Zombie Queen transmigration into a book-Chapter 142: Argh! What bit me?

In the wee hours of the morning, the sky was still dark, but the five sleeping figures stirred, their eyes clear and alert—showing that although they rested, they hadn’t let down their guard enough to sleep deeply.

Yawning, they rose to their feet, then froze, staring down at their bodies in surprise and confusion.

Daniel and the others could feel noticeable changes in themselves.

"Is it just me, or does my body feel lighter?" Daniel asked as he threw a quick punch in the air, nodding in satisfaction at the strength of his punch.

"I feel refreshed and like I could carry a boulder," Adrian responded as he did a full body stretch before teleporting back and forth using the tear in space that he created.

Alex had a thoughtful expression as he looked at the discarded pig bones on the ground. It was the only thing they ate last night.

"Maybe it’s the meat we ate yesterday." He shared his thoughts with the others, and they all looked toward the bone in unison, clutching their space rings—containing the remaining meat—tightly to their chests, fearing it might be stolen.

"Daniel, you should really thank me. If I didn’t annoy you, we wouldn’t have noticed such a good thing!" Marvin exclaimed, his broad, smug smile nearly splitting his lips.

Daniel, who had been testing the boundless energy coursing through him by punching the tree, froze. He turned with a frown, only to be irritated by Marvin’s smug smile.

Then an idea struck him. What better way to test my strength than on the perfect target right in front of me? As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he crafted a flaming arrow and shot it at Marvin with perfect aim, without hesitation.

Marvin’s smile froze on his face, and he dodged quickly while countering with a wind blade of his own.

Fire and wind clashed with a sharp sizzle, then scattered, the rest dodging out of the way as tiny flames ignited the trees, and the wind fanning them to burn faster.

"You idiots! Do you want to burn us to death before you stop your mindless fight?!" Adrian yelled, the veins on his neck bulging with fury as he dragged the paced out Cole of harm’s way.

Alex sighed like an old man who had seen the walks of life. There was no use trying to reason with Daniel and Marvin; it was completely pointless.

After twenty minutes of separating them, they would inevitably argue or fight, leaving only Adrian with hope of ever correcting their childish behaviour.

Chaos broke out around them—burning branches fell from the trees, and the grass beneath their feet was aflame. Adrian snapped Cole out of his daze, urging him to use his water ability to put out the fire.

⸙⸙⸙⸙

On the other side of the forest, an unnerving mass of snakes slithered across the dome.

Ethan sensed the ice dome cracking beneath him and moved closer to the edge, signaling for Aaron to open it just enough for a clearer view of whatever was attacking them.

Aaron nodded and made a small hole in his dome. Luckily, Ethan’s ice covered his own dome, or the snakes would have crawled inside immediately.

Ethan broke out in goosebumps at the sight of the dense, crawling snakes. Aaron was curious as well and peeked out, only to suck in a cold breath at what he saw—then widened the opening into a full entrance for Ethan to step out and check the situation of his ice dome.

Ethan’s brow furrowed tightly when he noticed the snakes covering the top, using their venom to melt the ice. "How deadly is their venom?" Ethan wondered aloud as he began reinforcing the dome.

Aaron followed his line of sight and cringed in disgust at the thought of snakes dropping from above.

"Damn!" Eva swore, startling Aaron and Ethan; they hadn’t realized she had arrived.

She rubbed the goosebumps on her hand and stared wide-eyed at the creatures writhing in the dark. "We need to start killing them. They’re already breaking in." Eva suggested and pointed to the corner where a few snakes were trying to crawl in.

Ethan’s expression grew serious when he noticed the ice he reinforced was melting easily, and the snakes seemed to reach an unknown agreement, as cracks in the fallen ice began to fall to the ground as the snakes forced their way in.

"Check if anyone can use flames, Aaron and I will handle the snakes while you keep watch over everyone!" Ethan instructed amid the harsh hissing sounds.

Eva nodded and rushed back in, while Aaron patted his crow to signal it to join the fight.

"If you’re a fire user, step forward!" Eva’s shout spread across the crowd, and they broke out into loud whispers, with some hesitating to come forward.

"I thought they were here to protect us while we build the stronghold."

"Even if I’m a fire user, I wouldn’t come out. The monsters here are too vicious."

"I saw you using flames the other day. Why don’t you go out?" A man nudged the woman beside him, but she ignored him. The woman hid herself in the crowd, unwilling to step out.

Eva noticed their evasive gazes and let out a mocking laugh, her eyes flashing with disappointment. The feeling faded quickly—after witnessing humanity’s darkest side as a zombie, their refusal to help seemed almost... cute in comparison.

"I-I can use fire...but my level is low." A stuttering voice echoed from the crowd, and everyone’s gaze fixed on the lanky man, who huddled into himself under the weight of all the prying stares.

Only the man was brave enough to step out from among the seven fire users hiding in the crowd.

"Follow me." Eva waved and sprinted toward the open entrance. There was no time to waste on these people. ’I need to find a place to dump these burdens,’ she thought to herself.

If they weren’t important to her mother’s plans, she wouldn’t bother protecting them and would let the snakes bite those selfish people to death.

Ethan was in the midst of freezing the snakes that had fallen in when he caught sight of her green hair. A flash of surprise crossed his eyes—but he wasn’t disappointed. He hadn’t set his expectations high and had been prepared to see no one at all.

"Burn any snake that slips past us," Ethan instructed, waving his hand to freeze another batch while simultaneously sealing the dome’s opening. His movements were smooth and effortless.

The man looked with envy at Ethan’s precise use of his powers, unlike his own. "So, this is the power of a dungeon conqueror," he whispered to himself, nodding with a serious expression, showing he heard Ethan’s instructions.

Aaron was responsible for guarding the other end of the dome, using his shadows to crush the snakes while yelling for Ethan to seal the cracks again.

The snakes were much easier to kill, but their numbers seemed endless, far more than the scorpions that had attacked them earlier.

Eva wiped the sweat from her face, struggling to control the water that kept spilling out every time she tried to use her energy powers to kill the snakes.

Three snakes slipped past her notice and slithered in. The crowd, unguarded and too relaxed with Eva and the others protecting them, didn’t notice.

The snakes slithered in every direction, one brushing against a man’s ankle. The brown-haired man frowned and looked down, but the black dome covering the ground hid the snake’s tail rushing past, so he didn’t notice.

He rubbed his ankle, shaking off the cold sensation he felt, assuming it was just someone’s clothes brushing past him, until a scream ripped through the air.

"Argh! What bit me?" a woman cried, clutching her leg and hopping on one foot. Those nearby saw the bleeding bite mark—and her skin was already turning green at an alarming rate.

"Snake!" someone shouted, sending everyone into a panic as they scattered, eyes wide with fear, searching frantically around them.

The woman who had been bitten felt the world tilt and blur. She collapsed with a heavy thud, foam gathering at the corner of her lips as her body went still.

The scene terrified everyone. They frantically scrambled, screaming every time something brushed past them, convinced it was a snake.

The real snakes, excited by the panic, grew bolder—sinking their fangs into any ankle they could reach.

Eva paused when she heard screams from inside; her heart sank, and she hurried in, her eyes scanning the chaotic scene.

People shoved each other as they rushed toward what seemed safer. Eva’s first thought was of Julian, and fury burst through her when she saw a few people trying to shove Blaine aside to get onto the bed where Julian was sleeping.

The air around Eva went still as a green glow swept through the room. Everyone collapsed with a collective thud, and the snakes flipped belly-up, their energy drained in an instant.

Eva ignored them and rushed to Julian, about to breathe a sigh of relief when she noticed a bite mark on his ankle.