Chapter 758: What exactly were the humans blowing up out there?
Bloodveil knew Ethanâs secretâhis leverage. The Zombie Kings of Heartland were actively hunting for him, so of course Ethan wouldnât dare show his real face. In fact, under the circumstances, it made perfect sense for him to stay disguised.
And as an âally,â Bloodveil had no intention of exposing him.
âHmph. That disguise is getting more convincing by the dayâŠâ he muttered to himself as he stepped forward.
The surrounding Zombie Kings immediately noticed his arrival. They parted respectfully, clearing a path for him, their tones warm and deferential.
âLord Bloodveil, youâve arrived!â
âThanks for calling us together to hunt the humans.â
âYeah, we wouldnât have known otherwise!â
Bloodveil gave each of them a nod, keeping his expression cool. As an Overlord, he had to maintain his presenceâhis face.
Umbradrake looked up and spotted him, a flicker of surprise crossing his face.
Bloodveil? The Overlord of Eastreach himself?
For someone of that rank, Umbradrake didnât dare be careless. He immediately put on a welcoming smile and stepped forward.
âWelcome, welcome. Didnât expect the mighty Overlord of Eastreach to grace us with a visit.â
âHmm?â Bloodveilâs eyes narrowed slightly.
Whatâs that supposed to mean? Like I had a choice?
To him, it sounded like Umbradrake was throwing shadeâsubtle, but there.
Something felt off. Bloodveil focused, carefully probing Umbradrakeâs aura. It was different nowâless vague, more grounded. More real.
Compared to before, it was like something fundamental had shifted.
Maybe⊠after absorbing those SSS-grade crystal cores, his disguise evolved againâŠ
Bloodveil didnât dwell on it. He cut straight to the point.
âUmbradrake, where are the humans? Letâs not waste timeâletâs go find them.â
âUh⊠right now?â Umbradrake blinked, caught off guard. I havenât even gotten orders from the boss yetâŠ
Bloodveilâs tone sharpened, a flicker of impatience in his eyes. âWhat, you want to stall? Weâre all here already. Or are you planning to keep the prize for yourself?â
âNo, no, I wouldnât dare,â Umbradrake said quickly, shaking his head. That thought hadnât even crossed his mind.
Around them, the other Zombie Kings were already getting fired up, their eyes gleaming with anticipation.
Umbradrake sighed inwardly. Well, if theyâre all this eagerâŠ
âAlright then,â he said aloud. âIf youâre ready to move, letâs go.â
âŠ
Meanwhile, aboard the Command Frigate slicing through Necroterraâs skies, Garrick sat in the command chair, eyes scanning the terrain below.
Heâd entered from the edge of the Exile Zone, and so far, every zombie hive theyâd passed had been completely abandoned.
âCommodore Howard,â Garrick reported through the comms, âweâve swept several zombie hivesâcompletely empty. No signs of activity.â
âThen expand the search,â Howardâs voice came through, calm and commanding. âYour job is to keep killing zombies until the Overlord of Southvale shows himself. Weâll be right behind you. You wonât be in any danger.â
With Garrickâs SS+ level strength and cutting-edge tech, Howard was confident they could draw out an SSS-level Zombie King without too much trouble.
âUnderstood,â Garrick replied, then turned to his second-in-command. âDeploy the swarm. Full-area scan. I want every inch of this place covered until we find something.â
âYes, sir.â
Moments later, the escort aircraft surrounding the Command Frigate broke formation, spreading out in all directions. From their undercarriages, they released thousands of tiny, insect-like dronesâbionic bees.
Each one emitted high-frequency sonar pulses, scanning the terrain for movement and feeding the data back to the mainframe in real time.
The buzzing swarm spread like a living net, sweeping across the land.
From his seat, Garrick watched the data stream in, a digital map of Necroterra unfolding before him.
âNo way weâre not finding zombies in this hellholeâŠâ
Sure enough, it didnât take long.
âSir!â his second-in-command called out. âWeâve got movementâlarge-scale Zombie Horde migrating from multiple regions, all heading deeper into Southvale.â
Garrickâs eyes lit up. âThen we hit them. Wipe out as many as we can.â
The fleet banked hard, redirecting toward the detected horde.
They didnât need to land. From the air, they could unleash hell.
âPrepare the Crystal Core Blasters,â Garrick ordered. âFull sweep. Donât hold back.â
They had no reason to conserve ammo. The Dreadnought-class Starcruiser was right behind themâresupply was just a jump away.
âŠ
Just as Bloodveil and the other Zombie Kings finished strategizing and were about to set out to hunt the humans, a sudden boom shattered the air.
Far off on the horizon, several mushroom clouds erupted into the sky, followed by a series of thunderous explosions that rolled across the land like a shockwave.
The Zombie Kings, with their enhanced vision, could clearly see what was happeningâdozens of human aircraft were swarming the skies, unleashing a relentless barrage of firepower.
âTch! Still standing around? The humans are already bombing your territoryâs zombies!â Bloodveil snapped, his voice laced with scorn.
But Umbradrake just frowned, his expression puzzled. Something didnât add up.
âThatâs the outer edge of Southvale,â he muttered, eyes narrowing. âBut we donât have any zombies stationed out there. Ethan ordered all of them to regroup toward the center.â
âWhat?â Bloodveilâs brow furrowed. âNo zombies?â
One of his lieutenants stepped up behind him, face pale. âBoss⊠I think thatâs the route we used to move our Zombie Horde from Eastreach into SouthvaleâŠâ
ââŠâ Bloodveilâs face went dark, a vein twitching in his temple.
So all this time⊠theyâre bombing my own damn troops?!
âMove! Weâre going now! Kill those humans before they wipe out everything!â he barked.
âGot it!â the other Zombie Kings responded in unison, bloodlust igniting in their eyes. Some leapt into their aircraft, others simply took off on foot or by air, their monstrous speed kicking up clouds of dust as they tore across the land.
Bloodveil, naturally, was the fastest. A crimson aura exploded around him, and in a flash of bloodlight, he vanished like a streak of lightning.
âDamn, heâs in a hurry,â Umbradrake muttered, watching the blur disappear into the distance.
âBoss, should we go too?â Howler asked from behind.
Umbradrake thought for a moment, then nodded. âYeah. Letâs go see what the hell theyâre bombing.â
He and Howler boarded a nearby aircraft and took off, trailing behind Bloodveil.
Mostly, he was just curiousâwhat exactly were the humans blowing up out there?
âŠ
The Zombie Horde Bloodveil had pulled from Eastreach had been marching toward Draconis Citadel, so they werenât far from the blast zone.
Now, they were caught in a storm of fire and steel.
The air was filled with the deafening roar of explosions, the screams of the undead, and the sickening sound of flesh being torn apart. Limbs and gore rained down like confetti.
Above them, a Command Frigate hovered like a floating fortress, its underbelly bristling with black cannon ports. It was unleashing hell.
Each shell it fired was devastatingâblast radius over 300 feet. Every shot carved a crater into the horde, vaporizing dozens of zombies in an instant. Some were blown apart, others simply ceased to exist.
Only the strongest Zombie Kings could survive the onslaughtâand even they were barely hanging on.
One of them, a bloated, pig-faced monstrosity with rolls of fat hanging off his body, was Snoutâthe same Zombie King whoâd once run with Ethan.
His hive was located right on the Eastreach-Southvale border, so heâd been swept up in the mobilization.
Now, he was regretting everything.
Shells exploded all around him, sending shockwaves through his massive frame. His fat rippled with every blast, and though his body was tough enough to avoid instant death, he was being tossed around like a ragdoll.
His skin was scorched black, pain radiating through every inch of his body.
âIf this keeps up, Iâm gonna end up as roast pork!â he howled.
âSnout! What the hell is that thing?!â one of his underlings shouted, teeth clenched in frustration. The aircraft above was untouchableâtoo high, too fast. A few flying zombies had tried to get close, but they were swatted out of the sky before they even got near.
âHow the hell should I know?!â Snout roared back, his voice full of rage and panic.
Heâd thought this was going to be a cushy gigâhunt some humans, grab some loot, maybe score a few crystal cores.
Instead, heâd walked straight into a meat grinder.
âŠ
Hereâs a redemption code for everyone: