Chapter 66
The red light of apocalypse seeped through the rent in the sky. Nevaros stared up at the figure above in stunned disbelief.
"Th-this can't exist. It shouldn't exist...!"
What emerged from the clouds was utterly transcendent. Its mere presence crushed the breath from his lungs, flooding him with paralyzing helplessness. Instinctively, Nevaros knew—this was Sertina herself.
"Ah... what were all those centuries of necromantic research for, then...?"
Despair and emptiness filled his chest. The concepts of life and death were denied; every scrap of knowledge he'd amassed turned to worthless trash in an instant. This wasn't mere death. It was an absolute end transcending death itself. Oblivion.
"What... what did I even research all this for?"
The true meaning of life's end encompassed the soul entirely.
Tzztztzt— With a sound like flesh tearing, a colossal eye snapped open amid the parted heavens.
Flash!
Gwooooooo— The eye's gaze alone upon the earth brought an indescribable pressure, like a shrimp before a whale shark. Nevaros couldn't even fathom the gulf in their tiers.
In that moment, Taitaronz's massive bulk staggered as if plunged into water.
Splash—
"Grk, what the hell is this?"
Beijing as a whole began turning to blood. Grass and trees, glass, cars, concrete buildings—even the dirt beneath their feet. Everything dissolved into blood, defying gravity as it rose and vanished into the thick thunderheads above.
"Kraaaaaagh!"
Nevaros screamed, clutching his heart. It wasn't physical pain. It was terror assaulting his very soul, as if his cognition itself were fracturing. Pride, resistance, rage—all forgotten. He only wanted escape from this harbinger of life's end.
The horror persisted until Beijing, now wholly blood, had evaporated skyward. Until the last drop slipped between the clouds.
Rumble rumble rumble— The sky began to seal shut. The eye's form slowly closed as well.
"Hah... hah...!"
The pressure lifted, and Nevaros gasped ragged breaths, drenched in cold sweat. His mind reeled from the unimaginable terror.
"T-Taitaronz...! This isn't a fight. Retreat. Now!"
"Where do you think you're going? I have no intention of letting you leave."
My words rang out, and at once—
Whoosh— Gravity subtly weakened.
"What?"
Nevaros sensed it too, glancing up at the smoke-choked sky. Bewilderment flickered in his glowing blue eyes.
"You tried to kill my guildmates."
The sky tore open once more.
Craaaack—!
A blood pillar kilometers wide slammed into Taitaronz.
Kabooooom—!
It was vast enough to swallow hundreds of Taitaronz at once.
"Hraaaaaagh!"
The shockwave hurled clouds into a doughnut shape, revealing the pillar's true form: a single sword. A blade of blood stretching to the heavens. The tip plunged earthward, shattering against the tungsten mass like a bullet on impact, exploding into sprays of blood in all directions. The blood erupted at hypersonic speeds, obliterating distant buildings untouched by the crimson tide.
"T-Taitaronz! Hold on somehow! Grk!"
"Useless."
I snapped my fingers lightly.
Snap.
The descending blood sword accelerated, its flattening blade spraying blood even faster. Taitaronz buckled to its knees under the pressure, cracks spiderwebbing across its bulk. Once they started, it was over in seconds. Ultra-high-pressure blood seeped into the fissures, shredding its limbs into thousands of fragments.
"Kraaaaaaaaagh!"
Nevaros, his buffs shattered, howled in agony. He couldn't escape the deluge of blood pressure.
I watched impassively as the necromancer's form eroded from the blade's surface.
'He has to die to halt the undead advance.'
That was the only way to protect my guild. No mercy. Kill him fast.
"Give up."
My cold verdict fell with murder in my eyes. Nevaros crumbled to particles. Even in death, the blood sword mocked him, grinding onward and spraying blood omnidirectionally.
"Huh... but when does this thing end?"
I glanced skyward. The sword, too tall to gauge, seemed barely halfway down. At this rate, the blood waves wouldn't stop until the hilt kissed the earth.
Liquid blood, surpassing hypersonic speeds effortlessly, bent around me like refraction. I could control it, so no issue for me... but damn, I hadn't expected this much power.
Beijing was gone. The blood kept flying, pulverizing surrounding cities. Earthquakes rocked the continent. Its power dwarfed nukes.
"Hmm..."
Guess I need to hold back on this skill. No desire to lord over humanity as a god.
The players who fled to the southern military demarcation line ground their teeth, staring at the DMZ.
"Guess we have no choice but to fight."
Enormous footfalls crashed through dense foliage and reeds. Branches snapped mercilessly; tough weeds crumpled. Massive trees exploded with bursts, toppling through the forest.
"Kweeeeeek!"
Terror-stricken boars and deer bolted out. Thousands of startled birds flapped skyward in unison.
Tension gripped the hundreds of thousands of Korea-Japan allied players.
"H-here they come!"
"Everyone, brace yourselves!"
The tremors drew nearer... and then, over half a million undead burst from the underbrush.
"All units, fire!"
Mages and elemental masters summoned multicolored magic circles. Archers loosed arrows in volleys; gunners unleashed bullet storms. Swordsmen drew blades; tanks raised massive shields.
The colossal forces clashed—
Boom!
Krkrkrkrboom!
"Huh?"
"Where'd they go?"
Their attacks sliced empty air. The undead had all dissolved into black smoke.
Silence blanketed the earth in an instant. As players exchanged glances, grasping the situation—
"Waaaaaaaaah!"
Cheers erupted.
"Sertina did it!"
The phenomenon spread across Asia in a flash.
"M-monsters are all gone!"
"What happened? Check status!"
Urgent voices crackled over radios and comms.
"Looks like Nevaros bit it."
"N-no way?!"
"Whoa, breaking news everywhere! All undead vanished!"
"Gasp! Then..."
Confusion turned to joy on players' faces. Cheers engulfed Asia.
"Waaaaaaaaah!!"
"We won!!"
"Sniff, everyone, great job!"
Some prayed skyward with clasped hands. Others wept tears of joy, hugging strangers. Expressions varied, but the emotion was shared. From the hardest-hit Middle East and Southeast Asia, to Mongolia and Russia—people who had waited in dread collapsed in smiles as tension melted away.
"But what's with these ongoing earthquakes?"
Europeans and Africans watching anxiously sighed in relief, patting their chests. Yet unbridled joy was impossible. They'd paid dearly to halt the undead hordes. Countless dead; global population meaningfully reduced.
Waves of mourning rose, even as international bodies delved into world boss discussions. Past bosses followed a formula: elite players plus numbers equaled subjugation. This crisis shattered it.
"This incident stems from unique traits. Even among 'weak' world bosses, unforeseen skills threatened humanity's survival."
"We must catalog world bosses' features, predict damage, and prepare countermeasures now."
Each nation's leaders buzzed through video conferences, having tasted true apocalypse.
Their focus soon zeroed on one country: Korea. Thanks to President Choi Ah-rin's brilliant strategy, zero casualties. And home to history's strongest world boss.
"How should we rate Sertina's threat level?"
"By official standards, max S-rank or higher... but..."
"Considering her disposition, she might not be so dangerous. Past classifications ignored alignment."
Asia's heads of state found little disagreement. Sertina had fought on humanity's side time and again.
"Still, what happened to Beijing? Not burned or crumbled—nearby cities vanished too."
"Yeah. No battle traces left; impossible to speculate..."
"Hmm... what the hell went down there?"