Chapter 48: Hundred Fists, One Impact
A gathering of high-Level Unranked zombies wandered around a collapsed bus near the middle of the road.
There were around fifteen Unranked zombies.
Every one of them had already passed Level 20.
Standing among them was something much stronger.
Its appearance was not especially strange.
The zombie had once been a big middle-aged man. Most of its clothes had been torn apart, exposing gray skin stretched across dense muscles.
Dark veins covered its arms. Its chest had grown thicker after reaching the 1st Echelon, giving its upper body enough mass that every step carried obvious weight.
[1st Echelon Zombie | Level 28]
Jack stared at it.
"That one works."
"It better be since this is literally the weakest 1st Echelon Zombie we’ve ever met." Cain chuckled.
Cain looked toward Elara.
"You’ll fight it and find an opening for Jack."
Elara nodded and unsheathed her sword.
"Just leave me an opening and I’ll directly use my strongest skill." Jack brought his fists together.
Cain looked toward Ron next.
He was already staring at the fifteen high-Level zombies.
"Those are yours."
Ron’s expression changed.
"All of them?"
"You need twenty-five solo kills."
"There are fifteen."
"Then kill fifteen first."
Ron clicked his tongue.
"Easy for you to say."
Cain ignored him as he said, "Nathan and I won’t interfere unless one of you is about to die."
Nathan shrugged, then moved toward the side of the road and lowered his bow.
The plan was simple.
Elara would fight and weaken the 1st Echelon zombie while trying to make an opening for Jack so that he would be able to land a solid hit.
On the other hand, Ron would use the surrounding Unranked zombies to progress his own Advancement Mission.
The zombies noticed them.
A deep growl came from the Level 28 creature.
Its cloudy eyes focused on Elara.
She stepped forward, Cold Mana flowed from the stabilized Core inside her body.
The sword became covered in pale ice.
This time, the difference from her Unranked state was impossible to ignore as the cold around the weapon was denser, yet Elara was using less effort to maintain it.
The 1st Echelon zombie moved first.
Its heavy body accelerated, cracking the pavement beneath.
The zombie crossed the distance and swung its right fist toward her upper body.
Its Strength was easily enough to kill an ordinary Unranked Awakener.
Elara did not attempt to block as she shifted her body diagonally.
The fist passed beside her shoulder.
Then Cold Mana spread from her boot, Ice appeared underneath the zombie before it could properly change direction.
Its rear foot slid backward.
Elara’s sword flashed.
Shhk!
A shallow cut opened across its ribs.
Black blood spilled from the wound.
The zombie twisted violently, sweeping its left arm sideways.
Elara moved out of range before the attack reached her.
She glanced at the cut and raised an eyebrow.
’Much easier than I had thought.’
Before advancing, forcing her sword through the body of a 1st Echelon zombie would have required far more power.
Now she had barely committed to the strike and managed to cut it even though it was a shallow one.
The zombie lunged again.
This time it lowered one shoulder and attempted to crash directly into her.
Elara moved toward the side of an abandoned car.
The zombie’s shoulder struck the vehicle after she moved away.
Bang!
The car slid across the pavement.
Elara was already behind it, her sword descended toward the back of its leg.
The Ice-covered edge opened another wound and the Cold Mana entered the damaged flesh.
The zombie staggered.
It turned and released a furious growl.
Jack watched from several meters away.
He did not rush in.
His mission required a meaningful contribution.
So, a random punch that barely injured the zombie would accomplish nothing.
Cain had told him to wait for an appropriate opportunity.
So Jack waited patiently.
The Level 28 zombie rushed at Elara again.
She raised her sword in response.
The creature swung its arm.
Elara redirected the arm with the flat of her blade rather than meeting the attack directly.
Its balance shifted.
Her Fracture Sight Talent revealed several vulnerable areas created by the movement.
Elara ignored the neck as killing the creature herself would ruin Jack’s mission.
Her gaze settled on the chest instead.
A concentration of Mana existed deeper inside.
The Core.
Elara changed her grip.
The zombie attempted to catch her with both hands.
Ice spread beneath its leading foot, causing its movement to falter.
That brief opening was enough.
Elara stepped inside, then swung her sword diagonally across its chest.
Shhk!
A deep gash opened through the gray flesh.
Black blood poured down its abdomen.
The zombie roared.
But before it could move away, Elara pressed her free palm against the wound.
Cold Mana surged outward.
Crack!
Ice spread inside the open injury.
The flesh around it froze almost instantly, but more importantly, the cold penetrated deeper.
A faint cracking sound came from within the chest.
Jack’s eyes sharpened.
Elara immediately retreated.
"Now!"
Jack immediately moved.
The moment Elara shouted, he crossed the short distance between them.
The zombie tore one foot from the frozen ground and swung toward him.
Jack ducked low in response.
The huge arm passed over his head.
He stepped directly in front of the open chest, Mana rushed through both of his arms.
The muscles beneath his sleeves tightened.
Jack pulled back his fists.
His strongest skill had never been suitable for ordinary zombies.
Using it against creatures that died from one or two normal punches would have been an absurd waste.
However, this time was different.
He immediately unleashed his strongest skill (Ten Fists, One Impact).
For an instant, it looked as though his arms had split into multiple overlapping shadows.
One fist became two.
Then five.
Ten fist-shaped afterimages appeared around his body almost simultaneously, each following a slightly different trajectory toward the same point on the zombie’s chest.
There was no clear between the first or second punch as the attacks were simply too fast.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
A dense series of impacts merged together until the sounds became nearly indistinguishable.
To anyone watching from a distance, it looked as though ten versions of Jack’s fists had struck the zombie at the exact same moment.
Every punch landed around the frozen wound Elara had created.
The skill did not allow their force to disperse independently as each impact fed into the next.
Ten separate punches converged into one point.
The zombie’s chest sank inward.
Then the accumulated force erupted.
BOOM!
A violent shock passed through the creature’s chest and penetrated deep into its body.
Crack!
The already damaged Core shattered.
The Level 28 zombie froze, its raised arms stopped above Jack.
For a brief moment, the creature remained standing.
Then all strength left its body.
The massive corpse collapsed backward.
Bang!
Jack immediately stepped away.
A series of notifications appeared before his eyes.
[You have participated in the defeat of a 1st Echelon being.]
[You have dealt more than 20% of the qualifying target’s total damage.]
[Required Contribution achieved.]
[1st Echelon Advancement Mission completed.]
Jack stared at the final line.
A grin slowly appeared on his face.
"Fuck yeah."
Then his expression changed as the Mana throughout his body began moving.
Jack looked toward Nathan.
"So this is it?"
Nathan nodded.
"Sit down and quickly adjust yourself."
Jack immediately sat near the side of the road.
His breathing became heavier as Mana gathered through his channels.
Jack closed his eyes and focused.
A minute passed by.
Then the unstable mass finally condensed.
A compact Mana Core formed inside him.
Bang!
A heavy pulse of Mana spread from Jack’s body.
The transformation swept through him as his stats doubled.
Jack inhaled deeply.
The enormous increase made his own body feel unfamiliar for a brief moment.
He slowly opened and closed one hand.
The power contained in the movement caused his eyes to brighten.
A notification appeared.
[Mana Core successfully formed.]
[You have advanced to the 1st Echelon.]
[Please select the name that will represent you in the World Ranking.]
Jack barely needed to think.
"Iron Fist."
Ding!
A golden screen appeared before everyone.
[World Announcement: The Tenth player to have successfully advanced to the 1st Echelon Rank.]
[The name "Iron Fist" shall be recorded in the history of this world.]
[The Iron Fist has received a Blue Scroll!]
Cain raised an eyebrow.
"Tenth already."
Several people had entered the 1st Echelon during the time they spent traveling from the previous battlefield.
The gap between advancements was shrinking rapidly.
Jack stood, then looked at his fists with obvious satisfaction.
The difference between his Unranked body and his current strength was enormous.
Ten Fists, One Impact had already possessed frightening power before his advancement.
Now that every one of his stats had doubled and a Mana Core supplied denser energy to his Skills, Jack could only imagine what the same attack would do.
When Jack was casually checking his stats, he widened his eyes as he noticed something had changed.
His (Ten Fists, One Impact) had vanished and a new skill had taken its place.
[Hundred Fists, One Impact]
[Unleashes one hundred punches within an extremely short interval and converges their accumulated force into the target, producing a catastrophic burst capable of crushing even heavily reinforced bodies.]
Jack stared at the description.
His previous skill had already allowed him to unleash ten near-simultaneous punches before combining their force into one devastating impact.
But now, that number had increased to one hundred.
A hundred punches unleashed within an extremely short interval, with all of their accumulated force converging upon the same target.