"Bulldozer... you sure you can handle this?" The zombie squad leader with the lightsaber looked skeptical. After all, Bulldozer still hadnât broken through to SSS rank.
"Doesnât matter if I can or notâIâm going in!" Bulldozerâs eyes burned with determination. This was a critical momentâhe couldnât afford to screw up now.
Even Laura was holding her own against the SSS-ranked speed-type Zombie King sent by Endless. Not just holding her ownâshe was actually gaining the upper hand.
"I canât be the weak link here!"
With that thought locked in, Bulldozer crouched low like a coiled beast, then launched himself straight at Zombie King Terrax.
The two hulking figures collided mid-charge.
Both raised their fists at the same time, slamming them into each other with bone-crushing force.
BOOM!
It was like two raging bulls clashing head-on. The shockwave from their fists cracked the air.
But Bulldozer was still a notch below in raw power. The impact sent him stumbling backward, and he landed hard on his ass.
One of the elite zombie grunts watching smacked his forehead with a groan.
"Yeah... looks like heâs not ready after all."
Terrax, radiating violent energy and contempt, sneered. A zombie who hadnât even hit SSS rank dared to challenge him?
He didnât waste a secondâclosed the distance in three massive strides.
His fist, the size of a wrecking ball, came crashing down toward Bulldozer.
But just as the blow was about to land, a mechanical tendril shot out from behind Bulldozerâlike a steel arrow slicing through the air, aimed straight at Terraxâs face.
Terraxâs eyes widened. He jerked his head to the side, dodging just in time, then snatched the tendril out of the air with one massive hand.
"Got some tricks, huh?"
With a grunt, he yanked hard. The synthetic limb groaned and screeched, metal straining under the force. Bulldozer stumbled forward, dragged by the pull.
Terraxâs other fist was already cocked backâand he let it fly.
CRACK!
Bulldozer managed to block with both arms, but the sheer force of the punch sent him flying. Pain exploded through his body as he crashed to the ground.
The mechanical tendril sparked violentlyâthen snapped in two with a shriek of tearing metal.
"All that flashy crapâwhat good did it do?"
Terrax tossed the broken piece of machinery to the ground with a heavy
thud
, then started walking forward, each step like a drumbeat of doom. His massive frame cast a looming shadow, suffocating in its intensity.
Bulldozer clenched his teeth, rage boiling inside him.
"Damn it... why havenât I broken through to The Voidborn Undying yet?"
...
From a distance, Endless watched the fight unfold. Seeing Terrax turn the tide brought a satisfied smirk to his face.
But then, far off in the sky, the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser finished charging again. A beam of pure destructive energy lanced out, slamming into the Heartland zombie horde with devastating force.
And yet, standing atop the shipâs prow, Elegyâhis fingers stained with bloodâkept strumming his guitar, his haunting melody slicing through the battlefield, lifting the spirits of his allies.
Endless frowned.
"If only Candlewraith, my top-tier psychic, were here... If he hadnât been sent to guard the northern front, I wouldnât have to put up with this damn music."
He was starting to feel the lack of long-range firepowerâand more importantly, the inability to shut down Elegyâs mind-piercing melody.
Just then, a bloodied zombie grunt came sprinting up, panic written all over his face.
"Boss! The northâs fallen! The Overlord of FrostmereâWraithshadeâheâs back! Heâs already crossed into Heartland territory!"
"What?!" Endlessâs brow furrowed, clearly caught off guard. Wraithshade had only recently risen to powerâhis region was the youngest and least established of the four. And yet heâd moved this fast?
Letting him step foot into Heartland was a slap in the faceâone Endless had no intention of tolerating.
"Whereâs Nerissa? If things get too dicey, send her to reinforce the north," Endless ordered, his tone calm but firm. With a Deathless Sovereign on the field, he figured the situation would be locked down in no time.
The grunt hesitated, his expression flickering with unease. "Boss... Deathless Sovereign Nerissaâs barely holding on herself. Her fightâs turned into a stalemateâactually, sheâs getting pushed back. Sheâs already been knocked way off the front line."
"What?" Endlessâs brow furrowed even deeper. That was not what he expected to hear.
The grunt quickly gave a rundown of the eastern front. Apparently, a powerful human had broken through and was the first to breach Heartlandâs borders.
Endlessâs handsome face darkened, his expression stormy enough to drown the air around him.
Wraithshade invading Heartland was bad enoughâbut humans? That was a whole different level of insult.
"Pathetic little humans... and they dare meddle in this war?" His voice was ice-cold, laced with fury.
