The three of them continued on. Whenever they came across a cannibal patrol, Levi and Isa swiftly dispatched them. Levi added the lucky ones to the small army shambling behind them. By the time the cannibal village appeared through the forest, there were at least fifteen zombie cannibals following along after them.

  Levi paused. He turned back. “Okay, here’s how it’s going to go. Zombies! Scatter.”

  The zombies groaned. They wandered off, shuffling through the forest.

  Levi gestured to the other two as he backed into a cluster of bushes. Isa and Colin joined him in the leafy hiding spot.

  “We’re going to chill here until the zombies encircle the village, mostly focusing on the far side—that is, the furthest edge of the village,” Levi clarified.

  “Thank you. I didn’t understand the first time,” Isa deadpanned.

  Levi nodded. He gave her a friendly wink. “Glad I could help. Once the zombies finish encircling it, they charge, driving the cannibals out of their fortified village and toward us. We jump out, take heads, suck ‘em dry, whatever makes you happy. Our goal isn’t to kill them all. We’re decimating, literally. One in ten. If we can do better, that’s bonus points. I’d be happy with killing one in nine, eight, whatever, but one in ten is good enough.

  “Once the panic wears off, we hoof it. No point sticking around to fight on even footing. We take what kills we can get, then vanish. We’ve got days. Weeks, even. Wash, rinse, repeat, until there’s no more cannibals left.” He looked at Isa and Colin. “Yeah?”

  Colin raised his hand. “Didn’t Isa say they respawn?”

  “Good point. Isa?” Levi turned to her.

  “They won’t respawn that quickly. It’s a weeks- or months-scale process.”

  “Excellent. Any more questions?”

  Colin shrugged. Isa raised her hand.

  He pointed. “Yes, Isa!”

  “Why wouldn’t you tell me this plan of yours earlier? Why that disgusting display with the bread?”

  Beaming, Levi nodded. “Great question, Isa. Easy. That’s because I hadn’t thought of it yet.”

  Isa blinked, then shook her head. “You… what?”

  “Well, I didn’t have all my zombies yet. I didn’t know what tools I’d have. I couldn’t know what plan I’d have before I had all my tools,” he explained.

  “So you were just gathering zombies because…?”

  “Killing people gives me EXP and mana, and also, raising zombies gives me EXP, and also, it seemed like a good idea. And I was right! Look at this great plan I came up with. But I didn’t want you losing faith in the process before the process completed, so I had to improvise a little to buy time to figure out my plan. Also, I can rez more zombies now! I found that out just now, too. Looks like fifteen-or-so, so maybe level over two? I’m not maxed out yet, but I’m close.” He clapped, then spread his hands and looked back and forth. “Soooo… any more questions?”

  Isa shook her head. “None that I want answered.”

  Colin just gave him a thumbs-up.

  Levi nodded. “Excellent. Give them a few more minutes to get into place, and we’ll roll out.”

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  Turning, he crept closer. Leaping from one set of bushes to another, he snuck toward the town. With every leap, he got a better angle on the central square they’d been attacked in the previous day. From the outside, it was obviously not a gathering place, but instead a defensible holding. Spiked walls pointed inward. Makeshift blockades closed off the alleys between houses. He’d missed it all in the dark, but now that it was day, it almost looked like a tower defense game, as if these people had been preparing for waves of adventurers for years.

  “And why wouldn’t they? Cannibal’s gotta eat,” he muttered to himself, eyeing the giant oven. It was closed once more, and smoke issued from its grates. It seemed like a huge waste to keep it running all the time, but what did he know? Maybe they used it for hot water, cooking ordinary food, and central heating, or something. Or maybe the adventurers were such a threat that, even with potentially years between waves, it was worthwhile to keep the oven running.

  He tipped his head, nodding at that thought. After all, he was going to kill all of them. If one adventurer was potentially an extinction-level threat, and he was the one trying to defend the town, he’d keep that sucker running, too.

  “I’d slap some locks on it, while I was at it,” he mused, eyeing the giant iron door. It was heavy enough to not need it, but then, that just meant that it was the strongest adventurers who broke through. If he could pump that strength check up, and allow even fewer adventurers through, he’d do it.

  Then again, who knew how aware the cannibals were? They were aware enough to organize guards and bake bread, but they didn’t really seem to speak. He didn’t know if they’d lost the mental capacity for language, or had simply had their vocal cords ripped out, but the effect was the same. For just a moment, he pinched his chin. If they were capable of language, but silenced, and intelligent enough for farming and baking, not to mention the ingenious oven trap, did that mean he was just killing people?

  “No, no. People that eat people still deserve to die,” Levi said firmly.

  “What?” Colin asked, sneaking up beside him.

  He glanced over. “I was just having a crisis of morals.”

  “You?” Colin stared, shocked.

  “Well… crisis is a strong word. More like, I was gauging whether I should feel guilty or not, but even if the verdict came up ‘yes,’ I was going to declare it a mistrial and throw out the results. After all, it’s not like I haven’t killed people.”

  “O-oh,” Colin said.

  “But don’t worry! I decided it’s morally right to kill cannibals, so we’re all okay.” Levi grinned and gave him a thumbs up.

  Colin nodded. He started to give Levi a thumbs-up in response, then hesitated, unsure if he was supposed to or not.

  Shouting sounded from the village. Villagers ran forth, grabbing up their weapons. Levi frowned. He leaned forward, then hesitated. “Huh?”

  Isa appeared beside Colin and Levi, squeezing into their bush. “Is that the signal?”

  “No, my guys are still getting into place,” Levi said, frowning. He glanced at Colin. “Did you—”

  Colin put his hands up. “What could I even do?”

  “No… I don’t know.” He shrugged at Isa. “Something unrelated to us, maybe? False alarm? Or maybe a drill?”

  “I don’t like maybes,” Isa murmured. She narrowed her eyes at the townsfolk. Crouched in the bushes as she was, one hand lightly pressed on the earth, she looked even more catlike than ever before.

  “Yeah, me either. But whatever this is, it isn’t me. None of my zombies have met the enemy. Or at least, none of them have died, or shown any sign of meeting violence,” he amended. He pursed his lips. His eyes darted to the iron door.

  Isa followed his gaze. She raised her brows. “Thinking of your fellow Champion?”

  “Little as I want to, yeah,” Levi admitted.

  The townsfolk gathered in the square, forming a semicircle, the same as they had when Levi and his group had arrived. They clutched weapons, waiting, eyes bright with hope and hunger. One licked his lips. Like children waiting for Christmas morning, they fidgeted, watching the oven with keen anticipation.

  THUMP.

  “Uh-oh,” Levi muttered.

  THUMP.

  “Alright, change of plans. When the townsfolk jump Kai, we jump the townsfolk. They won’t be expecting an attack from behind, and they’ll also be preoccupied with Kai. It’s not as good as a totally out-of-the-blue attack, but it’s better than nothing,” Levi said.

  “We could just retreat and come back another day,” Colin suggested.

  Levi scoffed. “And give Kai all my EXP? I don’t think so. No. Just wait for my signal. Isa, if you can fly Colin somewhere secure—”

  “No.”

  “No?”

  “I’m hungry,” she said, watching the cannibals with much the same light in their eyes as they stared at the oven, all of them waiting for a treat they knew would come.

  Levi pursed his lips, then shrugged. “Sure. Colin, you’re on your own. Stay alive.”

  “Got it. I’ll stay right here until they find me,” he pledged.

  “Good plan.”

  THUMP! The oven door flew open. Kai blasted out, a shadow at his heels.

  Levi stared. “No way.”

  Isa laughed. “There it is.”

  The cannibals shouted and charged in. Kai unsheathed a greatsword, his expression grim.