Defiance of the Fall

I had to go back quickly , - Zac said with a smile as he sat down next to her .

Is it about the arrays stopping working? - Kenzie asked with worry in her eyes .

That too , - Zac sighed . - There’s a lot of things to do . How are things on your end? -

You know , I am pretty sure that this place has something to do with the Technocrats! We went to the gate Ogras talked about , and Jeeves helped me get Head Researcher Access! - Kenzie excitedly blurted out , clearly having waited for the opportunity to share the exciting news . - Unfortunately the terminals here aren't connected to anything important . We will have to get to the center to keep looking . But Zac , perhaps mom is here! -

Don’t enter the populated parts , we aren’t strong enough yet , - Zac said with worry . - And I don’t know about mom . The people in this place seems to have been isolated for thousands of years , and mom disappeared only twenty years ago . -

Kenzie’s face went from exuberant to downcast in a second , and Zac felt a pang in his heart as he patted her head . He knew just how much Kenzie wanted to find Leandra .

But perhaps I’m wrong . We will find out sooner or later , - Zac acquiesced . - I actually came back with some news about mom , though I am not sure about all the details . -

Kenzie once again perked up , but as Zac retold his encounter with the little alien in the underworld her face started to scrunch up in a frown .

So you think that mom is this high-ranked person from the organization Firmament’s Edge , - Kenzie concluded . - Which means that the thing they’re looking for is Jeeves? -

Well , it can all be a coincidence , - Zac ventured , though his face betrayed what he truly thought . - But their targeting device did react to the amulet . I will leave it here for now so it won’t happen again . -

What will you do? - Kenzie asked .

Well , if they’re mom’s enemies I can’t let them stay on earth . Ogras and I will kick them out of here before they can perform the scan . Who knows what else mom has left on earth . Things are crazy enough without a bunch of technocrats arriving , - Zac said with a wink as he handed over the amulet .

See if you can find anything about mom , please , - Kenzie entreated .

I will , though you should know that these people only seemed to be hired thugs . They didn’t seem to know a lot , - Zac shrugged . - Please stay inside the Mystic Realm until I’ve dealt with the Incursion . Who knows how strong their scanners are . -

Okay , okay I will stay in here . Perhaps a few will choose to stay behind like the Tal-Eladar . It might us help understand the Technocrats and mom better , - Kenzie said .

Perhaps , - Zac smiled , though he knew that would never happen .

I’m making some headway on my formation studies anyway . It’s pretty interesting stuff , - Kenzie added .

Oh? - Zac asked with interest . - Anything on the thing we found on Salvation’s body? -

Well… Maybe? - Kenzie said with some hesitation . - Jeeves have looked at it for quite a while and made some deductions . I think I can break its lock so to speak . But I still have no idea what would actually happen when I did that . Perhaps the Origin Dao trapped inside will flood out around us , but perhaps it will simply disappear? Or perhaps the whole thing would explode? -

Zac was surprised that Kenzie had made progress so quickly with the thing . He would have thought it might take months to figure out the details of such a complicated item . It was no wonder the Technocrats wanted Jeeves back .

Well , there's no stress . Take your time with it . Remember , stay in the Mystic Realm , - Zac said as he made to leave .

Wait , - Kenzie said Zac before he could leave . - Please bring any technology you can find . Jeeves wants to eat it . -

Zac stopped in his tracks and looked back with surprise .

He needs Technological items to evolve , rather than high-grade materials? - Zac asked with confusion as it was completely different from how Spirit Tools evolved .

Jeeves isn’t sure , but probably , - Kenzie said . - Jeeves is a combination of technology and magic , so I think I will need both . I have already found a few ores he liked . -

Zac thoughtfully nodded . Bringing any gear to the AI might not be a bad idea even if he couldn’t eat them . Perhaps Jeeves could also help them understand the equipment , allowing them to use the things for themselves . And if not he might at least be able to make sure they didn't send any signals to the Technocrats hiding in outer space

I’ll bring it over after we’ve closed the incursion , - Zac agreed . - Take care . -

Be careful! - Kenzie said . - And look after Ogras . He isn't as sturdy as you . -

What he lacks in sturdiness he makes up for in slipperiness , - Zac smiled . - We'll be fine . -

He left Kenzie’s study and took one last look at the artificial sky before entering the teleporter . Zac was back in the Underworld soon enough , appearing in the isolated outpost where he told Ogras to meet him . He couldn't see the demon anywhere , but a dancing shadow in the distance told him that Ogras had already arrived .

What’s with the cloak and dagger? - Zac asked with confusion when he found the demon hiding a few kilometers outside the town .

The demons are still around . I have probably caused enough problems for grandpa already without adding hatred from the Abyssal Demons . , - Ogras shrugged . - I scoured all intelligence regarding the Technocrat incursion while you were gone , and I think I know the path . It will take us two days to get there if we push it . -

Great , let’s go . The sooner we destroy the Technocrats the faster we'll be able to head to the Dead Zone . -

Chapter 345 - Drones

Zac was ready to go , but Ogras held up a hand to stop him before he rushed out into the wilderness .

You should know that this mission has a pretty decent risk of failing . The Technocrats possess all kinds of tools that don’t really conform to the conventional grading system , - the demon said .

What do you mean? - Zac asked with confusion .

I mean that their technology can be pretty hard to predict . For example , their shields might be way stronger than the arrays we have encountered , or we might be immediately spotted even if we try to sneak in . I have no idea whether my shadows can fool their detection devices , - Ogras explained .

We’ll just have to see how it goes , - Zac sighed . - I guess I'll swap over to my Draugr form before we go . -

Uh , I think your other class might be more useful in an all-out assault , - Ogras said with some skepticism in his eyes . - This might not be the time to look for more levels . -

I am afraid their devices will detect that I might be part Technocrat , so better that I use my Draugr body , - Zac explained .

Paranoid , I like it , - Ogras nodded in appreciation . - Well , in any case . I'll fight with you , but I am not throwing my life away for your vendetta . -

I know , just do what you can , - Zac agreed .

The two started to run through the dour landscape , both pushing themselves as much as they could while maintaining combat readiness . As they ran Ogras took the opportunity to update Zac on what had been going on in the underworld during his days of training .

The wealth that the merchants had amassed was extremely impressive , but unfortunately it looked like many of them had chosen to hide their wealth rather than carry it around . None of them were powerful fighters , so a common fear had been that their Cosmos Sacks would be snatched without them being able to fight back .

A few of the burrows had been found , but a lot of wealth was still unaccounted for . It had turned into somewhat of a treasure hunt , as whoever found a cache would be handsomely rewarded . Ogras had also received word that Emily finally found her sister , who turned out to be a captain under one of the Councilors . The teenager was staying with her for now , catching up on the lost months .

Their day was pretty uneventful otherwise . Between Ogras' stealth and Zac's towering aura , the wildlife left them alone , allowing them to keep running in peace . It was only after running for almost 40 hours straight did they stop and made camp in a small cave .

The reports stated that there have been signs of activity in this direction . The resources in the area have been excavated , and scouts have gone missing . There haven't actually been any sightings of the Technocrats , apart from a mention of a red light in the distance , - Ogras explained as he took out a map . - But it this can only be the place , especially considering that heretic you killed had time to visit the cavern . -

That some parties managed to walk unencumbered through the area should mean that they haven’t bugged the place . Those who got killed probably just got unlucky and encountered the Technocrats , - Zac deduced .

Probably , - Ogras agreed . - Or that they ventured too far . In any case , these reports are over a month old . Hopefully the heretics have finished draining the resources in this area , allowing us to get close to their base without them noticing . But that leaves the matter of how we'll deal with the Incursion itself . There's only two of us and you're using that class . -

I can take care of the five E-Grade warriors as long as they are close to each other , - Zac said - I have a new skill that’s pretty convenient for such a scenario . But you should make sure to keep some distance from me . -

Ogras looked over with interest , slowly nodding in agreement .

What about the rest of the Technocrats? - the demon asked .

Leave no one alive . Kill everyone as quickly as possible . Let no one contact their homeworld , - Zac said .

A ruthless grin spread across Ogras face when he saw Zac’s resolve . It looked like he couldn't wait to start fighting , which was a bit surprising considering the demon's earlier misgivings .

Why are you so eager? - Zac asked with confusion .

He was more than happy that the demon seemed motivated to help out with this problem , but he was a bit skeptical about it . The demon never threw himself into danger unless there was something in it for himself .

You should know that most forces in the multiverse , including the demons , are in a passive state of war with the Technocrats , - the demon smiled . - But do you know why? -

Isn’t it because they want to destroy the System while you want to keep it? - Zac answered with a raised brow .

Well , it’s part of the reason , but the Technocrats are crazy powerful . Normally people wouldn’t want to mess with them . However , there’s another reason from what I’ve gathered . The technocrats hate the Ruthless Heavens , but the Heavens hate the Technocrats just as much it seems , - the demon grinned .

What? Isn’t the System like an unfeeling program? - Zac blurted out in confusion .

Well , The Ruthless Heavens at least have some sense of self-preservation I guess , - Ogras shrugged . - According to rumors it brings all kinds of benefits if you take out the Technocrat heretics . For example , it counts as great achievements , which will help with Class Evolutions . I’m sure taking out one of their Incursions will bring amazing benefits . -

Zac could only gape in response . It was truly a ruthless move by the System if what Ogras said was true . A lot of people were ready to do almost anything to push themselves forward on the path of cultivation . There were innumerable people stuck at one bottleneck or another , so it was no surprise that many forces would fight the Technocrats tooth and nail if it could help them break through .

It would also explain why they didn't expose themselves while in the underworld . They could have gained a lot more resources if they started raiding some settlements . But perhaps the Technocrats were afraid that the other invaders would drop everything to hunt them for merit .

So I guess there’s nothing good that can come from pissing off the System , - Zac said with a shake of his head .

Well , I don’t think The Ruthless Heavens has time to listen in on ants like us in any case , - Ogras grinned . - In any case , I squeezed some things out of the hands of Smaug . I have two of those balls that disrupt teleporters . I am not sure whether they work on Nexus Hubs though . -

Nice . Anything to blow any shields open? - Zac asked .

Unfortunately , no . I have a few offensive trinkets that should cause widespread carnage though , - Ogras said . - If nothing else works we’ll have to use your Void Ball] , though avoid it if possible . Even if we break the shield we might not be able to pass because of the spatial tears . -

The two discussed various strategies for a bit longer until they finally came to a decision . They would try to sneak inside the Technocrat territory relying on Ogras’ shadows . After the battle ensued Zac was responsible for taking down the powerhouses , whereas the more mobile Ogras would be responsible for taking care of the others .

The two immediately set out , keeping to the shadows as they started to traverse the area that was presumed to be claimed by the Technocrats . Thirty minutes into their travels Zac saw clear signs of excavation , with the ground having multiple symmetrical holes leading into the darkness . However , there were neither men nor machines active in the area , allowing the two to breathe easy .

Another hour passed as the two started to move slower and slower , carefully scouring the shadows and the sky for any hints of Technocrat activity . Their carefulness was finally awarded as they spotted a small hovering ball in the distance .

It was the size of a tennis ball and pitch black , almost seamlessly blending into the surroundings . It didn't move or make a sound , only silently floated in the air . Neither Zac nor Ogras had seen such a thing before , but it was easy to assume it was either some sort of surveillance drone or a floating mine .

Ogras looked over questioning at Zac , who motioned the demon to keep going . This would be a test to see if they could pass the sentry unnoticed , or whether it could see through the shroud of darkness . It would greatly impact how they would act in the rest of the assault . The two crept forward , with Ogras completely covering them in dense layers of shadows . They slowly moved closer and closer , making no attempt to avoid the drone .

The drone seemed completely oblivious to their existence until they came within a few hundred meters of it . At that moment it moved with shocking speed to stop right above them , and a mesh of red beams started to run over the ground . Zac's eyes widened and he immediately indicated for Ogras to destroy it .

A beam of shadows , almost completely invisible in the darkness of the Underworld , shot up and ripped a hole through the small ball . It immediately fell out of the air and some unknown energy inside it caused a few flickering discharges . But by the moment it thumped into the ground it looked completely dead , which wasn't a surprise since only its shell remained after getting impaled .

So much for stealth , - Ogras muttered , looking down on the drone with some interest . - Perhaps it would have worked if we had Janos with us , but a moving blob of shadows won't fool the machines . -

It looks like it covers the area of a square kilometer or so , - Zac added thoughtfully .

Perhaps we can circumvent the others with distance , but they should already know this thing is broken , - Ogras said as he poked the destroyed ball by their feet . - What now? -

We'll keep going as earlier , - Zac said . - They might not care too much about one destroyed drone . It might have been a beast for all they know since we never exited the shadows . But if we meet more of these things we'll have to rush it . -

Yeah , one or two might be okay , but any more than that they'll definitely understand that something is up , - the demon agreed as they kept moving forward .

Just a few minutes later they spotted another ball in the distance , though they were able to avoid its detection by taking the long way around it . But that orb was just one of many and they soon found themselves stuck . If they wanted to keep moving forward they would either have to enter the field of vision of one of the orbs or start destroying them .

There's no way we'll get to their base unannounced , - Ogras said with a shake of his head .

Then we'll have to speed up . Destroy all the orbs so they at least don't know what's coming , - Zac sighed .

The demon nodded and the two immediately sped up . Any drones that came within Ogras' reach was instantly destroyed , causing one subdued explosion after another . Zac started to feel a bit shocked as they ran , as there were just so many of them . Ogras had destroyed close to a hundred after running for just a few minutes , but that was only a fraction of the inescapable net that the Technocrats had created . A conservative estimation by Zac put the number of drones at five thousand at the minimum .

Soon enough the behavior of the drones started to change , as the unmoving sentries by the sides started to fly toward them one after another . It looked like the Technocrats had finally realized something was up and started to control the movements of the flying scouts . The two of them had still avoided getting scanned by the red lights , but their path of movement could easily be plotted by following the destroyed machines .

Something's coming , - Ogras suddenly said , looking into the distance with a frown .

Shit! - Zac said when he saw what Ogras was talking about .

It was four machines that were suspiciously similar to the two drones that accompanied the Technocrat in the battleroach cavers , with the notable exception that they were twice as large .

Dodge! - Zac shouted , as even he didn't want to block four of those beams at the same time .

Ogras grabbed Zac by the arm , and the next moment the two disappeared in a sea of shadows , only to appear fifty meters away . Just a moment later the four beams converged at their earlier spot , and the effect of the four beams was terrifying . Each lance of energy was powerful enough to incinerate the air , and even space itself seemed to be unable to handle the four attacks converging . The area where the beams had ripped through kept twisting and distorting even after the attacks , only stabilizing a few seconds later .

What is that?! - Ogras spat when he saw the power of the beams , clearly starting to regret accompanying Zac on this venture .

That's the Technocrats for you , - Zac sighed as he got ready for battle .

Chapter 346 - Heaven's Path

Ogras only grunted in an exasperated agreement before taking out his large spear with one hand while he threw an offensive array at the drones . The crystal sphere ripped through the air , but the machines seemed to understand it was dangerous . They immediately started to spread out , but they didn't have time to move too far before the ball cracked , unleashing a sea of electricity in the sky .

Two of the drones managed to dodge the offensive array , but the other two were swallowed by the dense lightning bolts . Zac briefly saw a red shield enclose the two submerged machines , but they flickered and petered out in just a second . Zac was relieved to see that the technological shields weren't without limits and that they would sooner or later break under pressure . In fact , they seemed only slightly stronger than an ordinary defensive treasure that Zac found dozens of during the hunt .

He took out a clump of steel from his Cosmos Sack that essentially looked like a cannonball , and he hurled it at one of the surviving drones after infusing it with the Seed of Heaviness . Another red shield appeared to protect the drone , but the attack contained enough momentum to push the machine into the ceiling hundreds of meters above . It caused a large explosion when it hit the rock , and scrap pieces started to rain down from the impact zone .

Zac had long ago replaced the small hill of rocks in his Cosmos Sack with something that could better take advantage of his huge attribute pool . Any time he threw rocks or boulders to test out his enemies lately , the stones would break long before his enemies did . However , a steel ball weighing almost a hundred kilos contained terrifying kinetic energy , especially when it was infused with the Dao of Heaviness .

Only one Drone remained , but it was soon taken care of by Ogras who had appeared up in the air . He stabbed straight through the energy field with his spear , and the speartip entered the drone through a joint . A second later the drone expanded until it exploded in a shower of shadows and metal .

Zac nodded , feeling that the Technocrat Incursion might not be too dangerous after all . But when he relaxed he finally realized something odd . He had gained a small surge of energy for destroying the drone just now .

Why are these things giving cosmic energy? - Zac asked with confusion . - They're not alive . -

No idea , - Ogras shrugged with some disinterest . - The Ruthless Heavens provides the energy I suppose . -

Perhaps the other ones were too weak , - Zac said hesitantly .

No , there is a need of a soul to gain energy , - Ogras disagreed . - That's why living golems who cultivate give cosmic energy when killed , but destroying a battleship does not . -

Then what is it? - Zac asked with confusion . - Are these machines alive? -

No , check your quest screen , - Ogras said with a smile spreading across his face .

Supremacy of Heaven's Path (Limited , Area) : Close Incursion of the Followers of the Boundless Path . Reward : Merit . (0/1) NOTE : All destruction of inanimate combatants will reward energy while quest is active .

It's an area quest , - Ogras explained . - I think that anyone that gets close enough to the heretic's Incursion will be automatically awarded this quest as an incentive to destroy it . -

What's merit though? - Zac asked .

I would guess it would boost our available class choices when evolving , like eating a Fruit of Ascension , - the demon said , not able to hide his excitement .

Truly a VIP-treatment , - Zac said with a wry smile . - I wonder if I should start to worry about my own safety . -

I think we would have noticed it by now if The Ruthless Heavens wanted you to die , - Ogras said , though there was some hesitation in his eyes .

Like how? Dropping me off all alone on an island with a bunch of demons? - Zac snorted .

And having me roll for survival instead of just moving me a few meters , ’ Zac internally added .

Uh . . . - Ogras said . - I'm sure that was just a coincidence . -

However , Zac did notice that the demon took two subtle steps away to distance himself from him . Zac only rolled his eyes in response and kept going .

If we got the quest the incursion shouldn't be too far . Do you know if the other incursions are out in the open or if they are in town caves? - Zac asked .

Both it seems . The fish people are in a large town cave that's partly submerged , and I think the humans have a large one as well . But the demons are out in the open , - Ogras said .

Zac nodded and the two kept going , destroying any machinery that tried to impede their approach . Another set of drones tried to stop them a few minutes later , but they were turned into scrap in short order . Their offensive capabilities were pretty terrifying , but their defensive strength left a lot to desire . Even without the assistance of any offensive arrays the shield only needed an attack or two before they broke .

Soon enough they got their answer as they saw something odd in the distance . Another pack of drones appeared out of thin air , though the background started to wobble when they appeared , as though there was a wall of water .

