible palm strike that redirects incoming attacks, living up to its name, Void-Wave Fist.
The Ravager Zombie was stunned, baffled, and was taken aback. After all, it first felt it struck at nothing since its ability failed to force through Eric's flesh. It was then confused until it was taken aback when it perceived that another high-frequency vibration struck on its claws, causing the momentum to be against it.
The counter attack was more powerful, causing it to fly away. However, Eric grabbed on its wrist, but he instantly kicked it, successfully hacking its claws from the Ravager Zombie.
Eric did not have the stamina to use the axioms anymore, so he had to rely on another means. Left with no choice but successful, he fortunately used the detached claws, with its ability still active, to thrust it on the remaining Ravager Zombie, who was still processing what happened, losing its life as a result.