Isekaied Into An Eroge, Time To Have Fun!-Chapter 188: Face The Hordes

Kneeling down right beside the now still corpse of the zombie I had killed, I grimaced a little as I wrapped one hand around the shaft of the arrow and braced the other against its face, keeping it in place and allowing me to slowly, carefully pull the arrow free.

Bits of brain, bone and flesh clung to the arrow as it was dislodged from the head of my kill, bringing with it a stench that permeated my nostrils and almost made me gag as I tried to ignore what I was doing.

The fact that this was a ’proper’ zombie - meaning it was completely humanoid and all that - made this all the worse for me since it felt like I had actually killed a person rather than a monster, though one reluctant look down at the pallid grey flesh, milky white eyes and rotted teeth made it clear that this wasn’t a person.

It was a monster that just so happened to look a lot like a person, so I was able to swallow down my disgust and focus on what I was doing, which was retrieving and then cleaning my arrows for future use.

I only had the ones that Professor Bo’Katari had given me, and although they shouldn’t be that expensive the idea of having to purchase new ones every single time I wanted to go into a Dungeon definitely didn’t resonate with me.

They might not be the most expensive things in the world but the cost would slowly stack up, and unless I started crafting my own there was no way I wanted to do that... but when I pulled the third arrow free I grimaced again.

Not because the zombie’s brains were disgusting to see up close and personal - admittedly it was very nasty, since it was this pink and grey amalgamation of soft, slimy meat - but because the arrowhead snapped off inside of the zombie’s skull, leaving me with a wooden stick...

I still cleaned it and put it away since that might be something I could fix, and after steeling myself I gingerly began to fish for the arrowhead to do just that, which took me a few tries since I couldn’t help but gag each time my hand was surrounded by brains...

It was thankfully the only arrow that had lost its head, so I was able to be more than prepared for the next horde that we would face, which came around not that long after we searched the bodies for any kind of loot.

We found a few coins, a partially depleted Mana Crystal, some unenchanted jewelry and then we found an entire blazing red ingot in the coat pocket of one of the zombies, which none of us questioned as we took it for ourselves.

After we looted and took a small break we went back to exploring, and not even a minute after going deeper into the forest we came across a wandering horde of zombies, this time with a few undead animals intermingled with the various humanoids.

It was another group of about two to three dozen undead, but with the addition of a trio of wolves, a big cat of some kind and then what appeared to be a bear, this was definitely a step above what we had just dealt with.

Just like before the trio of melee fighters took on their defensive stances and opened two lanes for Sera and I to take advantage of, while Anwen lingered between us waiting for the undead to get even closer.

She cast a spell here or there to add to the ranged firepower, but otherwise it was up to Sera and I to thin the horde slightly before they descended on us; since they were already moving I didn’t have the advantage of taking an extra second or two to perfectly line up my first shot, but that didn’t matter...

Too much anyways, since instead of sinking my first arrow into the brow of the closest zombie I instead struck its throat, which was still a killing blow but not as ’clean’ as I wanted it to be; there was just that itch in my gamer brain that could only be scratched by some nice headshots, y’know?

The second one was a little better, though instead of the brow I pierced the decayed nasal cavity of the undead and sent it tumbling backwards into another zombie, which was a rather ’big’ win in my books.

For my third arrow I took aim at one of the wolves that was scampering on over, its quicker pace getting it almost up to us already; I wanted to help my front liners just a little more, so I took aim quickly and let the arrow loose when I thought it was good. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

It sliced through the air and thunked into the shoulder of the wolf, drawing out a sharp groan from the undead animal and allowing Kha’Miero to step into a thrust that decimated its skull, killing it instantly.

Laying the fourth on my bowstring, I aimed at the bear next, targeting its giant head and hoping to hinder it at the very least, though I definitely wanted to kill it myself just because that would be so cool.

Reality was often disappointing though as I missed my mark by an inch, the undead beast shifting to the side as it let out a wet, choked roar that was riddled with mana; instead of hitting its skull I sank the arrow into the base of its neck, which did hurt it a bit and also impeded with whatever that roar was meant to do.

If it was an attack or a rallying cry I wasn’t sure, but I did know that letting it charge up another roar would be a bad idea, so I hastily laid another arrow on the string and took aim again, though this time the undead beast swung its heavy head at me and let out a quick roar.

A compressed blast of mana zipped at me, forcing me to throw myself to the side lest I be mangled by this ’breath’ attack; rolling a few times, I couldn’t see but I did hear the roar tearing a chunk out of a tree behind me, causing it to creak as it began to fall towards us.

Letting out a warning shout, I scrambled to my feet only to throw myself to the ground again when I heard the creaking get closer, narrowly avoiding the giant chunk of wood but still feeling its impact in my bones as it crashed to the ground a few feet away.

The horde was now amongst us, and we were no longer in formation; with the bow still in my hands, I hesitated for a moment as I wondered if I should peel off and continue taking shots from afar or switch to my melee weapon, only to have that question answered for me as an undead lumbered straight at me.

Raising its emaciated arms and snarling at me, the undead tried to smack me with its gnarled fingers and blackened nails, pushing me to dodge and drop the bow as I unsheathed my short sword, slicing the blade up into its arm and severing it.

Quickly bringing the blade down, I cut cleanly through its neck down to its ribs, and with a good twist I killed the undead then and there, the grey corpse slumping forwards and almost pulling me to the ground with it.

I yanked the blade free and took a step back as I gathered myself, though again I found another zombie lumbering towards me, gradually picking up speed as it prepared to launch itself at me in a surprise attack.

Lunging forwards to meet it, I aimed my blade at its skull and pierced it with a swift stab, dropping the undead with that strike and adding another tally to my kill count; everyone else was dealing with their own monsters now, not able to work together just yet as they dealt with what was nearby.

Taking this opportunity, I scooped up the bow and dashed over to Sera, regrouping with the buxom mage and stabbing one of her zombies in the back, letting her slam a blazing fist into its face with ease.

The blonde gave me a nod and spun to punch another zombie with her fiery fists, trusting me to handle the other zombie that was nearby; not wanting to be outdone, I pooled my mana into my sword hand and ignited the blade, coating it in flames and allowing me to kill the zombie even easier as I just slashed at its chest.

Scoring a deep gash across its chest, I watched the flames chew at its flesh for a few seconds before dissipating, weakening its already paltry muscles and causing it to collapse onto its face; I expended little effort and it was down on the ground, so with a quick stab to the back of its neck I killed it, not needing a deep wound as the fire just did the rest.