The final trace of golden light at Dustin’s fingertips faded as the head of the last zombie at the warehouse entrance disintegrated into dust. Thick, dark brown liquid splattered across the mottled bluestone floor, emitting a nauseating stench.
Li Juntang leaned on his broken spear, his chest heaving violently. Shards of zombie bones were still embedded in the dents of his armor.
He looked over the sea of fallen zombies, then turned to the white figure ahead. His eyes were filled with the relief and gratitude of a man who had narrowly escaped death.
“Thank you, senior, for saving us. I will never forget this life-saving grace.”
Li Juntang bowed deeply with clasped hands toward the figure in white floating above.
Dustin’s white robe was untouched by filth. His gaze, sharp as an eagle’s, swept across the scattered remains of zombies. His brows furrowed slightly.
“These were just small fry. Where is the real zombie horde?”
Li Juntang’s expression turned grim at once. He looked southward toward the city. A thick grey mist cloaked the sky in that direction, and faint, guttural roars echoed from within.
“Senior, in the southern shantytown, tens of thousands of civilians are still trapped and couldn't be evacuated in time. Please --- save them.”
Dustin’s eyes flashed with resolve. Without another word, his entire body erupted in radiant golden light. He transformed into a brilliant beam and shot across the sky like a meteor toward the southern district.
His speed was astonishing --- he left only a faint golden trail in the air, and even the roaring wind was left far behind.
Li Juntang and those around him were struck dumb by the scene. They watched that beam vanish into the distance, speechless for a long time.
At that moment, the southern part of the city was on the brink of collapse.
Tens of thousands of zombies roamed outside the shantytown, snarling and pacing. Their pale gray skin stretched tight over bones, decaying muscle protruded outward, and long claws gleamed with a ghostly sheen.
Inside, civilians huddled together --- men, women, the elderly, and children. Fear was etched across every face. Some whimpered softly, others clutched their children tightly, their eyes full of despair.
“Dad, I’m scared,” whimpered a child around five, curled in his mother’s arms, clutching her sleeve.
The father --- a burly man --- was ashen-faced. He gripped a rusty machete, his voice trembling:
“Don’t be afraid. I’ll protect you both.”
But his hand gripping the machete was clearly shaking.
The zombies began slamming into the fragile barricades of the shantytown. The wooden fences groaned with each impact --- “creak, creak” --- and looked ready to collapse.
At the front, several zombies had already stretched out their skeletal claws, reaching toward the helpless people inside.
An elderly man near the barricade was too slow to dodge. His arm was slashed deeply, blood gushing as he cried out in pain.
At that critical moment ---
A streak of golden light pierced the sky like a sword and landed among the zombies with a thunderous boom.
The golden light exploded into a massive golden halo. Everywhere it passed, zombies were instantly incinerated to ash, screams rising one after another.
The people were stunned for a moment, then slowly looked up --- only to see a white-clad figure floating in mid-air.
It was Dustin, who had rushed in from afar.
He looked down coldly on the zombie horde below. In his palm, a massive golden orb began to form, surrounded by countless crackling arcs of golden lightning.
“Monsters... perish!”
With a shout, Dustin hurled the glowing sphere into the zombie masses.
The golden sphere fell like a miniature sun, radiating unstoppable power.
Upon impact --- it erupted into blinding brilliance.
A devastating shockwave rippled outward. Zombies fell in swathes, consumed by light, erased without a trace.
Those closest to the impact didn’t even have time to scream before they vanished into the golden blaze.
As the light gradually faded, most of the massive horde had been obliterated. Only a few zombies further back still snarled and pressed forward.
Dustin moved like a phantom among them. Golden light flickered at his fingertips, and with each flash, dozens more zombies crumbled to dust.
He was as swift as lightning, his white figure dancing through the chaos like an angel of death.
Every movement traced a deadly, elegant arc.
The civilians inside the shantytown watched with mouths agape.
They forgot their fear.
They forgot to cry.
They simply stared at the white figure in awe.
Just moments ago, they had been drowning in despair. Yet now, in front of Dustin, the zombies were nothing more than ants.
Thirty minutes later, the final zombie fell under Dustin’s golden light.
The skies over the southern district began to clear. The thick fog lifted, revealing a bright blue sky.
Dustin landed silently in an open space in the shantytown, surrounded by cheering, tearful survivors.
But his face remained expressionless.
He turned away, gazing into the distance --- where even greater dangers might await.
People surged forward, wanting to thank him.
But just as they neared, they saw his body dissolve into golden light and vanish into the sky.
All that remained were piles of zombie ashes, and thousands of survivors who had escaped death.
They stood in the dust, turned toward the fading golden trail in the sky --- and bowed deeply.
They would remember this grace… forever. - Marinien
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