Investing in My Harem in the Apocalypse Makes Me Stronger

Waves of heat spread across the broken ground, rapidly evaporating the remaining moisture trapped between the shattered stones as the air itself began distorting around Cain.

The 3rd Echelon commander stopped moving.

For the first time since their battle began, genuine danger appeared in his eyes.

Cain poured more Mana into the Origin Sun.

The amplification continued increasing.

Its baseline was already ten times the original power of his Fire-attributed abilities.

Cain pushed beyond that as More Mana disappeared into the blazing sphere.

The golden-white flames became increasingly intense until Cain finally reached the maximum amplification his current 1st Echelon body could sustain.

Twenty times.

The Solar Origin Body already increased the power of his Fire-attributed abilities to five times their normal level even without manifesting the Sun.

Now, with the Origin Sun pushed to its current limit, that amplification had risen to twenty times the original power.

The difference was enormous.

The commander understood that he could no longer allow Cain to prepare freely.

He immediately charged forward.

Nether energy poured into the saber until the weapon became surrounded by a dense dark layer.

The commander swung, a huge diagonal crescent tore across the street toward Cain.

Cain raised his own sword.

True Ruin gathered heavily along the edge before he swung in the opposite direction.

The dark-gray sword force collided against the incoming Nether crescent.

BOOOOOOM!

The street between them shattered beneath the explosion.

Cain did not attempt to completely overpower the attack.

Instead, he used the force of the collision to jump backward and widen the distance between them.

The two energies continued tearing into each other as he retreated.

Above Cain, golden-white light began multiplying once again.

The commander forced his way through the fading explosion.

Cain continued moving backward while more lances rapidly formed above him.

By the time the zombie had crossed most of the distance separating them, dozens were already hovering around the Origin Sun.

This time, Cain did not immediately fuse them.

He raised one hand, then flicked his wrist.

Ten lances launched at once.

The commander swung his saber toward the incoming barrage.

The first lance exploded against the Nether-coated blade, forcing dark energy to scatter around him.

Another approached from his left right after that, and although he managed to block it as well, the third struck the ground beside his feet.

BOOM!

The explosion forced him several steps sideways.

A fourth lance descended from above before he could completely recover.

The commander released a violent burst of Nether energy from his body and destroyed the projectile before it could reach him, but the remaining attacks followed without giving him any chance to regain the initiative.

For the first time since their battle began, the 3rd Echelon could no longer casually advance through Cain’s attacks.

The Origin Sun had changed everything.

Even the unfused lances now possessed enough destructive power that allowing one to strike him directly would be dangerous.

Cain naturally noticed the difference.

His smile widened as he sneered.

”Not so comfortable anymore, eh?”

The commander’s expression became ugly.

Cain gave him no time to answer.

The remaining lances moved together and began fusing in groups of four.

Their number rapidly decreased until fifteen much denser constructs surrounded the blazing Origin Sun above him.

The golden-white radiance coming from them was noticeably stronger than before.

The commander looked upward.

Cain immediately attacked.

The first fused lance descended directly toward him.

His saber rose to meet it.

BOOM!

Golden-white fire erupted against the Nether energy surrounding the weapon, scattering part of the dark power protecting him.

The second lance came from the side before the explosion had fully faded. The commander twisted his body and blocked, only for the next attack to approach from another direction.

Cain maintained the pressure relentlessly.

Every lance followed a slightly different trajectory, preventing the commander from settling into a stable defense.

The Nether armor surrounding his body trembled repeatedly beneath the impacts, and whenever cracks appeared across its surface, more energy immediately flowed into them to repair the damaged sections.

But that continuous reinforcement was costing him Mana.

Another lance struck the commander’s shoulder.

BOOM!

His body staggered sideways as a visible crack spread across the Nether armor protecting that area.

The next projectile arrived immediately afterward.

The commander managed to cut it apart with his saber, but the resulting explosion still washed over one side of his body and burned through part of his sleeve.

Cain did not stop as his attacks continued bombarding the commander.

Five.

Six.

The commander attempted to force his way closer, but Cain simply retreated while maintaining the bombardment.

A seventh lance struck the ground directly in front of the zombie and exploded, forcing him to halt his advance.

The commander became angry and swung his saber, a crescent of Nether energy tore across the street.

Cain moved aside before it reached him.

The attack continued behind him and sliced through part of a nearby building, sending a large section of the structure collapsing into the street.

The eighth lance arrived before the commander could follow through.

He destroyed it.

The ninth struck directly against his already weakened defense.

BOOM!

The Nether armor surrounding his torso flickered violently.

The commander’s breathing had become noticeably heavier by now, and the dark protection that had appeared almost impenetrable at the beginning of their battle was no longer recovering as quickly as before.

Cain’s golden eyes sharpened.

The final attack he needed descended.

The commander saw it and immediately raised his saber, but his movements had become just slow enough.

The fused lance struck the center of his chest before the weapon could completely intercept it.

BOOOOOOM!

Golden-white fire swallowed his body.

The explosion expanded across the avenue with enough heat to partially melt the stone near its center.

The commander was thrown backward through the Solar flames before crashing heavily against the ground.

His Nether armor had nearly collapsed.

Cain’s fingers closed.

The remaining energy inside the lance compressed instead of dispersing.

The damaged construct pushed deeper through the weakened defense and pierced directly into the commander’s chest.

His eyes widened.

”No...”

Cain clenched his fist.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

The lance erupted from within.

The upper half of the commander’s body disappeared inside the golden-white explosion as Solar energy swept across the surrounding street.

Only after the flames began fading did Cain finally lower his hand.

A series of notifications appeared before him.

[Ding!]

[You have killed a Level 100 3rd Echelon Zombie Race Commander.]

[Ding! You have obtained Strength +15, Agility +13, Physique +12, and Sense +10.]

[World-Class Mission Zone Bonus applied.]

[Ding! You have obtained 2,000,000 System Points.]

Cain stared at the rewards as a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

”Now that’s better.”

The additional Stats immediately entered his body, strengthening him further.

He could feel the small improvement clearly.

Unfortunately, this was not the time to enjoy it.

Another notification began appearing in front of him.

The completion of his Advancement Mission.

Cain barely looked at it as he already knew what it meant.

Aurelia was still fighting at a distance.

Cain raised one hand.

The five remaining fused lances immediately changed direction.

Farther away, Nathan continued firing toward Aurelia’s battlefield from a distance.