A giant zombie (2)

"Enzo!" Rose yelled, panic evident in her voice as she saw the giant zombie's fist hurtling toward him. If he got taken down, she dreaded to think what would happen to the rest of them. After all, Enzo was the toughest of the bunch.

In a split second, Rose's two avatars leaped forward, positioning themselves between Enzo and the incoming punch. They braced themselves for the impact, determined to shield him from harm.

At the same time, Enzo's two remaining protective butterflies swiftly conjured two shields behind Rose's avatars, acting autonomously to safeguard their master.

Now that Enzo could control his butterflies however he wanted, he could have ordered them to protect him, yet he was still frozen in place, meaning that the butterflies acted on their own accord. It was a reflexive response, driven by the instinct to prioritize Enzo's survival above all else.

With a bone-crushing impact, the punch landed squarely on Rose's avatars, causing their skulls to shatter audibly. The lifeless bodies were propelled backward, crashing into the protective barrier created by the butterflies. However, the force behind the punch proved relentless, as it pressed on, not caring about the makeshift shield.

Thankfully for Enzo though, the avatars were enough to push him back, thus avoiding the punch by a hair length.

As he fell down on his butt, Enzo came back to his mind with two notifications.

[Two protective butterflies had been killed]

Enzo clicked his tongue seeing that and quickly stood up before stepping back. "Rose, keep him busy for a while!"

Enzo didn't wait for her answers as he quickly ran back from where they came. Rose was surprised by that and wanted to call him back, but decided against it as she was sure that the former will come back.

And she was right as Enzo didn't go back on his track for nothing. He quickly searched for two corpses, and it didn't take him long as they killed a lot of zombies earlier.

Once he crouched down near two corpses, he used his butterflies extraction two times, and two new butterflies came out of the dead bodies.

[You have acquired x2 low-grade Poisonous Butterflies]

[You have enough low-grade Poisonous Butterflies to fuse them into one mid-grade Poisonous Butterflies]

[Would you like to continue with the process?]

'Is it...for real?' Enzo thought to himself in disbelief. He never expected such a thing as he didn't have such skills in the first place, so he didn't know where it was coming from.

Nevertheless, it wasn't as if he was losing something, did he?

'Yes'

The five poisonous butterflies near him started to glow bright before grouping into one. It didn't take long for a new butterfly to appear. It was greater in size and its purple wings were deeper as if a poisonous fog was deep inside.

The butterfly then landed on his shoulder, and Enzo could clearly feel its weight now. While it wasn't the case before as he couldn't feel their weight, now that it almost tripled in size, it was another matter.

Nonetheless, Enzo had a big smile on his face as he couldn't help but feel happy. He even looked at his carnivorous butterflies to see if they could be upgraded as well as he had five of them, but it seems like it wasn't the case as he didn't have any notifications about it.

"Ah shoot, I need to go back to Rose." Enzo thought as he ran back the other way.

Enzo's heart raced as he sprinted back toward Rose, his mind filled with a newfound determination. The weight of the upgraded poisonous butterfly on his shoulder served as a tangible reminder of his growing strength. However, he was also concerned for Rose as he hoped that nothing happened to her.

With each step, Enzo's anticipation grew. He couldn't shake off the excitement coursing through his veins. He knew that his newly acquired power had the potential to turn the tide of the battle. Moreover, as his five low-grade poisonous butterflies changed into one mid-grade butterfly, he had four remaining spots, so he managed to have three protective butterflies and one more carnivorous butterfly.

Needless to say that he was ready to take the zombie head-on now.

As Enzo neared the scene, he could hear the clash of weapons and the deep roars of the giant zombie. Rose was holding her ground, fending off the relentless assault with determination. She glanced over her shoulder, her eyes widening in surprise as she saw Enzo racing toward her.

"Enzo, you're back!" Rose exclaimed, relief washing over her face. "What took you so long?"

Enzo didn't explain it as Rose wouldn't understand anyway. Though, the latter could see that new butterflies were accompanying him. The big one on his shoulder particularly caught her eyes as it was mysteriously pretty. And seeing that, she couldn't help but feel a surge of hope, realizing that they now had an even greater chance at victory.

"I'm glad you came back," Rose said, a mix of gratitude and determination in her voice. She was extremely tired as the continuous use of her avatars drained her energy a lot. So much as they started to disappear.

Enzo could see it as well and looked toward the towering figure of the giant zombie, its movements slow but relentless. With his new butterfly, he knew that things looked brighter than before

"Let me finish this," Enzo declared, gripping his twin blades tightly. He focused his gaze on the weak spot he had made earlier: the dent in the zombie's armor. It was their best chance at dealing significant damage.

However, right before rushing toward the zombie, the purple butterfly landed on his dagger and started to release something. Strangely enough, Enzo knew immediately what it was: Toxin. The butterfly released so much of it that his dagger turned completely purple, full of poison. 'The dagger could already poison. And with that, I'm sure it won't last long.'