"Good!" Howard agreed instantly—he'd been thinking the same thing. If they kept fighting, they were doomed. It would only end the same way it had beneath the Skywall all those years ago.

Now, their only hope was that Harren could take down the Zombie King.

With that decision made, he and Gareth shot backward, retreating from the battlefield at full speed.

Ethan's figure flickered—he was just about to give chase.

But then, a deafening crack of thunder exploded in his ears. Blinding lightning tore through the air, a surge of raw power crashing down on him.

"Your fight is with me!" Harren roared, throwing a punch straight at him.

He moved like lightning itself, the element crackling at his fist, white-hot and blinding, warping the very air around them.

Ethan narrowed his eyes. This veteran human warrior... he was no joke.

With a thought, Ethan unleashed the Domain of the Dead. A wave of oppressive energy surged outward, slowing Harren's movements as it pressed down on him.

Then Ethan clenched his fist and charged in.

A head-on clash—one of humanity's strongest against the Zombie King himself.

BOOM!

The impact was like the heavens roaring in fury. A shockwave exploded outward, collapsing the ground in a hundred-foot radius. Deep cracks spiderwebbed across the earth, tearing it apart.

At the center of the blast, Ethan felt a jolt shoot up his arm—his forearm went numb as lightning surged into his body, paralyzing him for a split second.

But Harren had it worse. The blow sent him flying, his arm dislocated, pain radiating through half his body.

"This Zombie King... he's a monster," Harren muttered through gritted teeth.

"No wonder Serah ended up paralyzed..." If he'd been any weaker, he'd be lying broken on the ground right now.

Ethan wasn't about to let him off the hook. He surged forward, pressing the attack, the Domain of the Dead closing in like a storm.

Harren froze for a heartbeat, overwhelmed by the crushing force bearing down on him. He saw Ethan's figure closing in fast—too fast.

"Thunder Flash!"

With a shout, Harren unleashed his lightning ability. His entire body transformed into pure electricity, streaking sideways in a blinding arc.

He'd become one with the element—lightning incarnate.

The bolt tore through the Domain of the Dead, arcing around in a wide loop—then reformed behind Ethan.

Harren's body snapped back into shape, his hand reaching for the back of Ethan's head.

But Ethan didn't even turn. He sidestepped in a blur, dodging the strike with ease.

Harren's hand swiped through empty air.

Ethan countered immediately, swinging a fist back at him.

Harren didn't dare take the hit head-on. He dissolved into lightning again, vanishing in a flash.

Ethan's eyes narrowed. "You ran away like this thirty years ago too, didn't you?"

"You—!" Harren's teeth clenched, rage boiling in his chest.

It wasn't the accusation that stung.

It was the fact that Ethan was right.

A wave of shame crashed over him, dragging old memories to the surface. Around them, the undead howled, humans screamed, the battlefield alive with chaos and pain.

It was just like back then.

Harren felt like he'd been thrown back into that nightmare from thirty years ago.

"But this time... I won't lose!"

He would use this fight to wipe away the disgrace of the past. Regret, fury, sorrow—all of it surged inside him like a storm.

He clenched his jaw, channeling every emotion into power. Lightning exploded around him as he charged the Zombie King once more.

Ethan's gaze stayed calm, steady. He met the attack head-on.

They moved faster than the eye could follow, flickering across the desolate battlefield like ghosts. Each clash sent shockwaves ripping through the earth, leaving craters and cracks in their wake.

"God, they're strong..."

The others could feel the tremors from afar, stunned by the sheer force of the battle.

But at the same time, they breathed a little easier.

Harren really was a legend for a reason. He was holding his own against the Zombie King—and from the looks of it, he wasn't going down anytime soon.

Bloodveil's savage eyes locked onto the battlefield, taking the rare moment of calm to catch his breath.

He'd just taken a serious beating.

His body still tingled with residual numbness, and more than half of his energy reserves were already drained.

"Thank god... that lightning old man finally left," he muttered to himself.

Lightning-type Awakeners were the worst—hard-hitting, fast as hell, and damn near impossible to dodge. Fighting them was a nightmare.

But his relief didn't last long.

A wave of searing heat surged from the front, and that familiar sense of danger came crashing back.

"You're not getting off easy either!" Howard growled, his voice low and sharp. Above his head, a massive fireball formed, blazing like a miniature sun. With a flick of his hand, he hurled it straight at Bloodveil.

"...Huh?" Bloodveil blinked, caught off guard.

Again?

No time to think. He instantly activated his Bloodtide Domain, throwing up a defense.

Mutated blood surged out, clashing with the incoming flames. The two forces hissed and cracked as they collided, explosions rippling through the air, each trying to consume the other.

"This is way better than that lightning bastard..." Bloodveil thought grimly. It still drained his energy, but at least he wasn't getting his face smashed in.

But just as he was catching his breath, a sudden wave of overwhelming psychic force slammed into him.

In the next instant, that force splintered into countless mental spikes, stabbing straight into his mind.

"AAARGHH—!"

Bloodveil let out a guttural scream, his brain exploding with pain.

His vision went white. For a moment, everything went blank.

"Now's my chance!"

From the distance, Serah's figure burst forward, agile and fierce, charging straight at him.

As she closed in, her muscles tensed, arms bulging with raw power. She cocked back her fist and drove it straight into Bloodveil's face.

BOOM!

Still dazed, Bloodveil couldn't react in time. The punch landed clean.

His head snapped back violently, and his body was sent flying like a ragdoll, crashing through a pile of jagged rocks before finally skidding to a stop.

He lay there, half-buried in rubble, his skull visibly caved in—a brutal sight.

If he hadn't had the absurd durability of a Zombie King, his head would've been pulp.

But Serah wasn't done.

She sprinted forward, then leapt high into the air like a hawk diving for the kill.

She aimed straight for his head, ready to bring her heel down with lethal force.

"Die, you freak!"

Serah roared, finally feeling like she was back in her element.

She was the spear, sharp and unstoppable—the War Goddess reborn.

BOOOOM!

She came down like a meteor, slamming into the ground with bone-shattering force. The surrounding rocks exploded, the earth cracked and buckled beneath her.

But Bloodveil wasn't dead.

At the last second, he snapped back to consciousness. His claws shot up and clamped around Serah's lower leg.

"What the—?!"

Serah's eyes narrowed. She tried to yank her leg free, but the Zombie King's grip was like iron. She couldn't break loose.

Then, from the gaping wounds across Bloodveil's body, streams of mutated blood oozed out—squirming like worms, they slithered up her leg.

"Ugh—!" Serah hissed as a burning pain spread across her skin. The blood was corrosive.

But her body was tough—damn tough. It hurt, but it wasn't enough to stop her.

"Let me handle this!"

A cold voice rang out.

Tharen stepped forward from the distance, his face pale but determined. He was still recovering from earlier injuries, but he'd regained enough strength to fight.

Frost radiated from his body as a razor-sharp ice spear formed in his hand. In a blink, he dashed toward them.

He raised the spear high, aiming to drive it straight through Bloodveil's skull.

"Shit!"

Bloodveil snarled, baring his fangs. Pinned beneath Serah, both claws locked around her leg, he couldn't move.

He couldn't dodge.

"Is this... really the end for me?"

...

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