Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 86: Section 77: The Mutation

Chapter 86: Section 77: The Mutation

The large different kind’s shrieking was interrupted as it rolled twice on the ground before finally standing up. Malin, who had already reloaded his shotgun, saw its battered face.

It’s not dead, a true Undead indeed. Even with its entire lower jaw smashed, it could still move.

"Child, that is not your prey!" the Paladin from the Church of Justice imbued his longsword with the effect of a holy weapon and then strode toward the gigantic different kind charging at him.

Malin shook his head—everything about the Church of Justice’s Paladin was admirable except for his tendency to steal the spotlight. Malin could confirm that, despite its enraged state, the different kind hadn’t sped up at all. It was just a dumb brute. Without speed, it was nothing more than a target.

And yet, he went straight on to face the monster.

Forget it, let him have it. Malin raised his gun and began shooting those obviously mutated different kinds, which did not have pale bone growth covering their entire bodies like their big brother did, but generally had localized growth and enlargement.

The No. 8 hollow-point bullets couldn’t take down their big brother, but they had no trouble easily dispatching these. A double shot could straight-out kill a different kind—with such caliber hollow-point bullets, the different kinds’ proud physical defenses and Undead traits were almost completely ineffective. A direct hit to the head meant they could say goodbye to their skulls.

On the other side, the Paladin raised his shield to block the giant different kind’s claw strike, stepping back several times in the process. Although he blocked the attack, Malin felt the Paladin was somewhat lacking in strength—if he were there, a single hammer blow would let the different kind understand what true power was.

So Malin advanced, eliminating different kinds with his shotgun while simultaneously detaching the hammer head from its handle with hands and feet.

Setting down the empty shotgun, Malin drew the spearhead from the wooden case at his waist, mounted it on the hammer handle, and a spear appeared in his hand.

The large different kind once again overpowered the Paladin in their struggle, forcing him to retreat two steps. As he was yet to regain his balance, the giant different kind leaped at Malin—it still considered him its prime target. Although Paladins, as holy warriors, could forcibly alter the target of the Undead’s aggression in battle, as soon as Malin got closer, the different kind saw the opportunity to slay its enemy and couldn’t wait to pounce on him.

Malin grasped the spear in his hand, and just as the huge different kind reached its zenith in the leap, he threw the spear at it.

The long spear, carrying the effect of a holy weapon, pierced its belly. The soft, shell-less abdomen was punctured, interrupting the different kind’s leap. Malin then touched the ground with both hands and leaned back forcefully, wielding a gigantic stone club transformed from mud.

In the eyes of others, the slight Malin made a gripping motion with a stone club that was larger than himself, then swung it sideways at the huge different kind.

The stone club broke, and the giant different kind was flung backward, crashing onto the earth.

Malin discarded the small piece of broken club and pulled four No. 8 shotgun shells from his ammo belt. He loaded them into the gun and pulled the trigger toward the left forelimb of the giant different kind—in the recent hammering, the different kind had used its left forelimb to block the sweeping club, stripping away the bone growth on it.

This time, the quadruple shot hollow point bullets tore through the different kind’s flesh, completely shredding its left forelimb.

As the different kind howled in pain, Malin, holding the shotgun upside down, smashed open the skull of a standard different kind, then took large strides toward the gigantic different kind.

The huge different kind, wailing, retreated. Four regular different kinds charged at Malin, but ultimately, they were all sliced apart by the holy spiritual energy sword Malin forged on the spot, using the raw materials of spell formations to give it the shape of a longsword.

Another creature of a different kind charged at Malin, but it was ignited by a Fireball flying from Malin’s side before it could even get close.

Watching the giant creature back off using both its hands and feet, Malin opened his empty hand and then pointed at it—the holy rays fell onto its left leg, piercing through the bone spike proliferation of the creature.

As the Spiritual Energy that scorched souls penetrated the bone spikes, the different kind lost its ability to crawl quickly. It howled and screamed—the fluctuations of the soul could directly affect Malin’s mind.

But ignoring all this, Malin transformed the Psychic Sword in his hand into a spear as he neared and hurled it right at the creature.

The spear pierced the giant creature’s head; in the next second, the howling ceased. Malin reached out, pulled the long spear out from the abdomen of the immense creature, and with its barbed edges, he split it open, spilling foul organs and blood. This time, the creature struggled briefly before Malin thrust the long spear into the creature’s eye socket and twisted forcefully.

This time, there were no more screams or howls from the creature.

"My goodness." The Dwarf finally caught up—with the speed his short legs allowed, that was quite the quick response. He shook his head as he watched the creatures turn and flee in the direction from which they came, "I must be mad. You, a mere child, have dealt with all this by yourself!"

"No, the Paladin sir did lend a hand," Malin replied, snatching a different kind that ran past him and then swinging it left and right—he still needed to demonstrate his power with facts.

"My goodness." The Dwarf turned to the approaching squad leader, "I must be dreaming, right? This has to be a nightmare."

"I do wish all this were a nightmare," his captain said with a wry smile, shaking his head, "Mr. Malin, your appearance is indeed deceiving."

"It’s nothing. I am aware of it and realize that my appearance has caused you trouble." After tossing the battered creature aside, Malin smiled and nodded, then turned to the Paladin, "Sir, you wouldn’t mind me claiming your spoils of war, would you?"

"I haven’t the shameless audacity to claim your achievements as my own, kid," the Paladin replied with a laugh and then extended his hand, "When the Bishop told me your story, it felt like I was hearing a fairy tale, but I never imagined I would see it with my own eyes."

"My goodness, may I dissect it?" the Half-human approached the giant creature, asking Malin with some impatience.

"No, I will entrust Old Ferrero from my Church to dissect this creature," Malin said with a smile, forestalling the Half-human’s eagerness, while also giving the youngster a bit of leeway, "However, you are free to cut into any of the ordinary corpses here..." As he said this, Malin instinctively looked towards the hilltop, sensing malice—at the same time, he noticed the creatures inexplicably stopping their flight, once again appearing at the hill’s crest, encircling them in a half-moon formation.

"Battle is not over!" the Paladin called out loudly in warning.

Malin frowned, shook the war spear in his hand, and then saw a tall figure slowly stepping onto the hilltop. It looked like a shepherd, driving the creatures forward.

"It’s a minion of the Evil God!" The Paladin recognized the origins of the figure clad in full armor.

Then one, two, more minions appeared before Malin’s eyes.