As a Heavenly Sage, the highest stage a martial art practitioner in the Murim World can attain, Ixcahua has mastered every weapon due to one of the effects of his Heaven grade physique–Eye of the Sage.
He copied, refined, and perfected a total of seven dual-knife techniques. It all involved unpredictable movement, blinding speed, and perfect harmony between both blades. However, such a series of divine techniques were almost impossible to perform with his attribute points.
Hence, Eric was only able to deliver, at least, one percent of the original.
Eric leapt toward the bulky zombie, who was just about to react to his action.
"Twin Dragon Rend!"
Both of his knives swung in the opposite arcs, forming an X-shaped attack that cuts through multiple layers of defense… supposedly, but the knives only created a spark against its armor.
Eric gritted his teeth and stepped on the bulwark zombies' chest and jumped backward.
Thankfully, he was careful when swinging the knives, as it was able to withstand the impact. Although part of its side had become dull, he had achieved his plan in assessing the durability of its armor.
He clucked his tongue. I guess, it's no use to repeatedly slashing on its armor to expose its vulnerable part. I have to target its joints.
He then perceived Jasper's movement, who fearlessly - ignoring his ugly expression - attacked on the swinging wrist of the bulwark zombie, who was still distracted by Eric's action earlier.
It was similar to Eric's Twin Dragon Rend, attempting to cut the bulwark zombie's wrist with his two batons to sever the tendons.
However, similar to Eric, he failed.
There was even a crack forming on his batons. He gritted his teeth and maneuvered around, peeping at Eric.
Eric was amused. Jasper was indeed attempting to communicate with him to coordinate with his attack. He was a bit satisfied to discover a talent in martial arts.
He rushed forward and noticed Axel followed his pace. He glanced at him and nodded.
Though, he was surprised by the brass knuckles.
Together, they surrounded the bulwark zombie, who was mindlessly swinging his gigantic arm around.
The bulwark zombie was slow, so the rest was able to keep up with it.
Suddenly, it could not stand their attacks anymore. Although it was able to endure their attacks due to its thick armor, it was tickling, and that was what infuriated it.
Hence, it went berserk and raised both of its arms and slammed the ground.
"Get away!"
However, they underestimated the area of effect of its slamming. Eric also neglected the fact that abilities correspond to energy…
He believed that the wave was only the physical result of his strength, slamming the ground, creating tremors and debris, which should be enough to disrupt their balance.
Hence, they did not expect the concussion wave—not a natural result of simply slamming on the ground but backed by the energy generated from the first slam. The wave was so strong it disrupted their breathing rhythm.
Furthermore, it was not a simple energy, but a necrotic energy a zombie has affinity with.
Eric was taken aback, gritted his teeth, and cursed.
"Get away from him as much as possible!"
However, the ground was trembling violently, and they were a bit closer to the bulwark zombies. Jasper, who jumped, thinking he would be able to escape the wave in mid-air, instantly lost his footing as soon as his feet touched the ground due to the wave of the energy and the trembling.
He fell his butt to the floor, receiving the concussion wave, hitting him. It was the same to Axel, who had no choice but to sit, while enduring the concussion wave hitting him.
It muddled them, it disrupted their breathing technique, and they felt nauseous. However, the necrotic energy barely affected their state of mind. They would only mutate to zombies once they were bitten.
Eric noticed their helpless state, as he himself was not in a better condition.
At the same time, as the bulwark zombie repeatedly slamming the floor, the system issued a mission.
{Mission: Give your all. Don't let the first battle be recorded as a failure in your background as the future Emperor. Kill the Bulwark Zombie.
Reward: Evolution Crystal-Powered Water Purifier blueprint.}
Eric was taken aback, he did not expect the sudden mission by the system. However, the reward motivated him the most. He turned to Jasper and Axel, confirming they were in a helpless state.
I guess I have to do that again. I have to break past the limit.
Last Stand Resilience, one of the effects of the Heaven-grade physique he learned on his past life, was the main trigger of his berserk. Supposedly, it should only be a passive effect, not an active one.
{Last Stand Resilience – When near death, strength, speed, and awareness temporarily multiply to survive deadly encounters. Cannot be knocked unconscious or die instantly unless completely destroyed. The weaker the body, the greater the survival instinct, ensuring a dying Sage can still fight.}
However, Eric knew how to manipulate it.
His eyes suddenly turned crimson. It was the result of forcefully disrupting his blood flow. However, it was not enough for his brain to acknowledge he was in a near death experience to activate the Last Stand Resilience.
He released a flood of adrenaline, dopamine, and endorphins at near-fatal levels. He manipulated his autonomic nervous system to enter a shock-like state without actual damage. He burned his cells through extreme energy consumption. He released a burst of oxidative stress, forcing his body into emergency survival.
He shut down his regeneration deliberately, so his body believed it was at death's door.
Now, to end it, he manipulated his brainwave–controlling neurotransmitters to suppress consciousness but heighten reflexes, triggering hypoxic hallucinations, and using pain or shock to short-circuit the nervous system into a heightened state.
These effects were what made the Murim Leader call it Berserk, where Ixcahua was famous for forcibly entering that state.
Under such circumstances, the Last Stand Resilience finally activated. His strength, speed, and awareness multiplied manyfold.
At the same time, he took a stance to perform his third technique, Crescent Fang Technique.
He stared at the bulwark zombie with bloodshot eyes. As soon as the bulwark zombie stopped its ability, he disappeared and arrived behind it.