Apocalypse: King of Zombies

”What about you, Emily?” everyone asked.

”The skill I gained at Stage SS is pretty ordinary. It’s a defensive light-type ability called Radiant Aegis. All it does is improve my survivability,” Emily said helplessly.

”I think that’s a great skill, sis,” Henry said. ”Staying alive is what matters. Leave the fighting and killing to them. We’re support. Our first priority should be protecting ourselves.”

”He’s right, Emily. The harder you are to kill, the stronger the rest of us become. You’re our safety net. As long as you’re there, we can use our abilities without worrying about the cost.”

”Yeah.” Emily nodded. ”My Innate Abilities gave me something pretty good, though. It’s called Mental Blessing. It temporarily increases the target’s maximum mental energy. The amount depends on the difference between our tiers, with a minimum boost of twenty percent and a maximum of one hundred percent.

”Combined with Strength Blessing and Warding Armor, I can improve almost every aspect of your combat strength.”

”Holy shit, that’s amazing! How much would it boost someone at the same tier as you?” they asked eagerly.

”One hundred percent. The effect drops by twenty percent for every tier above me, but it’ll never fall below twenty percent,” Emily said with a smile.

”Damn! Now that’s a huge boost!”

Everyone looked delighted.

Doubling their mental energy meant stronger abilities and more uses before they ran dry. They wouldn’t have to be so conservative with high-consumption skills anymore.

Of course, Ethan would benefit the most. The more mental energy he poured into Annihilation Strike, the more damage it dealt.

Unfortunately, he was about to reach Stage SSS, so Mental Blessing would probably only give him the minimum twenty-percent boost.

Even that was terrifying. Twenty percent more mental energy meant Annihilation Strike would become twenty percent stronger as well.

”As expected of our best support. That’s incredible!” Everyone gave her a thumbs-up.

”It’s not that impressive…” Emily lowered her head, looking a little embarrassed.

”Hey, sis, why don’t you go rest like Mia?” Henry suggested. ”You haven’t had a proper break in ages. We finally have the chance, so go get some sleep. Besides, while Ethan and the others are busy powering up over the next couple of days, we won’t have much else to do anyway.”

”All right. I’ll leave you guys to enjoy the beautiful dancers.” Emily smiled.

She knew Henry was trying to get her out of the hall, but she didn’t mind. They had spent the past several days sleeping in caves. Now that she finally had access to an actual bed, she really did want a good night’s sleep.

Once Emily left, everyone settled back into their seats and turned toward the Aurelian dancers.

”All right, keep going.”

”Yes, my lords.”

The women nodded and resumed their performance.

The Patriarch had ordered them to take good care of these people. They couldn’t refuse any request, even if one of the men asked them to spend the night with him.

Fortunately, no one had made that kind of demand so far, though the women were already mentally prepared for it.

Big Mike watched the beautiful women dancing in front of him and let out a miserable sigh.

Normally, he would’ve enjoyed this more than anyone. Now, he couldn’t muster the slightest interest.

Shaking his head, he stood. ”I’m going to rest too.”

He was afraid that if he kept watching, he might permanently lose interest in beautiful women.

”Hahaha! Absolute Purity works that well? Go on, then.”

The others waved him off, laughing as they continued watching with great enthusiasm.

No wonder kings kept beautiful dancers at court. This was one hell of a way to unwind.

While they relaxed, a war engulfing every race in the Central Region had already begun.

The Beast Sovereign personally led dozens of Stage SSS Outland Beasts, hundreds at Stage SS, and a seemingly endless army of lower-tier beasts in a massive assault on the Central Region.

The intelligent races didn’t back down. Led by the pinnacle races, they met the Outland Beasts head-on.

The scale of the war was horrifying. It already rivaled the war against humanity ten thousand years ago, and in terms of sheer numbers, it far surpassed it.

The shock waves from the battle shook more than half of the Eldoria Continent.

The battles between Stage SSS fighters were especially devastating. Mountains collapsed and the ground split apart wherever they fought. One peak after another was flattened, leaving devastation everywhere their attacks reached.

Only after the Central Region erupted into total war did everyone realize that the previous fighting had been little more than a warm-up.

The shock waves were so powerful that even the other regions could feel them.

As if by tacit agreement, the forces fighting across the other regions stopped and turned toward the Central Region.

On the battlefield, countless intelligent fighters and Outland Beasts tore into one another.

Far above them, dozens of figures clashed with equal ferocity.

The skies belonged to the Stage SSS fighters. Even flying beasts and winged races remained firmly on the ground.

No one dared approach a Stage SSS battlefield.

Anyone who did would die.

High in the sky, the Beast Sovereign fought four Tier 47 fighters by itself. The other Stage SSS Beast Lords had also been intercepted by powerful fighters from the various races.

The pinnacle races held the numerical advantage, fielding a full fifty-six Stage SSS fighters.

The Outland Beasts had only forty-eight—eight fewer.

However, several of the Beast Lords were exceptionally powerful and could fight two opponents at once.

The Beast Sovereign alone tied down four of the pinnacle races’ strongest fighters.

So while the numbers favored the pinnacle races, the two sides were much closer in overall strength.

”Beast Sovereign, are you still determined to continue this madness?” the Celestials Patriarch called out. ”You know this war will benefit neither side!”

The Beast Sovereign ignored him and continued bombarding the four Patriarchs with terrifying abilities.

It was widely considered the strongest being on the Eldoria Continent. It had reached the peak of Tier 47 long ago and had spent years searching for a way to advance to an even higher Stage.

Although it had yet to succeed, the effort had made it far stronger than an ordinary Tier 47.

Most of the Beast Sovereign’s abilities were void-type debuffs—poison, corrosion, curses, and other vicious effects.

Such abilities were extremely difficult to deal with. Combined with its overwhelming physical strength, the Beast Sovereign had almost no equal within its tier.

That was why it commanded such absolute authority among the Outland Beasts.

But the Patriarchs of the four strongest pinnacle races were no easy opponents.

The Celestials’ holy light and Cleanse directly countered the Beast Sovereign’s abilities. The Soulkin had soul attacks, the Thundari possessed terrifying destructive power, and the Stoneborn had nearly impenetrable defenses.

The group sent to fight the Beast Sovereign had clearly been chosen to counter it.

Their battle was vicious, but neither side could gain the upper hand.

The same was true elsewhere.

Unless there was an enormous difference in strength, battles between Stage SSS fighters couldn’t be decided quickly.