Saki walked up the stairs onto the roof of the modern mansion. Without hesitation she shattered the skylight with the hilt of her blade and dropped cleanly into the living room below, landing in a low crouch as shards of glass rained down around her.
The alarm immediately went off, a shrill mechanical wail that echoed through the house.
Saki checked the bloodlust bar and saw that it was ninety percent full. "Well at least I'm alone and no one can get hurt," Saki said with a sigh, rolling her shoulders as the sound continued to blare.
The alarm drew in the zombies.
Saki watched from the center of the living room as they gathered in front of the glass patio door. First there was five. Then ten. Then twenty. Their numbers kept increasing, shadows stacking behind the smeared glass as dead hands pressed eagerly against it.
She pulled out Karasu and got ready.
The moment the glass gave way with an explosive crash, Saki rushed ahead into the horde, slicing and dicing rotted flesh. Her blade flashed in wide arcs, carving through necks and torsos, splitting bone and tendon as the undead lurched toward her.
Once she had cut through about ten of them, her bloodlust bar had hit maximum.
Without warning she let out a loud roar as she blacked out.
Her eyes turned glowing red, her pupils swallowed by crimson light and her hair turned white. In a burst of unnatural velocity she dashed through the zombies, leaving a trail of dismembered limbs and spraying blood in her wake.
She turned around and ran toward the remaining zombies, becoming a storm of death as she tore through them all. Bodies were cleaved apart before they even finished falling. Walls were painted in streaks of red. The air filled with the wet thud of collapsing corpses.
She then ran all over the mansion, attacking and destroying anything that moved. Doors were split in half. Stragglers were reduced to pieces. The house echoed with her feral roars until there was nothing left to answer them.
Only after running out of targets did she finally calm down and revert to normal.
Her eyes faded back to their natural color. Her hair darkened. The roar died in her throat.
Catching her breath, chest rising and falling sharply, she wiped the blood and viscera off her face and out of her hair with trembling fingers.
"Jesus no wonder so many of the baneful die before they hit old age that was horrible I wasn't in control at all," Saki said hoarsely as she steadied herself against a wall, her pulse still hammering in her ears.
As the alarm continued to screech uselessly into the empty house, she saw a notification flicker into view.
Berserk has leveled from 1 to 10
Two handed has leveled from 1 to 30
Energy manipulation has leveled from 1 to 5
You have reached level 6
"Holy hell, that brief blackout got me nine levels in berserk. Need to do that more often. Just need to find areas with no people and lots of zombies," Saki said, eyes wide with disbelief and a grin tugging at her lips as she opened the level up menu.
She raised her health, magic, and stamina by ten points each, watching the numbers climb. She got the first perk for berserk, which unfortunately raised bloodlust accumulation, but she had reasons for this.
Next she put a point into enhanced strength, which changed it to superhuman strength.
Then she put a point into two handed swordsmanship, which increased her damage and precision when using a two handed weapon.
Finally she looked at energy manipulation and said, tilting her head slightly, "Did I use it unconsciously while in my berserk state? Oh well, I'll raise it."
She put a point into it and became able to infuse her body and weapons with energy.
She tried it out immediately, cloaking her fist in a dark red energy that crackled and pulsed around her hand. The glow wrapped around her knuckles and crawled up her forearm. With a sharp exhale she thrust her fist into the ground, making a small crater spiderweb beneath her hand.
Checking her magic bar, she saw it dip a little, then slowly fill back up.
"Huh, so magic refills about as fast as it does in Skyrim. That's pretty cool. I'll have to figure out how to speed it up later. Might help to go to a world where I can learn some actual magic," Saki mused to herself, brushing dust off her sleeve.
Satisfied with her new abilities, she walked back into the Goat Pen, slammed her fist into the alarm panel, and shut it off with a metallic crunch.
Then she raided the wine cellar, dropping every unbroken full bottle into her inventory. She looked around until she found the cigars Curtis wanted, carefully adding them as well.
After that she searched for anything else she could use, taking all the snacks, alcohol, sodas, and energy drinks she could find.
She found a wall safe, which she ripped open with brute force, metal groaning in protest. Inside were stacks of money and some jewelry, all of which she dropped into her inventory. She watched her cash rise from $0 to $50,000.
"Who the hell just keeps fifty grand in their home? Whatever. At least I'm not broke anymore," Saki said with a shrug.
As she started leaving the building, she stepped outside to see the sun setting, the sky bleeding orange and red across the horizon.
As she began to walk back toward Emma's place, she heard an explosion on the roof behind her.
She looked back to see a woman throwing Molotov cocktails down on zombies, flames blooming across the rooftop.
Saki rushed up the stairs. "Hey, what the hell are you doing?" Saki shouted up to the woman, shading her eyes from the firelight.
"I'm becoming internet famous girl. Help me out a bit. Name's Amanda, and I want to some make videos to show the world the truth," Amanda said, grinning wildly.
"So how about you let me film you taking out some zombies?" Amanda asked eagerly.
"If I do, will you follow me back to Emma Jaunt's place?" Saki asked back.
"Sure, no problem. New bestie, let's do this!" Amanda shouted in enthusiasm, practically bouncing on her heels.
Amanda started a stereo and cranked up the volume, the music blasting all over the property. A horde started forming and making its way toward them, drawn in by the noise.
"Alright bestie, first off let's get some footage of you giving these guys some air time. Toss them off the roof!" Amanda shouted cheerfully, already angling her camera.
Saki sighed and sheathed Karasu. "I needed to level martial arts anyway," Saki said, cracking her knuckles as she stepped forward.
The first set of runners came after her.
As soon as one got close, she grabbed it and tossed it over the edge of the roof, sending it plummeting to its doom.
She tripped the second runner, making it slide across the ground and over the side.
