Arthur prepared himself for battle.

The creature continued to climb out of the place that should be the spot for its eternal slumber. The stone lid slid off the edge and fell to the ground. It created a dull thud.

The monster pulled itself out from the coffin with its hands holding the edge for support.

Arthur honestly got quite a shock when the monster's head surfaced. He had not seen something so ugly in his life before.

The flesh on the monster's face was decaying and as it moved, parts of it were sliding and falling. It was as if someone was playing puzzle-swap with the monster's facial features and that someone was very bad at it.

Arthur had fought quite a number of zombies before, in fact, it was because of a quest to clear away a group of zombies that allowed Arthur to start this journey.

The monster that the young man was currently facing was an upgraded version of the common zombie, a rotting zombie. In terms of appearance, it was something in between a zombie and a skeleton.

This was not only observable from the face but also from the rest of its body. Like the hand, the monster's body was devoid of water and the skin stuck close to the bone. At certain places, the flesh and skin had already decayed and fallen apart so the white skeleton underneath was exposed. The smell of decay assaulted Arthur and it made the young man scrunch up his nose involuntarily.

The zombie's body creaked noisily and it kept making this throaty sound as it struggled to get up from its coffin. It kept its eyes on Arthur like it was eyeing its dinner.

Arthur felt uncomfortable under its gaze but the young man was not afraid.

He stood his ground and gathered the power in his voice before the zombie had the chance to struggle out from the coffin. Arthur blasted the zombie with a shot of vocal materialization.

The force in Arthur's voice carried the zombie right out from the coffin and slammed it heavily against the wall. A groan elicited from the monster's throat and it sounded like a mixture of pain and anger.

The zombie picked itself up from the wall and continued on its march towards Arthur.

Arthur was impressed by the monster's insistence but the young man had no intention of sacrificing himself to become zombie food.

He launched another shot of vocal materialization and this time, he utilized the upgraded version. The shout that escaped from his lips was in the shape of a spear. The shout punctured the monster's body and the momentum from the force carried the zombie forward on its trajectory.

It impaled the zombie into the wall. The zombie waved its limbs frenziedly as it tried to struggle loose. Arthur made sure to maintain the shout until the movement of the monster's limbs started to slow down.

Finally, when the zombie stopped moving, Arthur ended the shout and the spear dissipated. Without the weapon pinning it to the wall, the zombie slid down to the ground weakly.

As the shout petered away, Arthur noticed some movements in the space above him. He lifted up to look. He believed he spotted some bats moving about in the dark. 'Looks like my suspicion that this place is devoid of life is mistaken. The loud battle has awakened the slumbering residents inside this crypt.'

Arthur studied the bats and an idea was slowly forming in his mind. His eyes followed the bats' movement even though he was unable to see them.

However, Arthur suddenly turned his head around because something that came from behind him caught his attention. It was that familiar groan.

As Arthur expected, the zombie that he presumed was already dead, was back on its feet. It teetered unevenly as it marched towards Arthur.

Arthur repeated what he did earlier and sent the zombie flying. This time, it did not take as long for the zombie to get back up. It shuffled slowly towards Arthur.

Arthur was not going to give the zombie any chance to get close to him so he shot another vocal materialization at it.

This cycle was repeated many times until the monster's body was covered with puncture wounds and its bones were snapped at several places. However, even so, the zombie was relentless. No matter how serious the injury, it always picked itself back up.

The monster's limbs were twisted at impossible angles and there were open holes on its body from Arthur's attacks but even so, it continued to drag its damaged body forward. It was not going to stop until it got its hands on the prize, which in this case, was Arthur.

It was as relentless as.. well, an undead.

Things were not looking so well on Arthur's side. The sweat beaded down his face and his throat was getting raw from all that shouting. Arthur was afraid that he might not be able to hold on any longer.

The voice pooled in Arthur's mouth and he launched another powerful shot at the monster. The zombie was lifted off its feet and careened into the wall. Arthur persisted with his assault. He amped up the power in his voice. There was a 'now or never' feeling about the whole thing.

The wall started to crack before Arthur's shout sent the zombie crashing through it. The rocks tumbled, effectively burying the zombie underneath it.

Arthur's shout slowly dwindled. The young man gasped for air as he kept his eyes on the rubble. 'That should be able to do it.'

Arthur's heart froze when he heard the movement amidst the rubble. The pebble started to topple as the zombie slowly crawled its way out. The zombie looked very much worse for wear with wounds and gashes all over its body but that did not take away from its desire to hunt down Arthur.

Arthur's face was dark. How was he going to kill something that was already dead?