Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Chris sped through the forest and soon reached a valley. Deep inside was a pool they had passed while searching for Outland Beasts, so he knew exactly where to find it.

Without hesitation, he dove straight in.

At the same time, the pursuing Galeborn elders suddenly stopped.

”The Quarry-Seeking Mark’s signature disappeared again,” Elder Thorne said with a frown.

”It’s fine. He must have an ability that can temporarily suppress the mark, but he can’t maintain it for long. The signature will return soon enough,” High Elder Aeron said.

”Right.”

In the pool, Chris submerged his entire body, stripped off his clothes, and thoroughly scrubbed every inch of himself. He even washed his clothes several times.

Let’s see them find me now.

After climbing out, he hung his clothes nearby to dry and lay naked on the ground.

”Fuck, I’m exhausted.”

He had barely settled down when several sharp whistles cut through the air.

”Holy shit!”

Chris rolled to his feet, grabbed his clothes, and turned invisible. He threw them back on as quickly as he could.

”How the hell can they still find me?”

His expression darkened. He had washed himself more thoroughly than ever before, yet they had still tracked him down.

Apparently, whatever they had put on him couldn’t be washed away with water.

At least he had reacted quickly. Otherwise, his reputation would have been ruined.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, one of the female Galeborn elders spoke.

”Did any of you see a pale, naked figure just now? It disappeared in the blink of an eye.”

Chris: ”!!!”

”I saw it,” another elder said coldly. ”That was probably our target. He actually had time to stop here for a bath.”

Chris: ”...”

”Attack. Don’t give him any time to recover. Let’s see how long his mental energy lasts,” High Elder Aeron said with a cold snort.

Abilities immediately rained down on Chris’s position.

Chris activated Ethereal Form at once, his face turning grim.

Damn it. I only wanted a few crystal cores. I wasn’t planning to kill any of you.

But now I’ll have to take a few of you out. Blame yourselves for seeing something you shouldn’t have.

Still in Ethereal Form, Chris slipped out of the bombardment and moved behind one of the elders. He deactivated the ability, then pointed.

The space around the elder suddenly split apart.

Before the man could react, his body was severed along with it. The cut was perfectly smooth.

He didn’t even have time to scream before the two halves fell to the ground, all life gone.

The other elders recoiled in shock.

”Elder Kaelen!”

Several rushed to his side. Their expressions changed drastically when they saw his bisected corpse.

”A spatial-type ability...” High Elder Aeron said darkly.

He had been standing across from Elder Kaelen and had seen everything.

The thought of that spatial fissure sent a chill through him. If he had been in Elder Kaelen’s position, he wouldn’t have been able to dodge it either.

Spatial-type abilities were simply too overwhelming.

Still, Aeron was certain the attack wouldn’t work on him. Otherwise, the human would have no reason to keep running.

”You killed Elder Kaelen! I’ll tear you apart!”

The other elders erupted in fury, bombarding Chris’s position with terrifying abilities.

Chris immediately reactivated Ethereal Form and fled.

Using Ethereal Form repeatedly had already drained a tremendous amount of mental energy, and Spatial Sever wasn’t cheap either.

His reserves were running low. He couldn’t stay here any longer. If Ethereal Form shut down on its own, he was finished.

Spatial Sever was powerful, but its effectiveness depended heavily on his own strength.

He could easily kill someone at his own Tier with it. He might even be able to instantly kill a Tier 36 or Tier 37.

Anything much stronger was a different story.

If the target’s strength exceeded his by too much, he wouldn’t be able to sever the space around them.

It worked much like Ethan’s Absolute Stasis. A powerful target could drastically shorten its duration, and someone far stronger might be completely unaffected.

Even so, Chris was more than satisfied.

He didn’t even have to get close. One point from a distance, and his enemy was sliced apart.

It was unbelievably cool.

Unfortunately, the Galeborn elders chasing him were becoming a serious problem.

They clung to him like leeches. No matter what he did, he couldn’t shake them.

As long as they stayed on his heels, he had no chance to recover.

All he could do was consume crystal cores while fleeing.

But crystal cores restored mental energy slowly, and he hadn’t brought many with him. At this rate, he would run out soon.

Looks like I’ll have to go back to the battlefield.

The battlefield seemed more dangerous, but in reality, it might be the safest place for him.

First, the sheer number of fighters and beasts there could make him harder to track. Second, with so many Galeborn troops around, these old bastards wouldn’t dare recklessly throw out wide-range abilities. And third, the battlefield was full of crystal cores. If he ran out, he could simply take more.

Who could stop him?

Once he made up his mind, Chris turned and raced back toward the battlefield.

The elders found his change of direction strange, but they kept chasing. Every so often, they launched another barrage at him.

Chris had to activate Ethereal Form repeatedly to avoid their attacks, draining his mental energy even faster.

Fortunately, they weren’t far from the battlefield.

Chris soon reached the fighting and plunged straight into the most crowded section.

He could ignore ordinary wide-range abilities without activating Ethereal Form, so attacks below Stage SS posed little danger while he remained invisible.

As soon as he entered the battlefield, he snatched crystal cores from several Outland Beasts that had just been killed and tossed them into his mouth.

The Galeborn fighters who had killed them were still celebrating when the cores vanished. Their expressions immediately collapsed.

”Who did that?!”

They roared in fury.

Just then, several figures flew over from above, already preparing to unleash wide-range abilities on the area below.

”Elders, don’t!”

The Galeborn fighters were so terrified that several fell flat on their asses.

They had only shouted once. Surely that didn’t deserve a death sentence!

Ten elders were about to attack at once. Were they trying to erase them so completely that not even ashes remained?

Their cries snapped the elders back to their senses. They hurriedly stopped, then stared down at the battlefield with livid expressions.

They hadn’t expected the human to pull something like this.

Now they couldn’t attack without hitting their own people.