Illusion array , or whatever their equivalent is , - Ogras muttered . - There's likely a grand reception awaiting us on the other side . -

Zac took out another cannonball and used it to destroy one of the drones . Soon enough all four were blown to bits , at which point Zac finally activated his real skills . A shroud of miasma spread out from his body as the large spiked wall appeared in front of him .

You go ahead , - Ogras smiled . - I'll be right behind you . -

Zac only snorted in response as he started to run forward , putting his bulwark as close to his body as possible to protects from attacks from any angle . Just as he was about to pass through the illusory wall a sense of danger erupted , but Zac only grit his teeth and imbued his bulwark with the Dao of Hardness .

Jump , - a roar suddenly came from behind , and Zac didn't dare to hesitate as he pushed off as fast as possible , causing him to soar tens of meters into the air .

Zac suddenly felt a weight on his shoulders and glanced behind to see that Ogras was actually standing on his back as though it was a surfboard . But before he had the opportunity to tell the demon off an enormous explosion erupted beneath them , pushing a pillar of fire right in their direction . Zac was about to move his bulwark to cover them , but Ogras quickly interjected .

I'll handle the fire , keep protecting the front , - he shouted to be heard over the ruckus as he threw down a crystal at the flames .

The crystal cracked the moment it came in contact with the inferno , and the next moment the flames were simply gone , replaced by a thick haze . Zac was shocked by the rapid change , but he quickly realized that Ogras had prepared some tools to counter his newfound weakness to fire .

But Zac didn't have time to think about that as his danger sense kept screaming in his mind , just as two thick beams of pure energy ripped toward them . The attacks slammed right into Zac's bulwark , but they were so immense that the beams continued around them , enclosing them in a relentless sea of chaotic energies .

It felt as though he were stuck inside the sun as he held on for dear life against the limitless powers of the two beams . The heat rose to an unbearable degree just from being next to the scorching rays , and he couldn't even keep his eyes open during the onslaught . Only after a few seconds did the beam relent , and Zac sighed in relief since his Miasma had been depleted at a shocking rate to protect them from the brunt of the attack .

The two fell down on the ground after the attack , and Zac finally had a chance to see what was going on . A large line with hundreds of aliens stood with weapons at the ready , many of them appearing quite shocked that Zac and Ogras were still alive . Interestingly enough the Technocrats were comprised of all sorts of races , where the grey little aliens only accounted for a quarter of the full numbers .

Most of the Technocrats held various types of guns , but some were unarmed apart from small drones hovering around them . A few even donned a sleek exoskeleton as they gripped some sort of energy weaponry .

Accompanying the living Technocrats were almost a hundred four-legged drones and various other mechanized weaponry such as the flying machines . There were even two huge robots that stood over twenty meters , smoke coming out of their right arms . Zac almost drooled at the sight of all the awe-inspiring technology , but he soon cooled down when he realized that the things were there to kill him . He tried using Inquisitive Eye] on the robots , but nothing popped up .

Just a few hundred meters behind the row of warriors the large Nexus Hub hovered , emitting a silver glow that illuminated the whole area . There were rows of simple structures behind the crystal , looking like warehouses and containers of various sizes . It was clearly a temporary encampment , a simple means to an end . It gave a clear indication that the Technocrats truly had no interest in staying on Earth . They simply wanted to complete their mission before returning back home .

It wasn’t very hard for Zac to spot his main targets ; the four bodyguards and their ward . They stood together in the center of lineup , two people at each side of a stocky alien that was equipped with one of those exoskeletons .

Excitement filled Zac's heart when he saw that all his targets were clumped together , but he didn’t dare to pull the trigger and activate Profane Seal] just yet . There were too many robots around , and Zac was afraid that the towers he summoned would get blasted apart in no time .

He needed to reduce their firepower before trapping the others , and taking care of the huge mechas felt like something that should be prioritized . The two attacks they launched while he was airbound stole almost a fifth of his Miasma , so he couldn't take too many such attacks .

I think we need to destroy the two big guys first , - Zac muttered . - Do you feel confident in taking on one of them? -

I have no idea , - Ogras said while scratching his chin . - Who knows what other capabilities they have? There's no way I can take them down if they can keep spewing out such beams -

Zac nodded with a grimace , realizing they were lacking information .

Let's head into the thick of it . They shouldn't be able to release those kinds of beams if we're in the middle of their army . Stay clear of the clouds I’ll release . It will melt your skin right off , - Zac said .

It will what? - Ogras shouted , but Zac was already running toward the defensive line of enemies .

The ever-careful Ogras didn’t want to lose the protection of staying close to Zac , so he soon reappeared right behind him as he ran forward . Various weapons started firing at them , and the large cave lit up as though it was a laser show .

Beams kept slamming into Immutable Bulwark] , and Zac frowned at the expenditure . He was losing at least a percent of his miasma every second from the concentrated fire , meaning that he would be all out of energy within two minutes if this kept up .

Can you teleport us inside? I can't keep this up for too long , - Zac growled , and Ogras placed a hand on his shoulder with a nod .

The two disappeared , but Zac frowned when he saw that they didn't reappear within the Technocrat ranks , but rather right in front of it .

I got blocked somehow , - Ogras said with a frown .

I'll open a path , - Zac sighed as his arm started swelling , and he rushed forward to cross the last stretch between themselves and the Technocrats .

Explosions and beams filled his whole vision , but Zac didn't care about that nor the energy expenditure as he arrived in front of the Technocrats . A resounding crash reverberated through the area when Immutable Bulwark] was forcibly stopped by a red translucent shield that appeared right in front of them . The shield shuddered when it was stabbed by the spikes on the shield wall , but it held true .

Of course , Zac wasn't planning on breaking through with his defensive skill and pushed the bulwark to the side as he jumped forward , Verun's Bite] already slashing in a horizontal arc with enough power to cause the air to scream in protest . Zac imbued the axe with the Dao of Heaviness just before the edge slammed into the shield , and it cracked like a broken window .

Chapter 347 - Enemies Ahead

Persistent bastards , - Alea muttered with displeasure as a poisonous cloud billowed out from her hand , causing one zombie after another to stumble before they fell down into a rotting heap .

Her skill Gift of Talasa] only possessed limited effect against the undead , but it was one that did not require an actual compound to empower it . After the past few days , she knew she would need to ration her basin-sized stockpiles because it was becoming increasingly obvious that the Undead Empire wanted their army dead even if they had to sacrifice a terrifying number of their low-tiered undead .

Every god damn hour , - Ilvere agreed as he led a squad of warriors to mow down dozens of Elite Zombies every second .

His weapon , the huge ball attached to its chain , ripped through the air , creating a circle of death around the demonic general . Any zombie unlucky enough to get hit by the wrecking ball was instantly turned to paste , but those closer to Ilvere weren’t much better off as they instantly got bisected by the chain .

The demon wasn’t using any skills at the moment , only taking advantage of the reach of his weapon while occasionally infusing the ball with his Dao to increase the momentum . He was conserving his Cosmic Energy in case another powerhouse hid inside the Zombie wave . Unfortunately Alea herself didn’t have such a luxury , as her only physical weapon was a thin rapier she used to decapitate any Zombie that got too close .

There were also the Wailing Spikes] , but controlling those cursed objects cost too much , and wasn’t something that she would use unless she was out of options . So she was stuck wasting Cosmic Energy , desperately circulating her cultivation manual to restore her constantly depleting reserves . But there was no choice , the undead were completely relentless in their pursuit of the bedraggled forces of Port Atwood .

The 15 000 man strong group had kept a rapid pace northwest to outrun the horde of elite zombies on their tail . They hadn’t stopped moving since they fled their temporary base , moving through the wilderness at a rapid pace to get away . But the zombies seemed to have no trouble keeping up , with raids assaulting their rear constantly .

There was no rest for the warriors of Port Atwood . Even Alea herself and Ilvere were forced to occasionally defend the rear to avoid too many casualties . But neither of them ever dared to go all out to clean out a larger swathe of the attacking undead .

Alea was constantly on guard against a pincer strike from ahead . She had thought it would come almost immediately after they fled the small town due to the missing scouts , but so far they hadn’t even seen the shadows of any threat at all . That did not instill any confidence though , but rather the opposite .

It appeared the undead were taking a page out of her own playbook , and they seemed willing to slowly grind them down . Normally the constant raids from Zombies wouldn’t be a too large concern as Port Atwood lacked neither experts nor gear . But the fact that they were constantly on the move made it hard if not impossible to properly rest up after the battles .

After a full day of fleeing they had tried to take a short rest while the rear guard protected their camp , but just moments after their large group stopped the undead turned crazy , heedlessly rushing their position . Only after a frantic one hour escape did the undead relent , resuming their pattern of constant , but manageable , harassment .

Enemies ahead! Golems and beacons! - a blaring warning came from a command crystal in Alea’s hand , and she immediately gathered a number of the elites fortifying the rear .

Ilvere and his squad also retreated , leaving the task of defending against the elite zombies to the regular army . Some demons would stay behind as well to help out , but the lack of elites would no doubt cause some deaths . But there was nothing to be done since the true threat came from the front .

On a hill a few kilometers ahead a small army stood ready . Their numbers were less than 500 , but Alea could sense the powerful energies from the members even from this distance . Their lines were orderly and well-armed . A few of the gargantuan Corpse Golems were present as well , proving this was not another group of rabble . Even two large monoliths were erected , constantly spewing out miasma in the surroundings .

It’s finally here , - Alea muttered , before turning to Ilvere . - We need to go all out on this one . -

Ilvere somberly nodded as he looked out over the elite army barring their path .

Can you find the leader? - Alea whispered as her eyes scanned the army over and over .

No , but I think that’s a good thing , - Ilvere hesitantly said . - If there was a true powerhouse there he wouldn’t bother to hide within the ranks , right? I think there's no general spearheading this army . -

It also means we won't be able to complete our quest just yet , - Alea sardonically smiled .

Soon enough the elites of Port Atwood stood ready , but their numbers were less than half of that of the Undead Army . Of course , Port Atwood was able to augment their lack of experts in various ways .

Get the lunatics as well , - Alea said after some deliberation .

Are you sure? We can only use them a few times , - Ilvere asked from the side , but Alea nodded without hesitation .

She honestly didn't feel confident against this small but intimidating force in front of them . It would be one thing if they had Lord Atwood or Ogras here , but there was no one to hold down the fort for them . They would need to use every weapon in their arsenal .

Soon enough ten ragged Ishiate rushed over . They looked wrung out from the last day's march , but a manic gleam could be seen in all of their eyes . It was the tinkerers that had created the terrifying cannons that utilized Nexus Crystals . They had been working on improving their inventions since their last field test . Alea hadn't used them in the war so far , wanting to keep their extremely destructive weaponry as a hidden ace .

Are you confident in blowing up those two pillars over there? - Alea asked a one-eyed Ishiate .

Mistress , I'd say we need four shots to be somewhat sure . But even the shots we miss would cause some mayhem , - the maimed Ishiate said after spying on the Undead squad through a brass binocular . - Of course , If they possess shielding that's another matter . -

Good . We'll sound them out and hopefully break their defensive array . Try to destroy those beacons no matter what . If it seems impossible , maximum carnage , - Alea said .

Maximum carnage , - the Ishiate agreed , a wide smile spreading across his face .

Ideally , she would have wanted to prepare longer before assaulting a pure core squad from the Undead Empire , but the Elite Zombies were putting immense pressure on their rear . She could only start the assault prematurely as they truly needed to move forward . A thousand man strong army rushed forward until they created some distance from their non-combatants .

Hundreds of the Atwood Academy recruits immediately started to infuse crystals with energy , creating a wide shimmering wall in front of them . They would be the defensive line protecting the non-combat classes and the ranged strikers such as the Ishiate craftsmen .

At the same time a smaller force pushed forward , including just the strongest warriors . Ilvere was already spinning his weapon in the air above them , accumulating a terrifying momentum . Janos was there as well , and energy surged around him as the area was suddenly filled with demonic warriors storming the front while a haze spread over them . All of it were illusions of course , but it would improve their survivability while hiding their actions within the mist .

Are you ready? - Alea said to one of the demons with a ranged class , and he nodded as he took out an extremely oversized crossbow from his Cosmos Sack .

The demon was peak F-Grade , but he was barely able to carry the monstrosity . It was more apt to call it a ballista going by its size , and that was just what it was before the craftsmen of Port Atwood got their hands on it . It was over three meters long , and the slot for its bolts looked large enough fit a young tree . It was part of the arsenal Clan Azh'Rezak brought for sieges , and it had served well during the final battle against the beast waves .

But Alea had required something portable since they knew from the start that the war against the Undead would be a continuously moving skirmish , so the craftsmen modified it for such a purpose . Unfortunately , the modifications led to a loss in power , but it was still an extremely mighty weapon . The ranger expertly loaded the crossbow with a densely inscribed bolt that was as long as he was . The number of such a munition was quite limited , but they weren't in a situation to hold back against an army of this level .

But a wail from behind made her snap her neck around just as Alea was ready to give the command to start the operation . Her eyes widened in shock to see a hundred translucent ghosts appearing out of nowhere , assassinating one soldier after another . The soldiers were quick to respond , but most attacks just passed right through their incorporeal bodies .

Only a few of the demons were able to harm them with the help of their Dao , but it was clear that even most Daos were ineffective against them .

Divine Array! - a captain under Ilvere roared from the defensive line , and the next moment the whole army lit up in golden radiance .

It was an array that Calrin had managed to purchase after a lot of trouble . It didn't make warriors any stronger , but it turned all attacks inside Life-Attuned . The one-sided slaughter quickly turned around , and two-thirds of the ghosts were cut down in rapid succession before the rest managed to slink away . Alea could breathe out in relief when she saw that the Ishiate tinkerers were fine and ready to go .

Now , - she nodded at the ranger , who immediately got down on his knee . The inscribed cross-bolt was released with a powerful twang that caused a small shockwave as the projectile soared toward the Undead army .

An azure shield sprung up in front of the army , and the bolt got stuck as it started to release a tremendous amount of lightning that tried to rip open the barrier . However , the defensive array was empowered by not one but two Unholy beacons , and the extremely expensive bolt was only able to cause some hairline cracks that let a few errant lightning bolts inside .

Ilvere let out a resounding roar as the pushed the chain forward with enough power to make his whole body shake with strain . The large wrecking ball that had been accumulating a terrifying momentum immediately changed course and soared toward the undead army , its chain magically elongating as it sped forward .

The huge ball was thrown with such force that a few explosions took place in the air as it broke the sound barrier , until it slammed straight into the lodged cross-bolt with pinpoint accuracy . It was like a hammerhead hitting a nail , and the bolt pushed straight through the array . It unleashing a final burst of lightning inside , causing chaos even among the elite soldiers .

Most importantly the attack managed to crack the array , exposing the whole army beneath . A couple of deep thumps erupted from behind , sounding like primordial drums of war . It was the Ishiate tinkerers who shot their extremely unstable payload at the exposed army with the help of their comically large cannons . The large projectiles soared above Alea's head like four miniature suns , a mix of splendor and terror waiting to erupt .

The undead warriors clearly understood the threat of the incoming bombs , and a storm of attacks rose from their camp to intercept . But the insane Ishiate hadn't been lazing about the past months , and thick green shields sprung up around the projectiles , blocking out the attacks lucky enough to hit . They had managed to incorporate a few defensive treasures into each of the bombs , effectively creating a defensive coating that would allow them to reach their target .

The power of the undead army wasn't anything to scoff at though , and they soon managed to destroy one of the bombs . Its explosion created an enormous fireball up in the air that threw Alea and her party into the ground , and it also dispersed Janos' illusions in an instant .

A second detonation followed soon after to submerge the heavens in an even greater conflagration , making it seem like the end of days were approaching . A third explosion followed after a brief pause , but Alea breathed out in relief to see that it detonated just above the undead army .

The shockwave slammed all the warriors apart from the mighty corpse golems into the ground , immediately stopping the persistent attacks toward the air . Better yet , hidden defensive arrays around the two unholy beacons flashed into being before they got destroyed just as quickly , leaving the towers defenseless .

It allowed the final bomb to sail into the enemy camp and explode just in front of one of the beacons . It looked like a sun erupted , swallowing a third of the army . A second detonation followed soon after , causing an azure wind blade to rip through the firestorm and cause even more mayhem in the undead ranks .

It was the Unholy Beacon getting destroyed by the bomb . The second beacon still stood , but the results were still above Alea’s expectations . Those crazy beastmen had made the detonations far stronger than they let on . The hair on her head stood at end when she remembered that those lunatics had repeatedly taken the bombs out to fiddle with the runes , even while running along with the army .

She looked back at their camp with incredulity , seeing the group dance around their cannons in glee , some of them sporting obvious burn marks .

One fight at the time , - Ilvere laughed as he spat a bit of dirt out of his mouth . - Hopefully we won’t need to enlist their help again . I’m sure your boyfriend is on his way . -

Alea rolled her eyes in exasperation , but a sense of sweetness welled up in her heart . It was true , Lord Atwood was surely on his way by now .

Just shut up and help me destroy this army . -

Chapter 348 - Man Versus Machine

Defend! - one of the Technocrat warriors screamed , and battle drones pushed forward to block the rapidly closing hole in the shield .

I'll go right , - Ogras said from behind before swirling forward in his shadows and effortlessly passed the machines .

Zac grunted and pushed forward as well , though missing the demon's grace . He stomped forward like an angry bull , tanking a few beams the drones launched at him as he squeezed through the regenerating shield .

The main weapons of the landbound war machines were energy beams just like the drones , though they were able to rapidly attack in exchange for a far weaker power . Getting hit left smarting scorch marks on Zac's body , but it would take a whole lot of attacks of that caliber to take him down .

A black storm heralded his arrival as Zac unleashed Winds of Decay] the moment he got through the shield . The corrosive cloud did not only cloud the enemies' vision , but pained screams echoed in the vicinity as some of the warriors fell down in anguish . It was the Technocrats who did not possess any corrosive protection , and Zac felt streams of energy starting to enter him in just a few seconds .

Stand down! We work for Firmament’s Edge . If the two of you don’t back down this instant we’ll be forced to report your actions to our superiors , - a shout came from the distance , and Zac looked through the haze to see the Technocrat leader staring at him .

The Undead Empire goes where it pleases , - Zac shouted back . - You heretics of the Boundless Path can never live under the same sky as us . -

Zac didn’t know if his words would ever reach Firmament’s Edge , but he felt it was prudent to throw the blame on the Undead rather than the people of Earth just in case . As for the Boundless path , he had no idea what that actually was . But if that was what the System called the Technocrats , then it could only be accurate .

Zac asked Ogras during their earlier approach , but the demon wasn’t sure either . Perhaps Heaven’s Path and the Boundless Path were things that ants like them weren’t qualified to know about just yet . Of course , that was why Zac used those words rather than calling the Technocrats invaders or something similar . He wanted to act as a Draugr elite to sow some confusion .

