The Melboue-Zombie got within three meters of Liebeld. It bared its ugly teeth and mouth, its face clearly visible in the daylight. Its skin had turned a grayish hue.
Liebeld took a deep breath and swung his iron staff toward its head.
Shockingly, the Melboue-Zombie didn't get hit. It backed away just in time and dodged.
"It's intelligent to some degree..." Liebeld thought in that instant. He pulled back his staff and then performed a piercing thrust.
"Thud."
This time, the powerful piercing strike hit the zombie's chest and pushed it back three meters.
The creature's chest was badly damaged and broken. If it had been a living being like a human, such an attack would have ended the fight.
But it wasn't enough...
Orvel shouted loudly:
"It's about to lunge!"
As Orvel shouted, the Melboue-Zombie crouched like a cat and then leapt at Liebeld.
"Shit!"
"It's fucking faster than usual..."
"Can I dodge?" Liebeld's mind raced. In less than a second, he thought through three different options and reacted.
"No!"
"I can't swing in time!" he realized.
As the Melboue-Zombie closed in mid-air, ready to swipe at Liebeld's head, a bolt fired from a crossbow hit it on the head and made it fall to the ground before reaching him.
"I'm saved!" Liebeld thought and didn't hesitate to counterattack. He gripped his staff with both hands and struck the Melboue-Zombie on the head with all his force, cracking its skull and killing it.
"Crack!"
With one glance, it was clear—the Melboue-Zombie was finished.
At that moment, Liebeld felt danger—danger deep in his soul—followed by the loud scream of a man.
"No!!"
Leylis, who had been standing with Elaris, now had a gaping hole in her chest, from which a hand protruded. The hand looked more like a claw than anything human.
Elaris giggled and pulled her hand back from Leylis's chest. Leylis dropped to the ground, clearly dead.
"I didn't expect that guy to be killed that easily."
Orvel stood in shock, too stunned to speak.
"Sorry, Liebeld..."
"It's not personal..." Elaris said with another giggle.
Liebeld furrowed his brows, and his face turned grim as he asked:
"When..."
"When did you decide to betray the group?"
Elaris laughed outright.
"Betrayal?"
"What betrayal are you talking about?"
"From the moment we entered this fucking game..."
"I was corrupted and given the mission—and the concept I had been seeking."
As she finished speaking, something manifested—surprising both Conrad and Orvel. Liebeld, however, gulped and nodded.
Above Elaris's head, red text appeared:
"Elaris"
"Title: Witch Apprentice"
"Concept: "????"
Liebeld let out a deep breath.
"A group member who was force-concepted and then given a new mission by The Mystery to take us all out..."
"Witch Apprentice... and the ability to turn others into zombies and the undead."
"I guess the level of undeath she can create depends on how long she works on them."
"Her concept must involve 'Death,' 'Necromancy,' and related ideas..."
"I've never fought a Conceptor like this before..."
Liebeld thought fast.
Compared to fighting a zombie-like creature, battling even a newly formed Conceptor—even if amateur—was ten times more dangerous.
Zombies were undead creatures driven by instinct. They couldn't plan or strategize. They couldn't deceive or use complex techniques, like martial arts.
But a Conceptor—a human—could do all of that.
As Liebeld was processing all of this, Leylis's body, which had a hole in its chest, began to move—and then stood upright beside Elaris.
Orvel stood frozen. Conrad looked back and forth—then, without a second thought, fired at Elaris.
"Phiv!"
The bolt flew fast, the target close and clear. Elaris, shocked by the sudden attack, couldn't dodge in time—but she still smirked.
Leylis-Zombie side-stepped into the bolt's path, taking it in the head and collapsing to the ground.
In just ten to fifteen seconds, Leylis had been killed by Elaris, revived as a zombie, and then killed again by Conrad.
"You fucking—"
"You killed my minion!"
Elaris was enraged at the second loss of her minion and lunged at Conrad—but then felt something heavy slam into her head.
"Boom..."
A massive black staff crashed down on her skull. Before she could understand what had happened, she collapsed to the ground.
Liebeld smirked and laughed loudly.
"Staff Fighter – Active Ability – 'Hugelingstaff'"
"Hugelingstaff"
An active ability from the "Staff Fighter" title of the "Staff" Concept.
When activated, the staff-type weapon used by the Conceptor gains 300 kg of weight (the wielder doesn't feel it and speed remains unaffected).
Duration: 20 Minutes
Usage Limit: 3 times per 24 hours (one "Earth Day")
As Elaris died, Conrad and Liebeld exchanged a look while Orvel stood speechless.
"I've never seen an amateur like you," Conrad said with a smile.
"If not for you, we'd all be dead."
Orvel on the other hand was not that happy.
Everything happened, shocked him to core.
Now looking at the back, the time when he spoke with Conrad about the matter of "calmness of people", he understood that what he thought and understood was nothing like he imagined.
"I thought that there is a individual in the group that wants to betray the group."
"But, I did not think that it would be Elaris, I thought it would be Liebeld."
"It seems like, I am not that great detective..."
While, Orvel getting depressed, Conrad and Liebeld just complimented each other and smirked like they have done a great thing.
While they complimented each other, a message manifested before their eyes.
"Survival Trial – Complete"
"Hunting Trial – Complete"