Necrocide

Chapter 81

Aaron and Bloodletter glared at their enemy, their mouths gaping wide open. Schaefer was now just as indestructible as they were. Given the fact he survived getting impaled through the brain, he might actually be more superior than the two of them.

"You had Ambrosia in you all along," Aaron said.

"Yes, sir," Schaefer said as he watched the flesh grow back on his new arm. "Injected it into my bloodstream as soon as I left the lab. I know I've made plenty of mistakes, but luckily this one was surprisingly easy to fix. Just had to correct a few errors in the code to eradicate the bot's parasitic nature and voilà. I'm the most powerful man in the world now."

"I knew you'd admit it eventually," Aaron said. "And now that I think about it, that explains why Commoner Deadmen never attack you. You're basically one of us."

Schaefer burst out laughing. "One of you? I'm more superior than either of you could even imagine! Charismatic, intelligent, and undetected by the main enemy of humanity, I'm everything all men wish they could be."

"Because every man wants to be a megalomaniac with a dead family," Bloodletter added coldly.

Schaefer's cocky grin transformed into anger. "That was your doing. If Tabitha and Edgar were still alive today, I might've actually gone soft."

"I didn't do anything to your wife," Bloodletter replied. "Trust me, it was tempting after what you did to Sarah, but unlike you, I know how to set limits. In fact, I thought it would be fun seeing you be the cause of your own self-destruction."

Schaefer pulled out his machete and held it beside him.

"Here we go again," Aaron spoke. "Colonel Troy Schaefer erasing evidence of his crimes rather than confessing to them."

"You're right, lad," Schaefer replied, his grip on the machete tightening. "I hate admitting when I've made mistakes. And God knows I've made so many of them. But one thing that brings me comfort is that even if I can't run away from my mistakes, at least I know I can bury them."

"Please," Bloodletter said mockingly. "By the time you finish killing us, everyone in this tower will be long gone."

"Oh really? I'm not sure if you two realize something."

"Yeah, what?"

"I have no weak points. All you two need is a few direct hits to your cranium and you'll be out like a light."

Aaron and Bloodletter shared the same thought: Fuck.

"So just try to take me down!" Schaefer shouted, and he charged at the two Deadmen with his machete in hand.

He took his first swing at Aaron, who narrowly avoided getting stabbed in the head. The blade buried into his shoulder, and he stabbed his talons into Schaefer's arm as he tried yanking it back out, tearing his arm from his elbow.

Schaefer backed away from his enemy and glanced down at the bloody stump where his arm used to be. "Just a flesh wound," he chuckled, and a new arm grew back in seconds.

Aaron stared at the machete lodged in his shoulder, Schaefer's old arm still grasping the handle. He ripped it back out, removed the arm, and prepared to attack Schaefer with his own weapon. However, before he could take his shot, Schaefer grabbed his arm and twisted it back until it broke. He dropped the weapon.

Schaefer picked the machete back up, but when he saw Bloodletter charging toward him, he slashed his face and left behind a long gash. "Don't even think about putting that damn helmet back on, coward," he told Bloodletter.

"I don't even need it," Bloodletter replied, and he grabbed Schaefer's face. "Y'know, I killed your mate Bennington like this. Just had to grab his skull and—"