Chapter 73: The Tide of the Undead

As dark clouds gathered, the atmosphere on the battlefield grew increasingly grim.

From the swirling clouds came a distant rumble of thunder, and light, steady rain fell like the drumming before a great battle.

Facing the endless expanse of the battlefield, the three couldn’t help but feel utterly insignificant.

Chen Yong couldn’t help but tighten his grip on his Giant Axe, every muscle in his body tensing. Beside him, Chen Yao pressed her lips together while frantically checking her Arrow Quiver, as if that alone could ease the weight in her heart.

“They’re coming…”

As the first lightning bolt sliced across the darkened sky, Yenir quietly warned, his eyes fixed on the distant horizon.

In an instant, along a heap of countless corpses on the horizon, a surge of black tide roiled forward like ink bleeding into rice paper, rampaging toward the defensive line.

A true tide of corpses.

This wasn’t just hundreds or thousands of mindless zombies that could be easily counted.

Their numbers were incalculable; the black tide stretching across the horizon spread like an endless ocean, instantly dominating the view.

The very earth seemed to tremble.

Beneath the dim sky, rows of blood-red eyes, like starving souls from hell, crowded together with not a gap in sight, forming a living wall of corpses.

The tide advanced faster than they had imagined, and as wave after wave of zombies surged forward, massive mutated creatures began to appear.

“One… two… six heads!!”

“Too… too many…”

His fingertips turned white from gripping too hard.

Even before the battle began, Chen Yong, standing atop the City Wall, couldn’t help but glance nervously at Yenir, his normally calm face betraying a hint of panic.

Three two-stage mid-level, two high-level, and one Second-Stage Peak Fighter.

Yet the very first wave of mutated beasts had already pressed him hard. If the two continued to wait as they had before, they would soon be overwhelmed and devoured entirely by the monstrous horde.

“Brother Ye, are we really going to stall?”

“I don’t think we can hold them off!”

Instantly, doubts began to gnaw at them.

A single high-level foe could drain them completely, not to mention the other monsters!

For a moment, Chen Yong regretted agreeing to Yenir’s plan.

He had imagined how terrifying a true corpse tide could be. Yet facing it in reality was entirely different; even though he had been hardened in the military since childhood and had participated in countless zombie-clearing operations, those encounters paled in comparison to what he faced now.

Endless, endless!

Especially knowing this was just the beginning—more monstrous waves would only follow!

A deep sense of helplessness overwhelmed him. Even standing atop the restored City Wall, he felt the three of them were like a tiny boat on a vast, raging ocean, on the verge of capsizing at any moment.

“Give it a little more time—I can handle it.”

Without further explanation, Yenir replied calmly. While Chen Yong and Chen Yao struggled under the palpable pressure, he remained composed.

It wasn’t because he possessed the SSS-Level Sword Technique, but because he had witnessed this scenario far too many times before.

“Brother! Don’t pay any mind to him!”

Hearing Yenir’s words, a visibly anxious Chen Yao cried out, her beautiful face etched with panic.

“Once the monsters reach the City Wall, we’ll wake the soldiers!”

“If they charge in, he won’t be able to hold them off!”

Her words rang true.

Awakened warriors stood no chance against mutants of the same level. In Chen Yao’s eyes, Yenir’s feat of holding back a high-level mutant was extraordinary. But once the rest of the mutants surged forward, their lives would be in immediate danger.

They had only heard that awakening soldiers would bring safety—yet even a few seconds’ delay could spell the end for them.

“Roar!!!”

A fleeting flash of lightning illuminated the giant mutant at the forefront.

Thunder boomed.

Under the sudden burst of light, the foremost second-stage high-level mutant let out an enraged roar. Its pallid, deathly skin writhed as four massive arms spread out like a cross, launching its charge.

“Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!”

The beast sprinted forward.

With each thunderous step, its massive legs crushed entire groups of zombies into mush. As the four-armed leader charged, a five-headed mutant followed suit, barreling forward like an unstoppable boulder.

On the City Wall, Yenir gripped his twin swords tightly, allowing the fine rain to wash over him.

His mind raced as his eyes tracked the mutants’ charging path.

Closing in on the City Wall…

Once they clustered near the wall, he planned to finish them off in a single, decisive strike!

While others saw the mutants as deadly threats, to him they were simply a matter of experience.

But slaying six-headed foes was not enough.

He licked his lips.

Yenir quickly assessed just how long he could hold them off.

Locked at the second-stage level, every kill provided no added bonus. He secretly hoped to stall long enough for the next Second-Stage Peak Fighter—or even a third-stage mutant—to appear.

Under the brilliance of Sky Rift Radiance, every opponent was merely an afterthought. His only concern was finding the right angle.

“Swoosh!!”

An arrow whistled through the air.

Unable to withstand the pressure any longer, Chen Yao anxiously drew an arrow from her bow, launching a shower of arrows like a burst of water toward the corpse tide. Under immense strain, she even began to employ her skills.

Surrounded by a green glow that encircled her hands, her barrage instantly spread out, with each arrow splitting into six or seven smaller bolts after being released.

Drawing and releasing her bow at high speed, she transformed into a mobile cannon—each volley capable of bringing down dozens of zombies.

Yet, unlike before when clearing an area came easily, against the overwhelming horde her attacks seemed futile.

Before she could clear one group, fresh undead rushed in to fill the gap.

Her face turned pale.

Chen Yao felt that even without mutants closing in, these zombies alone could overwhelm them.

“Brother Ye!”

Tense and trembling, Chen Yong watched as a mutant charged forward, his palms slick with sweat.

It was hopeless—facing so many mutants in close combat was simply a death sentence!

He kept glancing at Yenir, only to be stunned that, at this critical moment, Yenir hadn’t even summoned a dagger. Instead, he stood silently as if waiting for something.

“Thud, thud, thud! Thud!”

The pounding footsteps, echoing like war drums, grew ever closer. As the mutants neared, Chen Yong couldn’t help but urge once more:

“Brother Ye, we really can’t stall any longer!”

“There are too many this time!”

No sooner had he spoken than a one-eyed mutant in the distance suddenly formed a massive boulder, and an arm as thick as a pillar hurled the stone toward the City Wall.

“Boom!!”

Like a cannonball, the boulder smashed into the City Wall, shattering half a meter of it as fragments flew out like bullets.

After hastily dodging the boulder, Chen Yong’s face turned ashen. Just as he decided he could delay no longer, the previously motionless Yenir suddenly dashed toward the right side of the wall.

“We stall here!”

He bellowed.

Seeing Yenir unwilling to give up, Chen Yong anxiously followed behind, steeling himself.

But as he watched the mutants nearing the City Wall, his limbs began to tremble.

No, stalling any longer was pointless! With so many mutants charging together, they were essentially courting death!

Once the wall was breached, the surging zombies would immediately encircle them. And if anything went awry…

In just a few seconds, the siblings felt as if they were dancing on the edge of a knife.

Not long after Yenir charged forth, the young girl could no longer hold back and cried out:

“Brother, we can’t stall any longer!!”

“If we follow his plan, we’re finished!”

“Boom!!”

After diving to avoid the heavy hammer of a mutant, Chen Yong no longer had time to hesitate.

It was too dangerous—far too dangerous! What use was it to flee to the other side?

Just as he prepared to call the soldiers, Yenir, who had been sprinting to the right, suddenly turned around and, as if adjusting his angle, leaped into the air before their eyes.

From above, it looked as though Yenir had aligned perfectly in line with the six-headed mutant.

What was he planning to do?!

For a moment, the siblings stared in disbelief as Yenir abruptly halted, leaving them utterly confused about his intentions.

The next second, an overwhelming silver light answered their questions.

Sky Rift Radiance!

The dark clouds were pierced as though by a bolt, and time itself seemed to freeze.

A cascade of silver sword energy fell from the heavens, seemingly cleaving through the world as a terrifying aura descended in an instant.

A sword slash erupted.

Like the peak of an invisible blade’s power, it cleaved through a line of mutants, eventually dissipating slowly a hundred meters away.

The six-headed mutant that had been charging at high speed inexplicably came to a standstill. Moments later, under immense momentum, a stark line of blood appeared.

Completely stiff, Chen Yong gazed in shock as Yenir landed back on the ground.

In that split second, he felt as if his very soul had been frozen.

Even though that sword had not been aimed at him, its lingering aura made him feel as though he’d just brushed past the gates of hell.

Equally stunned, the bow-wielding Chen Yao stood there with a dazed expression, her mouth hanging open.

Cherished dearly by Chen Kailai, she immediately realized that the sword slash she had just witnessed could only have been executed by a Third-Stage fighter.

“Tap-tap”

The six-headed mutant clinging to the City Wall split down the middle like a stack of blocks, slowly tumbling into the corpse tide.

The crash of falling debris snapped the two out of their shock.

Coming back to his senses, Chen Yong gulped and looked at Yenir, his voice trembling in astonishment:

“You… you’re a Third-Stage mid-level fighter?!”

His face flushed with humiliation.

For pity’s sake, just minutes ago he had confidently tried to recruit Yenir to join his side.

But the slap of reality had come so quickly that it left him dumbfounded.

A top-tier fighter of at least Third-Stage mid-level—and someone on par with his grandfather—yet he had foolishly allowed himself to be followed.

Ouch, his face truly ached…

In that moment, he finally understood why Yenir had decisively rejected him.

It turned out he was just a big idiot…