Ash dashed through the rooftop of several buildings in a haste to meet up with the team.

As soon as he got to the last building in the area the team was fighting, he leaped off of the roof as he saw Diva being spun around by the humanoid zombie.

"Diva quick!! Toss me the weapons," he shouted out to her while in mid-air.

The girl, being upside down, immediately threw the crowbar and the long metallic bat in her hand.

With his memories of the past he lived in, he was able to adjust his body's reaction to match the speed at which she threw the weapons, and caught them.

He turned in mid-air and soon got to the face of the zombie.

He applied force to his left hand as he struck the zombie at the top center of its head with the pointed edge of the crowbar, and applied an even greater force to the metallic bat as he struck the crowbar.

This attack forced the crowbar into the head of the zombie that still held on to Diva's leg.

The zombie let out a scream as it staggered around, stepping on dead bodies and almost tripping over.

Ash placed his two legs on either side of the shoulder of the zombie and pulled out the crowbar before leaping off of it.

Anger could be seen clearly on the face of the zombie as it charged at Ash who just landed on the floor.

It tried to crush Ash with its left leg but Ash was quick enough to dodge to its side.

Ash immediately dashed at it and struck the side of its knee before it could react.

The strike was one with a great deal of force as it brought the zombie down to only one knee, giving Ash a temporary advantage.

Ash waited for the zombie to swing its left hand at him as he stood close to it.

The zombie unknowingly took the bait and swung its left hand against Ash, while he quickly got down in time to allow the swing to pass, and then, he kicked the side of the knee he had previously struck and broke it.

From where the team was, they heard a loud cry coming from the zombie as it fell to the ground.

'The leg is not a weak point in the zombie but with this, I can deal with it faster.' Ash thought as he swung the metallic bat around his wrist before catching it.

"Woah, I can't believe Ash brought down that zombie in the little time he got here," Sinon voiced out as they watched.

"Yeah, I mean, y'all heard the cry right?" David asked. "I think he broke the zombie's leg," 

"Who knew he was this good at fighting?" Jared asked, following David's response.

The zombie managed to get up on one foot with the aid of the second foot and started rampaging about.

It started swinging, hitting and crashing its massive hands on the ground along with the dead bodies all over as Ash tried to dodge each of the attacks.

Diva, who was close by watching Ash battle the zombie couldn't help but admire his fighting prowess.

With every strike from both the metallic bat and crowbar, Ash seem to be dealing fatal blows to the zombie as he maneuvered and countered each of its attacks.

Ash was careful enough to watch and calculate the zombie's attack while dodging them. His fighting style gave off the impression that he had faced something similar or stronger.

He then leaped back from the zombie and landed on the ground several meters away from it.

'Time to finish this.' he thought as he took a running stance.

The zombie quickly rushed at him the minute Ash was preparing, not wanting to give him a chance to rest.

Seeing this, Ash immediately dashed at the monster but tripped over a dead body and fell to the ground.

"Damn, I should have known that without my powers I can't dash off like I usually do, at least not while trying to keep my balance," He said as he tried to stand. By then, the zombie was already above him, ready to crush him completely.

"Ash!!"

"Get out of there,"

"Run!!"

The team shouted out to him as the zombie crashed its arms on him.

[Boom!!]

The destructive force from the strike sent out a shockwave across the area along with debris, dust, and body parts.

For several seconds, no one could see anything except the humanoid zombie still stuck to the place he struck hard on.

"Ash?" Rika trembled upon seeing the scene as she just arrived. "No..." Tears began to gather around her eyes, slowly.

"Ash!!!" The team echoed out in unison as they waited for a response.

Just then, Ash sent the head of the zombie up as he crashed his knee into its jaw the minute he came out of the smoke screen.

"Yeah!!" They all shouted out again as he appeared again.

"Diva!! Get out of here," he voiced out while dashing around the zombie, trying to confuse it.

She immediately backed away from the area as instructed.

Ash began to increase his speed after running around a couple of times.

He ran in circles at a faster rate as he started closing off the monster, limiting its range of attack.

'Looks like I can increase my speed after all.' he thought as he took a glance at his feet. 'I just need to focus well on my footing and balance.'

As the zombie tried to locate Ash with its eyes, Ash immediately leaped forward toward its face, and with the speed he had been running with, he struck the zombie's eyes before it could focus on him.

He quickly yanked out the crowbar he used to stab both the first and second eye before leaping off of it.

As the zombie let out a loud cry, Ash prepared to charge in on it again.

He waited for the zombie to reduce its rampage before dashing off at it with the handle of the crowbar pointed against its chest.

Ash closed the little distance between them in a split second and with full force, he thrust the full thing inside the zombie's chest, killing it immediately the crowbar destroyed the core within.

 

The zombie with its humanoid size, slowly dropped to its knees, before finally crashing down on the ground in front of Ash, after letting go of the crowbar it tried to pull out before dying.

Ash dropped the metallic bat by his side as he breathed out heavily while gazing at the sky.

"Finally over, huh" he whispered.

"Woahhh,"

"That was so cool, Ash!!"

The team immediately rushed him shortly after and started praising him.

"Where did you learn to move like that?" Jared asked while patting his back.

"That was some nice tactics," Gareth praised.

"You have my respect," Diva voiced out.

"T- thanks guys," he replied with a faint smile on his face.

"Ash!" Rika called out to him stylishly as the rest of them went to observe the zombie.

"Don't worry, I'll be fin-," before he could complete his statement, Rika dived into him and hugged him tightly.

"Hey, don't cry," he said as he hugged her back.

"What if you had died?" She asked with a shaking voice.

"There's no way I will die so soon," he assured with a brilliant smile on his face.

"Alright," she whispered as she wiped off the tears from her eyes.

Rika smiled back at him shortly after and ran off to also observe the zombie.

****

Shortly after they were done, they began to pack their things inside the vehicle while Ash stood close to the zombie.

'So they have mutated this far, huh?' he thought.

'I wasn't expecting a third-stage zombie at this point when we haven't gained our powers.'

'Back in the past, they were cases of a few of them randomly showing up in different parts.'

His eyes dimmed as he still stood there observing it.

"I wonder if it's the same as the past," he murmured as a thought crossed his mind.