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Templar had heeded the warning and been both quick and decisive. It looked like this battle was over before it had even begun. I let out a breath and my power dissipated from around me.
    “If all the legions of the damned are like this, then surely we won’t fail.”
    I glanced to find Vincent a few feet away, having likewise dispatched his foe.
    “Don’t get cocky,” I warned. “Believe me, this is just the appetizer.”
    A cry from further down the line caught my attention. One of the Templar Knights had stabbed his foe through the midsection, rather than aim for its head. The zombie was now pushing forward, undeterred that it was impaling itself, intent on reaching its target.
    “Damn it,” I muttered, not caring if I offended anyone’s bookish sensibilities.
    I waved off the rest still back with Bernadette. Things could get messy with too many cooks in the kitchen. The situation was well in hand. There was no point adding to the existing chaos.
    Unfortunately, chaos had other ideas. I took a single step when something entwined around my ankle. Before I could compensate, I stumbled and fell. Great! Some Blessed One I was. Couldn’t even walk without my feet getting all tangled in the underbrush.
    Except there wasn’t any underbrush. We’d been standing in the middle of the street.
    “Blessed One, watch out!”
    I felt more than saw what was happening. A hand had grabbed my ankle. I know because it grabbed me again, higher up on my leg, exerting pressure as if dragging along the body it was attached to.
    This was confirmed a moment later when the beheaded bodies of the undead in front of me likewise stumbled back to life, attacking their would-be vanquishers, most of whom had dropped their guard.
    As the not-quite dispatched zombie crawled atop me, I realized that what should have been an easy fight had just gotten a lot more complicated.
     

CHAPTER 9
    Super strength wasn’t one of the powers afforded to me as an Icon. Fortunately, what I did have at my disposal was more than adequate to deal with being pinned down by one of the undead.
    I once more called upon the power of Faith, letting it suffuse every part of my being until it could no longer be contained. At that point, it burst forth in a flash of fiery white light.
    All at once, the weight that had been holding me down was gone and my legs were likewise free again. I scrambled to my feet and glanced back. Though the creature was rapidly being consumed by the magical white fire I’d blasted it with, it continued to writhe.
    How the hell? I’d never been a connoisseur of horror movies, but even I’d been aware of the old trope of needing to shoot them in the head to finish them off. Though this was real life and not a movie, I’d had no reason to believe it would work any differently.
    Apparently, neither did our magic-wielding allies as Kelly shouted above the fray, “Holy Shit! They’re still moving!”
    Vincent stepped back, seemingly shocked, as the one he’d been fighting lurched back to its feet, apparently unfazed that its head was nearly cleaved in two.
    Instinct took over and almost before I knew what I was doing, I’d driven my sword through the creature’s side and channeled my power through the blade – igniting it from the inside out.
    A small part of me, the old me, was horrified to see that, unlike vampires, these things didn’t quickly turn to dust. The one before me continued to advance even as it’s body burned like a pyre. That was bad. Though my power itself was harmless to the Templar, the fire consuming the zombie’s body was a different matter entirely.
    A scream caught my attention and I spun, only for my heart to catch in my throat. The zombie who’d been skewered through the abdomen had reached the Templar – Brent was his name if I recalled correctly. Despite these things being half rotted, they somehow still possessed preternatural strength. Brent’s best efforts to push it away were brushed off. It grasped him