"Back off a little bit," said Eric while he also stepped a bit far from Zoe.
Zoe nodded and walked farther until Eric told her it was enough and stopped. She did not worry about the zombie coming at her, as all of the mindless zombies' attention was garnered by the Emperor. In addition, she was standing near the street where they came from, so there was no zombie that would meet her first before the Emperor.
She glanced at the Emperor and was intrigued by his next move. As expected, when a time of a breath passed, after executing the third axiom, Eric's fist was ignited once again as he hammered it down to the ground.
The earth below him caved in, cracks slithered in a meter radius and the tremble was equal to the Shockwave Slam of the Bulwark zombies. In all of the various fissures, a fire suddenly erupted and consumed the zombies standing above.
Is this… hell? Zoe could not help but think. Although the fire was only on the knee level, all of the zombies lost their footings and fell to the ground, causing the fire to devour them from head to toe, making it seem like a group of humans suffering from the inferno.
A chill ran down her spine. She glanced at the Emperor, whose face was grinning ear to ear.
This is the first time he is smiling… that much, too. She was in a trance, staring at the handsome smiling face of the Emperor.
Eric, as expected, was experiencing a deep euphoria. Although he was still far from his peak, the fact there was improvement and he could finally show off his elemental control after the awakening elated him. In fact, he was suffering from the excruciating pain of the second-degree burn.
His body might have possessed a fire resistance, at the degree of the fire he was conjuring, it was beyond his body limits. Thankfully, his Heavenly Sage body after reincarnation instantly healed the scars. Even then, the mental pain continued to wreak havoc.
However, what was more painful than the murim leader's betrayal and his battle against them?
After Eric completely expended all the energy on his energy core, he took a quick deep breath, eventually causing the energy around him to be visible with the naked eye due to its concentration being absorbed by his nostrils. When he exhaled, it stank of the impurities of the energy he inhaled.
That was the effect of Breath of the Sage. Yeobui did not include in his descriptions since he was not awakened yet, but it already stated "one breath revitalizes the body." Hence, not only it covered stamina exhaustion but also the energy depletion.
Afterward, since all the zombies around him were immobile and were consumed by the fire, he ended their life by directly punching their head, meticulously avoiding the location of the crystals.
Right fist to kill, left hand to seize the grey and dark red crystals. Eric grinned, receiving many crystals. Fortunately, he had already anticipated the situation, so he had already prepared a waist bag. He did not bring a bag since he did not expect to obtain much, for his current mission was only to help Zoe obtain a beast.
Ah, right! I completely forgot about that one.
Embarrassed, he turned to Zoe, who was actually not staring at him, but rather had her back against him.
"Zoe?"
Zoe was startled. She hastily turned around and was stunned to see the Emperor walking in the middle of the raging fire with headless corpses of the zombies surrounding him—some became his stepping ground.
Eric was surprised to spot her hand, grasping a quail tightly—though noticed her hand slowly lessening the grip. The quail did not struggle, but instead continued to stare at Zoe with a strange expression.
Eric smiled. He felt relieved that Zoe managed to tame a beast while… protecting her, of course.
{Mutated Beast: Thunder Quail (Third Mortal Stage)
Strength: C-
Agility: C
Durability: C
Stamina: D+
Intelligence: D+
Ability: Muscle Boost: Normal quails bulk up, moving at unnatural speeds and ramming prey.
Remarks: a reliable ally in mid-air. Useful for tracking, baiting, kiting… simply much, everything.}
In fact, Eric already sensed the Thunder Quail, but since it was hovering in air and he was wholly focused on zombies on the ground, he completely forgot about it. Of course, he sensed its killing intent, but he executed the First Axiom, confidently believing it would die from the fire anyway.
However, he was surprised that Zoe caught it. Perhaps, she noticed its presence and stopped it. Even so, it appeared that her ability to calm agitated, supposedly non-hostile creatures, worked on the Thunder Quail.
It should not have been easy. Also, the Thunder Quail's physical attributes should be higher than her. That was then Eric recalled he had forgotten checking Zoe's status.
Once he read the status of an individual, Yeobui would close it. Hence, he was not updated on their physical attributes after their awakening.
{Name: Zoe Lara
Strength: C-
Agility: C-
Durability: C-
Stamina: C-
Intelligence: C+}
Wait, she's not that strong yet. Also, the Thunder Quail's ability temporarily enhanced its physical attribute, so how could she stop it? His eyes suddenly lit up. Is it because she learned something from me when I was fighting? Eventually, developing a grappling technique?
As Eric's mind went full throttle, Zoe finally snapped and opened her hand, letting go of the Thunder Quail. Her hand was bleeding profusely and Eric quickly reacted, tearing a part of his shirt and pressed it on her wound.
Zoe, on the other hand, was worried about getting an infection. After all, the part Eric tore his shirt was basically dampened with sweats. However, since the Emperor did not say anything, knowing he was more knowledgeable than she was, she did not say anything.
After Eric tightened the part of his shirt on Zoe's wound for compression, he looked at her and said, "It'll heal soon."
Zoe was full of questions. After all, it was out of medical logic.