Liam felt very comfortable with this level-up, as the increase in strength was significant and gave him a greater sense of security in the midst of this chaos.
Even without using any skills, he was now about three times stronger than when he was still a normal human, and the skills gave him great advantages in attacking more effectively.
Shortly afterward, the corpse of the severed serpent finally transformed into a ball of light, intriguing both Liam and the many people watching from afar.
Buzz!
The light spread out, revealing a ring with a snake's head on it.
(Serpentshift Ring: An artifact that, when worn, transforms half of your body into a serpent's body!)
When he read the description that appeared on the virtual screen above the ring, Liam wasn't sure how to react.
If half of his body became a snake's body when wearing the ring... would that make him some kind of snake demon?
As the ring landed in his palm, Liam had an idea.
"Wear it!" he ordered Zombie Paul.
The zombie simply followed his command, taking the ring and slipping it onto his smallest finger—since it was the only one that fit.
The moment he wore the ring, his legs suddenly fused together and began to transform further.
Black scales appeared on his fused legs, which then extended to about ten meters long, taking the exact shape of a serpent's tail.
Now, the zombie had become a snake hybrid—but even more fearsome, as he still had a large upper body and four arms.
Paul didn't seem to find anything strange. He immediately adapted to his new body, able to stand upright while skillfully swaying his long tail.
He only looked mildly surprised by his new appearance.
"Not bad," Liam said with a smile.
"Now keep it, but only wear it during battle!"
He didn't want to become a snake hybrid himself, so he decided to let his zombie do it.
If it had transformed him into a full serpent, that might have been better—but this was only half.
Zombie Paul nodded, removed the ring—which returned his legs to normal—and slipped it into his pants pocket.
Apparently, even as a zombie, he still knew how to store items.
"Follow me!" Liam said to Zombie Alice.
He ran toward the fortress, but did not take Paul or the husky with him.
Neither of them was suitable to bring inside the fortress, and they were safe outside as long as they were zombies or monsters.
As long as they didn't attack other zombies or monsters, they wouldn't be attacked in return—mistaken for allies.
Liam simply couldn't bear to leave Alice outside, since she still retained her intelligence and human memories, and her zombie instincts had been suppressed.
Of course, Liam had no trouble returning to the fortress. The ladder hadn't been pulled up yet, as students were still transferring supplies from the pickup trucks and carts into the fortress.
"Hahaha, Liam, thank goodness we have you at this school, or we'd be in serious trouble," said the principal as he approached Liam.
Usually cold and serious, the principal now laughed cheerfully at the sight of him—clearly satisfied with his performance.
Liam found it a little awkward to respond to the principal's words, so he replied,
"I don't think we should celebrate too soon. We don't know what's coming next."
He glanced at Joel and Anthony as he said that—not out of intention, but because he had sensed their unpleasant stares.
"True, but at least we've managed to survive so far. Now that we have food and drinks, the students can feel a bit more at ease," the principal replied.
Liam didn't say anything further, unsure of what the future held.
If all the students were willing to fight, things would be easier—but many still didn't have the courage.
Joel and Anthony might have personality issues, but at least they were brave—so Liam figured they could deal with their own problems in the chaos.
After bringing the supplies up to the fortress, the students began moving them into the storage building.
That storage area was lit with battery-powered lights, which at most could last until morning.
Liam noticed the sky had begun to darken. It was already evening, and night was fast approaching.
He couldn't guess whether the night would bring peace or even worse dangers.
His thoughts drifted to home. His parents had died early on, so there was no one to worry about there. All that was left at home was his drunken, troublemaking grandfather—and his younger sister, who was being taken care of by an aunt in another city.
As for his grandfather, Liam couldn't bring himself to worry too much. The old man had always been a problem in his life.
But thinking about his younger sister and aunt was harder—they were too far away.
He didn't think he could visit them anytime soon.
One thing that gave him some comfort was that his sister was a tomboy who was good at fighting.
He could only hope she'd be able to rely on that to survive.
Of course, it would be even better if she could grow stronger like he had.
"Liam, have a drink first!" Alex suddenly tossed him a bottle of soda—it was no longer cold—and then threw him a cheese bun just as Liam grabbed the drink.
"You're stronger than all of us, so what are you so worried about?" said the guy.
Liam couldn't be bothered to reply. He opened the drink and gulped it down immediately.
He had been exhausted multiple times, but only now did he get a chance to drink—before this, there had been nothing to drink.
After drinking, he finally started to feel hunger—something he hadn't noticed before.
He began eating the cheese bun, which honestly didn't satisfy him much. He was used to freshly cooked food.
"Liam!" As he ate, Lisa suddenly walked over to him.
Liam couldn't help but look at her curiously, as the woman seemed to be about to ask for something.
"I know you have two swords. Can you give me one? I want to try killing zombies next time," she said.
Alex looked surprised by her request, then laughed and said,
"Why don't you ask for my sword? I've got two too."
"Yours is too big," Lisa replied in an annoyed tone, knowing Alex was teasing her on purpose.
Liam was a bit surprised that Lisa was already thinking about fighting on her own.
Of course, he didn't mind giving her one of his swords. After all, he didn't always use them in battle.
"Take it." He took out one of the swords and handed it to Lisa.
She looked delighted as she finally held the sword, then swung it through the air.
"It's light," she said in surprise.