Chapter 766: Blood must pay for blood!

The human Awakeners stood frozen for a heartbeat, their faces tight with tension as the monstrous Zombie Horde surged toward them like a living tidal wave. The sheer scale of it—the sound, the stench, the killing intent—was enough to make even seasoned veterans feel the weight of death pressing down on them.

But there was no turning back now.

Retreat wasn’t an option.

This was it.

A warrior’s glory was forged in blood, and today’s battle would be carved into the stone of history.

“Kill them all!”

With a unified roar, the human forces drew their weapons. In a synchronized motion, blazing Lightsabers ignited in their hands—each one a beam of searing energy, humming with lethal promise.

Every elite soldier had one. It was standard issue for the best of the best.

And now, the two forces—humanity and the undead—collided like crashing waves.

Chaos erupted instantly.

Lightsabers sliced through the air with a high-pitched whine, cutting down zombies in arcs of light. Each swing left trails of gore and sparks, painting the battlefield in streaks of red and neon.

But for every zombie that fell, another took its place.

Some humans were overwhelmed, dragged to the ground beneath snarling, clawing bodies. Their screams were short-lived—ripped apart in seconds by the frenzied horde.

The battlefield became a vision of hell.

Zombies shrieked. Humans roared. Blood sprayed. Limbs flew. The ground was slick with death.

And then, the real monsters arrived.

Ethan’s Zombie Kings began to enter the fray—one after another, revealing their true power.

No more holding back.

Sprout’s eyes gleamed with a feral light as he stepped forward, scanning the battlefield.

“These humans… same as before. Their Lightsabers are sharp,” he muttered.

“Yeah, well, they’re basically glow sticks,” Petal said beside him, her voice light, almost playful. “Good for setting the mood.”

Sprout grinned. “Then let’s dance.”

A brilliant green light flared around him.

Vine Domain.

The earth trembled.

From the cracked, blood-soaked ground, massive vines erupted—thick, writhing, and alive. They surged forward like tidal waves, twisting and coiling, transforming the battlefield into a living jungle.

In seconds, the desolate wasteland became a twisted oasis of green.

Petal followed suit, her power blooming in tandem.

Delicate pink flowers blossomed along the vines, beautiful and deadly. Their petals shimmered with an unnatural glow, releasing invisible clouds of hallucinogenic pollen. Awakeners caught in the domain began to panic.

“Absolute Domain!”

“Fusion-type Zombie King?!”

“Fall back! Get out of the vines!”

But it was too late for many.

Thick vines lashed out like serpents, impaling some, wrapping around others’ throats and hoisting them into the air. Screams echoed as bodies dangled like broken dolls.

“Captain! Help—help me!” a young soldier choked out, legs kicking wildly as a vine tightened around his neck, lifting him higher.

A female soldier ahead of him stopped in her tracks.

She turned.

The young man’s heart surged with hope. She wasn’t running. She was going to save him.

That’s my captain, he thought, tears welling in his eyes. She’s not like the others. She’s—

Then he saw her eyes.

Glassy. Unfocused.

She was already under the influence of the pollen.

Her Lightsaber ignited.

And instead of cutting the vine, she swung it straight at his head.

“Wha—?!”

His thoughts never finished.

The blade cleaved through him, splitting him clean down the middle.

Elsewhere, elemental Awakeners fought back with fire and stone, trying to burn the vines or raise barriers to slow them down.

But the flowers were already blooming at their feet.

One by one, they inhaled the pollen.

And then they turned—on their own teammates.

The battlefield descended into madness.

“Damn it… what is this power?” Harren muttered from above, watching the chaos unfold. His brow furrowed deeper with every passing second.

This wasn’t just a horde.

This was a coordinated, multi-pronged assault.

And it was working.

“Is this really just Southvale’s forces?” he muttered, doubt creeping into his voice.

Ethan’s plant-type Zombie Kings were living siege engines. Every time they entered the field, they flipped the balance of power.

And now, from the far side of the battlefield, another figure emerged.

Gorewood.

He moved with a slow, swaying gait, his body half-covered in bark and moss, like a walking forest.

Arboreal Domain.

The ground rumbled again.

Massive trees burst from the soil, growing at impossible speed. Their trunks twisted skyward, branches spreading like claws.

The forest swallowed the battlefield.

Visibility vanished.

The human formation fractured.

Squads were cut off from each other, lost in the maze of trees. Some wandered in circles. Others were ambushed by vines or impaled by branches that moved like spears.

Screams echoed through the woods.

Blood dripped from the leaves.

“Gorewood, your Absolute Domain’s getting nastier by the day,” Big Ears said with a grin, lounging lazily on a thick tree branch. Around him sat Shrimpy, Mist, and a few other zombies, all comfortably nestled in the dense canopy of the Arboreal Domain.

Ever since that last close call—when they’d been chased by humans and barely escaped into the woods—they’d made a collective decision: stick close to Gorewood.

It was safer that way.

“After that last battle, my Domain’s evolved a lot,” Gorewood rumbled, his voice deep and slow, like a tree creaking in the wind. “It’s almost fully formed now.”

“Nice! That means if we team up, we’re even more unstoppable,” Big Ears said, clearly pleased with the arrangement.

He stood up on the branch, stretching his neck to get a better view. From this vantage point, they were surprisingly close to the heart of the battlefield—closer than they’d ever dared before.

“Let’s see what those SSS-ranked humans look like up close,” Big Ears muttered, squinting toward Howard and the others.

Shrimpy leaned in, eyes gleaming with curiosity. “Yeah, check it out! I heard they went all-in right at the start—opened with a Royal Flush!”

“Royal Flush, my ass,” Big Ears snorted. “Against our boss? That’s like throwing down a pair of twos and calling it a win.”

“…Facts,” the others murmured in agreement, nodding sagely.

They sat there like a bunch of undead war commentators, watching the chaos unfold below with smug detachment.

“I’ll give ’em a little more fog,” Mist offered, his voice low and raspy. He exhaled, and thick black smoke began to pour from his body, swirling upward like ink in water.

The forest darkened.

The already disorienting Arboreal Domain became a pitch-black maze. Visibility dropped to near zero, even for those outside the tree line. Long-range weapons lost their effectiveness, and the battlefield shifted into a close-quarters nightmare.

Which, of course, was exactly what the zombies wanted.

They didn’t need sight. Their senses—smell, sound, instinct—were more than enough. One by one, they began slipping through the fog, ambushing human soldiers, dragging them down into the dirt.

The tide was turning.

Harren’s expression grew darker by the second. His brow furrowed so deeply it looked like it might never smooth out again.

“These… these are just the edge-zone zombies from Necroterra?” he muttered, disbelief creeping into his voice.

The battlefield was starting to feel all too familiar.

Like Heartland.

Thirty years ago.

Blood. Fire. Screams. Heroes falling one after another. The bitter taste of defeat.

It was all coming back.

“No,” Harren whispered to himself, fists clenched. “I won’t let history repeat itself.”

Then, in the distance—a massive surge of energy.

A new battle had erupted, fiercer than anything else on the field.

SSS-level pressure rolled across the land like a shockwave. The air itself seemed to tremble.

Howard and the others had finally made their move.

They were going after Ethan.

To them, he wasn’t just an enemy—he was a nightmare made flesh. A ghost from the past that had never stopped haunting them.

“Blood must pay for blood!”

Howard roared, unleashing his Infernal Soulflame Domain. His entire body ignited, flames roaring around him as he charged straight at Ethan.

His fist connected.

The white figure shattered—breaking apart into glowing fragments, drifting away like stardust.

“A cheap trick,” Howard spat. “You think we’d fall for that again?”

They’d seen through the illusion instantly.

Gareth’s mental energy flared, sweeping the battlefield until it locked onto Ethan’s real location.

Serah and Tharen didn’t hesitate. They moved in tandem, flanking Ethan from both sides.

Now it was four against one.

Ethan didn’t counter.

He didn’t block.

He dodged.

Fluid, precise, effortless.

He weaved through their attacks like water slipping through fingers, never staying in one place long enough to be pinned down.

Not far away, Bloodveil watched with wide eyes, still perched safely on the sidelines. He hadn’t lifted a finger yet—too worried about getting caught in the crossfire.

He’d been ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble.

But now… watching this?

His thoughts shifted.

“Four against one?” he muttered, frowning. “That’s just not right…”

…

Here’s a redemption code for everyone: