Chapter 43: Episode 8: Grave Under (4)

"A-Ahh... Get away... Get away!!!"

"$%^#... There's so many of them...!"

"W-What do we do?!"

As the fog in the graveyard gradually thickened, a group of eight hunters in the area could be seen struggling against the growing horde of undead monsters before them.

"Ugh... This is too much, way too much!" Landon cried out, beginning to shoot out a barrage of bullets around him, not focused on any particular target. "Just how many of these guys are there?!" Despite having terrible accuracy, with the amount of enemies in the area, a bullet would hit a target no matter what.

However, given the alarming spawn rate of the undead, it didn't matter whether Landon's bullets would hit his target or not. After all, for every zombie he or his party killed, two more would come to replace them.

"Kehehehe~ You will all be saved!" A few distances away from the ongoing battle, the lich which resembled that of a little girl could be seen laughing manically. "You will all be saved from the despair of humanity!"

"Tch..." Hugo clicked his tongue, angrily crushing a zombie that was coming his way in the next second. "We're being swarmed here!"

"Dammit... We should all run while we still can!" The Sentinel-class hunter cried out.

"And how the hell do we do that?" The swordsman nearby the Sentinel frowned, slashing at a zombie in front of him. "They're literally everywhere!"

"A-Ahh... There's so many of them..." The female hunter felt dizzy just from one look at the undead horde of monsters before her. "A-Are we going to die here?"

"Everyone stay calm!" As the battle between the living and the dead raged on, the leader's loud cry could be heard in the distance, catching everyone's attention. "We can still do this! All we have to do is find a way to break out of this deadlock!"

"Huh? Do you think it's that easy to break out?!" A Striker-class hunter refuted, stabbing a zombie that had lunged itself towards the man. "Without our Magician's AOE spells, we're as good as dead!"

"Hey, can you all just hurry up the discussion already?!" The bulky man cried out, punching a zombie straight in the face. "I can't keep taking aggro like this! I'm going to die at this rate!"

"Ugh... How the hell did things even come to this point?" The Striker-class hunter ruffled his hair in frustration. "I think we're all just going to die here fighting..."

"Hey, don't give up just yet!" The leader shouted, sending out a few streaks of thunder over towards the incoming zombies nearby him. "We need to escape out of here and recoup. And to do that... Huey, Cole. We need you two Sentinels to work together to charge through the horde!"

"What? Are you crazy?!" Huey screamed. "Charge through THAT?"

"Tch... Even if we do that, what's the point if none of us have enough firepower to clear them all out?!" The bulky man grabbed onto a zombie and tossed it back to the horde. "Are you trying to send us over to our deaths or something?!"

"I don't mean for you two to go in alone!" The leader hurriedly corrected himself. "While you two dive headfirst into the horde, we'll follow close from behind you, killing any monsters that come close."

"Then we get the hell out of here, yeah?" Hugo asked, crushing yet another zombie.

"Even if we get out... Where do we go?" The swordsman frowned. "Haven't we been here for over an hour already? The dungeon portal's closed at this point!"

When any hunter first steps foot into a new dungeon, a 1-hour timer would begin. During that time, hunters can freely move in and out of the dungeon portal without any repercussions. However, once the 1-hour limit is up, the gate will be forcibly closed, locking any hunter inside the dungeon until the dungeon's boss is killed.

"There's a mausoleum up ahead that we can use for shelter," the leader reasoned. "So if we're able to head there, we can survive this!"

"What?" Hearing the leader's words, the female hunter's eyes opened wide in shock. "A mausoleum? You want us to go into an enclosed space and be locked in there?!"

"Ugh... It's a temporary shelter!" The swordsman backed the leader up. "We need a place to rest. You don't expect us to be running around out in the open while these guys are everywhere, right?!"

"Well, what if they're in the mausoleum as well?!" The female hunter cried out.

"Bah! There's no point in debating about this!" Hugo scoffed, swinging his axe to crush an incoming zombie. "Whatever it is, just do it! We can't hold on for long! That stupid lich is gonna throw out another attack at us if this continues!"

"Argh... Whatever! Huey, stick close behind me!" Cole roared. "I'll charge into the horde first!"

"Huh? Hey! At least give me an opportunity to get out of this mess first!" Huey screamed.

"We don't have time!" The bulky man shouted, soon beginning to charge through the growing horde of zombies, punching any monsters that came his way. At the same time, the Sentinel-class hunter sighed, tailing behind Cole in the next second.

"Everyone, hurry!" The leader ordered.

With the small gap created by the two Sentinel-class hunters, the rest of the party began following the lead of the two men whilst simultaneously taking down any undead that came close to them.

"Hehehe... Are you trying to run away?" The girl smiled creepily. "Try your best then! Family... After them!"

Soon after the lich's words, she lifted her arm, summoning blackthorns from the ground in the next moment. At that second, the vines lunged forward towards the party members who were attempting to run away.

"#%^&! She's attacking!" Hugo cried out, sweeping his axe in an arc to cut off the incoming vines.

"Make sure the vines don't grab you!" The leader reminded everyone. "We don't have the capability of saving anyone!"

"Almost there!" As the two Sentinel-class hunters neared the end of the zombie horde, their eyes suddenly shook. "...THERE'S MORE?!"

Just as the two men reached the end of the pathway, they were greeted by the sight of the rising dead, an insane number of them.

"Yikes... That's a lot..." Landon gulped.

"Hehehe... Rise, family... Rise!" The lich laughed playfully. "Don't let them escape!"

"Damn witch...!" Hugo clicked his tongue.

"Grr..."

"Rgh..."

"Raghh!"

"Ugh... There's no turning back now!" The swordsman nodded his head firmly, soon beginning to slash his way through the horde. "Just run to the mausoleum with all your might! We're close to it!"

"H-Hey... Calm down!" Huey cried out. "Don't separate from us!"

With the flood of zombies around them, some of the party members slowly began to lose sight of their other group members. Shouts and screams could be heard ringing out in the air, but everyone was helpless to it. They could all only focus on saving themselves.

"D-Dammit... I'm separated from the group..." Landon clicked his tongue, realizing that he was left alone in the horde. "Bah! Whatever...! I'll just try to break through this myself!"

Gulping in the next second, Landon took a deep breath, soon shooting out at the horde haphazardly. With all his might, the blonde-haired man began charging through the undead, doing his best to make it out of the horde alive.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

With each bullet shot out, a zombie fell and he would be one step closer to his goal.

Bang! Bang!

Eventually, after countless bullets were thrown out, Landon successfully made it out of the undead horde. However, he realized too late that he was now far from the mausoleum.

"Argh... What?!" Landon's eyes opened wide in shock. "I'm not near that place at all...!"

"Grr..."

"Rghh...!!"

"U-Ugh... They're so persistent..." Frowning in the next second, Landon began scanning around the area, in search of an escape route. "The only thing I can do is to run into the forest..."

Without much of a choice, Landon rushed deep into the forest, running far away from the graveyard. Unfortunately, despite the fact he was now separated from his party, the undead monsters were still right on his tail.

"Man, they just keep coming!" Landon clicked his tongue, soon beginning to shoot out another round of bullets over towards the incoming zombies. However, right at that moment, he suddenly coughed out blood. "A-Ack...! I-I'm already out of mana?!"

Upon realizing the gravity of the situation, his eyes shook.

When a hunter's mana was completely depleted, they were barred from being able to activate any MP-related abilities or passives. However, if they still activated it despite the lack of mana, they would arbitrarily damage their body, consuming their own health in compensation for the mana that they would otherwise use.

"I-I need to drink a bottle!" Landon fumbled, scrambling through his inventory to grab onto an MP Potion the next second. However, at that moment, a zombie grabbed onto his leg, interrupting him. "A-Ahh...! They've caught up...!" he shouted out, hurriedly kicking the zombie away. "U-Ugh... I have to get to somewhere safe!"

Soon after the short kick, Landon began running as fast as he could.

"Hah... Hah..." Helplessly scurrying through the creepy dark forest, Landon panted heavily. "Come on... Legs don't fail me now... Faster..."

As his breathing became jagged, the young man anxiously scanned around the area, taking note of the thickening fog that was enveloping his surroundings. From behind him, the cries of the undead could be heard ringing in his ears.

"Dammit... They're still following close behind!" he frowned. "Argh... I'm out of mana and everyone's separated... What do I do...?!"

As the cries from behind him grew nearer and nearer, Landon gritted his teeth, only being able to helplessly run. Suddenly, he randomly tripped on the root of a tree, forcing him to abruptly fall to the ground.

"A-Ack...!" he cried out. "Ugh... Stupid tree..."

As the blonde-haired man hurriedly attempted to get up, the distant noises from behind him came closer to him.

"Kehehehe..."

"N-No...! I need to get out of here fast...!"

"Kehehehe... Run while you still can~" A voice echoed through the forest.

"Grrr..."

"Rghh!"

Before Landon was able to properly get up, a zombie's arm grabbed onto the blonde-haired man's leg once again.

"U-Ugh... Get away, you stupid ghouls! Get away!" Landon attempted to kick the zombie away in retaliation. But, at that moment, a random bullet shot out from a distance, piercing through the arm of the zombie and forcing it to let go. "...what the?! A bullet?!"

"Hurry!" In the next second, a male's voice resounded through the forest. "This way!"