Chapter 769: She evolved…

Faced with the terrifyingly brutal Zombie King, fear gripped everyone’s hearts.

“We have to stop her—now!”

Laura was tearing through everything in her path, charging straight toward the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser like an unstoppable force.

Panic and urgency flashed across the faces of the defenders. Determination hardened their expressions as they raised their lightsabers and rushed forward to intercept her.

Among them were several SS-rank Awakeners. Flames gathered in their palms, forming blazing fireballs that looked like miniature suns. With a shout, they hurled them straight at Laura.

The heat was intense, radiating outward like it could incinerate the world.

Laura glanced their way, but didn’t even flinch. Instead, she raised her mechanical arm—and with a blinding flash, fired a palm cannon straight ahead.

BOOM!

The two forces collided mid-air like crashing comets, unleashing a deafening explosion. The shockwave tore through the battlefield, sending tremors in every direction.

People scrambled to get out of the blast radius, barely avoiding the fallout.

The ground cracked and caved in. Dust and debris filled the air, thick with the scent of destruction.

As the smoke began to clear, everyone strained their eyes, searching for any sign of the Zombie King.

And then—Laura was right in front of them.

“What the—?!”

Eyes widened in disbelief.

Her mechanical arm shifted, transforming into a gleaming claw. With a single swipe, she decapitated a man in front of her.

She tore into the crowd like a beast among sheep, slicing through them with terrifying speed and precision.

Screams rang out. People scattered in panic.

“Shit! She’s too strong—we can’t stop her!”

“She’s coming again!”

“What do we do?!”

“—”

Just as chaos threatened to consume the defenders, the ground beneath their feet began to glow with a dull, earthy light. It pulsed outward in waves, and a calm, steady voice rang out:

“Let’s see if I can hold her off.”

Everyone turned toward the voice—and there stood Garrick, tall and unshaken, like a mountain in the storm.

“Earthen Bulwark!”

His voice rang with power. The ground surged, waves of earth rising and crashing forward like a tidal wave, slamming toward Laura.

The battlefield shook violently. Dust and dirt filled the air, obscuring everything.

Laura didn’t slow down. She raised her arm again and fired off a barrage of energy blasts.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Each earthen wall shattered under the assault, chunks of stone and soil flying in every direction as the elemental energy scattered.

In the chaos, Garrick’s body began to glow. Earth Armor formed around him, thick and heavy, encasing him like a living fortress. He grew—ten feet tall now, a walking juggernaut of stone and fury.

He charged.

With a roar, he swung a massive fist at Laura.

Backed by the power of the earth itself, the punch landed with a thunderous crash, like two mountains colliding.

Laura reacted fast, raising her arm to block—but the impact still sent her flying. Her slender frame was launched a hundred feet back, skidding across the ground like a ragdoll.

The defenders gasped, then exhaled in relief.

“She’s finally stopped!”

“Instructor Garrick is a beast!”

“Yeah, he’s the strongest human below SSS-rank. They say no one at his level can beat him.”

“—”

But the fight wasn’t over.

Garrick’s eyes locked onto Laura. A speed-type Zombie King like her was too dangerous to leave alive.

“Mudwave!”

With a single thought, Garrick turned the battlefield into a churning sea of earth. The ground beneath Laura rippled like liquid, undulating in waves.

She suddenly felt her footing give way—her body sank nearly a foot. Glancing down, she saw her ankles swallowed by the soft, shifting soil.

“Time to bury you for good…”

With Laura trapped, Garrick unleashed his finishing move.

The ground beneath her began to collapse inward, forming a crater. From all directions, towering waves of mud surged toward her, ready to engulf her completely.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Each crashing wave of earth shook the ground violently. The mud piled higher and higher, layer upon layer, until it formed a small mountain. The terrain around them was completely reshaped.

Laura’s figure vanished beneath the avalanche of dirt.

“Did it work?!”

“Look! The Zombie King—she’s gone!”

“Instructor Garrick did it!”

“Hell yeah!”

Relief washed over the defenders. Laura had been a nightmare—too fast, too deadly. Taking her out was a massive win.

The battlefield quieted. The earth settled. The mound of dirt stood still and silent.

People finally exhaled.

“Alright, let’s keep pushing forward,” Garrick said, scanning the battlefield. His mission wasn’t over. There were still other SS-rank Zombie Kings out there—and he intended to take down every last one of them.

Victory for humanity was within reach.

But then—

A wave of pressure rolled out from beneath the dirt mound. It was subtle at first, then rapidly intensified, spreading like wildfire across the battlefield.

The air grew heavy. Suffocating.

Zombie Kings were forged in blood and fire. They evolved through carnage.

Laura had already been on the verge of breaking through to SSS-rank. She’d absorbed enough energy—she just needed a spark.

And Garrick had given her exactly that.

The fight had become her catalyst.

Everyone froze. A chill ran down their spines. That overwhelming aura—it wasn’t just powerful. It was monstrous. Soul-crushing.

This wasn’t just any Zombie King anymore.

This was something else.

Something worse.

The Voidborn Undying.

“She’s… she’s still alive?”

All eyes locked on the mound of earth. Mouths went dry. Someone swallowed hard.

BOOOOOOM!

The entire mound exploded.

Chunks of dirt blasted outward in a shockwave that knocked people off their feet. Dust and debris filled the air, forcing everyone to shield their eyes.

And then—through the haze—a figure emerged.

A girl.

Laura.

But not the Laura they knew.

She had changed.

Her once grotesque features were now hauntingly beautiful. Her jagged teeth were smooth and perfect. The wild, matted hair had become silky and straight, cascading down her back like a waterfall.

She looked like the all-American sweetheart—if the all-American sweetheart had a faint, murderous glint in her icy blue eyes and a smile that hinted at something dark and twisted.

“What the hell…”

People stared, stunned, unable to process what they were seeing.

Laura’s long, toned legs moved with slow, deliberate grace as she walked toward them. Each step echoed like a death knell.

Death was coming.

And it wore a pretty face.

Garrick’s pupils shrank to pinpricks. He stopped breathing. His heart pounded in his throat.

“The Voidborn Undying…”

“She evolved…”

Then—she vanished.

One moment she was there.

The next—gone.

No sound. No flash. Just… gone.

Panic erupted.

“Where is she?!”

Eyes darted in every direction. The tension was unbearable, like a blade hovering just above their skulls.

“Instructor Garrick, what do we—?”

The young man’s voice cut off.

No answer.

He turned to look.

Garrick was still standing—but something was wrong.

His expression was frozen. His body stiff.

Then—his head slid cleanly off his shoulders.

Blood sprayed into the air as his headless body collapsed to the ground with a sickening thud.

“What the—?!”

The young man stood paralyzed, his mind blank with shock.

Then he felt it.

A cold, razor-sharp claw resting gently on his shoulder.

…

Here’s a redemption code for everyone: