CHAPTER 677: GUESS I’LL GO STRETCH MY LEGS A BIT...

"Damn! That’s insane!" Hank shouted, instantly on board.

Then, like a shadow slicing through the battlefield, Laura appeared—bloodthirsty and relentless. Her figure flickered in and out of sight, leaving behind a trail of afterimages as she moved.

Wherever she passed, heads flew. Blood sprayed. Headless corpses crumpled to the ground.

At that speed, her single-target strikes turned into wide-range massacres. It was like watching a scythe sweep through a field of wheat—only she was harvesting lives.

"Hehehehehehe~~"

A chilling, eerie laugh echoed through the air, blending with the screech of claw-blades grinding through skulls. It was like a symphony of slaughter had begun.

"Wh-what the hell..."

Even Umbradrake was shaken.

He could barely track Laura’s movements—her speed was so intense it made his vision blur.

This... this wasn’t Dreadpaw’s corpse nest at all!

He was finally sure of it.

Just Laura alone might be on par with Dreadpaw in raw power.

"Wait a second... This is supposed to be the outskirts of Necroterra, near The Exile Zone, right? Why does it feel like we’ve stumbled into the heart of the damn continent?" Umbradrake muttered, a creeping sense of dread settling in.

"Boss, uh... are we sure we can win this? Maybe we should fall back? It’s not too late..." Howler asked nervously.

"Don’t panic!" Umbradrake snapped, eyes scanning the battlefield. "They’ve only sent out a few Zombie Kings so far. We’ve got hundreds of thousands in our horde—why would we retreat? Maybe they’re just trying to scare us with a flashy entrance. Don’t fall for it!"

"Oh... if you say so..." Howler scratched his head, clearly unconvinced. Why do I feel like he’s the kind of guy who won’t get it until we’re all dead?

But just then, a swarm of figures shot up from the corpse nest and streaked through the sky.

Yeah. They were flying.

A whole fleet of cybernetic zombies, outfitted with flame-propelled jetpacks, soared overhead. Energy cores embedded in their palms pulsed with light, and then—

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

They unleashed a barrage of energy blasts, raining hellfire down on the battlefield.

The ground shook violently. Zombies were obliterated by the dozens, torn apart mid-charge. Limbs and torsos flew in every direction.

"Holy shit!"

Umbradrake stood frozen, completely stunned.

Fusion-type Zombie Kings? Sure, he could wrap his head around that. But this? This was something else entirely.

What the hell were these things?

A full-on aerial assault by a mechanized zombie army, softening up the front lines with precision bombing.

Then came the elite units—top-tier zombies charging in to mop up the survivors. The coordination between the two forces was seamless.

From the Solaris Citadel, waves of zombies poured out. They moved with agility and purpose, clearly evolved far beyond the average undead. Their movements were sharp, their reflexes honed.

"ROOOAAARRR!"

Bulldozer let out a thunderous bellow from atop the wall. The massive brute grabbed boulders in both hands and hurled them down like meteors.

Each one landed with a sickening crunch, flattening enemy zombies into bloody pulp.

And then came the beasts.

Zombie animals—mutated Earth species—emerged from the corpse nest, shocking the native undead with their sheer ferocity.

Leading the charge was a massive white tiger, easily twelve feet tall, radiating raw power and regal dominance.

"Snowy! Go get ’em!" Big Ears shouted, striking a dramatic pose like a battlefield commander.

Then came the Japanese Iron Trio, followed by the Dune Twins, each group making their grand entrance and diving into the fray.

Slick, one of the Dune Twins, was especially terrifying. Once known as the Ninetail Viperlord, he now had nine serpentine tails writhing behind him, each one lashing out with deadly precision.

"Another fusion-type Zombie King?!" Umbradrake’s eyes darted across the battlefield. His horde was getting shredded. The difference in power was staggering.

Even Howler was starting to panic. "Uh... are we seriously gonna win this?"

"This isn’t working," Umbradrake growled. The battle was slipping out of his control. If they were going to turn this around, it had to be King vs. King. The enemy’s top dog hadn’t even shown up yet.

"Howler! You’re up! Hold them off!"

"Wait, what??" Howler’s face twisted in disbelief. "Boss... you sure about that? You want me to go?"

"I’m going too. We can’t hold back anymore. It’s all or nothing now."

"Oh—oh! Okay, yeah, got it!" Howler nodded quickly. If the boss was jumping in, he had no excuse to sit out.

Together, the two of them charged into the chaos.

"Kill them all!" Umbradrake roared, his voice booming across the battlefield, drowning out the noise. A wave of oppressive energy surged from him—pure, unfiltered killing intent.

This was his power: psychic intimidation.

He infused his aura with mental pressure, making himself seem even more terrifying to the other undead.

He didn’t call himself The Voidborn Undying for nothing.

And now, his power was still climbing—rising higher and higher, like it was about to break through to a whole new level.

"If you’re gonna force my hand, then don’t blame me for what happens next!" Umbradrake roared, his voice tearing through the chaos.

The zombies around him, fueled by his overwhelming aura, surged with renewed energy. Their morale spiked, their growls louder, their movements more aggressive.

But across the battlefield, Laura and Sprout—along with a few other Zombie Kings—barely spared him a glance. They didn’t even slow down. They just kept slicing through the enemy ranks like it was business as usual.

After all, with Ethan holding down the corpse nest, they had nothing to worry about.

"Huh? They’re still fighting? Not even a little intimidated?" Umbradrake frowned, realizing his dramatic entrance hadn’t had the impact he’d hoped for.

Meanwhile, Howler wasn’t faring nearly as well. The moment he joined the fight, he got singled out by the Dune Twins—and they weren’t playing nice.

"Hey! Hey! Cut it out! You see my boss over there? That’s The Voidborn Undying! Show some respect!" Howler shouted, trying to talk his way out of the beatdown.

"Oh yeah? The Voidborn Undying, huh? That your big scary boss?" Slick sneered, completely unimpressed. His nine snake-like tails lashed out like steel whips, cracking against Howler’s body again and again.

...

The whole battle was a one-sided slaughter.

Umbradrake was getting steamrolled.

And the worst part? Ethan’s side wasn’t even going all out.

Ethan himself was still chilling on his hovercraft, casually fiddling with the interface, sending out signals to human networks like he was browsing the web.

Most of the replies came from strangers.

"Hey handsome, looks like you’re really into research. Wanna meet up sometime and do a little... science together?"

"Thanks for the invite! Just landed on Originis—not too familiar with things yet," Ethan replied instantly.

"LOL! You’re cute. Now I really wanna meet you," the woman on the other end giggled.

Of course, Ethan wasn’t just flirting—he was gathering intel on Originis tech.

He’d quickly realized that the most advanced technology was still in human hands. Zombies capable of real scientific research were practically mythical.

Like PhDs? Basically unicorns.

Even when zombies had access to tech, it was usually scavenged from human ruins—or handed over during "The Hunt Trial," when humans came to test themselves and, knowingly or not, delivered resources straight into undead hands.

"If I want to get my hands on serious equipment... or high-grade metals and materials... I might actually have to make a trip into human territory," Ethan mused silently.

Outside the corpse nest, the battlefield was a storm of roars and explosions. The moment Umbradrake entered the fray, a powerful surge of energy had swept across the field.

Ethan glanced up from his console, setting aside his thoughts for now.

"Guess I’ll go stretch my legs a bit..."

...