Nightwraith and Lilith turned their heads toward Origin Mountain in the distance. The peak was shrouded in swirling mist and storm clouds. From both the eastern and northern fronts, the shockwaves of battle were visibleâmassive figures clashing in the sky and on the ground.
"Looks like we need to pick up the pace," Lilith said, her voice low but urgent.
"Yeah..." Endless nodded, his eyes flicking toward the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser. Elegyâs voice still rang out from the top deck, his bloodstained fingers dancing across the guitar strings. The melody surged through the battlefield, rallying the undead forces. New types of zombies kept pouring out like a tide.
That ship was clearly the enemyâs core.
"Nightwraith," Endless said, his voice sharp, "Iâll handle that white-shirted Zombie King. While Iâve got him tied up, you take out the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser."
"You sure you can handle him?" Nightwraith asked, skeptical. Ethanâs Domain of the Dead was no jokeâits power was immense, and he had stealth and illusion abilities that made him a nightmare to pin down. Only Nightwraith had the psychic strength to see through his tricks quickly.
"Iâve got this," Endless replied without hesitation. As the strongest Deathless Sovereign in Heartlandâand one of the top-tier beings in all of Necroterra, maybe even all of Originisâhe had every reason to be confident.
"Alright then," Nightwraith agreed. His terrifying psychic energy began to shift, pulling away from Ethanâs location like a storm changing course, sweeping toward the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser.
The pressure in the air spiked.
Every zombie on the battlefield felt itâan invisible weight pressing down on their chests, making their hearts skip a beat.
Ethanâs eyes narrowed. He instantly understood what was happening. He unleashed his Domain of the Dead, sending its power surging after the psychic storm, trying to intercept it.
The space around them rippled violently, on the verge of being swallowed whole.
But thenâanother force erupted.
It came out of nowhere, slipping between Ethanâs domain and Nightwraithâs psychic wave. It was strange, eerie, and overwhelmingly powerful.
"Your opponent... is me."
Endlessâs eyes gleamed with deadly focus. He unleashed his Temporal Domain at full force. Time itself began to warpâaccelerating, decaying, unraveling. Everything caught in its grasp began to erode.
Ethanâs Domain of the Dead was strong, but even it couldnât resist the grinding decay of time. It started to falter, unable to push forward or retreat.
Nightwraith saw his opening and didnât waste a second. With Ethan pinned, his psychic energy surged like a beast unchained, tearing across the battlefield toward the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser.
"Shit!" Ethanâs zombie horde panicked. The air in front of them screamed, rippling like a disturbed pond. Something deadly was coming.
Several Zombie Kings rushed to intercept.
Sprout was the first to act. Green energy exploded around him, vines twisting and writhing like a living storm. His Undying Vine Domain bloomed again, a wall of nature rising to block the psychic onslaught.
But he had only just ascended to The Voidborn Undying. His Absolute Domain could hold off a casual strike, sureâbut this wasnât casual. This was Nightwraith going all in.
"You again?" Nightwraith sneered. His psychic energy turned into a swarm of spectral scythes, slicing through the vines like they were paper. The domain shattered under the assault.
Next came Gorewood, unleashing his Arboreal Domain. Trees erupted from the ground, towering and ancientâbut Gorewood hadnât reached SSS rank yet. His Absolute Domain was still immature, weaker than Sproutâs.
Against Nightwraithâs psychic storm, it was like throwing twigs into a hurricane.
The trees were ripped apart, splintered and crushed. The battlefield looked like it had been hit by a supernatural tornado.
Nightwraithâs psychic force tore through every defense, finally reaching the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser.
Elegyâs melodyâhis Song of Slaughterâwas smothered, silenced by the overwhelming pressure.
For a moment, the battlefield fell into eerie silence.
All around, zombies turned to look, eyes wide with fear and awe.
This was the power of a Deathless Sovereign of Heartland.
Unstoppable. Unmatched.
Nightwraith had broken through every line of defenseâand he still had power to spare.
"Is the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser... about to be destroyed?" the undead forces whispered, dread creeping into their voices.
But just as the ship seemed doomed, a new force surged outward.
A massive wave of psychic energy erupted from the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser itselfâjust as fierce, just as overwhelming. It rolled out like a tidal wave, colliding with Nightwraithâs assault.
This power was dense, heavy, and unshakableâlike a mountain crashing down from the sky.
SSS-level. No doubt about it.
Then, from the deck of the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser, a figure stepped forward.
A man in a white lab coat.
PhD had arrived.
...