She backed up to the edge, and when the third one got close she smirked and side stepped, making it grab empty air as it ran right off.
She spun behind the fourth and kicked it over.
The fifth grabbed her from behind and she flipped it over her shoulder and into the night sky to join the others.
"Okay damn that was cool, but I think we can do better. Let's try burning these jerks. Lure them close to me, bestie," Amanda said, already lighting some Molotovs, her eyes gleaming with excitement.
Saki lured the walkers close to Amanda and watched as she rained fiery death from above, tossing Molotovs down on the encroaching horde. Flames spread across the roof, zombies stumbling through fire as smoke curled into the darkening sky.
After a while, Saki hopped up and sat with Amanda and relaxed while she took over for a bit, folding her arms and watching the chaos unfold below.
"All right, all that's left is to film you fighting the big one," Amanda said, carefully adjusting the camera, her fingers fine-tuning the focus as a grin tugged at her lips.
"The big one?" Saki asked, brows lifting as she followed Amanda's line of sight. Her expression shifted when she looked up and saw an incredibly tall zombie with bulging muscles looming at the edge of the roof.
"Oh, I almost completely forgot about Crushers. Guess mutants are finally starting to show up," Saki said, exhaling through her nose as she dropped down from her perch to face the behemoth head-on.
As she approached, the Crusher roared and slowly lumbered over to her with heavy steps. Saki drove her fist into its face with a sharp, cracking impact, making it stumble backward a bit. A split second later, it punched her back with brutal force, sending her flying across the roof and skidding hard against the ground.
Saki groaned, wincing as she pushed herself up on one elbow and saw a chunk disappear from her health bar. "Oh shit, that actually hurt. That's my bad. I got too used to walkers and runners. Shouldn't have held back."
She got to her feet, jaw tightening, and walked straight back over to the Crusher without hesitation. She caught its massive fist as it swung at her again, shoes scraping against the rooftop as she dug in her heels. With a cruel, smile on her face, she twisted its arm until she heard a the snap.
The Crusher roared in pain, thrashing wildly. Saki kicked its knee shattering it and causing the giant to kneel with a thud. Stepping in close, she grabbed the top of its head and started punching its face again and again until she was holding something that resembled a bloody, smashed meat pumpkin.
She dropped the Crusher's ruined body to the rooftop and dusted her hands off and lifting her gaze as she saw a notification flicker into view.
Tsubaki style mortal combat has leveled from 1 to 5
Superhuman strength has leveled from 10 to 15
Enhanced endurance has leveled from 1 to 3
You've reached level 7
"I'll deal with that later. It's time to get Amanda and head home," Saki said tiredly, rubbing the back of her neck as fatigue finally caught up with her. Even if her physical stamina refilled automatically, mental drain was still a thing unfortunately. She needed sleep.
After a bit of walking, Saki and Amanda arrived at Emma's street and found a large, in progress wall blocking off most of it. Saki had expected some shoddy, put together last minute piece of crap. Instead she found decent solid walls made of sturdy block and concrete sealing off the streets, leaving only one way in and out. The structure looked almost professional.
Ahead, she saw Sam guarding Carlos and a couple other guys as they welded manhole covers shut permanently, bright sparks bursting and scattering across the pavement.
As she and Amanda approached she heard, "Damn girl, I don't even gotta ask how many you killed to know you won. That's way too much blood for five or six of them," Sam said in surprise, lowering his weapon slightly as he took in the sight of her.
[Murder,Death,Kill Complete]
Reward:Sam's One Hit Wonder
"Yeah, well, I made it to the Goat Pen and brought back some goodies," Saki said, gesturing casually to the bag slung over her shoulder.
The bag was a decoy. She reached into it and pulled some beers out of her inventory and tossed them to Sam and the other guys.
"Aw hell yeah. There more?" Sam asked eagerly, already cracking his open, foam fizzing at the rim.
"Yep, I'll lay it all out inside," Saki replied, jerking her thumb toward the house as she headed in.
As soon as they entered, Amanda flopped down on the couch. But before Saki could even consider sitting, Andrea grabbed her by the back of her shirt and started pulling her toward the gym showers with surprising strength.
"You are filthy. Get in the shower. I'll wash your clothes," Andrea said in a huff, wrinkling her nose at the dried blood crusted along Saki's sleeves.
A few minutes later, Saki stood under the spray, letting hot water drum against her shoulders as blood and grime spiraled down the drain in reddish rivulets. She pushed wet hair out of her face and stared at herself in the fogged mirror.
"Am I a pervert for liking my own body? Oh well, questions for later," Saki mused out loud.
"Oh no, you're definitely a bit perverted for being attracted to yourself, love," said a chuckling voice from behind her.
Saki turned around to see Dani leaning against the doorway, arms crossed, enjoying herself.
"Says the woman watching me shower," Saki shot back accusingly, water dripping off her.
Dani rolled her eyes and scoffed lightly. "Oh please. Get a few more years on you and I might be interested. Even if it is the bloody apocalypse, I ain't into jailbait. I brought you some clean clothes."
Saki pouted but didn't argue, turning back to the water as Dani left. Once she was alone again, she opened her map. The holographic display flickered to life, and she noted with quiet satisfaction that Hell-A was now marked as an E Minus grade.
"Well, in the original story Bel-Air didn't get fortified, so maybe I'm on the right track," Saki said thoughtfully as she dried off and put on what was to her horror pink bunny pajamas.
"Daniiiii!!!!!!!" Saki screamed, staring at the pastel horror clinging to her.
A loud laugh was the only response she got.
(Author's Note:Sorry for not delivering on the mass release I got distracted by RE 9 but it did cement my decision to do some long resident evil volumes later also next chapter is already half way done )