Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Even under the Celestials Patriarch’s relentless assault, Big Mike remained insufferably smug.

Whenever he got the chance, he slapped the Patriarch across the face, sending the man’s fury through the roof.

The normally calm Celestials Patriarch had completely lost control.

He was a Tier 47 fighter, one of the most powerful beings on the Eldoria Continent, yet some Stage SS weakling was slapping him around. No one could endure that kind of humiliation.

He unleashed one powerful ability after another at Big Mike as if they cost him nothing.

But there seemed to be a terrifying devouring force inside Big Mike. No matter what kind of attack struck him, it vanished without a trace.

Eventually, the Celestials Patriarch began to calm down.

He wasn’t an idiot. He knew something was wrong. Big Mike was just so infuriating that he couldn’t resist trying to beat him to death.

Once he regained his composure, he stopped attacking and narrowed his eyes at Big Mike.

”I don’t know how you’re doing this, but you’re only Stage SS. There’s no way you can withstand my attacks through your own power. You must be relying on some external force.”

”But that power can’t last forever. The moment it disappears, I’ll tear you limb from limb!”

With a cold snort, the Celestials Patriarch ignored Big Mike and charged at Ethan and the others.

If he couldn’t kill this one, he could still kill the rest.

Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t do that either.

Ethan had been watching him the entire time. The instant he approached, Ethan pulled everyone into the Deadlock Dimension.

The Celestials Patriarch stared blankly at the spot where they had vanished.

Big Mike reacted immediately, moving in front of the spatial node where Ethan had opened the Deadlock Dimension.

”What happened? Already out of steam? All bark and no bite, huh? You were acting like such a badass a second ago. Come on—weren’t you gonna make us wish we were dead? I’m waiting.”

Big Mike even gave him a come-kill-me look, nearly sending the Celestials Patriarch into another rage.

The Patriarch took a deep breath and forced down his fury. His gaze swept across the area, and his face darkened again.

Only Big Mike and the soulless thrall remained. The other humans had vanished without a trace.

It didn’t take him long to notice the distorted space behind Big Mike and realize that they had hidden inside a special dimension.

But Big Mike was blocking the spatial node, leaving him no way to attack it.

What should have been a perfect ambush had been completely ruined by this one ridiculous human.

Looking at Big Mike’s smug face, the Celestials Patriarch wanted nothing more than to rip his head off.

But that was all he could do—want it.

He had no way to hurt Big Mike. He couldn’t even force the bastard to move.

After attacking for so long, he had failed to make Big Mike take even a single step back, just as the man had boasted.

The frustration was unbearable. Even fighting the Beast Sovereign had never left him feeling this helpless.

Worse, Big Mike never shut up. His constant taunts made it nearly impossible for the normally rational Patriarch to keep his temper.

He drew another deep breath.

”I’ll wait and see how long that borrowed power of yours lasts. The moment it disappears, I’ll tear you to pieces!”

”Oh, shut the hell up. All you do is talk shit. You don’t have an ounce of real ability. I’m standing right here, so come tear me to pieces.”

Even the members of Fallen Star Squad found Big Mike’s mouth unbearable sometimes. His enemies never stood a chance.

The Celestials Patriarch had never wanted to kill anyone as badly as he wanted to kill Big Mike right now.

He took yet another deep breath, struggling to calm himself.

”Enjoy your arrogance while it lasts. Let’s see how much longer you can keep this up.”

”Heh. You guessed right, old man. This isn’t my own power.” Big Mike grinned. ”Unfortunately for you, it lasts a full day. The question is whether you can afford to wait that long.”

”I’m guessing the Beast Sovereign is already on his way. Once he gets here… heh.”

”Impossible! An ability this powerful couldn’t possibly last that long!” the Celestials Patriarch snapped.

”Heh. Guess you don’t know humans very well, old man. We specialize in the impossible.”

Big Mike’s grin grew even more obnoxious.

The Celestials Patriarch studied his face, searching for any sign that he was bluffing.

But no matter how hard he looked, all he saw was that infuriatingly smug grin.

He was torn.

Of course he didn’t believe such an absurd ability could last an entire day. Even for a human, that would be impossible. If humans had been that powerful, their race never would have been wiped out in the first place.

Still, even if it couldn’t last a full day, a few hours would be enough to cause trouble. By then, the Beast Sovereign might arrive.

After thinking it over, the Celestials Patriarch decided to wait. If Big Mike’s ability still hadn’t worn off by the final few dozen minutes, he could retreat then.

He had finally found an opportunity like this. He wasn’t going to give it up easily.

Having made his decision, the Celestials Patriarch gave Big Mike a cold look.

”I’ll deal with you later.”

He stepped forward and appeared beside the Gildari Patriarch.

If he couldn’t kill Big Mike, then he would help the Gildari Patriarch eliminate the soulless thrall first.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The battle intensified.

Dopey had been overpowering the Gildari Patriarch, but once the Celestials Patriarch joined in, he quickly fell on the defensive.

Fortunately, Dopey was strong enough to hold out. The two Patriarchs had the advantage, but defeating him wouldn’t be easy.

More importantly, he felt no pain. As long as they didn’t destroy him completely, his combat strength wouldn’t be affected.

When Big Mike saw what was happening, he struck the spatial node three times.

A moment later, Ethan and the others reappeared.

”Big Mike, how’s it going?” everyone asked as soon as they emerged.

”Heh. I’m invincible right now! What could that guy possibly do to me?” Big Mike boasted.

”We didn’t ask how you were doing. We asked what was happening.”

”…”

Big Mike sighed.

”That bastard couldn’t do anything to me, so he went after Dopey instead.”

”What? Why didn’t you stop him?”

”Holy shit! How was I supposed to stop him? The second I moved away, he would’ve attacked the spatial node, and then all of you would’ve been screwed.” Big Mike rolled his eyes.

”Big Mike made the right call,” Ethan said.

He activated True Sight and checked on Dopey. Seeing that Dopey wasn’t in immediate danger, he relaxed slightly.

”How long can you maintain this state?” Ethan asked.

”Two hours,” Big Mike replied helplessly.

”Only two hours?” Sean frowned. ”That time your dick wouldn’t work, it lasted three whole days. How come you only get two hours now?”

”How can you even compare the two? That ability wasn’t remotely on the same level as this one. Two hours is already damn good. I had to put a hundred years of Skinny Pete’s love life on the line just to roll this.”

”A hundred years?!” Skinny Pete’s eyes went wide. ”Why the hell would you bet mine instead of your own?!”

”Because you’ve got better luck than me. Betting mine wouldn’t have done squat.”

”…”