Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Could it have some hidden injury that chose this moment to flare up?

Vaelor’s eyes lit up.

If so, this couldn’t have worked out better.

As the unicorn Lord charged again, a cold smile spread across his face.

"Let’s see you survive this!"

He raised both hands and condensed an even larger Tempest Cleave, then brought it down hard toward the unicorn Lord’s head.

Panic entered the beast’s eyes. It was too late to dodge, so it desperately tried to mobilize its mental energy and activate an ability.

Just as Tempest Cleave reached its head, its mental energy finally responded.

The unicorn Lord was far stronger than Ethan, so Silencing Gaze had only suppressed it for a little over ten seconds.

But by then, it was already too late.

The terrifying Tempest Cleave struck its already mangled head.

With a wet tearing sound, the blade of wind cut deep into its skull. Blood sprayed everywhere.

Vaelor’s eyes filled with delight.

The Tier 41 crystal core was finally his!

But just then, a devastating beam of light erupted from the unicorn Lord’s horn and shot straight at him.

On the verge of death, it had managed to unleash its strongest ability.

Vaelor’s expression changed. He immediately tried to summon a Cyclone Barrier.

Then he realized he couldn’t mobilize his mental energy.

His eyes bulged in terror.

"No—!"

Boom!

The tables had turned.

The beam slammed into Vaelor.

"Pfft!"

He coughed up a mouthful of blood as the blast hurled him so far away that he vanished from sight.

The Galeborn fighters and Outland Beasts nearby were completely dumbfounded.

The two had been fighting evenly just moments ago. How had they both ended up half-dead in the blink of an eye?

"Chris, now!" Ethan whispered.

"Got it."

Chris vanished and raced toward the spot where the unicorn Lord had fallen.

"Patriarch!"

"Roar!"

Beast Lord!

After a moment of shock, the nearby Galeborn and Outland Beasts rushed toward their respective leaders.

Some of the Galeborn fighters charged for the fallen unicorn Lord instead.

That was a peak Tier 41 crystal core. Their Patriarch had nearly died bringing the beast down. No matter what, they had to claim it.

The Outland Beasts immediately surrounded their Beast Lord and attacked the approaching Galeborn fighters.

A brutal clash erupted between the two sides.

While they fought, no one noticed an invisible figure strolling straight through their defenses and arriving beside the dying unicorn Lord.

"Huh. It’s still alive." Chris was surprised to see that the beast was still breathing.

"Too bad Skinny Pete’s still too weak, and this isn’t the right place for it. Otherwise, we could’ve had him take control of this thing."

Chris shook his head.

"In that case, I’ll finish you off."

He drew a sword, sharpened its edge, and plunged it into the wound in the unicorn Lord’s skull. He twisted the blade, dug out the crystal core, then immediately activated Ethereal Form.

"Roar..."

The unicorn Lord let out an agonized cry. Its eyes flew wide, filled with shock and unwillingness.

Then its head slumped, and the light slowly faded from its eyes.

The Outland Beasts guarding it spun around at the sound of its cry, only to find their Beast Lord’s life force rapidly fading away.

"Roar..."

They howled in grief, then turned bloodshot eyes on the Galeborn fighters ahead.

They assumed the Beast Lord’s wounds had simply been too severe for it to survive, so they directed all their rage at the Galeborn.

The Galeborn fighters, meanwhile, grew even more excited when they saw that the unicorn Lord was dead.

No matter what it took, they had to seize that peak Tier 41 crystal core!

The battle escalated again as both sides threw themselves into an all-out bloodbath.

Chris moved through everything in Ethereal Form and soon returned to Ethan’s group.

"Ethan, mission accomplished."

He handed over the crystal core, a smug smile on his exhausted face.

"Excellent work, Chris!" Ethan praised.

"Chris, that was badass!" the others chimed in.

While they were busy congratulating him, Vaelor returned to the sky above the distant battlefield, covered in blood and supported by two Galeborn guards.

"Who was it?!" he roared down at the battlefield.

By now, he had realized that someone else had been interfering from the shadows.

No wonder he had managed to beat the unicorn Lord so badly. The beast hadn’t been able to use its abilities.

The memory of suddenly losing access to his own mental energy still left Vaelor shaken.

No matter what, he had to drag that sneaky bastard into the open.

"Stop fighting and search the area!" Vaelor roared. "Find whoever’s hiding here!"

"Um... Patriarch, the unicorn Lord is dead. Its crystal core..."

A Galeborn fighter pointed toward the unicorn Lord’s corpse, which was still surrounded by countless Outland Beasts.

"Dead?"

Vaelor’s eyes lit up. He quickly looked over and saw that the unicorn Lord had indeed become a corpse.

"Forget the search! Take the crystal core first!" he shouted excitedly.

The hidden attacker could wait. Nothing mattered more than a peak Tier 41 crystal core.

"Call the other elders over! Secure that crystal core before anything else!"

Vaelor’s wounds were too severe for him to fight, so he could only have the other elders seize it for him.

Watching from the distance, Ethan and the others exchanged wicked smiles.

"Go on, keep fighting over it. Once you finally win, you’ll find out what real despair feels like."

Ethan chuckled, then quietly led the group away.

Once they were clear of the battlefield, he activated Riftwalk and took everyone far from the area.

Staying anywhere nearby was too dangerous now. Hundreds of miles around the battlefield would soon become unsafe.

The moment they discovered the crystal core was missing, they would lose their minds and launch a massive search.

Now that Ethan had the core, he had no interest in playing hide-and-seek with them. He needed somewhere quiet where he could focus on increasing his strength.

He still had one Tier 36 crystal core, one Tier 37, one Tier 39, and the new Tier 41 core.

The Tier 36 crystal core would go to Sean.

Ethan planned to absorb the Tier 37, Tier 39, and Tier 41 cores himself.

Only by becoming strong enough could he lead the Fallen Star Squad to the next level.

Once he absorbed all three cores, his strength would skyrocket.

As long as he didn’t encounter a Stage SSS fighter, he would have nothing to fear from anyone.