Chapter 734: I’m going after her

And so, while the other Zombie Kings were busy strategizing how to slaughter Xenobeasts and flush out the Overmind Queen, Ethan and his crew… well, they had a different plan.

They were just biding their time—quietly observing, investigating the other Zombie Kings instead.

Their pace was slow and deliberate, stopping often, sometimes even trailing behind other zombie squads, walking the exact paths those groups had already cleared.

“Doesn’t look like anything happened to that group up ahead,” Snout muttered, sounding almost disappointed.

“Alright, let’s switch spots. Take a break for a bit,” Ethan said casually.

They climbed up to a mountain peak. The night had fully settled in, casting everything in a blanket of darkness.

But with their undead vision, they could still see clearly.

Ethan stood at the edge of a cliff, scanning the terrain below. He could make out other Zombie Kings and their squads moving through the rocky valleys and around jagged boulders.

Every now and then, they’d run into a Xenobeast, but nothing too serious—each encounter was handled without much trouble.

Since they’d only just entered Razorback Ridge, no major battles had broken out yet.

Hammerhead and Snout joined Ethan at the cliff’s edge. The wind howled across the peak, strong enough to make them sway, their balance tested by the gusts.

Snout raised a claw to shield his eyes and peered down into the abyss below. It was pitch black, bottomless—like a gaping maw of the earth.

“If I fell down there, I’d probably lose a couple teeth,” he muttered.

“Maybe you’d be lucky to have two left,” Hammerhead quipped beside him.

But just then, something zipped across the sky in the distance—a small black dot moving fast, wings spread wide.

It was Vulturea, the flying Zombie King under Bloodveil’s command.

Thanks to her flight ability, she was the best scout among them and had already flown far ahead of the others, deep into Razorback Ridge.

Along the way, she’d discovered several monster nests and had been regularly reporting back to Bloodveil, who then led cleanup teams to wipe out the threats. So far, they’d cleared out a decent number of Xenobeasts.

“She’s flying that high… won’t that make her a prime target?” Hammerhead murmured.

Of course, the universe wasted no time proving him right.

From halfway up a nearby mountain, a chorus of screeches erupted. Countless black shapes burst into the sky, swarming toward Vulturea’s position.

Ethan narrowed his eyes. They looked like pterodactyls—massive, winged beasts with thirty-foot wingspans and long, needle-like beaks filled with razor-sharp fangs. They were vicious.

Native to the Xenorift, these creatures had clearly been parasitized. Now they were just another weapon in the Overmind Queen’s arsenal.

The sky darkened as the flock closed in, a living storm of wings and teeth.

“SKREEEEE—!”

The creatures shrieked, their bodies writhing with tentacles that lashed out, trying to ensnare Vulturea mid-air.

Though she had the advantage of flight, Vulturea’s combat ability in the air was limited. She was built for speed and scouting, not dogfights.

She took several hits in quick succession. One tentacle pierced clean through her shoulder.

It belonged to an S-class parasitic monster, which immediately began secreting a fleshy, pulsating lump—an embryo—down the tentacle, trying to force it into her body.

Vulturea snarled, her fangs bared in fury. She slashed wildly with her claws, severing the tentacle before the parasite could take hold.

SHRRRIP!

Blood sprayed into the air as she broke free, but the damage was done. Her shoulder was wrecked, and she could no longer maintain flight.

She spiraled downward, spinning out of control.

“She’s done for. Gonna hit the ground with just two teeth left…” Snout muttered, watching her fall.

Ethan’s gaze sharpened. Most Zombie Kings had tough bodies—Vulturea included. She still had one bone wing intact, which might help soften the landing. She wouldn’t die from the fall.

But the real problem was where she was about to crash.

Below her was a dense, low forest. The trees swayed unnaturally, shadows shifting between the trunks—clearly crawling with parasitic monsters.

“I’m going after her,” Ethan said suddenly.

“Huh?” Snout blinked. “How? You think you’ll make it in time?”

But when he turned to look, Ethan was already gone—vanished without a sound.

“Uh… what the hell?” Snout muttered, thoroughly creeped out.

Hammerhead grunted. “Come on! We’ve gotta catch up!”

“Right!” Snout snapped out of it and followed.

But they were slower. First, they had to climb down the cliff, then make their way toward the forest.

All around them, the air was thick with the howls and roars of nearby zombies. The tension was rising fast.

Several Zombie Kings had received Vulturea’s distress signal and were already rushing to her aid. Some of the closer ones had made it into the forest.

From within the trees came the sounds of battle—deep, guttural roars and high-pitched screeches.

The fight had begun.

Moments later, Ethan slipped silently into the forest, cloaked in stealth. The scene before him was pure chaos.

Parasitic monsters swarmed the area, their writhing tentacles lashing out and snapping low-hanging trees like twigs. Splinters flew, dead leaves scattered in the air like ash from a fire.

On the other side of the clearing, a horde of savage zombies had arrived, clashing violently with the monsters. Both sides were feral, brutal, locked in a frenzy of blood and bone.

But none of them—not even the Zombie Kings—noticed Ethan.

He moved like a ghost, an outsider watching the carnage unfold, untouched and unseen.

The zombies here were no pushovers. Anyone who made it into Razorback Ridge was high-level, battle-hardened, and guided by a Zombie King.

“Move! Push through! We’ve gotta get to Vulturea—she’s one of Bloodveil’s top enforcers!”

Led by a Zombie King, the undead surged forward like a spearhead, tearing through the monster tide with sheer force.

Behind them, the forest floor was littered with mangled corpses—both monster and zombie alike.

Ethan didn’t spare them a glance. He veered off, heading deeper into the woods.

It didn’t take long before he spotted her.

Vulturea.

She was drenched in blood, her body trembling with exhaustion, but her eyes burned with madness. She hadn’t just survived the fall—she was still fighting.

The bone-mutated Zombie King was built like a tank. Her body had taken the impact and kept going. Now, she stood her ground as wave after wave of parasitic monsters charged her, tentacles flailing.

Her claws—each finger tipped with a twenty-inch talon, harder and sharper than steel—slashed through the oncoming beasts like a blender on overdrive.

Blood sprayed in arcs. Severed limbs and twitching tentacles piled up around her feet.

Vulturea was a beast in her own right, but the enemy numbers were overwhelming. She was getting hit more often now, her body staggering under the relentless assault.

Ethan stood nearby, watching in silence. Cold. Detached.

He made no move to help.

Because he wasn’t here to save anyone.

He was waiting for a bigger prize.

If none of the Zombie Kings got into real trouble… how would they ever lure out the Overmind Queen?

The trap needed bait. And Vulturea was bleeding out right on cue.

She was barely holding on now, her strength draining fast. But just as she looked ready to collapse, a figure burst through the monster ranks.

A Zombie King—blood-soaked, eyes blazing—charged toward her at full speed.

“Vulturea! I’m here! Hang on!”

She glanced up, relief flickering in her eyes. Reinforcements.

But then—

SHLURK!

A massive tentacle, thick as a tree trunk, shot out from the darkness deeper in the woods. It moved like a serpent, fast and silent, coiled with monstrous strength.

It impaled the charging Zombie King in an instant.

…