Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Outside the Aurelian settlement, the battle still raged.

Fortunately, with Chris and the others joining in, the tide had turned.

The Aurelians specialized in healing and support but lacked offensive abilities. They only had a handful of light-based attacks, and the sole reason they had lasted this long was the incredible endurance provided by their healing.

The Fallen Star Squad changed everything.

Every member of the squad possessed overwhelming offensive power. Their devastating abilities left the Aurelians in awe.

Only now did they truly understand how powerful humans were. A single person could possess several completely different abilities. No wonder even the pinnacle races feared them.

Seeing the Fallen Star Squad’s strength sent the Aurelians’ morale soaring. They surged forward, driving the Outland Beasts back.

Aside from Big Mike and Emily, everyone in the Fallen Star Squad had already reached Stage SS. In a battle where the strongest enemies were only Stage S, they completely dominated.

Still, they hadn’t forgotten Ethan’s instructions. They deliberately held back, targeting only Stage S Outland Beasts and leaving the weaker ones for the Aurelians.

Most of the Western Region had already fallen under the Outland Beasts’ control. If the squad killed too many too quickly, even more reinforcements would be drawn here.

Despite their restraint, a massive force of Outland Beasts arrived after more than an hour of fighting. Five of them were Stage SS, including one at Tier 39.

They had clearly come in response to the death of the Stage SS bird. They even knew the killer had been a Tier 39 outsider, so they had sent a Tier 39 beast to deal with him.

If Ethan knew they had sent someone of the same tier to fight him, he probably would’ve been speechless.

Since when did an opponent at the same tier qualify to challenge him?

Still, the Western Region’s overall strength was low. This was probably the strongest force the Outland Beasts had stationed here.

The Aurelians’ hearts sank at the sight of the approaching beasts. Even Chris and the others frowned.

”Tier 39…” Sean muttered. ”That could be a problem.”

After spending so long on the Eldoria Continent, they had learned to estimate an opponent’s tier from the pressure they gave off—as long as the opponent wasn’t deliberately concealing it, of course.

They could also only identify tiers they had encountered before. Since they were familiar with the pressure given off by the various tiers within Stage SS, they could judge these beasts’ strength fairly accurately.

They had never properly experienced and studied the pressure of different Stage SSS tiers, though. If a Stage SSS fighter appeared, they wouldn’t be able to tell exactly what tier it was.

Solren approached Chris and the others with several elders, concern written across his face.

”My lords, should we ask Lord Ethan to come?”

He deeply respected their strength, but he could tell that they had only recently reached Stage SS. The five approaching Outland Beasts were clearly much stronger.

”Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Chris said calmly. ”The boss is in the middle of making his push for Stage SSS. No one disturbs him. If you do, you might not even know how you died.

”We’ll deal with these Stage SS Outland Beasts. You don’t need to worry about them.”

”Of course.” Seeing how confident Chris was, Solren relaxed slightly.

He had no idea how they intended to win, but if they were this certain, they had to have a plan.

”Chris, are you sure we shouldn’t call the boss?” Sean asked, far less confident. ”That thing’s Tier 39. I don’t think I can hold it.”

”Ethan’s trying to reach Stage SSS right now. Let’s not interrupt him unless we have no other choice.

”And forget you—I can’t beat a Tier 39 either. But we still have a trump card.”

”A trump card?”

Everyone looked confused for a moment before turning toward Skinny Pete.

”Right! How did we forget about Skinny Pete’s Astral Conjuration?”

Skinny Pete scratched the back of his head awkwardly under their stares.

”There are too many unknowns with this skill. I can’t guarantee I’ll summon anything powerful.”

”That’s fine. Whatever you summon should be almost impossible to kill. Even if it isn’t that strong, it only needs to keep the Tier 39 beast occupied.

”Once it’s tied down, the rest of us can take care of the other Stage SS beasts. Then we’ll all gang up on the Tier 39. We should have a chance.”

”All right!”

Skinny Pete nodded. Without wasting any time, he clasped his hands together, closed his eyes, and activated Astral Conjuration.

A white ring of light appeared over his forehead. The space above him split open, forming a rift.

A figure slowly floated out.

Everyone stared in surprise.

The summoned creature didn’t have a physical body. It was a mass of dark shadow—more like a wraith than a living creature.

”Holy shit, Skinny Pete!” Big Mike’s eyes widened. ”Did you just summon a damn wraith from the underworld?”

The others gave the creature equally strange looks.

This was supposed to be a living being?

It really did look like a wraith.

Skinny Pete scratched the back of his head. ”How should I know? This is what the skill summoned.”

”Fine. How strong is it?”

That was the only part that mattered. They didn’t care what it looked like as long as it could fight.

The wraith was unlike any other creature they had encountered, and none of them could sense its strength.

”Heh. That part I do know.” Skinny Pete grinned proudly. ”It might not look impressive, but it’s pretty strong. It’s not as powerful as that Outland Beast, but it’s at the peak of Tier 39. Keeping that thing busy shouldn’t be a problem.”

”That’s all we need. Let’s move!”

”Got it.”

Skinny Pete ordered the wraith to kill the Tier 39 Outland Beast.

The wraith gave an elegant nod, then floated swiftly toward its target.

Every Aurelian below watched it in astonishment.

They had never seen a creature in such a strange form.

”What is that thing?” an Aurelian elder whispered.

”How would I know?” Solren replied quietly. ”Everyone says humans have endless strange abilities. Just consider this one of them.”

”Fair enough.”

The Tier 39 Outland Beast was a Blazehawk with fire-type abilities.

Most of the Outland Beasts sent to reinforce other regions were flying beasts. Their speed allowed them to reach distant battlefields quickly.

There were some landbound reinforcements as well, especially from nearby territories. After all, there weren’t enough powerful flying Outland Beasts to send everywhere.

The Blazehawk stared at the approaching wraith with a wary frown. Terrifying flames erupted from its beak and swept toward the shadowy creature.

The wraith didn’t dodge or slow down. It continued floating straight toward the Blazehawk.

Flames soon swallowed its entire body.

The Aurelians below shook their heads.

Was this thing supposed to be a joke?

Even Chris and the others tensed.

Skinny Pete had said his summons were immune to conventional elemental and physical attacks, but the wraith looked so insubstantial that a strong breeze might scatter it.

Besides, weren’t ghosts usually afraid of fire?

They couldn’t help worrying that the Blazehawk might burn it away in one attack.