Still unable to believe it, Crow tried once again. "System Command: Disable Corpse Manipulation."
Nothing, it was just the same message.
Realizing that nothing would happen no matter how much he tried, he switched his command.
"Status Window."
The familiar smoky status window once again appeared before Crow. The letters were still a mess, like someone was hacking into it. Just like before, it continued to jumble.
However, there was something different.
The third slot of his abilities was missing.
Finally, he snapped. "Oi! What's happening? Why can't I use my skill? Where's my skill?"
[Your system is undergoing a reformation. Naturally, everything else will be erased.]
"Erased?!"
The blue interface appeared before him once again, showing him the progress of the so-called reformation.
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Reforming old system... Please be patient. 38%
————————————
"Make it stop!" Crow shouted.
The voice only laughed in response to him. It seemed to be having fun watching him in misery.
[I can't. This is a necessary step for your reformation.]
'Who the hell wanted that?!'
Before he could let out another flurry of curses in frustration, the blinding pain inundated him.
————————————
You've killed someone!
Degeneration Points +100 (206/1000)
————————————
He screamed in pain.
'Those useless cockroaches!'
Another one of them just died.
[Are you awake?]
The voice once again spoke, its voice sounding amused.
Crow heaved to catch his breath, his face pale. "Why is the kill still counted on me? I'm no longer controlling those corpses!"
[Even though the skill is no longer under yours, their death was still caused by the sequence of your actions.]
'This is too unfair! I can't even stop those corpses now.'
[As we are waiting for the completion of the reformation, I will dictate to you the three rules superimposed by the system.]
Still disoriented, Crow silently listened to the system.
[Thou shall not curse, thou shall not lie, thou shall not kill, or else, thou shall die.]
These words resounded everywhere, as though if Crow ever broke them, his final destination would truly be death.
If that pain just now was the consequence of killing someone, what kind of pain would it be once he reached zero? Would he be electrocuted to death?
He definitely didn't want to turn into a charred Crow.
'That bastard Lucian will definitely laugh at me if I follow him in the afterlife within a day.'
————————————
Profanity detected!
Degeneration Points: +1 (207/1000)
————————————
Crow clicked his tongue in pain and annoyance.
Once again, he watched as the blob in the distance moved about, trying to decimate the dozens of heroes. The scary woman was trying to minimize the casualty, but there were just too many of them and the heroes were scattered all over the place.
Crow stood up, gradually regaining his strength. He glanced at the progress of the reformation at the corner of his vision.
————————————
Reforming old system... Please be patient. 41%]
————————————
***
"What's with these corpses?" One of the minor heroes said as he hacked in front of him.
His skill blade tore through the flesh and bones of the corpse, detaching two of its legs. However, it didn't seem to react in pain as it crawled toward him once again.
"They're so tough!"
Fortunately, Vesper didn't pursue Crow and had come to their rescue instead. If not, they would be quickly overwhelmed by these dead meat.
The other minor heroes watched in awe as Vesper brandished her sword. She gracefully severed multiple zombies in one slash. Several sharp and hard objects also floated and flew over the zombies that were still moving.
Only when the makeshift bullets and darts pierced through the heads of the zombies did they finally stopped moving.
"Aim for the heads!" Vesper shouted.
The others did as instructed and targeted the heads of the zombies. The attacks succeeded as a wave of zombies were annihilated. However, a few of them still managed to slip through their attacks and defenses.
These corpses bit through the flesh of the other heroes who weren't careful. Vesper instantly came to rescue them. She slashed her sword to decapitate one zombie after another with her gravitational skill supporting her.
Once done, one of the zombies' body plopped down on the ground while its head remained biting onto the flesh of one minor hero.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah," the injured hero replied in a grimace. He pried the head off of his arms.
Another hero glanced their way. "That looks nasty."
"Those with injuries, fall back for a moment. Others will cover your spot," Vesper instructed.
With that, the injured hero nodded and went into the backlines of their encirclement.
"Any healers? There's one injured here!"
"Same here!"
Vesper rejoined the battle. The encirclement tightened now that a few of them had been sent to the back while she went ahead and slashed the corpses coming their way.
These things were a bit odd. Just a few moments ago, they were banding and attacking together, but now, they seemed confused and lost. They would only attack once they saw someone.
As Vesper continued to kill off the zombies and rescue civilians along the way, not long after, she heard a loud scream coming from behind them.
Did something attack from behind?
Vesper glanced back in surprise. Just then, a scene of chaos entered her vision. The injured heroes were suddenly attacking the others, trying to bite them.
She frowned.
'Is this like a virus?'
***
When Crow arrived at the scene, the encirclement had long turned chaotic. Actually, there was no longer an encirclement. The civilians tried to run away while the heroes hesitated to launch attacks toward their former teammates.
'Ah, what a beautiful sight.'
Screams. Fear. Chaos.
[What a terrible sight...]
The voice remarked inside his mind.
Crow snorted.
Gradually, everyone had scattered all over the place.
He didn't dilly-dally any longer. Despite liking the scene before his very eyes, he had to start moving to save his own life.
And this was this damn system's fault.
————————————
Profanity detected!
Degeneration Points: +1 (208/1000)
————————————
Crow hissed in pain.