Bloodveil's face was dark as a storm cloud, practically dripping with rage. The more he thought about it, the more something felt off.

Had he been played again?

CLANG!

The already-shaky Bulk Freighter shuddered violently, nearly tearing itself apart midair.

"Boss… I think this time our ride's really done for!" one of the zombie underlings shouted, panic in his voice.

"Land it! Now! Get us down!" Bloodveil barked, pushing aside his suspicions for the moment.

Under relentless assault from the mutant bird swarm, the Bulk Freighter crash-landed, slamming into the ground nose-first and skidding a long distance before finally grinding to a halt, half-buried in the dirt.

Zombies poured out of the wreckage, claws bared, swiping at the sky to drive off the screeching birds overhead.

Bloodveil's fury boiled over. The Zombie King's wrath erupted like a storm—two blood-forged chains lashed out from his hands, whipping through the air with deadly force.

They spun into a whirlwind, slicing through the dense flock like a meat grinder.

Dead birds rained from the sky in a grotesque downpour of corpses.

Meanwhile, Ethan had already landed safely on the ground. He looked up at the chaos above, calm and collected. "Not a bad ally, huh?"

"Hell yeah! Dude's a beast!" the Lizardfolk Chieftain behind him gave a big thumbs-up, eyes wide with admiration.

But the bird swarm was just the opening act—the real show was about to begin.

From deep within the jungle, a chorus of monstrous roars erupted, shaking the trees to their roots.

The ground trembled. Trees toppled like dominoes.

Bloodveil scanned the forest, his eyes narrowing. Shadows moved between the trunks—hulking Direwolves, sleek one-horned leopards, and massive rhino-like beasts, each more terrifying than the last.

Every one of them had mutated—bigger, stronger, meaner. Blood-red eyes glowed in the underbrush, and many had tusks or fangs jutting from their jaws.

One of the mutant rhinos was the size of an elephant, its horn over twenty feet long and gleaming like forged steel.

Its mouth was a nightmare of jagged teeth, grinding together with a sound like bones snapping.

"Oh, shit…"

Even the Zombie Kings—those who had evolved intelligence—looked shaken.

And then came the vines.

They slithered across the ground like giant snakes, thick and pulsing, creeping toward them with eerie purpose.

"Fall back! Everyone, move!" Bloodveil ordered without hesitation.

As a Voidborn Undying, he wasn't afraid of these Xenobeasts—but getting surrounded by a full-blown mutant beast horde? That was a death trap even he didn't want to test.

He and his zombie crew retreated fast, sending out a signal flare—calling in reinforcements from the distant Zombie Horde.

Moments later…

Hundreds of thousands of zombies received the call. They froze mid-step, their eyes flashing with awareness.

"Boss is under attack by a mutant beast horde?!"

"No way we're letting that slide!"

"Let's go, boys! Time to wreck some shit!"

These weren't your average shambling corpses. These were elite zombies—battle-hardened, smart, and fast. Some had been resting beneath tree roots, others wandering the jungle aimlessly.

Now, they roared to life like a switch had been flipped.

They howled, snarled, and sprinted through the forest, converging like a tidal wave.

Some ran on all fours, others leapt from tree to tree like apes, their movements swift and feral.

The Zombie Horde was on the warpath.

From a bird's-eye view, the battlefield was massive—two monstrous forces charging toward each other across the jungle, like twin tsunamis about to collide.

And right in the middle of it all—was Ethan and his crew.

They could feel the tremors from both sides, the air thick with tension, the ground vibrating beneath their feet.

The Lizardfolk Chieftain stood frozen, his face a mix of awe and dread. "Divine Judgment… it's really coming, isn't it?"

"What's there to be scared of? We've got the boss with us," Ricky said with a grin, resting his massive blue blade on his shoulder.

He looked way too excited for someone staring down the apocalypse.

Honestly, the more things died, the happier he seemed.

Aria, still tied up, looked pale. She'd just been a student before all this—eager to get out and see the world. Well, she got her wish. Now she was front-row for a full-blown war between monsters.

"Ricky, things are getting out of hand. Can you please untie me now?" she asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

"Nope!" Ricky shot her down without hesitation. "What if you bolt the second I do?"

Aria: "...Seriously?"

Meanwhile, the mutant beast horde surged forward like a tidal wave of muscle and fury, and the zombie horde met them head-on with equal madness.

And then—they collided.

The impact was chaos incarnate.

Zombies, crazed and fearless, hurled themselves onto the Xenobeasts, claws digging into flesh, jaws snapping down with savage hunger.

But the Xenobeasts were just as brutal. One bite from a Direwolf could tear a zombie clean in half. A single stomp from a rhino-like behemoth flattened the undead into bloody paste.

The air filled with roars, shrieks, and the sickening crunch of bone.

Bloodveil, now backed by his reinforcements, pulled back from the front lines. From a distance, he spotted Ethan—still in his pristine white coat—standing with Ricky and the others, just watching the carnage unfold like it was a damn fireworks show.

Fuming, Bloodveil stormed over. "Hey! What the hell is going on here?!"

"You wanted fresh meat, didn't you?" Ethan said casually. "Well, there's plenty now."

Bloodveil's eye twitched. He was speechless for a second, then seething. This bastard set me up again!

"You stirred something up, didn't you?"

"Nope. It came after me first," Ethan replied, then gave him a quick rundown of the whole "Divine Judgment" situation.

Bloodveil's face darkened even more. So I'm the scapegoat now? Great.

"And you're just standing here watching? Shouldn't we be doing something?!"

"Relax," Ethan said, eyes still on the battlefield. "This is just the vanguard. The real mutant beast horde hasn't even shown up yet."

"What?!" Bloodveil's voice cracked. If this was just the vanguard, then they were already in deep shit. His elite zombies were already starting to falter.

He glanced back at the battlefield—and his stomach dropped.

From the ground, massive beetles were crawling out of the dirt, each the size of a tank. Their shells were thick as alloy plating, and even his best zombies couldn't scratch them.

Only the S-class Zombie Kings had any hope of taking them down.

And that wasn't all—mutant plants were joining the fight. They looked harmless at first glance, but they struck like assassins, launching sneak attacks from the underbrush.

This was their turf. Their battlefield.

The jungle belonged to them.

Each Xenobeast faction had its own leader, comparable in power to a Zombie King. But unlike zombies, even the low-tier Xenobeasts had intelligence. Killing their leader didn't break their ranks—they just kept fighting, kept killing.

In other words… taking out a mutant beast overlord wouldn't stop the horde.

"We can't win in the jungle," Bloodveil said, his voice tight with urgency. "This is their home turf. We're outmatched."

Ethan nodded. "Intelligent creatures have one big weakness—they can feel fear."

Bloodveil frowned. "And?"

Ethan's tone dropped, calm and deadly. "My Dreadnought-class Starcruiser is almost here."

Bloodveil blinked. "Oh…"

Yeah, that changed things.

A Dreadnought-class Starcruiser wasn't just a ship—it was a floating apocalypse.

Now he got it.

All they had to do was hold the line. Stall long enough for the big guns to arrive.

"Got it," Bloodveil said, nodding sharply. He turned and barked orders to his troops. "Don't engage head-on! Stall them! Buy time!"

The zombies immediately shifted tactics. Their bloodlust cooled, and they stopped charging recklessly. Instead, they began dodging, weaving, pulling back.

Some even retreated far from the front lines, regrouping in the shadows.

...

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