The technocrat kept shouting for Zac to stand down , but he didn’t personally take action just yet . Zac chose to ignore him after the initial exchange , instead using his mouth to keep drowning the area in corrosive clouds .

Unfortunately quite a few of the Technocrats seemed to possess some sort of defensive gear that created a personal barrier that kept the mist at bay , and the clouds were kept at arm's length . Almost all the machines were fine as well , with their durable hulls completely sealed to protect the more vulnerable innards .

The skill was just a means for Zac to cause some chaos though , and he was surprised that it managed to melt a few of the machines at all . He instead relied on his axe to cut down anything in his path . Neither the Technocrats nor the machines could last more than a hit or two , allowing him to gain a steady stream of miasma through Fields of Despair] .

Zac's rampage started to put the fear of God into the Technocrats , and no one seemed willing to get within melee range any longer . The humanoids donning the exoskeletons could only stand to the side and spectate Zac and Ogras dismantling their mechanized military .

The machines were going completely berserk though , and tens of them rushed forward to heedlessly throw themselves at Zac . He didn't mind at all and crushed all the machines as they came . But he only had time to deal with half of the frenzied assault when his mind screamed of danger .

Zac didn't hesitate and immediately entered his turtle-stance by jumping down on the ground with Immutable Bulwark] forming a protective layer above him . The next moment his whole vision turned white as something bombarded him from above , turning all the nearby machines into shrapnel in its effort to take Zac down as well .

Luckily it only cost him some miasma and caused some ringing in his ears since he reacted in time . Zac immediately jumped up to his feet and ran through the inferno to see one of the two large robots standing in the distance , streams of smoke rising from its back . Zac couldn't be sure , but he had a feeling that the mecha had launched some sort of sneak attack while he was occupied with the smaller war machines .

The ground cracked under Zac's feet as he started to rush forward , his bulwark once again paving the way by mowing down everything in his path as he targeted the huge robot . It seemed to have anticipated Zac's approach , as it calmly raised one of its arms toward him . Its forearm started to transform with a clinking sound , rapidly turning into dozens of pipes aimed in Zac's direction .

Zac frowned when he saw the sight , and another gust of black mist covered Zac and his surroundings as he unleashed some more corrosive clouds . The moment he was covered he slightly changed his approach , wanting to flank the robot instead of rushing head-on .

The robot didn't seem to care in the slightest , and the concentric circles of barrels steadily started to light up , each one of them shuddering with power . The air twisted around the arm of the robot until an enormous shockwave blew Zac's Winds of Decay] far away , cleanly exposing his position . A second shockwave erupted as tens of glowing lights were launched toward Zac .

They looked extremely familiar to the attacks that the Battleroach King had utilized with the help of its arrays , making Zac wonder if one was influenced by the other . The Technocrat had mentioned that he had infused the beast with certain capabilities after all . Perhaps those were based on this robot . However , there was one clear difference apart from the fact that the incoming lights were black instead of green .

They looked like miniature black holes as the air around them twisted and distorted beyond recognition , warning Zac of the terrifying power they contained as they rushed toward him in parabolic arcs . Zac desperately tried to dodge the ballistics , but they possessed the same type of homing capabilities as the battleroach king .

Zac felt there was no option except to once again hunkering down to withstand the assaults . The projectiles were approaching him from all directions by this point and he saw no other way to block them all . He rolled forward and placed both his shield and bulwark above him to endure the blasts . The large mecha immediately pointed its other arm toward him and shot a beam at him from an attached gun .

Luckily it wasn't the same weapon as the huge barrel that had fired at him while he was launched into the air . That barrel was over five times wider and was mounted instead of a real hand at the end of his arm . The weapon the mecha used now was instead the same type as the ones that the flying drones from earlier used .

Such a beam wouldn't be able to break through his turtle defense , so Zac didn't worry too much about it . But before he knew what was happening he was suddenly flailing about almost ten meters in the air as the black holes closed in on him . The beam hadn't been aimed at his shield to crack open his defense , it was rather shot in front of him .

The blast had launched him up in the air , circumventing his defense against the other attacks . Zac saw no option to infuse his whole body with the Seed of Hardness as he tried to cover as much of his body as possible with Immutable Bulwark] and his shield . But he could only block some of the strikes and a burning pain erupted in his back as one of the black holes slammed into him , causing a deep wound dripping ichor . His Miasma was rapidly depleted as well from the tens of balls hitting his bulwark .

The large tower shield wasn't faring much better , as parts of it got bent and twisted when blocking the attack . The shield still hadn't completely recovered from the bout with the battleroach king , and this put it dangerously close to falling apart completely . Anger burned in Zac's chest from the pain of the multiple impacts , and he roared as he rushed the final stretch .

A huge metallic foot ripped through the air toward Zac as the mecha tried to kill him with a kick . But whatever was controlling the robot had underestimated Zac's strength as he met the kick head-on . The kick slammed into him and pushed him backward , but Zac pushed back with all the power in his body as he imbued himself with the Dao of Heaviness .

His fingers dug into the thick plating as he stopped the kick with his superhuman strength . However , Zac wasn't done there . His muscles strained as Unholy Strike] was used to its limit , and Zac was actually starting to drag the huge machine . It tried to fight back , but Zac was relentless . His mind was telling Zac to fling the machine into the horizon , or slam it into the ground like an enraged caveman .

But , unfortunately , reality wouldn't comply with his rage , and he only managed to topple it . The thing was extremely heavy , and even with his Strength he wasn't able to toss it around like a ragdoll . But at least it was down on the ground , and Zac pounced on it like a rabid beast before it could get back on its feet .

All its limbs were equipped with various weapons , such as battle knives and ranged weaponry . But that arsenal was of no use against Zac who had managed to climb up on its chest with his axe ready to cause some real damage . But a flash of greed suddenly overcame his rage , and he peered down at the machine with interest .

He slammed his hand down on the mecha as he infused his Cosmos Sack with energy , but he growled in annoyance when nothing happened . He had wanted to both neutralize the threat and make some money by stealing the whole thing . But if he couldn't take it then it didn't need to continue existing . A storm of corrosion blew around him as Zac started to hammer down on the chest plate of the machine .

A blue shield managed to block the first round of attacks , but Zac wouldn't give up . Even when he started getting shot by some Technocrats down on the ground he wouldn't relent , and shockwave after shockwave exploded from the top of the robot until the shield broke and Verun's Bite bit into the robot . There was actually a cockpit inside , and a small green alien peered up at Zac with horror when he finally managed to rip apart the chest plate .

A beam flashed as Zac peered down into the cockpit , but he managed to dodge the blast from the pilot's rifle at the last moment with the help of his Luck . Zac growled in anger as he reached into the cockpit and grabbed the alien by the neck . A nasty crack echoed out from the robot as Zac got a huge stream of energy . It looked like killing the pilot also counted as killing the robot itself .

Zac was about to start demolishing the mecha in his towering rage , but he suddenly froze as he tried to put the robot in his Cosmos Sack again . This time it worked without issue , and he fell into the ground with a thump . He took a gander at the state of the battle , and he felt everything was mostly under control .

Most of the battle droids were destroyed by his and Ogras' efforts , and quite a few of the actual technocrats were dead or dying as well . The demon was currently whittling down the second robot , and he had managed to tear off one of its arms somehow . Ogras had activated his ultimate state , and he was currently in the skies circling the landbound mecha . His large wings kept him out of harm's way as he struck the robot over and over with lightning speed .

The foreman and his four bodyguards were still on the battlefield , but they still hadn't done anything . He already knew from questioning the Technocrat earlier that the four cultivators were there to serve as bodyguards for Syvas , the leader of the Incursion . Whether the rest of the Technocrats lived or died didn't matter in the slightest to them as they were just hired hands .

There was no way they would involve themselves in the battle unless they got paid extra or if Zac attacked Syvas himself . But it didn't look like the Technocrat boss had any interest in joining the battle . In fact , the group of 5 seemed to be inching toward the Nexus Hub behind them .

Zac had no intention of letting the leader go , and it looked like it was time to go all-out . But before he assaulted the five E-Grade warriors he needed to make sure his back was protected from the remnants of the Technocrat army .

It's time buddy , - Zac said as the huge form of Verun appeared with an earthshattering roar .

Chapter 349 - The Final Five

The crimson fractal on Verun's Bite] had long been recharged , and he didn't want his battle with the E-Grade powerhouses to be interrupted by the remaining forces . Verun understood his thoughts and immediately stormed into the thick of it , its oversized maw snatching up Technocrats and drones alike .

If the Technocrats equipment could be seen as a counter to Zac , with his inability to activate Deathwish] against attacks that relied on technology , then the opposite could be said for Verun . Some of the drones tried to fire at the large beast , but its intangible form was the perfect counter to the laser beams as they harmlessly passed right through it .

Zac had already guessed that the Tool Spirit was a bit like the ghosts of the Undead Empire . Normal attacks didn't work , and they needed to be empowered by the Dao to be able to reach him . Perhaps only the cultivators would be able to harm it at all , which gave it free rein on the battlefield . Miserably screams echoed across the Underworld as the beast reveled in its uninhibited carnage .

Satisfied that his back was protected by Verun , Zac could finally target the leaders of the Incursion without worries . He stomped into the ground with tremendous force , and the next second he appeared right in front of the Technocrat with one of the spatial crystals in hand . He immediately threw it at the Nexus Hub in the distance , hoping to seal any communication or escape while he was occupied .

Protect me! - the foreman screamed , and four powerful strikes flashed toward him almost as soon as he arrived .

Zac was inundated in a sea of lightning , and even with his tremendous Endurance he felt his consciousness slipping . Luckily the attacks only lasted less than a second , and Zac immediately slammed his foot into the ground again before they could launch the next attack . The five large towers rose into the air as Zac unleashed another cloud of corrosion in the cage .

The moment the towers appeared the ghastly chains immediately shot out , but this time each chain targeted a different person . Unfortunately , things did not go as smoothly this time . The four cultivators immediately backed away from Zac while they started to fight the chains , launching powerful strikes to rebuff them . The chains acted like snakes , slithering around and trying to pass their defenses , but the cultivators kept them as bay as they looked for means of breaking out .

The technocrat wasn't as lucky though . He had a personal shield that stopped the chain a few times , but after a few slams the chain managed to create a large enough crack to pass through . The technocrat tried to clumsily defend himself with his expensive-looking exoskeleton , but a wide swing left his whole side open for the chain to sneak up and wrap around his neck .

Zac couldn't believe how weak the man was . It looked like he had never been on a battlefield before , just asking for death by being here . Perhaps he was just a businessman or an owner of the company that had taken the mission to scan Earth , and never even planned to enter a battle .

The brief pause allowed him to scan the five with Inquisitive Eye] . The foreman was actually only level 76 , not having improved the slightest since breaking through . The four cultivators were a bit better though , ranging between level 83 and 86 . But Zac still didn't feel there was any need for alarm since he had fought far stronger enemies until now .

Help me you buffoons! - the Technocrat screamed to finally regain the attention of his guards .

Transform! - one of the guards screamed as he unleashed in an enormous discharge of lightning that pushed the special chain far away .

The next moment the sky above the cage darkened as thick clouds formed in an instant . It was the first time Zac had seen any clouds in the Underworld , and it was obvious that they were created by the four guards . They were almost as dark as the mist Zac created with Winds of Corruption] , but they were teeming with wild energies as it continuously lit up by lightning bolts .

Zac guessed the four bodyguards came from the same Sect or Clan since they all possessed lightning-attuned classes . Perhaps the foreman had hired them since they would be efficient in protecting him from other Technocrats and their machines .

Of course , lightning attacks were just as effective against humans as well , and Zac's eyes darted between the bodyguards and the foreman , unsure of who to deal with first . But the decision was made for him as the four powerhouses simultaneously charged him . Zac got ready to defend , the world turned white for a second as four massive lightning bolts slammed into the cage .

However , the lightning did not target Zac , but rather the four guards . It slammed into all of them simultaneously , completely hiding them inside the blinding light . Of course , Zac knew they weren't about to kill themselves , so he wasn't surprised when they emerged unscathed . The lightning had helped them transform into another shape .

Crackling white armor covered their bodies , and they all held weapons that seemed to be wrought out of frozen lightning bolts . Two of them were holding spears whereas the other two held broadswords . They had even gained wings made from electricity , making them look like gods of thunder .

Their looks weren't the only thing that changed with the lightning strikes . Their speed almost doubled as they Zoomed toward Zac like four streaks of lightning . He barely had time to prepare his defenses before they were upon him , all stabbing toward his vital spots .

Zac blocked two of the strikes with the help of Immutable Bulwark] , one with his shield while he met the final strike with Verun's Bite] . Two ghosts immediately appeared behind the two who stabbed his bulwark , while a crack resounded as the sword wielder who Zac met head-on broke one of his arms in the clash between weapons .

The two ghosts only managed to cause minor wounds , but the surprise strike was enough to distract one of them enough for the chasing chains to lock around his throat . Zac felt a shock run through his body from the massive amounts of electricity the four warriors released , but he forced himself forward to follow up on his strike .

The sword wielder with the broken arm tried to create some distance between them , but he was attacked by the relentless chain when he tried to flee , forcing him to stop in his tracks . Zac wasn't about to give up on the opportunity , so he slammed the shield into the ground , causing a wave of spikes to push the final bodyguard away as he pursued the wounded one .

A shield erupted around the guard as Zac's axe swung down with ferocious force , defending against the strike . But Zac only refocused his efforts and Verun's Bite] once again fell down with finality . Zac suddenly felt a blazing pain in his side as a lightning spear tore into his body , and a jolt of electricity caused such a shock to his system that he accidentally dropped his weapon .

His muscles spasmed and flinched , but Zac forced himself to throw his body onto the guard who had narrowly escaped being bisected by the swing of his axe . Tens of lightning bolts hit him as he gripped the horrified cultivator , but Zac refused to let go . A fountain of blood rose to the skies when Zac managed to forcibly rip the warrior in two , ignoring the lightning armor completely .

Steam rose from his body , and Zac felt as though he was half-roasted from the barrage of lightning bolts . The constant shocks also aggravated the multiple wounds he had accumulated in the earlier fight , and he felt his steps starting to become unsteady . Every part of his body hurt , but he refused to stop .

He still had some fuel in the tank , even though his expenditure up til now had been massive . It was partly due to the stream of Miasma he was receiving from the spectral chains that had started to absorb the lifeforce of their captives . Since one of the warriors had died the final chain rushed toward the Technocrat on Zac's command .

The Technocrat leader was unleashing a barrage of attacks on the chain around his neck with a power that belied his earlier embarrassing display . It was the exoskeleton that was showing it's worth , even though it could only turn a turd into a more powerful turd . Cracks were already starting to show on the chain , and Zac was afraid he would be freed soon enough unless he was bound tighter .

The sky suddenly rumbled as the area was drowned in a thunderstorm as the clouds started unleashing bolt after bolt in the area . The five towers got the worst of it as they essentially acted as lightning rods . As Zac looked at the chaos he realized that the remaining time was limited , so he forced his exhausted body to exert even more power .

Two unfettered bodyguards remained , one of which had a light wound from Deathwish] . Zac targeted the wounded one first and immediately pounced on him . The guard wanted to keep some distance as he launched a storm of lightning at Zac , but his movements were restricted due to the harassment of the ghastly chain assigned to him .

Zac forcibly ate a couple of strikes as he kept the other guard at bay with Immutable Bulwark] . He finally managed to get close to him , his axe already on its trajectory of death . The cultivator looked unreconciled and glared at Zac with hatred .

Die! - he roared as his whole body started crackling with berserk powers .

Zac's eyes widened in alarm and he activated both the defensive rings on his hands , causing two barriers to appear around him . The next moment he was blasted into the air once again from a thunderous explosion . The guard had chosen to self-destruct in an effort to bring Zac down with him , but his layered defenses were enough to take the brunt of the strike .

The good news was that the desperate strike didn't only affect Zac . Even the other guard who was trying to flank him was swallowed in the explosion , scorching half of his body and throwing him up in the air as well . The chain acted quickly and captured him as well , which meant that everyone inside the cage was finally captured .

However , one of the fractals atop the five towers started showing cracks from the barrage of lightning strikes coming from the sky , and a few Technocrats had managed to sneak away from Verun's frenzied carnage to try to break out their leader . Zac's vision was turning blurry from the constant shocks , but he forced himself to run over toward the remaining guards .

The first one was screaming on top of his lungs , already looking a bit shrunken from the incessant drain of lifeforce the chain subjected him to . It didn't look like he had any means of resisting it , in contrast to the Technocrat who still seemed full of energy as he tried to free himself from his fetters . Zac wasted no time and cut off the guard's head in one swift motion . There was no resistance as the guard was completely consumed by the pain and completely oblivious to the surroundings .

The final guard put up a feeble fight , but he was all alone against an enranged Zac , so he was quickly cut into pieces as well . Only the Technocrat leader remained , and he was currently bound by three chains , as he had managed to destroy two others while Zac fought the guards . Luckily new chains replaced those that the Technocrat destroyed , keeping him in bondage during the whole fight .

You can't kill me! Firmament's Edge won't tolerate it! - the Technocrat wheezed as he saw Zac approach with murder in his eyes . - Not even the Undead Empire or the Demon Legions are safe from their wrath . -

That's not my problem , - Zac growled as he lifted his axe .

A wet thud could be heard as the axe almost cleaved the Technocrat in two , but Zac frowned when he got no energy to confirm the kill . The Technocrat was somehow clinging to life , staring straight into Zac's eyes with hatred and what looked like glee .

I . . . Warned . . . You , - the Technocrat wheezed with a sneer as blood poured out of his mouth .

The next moment a terrifying change took place in the technocrat's body started to twist and deform as he grew with shocking speed .

Chapter 350 - Despair

In just the blink of an eye the diminutive leader turned into a huge monstrosity reaching over 3 meters , whose bulging muscles would put even Billy's constitution to shame . Even the large wound from Verun's Bite] was gone , the axe pushed out of its body as the wound closed in an instant . Even the expensive-looking exoskeleton had been discarded as it was bent into scrap metal from the alien's expansion .

Odder yet he had turned into an amalgamation of metal and flesh as parts of him had turned into that of a robot . Zac didn't understand how , but the dying Technocrat had turned into a cyborg teeming with immense power . Even Zac felt threathened from just standing in front of the hulking figure , something he hadn't felt for a long time . Something told Zac that this wasn't some ultimate technique by the Technocrat himself , as his face lilted listlessly to the side and his eyes were empty .

The foreman had warned him about reprisal , but Zac didn't expect it to be so direct . He felt the situation was turning bad , and he immediately unleashed a round of attacks on it , holding nothing back . But metallic clangs and deep thuds were all that could be heard when the axehead hit the Technocrat’s muscled torso , only leaving scuff marks behind . Zac couldn’t believe it was so durable that he wasn't even able to leave a shallow wound .

He didn’t give up though and unleashed one ferocious strike after another across the brute’s body in hopes of finding a weak spot . But danger suddenly screamed in Zac's head as a fist as large as a wrecking ball slammed into him with such speed that he didn't have time to even blink .

The power of the punch was enough to shatter all the spectral chains still binding the Technocrat in an instant , and Zac was launched into the air with such speed that it looked like he was teleported away . The enormous shockwave swept all the corrosive mists in the area away as well , exposing the decomposing corpses of the cultivators on the ground .

It felt like his whole body was broken , and it only got worse when he slammed into one of the towers from Profane Seal] with enough power to cause a large crack running along its whole length . Black ichor ran down his mouth as Zac desperately crawled back to his feet only to see the monstrosity treating his entrapment as a joke .

Alarm bells were going off in Zac's mind , and every fiber of his being was telling him that this was not something he could contend with . He frantically tried to figure out what to do next , but the cyborg wasn't waiting for Zac to come up with a strategy . A huge shockwave exploded out from where it stood as the cyborg disappeared from sight , only to appear right in front of Zac once again .

This time Zac was somewhat ready and he barely managed to duck out of the way from another world-ending fist that instead tore the miasmic tower apart . It almost looked like the extremely sturdy structure was made out of styrofoam as it shattered and dissipated into churning mists of Miasma .

The destruction of the tower was the straw the broke the camel's back , and Profane Seal] started to crumble . All the chains were already broken which had damaged the other towers as well , and with one tower utterly destroyed the shield was already down for the count .

Luckily the fight outside had mostly ebbed out as well , with Ogras dismantling the last remnants of the Technocrat army . The demon seemed to be in good vigor , though his clothes were completely burned and the side of his face was covered in a large scorch mark . Verun was nowhere to be seen though , but that quickly changed as the large beast appeared out of nowhere and chomped down on the towering cyborg .

Verun didn't have much better luck than Zac did though despite its furious attempts to rip his master's enemy to shreds . The Tool Spirit's large fangs couldn't even break its skin . The cyborg only stoically stood there acting like it couldn't feel a thing until it slammed its hand in a ferocious overhand slap that hit Verun's head .

The Tool spirit Yelped in pain and was forced to let go , at which point the cyborg unleashed yet another of its terrifying punches . Verun was utterly helpless as it turned into motes of light that fled into Zac's axe . Thankfully Zac could still sense the Tool Spirit in his axe , though it immediately entered hibernation after getting destroyed .

If Zac's heart had been beating in his current form it would have been hammering away at this moment as he gazed upon the Cyborg . Something unfathomable was happening with it . It was as though the monster had gained over 20 levels in just a few seconds , and its towering aura had more than doubled since it attacked Zac the first time .

Futility threatened to consume him as Zac scrambled for any idea of getting out of this mess . The cyborg didn't seem to possess any skills or Dao Seeds , but it also didn't need it due to its ungodly power . It was like a supercharged version of Zac himself , a true testament of the horror of superior attributes .

There was a small remnant of the technocrats sticking close to the Nexus Hub . They had likely tried to escape Earth but was blocked due to Zac's interference . But the group seemed emboldened from the turnaround in the battle and they rushed toward Zac in an effort to assist their foreman in taking him down . Zac had no time to bother about them , so he could only infuse his body with the Seed of Hardness as he kept his eyes trained on the true threat .

Another apocalyptic punch soared toward Zac who desperately activated Immutable Bulwark] . An earthshattering explosion echoed out across the area when the fist connected , and Zac realized the power was well beyond that of the first strike . He wasn't sure he would still be in fighting condition if the first fist contained this amount of force . Even the extremely hard stonebed cracked all around them from the attack , a testament to its immense power .

The unlucky Technocrats who had wanted to fish in muddy waters were rendered into meat paste just from the shockwave . They died without knowing what happened , likely thinking that the foreman was still on their side . But Zac knew that this thing had no such alliances . The former foreman had turned into an emotionless tool of slaughter upon his death .

Zac's eyes widened in alarm as the punch caused massive cracks across the bulwark . Neither Salvation's self-detonation nor the laser beams of the two enormous mechas had been enough to cause a crack in his defensive wall , but one simple punch from this thing was all it took . But just as Zac despaired a huge form materialized and punched into the chest of the cyborg .

It was Deathwish] that activated , and the force was tremendous even though it only contained a part of the original strength of the attack . This became especially true after Zac managed to imbue the spectral projection with the Dao of Heaviness with some quick reflexes . The Cyborg was launched into the air , flying tens of meters away before slamming into the ground with a large bang .

What the hell is that thing? - a shocked voice asked from the side .

Zac looked over to see Ogras standing there , staring at the cyborg with horror in his eyes .

A cyborg , a mix of man and machine , - Zac sighed . - The foreman turned into this thing just as I was about to kill him . -

Mix of man and machine? That's Impossible , - Ogras said with a shake of his head . - The heavens won't allow such a thing . -

Of course , it was hard to refute the evidence as it stood up again as if nothing had happened . Its chest was completely fine , with not a single blemish from the retaliatory strike . The air around it was crackling and twisting from just standing still , and it looked as though it had once again powered up .

I can't harm it , and I can't defend against it , and it keeps getting stronger , - Zac sighed . - Do you have any ideas? -

Throw things at it , - Ogras said , immediately taking out a handful of offensive arrays .

Hope reignited in Zac's heart as he took out all his offensive treasures as well .

The next moment the Underworld lit up in a cacophony of chaotic energies as over ten powerful offensive arrays exploded at the same time . Everything from fires burning so hot it the flames were white to poisonous mists and crackling lightning caused a both beautiful and terrifying display as the cyborg was submerged in a conflagration of their most powerful arrays .

Zac even went so far as to throw out his one and only Void Ball] , his ultimate tool of destruction . The ball plunged the whole area into spatial chaos far worse than what he had seen over by the entrance to the Mystic Realm . That time he was even thrown inside while fighting the tiger , but he managed to get navigate his way out in one piece .

This time the zone was jam-packed with spatial tears , some as large as two-three meters . Some of the largest tears even combined to form large sections of void space , looking like windows into outer space . Those were even more terrifying than the tears , as one could actually fall into such a thing . What waited on the other side depended on one's luck , but it was most likely a horrible death .

Zac didn’t think he could throw a stone through the area unscathed , let alone passing through it . But the hulking form of the cyborg seemed completely unbothered as it stood inside the blast zone , only a few scorch-marks and slightly melted metal the proof that he had been inside radius of the attacks at all . Even the spatial tears were crushed against its body , though they did leave somewhat deep cuts . But the wounds didn’t bleed at all , and it didn’t look like the cyborg even noticed them .

Zac and Ogras only looked at it with dismay , unsure of what to do next . Its enormous fist suddenly slammed into the ground with impossible speed , causing a huge shockwave to erupt . It looked like an atomic bomb had erupted beneath the ground they stood on , causing crushed stones to blast upward in a circle of hundreds of meters .

Zac and Ogras stood over a hundred meters away from the center of the impact , but they were still pushed back another hundred meters , barely able to keep their footing . The demon also suffered multiple cuts from errant pieces of stone hitting him with the speed of bullets . The remaining power of the offensive arrays were blown away in an instant as well , with only a few spatial tears remaining .

Is it D-Grade? - Ogas screamed in alarm . - We need to flee! -

Zac had to agree with Ogras' assessment . This thing was just too powerful . Zac could barely cause a few cracks in the extremely hard rocks around them , but this monster could suddenly cause widespread damage with a simple punch , something Zac wouldn't even be able to replicate on the surface . There was no way that the Cyborg had less than 2-3000 Strength by now judging from that slam alone .

The two immediately started to run away , but the monster was just too fast . One moment it was still standing in the distance , but in the next it was right next to Ogras , shrouding the demon in darkness . Its fist ripped through the air at the demon , foretelling of impending doom . Ogras roared as torrential amounts of shadows erupted from beneath him , completely submerging the cyborg in darkness .

The cyborg froze and shuddered in response , which caused the shadows to get ripped into pieces and Ogras to cough out blood from the blowback . But the brief pause allowed Zac to once again summon Immutable Bulwark] and place it and himself in front of the demon for a final stand .

But the cyborg had grown too powerful in this short time , and the bulwark only managed to absorb some of the force before cracking like brittle glass . Zac only had time to erect all his other defensive treasures before the herculean fist rammed into his shield , causing both Zac and Ogras to sail hundreds of meters away until they slammed into a wall with a resounding crash .

Zac almost blacked out from the pain as black ichor flowed like a waterfall from his mouth and nose . At least thirty bones in his body were broken , and the demon seemed to be even worse off when the two crashed into the ground . His shield was completely destroyed as well , well beyond salvaging . Zac desperately tried to get back on his feet to meet the oncoming enemy , but he barely managed to get up to a sitting position .

He was almost all out of Miasma in any case , and using any skill was off the table . He would likely turn to his human form in minutes unless he managed to restock on energy . He briefly considered trying to transform to his human class , but he knew that it was a fool's dream .

There was no way to finish the transformation as the cyborg had already appeared right in front of them with the help of its tremendous speed , a series of crashes in the ground exploding behind it . Its hollow eyes stared down at them without a shred of emotion , which in a sense was even scarier than a glare full of hatred .

The transformation skill required ten seconds to finish , but those seconds were the difference between life and death . Besides , Zac knew that there was no way he could harm the thing , even if he unleashed his most powerful moves from his Hatchetman Class . The monstrosity wasn’t even hampered by the spatial tears , and those were far more dangerous than his skills .

I'm sorry , - Zac sighed as he shot a look the demon who helplessly lay in a heap next to him . - This is all my fault . -

This is the life of the cultivator , - Ogras wryly smiled with a blood-filled mouth . - The road has to end sometime . Shame I never got to finish my movie . -

Zac's snorted before his thoughts wistfully went to his sister as he closed his eyes , ready to meet his maker .

Chapter 351 - Out of Control

The enormous fist of the three-meter humanoid slammed down with tremendous force , aiming to finally end everything . But just as it was about to reach its target the air shuddered , and the arm was cleanly cut off . The ground shook slightly as the arm that seemed to weigh over a hundred kilos fell , but not a drop of blood escaped from the huge wound .

Of course , the Corpse Golem didn’t even flinch from losing an appendage and immediately tried to attack Thea with its remaining arm . But Petalstorm] had already returned to her side after saving the lives of one of the squads that had veered too deep , and the towering humanoid was bisected into ten pieces in short order .

Not that Thea wasn’t able to take out the undead in other ways . But using skills instead of her weapon would cost her more Cosmic Energy , a resource that had turned into the most precious treasure the past days . She shook her head and activated Gale Step] , disappearing from the area as she rode turbulent winds of the battlefield .

Since she managed to gain insight into the Seed of Lightness to support her other seeds her speed had gained a huge upgrade . Combining the Seed of Gust with the Seed of Lightness for her movement skill turned her into a mirage , flittering across the battlefield with almost impossible speed .

She couldn’t be bogged down in this seemingly unending war of attrition , she had her goals to accomplish . Normally she wouldn’t have stopped for one of those macabre constructs , but she destroyed it by convenience since it was guarding one of her targets .

Thea had already spotted her next prey , a zombie of a young Asian woman who was no taller than 155 centimeters . What set her apart from the rest of the zombies was her enlarged skull and the thick veins throbbing across her forehead . This one didn’t seem to be protected by a guardian , but it rather tried to hide through blending in with the rest of the zombies for safety .

But Thea had become an expert at spotting the zombie captains over the past weeks , and she flashed over , completely ignoring all the Zombies beneath . She still got a constant stream of cosmic energy though , as her invisible weapon mowed straight through the undead horde as it accompanied her in her hunt .

While Thea was extremely hard to spot due to her speed she hadn’t activated Skyshroud] to turn herself almost completely invisible . The shroud cost too much to be worth it since it also added a defensive barrier . The normal zombies didn’t even notice her presence as it was , but the large-headed zombie immediately spotted her and released a shriek that made the air shudder .

Another mid-tier , - Thea muttered with a small smile as an amulet around her neck lit up to block out most of the mental attack contained in the scream .

Between her amulet and Calm Seas] the attack that would have turned most cultivators’ brains into mush was effortlessly deflected , not even able to delay Thea a second . She was right in front of the control zombie just a second later , and Cosmic Energy entered the fractal on the top of her hand as she activated Windblade] .

It was just a basic skill that she got inside the Tutorial , but it had been raised to peak mastery recently , giving it a substantial boost in its efficiency . With the addition of the Seed of Sharpness and Seed of Lightness it turned into a large scythe of death that swept across the area for a very small amount of Cosmic Energy .

Cosmic Energy surged into her body as the blade killed over a hundred elite zombies before they managed to exhaust its energies , but Thea frowned when she saw that the control zombie exploded into a mess of flesh and viscera before the blade even struck her . Thea quickly looked in all directions , and thankfully spotted an engorged zombie slowly walking away in the distance .

The large zombie looked as though he had a huge tumor on his stomach , and he was shaking as he shuffled toward the core of the sea of zombies . Thea only snorted and Petalstorm] shot out with blazing speed , blasting a large hole through its torso . Rotten innards spilled out from the zombie as it fell over , but that was not all that fell out .

The maimed body of the control zombie fell out of the stomach of the zombie as well , and it was already dead from the pass-through of the invisible Spirit Tool . Thea had already seen this type of macabre escape tactic before , where the zombie leader somehow transported into the body of a larger undead like a parasite , and ordered their hosts to flee from the battle .

The moment that the control zombie was killed by the strike chaos took hold of the whole sector of the zombie army around her . The tens of thousands of Zombies that were once under the large-headed zombie's control immediately splintered off from the horde , veering straight for the army that radiated with life-force in the distance .

Thea wasn’t worried though , as that was all according to plan . The zombies would be dead even before they reached the defensive line .

Since Thea still had quite a bit of energy remaining she stayed in the sea of zombies for another twenty minutes , allowing her to kill a handful of more control zombies and thousands of the normal undead before she started to make her way back toward her camp with plenty energy to spare . Staying any longer might draw the ire of that terrifying being in the center of the horde again .

She had barely made it out with her life in once piece the last time the Corpse Lord tried to kill her , and she wasn’t ready to contend against it just yet . The undead general was simply too strong to defeat within the undead horde , which was likely the reason she stayed over there rather than joining the constant raids . It would require huge sacrifices to bring that woman down , but they hadn't reached that point just yet .

Thea quickly closed in on the million-man-army sending out a handful of Windblades] to cull some dense groups of zombies on the way . Of course , the army didn’t actually consist of a million people , but after the forced conscription there were at least 400 000 people that maintained a constant battle against the tide of zombies in this sector .

And this was only one of the five sectors going all out against the zombies , though only the Zhix horde was larger than her army . She didn’t love the fact that they were forced to push unwilling people to the front-lines , but the very fate of their planet was at stake .

Good job . You killed enough controllers to keep us occupied for over an hour , - Mark said while handing Thea a water bottle as she entered the command tent .

Controllers were what they called the zombies that kept the enormous sea of braindead zombies in line . Normally they shouldn’t have been able to constrain themselves with so many living targets nearby , but they had always kept a semblance of order even when the armies tried everything to trick the undead to splinter from the main horde .

But they finally managed to find some clues , partly with the help of Big Blue , and through chance encounters with the controllers . They finally learned that every single zombie in the horde was controlled by a stronger zombie . However , it didn’t seem there was a single undead strong enough to control over a hundred million zombies , so they had created an efficient hierarchy with the help of the mutant zombies with improved mental capabilities .

One low-tier control zombie was able to give simple commands to roughly a thousand normal or elite zombies . It was thanks to them that they didn’t simply run off to hunt for something to bite . These low-tiered control zombies were in turn controlled by mid-tier captains , such as the ones that Thea just killed .

One of them could control between ten and fifty low-tier commanders , meaning that one mid-tier zombie could control up to roughly 50 000 zombies depending on their strength . And things followed that pattern with high tier controllers , though Thea had only managed to find and kill one of them . Presumably , some peak controller was keeping the whole army in check , or perhaps it was the Corpse Lord herself holding the reins .

In either case , they soon learned that targeting the mid-tier commanders was the most efficient tactic to destroy the cohesiveness of the zombie horde . Killing a low-tier commander would only let a thousand zombies loose , and that wasn’t worth the trouble . Thea could personally kill that number with a couple of windblades .

Killing a high-tier commander wasn’t really efficient either , as the mid-tier controllers were usually smart enough to stay put and wait for orders . But when a mid-tier commander was killed their subordinates almost immediately turned to small raiding parties that unhesitantly rushed the waiting armies of the living in the distance . Only when another commander reined them in fast enough would they stay put within the zombie horde .

How are things going at the main front? - Thea asked as she took a swig from the canteen .

It’s pretty desperate , - Mark said with a grimace . - If those insectoids didn’t bolster our numbers we would have been overrun by now . But the constant bombardment is rapidly depleting our cache of old-world weaponry . Over a thousand tanks have been destroyed just over the past day . The undead truly refuses to give up on their chosen path . -

Well , that would ruin the array they’re making , - Thea nodded . - How long can we keep going? -

Three days , perhaps four , - Mark sighed . - A few days longer if our searches for military bases are successful . But sooner or later the constant barrage of the undead will reach a tipping point where our line breaks and all hell breaks loose . -

Maybe I should head over there? - Thea hesitantly ventured .

Things were rough on their end , where over a thousand people died every hour , but it was nothing compared to the mayhem at the front . Those people were tasked with contesting every step forward the undead took , by any means necessary .

No point , - Mark said with a shake of his head . - Our work here is helping them as well . This army killed almost three million Zombies yesterday even though our elites are at the main army . We’re stealing their momentum and making sure that the leaders of the horde doesn’t send all their powerhouses to the frontline . -

Thea sighed and nodded with some helplessness . It just felt bad that she stayed here in relative safety while her family members were risking everything to stop the horde in their tracks . But she was the only one who was able to constantly hunt the control zombies to splinter the horde .

What about the other hordes? - she asked .

Nothing new , - Mark said . - Port Atwood’s people are still missing . The Sino-Indian Alliance is fighting a losing war , only nipping at the heels of the army . They will not be able to stop the advance of the horde unless something drastically changes . -

And the movement from the invaders? - Thea asked .

They are staying clear of us and are focusing on the minor undead hordes . There seems to be an implicit agreement where all the armies avoid each other , targeting only the undead . The zealots are quite terrifying according to our reports , turning every battlefield to hell on earth . -

Thea mulled over the information , though it seemed not much had changed the past hours . Everyone was desperately struggling to stop the Undead Empire , but they were powerful enough to take on the combined powers of all forces without even revealing all their cards . Almost no one would be able to stop them if their leaders joined the fight .

What about Zac? Any word from him? - Thea asked .

Nothing . There has been no sighting of him for two weeks . Some believe he is in closed-door cultivation since reaching level 75 , that he’s aiming to break through to E-Grade . But our informants believe he has found the Underworld and is busy taking control of its riches , - Mark said with some dissatisfaction .

Thea frowned as well , not understanding what Zac was thinking . The idea was for him to quickly close the other incursions before joining the battle against the undead , but he only closed a handful of them before disappearing . He hadn’t even gone to help his own people from what they could tell , since he would have to have used their network to get close to the Dead Zone .

