Chapter 499 - 426: Seeing the Warhorse Again
Chapter 499: Chapter 426: Seeing the Warhorse Again
The Golden Crow landed directly on the mountain behind the old horse farm, carrying two adults and one child.
This mountain wasn’t particularly tall, but it was the highest point in all of Janton.
As they looked down from the sky, they saw that Janton was devoid of human life. The roads, residential areas, and commercial streets were all swarming with zombies.
The sheer density of them was a spectacle, rivaling a bustling marketplace.
Yet this mountain was like Janton’s only sanctuary, untouched by any zombies or undead life.
The Golden Crow’s arrival quickly drew the attention of the mountain’s dominant lifeform: a magnificent, enormous horse.
It seemed to recognize Flora Bloom but was extremely wary of the Golden Crow and Lex Cross at her side. Especially the Golden Crow.
Perhaps it was the natural instinct for high-level lifeforms to challenge one another, for it snorted at the Golden Crow and stomped its forehooves.
"Hey, he’s one of us! No, wait, one of our birds!"
After hearing Flora Bloom’s words, the giant black horse hesitated for a moment but remained full of hostility toward the Golden Crow.
"You still recognize me, don’t you? Huh?" Flora Bloom waved at it, motioning for it to come closer.
But it only stomped its forehooves in place, gave Flora Bloom a humanlike nod, and turned as if to leave.
However, it only took two steps before turning its head back, signaling for Flora Bloom to follow.
Lex Cross walked slowly beside Flora Bloom. As they drew near, the horse stopped, sniffed Lex, and then unexpectedly nuzzled his arm.
"Wow, it seems to be really interested in you!
"By the way, Shadow, have you all been doing okay while I was gone?" Flora Bloom asked, stroking the dark mane on the black horse’s neck.
This Shadow looked even larger and much more robust than before. When her hand touched its spine, she felt a searing sensation, and she curiously touched it again.
’Wings?’
As if sensing her confusion, Shadow charged forward a few steps and then abruptly launched into the air. It circled a few times at high speed before landing again and resuming its walk beside them.
"You actually evolved wings! That’s so cool!"
Lex Cross’s expression was profound. "Earth is truly something else. To think it could produce such a superb warhorse through evolution.
"Flora, Earth is without a doubt an extraordinary, high-level life-sphere. In the future, all sorts of lifeforms you could never imagine will emerge here through evolution."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
Lex Cross frowned. "Of course it’s good! The energy released when new life emerges slows the formation of spatial rifts."
Flora Bloom’s eyes lit up. "Does that mean as long as Earth continues to develop and evolve, it might not shatter and be annihilated?"
But seeing Lex Cross’s still-solemn expression, she knew she was about to be disappointed.
"No. While it might slow the pace of Earth’s collapse and annihilation, its life level is too high. Ordinary spatio-temporal stabilizers clearly won’t have any effect on it."
Hearing this, the hint of joy on Flora Bloom’s face vanished, replaced by a deathly pallor. ’There has to be a way!’
The two followed Shadow deeper into the mountains. Suddenly, a hurricane-force wind whipped through the air. The entire mountain rippled with Wind Element energy, swirling through the trees and vegetation, kicking up flowers and blades of grass.
"NEIGH!" A whinny echoed from deep within the mountains. Shadow anxiously spread its wings and shot off at top speed toward the sound.
"Golden Crow, hurry, follow him!"
The Golden Crow swooped low beside them. With incredible coordination, Flora Bloom and Lex Cross leaped onto its back, and it flew off with equal speed into the mountains.
In the air not far away, another completely black horse with wings brimming with Death Energy faced off against Shadow.
Two massive cyclones of wind raged between them, clashing and weakening one another.
"A High-level zombie horse?" Flora Bloom grimaced, her expression souring as she looked at the horse steeped in Death Energy.
"Shadow, don’t be hostile toward the Golden Crow! Let it help you fight!"
The Golden Crow tried to approach with its two riders. Seeing the Golden Crow, the horse filled with black Death Energy seemed to grow fearful and began to back away.
Below them was the cave where the horse herd lived. Flora Bloom had been inside before and had even left them a good amount of Space Spirit Water.
Just then, an extremely faint whimper rose from below. It sounded just like the cry of a newborn animal.
At this sound, the black Death Energy around the zombie horse flared violently, and it spread its wings like two black whirlwinds.
"That’s the zombie horse we ran into in the sky earlier!"
Seeing its opponent about to dive, Shadow spread its wings and instantly appeared in front of it. With a lift of its forehooves, it sent a volley of Wind Blades slashing toward the zombie horse.
The zombie horse was instinctively afraid of the approaching Golden Crow, but whatever was in the cave seemed to hold an even stronger allure.
The Golden Crow carried its riders forward, wanting to help, but as they drew near, Shadow once again let out a warning snort in the Golden Crow’s direction.
"Don’t let the Golden Crow get any closer! A warhorse’s pride cannot be challenged!"
Flora Bloom grew anxious.
She could feel the Life Force of the small, whimpering creature below weakening rapidly.
"Then what should we do?"
"Let me handle it!"
A dense black energy overflowed from Lex Cross, a stark contrast to the zombie horse’s Death Energy.
Lex Cross suddenly vanished from Flora Bloom’s side and reappeared on Shadow’s back.
How could Shadow, a creature capable of fighting a High-level zombie horse, tolerate being ridden by a stranger? It bucked, lifting its forehooves, and performed sharp, evasive circles in the air, but it couldn’t throw Lex Cross off.
"Shadow, let him help you defeat this zombie horse! I’ll go check on the situation in the cave for you, how about that?"
The will to fight surged in Shadow’s eyes, but the sounds from the cave also made it desperately anxious.
"Flora, you go check! Leave this to me!"
Flora Bloom naturally trusted Lex Cross! Back when they met in Varden Village, he had been able to defeat a Level 3 zombie ox as just a low-level, Second-level Superpower User.
Now that his power had mostly recovered, how could he possibly fail to handle this High-level zombie horse?
The only issue was the High-level zombie horse’s aerial advantage. If Shadow cooperated, the man and horse duo would have nothing to fear.
But Shadow seemed extremely resistant to Lex Cross.
Flora Bloom had the Golden Crow land her at the entrance to the cave.
As soon as she stepped inside, Flora Bloom was hit by the stench of blood and putrid, rotting flesh that filled the cave.
Polly, nestled against her chest, curiously opened her eyes to take in the scene. Far from being made to cry by the foul odor, she waved her restless little hands, urging Flora Bloom to go further inside.
Shadow naturally knew Flora Bloom wouldn’t harm its kin in the cave, so it didn’t react aggressively to her approach. It just cast one more uneasy glance at the Golden Crow. Only after confirming that the bird hadn’t entered the cave did it relax and resume its struggle against the powerful human on its back.
Flora Bloom entered the cave with little Polly. The scene before her was not just startling; it was heartbreaking.
The entire cave was filled with grievously injured horses. Some were already dead; others, too wounded to stand, lay among the corpses, making it difficult to tell at a glance which were living and which were dead.
After Flora Bloom’s arrival, the tender "whimper" sounded again. Polly, nestled in her arms, seemed to love the sound and was very curious about it, turning her little head back and forth, trying to see where it was coming from.