Equal to heavens : shadow monarch

The group of survivors, over a hundred meters away from the battlefield, watched with their mouths agape as Adrius moved with shadow-like speed. None of them paid attention to the fight between the blond man and his brother. Arthur, who had just managed to stabilize himself a few seconds ago and was planning to rejoin the fight, widened his eyes in disbelief when he saw the asphalt cracking and Adrius moving at an insane speed. His eyes were so wide with shock that they seemed on the verge of popping out of their sockets. It was impossible for a human body, made of flesh and blood, to endure such incredible speed. Even super sports cars need a few seconds to reach their top speed, But it seemed like Adrius could go from stillness to maximum speed in an instant. This scene made Arthur mutter to himself, "Impossible... It's impossible..."

Before Arthur could finish his sentence, Adrius slashed deeply into the left shoulder of the giant zombie. Adrius then appeared behind the zombie and muttered to himself, "Still hard to control this speed..."

Again, with the asphalt cracking, Adrius transformed into a shadowy, ghost-like being, moving so quickly that it was hard for the naked eye to follow, especially for ordinary people who weren't even Level 1. However, Arthur could see and track Adrius's movements clearly, which made him even more astonished and made the idea of such speed even harder to believe. It was completely against the laws of science—stretching and contracting muscles at such speeds should only lead to one result: muscle tears, and even worse, broken bones or ligaments. But it seemed Adrius's body defied the laws of science. Arthur had forgotten that the old world was gone, and with the arrival of mana, everything was now proceeding against the laws of logic or, more precisely, a new reality was unfolding.

This time, Adrius delivered an even deeper cut, his sword sinking halfway through the zombie's other arm. He then reappeared in his original position in front of the zombie.

The giant zombie was completely disoriented. In such a short time, before it even realized it, its opponent had managed to deal significant damage to its arms with two quick strikes. The zombie angrily raised its right arm up and down, testing the damage. This movement caused the remaining part of the bone to snap under the weight of the zombie's large hand and power of the shoulder muscles, and its arm hung limply like a piece of meat by its side.

The zombie looked at its hand in confusion, as if trying to move it again. After several failed attempts, it began screaming madly, like a wild, frantic bull, and charged toward Adrius.

During this, Adrius thought that although his speed and strength were almost on the same level, it seemed like synchronizing them still took a lot of effort. Maintaining this level of coordination was a completely new challenge for his mind, and everything didn't seem as it did in movies or anime. But then, a mysterious smile appeared on his face, and he stared at the charging giant zombie. This fool was turning out to be a perfect sparring partner to help him practice coordinating his power and speed.

The zombie used its only remaining hand to attempt a vertical strike at Adrius's head. At the last moment, Adrius dodged the attack and, as he passed under the zombie's arm, made another cut across its left side. The zombie screamed again, enraged, and with all the speed it could muster from its muscular body—speed that was considerable even compared to a normal human—it spun around toward Adrius. This time, it tried to slam its hand into Adrius's shoulder to knock him to the right and crush his shoulder.

Adrius, while moving with the zombie's hand and toward the right, increased his own speed. The zombie's movements now seemed to be in slow motion, like a scene in a movie, and this allowed Adrius to calmly react to the zombie's attacks. As he moved, he dragged the blade of his sword across the zombie's abdomen, leaving a long gash from one side to the other. While the zombie's abdominal muscles prevented its internal organs from spilling out, the wound was not severe.

Adrius and the zombie continued their "dance" for several minutes, during which Adrius focused on using both his power and speed simultaneously. The survivors, who couldn't quite follow Adrius's movements, were amazed by his speed and strength, thinking he was resisting the relentless attacks of the zombie, and silently praying for his success. After all, if Adrius failed, no one else would be able to stop the zombie and protect them—especially with Arthur being no match for it and their leader and his brother fighting another powerful zombie.

However, the scene was completely different in Arthur's eyes, making his hair stand on end, his muscular body trembling as he stared in disbelief at Adrius, who was playing with the giant zombie. He couldn't believe that the same opponent who had been thrown him several meters and had his forearm and arm broken by a single blow was now being used by Adrius as a practice dummy. Arthur could clearly see Adrius's last-second dodges, evasions, and simultaneous slashes. He even saw the terrifying smile on Adrius's face, which was full of satisfaction and pleasure. These were the actions of a man who did not view his opponent as a threat to his life.

As the number of wounds increased on the zombie's body, its strikes began to slow, and its movements became stiffer and less flexible. But with every strike, it became angrier, screaming louder.

 The zombies' advantage over other species lay in their lack of pain and their unlimited stamina, which, in exchange for losing their consciousness and personality, made them relentless. But every advantage has its flaws—lack of pain made the zombie ignore physical damage, and this was a big disadvantage when facing a smart opponent in a long battle. The opponent would gradually start cutting through the zombie's muscles, and as these wounds accumulated, the zombie would lose its ability to move. Once the zombie could no longer move, the opponent would finish it off by piercing or decapitating it.

After about five minutes of "training," Adrius created some distance between himself and the zombie. The zombie, drenched in its own blood, its severed right hand laid on the ground, and its body was covered in deep and superficial wounds. With every scream, blood splattered from its mouth. The giant zombie, which had seemed so terrifying and powerful moments ago, had now been reduced to a pitiful, weak state. It could only glare at Adrius and scream in rage.

Adrius wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and tried to steady his uneven breathing. The intense speed had drained his stamina quickly, and now only one-third of it remained. However, given the current situation, the lack of stamina wasn't that important, as the zombie's body was nearly incapacitated, and he had finally reached a satisfactory level of coordination between his mind, power, and new speed.

He muttered to himself, "Time to finish this..." and, with firm, powerful steps, moved toward the zombie, which was struggling to approach him. The zombie raised its remaining hand and clenched it into a fist, preparing for one final strike. From its eyes, it was clear that it was putting all its remaining strength into this blow. As the strike came down, Adrius took a step to the right, and with all his power and speed, drove the tip of his sword from beneath the zombie's jaw, piercing through its skull and emerging on the other side. A green substance flew out of the wound.

Adrius, moving with the same speed with which he struck, immediately pulled the sword back. The zombie's hand passed just inches from Adrius as it fell, and with its body following, it collapsed to the ground. But Adrius was already several meters away, holding the green substance that had spilled out of the zombie's skull.

[> You have absorbed *the Life Flame* of the (super-Zombie), Level 27. +13 Strength, +15 Stamina, +15 Mana, +10 Magic. <]

[> Congratulations!!! You have leveled up to Level 11. <]

[> Congratulations!!! You have leveled up to Level 12. <]

[> Congratulations!!! You have leveled up to Level 13. <]

[> Congratulations!!! You have leveled up to Level 14. <]

The system messages shocked Adrius, and he had no time to check the green substance. He glanced at the two white flames emerging from the zombie's body—one small and faint, the other large and energetic. The small flame moved toward Arthur, while the larger one entered Adrius's chest. After absorbing the zombie's *Life Flame*, three treasure crystals floated above the zombie's corpse. Adrius quickly put the three crystals and the green substance into his bag, without paying attention to Arthur. From a logical standpoint, Arthur had no claim to the spoils of this fight, as his role had been a foolish attack and a humiliating failure. However, Arthur didn't seem to want any spoils, and when Adrius glanced at him to gauge his reaction, Arthur nodded in acknowledgment and even gave him a thumbs-up with a smile.

Arthur's behavior slightly surprised Adrius. Even though he was certainly stronger than Arthur, the other two members of Arthur's group were powerful, and Adrius thought that if they wanted a share of the spoils, they would have been able to confront him. But it seemed that Arthur was more logical and humane than Adrius had expected, and his behavior made Adrius's thoughts about the new group a bit more positive. However, Adrius still didn't know much about this new group and, for the sake of his own and the girls' safety, he needed to remain cautious and not lower his guard too quickly despite this positive reaction.

He was in these thoughts when a sudden explosion brought Adrius's attention back to the battle between the blond man and his brother. Tiny ice shards and steam filled the air where they were fighting. It seemed the explosion was caused by the simultaneous collision of ice and fire, or more specifically, the intense collision of cold and heat. As the steam cleared, Adrius saw the blond man holding a crystal pyramid between his thumb and forefinger, staring at it intently. The blue pyramid reminded Adrius of the green substance, because that, too, was crystal-shaped but was diamond-shaped instead of the pyramid.

The green crystal he held, alongside the blue pyramid, made Adrius think of the novels and comic books he'd read. Quickly pulling the green crystal from his bag, he examined it carefully. It was a light green, transparent, three-dimensional diamond-shaped crystal, with no markings on it, unlike the skill or treasure crystals. Then, like with all system-related items, Adrius focused on its essence.

[> Spirit Seed (Zombie Type, basic realm). <]

The pale blue window with the educational explanation popped up on the white background.

[> ------------------

Spirit Seed is actually the existential core of every person, formed by the concentration of *Life Flame*, spirit, and mana of any intelligent entity. The beginning of the formation of a Spirit Seed depends on the purity of *the Life Flame*, the spirit, and mana of the individual, but generally, the formation begins at Level 10 and is completed at Level 15. After that, the Spirit Seed grows with the entity, located at the center of the brain, or the pineal gland. The Spirit Seed is generally used as a direct energy source, leveling up skills and treasures enhancement, engraving, and all building-related skills, but other unique methods of use can also be discovered.

Note! Educational windows can only be seen once.

------------------ <]

The levels and system-based explanations regarding treasure and skills made Adrius's mind busy, as he still didn't know how to level up his skills and treasures. However, it seemed the Akashic Record and its system had a solution for every problem, and to find it, he just needed patience, effort, and some luck. The existence of the Spirit Seed reassured him and answered one of his major questions. He was also curious about whether, at this moment, a colored crystal was forming in the center of his head?, what color it would be?, and what shape it had taken?... However, he quickly discarded these childlike thoughts and refocused on the blond man.

The blond man handed the crystal to his brother and walked over to Adrius with a friendly tone. "You're fast, stranger. Just as strong, too. But all this distrust? You didn't need to hide your abilities. We're not as bad as you think. Our people know well that if they mess with ruls, there's no second chance. They've seen what I do to the ones who wanted to be like animals. So, ease up on the distrust, hmm?"

Adrius shrugged and replied, "Better safe than sorry..."

The blond man smiled and extended his hand toward Adrius. "Severus, Severus Kent. Nice to meet you, stranger."

Adrius, after a moment of thought, gently shook Severus's hand. "Adrius Wallace, likewise, Severus."

Severus looked at the body of the super-zombie and said, "When Arthur got tossed like that, I thought you were done for... But you surprised me, you're heading for the government camp near the hall, right?"

Adrius hesitated and replied, "I was thinking about taking my family toward Buckingham... But I didn't know there was a camp around Westminster! Are you sure about this?"

Severus looked toward the large Victorian building of Westminster on the other side of the bridge by the Thames River. "Two hours ago, a green flare came from the hall, meaning it's secure. I think they've set up a camp around it for the people..."

Adrius, while carefully making his way toward the van, answered, "We'll have to see what the camp's like... If they try to disarm me, take my things, or worse, limit mine an my family's freedom... I'll have to say, it's not worth it."