She truly hoped he could appear sooner rather than later . Things were turning pretty bleak , and the world needed a hero .

Chapter 352 - The Three Paths

The seconds passed but the darkness of true death never arrived , forcing Zac to finally look up to see what was going on . The cyborg still loomed above them like a mountain , completely unmoving . But the terrorizing aura it emitted up till now was gone , making the thing seem like a hollow shell .

Is it dead? What did you do? - Ogras soon ventured with a weak voice , also realizing something was up .

I didn't do anything , - Zac croaked , confusion filling his mind .

He wasn't sure what to do since he hadn't received a shred of cosmic energy , something that usually entailed that his enemy was still alive . He was afraid that any sudden action would rekindle the life of the thing , which would end with their death without a doubt . Ogras didn't have any such compunctions as a blast of shadows hit the cyborg right in its head .

Zac groaned inwardly as he scrambled for anything to use to protect them in case it responded , but the hulking humanoid simply toppled over . It slammed into the ground with a thud that launched Zac a few centimeters up into the air , but that was it . His body was wracked with pain but he still lunged at the humanoid , putting it into one of his Cosmos Sacks .

The demon sighed in relief as he immediately took out a handful of array disks before eating a healing pill . Zac followed suit , and he also took out two E-Grade Miasma Crystals . He still didn't want to transform into his human form , just in case some scanning device remained in the area . The Nexus Hub would only be blocked for a couple of more minutes , after all .

Normally he would have completed a sweep to look for such a thing , but there was simply no way . His right arm was broken in at least 5 different places , and most of his ribs on the side that tanked the last punch were broken as well . Luckily he didn't need his organs in his current form . Otherwise he would likely have been in a far more critical situation .

Neither of the two spoke for over thirty minutes , both focusing on restoring themselves from their critical states . Thankfully the battle against the other Technocrats was over , and there was no movement at all in the area .

What the hell is going on? - Zac finally muttered with incredulity , still not believing he had survived that thing .

Perhaps it ran out of lifeforce? Or perhaps the Heavens wouldn’t allow for its continued existence , - Ogras ventured .

How was that thing even allowed though the Incursion in the first place? High Tech was supposed to be confiscated? - Zac complained , still rattled from being so close to death .

Heaven’s rules have always been negotiable . If the cost outweighs the benefits it will usually back down . The Technocrats might have directly paid for the Ruthless Heaven’s to look the other way . Or they might have paid by hiding the seed from Heaven’s Eyes . Either way , bringing a thing like this through the Nexus Hub would no doubt bankrupt a clan like Azh’Rezak , - Ogras said with a shake of his head .

Zac slowly nodded , suddenly remembering how Greatest was able to keep the System at bay to allow him to have a conversation . Besides , while the Cyborg was closing in on D-Grade power by the end it didn’t start out that way . Its first attack could conceivably come from a peak F-grade being if it was using its life-force to empower its strike .

Perhaps the machine or parasite that was put inside the Foreman was just peak F-Grade at the start , but rapidly pushed the host to greater heights by draining its life force or something . It would explain why it only lasted less than a minute before shutting down .

A hybrid of the Dao of Technology and Cosmic Energy , - Ogras muttered with a raspy voice , echoing Zac’s thoughts . - It’s was not a true fusion , but it’s not too far off . These heretics are something else . Perhaps they can only keep such a thing alive for a few strikes , but it is still a terrifying accomplishment . -

Zac nodded in agreement , but the small movement made him grimace in pain . It was truly a scary thing put inside someone . There likely were no more than 5 people on Earth , including the invaders , who would be able to survive that thing’s onslaught . The two of them would have turned into mush if he didn't have Immutable Bulwark] and the Seed of Hardness to drain enough of the final strike's momentum .

Isn't this something common among the Technocrats? - Zac asked as he ate another healing pill . - I thought blending technology and cultivation was just their thing . -

By now he started to feel strong enough for a short battle in case it was needed , so he kept his eyes trained on the Nexus Hub . There might be other Technocrats who were waiting for an opportunity to reach the Teleportation Crystal . Some might have been sent away on missions or handling the enormous drill that was digging toward the surface . He needed to defend the Nexus Hub for another 8 hours to make sure that there were no escapees .

The cyborg's punch had thrown them a few hundred meters away , and they had fallen onto an outcropping that overlooked both the battlefield and the small Technocrat outpost . No one would be able to reach the Hub without them noticing unless they possessed some sort of cloaking technology that could move .

A true integration of technology and cultivation is impossible since the Dao of Technology is not accepted . The Technocrats always has to work around this inviolable fact , and the way they do this differ . It’s generally known in the multiverse that there are essentially three main paths of the Technocrats , - Ogras explained as finally got up to a sitting position from lying down on the ground like a dead fish .

The first is the Machine God Faction , - Ogras said . - They go all-in on technology , avoiding the System as much as possible . Some of them might be level 1 but still possess the capability to kill B-Grade hegemons . You can’t consider them mortals though , as their lifespans have been prolonged through technology rather than Race upgrades . -

Zac nodded as that was his original impression of the Technocrats after reading about them .

The second group are the Technomancers . They use a mix of both systems . They might get a ranger class but use technological guns , like the rifles we took during the Auction . It's a slightly annoying path since they still would have to exert twice the effort to improve . Their kills with their technological weapons would give no energy or merits , - the demon continued . - But they usually have destructive capabilities that are far stronger than normal cultivators . Just look at the weapons that these things used . -

The final group are the Transcenders . They use technology to augment themselves , but they fully utilize the class- and cultivation systems of the Ruthless Heavens . But they might swap out their body parts with those of a dragon , or forcibly instill themselves with rare and powerful bloodlines . They are mad scientists using their own bodies as laboratories , - Ogras said .

How is that possible? Does the System allow such a thing? - Zac asked skeptically . - If it’s possible to become stronger like that , won’t everyone do it? -

From what I hear that such modifications are in defiance of the Heavens , and it enacts a terrible price that most would say supersedes the gains . I don’t know the details , but such modifications are banned in most Empires . There are unorthodox sects who walk similar paths though , but they work fully within the bounds of the System , - Ogras said hesitantly .

The goals of the factions are also different . The purists want to destroy the Ruthless Heavens altogether by pushing the Dao of Technology to the point that they create something even greater than the so-called System ; The Machine God , -

The Technomancer and Transcenders on the other hand partly work somewhat within the rules of heaven , and their goal is to change it rather than destroy it . They want to force the Ruthless Heavens to accept the Dao of Technology through raising an Apostate or forcing the creation of technology-based races , - Ogras explained . - Judging by this ugly thing I'd say this Firmament's Edge is part of one of the latter factions . -

Are the Technocrat factions enemies with each other if their goals differ? - Zac asked .

No idea , but when the whole multiverse is their enemy I would guess that the three factions would stick together . The three factions are something most people in the multiverse know of , but I have no idea about the specifics . This is my first time actually seeing technocrats in the flesh , - Ogras said with a shake of his head .

For one they wouldn't deign to come to my homeworld , and secondly they wouldn't enter the territory of the Horde unless necessary . The multiverse is filled with old monsters stuck in bottlenecks who are ready to risk their lives for a chance at breaking through . -

Zac nodded in thanks after Ogras explained the situation further . He had pretty much avoided the subject since he learned of his mother's origins , but he knew that he couldn't stay ignorant for much longer . That became doubly true when remembering the Abbot's words . The Mystic Realm was the key to the fate of Earth , and it might be of Technocrat origin .

But all that would have to wait for later , and Zac opened his status screen instead of mulling on the topic any further . The results of the battle were above expectations . He had gained 5 full levels in the short but intense battle , even more than when he fought the extremely powerful Nenothep who was a far larger threat than the four bodyguards combined . It put Zac at level 70 , just a short bit away from the peak of F-Grade .

The four bodyguards gave a good boost , but Zac remembered that the largest source of energy actually came from the enormous robot earlier . The surge he got when he killed the alien in the cockpit was at least twice that of killing one of the lightning cultivators .

He put the free points into Strength before checking his other gains . Shockingly enough he had upgraded his Dao of Hardness in the heat of battle , though he wasn’t sure exactly when . Perhaps it happened when he tried everything in his arsenal to block the final strike of the Cyborg .

Hardness (High) : Endurance +50 , Wisdom +10 .

Zac gained another 25 Endurance and 5 Wisdom from the upgrade , effectively doubling the boost from the Seed of Hardness . He wasn’t surprised at all that the seed still almost only gave Endurance since his definition of Hardness was pretty much solely about enduring strikes .

The good news didn’t end there , and he noticed that Immutable Bulwark] had evolved as well , pushing it to Middle Mastery . He wanted to check out the differences , but he didn't want to cause any energy fluctuations while they hid within the illusion array . But one thing hadn’t gone according to plan . Zac was surprised to see that the quest was still active even though he had got the prompt telling him that he had conquered the area .

Is your quest active as well? - Zac asked the demon who nodded after a second .

We might need to wait until the hub is closed . Or perhaps more Technocrats are hiding in the area , - Ogras mused , echoing Zac's earlier thoughts .

Will you be able to heal up in 8 hours? - Zac asked .

I am afraid not , - Ogras said with a shake of his head . - But I'll be able to walk at least . I will need a couple of days to reach prime fighting condition . -

Zac grimaced , knowing his situation wasn't much better . But at least they would be able to rest up while looking for the missing army . They would need to travel for over a week since such a large sector was blocked off by the interference .

I'll stay here and recuperate until the hub is closed , - Zac said and arduously got up to his feet . - I am not able to scour the area just yet , but perhaps we can catch some people trying to return through the hub . Are you staying or do you want to go back? I could buy the teleporter for you . -

I'll go back as soon as the quest is complete , - Ogras said after mulling it over . - My Daos aren't optimal against the undead , so I'll have a talk with the dragonling again before we set out . -

Dragonling? - Zac asked with confusion .

Smaug , apparently it's the name of an old dragon on your planet? - Ogras snorted . - Gutsy to name yourself after a primordial species . They'll rip him into pieces if they find out . But you could buy the teleporter over by the Hub . It might make any late arrival believe that we have left . -

Zac nodded in agreement and got out of the hiding spot to place the teleporter in a conspicuous location before scurrying back . Just that quick walk make him shake with pain , so he hurriedly sat down again with a groan to refocus on healing up .

His state was still quite horrid , but he slowly got better as the hours passed . No one had come or gone while the two waited , and Zac started to worry that any remnant Technocrats had fled the area , making them nigh impossible to find in the short run . But a small movement in the distance the two freeze .

It was one of the inconspicuous scouting drones that were used for keeping watch over the perimeter of the Technocrat Incursion . It had appeared straight out of a solid cave wall on the other side of the settlement , as though it was a ghost .

Chapter 353 - Production Lines

Zac immediately realized the same cloaking technology was being used in the settlement as down in the battleroach cave . The camouflage of the technocrats was truly amazing to completely trick one's eyes while not emitting a speck of cosmic energy .

The drone moved about the desolate town , scanning the buildings one by one . Soon afterward it flew over to the battlefield and scanned the hundreds of corpses that Zac and Ogras had left where they were . Finally it flew over to the newly bought teleportation array and scanned it . Zac frowned and took out Verun's Bite] , readying himself for battle .

Be patient , - Ogras whispered as his eyes were trained on the hidden spot the drone came from . - What do you want to do if people show up? -

Kill everyone , I don't want anyone escaping through the hub , - Zac said without hesitation .

The drone passed around the area a few times , but luckily its scans didn’t reach their secluded ledge . Their patience was soon rewarded as a group of Technocrats finally emerged from the cave wall and rushed straight toward the Nexus Hub . Only when the group was half-way there did Zac and Ogras appear in a blast of shadows .

The Technocrats were shocked to see two cultivators appear right in their midst and barely managed to put up a resistance before they all lay dead on the ground . Ogras still had trouble moving about and was forced to fight sitting down on the ground while blasting shadow spears in all directions . Zac was a little better off , but he had to use the axe with his off-hand since his right arm was unusable .

The quest is completed , - Ogras said with excitement after the battle group of Technocrats was finished off .

Zac breathed out in relief since that most likely meant that there were no more invaders around . But he still wanted to make sure .

Can you keep watch while I check things out? - Zac asked , getting a nod in response .

Zac slowly walked over toward the cloaked entrance in the wall , and he activated the upgraded Immutable Bulwark] just in case as he stepped through the illusion . The shield soon passed right through the wall , and Zac stopped in his tracks to see if anything happened .

Luckily everything seemed completely fine , so he walked through as well . As expected no Technocrats were lying in wait , and he was only met with silence as he stepped into a large empty space . But he still kept the skill active to see what changes there were since it got upgraded .

The size of the bulwark was pretty much the same as before , but after some testing he realized he now was able to change its size . He could make it almost ten meters wide and four meters high , making it look like a proper rampart , but he could also shrink it down to the size of his tower shield . He was also able to move it within fifty meters of himself , allowing him to use it to defend others with greater ease .

There was no change to the shield itself though . It didn't get thicker or gain any new fractals , making Zac guess that its defensive capabilities were still pretty much the same . Of course , it wasn't the end of the world since only the cyborg had been able to crack its defenses so far . Zac only played with the skill for a few seconds before refocusing on the scene inside .

The hidden structure was shockingly different compared to the outside , and it felt like he stood inside a hangar of a spaceship . The floor , walls , and ceiling were all made in metal , with electrical lights rather than mushrooms and moss illuminating the area . There was not much to see in the surroundings apart from a few rows of containers full of raw materials , but there was also the tunnel .

The tunnel that the Technocrats had arduously worked on for months could truly be called a marvel of engineering . It was hexagonal with a diameter of roughly twenty meters , and it was also clad in the same metallic walls as the hall . It was completely symmetrical , with not a single blemish or aberration , but most importantly it was long . Extremely long .

Zac felt as though he was looking at an optical illusion when he peered into the endless tunnel that had a straight 45-degree incline . It looked like when one placed two mirrors in front of each other , creating the appearance of an endless tunnel . There was no way for him to see the end , but he guessed a tremendous excavation machine was at the other side , somewhere close to the surface .

There was also a large platform at the entrance of the tunnel , silently hovering a decimeter above the ground . Zac guessed that the platform was a lift that could take one to the top , but he saw no console or buttons to steer it . Besides , he had no intention to enter the tunnel at this juncture , as it would take hours to get to the surface with this thing .

He finally understood what happened after going through the area . The Technocrats who just arrived had most likely been working on the mining rig at the other side of the tunnel when they suddenly got the alert that their Incursion had fallen . They took the lift back down , and only just arrived to see a desolate battlefield and a hill of corpses outside .

Zac took a final look around before returning to the demon’s side . There was still a bit over half the time before the Nexus Hub would shut down , so Zac once again sat down to wait it out while recuperating .

Ogras was well enough to get back on his feet around two hours later , so he left for New London to gather provisions and prepare for the rescue of the Port Atwood Army . Zac himself stayed on , and only stood up the moment that the Nexus Hub was inactivated , finally quenching any chance of any unwelcome surprises . The connection between the Technocrats and Earth was finally broken , which would hopefully keep his sister safe for at least a century , perhaps forever .

However , Zac didn’t immediately leave the area but instead hurried back toward the battlefield . He had already looted the Cosmos Sacks belonging to the four cultivators and the foreman , but there were still hundreds of bodies lying on the ground with all kinds of precious items scattered about .

Apart from the Technocrats there were also the droves of broken-down machines . Some were destroyed beyond salvation , but a few were somewhat intact . Perhaps some engineers back at Port Atwood would be able to piece together a couple of whole robots from the scraps .

The drones had fallen pretty easily to Zac’s assault , but that didn’t mean they were weak . A single one of the battle droids would likely be able to defeat the average peak F-Grade warrior . Not only that , but their hulls were also extremely sturdy , and Zac had been forced to sometimes swing twice before destroying them .

Getting a handful of these things to guards his towns would be a huge boon since he was spreading his personnel thin as it was . It was one of the more glaring problems with Port Atwood at the moment ; they were lacking people . They had liberated quite a few islands by now , but there were only so many people placed on the remote archipelago .

Zac was also pretty sure he wouldn’t be finding too many more citizens stranded on the remaining islands that had yet to be scouted out . The beasts were too strong by now , and the average people would have long been killed . It was the same on the mainland , where fewer and fewer towns remained standing . But the people on the mainland at least had the opportunity to cooperate with others in the area to form larger settlements for protection .

Besides , even if Zac didn’t manage to turn these robots into competent footsoldiers they would still be worth salvaging . The machines were made from either some high-grade materials or some impressive composite alloys that the Technocrats created . In either case , he might be able to recast the robots into armors or weaponry .

Zac noted with some annoyance that he actually wasn’t the first to scour through the battlefield since he only found a handful of cosmos sacks . The large mecha that Ogras defeated was gone as well , already snatched by the demon . Ogras had most likely looted while fighting since he had been mid-battle up until the cyborg made its appearance .

Luckily there was a lot of ground that the demon hadn’t been able to pillage . Neither Ogras nor Zac had entered the structures in the small base camp , and Zac swept through them one by one like a locust . He first hit a warehouse that was filled to the rafters with tens of thousands of ingots of all kinds of metals .

It seemed that they kept a lot of the resources ready on hand for the production lines in the neighboring structure since there was some sort of gravity-defying conveyor-belts connecting the buildings . Zac didn’t care about that though and swept all the materials clean .

The next building housed enormous rectangular machines that just looked like large metallic blocks . They reached over ten meters in the air , and their sides were roughly four meters . However , they seemed to be somewhat hastily put together , and not one of them was exactly alike . It looked like they were something the Technocrats had scrounged together to start production as quickly as humanly possible .

Zac didn’t understand the function of the large machines , but he guessed that they were some sort of molds that created the robots from scratch . They reminded Zac a bit of the first furnace he bought from the system , the one he used to turn his first batch of raw crystals into real Nexus Crystals .

Unfortunately , there wasn’t a repository of freshly made war machines , but that wasn’t surprising since they would all have been sent to the battlefield . The large constructors themselves were the real prize in Zac’s opinion though , and he would definitely have some people looking into setting up a production plant back on Port Atwood .

Of course , he’d make sure to check them for bugs or any other failsafe . These things could be programmed to blow up like a nuclear bomb in case someone unlicensed personnel tried to operate them for all Zac knew . Jeeves would hopefully be able to assist them in that department .

There was also the issue of hidden risks of using technology . The things Zac had seen from the Technocrats had all seemed extremely convenient . Who wouldn’t want a few thousand drones keeping their place safe at all times? It made sense if a clan in the multiverse purchased a batch of goods from the Technocrats for this very purpose .

Yet no one in the multiverse utilized this sort of technology as far as Zac could tell . It made no sense to Zac , who had long realized that there were no such things as morals or scruples amongst the warriors of the multiverse . Such things were luxuries that very few could afford , and he felt that the anti-technology sentiment didn't make sense unless there were something more to it .

That meant that there was something else that held all these forces back , stopping them from using these things . Ogras had mentioned some unknown costs that would outweigh the benefits when modifying one's body , and it was perhaps the same with incorporating technology into one's force . He essentially needed to understand the situation better before he started transforming Port Atwood into some future-city .

But he still stowed away all the machines and everything else in the production plants . He did put all technology-based in a spare Cosmos Sack though , not wanting to mix them with his real belongings . Apart from the constructors , there were a lot of spare parts , and a row of extremely heavy tubes that Zac suspected were some sort of high-tech batteries . Each one of them was only as long as his legs , but they weighed more than a car .

In the rest of the buildings there wasn’t much of interest as most were just residential structures crammed full of bunk beds . He did find what looked like a laboratory , but it seemed to have been ransacked . Perhaps it once belonged to the researcher that Zac killed , and his place was searched for clues when he never returned to the camp .

He also found what he suspected was the foreman’s house and study , and he made sure to take anything that might be worth something there . He even broke apart the walls and floor in search for hidden compartments , but there was nothing of the sort . It hopefully meant that everything of value was kept in his Cosmos Sack that Zac had already looted .

He had briefly scanned the five Cosmos Sacks belonging to the E-Grade warriors , but he didn’t have time to properly check everything out . The Sacks belonging to the lightning cultivators weren’t very exciting at least . They just contained a decent amount of Nexus Crystals along with various pills and daily necessities . They would likely have left their real assets back home before entering the incursion .

Zac had hoped that the cultivators would have things that would give him a nice boost when he finally reached E-Grade . But 8 months had passed since the Integration by now , and the four had likely already used all such resources on themselves by now . The foreman’s sack was filled with all sorts of things , but most were of technological origin , so Zac didn’t understand their purpose .

Content that there was nothing left of value Zac finally got back to New London . On his return he learned that Ogras had already left for Port Atwood , and was asked to meet him there . Zac didn’t mind and soon enough he stood in his private Teleportation room in his compound , he immediately found the demon after stepping outside .

How are you feeling? - Zac asked when he saw that Ogras still looked a bit pale .

Honestly , he didn’t feel much better himself , and he just wanted to lay down and sleep for a bit . But he couldn't do that just yet and instead used his transformation skill to change to his human form .

I'll survive , - Ogras muttered after Zac stood up again . - Everything is prepared . Are you ready to go? -

I'll just head over to the Mystic Realm to tell Kenzie that we're okay but that we're heading out again , - Zac said .

The demon didn't object , and the two entered Kenzie's study within the Mystic Realm a few minutes later .

Wow , the two of you look like walking corpses , - Kenzie said with shock when she saw their bedraggled appearances . - Are you trying to blend in with the Undead? -

Chapter 354 - Sortie

They were a bit stronger than we expected , - Zac simply said , not wanting to go into detail just how close they came to dying a few hours ago .

Ogras played along , donning a lackadaisical look as he hid the fact that he couldn't put any weight on one of his legs . Zac obviously wouldn't divulge that his right arm still wasn't working either .

I just wanted to tell you that we're fine , but that we're heading out again . We're going to search for our people , it might take a few weeks , - Zac added .

Great , I’m coming with , - Kenzie said as she stood up , patting her leggings .

Absolutely not , - Zac said without hesitation .

I’m going , - Kenzie said with a glare . - You’ve kept me on the Island long enough . I am starting to feel like a prisoner , and I need some combat experience to keep improving . -

What about studying arrays? - Zac asked . - And the funnel? -

I can do that as well . Won’t we be sitting on your spaceship most of the time? - Kenzie immediately retorted . - Besides , I’ve pushed my defensive seed to High mastery and even gotten a Water seed that helps with restoration . I am almost as unkillable as you! -

Girl , you haven’t been using the funnel for yourself , have you? - Ogras probed with suspicion in his eyes . - My head almost got split in two to snatch that thing , you know? -

I don't need that thing to improve a few Dao Seeds , - Kenzie snorted .

Monster siblings , - the demon muttered under his breath , receiving a synchronized eye-roll in return .

It’s great that you’ve improved your Daos , but the Undead Empire is the strongest force on the planet , we have no idea of the dangers we might face , - Zac said . - We probably won’t just be fighting the newly turned Zombies this time . -

The girl is pretty good with her spells , - Ogras interjected . - She’s even better than most of the other girls you bring along everywhere , and we have room on the flying treasure . -

Zac shot a murderous glare at the demon , but he acted oblivious to the implicit threat . Soon enough Zac was forced to acquiesce to his sister’s demands . Ultimately he knew that he couldn’t keep her locked away on the island forever since that would harm her future development even if she had help from Jeeves .

But he was her big brother , worrying came with the job . Of course , with both himself and Ogras there along with the small hill of defensive treasures he had decked her out in she would have a hard time getting hurt even if she was in the middle of a sea of Zombies . And she did not only survive the Tutorial but also staying at a border town for months , so she wasn’t some helpless damsel in distress .

Fine , but don’t take any unnecessary risks . Our main goal is to find and eventually save our people , not to have some last stand against the Undead , - Zac said before turning to Ogras . - Is everything prepared? -

The others are waiting by the public teleporter in Port Atwood , - Ogras said . - There have also been some odd developments , but I thought I would brief everyone when we’re on the move . Don’t forget to withdraw a mountain of crystals for the flying treasure from the town coffers . -

I need to get a few things as well , - Kenzie added . - I’ll join you in a bit . -

Zac nodded and the group met up again at the teleportation array in Port Atwood ten minutes later . Zac had gone to take out some of Port Atwood’s resources from the Merit Exchange for the trip . He didn’t know the state of the army so he brought out a large number of healing pills , Nexus Crystals , spare weaponry , and even food in case they had run out .

Ogras and Kenzie were already there , and they were joined by Tylia and eight Valkyries . Zac was surprised that neither Verana nor any demons were around , and he looked over at Ogras with some confusion .

Verana will stay in the Underworld and consolidate our gains and start working on dealing with the Incursions there . I let the brat stay as well to be with her family , - Ogras said before nodding at Tylia . - This one has a skill-set that might prove helpful , and the eight girls will be able to form a small War Array for your sister . Room’s limited so I didn’t bring anyone else . I wanted to find the big ox , but it turns out he went fighting with the Marshall girl . -

Zac’s eyes lit up in understanding , and he felt it was a solid enough lineup . Billy would have been a good addition , but he could probably do more good helping in the fight against the other horde .

So where are we going? - Zac asked .

We’ll head to Westfort , and a person from the Sino-Indian Alliance there will take us to Erdenet , the closest array that I could find to where we last heard from our people . There was an array just a few day’s travel away from them , but it got swallowed by the interference as well , - Ogras explained .

Zac nodded and didn’t waste any more time , and just a few minutes later they stood in the Mongolian town . The guide bowed and immediately returned through the teleporter , leaving the small group to their own devices . They walked over to a cleared-out field and Zac immediately summoned the flying tool he got from the Hunt .

The Sky Gnomes had long figured out how to activate the large metallic ball and Zac infused some energy into it , making it quickly grow and change shape . It was as Calrin said , it was one of the simplest flying tools imaginable , only forming a simple disk that they would sit on . It was nothing like the sleek spaceship or the magical steampunk flying vessel he had imagined .

This was actually the first time he would use it since he didn’t feel too confident flying it in the Underworld , where the high ceiling could be swapped out by a narrow passage at moment’s notice . He only had the one and didn’t want to crash it .

The group sat down on the large circular surface , and Zac placed a couple of E-Grade crystals into their sockets and placed his hand on a control array . The next moment it floated up into the skies and shot out of the town with tremendous speed .

The air screamed around them , but the group of 12 weren’t buffeted by the winds in the slightest as the flying tool at least possessed some sort of protective array . Zac greatly enjoyed the feeling of flying , and he couldn't stop himself from making the treasure take some sharp turns as it flew across the hills .

Is it out of your system? You’re going in the wrong direction , - the demon said with a snort , and Zac hastily changed course with an embarrassed cough .

Okay , so update me on the situation , - Zac said after the disk started to fly southward .

Things are turning pretty chaotic in this area , - Ogras said . - I went by the Marshall Spy Agency just before now , and large changes have taken place . -

Changes how? - Zac asked .

For one there are dozens of hordes now , though the three initial ones are still far larger than the others , - Ogras started explaining as he took out a tablet from his Cosmos Sack . - They are traveling in irregular patterns , and no one could understand what the hell they were doing until recently . -

And what’s that? - Zac asked .

They’re making a mind-bogglingly huge array where the Dead Zone is just the core , - Ogras said with a shake of his head .

Zac was shocked to hear such a thing since the original Dead Zone was almost as large in area as the former United States . Such a massive piece of land was just the core? But he suddenly remembered the words of the Technocrat he interrogated the other day , and some fear gripped his heart .

Terraforming , - Zac muttered with a frown .

Exactly , - Ogras nodded with a serious face . - An array this large can only be used for something terrifying like destroying the whole planet . I believe they want to make this planet death-attuned . I don’t know how it works , but all the planets in the Undead Empire naturally produce Miasma rather than Cosmic Energy , and I believe this Array is the key .

So if they manage to form the array we’re screwed? - Zac asked .

I am not sure . I’ve asked the blue one to gather information . Such a search might draw some ire from the Undead Empire , but we’ve already passed that point . But I would personally guess that it would take some time to activate such a huge array , - Ogras shrugged . - Also , there’s some good news . -

Oh? What’s that? - Zac asked , happy to take any good news he could get .

We’re not the only ones worried about the Undead Empire’s actions . There have been reports of multiple alien armies arriving in the contested area , mainly from the neighboring Incursions , - Ogras said . - Most notably the insane cultists have arrived in full force . Massive battles took place yesterday where a few of the smaller Hordes were eradicated to the last zombie . -

Makes sense , if the Undead Empire activates that Array it is probably game over for all the other invaders as well . They would have to leave the planet immediately , - Zac nodded .

Exactly . And they’re not the only ones joining the battle . The insect people have amassed huge armies that have taken down at least three Zombie hordes as well . There are millions of them fighting like they’re possessed , - Ogras said . - They’ve marched for weeks to finally join the war . -

What about the dominators? - Zac asked . - Are they still banking on us doing the work for them? -

The Marshall’s are not sure , - Ogras said with a shake of his head . - Their network is quite impressive , but it can’t cover the whole area , especially not now when large parts are cut off from teleportation . -

I don’t think the Dominators can just sit still any longer , - Kenzie added from the side . - If they don’t do anything they will lose everything as well . They need to at least stall the undead until we can battle them . -

We just assume they are staying in the shadows though , - Ogras said . - No point on basing our plans on our enemies assisting us . -

Sounds fair enough . So , where are we heading? - Zac asked as he glanced down at the ground moving rapidly beneath them .

Ogras pressed a few buttons and a map appeared on the tablet he was holding .

Alea’s outpost was in this small town , Hanliun , when the area got blocked . The main army was a day’s march away , harassing one of the main hordes together with the Sino-Indian Alliance , - Ogras started narrating .

There was such a distance between the camp and the army? - Zac asked with confusion .

Remember the Zombie horde numbered over a hundred million , and most of it is shrouded in Miasma . They didn’t want to risk the lives of the non-combatants , and having a headquarter that was constantly on the move would become a problem , - Ogras explained . - So they kept a healthy distance and communicated through crystals , though they might have become blocked as well by now . -

We cannot know for sure what happened after they lost contact , but I believe they would retreat from the area , - the demon continued . - The only path that makes sense is northwest toward the closest teleporter in Baoqui . What they don’t know is that Baoqui's teleporter is blocked as well . -

So we head to that town to meet up with them? - Zac asked .

Yes , though they would likely reach that place a few days before us judging by the speed we're going . We could try to anticipate their next move , but there’s no obvious direction they could take after reaching Baoqui , - Ogras sighed .

So if we take the safe route we’ll lose time , - Zac murmured .

At least a day , - Ogras nodded .

But if we take a chance we might miss them completely , - Zac concluded .

A full day could make a huge difference depending on their situation . By that point they would have been fending for themselves for almost ten days . He might be able to rely on his extremely high Luck to pick the right direction , but was he willing to bet his people's lives on it?

We’ll take the safe route for now , - Zac eventually decided . - But we might adjust as we get closer . Perhaps we can increase the altitude on this thing enough that we can see them far from the distance? -

I am sure there are restrictions for that , - Tylia said , speaking up for the first time in a while . - I have heard that low-grade flying treasures rely on the energy from the ground . The energy is sparser in the sky , so they have built-in restrictions so they won’t fall out of the sky . -

Zac looked over at the demon , who nodded in confirmation .

Well , we’ll see how far up it will allow us to go later then . By the way , have you ever seen anything like this? - Zac asked Ogras as he took out one of the top-grade crystals with the green shimmering lights within .

The demon stretched out his arm to take the shimmering crystal with interest , but he was preceded by the Tal-Eladar who snatched it up with shock in her eyes .

High Purity Beast Crystals! - Tylia blurted out as her eyes widened .

Chapter 355 - Baoqui

Young lord… The Tir’Emarel clan would be happy to buy any such crystals you have in your possession , - Tylia said , her eyes not leaving the crystal for a second .

Zac knew he had hit the jackpot when he saw Tylia's reaction . She wasn't even a Beast Master , yet she had such an overblown reaction .

Those are pretty good things , - Ogras said with a whistle . - Just the normal purity ones are even more valuable than attuned crystals , the high purity ones are treasures . -

What are they good for? - Zac asked , though he had a pretty good idea already .

Beasts can’t use Nexus Crystals for leveling for some reason . They can stay in a mine and benefit from the increased density of energies , but they can’t directly absorb the energy from the crystals themselves , - Ogras said . - But they can directly benefit from beast crystals . -

But I can’t sense any energy in these things? - Zac interjected .

I don’t really know how it works , but the beasts eat these things like food and slowly digest them . It helps them gain levels while also purifying their bloodline to a certain degree , - the demon continued .

High purity crystals even helps with the foundations of creating a Beast Crystal in the future , - Tylia added from the side . - Feeding your contracted beast crystals will essentially help it grow faster , and you can still give it other treasures to help it improve . The two don’t clash . Buying beast crystals is a major cost for most Classes working with beasts . -

So are they rare? - Zac asked .

Not exceedingly rare , but far more uncommon than normal Nexus Crystals , - Tylia said . - I’d say the crystal in your hand is worth around a million Nexus Coins . Lower purity Crystals are not worth as much though . -

Zac whistled in surprise , knowing that there were almost two hundred such crystals in his cosmos sack . Better yet , there were thousands upon thousands of crystals left in the mine . Even if the worse crystals weren’t worth as much he was sure the value of the mine was multiple billions . It was a true treasure trove .

The Crystals would also come in handy in case his experiment with the newborn Ayr Hivequeen worked out . The former Pet Shop Employee had already gotten a beast-related class , but she hadn’t been able to form a connection with the queen yet . But with the help of the experts among the Tal-Eladar he was sure he’d be able to groom even more beast masters over the coming years . Perhaps he could trade some crystals for knowledge in beast rearing .

Of course , the real price form that cave was likely the Primordial Breath Amanita] , but Zac wasn’t sure if discussing it with a Tal-Eladar was the best idea . He’d wait until he was alone with Calrin or Khar , the golem in charge of the Merit Exchange back in Port Atwood .

Tylia kept trying to find out where Zac got his hands on the crystals or at least buy them from him , but he ignored her attempts as he focused on recuperation . He was still far from fully restored , with multiple bones broken in his body .

Luckily the flying disk was essentially on autopilot after activating it . A connection had formed in his mind , and he didn’t need to keep his hand on the control array . It zapped through the air with great speed , flying at an altitude of a few hundred meters .

Ogras was even worse off than Zac , so the demon had closed his eyes in meditation as soon as he had explained the situation to the others . He had looked mostly fine since returning from the Technocrat Incursion , but Zac had noticed the small tremors in his hands signaling that he was in great pain .

The others simply spent most of their time cultivating . Kenzie switched between cultivating and reading the crystals on formations . She had already finished the first crystal , but after that her progress had slowed to a crawl . This was nothing odd of course . The 8 crystals held the condensed knowledge on the art of Arrays from a D-Grade sect . It wasn’t something that could be digested in a day or two .

Zac wanted to go through the various things he had looted from the Technocrat Incursion together with his sister , but he knew that now was not the time . Not even Ogras was completely clued in to the details of their relationship with the Technocrats , so he could only wait until they were alone .

The days passed in silence as they crossed the vast lands of Pangea . The cost of travel would ruin the average cultivator on Earth , but the expense wasn’t even noticeable for Zac . Since he couldn’t cultivate he instead spent most of his time pondering the Dao . He had been in multiple intense fights lately , and he felt close to improving multiple Daos .

He had gained multiple sources of insight to the Seed of Rot recently , and he felt that he might even push that Dao to the Peak soon enough . The biggest contributor was the skill he gained , but there was also the battle with the roach . Even the final axe from Deforestation] felt slightly related to his Dao of Rot , though that axe seemed to be based on some higher Dao .

But as four days passed he unfortunately didn’t manage to push any of his remaining Daos to the Peak . He did , however , feel that he made decent progress , and if he just got the opportunity to sit down and meditate in peace for a month or two he’d be able to evolve at least one of them . Of course , getting the chance to sit back and meditate with the current chaos was a distant dream .

The silent cultivation ended as the disk was starting to close in on Baoqui . Everyone looked back and forth across the horizon , hoping to find a glimpse of their people . But even if they were hundreds of meters in the air they could only see so far . They would likely only be able to spot the people if they were a few hours away at the most .

The environment around them was still barren though , with neither their own people or the undead in sight . They had spotted quite a few beasts during the past days though . They were even attacked a few times by flocks of supersized birds , but the disk possessed arrays that rebuffed them without a problem .

The fact that there was nothing to see was both good and bad . Good in the sense that there were no undead forces that had reached all this way so far . Bad in the sense that it started to become increasingly clear that Port Atwood’s army hadn’t gone in their direction after reaching Baoqui .

Zac was eventually forced to decide whether to take the risk of changing course or keep heading straight ahead . He tried to desperately listen to his gut , or rather his Luck , for any advice of what to do . But his mind was just a confusing mess . In the end , he chose to not risk it and kept the course .

A day later they finally reached Baoqui , but there was no sign of movement anywhere . This was not a surprise though , as half the town was completely obliterated , turned into dozens of massive craters . Somber expressions marred the faces of the group as Zac commanded the disc to land inside the town some distance from the destruction .

Bodies lined the streets , and there were signs of structural damage on the houses still standing . It didn’t look like those who had died were warriors though , but rather civilians who were running for their lives . Zac shook his head as the group started walking south , and the group of Valkyries split off to scout the area for clues of their people .

What had transpired started to become increasingly clear as they reached the edge of the town . The town had been conquered by the undead some time ago , leaving no one of its original settlers alive . Then another battle had taken place more recently , where the second party was most likely his own people .

Battle , pretty intense one , - Ogras said with a somber face . - Real undead elites like the ones we fought during the beast waves . -

Our people? - Zac wanted to confirm as they stepped through the decimated wall into the battlefield outside .

Some , - Ogras eventually said as he pointed at two corpses . - Those two bodies are probably ours judging from their equipment . But most of these bodies died over a week ago , probably when this town fell . They likely became cannon fodder in a surprise attack against our army . -

At least there are not too many bodies , - Zac said as they walked through the corpses , though he was sick to his stomach seeing over two hundred of his own lying on the ground .

There were over ten thousand corpses in the area , but it was clear that almost all of them were undead . Zac also spotted a few broken Unholy Beacons and over a dozen corpse golems who had fallen protecting them . It had been an intense battle , but one that his people won .

I’m afraid it’s not that simple , - Ogras said with a shake of his head , not sharing Zac’s optimism . - These are just the ones who didn’t turn into zombies after dying . They all have wounds that are too grisly for them to successfully turn . The true number of casualties is likely far larger . Our people might collect bodies to not bolster the undead ranks , or they might have already been turned and joined our enemies . -

Zac’s heart was felt heavy as they looked through the carnage . Clues that Ogras was correct kept appearing . Broken weapons were everywhere , and they kept finding broken array disks . They even found large pieces of metallic shrapnel , and Zac recognized their origin . They came from the huge cannons that the Ishiate tinkerers created .

But that was not the end of the surprises . Large pieces of wooden rubble turned out to be the remnants of multiple creator vessels , though Zac couldn’t understand why his army would take out boats on dry land . Only after a few seconds did they realize that Alea and Ilvere likely summoned them to use the offensive arrays . It was likely the Creator Vessels that were responsible for turning half the town into rubble .

Another large swathe of the battlefield was completely void of corpses , and even all vegetation was gone . It was a zone of death , and an acrid smell entered Zac’s nose as they approached it .

It’s Alea , she was forced to go all out . We should not enter this area , - Ogras commented with a frown .

The tracks lead west , - a voice shouted from the distance , coming from one of the Valkyries .

We’ll head out immediately , - Zac said , urgency burning in his chest .

Until now he had forced himself to believe that everything might be fine , that his people were simply cut off but otherwise unharmed . But after seeing the town full of corpses he couldn’t pretend any longer . Even worse was the knowledge that he would have made it in time to this battle if he left immediately rather than head to the Technocrat Incursion . The battle here had taken place two days ago at the most .

Even his decision to farm out his levels while waiting for his people to consolidate their hold over the Underworld Union felt like a shameful display of selfishness at this moment . He had to admit that his own priorities had somehow been eschewed ever since he entered the underworld .

His first instinct was to blame Smaug and his orchestrations to turn their attention toward the Union , but he knew that he himself was the one to blame in the end . He had become complacent after a series of victories , even though he had only closed some of the weakest incursions around . He had pushed back the closing of the incursions in favor of his own growth , not considering the constant threat the invaders were to the people of Earth .

The group stayed in Baoqui for less than ten minutes to gain a decent picture of what happened before they once again set out on the flying disk . This time they had no difficulty knowing which way to go since the passage of thousands of people left a clear track to follow . If that wasn’t enough there was also a constant line of slain zombies strewn along the path like a trail of breadcrumbs .

The group had been mostly silent while rushing toward Baoqui , but after witnessing the aftermath of the desperate struggle the atmosphere on the disk had turned extremely oppressive . It was like a pressure cooker that threatened to explode at any moment .

The hours passed and they had soon enough flown for a whole day , but no one could sleep since they knew they were closing in on their people . The tracks looked fresh , and they started seeing groups of undead rushing in the same direction , seemingly trying to catch up .

An hour later they finally saw activity on the horizon , but no one in the group looked even a bit happy . The reason was simple . What entered their eyes was a vast battlefield , where a group of people desperately defended against two far larger swarms of enemies .

Ready yourselves for battle , - Zac said with grit teeth as days of accumulated bloodlust started to seep out of every pore of his being .

Chapter 356 - Final Stand

Ilvere roared in defiance as the huge ball belonging to his weapon shuddered with power , and its trajectory suddenly turned impossible to predict . One second the chunk of metal looked as though it was so light that it might as well be a mirage , but the next moment it gave Alea the impression she was gazing upon a towering mountain .

The two opposing impressions kept swapping until they superimposed , making the weapon emit a shocking energy . The weapon slammed into the Corpse Golem that was guarding one of the Unholy Beacons that the undead army wanted to move to the vanguard to empower their assault .

Alea frowned when she saw the undead abomination effortlessly catch the ball in its arms as though it didn’t contain a shred of momentum . But the next moment the Corpse Golem exploded , its bodyparts flying out like projectiles in all directions .

The wrecking ball started moving again and slammed into one of the Unholy Beacons with enough force to cause a crack , but it wasn't enough for it to break altogether . But it was just enough to topple it , and when the tower crashed into the ground it released a burst of errant energies that killed the nearby Zombies . A few unlucky undead warriors were killed from getting hit by the remaining bodyparts of the 4-meter tall Golem as well , making Alea shake her head in wonder .

Not quite there , - the demon warrior muttered with annoyance , for some reason not happy even though he had managed to destroy one of the Unholy Beacons .

Alea wanted to rebuke the man for experimenting with the skill he got from Lord Atwood in the middle of the battle , but it clearly produced results . She instead focused on the sea of zombies ahead . Things were getting desperate , and she had no time to worry too much about others .

The ambush at Baoqui had cost them most of their resources , not to mention the 3000 people who fell in battle . The undead had likely planned on ending it all when they finally reached the town , but they had underestimated just how tough it would be to break the warriors of Port Atwood .

Six days of constant harassment had pushed them all beyond what they thought was possible , but many had risen to the challenge and grown tremendously . Hundreds of people died during the death march , but just as many had gained Dao Seeds that allowed them to unleash twice the destruction as before .

Besides , the undead hadn’t expected them to carry eight ships possessing sieging capabilities . Over half of their forces fell to the immediate bombardment by the arrays on the ships . Alea hadn't heard of the Allbright Empire that Lord Atwood got his shipyard from , but their craftsmanship was impeccable . Unfortunately , they had run out of hidden cards by now . The ships had been destroyed , over half of them left behind them the past two days as they were beyond salvage .

The Ishiate cannons were all destroyed as well , and only a third of the tinkerers remained alive . The undead learned their lesson after the first time the large brass cannons were unleashed , and they mounted a sneak attack to take most of them out . If it wasn’t for one of the mad scientists rushing forward and directly detonating one of the bombs to kill all the attackers , along with himself , they would have lost all of the beastmen .

Alea was running out of poison as well . She better understood the mentality of Lord Atwood after this past week , why he had pushed himself to never leave the battlefield during the beast waves . Because every time you stepped back to rest , someone would have to offer their life in return . Such was the burden of the leader .

Alea only had enough accumulated poison for one or two large battles , but there was no point in worrying about the future when it wasn’t even sure that they would even survive the next hour . The army in front of them had appeared out of nowhere , dashing the hope that they finally had killed all of the true undead elites hunting them .

The army consisted of over ten thousand elite zombies , but that wasn’t the real problem . There were almost a hundred Corpse Golems and two hundred Corpse Lords , each one of them more powerful than her demonkin warriors . She needed to even the numbers somewhat .

She looked over at the shrouded demon in the distance , and Janos nodded as he closed his eyes . Alea wasted no time as she activated Odorless] and unleashed almost all of her stored up toxins she had concocted to deal with the undead . However , even if she had opened the floodgates to release a tremendous amount of poison didn’t look like anything happened , and the undead kept pushing forward .

This was Janos’ ultimate skill , creating a massive illusion that kept the world going , apart from one hidden truth . In this case , it was the extremely potent poison that rapidly spread among the undead , unwittingly drilling into their bodies . But the Undead were no fools , and it looked like reality cracked after just a second , exposing the vast clouds of poison that had encompassed a fifth of the army .

Four hooded cultivators standing by the ten Unholy Beacons in the back suddenly floated up into the air as they pointed shriveled fingers at the mists of deadly poison . Alea was shocked to notice that she lost connection to the poison as the four cultivators somehow ragged it up into the air . A huge skull appeared as well , and it sucked up the poison in one deep chomp before disappearing .

Alea grimaced when she saw the mysterious cultivators countering her skill so easily , but the damage was already done to a certain extent . An enormous amount of cosmic energy surged into her body as thousands of zombies and dozens of Corpse Lords toppled over , creating a large hole in the undead army . Of course , most of the energy quickly escaped from her body as she had long reached level 75 .

But just as Alea breathed out in relief that her attack was mostly successful a specter that radiated killing intent rose out of the ground in front of her . It was a hooded skeleton , but it wasn’t corporeal . It was mostly translucent and seemed to be wrought out of a dark-green Death attuned energy .

The fighters of Port Atwood had encountered spectral combatants before , but this one was completely different from the weak ghosts that were quickly rebuffed with the help of Divine Energy . The whole area turned cold when it appeared , and Alea’s instincts screamed of danger .

She didn’t even let the thing take a single step before six pitch-black spikes appeared in the air , all of them aiming to impale the ghost as quickly as possible . The ghost moved like a gust toward her , expertly dodging the first three spikes in an instant . But luckily she managed to graze the ghost with the fourth spike , and the tremendous pain the attack elicited made the ghost freeze for an instant .

Alea immediately shot the other two spikes into the chest of the ghost , forcibly enduring the searing pain in her own chest as she received the same damage as the one she inflicted . The ghost was clearly in tremendous pain as well , but it only gazed at her as it forced out a snicker as the dead rose all around her .

The eight translucent spears stabbed into her from all directions before Alea had a chance to react , and she couldn’t stop herself from screaming in pain even though not a single drop of blood was spilled . It felt as though her very being was crumbling as her soul was getting ripped apart . She had no way to retaliate or even form a coherent thought as the pain stretched into eternity .

A golden sea suddenly washed over the area , drowning Alea and the wraiths in divine splendor . The eight wraiths were badly wounded by the attack , as thick streams of miasma escaped from their bodies as they endured the life-attuned attack .

Don’t force it , she won’t survive , - one of the wraiths finally grunted . - We’ll collect the body later , the Lord wants it . -

The others nodded and shrunk into the ground , fleeing the corrosive effect of the divine ocean . Alea couldn’t understand what was happening , still consumed by the inhuman torment of her soul rending . But a warm soothing stream soon entered her body , keeping her fracturing self together for the time being .

Alea opened her eyes and saw a small human holding her hands , continuously infusing her with a warm energy that acted as insulation that kept her mind from dissipating . Around them stood a group of Valkyries who slaughtered any errant zombie that got close , but luckily the poison from earlier had killed almost everything in the vicinity .

You’re… Sui…? - Alea vaguely remembered the name of the purifier who somehow had found their army along with a few hundred warriors three days ago .

Apparently , they were a private army run by one of the towns that formerly stood at the edge of the Dead Zone , but it had long been overrun by the undead . Alea hadn’t really had time to get to know them better due to the constant battle , but any assistance was a blessing to their extremely wrung out force .

The small girl in front of her had proven extremely helpful , especially after they figured out that she could reach a terrifying power with the help of the combination of the Valkyrie War Array and the Divine Array . She would be useless against the living , but she was a true nemesis to the undead . She only lacked the ruthlessness to take full advantage of her gift .

Your soul is in a terrible state , - Sui said with a pale face , as she had the Valkyries carry Alea away from the front line . - I don’t- -

I know my situation , - Alea interrupted with a sigh , allowing herself to be moved back to the defensive line .

She felt as weak as a newborn child , barely able to lift her own hand . But she kept a strong face , hoping that the scared soldiers looking in her directions wouldn’t understand how bad it was . Their morale was low enough after their ten-day death march , and she did not want to tack on any further .

The group of specters suddenly appeared around the desperately battling Ilvere , who had been forced to take charge of the whole front line after Alea fell . Her heart was gripped in panic when she saw their appearance , but Ilvere did not look worried . He only released a shrill whistle , and he was immediately pelted with attacks .

But shockingly enough he wasn’t attacked by the undead , but rather their own people . Hundreds of arrows fell where he stood almost blotting out the sky for an instant . Rage started to burn in Alea’s heart as she helplessly remained in the care of Sui .

Don’t worry , - Sui said . - It’s not what it looks like . -

Only then did Alea realize that the arrows had a golden hue , looking like the arrows of a celestial . They had been imbued with divine energy and didn’t pass through the Wraiths as expected , but rather caused small golden explosions the moment they hit the incorporeal bodies . The wraiths wailed in pain and hurried to

Ilvere was actually not unscathed from the arrows , and a few of the projectiles had embedded themselves in his body . However , Ilvere’s armor was pretty strong and the golden explosions didn’t have any effect on the living , so he only received shallow flesh wounds . He had simply used himself as bait to attack the wraiths , and he was ready to bear the small pain .

The Wraiths had taken some damage from the surprise attack , but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to kill them . Luckily they were at least forced to retreat , and they scurried back to the rear of the undead army with shocking speed .

The retreat of the squad of powerful assassins lessened the pressure on Port Atwood to a great degree , but they were still in desperate straits . The air was filled with screams as one warrior after another fell to the relentless assault of the invaders .

The Corpse Lords were just too strong , and three demons needed to co-operate just to keep one them at bay . The recruits were far worse off , and whole squads had been mercilessly slaughtered the moment the elite undead found an opening in their formations . Alea wanted to help , but she barely could keep herself awake , let alone rejoin the battle .

A wrathful roar suddenly echoed across the battlefield from above , making Alea look up with confusion and hope . A large disk was shooting toward them in the sky , and it seemed to be descending like a meteor . One person standing on top of it wasn’t even patient enough for it to land , and he pushed off from the flying treasure with enough force to cause it to almost crash .

The man shot forward through the air like a bullet , crashing into the sea of undead with earth-shattering force . The shockwave caused the whole battle to stop for a second , as only the strongest managed to keep their footing . The zombies unfortunate enough to have stood close to the impact zone were completely gone , turned into mush at the bottom of the large crater . But the man was completely fine , and Alea could finally confirm her suspicion when he stood up .

Lord Atwood had finally arrived .

Chapter 357 - Adriel

Lord Atwood wasted no time as a storm of energies started to churn around him , and a palpable sense of dread instinctively entered Alea’s heart as an extreme killing intent blanketed the area . She wanted to walk up to him , but her body wouldn’t listen , so she could only watch him from afar .

A huge woodsman’s axe suddenly appeared above him , and the next moment it swung in an effortless motion , drawing a wide arc in front of Lord Atwood . Alea’s brow furrowed , not understanding the meaning of the attack , but the next moment her eyes widened in understanding . An invisible wave of carnage spread out from Lord Atwood , destroying everything in front of him in the blink of an eye .

Only the flanks of the undead army were spared from getting cut into pieces , but the vanguard was utterly decimated , not leaving anything standing . Lord Atwood didn’t stop at that point , and he flashed forward with his movement skill , almost taking him out of Alea’s vision . Her consciousness was blurring , but she bit her lip to the point that it bled , forcing herself to stay awake to witness the miracle .

The fact that the Young Master and a handful of others jumped down from the flying treasure to take down the leftovers in the flank barely registered in Alea’s mind . Her eyes were glued to the broad back of the one she had waited for these past days .

Tens of thousands of elite zombies remained , and they hadn’t lost too much of their strength as most of their core combatants stayed in the back . The wraiths also stood there , protected by the encirclement of Unholy Beacons and E-Grade Corpse golems .

But not even a second passed before another , even more powerful , axe appeared above the Lord , this one causing the very air to ignite from its scorching heat . It looked like Its swing heralded the end of the world , as a towering inferno ripped across the earth , swallowing the whole Undead Army .

There were no screams or wails , just the deafening sound of the crackling fire . But the wave of destruction ended just as abruptly as it appeared , leaving a scorched ground and pieces of flesh burnt beyond recognition . Only a small handful of elites remained , protected by the circle of Unholy Beacons and the hooded cultivators within .

It looked like they had managed to erect a strong enough defense , but doing so didn’t come without cost as two of the hooded cultivators had turned to cinders even though they stood in the middle of the group , and smoke rose another one .

Alea wasn’t worried though as she and Sui silently gazed at the destruction in the distance . She knew that this wasn’t the limit of Lord Atwood's powers . And as expected the air above him shuddered before it shattered to let out the enormous hand that would bring an end to all resistance .

It looked different compared to the last time Alea saw it . It was at least twice as big as before and covered in dense fractals that resonated with the world itself . Shockingly enough the burnt cinders below turned into fertilizer as tall grass frantically rose from the ground , stretching toward the hand in the sky like children reaching for their parent .

The hand moved so fast it looked like teleportation , almost immediately appearing in the sky above the remaining elites of the undead army . A massive fractal appeared beneath the hand and it caused the area underneath to be subject to a tremendous strain .

Only the largest Corpse Golems were able to stay on their feet , while the others were forced down on their knees . The incorporeal specters were even more impacted it seemed as they shrieked while miasmic clouds were released from their bodies . They quickly tried to enter the ground to escape , but they were rebuffed somehow . It was as though the planet itself was rejecting them .

The next moment something unbelievable happened . The fractal rippled like a pond of water as an enormous mountain emerged from it , its sharp summit pointing straight down at the undead and their defensive array below .

The mountain didn't look like something created by Cosmic Energy , but rather something solid , something true . It emitted an ancient solidity that spread all the way to where Alea was lying . The mountain kept emerging from the array , and the pressure the undead beneath kept increasing , forcing even the giant Corpse Golems on their knees .

Finally , the mountain hit the defensive array , which at this point shone in with almost blinding light as the ten Unholy Beacons poured out a storm of miasma to reinforce it . The whole area shook from the clash of the two powers , but neither seemed able to gain a foothold . Sui sighed in regret from the side when she saw that the mountain was stopped , and its sharp summit unable to pierce the thick shell protecting their enemies .

However , it was clear that the array was barely holding on , as cracks kept appearing before they quickly were mended with the help of the beacons . One small push was all it would take to crack it open .

The enormous wooden hand looked extremely small as it hovered above the mountain , but it still looked like it wanted to help the mountain descend . It floated down and gave a light tap at the array , but Alea couldn’t see what happened next as she was thrown back by an enormous shockwave .

Everything turned white for a second from a burst of pain before she felt the warm sensation of the golden light reappearing , and she arduously opened her eyes to see Sui desperately infuse her with divine energy again . People were climbing up all around them , many sporting some light wounds from the terrifying wave that swept everyone off their feet .

Wha- - Alea said with a weak voice .

It’s over , - Sui said with shock in her eyes . - The hand pushed the mountain into the ground . The undead… are all gone . He destroyed them in one fell swoop . -

Alea arduously focused her eyes to see what the purifier meant , and the sight was shocking . The hand was gone , but the mountain and the array in the sky remained . The summit had been pushed at least fifty meters into the ground , and that was after having created an enormous crater where the Unholy Beacons once stood . There was not any sign of the undead who had huddled inside either , but their fate was painfully obvious .

No one moved , some even forgetting to breathe , after seeing the terrifying display in front of them . The air was still a chaotic mess after being subject to both Lord Atwood’s towering aura and the terrorizing power of his attacks clashing with the undead's final defense . But one thing was clear .

They had made it .

The huge army full of undead elites had been swept away in less than 20 seconds , leaving a scene of utter devastation . Yet no one cheered or celebrated getting saved . Alea gave a weak sigh as she understood their feelings .

The past days had pushed them all beyond what anyone should be able to endure . They hadn’t stopped for more than a few minutes for almost ten days . They had been harassed , pushed , and almost broken by the unrelenting zombies . The people around her only managed to keep standing from pure defiance , no one had the energy to celebrate .

So it was with hollow eyes they silently looked at their leader as he quickly made his way back toward their ranks . His aura reached toward the skies as he passed the sea of corpses he had created , but he restrained it as he hurried to Alea’s side . He quickly got down on a knee in front of her , and Alea felt a flurry of emotions in her heart as he looked into his eyes .

I knew you’d come , - Alea smiled before the darkness took her .

Hm? - Adriel said as his hollow eyes turned toward the distance , his eyes moving away from the enormous crystal in front of him .

He was sitting in his large study that was illuminated by thousands of azure lights , giving it a comfortable sheen of undeath . The moans and wails from a few of the still surviving experiments provided a soothing ambiance as the lich followed the progress of his grand array .

Things were progressing as expected , with only some futile attempts to stop the hordes . But the harassment was of no import , as it only cost them a few million of the newly aligned . It had even turned into a decent grindstone that would hopefully birth a few promising recruits among the unthinking children .

But there were always factors beyond one's control , and the battle he just witnessed through the eyes of his clones was beyond his expectation . The lich king scratched the desiccated skin that formed a thin layer over his skeleton as he considered the implications of what he had just seen .

What is it , my lord? - the hovering ghost attendant asked with worry .

I finally saw the top human , I was wondering when he would appear… . Interesting , - the Lich muttered . - He killed four of my clones in an instant . -

What?! - the ghost said with some shock .

Well , I still haven’t really mastered the skill , they contained only a fraction of my strength , - Adriel said without a care . - Still , a very impressive specimen to release such power while still at F-Grade . He would make great material . -

Do we need to change our plans , my lord? - the attendant asked .

No need Triv , he is saddled with a handful of refugees and is stuck a long way from the fault-lines , - Adriel said with a shake of his head . - It’s a shame . I found a person with a semi-complete poison constitution . I have a friend who would pay dearly for that body . -

Do you want to send one of the Generals after him? - Triv probed .

No , they have their tasks . Besides , the humans seem to have figured out what we are doing . They will have to come to me sooner or later in any case if they want to stop the realignment . There’s no need for us to go out of our way to look for them , - Adriel said as a small smile displayed the blackened teeth in his mouth .

What about the one who visited us? - the attendant probed .

Void… - Adriel muttered , some hesitation flashing in his eyes . - Very strong . -

It had truly been a surprise to see the native insectoid appearing in his own palace , completely calm as though he was taking a stroll in his own boneyard . But the Lich soon found that the man’s confidence wasn’t without reason . He was extremely powerful , a top tier progenitor with a higher level than himself . Fighting him outside his own domain would be a risky venture , and killing him inside would not come without a cost .

Should we agree with his proposal? - the ghost asked as he saw his leader fall into silence .

No need , - Adriel said with a shake of his head , waking up from his stupor .

His aura… It’s from that place though . Is it not better to extend some courtesy and delay the realignment? It shouldn’t affect our goal too much , - the ghost said .

It’s true , the insectoid is connected to that family , but not as you expect , - Adriel said with a small smile . - My teacher found out some more details . His connection is to an exiled bastard who has not been part of the family for tens of thousands of years . He turned to the unorthodox path , so no one in the family will stand up for him . In fact , they have tried to kill him on numerous occasions out of embarrassment . -

The ghost nodded in understanding , no longer worried about the implications . That family was a bit troublesome , but it was no problem if the one called The Great Redeemer was long excommunicated . His Lord might even stand to gain a new friend by making things hard for the so-called Redeemer , as the iron-clad rules of the old families were not just for show .

On another note , Threzz has requested permission to fight the Church . Four of his subsquads have been decimated by them , - the attendant added , taking the opportunity to go through the docket now that his master was out of his revelry . He hated being interrupted while watching his crystal , and many had paid dearly for ruining his fun .

No . Let them prance around for now . Activating the array comes first . But give him three new hordes , and promise him the vanguard when we conquer the entrances , - Adriel said .

Should we not focus on taking control of one of the entrances? - Triv said with confusion . - We are still not in control of a single one , while the Church has three . -

The treasure has yet to mature . It is still absorbing the Origin Energy of this infant planet . There are a few months before the realm closes its doors to protect the treasure as it comes into being . The world will have realigned before then , allowing us to fight with an advantage , - Adriel snickered . - The efforts the bodysnatchers are going through now will only benefit us in the end . -

Chapter 358 - Catharsis

Zac looked down at the unmoving form of Alea . He had seen her getting attacked by the group of wraiths while he stood on the flying disk , unable to do anything to save her . The feeling of impotence had quickly turned into rage . But his smoldering rage was finally overcome by a sense of panic as he saw her close her eyes in his arms . His mind was a mess , and he didn't know what to do .

Alea? Alea! - he said with horror , before quickly turning to Sui . - Can you heal her? -

Zac didn’t understand why Alea and Sui were together , as she was on the other side of the Dead Zone the last time he saw her . But right now wasn’t the time to ask .

She… Her soul is wounded , almost to the point of crumbling altogether , - Sui said , not daring to meet Zac’s burning gaze . - It’s beyond my power to heal something like this . I am sorry . -

Zac took a deep breath to calm down and collect his thoughts . He knew just how terrible wounds to the soul was . He remembered the small wound he got when he tried to clash with the Splinter of Oblivion . It had almost killed him , and that was nothing compared to the soul failing altogether . But he refused to give up like that .

Can you keep her stable for now? - Zac asked .

I… My power is limited… - Sui hesitantly said .

Zac immediately took out most of his Divine Crystals , all of them E-Grade . The miasmic haze in the area was immediately pushed away , replaced with a refreshing atmosphere . Even the furrowed brows of the unconscious Alea smoothed out slightly , indicating that the crystals helped a bit at least .

How is she? - a voice asked from behind , and Zac looked over to see Ogras standing behind him , the metal casing around his missing arm taken off , allowing a large tentacle shadow slither around the area .

Her soul’s wounded , it’s bad , - Zac sighed .

Shit , - Ogras spat and looked up in the distance . - I’ll go kill some dead things in the rear . You should send her back on the disk . Perhaps the blue one can get his hands on something to salvage the situation . -

Zac perked up at the idea and immediately called for his treasure . It had essentially crashed into the ground after he jumped off it , but it was sturdy enough to take a hit or two . All the passengers were fine as well since all of them were powerful enough to easily jump off in time .

He wouldn’t need the disk for the time being since he would have to lead the army back to the closest Teleporter to make sure there were no more losses . He quickly broke his connection to the disk after it arrived and called over the squad of Valkyries who arrived with him .

Escort Sui and Alea back to Port Atwood as quickly as possible . Have Calrin get his hands on treasures that would help heal or at least stabilize her soul , - Zac said .

He knew that it was far from certain that the Sky Gnome would be able to get his hands on a treasure that could heal a badly wounded soul . Healing the soul was far more complicated than healing a broken body , and the requirements on the pill were on another level entirely . There was one such item among the treasures Yrial had inside the trial , but he wouldn’t be able to get back inside for a decade .

The lotus in his cultivation cave would perhaps be able to help as well , but it was still just a sapling and didn’t generate any energy so far . It would be years before it grew to sufficient size , even if it was constantly nurtured by the Cosmic Water and the Nexus Vein .

Wait , my people , - Sui hesitantly said .

I will clean out the undead and allow everyone to rest before returning to Port Atwood . We’ll join you in a few days , - Zac said before nodding at the Valkyries .

They immediately moved the Divine Crystals to form a bed on the desk , and gingerly placed Alea on top of them . Sui hesitated for a bit before she stepped on top of the disk as well .

It seems I keep owing you more and more , - Zac said with a tired smile as he looked at her .

This is just what I should do , you do not owe me anything , - Sui hurriedly said as she started

Wait , - a voice suddenly echoed from behind , and Zac turned over to see Tylia hurrying over .

Zac’s eyes lit up when he saw the Tal-Eladar . He had forgotten that she wasn’t a beast tamer like most of the people in her clan , but rather a healer . She differed from Sui who had a purifying class that was especially adept at healing Death-attuned wounds though . She was actually closer to his own attunement , having a class related to nature .

But even importantly , she had already evolved to E-Grade , and her means should be superior to Sui's .

Can you help her? - Zac hurriedly asked as he indicated the Valkyries to not set out just yet .

Tylia sat down next to Sui and closed her eyes while her hand started to radiate a green light while touching Alea’s forehead . The small purifier gawked at the unfamiliar form of the Tal-Eladar , but she didn’t say anything . Zac didn’t even dare to breathe loudly as Tylia performed her inspection , but his heart started to rattle when he saw her frown . A few seconds later she removed her hand with a shake of her head .

I cannot heal her either I am afraid . I can only help keep the pieces of her mind together , - Tylia explained .

Is there nothing that can be done? - Zac desperately asked .

Tylia seemed to consider the question before a few seconds before answering .

Well , luckily she’s only F-Grade , so her soul is relatively small . It would be much harder if she had evolved already . A D-Grade healer should be able to slowly piece together her soul . A healing treasure that could mend souls would be even better , - Tylia said . - It’s just… -

It’s just what? - Zac pressed .

I am not sure she’ll even survive the trip back to Port Atwood . And even if we manage to keep her stable during the trip , then what? A treasure that can mend a fractured soul is not something you can get through normal channels , - Tylia said .

Please do what you can , - Zac said with grit teeth . - If you can’t find a means to heal her , try to stabilize her condition at least through any means necessary . I’ll figure out a way to get a healer or a treasure . -

Zac turned to the squad captain among the Valkyries who would take them back , and immediately transferred 200 million Nexus Coins to her . The woman’s eyes widened in shock , but she quickly understood that it was to make sure Calrin had the resources to buy a treasure if it popped up . Zac nodded to the squad captain , who controlled the disk to fly away at top speed .

Die! - a sudden shriek erupted from just a few meters away , and Zac looked over with confusion .

A ghoul that was just skin of bones were rushing toward him with a sword in hand , his eyes radiating endless madness and killing intent .

Zac frowned , unsure how an undead was able to make it all the way to the center of the army . His first instinct was that the undead was an assassin , but the ghoul seemed frail enough to topple over from a gust of wind . Zac’s danger sense was also completely unresponsive . Still , just seeing an undead made his rage flare up again , and he immediately took out his axe again .

Wang Fang! - another voice shouted from nearby . - Stop! -

The name sounded vaguely familiar , but he couldn’t place it as he swung down his axe , its range increased with a fractal blade from Chop] . The ghoul shrieked as he tried to defend from the defending strike , but he was completely helpless and was immediately bisected from the attack .

A trickle of Cosmic Energy entered Zac's body , making him shocked how low leveled the undead assassin was . It even doused his reignited anger a bit , replacing it with confusion .

Ai , - the voice from earlier exclaimed , as a young Asian man ran up to the ghost . - You fool . -

What now? - Zac muttered in annoyance as he looked at the man running toward him .

Wang Fang wasn't a saint , but you did not need to kill him , - the man sighed . - He was ill , both in body and mind . -

Zac blankly looked back and forth between the zombie and the man , until he finally spotted a familiar flask attached to the zombie's belt . Only then did things click in his mind . Wang Fang , the man who had snatched his flask of Cosmic Water in the Dead Zone .

He didn't know what to think when he looked down at the malnourished form of Wang Fang . Zac had truthfully thought that the man would have died long ago from Cosmic Water Poisoning , but he had somehow held on until now . From the rage in his still-open eyes Zac could only assume that the man had already figured out his real identity as well .

Zac shook his head in bemusement before turning to the man who had tried to stop him . He didn’t recognize him and curiously enough he didn’t wear the standard gear of the Atwood Army either . The young man wore a similar battle-gear as himself , though the arms of his green robe was a lot wider .

But the most striking thing about him was the countless scars on his face and sloppily mended tears in his clothes . His state was even more wretched compared to Zac's before he was able to improve his race and remove most of his scars . This was clearly someone who had lived in constant battle since the integration , though his power was a bit above average at best .

Just who are you? - the man asked with a frown . - What gives you the right to execute one of my citizens and send away the only Purifier when we’re in the middle of a sea of the undead? -

I am Zachary Atwood , - Zac simply answered . - And her skills were needed to keep Alea alive . -

The man froze when hearing Zac’s response before he calmed down with two deep breaths .

Lady Alea has saved quite a few lives , perhaps more so than anyone else here . It’s good that Sui’s helping her , - he finally said . - I am sorry for my response , we have many wounded and I lashed out . I am Ling Tian , and it is an honor to meet you . -

Ling Tian? - Zac repeated with surprise . - The Ling Tian of Eastern Hills? -

Yes , have we met before? - Ling Tian asked with confusion .

No , but I passed through your town once while traversing the Dead Zone . I heard good things . Do you know John from your town? I forgot his last name , - Zac asked , feeling the world was pretty small after all .

Yes , he’s here . He’s still defending our rear , - Ling Tian nodded . - Thanks to your intervention the main threat is dealt with , and Lord Ilvere is rounding up the stragglers . But there are still some of the weaker undead harassing us from behind . Normally they wouldn't be a problem , but our people are wrung dry . -

How many zombies are there behind us? - Zac asked .

Hard to say , there were a million at the start . Your army killed hundreds of thousands , but the undead have also gotten reinforcements . I’d say there’s three hundred thousand of them remaining unless there are more in hiding , - The young man said after thinking it over .

Not too many… - Zac mumbled before looking up at Ling Tian . - We’ll destroy that horde before giving the people here a well-deserved rest . How’s the stock of healing pills and food? -

Destroy? - Ling Tian blurted in shock . - That’s a sea of zombies over there! -

The pills? - Zac only repeated .

We ran out two days ago after the battle at Baoqui , - Ling Tian sighed .

Zac nodded and threw Ling Tian a Cosmos Sack .

Could you do me a favor? Distribute the pills in this sack to help our wounded . I’ll go help my friend with the Zombies , - Zac said and stood up .

Wait , I can help as well! I can still fight! - Ling Tian said , looking up from the Cosmos Sack in his grasp .

No need . Healing our people is the most important , - Zac said with a shake of his head before some anger flashed in his eyes . - Besides , I am still pretty pissed off . I need the targets for myself . -

Unbridled bloodlust started to seep from Zac's whole body as he spoke , blanketing the area . Ling Tian took a step back in shock , and even his own people looked over at him with fear in their eyes .

It was true what he said . He had kept it together as best he could , but seeing Alea’s pitiful state had ignited a furious fire in his heart that threatened to consume him . If he didn’t get an outlet for this wrath soon he felt he would literally explode . So he wasted no more time before rushing over to the rear , where a thick sea of darkness had created a line of demarcation that the zombies were unable to pass .

Any Zombie foolish enough to enter the sea of shadows was immediately stabbed by multiple shadow spears , giving the defenders a rest from their desperate defense . But Zac had no intention to play it safe , so he simply leaped over the large shadow and landed in the middle of the elite zombie horde with a crash .

The rotting zombies shrieked and immediately threw themselves at him with reckless abandon . Teeth and claws tried to rip him to pieces , and Zac let them try their best as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath .

He didn’t know who he was angry at . Was it himself , for delaying the rescue? At the Undead for pushing his people to such a pitiful state? Or the System that set the stage these blood baths just for the off-chance that someone worthwhile would rise from the mountain of corpses? He had no answer , but then again he hadn’t jumped into a sea of zombies in search of answers .

He was looking for catharsis .

Chapter 359 - Evil Stars

Zac wasn’t actually in great condition after unleashing his three strongest attacks in short succession . He had used almost two thirds of his Cosmic Energy and his body hurt all over . The upgraded Nature’s Punishment] was responsible for the largest part of the cost , whereas Deforestation] was the source of the strain .

He had barely managed to heal up his body while he traveled on the Flying Treasure , and using the first two swings of Deforestation] had caused a few of his old wounds to open up again . But with his massive Vitality he would sooner or later get back in shape , and the pain wasn’t something that would hinder him in dealing with some weak Zombies .

The fact that Nature’s Punishment] had reached Peak mastery had shocked him somewhat . It was the second skill to reach the apex , and Zac would have thought that he would evolve Loamwalker] or Axe Mastery] before he pushed that skill to peak mastery . He did use his movement skill almost constantly in his human form , whereas he had barely used Nature’s Punishment] more than ten times .

Truthfully he barely remembered jumping off from the Flying treasure . His wrath pushed through the roof upon seeing his significantly smaller army getting harassed , and yet it managed to increase even further when he saw Alea getting ambushed . He had barely managed to restrain himself from unleashing the third strike of Deforestation] in his fury , instead opting to finish the elites with Nature’s Punishment] .

Thinking about a skill reaching peak mastery made Zac remember that he hadn’t actually tested Chop] and its extra blade . So Zac finally started to curtail his churning emotions even though he just wanted to go crazy , and instead opted to see the capabilities of the skill . So he summoned Chop] and grew a five-meter blade to clear out the area around him . The next moment the blade detached , and started to hover by him like a silent sentinel .

The zombies didn't care in the slightest about their fallen brethren , and they unhesitantly stepped over their corpses to get to the source of the life force . This forced Zac to keep summoning new blades and shoot them off into the zombie horde , each blade causing a tunnel of carnage before it ran out of steam . But he mainly focused on the permanent blade , and he was currently using it to constantly sweep the zombies that were lucky enough to survive the thinning out of his other blades .

He quickly realized that he could both choose to control the fractal edge by splitting his attention or to simply let it float in his proximity and attack any enemy that got close . His limit was roughly fifty-meters , and it was almost as quick as the blades he shot out like projectiles . If he wanted to he could have it spin around him at a rapid pace , killing anything that got too close .

But Zac eventually let it guard his back autonomously as he kept pushing through the Zombie horde . He didn’t want to rely on the flying blade alone , as the battle caused his rage to resurface . He knew it was to a large part the splinter manipulating him , but he didn’t care at the moment . He let the rage flow through him as he became a tool of slaughter .

Constant roars of the zombies echoed across the area as Zac flashed around with Loamwalker] . Any time he appeared he would release a couple of blades with Chop] , each attack clearing out over a hundred Zombies . He wouldn’t immediately leave though , but instead launch a furious assault with Verun’s Bite] at melee range at all the surviving zombies in the area .

He was long covered in bile and rotten flesh , but he didn’t care . He just kept swinging his axe , not thinking , not feeling . He didn’t know how long he fought or how many Zombies he killed , but he finally stumbled , realizing he was running dangerously low on Cosmic Energy .