Apocalypse: King of Zombies

As the enemy surged forward again, Miles let out a slow breath.

”Looks like we really do have to fight for our lives.”

There were still more than thirty thousand Void Realm creatures left—every one of them above Stage A. With the captain and the others gone, this was going to be a brutal battle.

Inside the city, the Fallen Star Guard, the Fallen Star Corps, and over two million Enhanced had already formed up in full readiness. They only needed one word from Miles before they stormed out and met the invaders head-on.

Nerissa glanced at him, expression heavy. ”Do you have any other methods? If not… this fight won’t be easy.”

Even if the Azure Nereids were individually stronger than most of the creatures outside, they were only around six thousand. The enemy had over thirty thousand.

The numbers were ugly.

Miles’s face stayed tense as well. He was about to answer when his phone buzzed.

He pulled it out, glanced at the screen—

—and a smile finally tugged at the corner of his mouth.

”I don’t have any more tricks,” he said. ”But… our Commander does.”

Then he looked at Nerissa. ”Your Azure Nereids’ specialty is defense, right? Can you help block their attacks for a bit? Just for a little while.”

Nerissa stared at him, startled. ”How do you know our strongest skill is defense?”

”Ethan told me,” Miles said with a shrug. ”Why he knows that… you’ll have to ask him.”

Nerissa still looked puzzled, but there was no time for questions. The enemy had already reached striking range.

”Azure Nereids—defend the wall!” Nerissa ordered.

She swept her hand forward.

A massive blue barrier unfolded in front of the city wall, shimmering like a giant bubble. Its surface rippled in layered waves, waterlight sliding across it in smooth pulses.

At the same time, the other Azure Nereids raised one hand.

One by one, blue shields formed—then flowed into Nerissa’s barrier, merging seamlessly and making the defense thicker, denser, more solid.

The first wave of attacks hit.

And vanished.

Like they’d been swallowed.

”That’s the Azure Nereids’ fusion skill…” some of the Void Realm creatures muttered, envy flashing across their faces. ”They really have something special.”

Skill fusion sounded simple.

In practice, it was insanely hard. Plenty of races had tried to replicate anything like it and failed.

The Azure Nereids had risen from a bottom-tier race to one of the top powers in Eldoria’s southern region largely because of this.

Miles watched, eyes narrowing slightly as if he’d just been shown a new map of the world.

Then the Sylvan elder raised his voice. ”Everyone—hit it together! They’re only a few thousand. They can’t hold forever!”

”Yeah!”

Thousands of attacks detonated at once, slamming into the barrier in a storm. Ripples shuddered across the surface, but the shield stayed firm—still unbroken.

Miles couldn’t hide his surprise.

To tank the combined assault of thirty thousand Stage A+ invaders and not shatter… that fusion barrier was terrifying.

But time kept moving.

And soon Miles could see it—sweat starting to bead on the Azure Nereids’ foreheads, faces paling, lips tightening as they poured more and more strength into holding the line.

No power came for free.

That shield wasn’t ”strong.”

It was being carried—by thousands of women, burning themselves down to keep it standing.

Nerissa’s face had gone visibly white. She glanced sideways without dropping her hand.

”Miles—how much longer?”

”Should be soon,” Miles said, eyes fixed on the distance like he was waiting for something to arrive.

”Nerissa!” the old Sylvan shouted. ”What spell did these humans put on you? Why are you protecting them this fiercely?”

He sneered, voice carrying over the battlefield. ”I’m still advising you to stop struggling. Dying like this for them has no meaning.”

”I don’t take orders from you,” Nerissa snapped, and forced more power into the barrier.

”Stupid!”

”Stupid?” Miles said mildly, turning his head just enough to glance at the Sylvan elder. ”Do you have any idea how stupid you sound right now?”

The Sylvan elder’s gaze locked onto him, icy and vicious.

”Insect,” he said coldly. ”No one gave you permission to speak. Once we crack that shell, you’ll be the first one I drag out and tear apart.”

Miles didn’t lose his smile.

”You’re the first Void Realm creature who’s ever threatened me,” he said calmly. ”Lucky timing—I was just short two sets of materials to create soulless thralls. You showed up early to volunteer.”

The Sylvan elder’s expression shifted. ”What are you talking about?”

”Nothing you need to understand,” Miles said, voice still light. ”Just remember this—this is Fallen Star City. Not a place for you to run wild.”

His gaze slid past the enemy line, toward the sky.

Something distant was swelling larger by the second.

The corner of his mouth lifted.

”Now,” he murmured, ”go ahead and welcome your apocalypse.”

The invaders still didn’t understand what he meant.

Then the sky dimmed.

A massive shadow swept over them—and a huge figure dropped straight into position above their formation.

”SKREE—!”

A piercing cry ripped across the battlefield.

In the next instant, a terrifying storm formed right in the middle of the crowd. Hundreds of Void Realm creatures were sucked in and shredded into chunks, blood and broken bodies spraying outward like debris from an explosion.

”!!!”

The sudden slaughter shocked everyone into a half-second of frozen disbelief.

Then they finally saw what was in the air.

”A feral beast!”

”Stage S—Stage S feral beast!”

”How the hell is something like that here?!”

”Forget the shield—kill it first!”

”Move!”

The entire invading army snapped its focus upward. Countless skills and projectiles blasted toward the roc, filling the air with killing light.

The roc beat its wings.

Its body shot higher in a single smooth burst, dodging the barrage completely.

Then it folded its wings and dove again.

A dense rain of Wind Cutters followed.

Where the blades passed, bodies split in half. Blood fountained. Limbs tumbled. The front ranks turned into a butchered mess in seconds.

Inside the city, people stared with eyes wide.

They’d never seen something like this.

Nerissa looked at Miles, stunned. ”This is the support you were waiting for?”

”More or less,” Miles said. ”It’s fast. Ethan probably sent it ahead.”

Nerissa’s voice came out tight. ”How did you manage to make a feral beast this strong listen to you?”

Miles shrugged, still smiling. ”That, you’ll have to ask our boss. Maybe Ethan’s just… charismatic.”

”…,” Nerissa went silent, clearly struggling to process that.

She took a breath, forcing herself back into battle mode. ”We should go out too. That roc is strong, but there are too many of them, and they aren’t weak. With our coordination, it’ll be easier.”

”No need,” Miles said, smile thinning into something sharper. ”That was only the opening act. The real support is here.”

Nerissa followed the direction of his gesture.

Far in the distance, a gigantic white figure was charging toward them at shocking speed. Even from miles away, its bulk pressed down on the horizon like a moving mountain.

And the pressure rolling off it—

Even through distance, even through walls—

made Nerissa’s blood turn cold.

It wasn’t intimidation.

It was the kind of fear that came from somewhere deeper than instinct, like her soul recognized a predator it had no business standing in front of.

Her lips parted.

”What… what tier is that feral beast?”