Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Eldoria Continent...

The war between the various races and the Outland Beasts was still raging. At this rate, it wouldn’t end anytime soon.

Ethan’s group might have lit the fuse, but both sides had already been harboring their own ambitions.

Many powerful races had obtained huge numbers of crystal cores from the fighting, while powerful Outland Beasts had feasted on the corpses of high-Tier fighters. Far from wanting the war to end, they had developed a taste for it.

The weaker races felt very differently. Those driven to the brink of extinction wanted nothing more than for the war to end as soon as possible.

No matter the time or place, the weak existed to be harvested.

Suncrest Range...

The battle between the Galeborn and the Outland Beasts continued. By now, both sides had suffered enough losses that neither was willing to retreat.

The Galeborn were considerably stronger, but this was the Outland Beasts’ home territory, and they vastly outnumbered the Galeborn.

Both sides had taken heavy casualties without gaining any real advantage.

That was true of their lower- and mid-level forces. Among their strongest fighters, the Outland Beasts had suffered far greater losses.

The death of the peak Tier 41 unicorn Lord alone was an immeasurable blow.

Vaelor had been severely injured, but at least he was still alive. Once they paid a race with healing abilities to treat him, he would eventually recover.

At the highest level, the Outland Beasts were clearly worse off.

Their remaining Stage SS fighters were also gradually losing ground.

Including Vaelor, the Galeborn had twelve Stage SS fighters. Vaelor was too badly injured to fight, but that still left eleven elders.

The Outland Beasts had only eight.

Several of the stronger beasts had been forced to fight two opponents at once.

Originally, the Stage SS reinforcements sent by the Outland Beasts had been stronger than the Galeborn’s forces. Unfortunately, the unicorn Lord had ordered its Tier 39 subordinate to stay behind and guard Ethan’s group, only for Ethan to kill it instead.

As a result, the Outland Beasts now had fewer Stage SS fighters than the Galeborn.

Several of them were already covered in wounds. One beast in particular, trapped between two Galeborn elders, had suffered multiple life-threatening injuries.

As time passed, its movements grew slower and slower.

The two elders attacking it were also wounded, but excitement shone on their faces.

”Keep it up! It’s almost finished!”

”Right!”

Their attacks became even more ferocious.

Not far from their battlefield, an unseen figure hid in the forest below, equally excited.

After waiting so long, was he finally about to get something?

The exhausted Outland Beast held out for another half hour beneath the two elders’ relentless assault before collapsing to the ground, unwilling to accept its death.

”Whew...”

The elders let out long breaths of relief, then quickly headed for the corpse.

Before they could reach it, a large hole suddenly opened in the beast’s skull. A crystal core flew out and vanished without a trace.

The two elders froze.

They rubbed their eyes, unable to believe what they had just seen.

”Damn it! Invisibility!”

Both were seasoned fighters and reacted quickly. Wide-range abilities immediately bombarded the area ahead.

”Let’s see where you can run!”

They were furious. That underhanded bastard had stolen their prize right in front of them. He clearly had no respect for them at all.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions tore through the ground.

But when the dust settled, no one appeared. The surrounding terrain had been blasted apart, yet there was no sign of the thief.

”What’s going on?” The two elders frowned.

Most invisibility abilities failed once the user took damage. They refused to believe the thief could have escaped that quickly.

What they didn’t know was that Chris had activated Ethereal Form the moment he seized the crystal core. Their attacks couldn’t touch him.

”What happened here?”

Vaelor approached, having recovered slightly from his injuries.

”Patriarch, someone with an invisibility ability is hiding nearby,” one elder said grimly. ”He stole the crystal core from the Outland Beast we just killed.”

”I think he’s also the one who stole the unicorn Lord’s crystal core!”

”Invisibility...” Vaelor’s face darkened.

Now he finally understood how the thief had taken the crystal core under so many watchful eyes.

Invisibility abilities were exceptionally rare. They had appeared on the Eldoria Continent in the past, but the line that possessed them had seemingly disappeared. Vaelor hadn’t expected one to surface again today.

”Patriarch, I suspect it’s those humans,” the other elder suddenly said.

”Invisibility has vanished from the Eldoria Continent. The humans are the only likely explanation. Humans can comprehend abilities of every kind, so it wouldn’t be strange for one of them to possess invisibility.”

Vaelor nodded. He had reached the same conclusion.

”Humans...” he snarled through clenched teeth. ”I’ll make you understand the price of crossing the Galeborn.”

He leaned close and whispered a few instructions to the two elders.

They nodded, then left to make the necessary arrangements.

”Hmph. You dared steal my crystal cores? I’ll make you spit out every last one.”

”And as for you humans... I won’t let a single one of you escape.”

The battle continued, but the death of another Stage SS Outland Beast had tipped the scales decisively in the Galeborn’s favor.

In a battle like this, once one part of the line collapsed, the rest quickly followed.

The two freed Galeborn elders immediately joined another elder who was fighting an Outland Beast.

What had been an even battle became completely one-sided.

Under the combined assault of three Stage SS fighters, the Outland Beast was driven back again and again.

It tried to flee, but it wasn’t a flying beast. Surrounded by three airborne Galeborn fighters, it had nowhere to go.

After holding out for another ten minutes, it collapsed unwillingly to the ground.

”Whew... Finally killed the damn thing.” The elder who had been fighting it most of the day let out a breath of relief.

”Hurry and remove the crystal core! Don’t let that thief steal this one too!” the other two elders shouted anxiously.

”Oh, right!”

The three elders ran toward the corpse in an apparent rush.

But they were still a step too ”slow.”

With a wet tearing sound, a hole opened in the Outland Beast’s skull just like before. Its crystal core flashed once and disappeared.

This time, however, the elders didn’t panic.

Cold smiles appeared on their faces.