Martial Online.

Chapter 433 Shark and Jellyfish

?"Come on!" Moriarty reached out to the edge of the well and pulled himself up with all his strength.

He pulled himself out of the well and fell to the solid ground with a tired look on his face.

In his hand, a silvery key gleamed in the eerie, crimson moonlight.

"Screeech!"

At that moment, blood-curdling screams sounded all around the town, frightening the players and viewers alike. The source of the screams remained unknown, but the dread still remained.

"Whew…" Ambrose looked at his bloodied hands as they were clutching the rope.

"H-hopefully this was worthwhile." Moriarty stood up and juggled the key in his hand.

"Nn." Ambrose nodded, but then heard some rapid footsteps approaching them. "Huh?"

As they both turned to look at the sound, they saw a rotting figure with its arms wailing around, rushing through a dark alleyway with blue blood splattered across its mouth as if it had just finished feasting.

"We should go indoors." Ambrose said with a hint of urgency.

Moriarty pocketed the key and pulled out his rusty knife, which was nearing its breaking point.

"Let me test something. The patch notes said that the zombies have become stronger, but just how much is what I want to know."

"…" Ambrose thought it was risky but also that it would be important to know.

Moriarty looked at the loose rope that was tied to their limbs and said, "Now that this rope is loose, it gives us more space to fight. We should've done this from the beginning."

"Mm." Ambrose agreed somewhat, as they didn't have to be right next to each other to be able to walk or run. They could now run and fight more freely.

However, there was also trouble with the rope being this loose. It would be easy to trip up and get the rope stuck on something.

The zombie ran towards Moriarty and Ambrose at blitzering speed. It was already noticeable that it was much faster than previous zombies they had encountered.

Moriarty, with the knife in hand, narrowed his eyes and analyzed the zombie's attacking pattern, which seemed quite simple.

The zombie only had one goal in mind: to devour their flesh.

Therefore, he anticipated that the zombie would try to use its mouth as its primary weapon in an attempt to eat them.

As expected, the zombie lunged forward, jaws wide open, ready to sink its teeth into its prey.

"Don't get bit, or you'll turn undead for one day!" Ambrose shouted as he backed off slightly from the fight.

"I know!" Moriarty yelled back and used his smooth footstep to circle around the zombie as its lunging attack failed to connect with its target.

Moriarty put the knife into a stabbing stance as if it were a miniature spear and thrust it towards the back of the zombie's head, aiming for its brain.

It looked like it would be a clean hit, and the threat of the zombie would end there.

But then the zombie jerked its head to the side at the last moment, narrowly avoiding the blade, and whipped its arm around, striking Moriarty in the face and sending him flying away.

"Ngh!"

Since their limbs were connected with the rope, Ambrose was also sent flying, and they both crashed into a nearby wall.

[-55 HP]

[Moriarty: HP: 45/100]

[-33 HP]

[Ambrose: HP: 49/100]

"Ngh…" Moriarty slowly climbed back to his feet and said, "I-It's definitely stronger, and since we are only level 1, there is nothing we can do!"

"Let's rush inside!" Ambrose shouted as he observed other players running through the town like headless chickens and coming under attack from the zombies.

They weren't successful in running away, and the zombies quickly caught up to them before sinking their teeth into their flesh.

Moriarty looked behind him and saw that they had crashed into the wall of one of the buildings. Its door was firmly locked, and there didn't seem to be any way to enter it.

Ambrose's face then changed shades as he saw that hundreds of glowing, blood-red eyes turned their focus towards them.

"Screeech!" The zombie, who had attacked them previously, let out another blood-curdling scream and lunged towards Ambrose with outstretched arms.

Ambrose grabbed it by its shoulders and held it back with all his strength.

"Aaargh, Moriarty, find a way inside or we'll die!"

"Shit…" Moriarty's mind and heart raced, but then he touched his pocket and pulled out a silvery key. 'Could it be?'

Clack, clack, clack!

The zombie tried to take a bite off Ambrose's mouth; its teeth were making eerie clacking sounds.

However, Ambrose let out an equally powerful shout, pumped more strength into his arm, and then punched the zombie down to the ground with a resounding thud.

But the zombie seemed unaffected as its limbs and head turned in natural angles and stood right back up.

Behind the zombie, hundreds of more began to emerge from the darkness, closing in on Ambrose.

"M-Moriarty!"

Moriarty inserted the silvery key into the door's keyhole and turned it with a satisfying click.

The door slowly opened like heavenly gates to safety, but then hands appeared from inside the building, which were trying to close the door again.

"Ngh!" Moriarty quickly grabbed the door handle and put his foot firmly against the door, preventing it from closing completely.

He then saw two players inside frantically trying to keep the door closed, wanting to trap them outside and eventually get eaten by zombies!

"You bastards, fuck off!" Moriarty pulled out his knife and stabbed into one of the players' hands, causing their hold to loosen.

Moriarty then pulled the door wide open, kicked the players out of the way, and pulled Ambrose inside before slamming the door shut and locking it.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The zombies slammed into the door but were unable to break through, as if there was some reinforcing magic protecting it.

"You bastards." Moriarty pocketed his silvery key and approached the players with a cold smile on his face. "Trying to keep us out?"

Ambrose breathed heavily and glanced at the players who were standing up from the ground. They looked nothing special, but Ambrose still felt a sense of unease.

"Yawn…" One of the players yawned.

He had sharp teeth as if he were half shark, and his hair was dyed a vibrant shade of neon green. He looked rather carefree or arrogant, depending on one's perspective.

There was a small knife wound on his hand as he was recently stabbed by Moriarty, but he treated it as nothing but a minor inconvenience.

His friend looked indifferent, with copper skin and dark brown eyes. His hair was black and neatly styled, contrasting with his dirty attire.

"Feeling sleepy?" Moriarty asked with a cold smile on his face and showed his bloodied knife. "I can help with that."

"Hah." The player with sharp teeth, named Shark, grinned menacingly, revealing rows of jagged incisors. "You should've stayed outside, little Mori Mori."

Moriarty's eyebrow twitched. "A big mistake."

"Little Mori Mori?" Ambrose glanced at him with a mix of amusement and curiosity. "Seriously, man?"

"Don't ask." Moriarty sighed. "A stupid nickname my fangirls created for me. I tried to stop them, but it's still used inside my fan community."

"So, you know Moriarty." Ambrose said to Shark and his friend, who went by the name of Jellyfish.

"I mean, who doesn't?" Shark licked his lips and laughed. "His face is often plastered on the front page of ForeverStream."

"A lot of people seem to be obsessed with you." Jellyfish pointed at Moriarty. "However, I know the face you show others is as fake as it gets. In the moment of true despair, everyone reveals their real selves."