Apocalypse: King of Zombies

The Galeborn fled the Suncrest Range, but the Outland Beasts clearly had no intention of letting them off that easily. Led by more than a dozen Stage SS flying beasts, they pursued the Galeborn the entire way.

The Galeborn still had considerable influence in the Eastern Region, though.

Once they made it back to their territory, they quickly called in several other races for support and finally managed to stop the Outland Beasts’ assault.

The two sides were locked in another stalemate.

At the foot of the mountain, the Fallen Star Squad had used the crystal cores to quickly raise everyone to Tier 35.

Sean and Henry both reached the peak of Tier 35. Each of them then consumed a Stage SS crystal core and began their breakthrough.

Before long, they advanced one after the other, giving the Fallen Star Squad two more Stage SS members.

”Well?” Everyone looked at them expectantly. ”What skills did you get?”

”Heh. I’ve finally made it big.” Sean grinned. ”The skill I gained at Stage SS is Damage Reversal. I can absorb the damage from an attack, add it to my own power, and send it back. As long as the attack doesn’t kill me in one hit, I can absorb the damage and return it.”

”It’s that strong?” Everyone stared at him in surprise.

”That’s not even the best part. My Innate Abilities changed just like Chris’s did when he advanced. I unlocked a new state—Adamantine Form!

”It doubles my strength and defense. The downside is that it burns through a lot of energy, but it’s manageable. At my current level, I can maintain it for around ten minutes.

”Once I activate Adamantine Form and combine it with Berserk and Damage Reversal…” Sean’s grin widened. ”I’ll be a god of war. Nobody will be able to stop me!”

”Damn!”

Everyone gave him a thumbs-up.

Sean hadn’t been ranked third in the Fallen Star Squad’s combat strength for nothing. In a head-on fight, he was now every bit as strong as Chris.

Of course, Chris was an assassin. He had no reason to fight anyone head-on, and his burst damage was terrifying. If the two of them actually fought, Sean still wouldn’t be able to withstand his attacks. Chris’s number-two ranking wasn’t for show.

As for Ethan, nobody bothered comparing themselves to him. That wouldn’t even be a fair fight. No matter how strong they were, Ethan would put them down with a single combo.

”What about you, Henry?” they asked.

”My skill’s decent. Nothing ridiculous, but definitely not bad.” Henry smiled. ”My Stage SS skill is a light-type ability called Enfeebling Radiance. It’s a debuff that weakens anyone caught in its light and drastically reduces their strength.

”How much it weakens them depends on how strong they are. If they’re far above me, it probably won’t do much. Overall, it’s a fairly standard skill, but it reduces every aspect of the target’s power. So as long as they aren’t too far above me, the effect should be significant.”

”What’s the strongest opponent you think it’ll work on?” Chris asked.

Henry considered it. ”It should be effective against anyone less than three tiers above me. At a three-tier difference, it probably won’t do much.”

”That’s good enough,” Chris said. ”With that, we should be able to handle Tier 39 enemies.”

”Yeah.” Henry nodded. ”My Innate Abilities also changed a lot this time. Like you guys, I gained a special skill—Pain Link!

”It’s a little like my sister’s Energy Link. I can link myself directly to a target, but mine is much nastier. If I link to someone, they take all the damage that would’ve been dealt to me.”

”Holy shit!”

Everyone’s eyes widened.

Until now, every advancement Henry had undergone had improved his healing. None of them had expected him to gain something so vicious this time.

”So you can link to me, right?” Sean asked. ”Then you won’t have to worry about your own safety in a fight.”

”I could, but why would I link to you?” Henry laughed. ”Why not link to the enemy?”

”…”

”Holy shit. So they’d basically be attacking themselves?”

”Yep.”

”Damn, you can do that?”

”There has to be a limit,” Chris said.

After what he’d just gone through, he understood that every absurdly powerful skill came with a price.

”There is. I can’t link to anyone too much stronger than me, or I’ll suffer a backlash. Also, if the person I’m linked to dies before I end the link, I’ll be badly injured too,” Henry said helplessly.

”That cost isn’t so bad. You just have to know when to stop.”

”Yeah. And if there’s no suitable enemy around, I can always link to Sean. He’s hard to kill.”

”…”

”All right. We’ll wait for Ethan to finish powering up,” Chris said, his eyes turning cold. ”Once he comes out, we can go get our revenge!”

After being hunted for days and nearly killed, Chris had plenty of anger toward the Galeborn.

No one left over the next few days. They remained stationed around the cave, standing guard.

On the fourth day, Ethan finally emerged.

The moment they saw him, everyone sensed the overwhelming power coming from him, and their hearts jumped.

”Boss, your strength…?”

”Stage SS… Tier 39.” A smile tugged at Ethan’s lips.

”You reached Tier 39?” Everyone’s eyes widened.

”Yeah. That peak Tier 41 crystal core gave me a pleasant surprise.

”The Tier 37 and Tier 39 cores only raised me to the peak of Tier 37. I thought I’d reach the peak of Tier 38 at most this time.

”But that peak Tier 41 crystal core took me straight from the peak of Tier 37 to Tier 39.

”Looks like a peak Tier 41 crystal core contains far more energy than an ordinary Tier 41 core,” Ethan said with a smile.

”Of course it does. There’s a huge difference in strength between them too.”

”True. The difference wasn’t nearly as obvious back at Stage S. I didn’t expect the gap to become this wide at Stage SS.” Ethan nodded.

”Then, Boss, doesn’t that mean you’re…” Their eyes widened again. ”Invincible within Stage SS?”

”Hahaha! Damn right. Below Stage SSS, I’m invincible. Above Stage SSS…” Ethan paused. ”Forget it. I can’t beat them.”

”…”

”All right. We’ve kept our heads down long enough.” A cold smile spread across Ethan’s face. ”It’s our turn to throw our weight around.”

”I feel like we’ve been doing that the whole time,” Big Mike muttered.

Ethan glanced at him. ”Then we’ll be even more outrageous. Let’s start by wiping out a higher race.”

”Hell yeah!”