King of the Living Dead! When Did He Arrive?

For a brief instant, heaven and earth fell silent. Then, an incomparably shrill howl filled the wilderness.

Gales mixed with thunder swept across the area in an instant, sending the snow blanketing the sky surging in every direction.

As Tempest’s strongest killing move, even several Army Lords of the Demon Army had only seen it a few times.

In their memories, the last time Tempest had used this technique seemed to have been against Peter V, the previous emperor of the Tsardom of Russia—Catherine’s late husband.

Thus, the Empress’s pupils suddenly constricted when she saw this attack.

Without a doubt, she understood better than anyone else present just how terrifying this attack was. After all, her husband had suffered irreparable hidden injuries from it, which had ultimately led to his downfall.

"Looks like the battle ahead won’t be easy."

Catherine thought grimly.

Tempest’s decisiveness had exceeded her expectations, but upon further thought, it was indeed the more reasonable choice.

As long as she quickly dealt with Lu Su, she would be free to support her comrades. Today’s ambush would likely truly fail then.

Conversely, if Lu Su managed to hold her back, the situation would become uncertain.

After all, even without matching Hall of Fame Grade Cards, Catherine was still a Hall of Fame Card Master. With her abundant Spiritual Power, she could exhaust those two Army Lords to death if she had to.

At this point, the Empress began considering whether she should retreat first. Although Great Ming and the Tsardom of Russia had already suffered heavy losses so far, sunk costs should not factor into major decisions.

Hesitation only invited disaster.

"Catherine, you don’t seriously think that brat can survive Tempest’s attack, do you?"

At that moment, the two Army Lords fighting Catherine’s cards in the distance wore gloating expressions.

Although the battle’s initial development had caught them somewhat off guard, it had fortunately returned to the proper track afterward.

Facing the two Demons’ mockery, Catherine’s expression was as cold as the eternally frozen earth beneath them. "What pointless nonsense—hm?"

Just as she was about to retort, she suddenly looked toward Lu Su’s position in astonishment.

And it was not just her. Every Master Grade being present reacted the same way. The only one who remained relatively calm was Fang Wenlong.

After all, Ji Weirui had long since told him about Lu Su’s trump cards.

Let us turn back time a little.

Lu Su had been moving through the remnants of the Flower Tree Realm toward the edge of the Binding Barrier. From the moment he faced Tempest, he had already made his plan: use Little Spider to wage a guerrilla battle.

After all, he had toyed Chris to death that way. There was no reason not to replicate his successful experience.

Just then, an immensely powerful sense of danger suddenly surged into Lu Su’s heart.

At that very moment, he almost felt as though he were facing the Great Red Dragon’s World-Ending Breath again.

His feet did not stop moving, but a trace of disbelief appeared on his face. "Wait, she’s already playing her trump card?"

"Or can she use this kind of attack repeatedly?"

Lu Su had not expected that his card merely using a minor skill would bait out the enemy’s ultimate move.

For the enhanced Hashirama Senju, repeatedly using Buddha Manifestation was not particularly difficult. His Chakra reserves were already enormous, not to mention that even if his Chakra ran out, he still had Lu Su as a power bank.

After all, Wood Release was not like Mugetsu, which harmed the enemy for a thousand while damaging itself for eight hundred.

But now was not the time to think about such things.

Because the storm had arrived.

The roar of raging winds instantly filled Lu Su’s ears.

The next moment, he was sent flying uncontrollably into the distance.

Bang—!

In merely a few breaths, the Holy Blade Armor covering Lu Su’s body shattered.

Feeling countless wind blades slice across his body as if they wanted to mince him into meat paste, he could not help gritting his teeth.

The intense pain was already comparable to when he had faced the Great Red Dragon’s World-Ending Breath.

No, it hurt even more than before.

At that moment, the flesh on Lu Su’s body was constantly stripped away, exposing gleaming white bones. Yet because the Damage Transfer shifted the injuries to Little Spider, his body immediately regained its human form.

He kept switching back and forth between those two states.

"Argh, Lu Su, Little Spider can’t hold on much longer!"

Spider-girl still had the strength to shriek, though she looked even more miserable than Lu Su.

But considering that injuries like these had seemed like everyday occurrences for her in the original story, there was nothing particularly surprising about it.

Still, the storm came quickly and went even faster.

If the Great Red Dragon’s World-Ending Breath was sustained damage, then Tempest’s Storm Sword was a finishing blow.

Thus, although Tempest’s move was several times stronger than World-Ending Breath in sheer power, it actually dealt less damage to Lu Su than the Great Red Dragon had.

"It’s finally over."

Lu Su’s body trembled as he took a breath, then he continued rushing toward the edge of the Binding Barrier without looking back.

Since he no longer needed to conceal himself, his speed increased by several degrees. Combined with the push from Storm Sword, Lu Su was now not far from the edge of the Binding Barrier.

As for why he was no longer concealing his tracks—

Lu Su glanced at the barren surroundings and could not help feeling helpless.

He felt as if he were playing a battle royale game, only for the final circle to turn out to be a vast open plain.

After Tempest’s Storm Sword swept across the land, not to mention Demon cards, even Thousand Peaks City had vanished without a trace.

Even several Master Grade beings battling far away had been affected.

Yet Tempest, who had caused all this, was not pleased at all.

At that moment, the Demon Army’s Army Lord looked somewhat pale, but her posture remained upright. Clearly, releasing that Storm Sword had not exhausted her strength.

Tempest raised her left hand clad in a gauntlet and slowly wiped away the streak of blood that had appeared on her cheek.

"…So he can actually reach this point?"

Of course, she knew that Lu Su had once endured one of Jin Ping’s attacks head-on. But at the time, she had merely assumed that the youth possessed exceptional defenses and had not considered any other possibility.

After all, she knew a little about Jin Ping as well. His strange and unpredictable methods were indeed commendable, but his direct offensive power was somewhat lacking.

But judging from what she had just witnessed, the reason that Diamond Grade Card Master could withstand a Master Grade being was likely not because of his defenses.

The main reason was still insufficient intelligence. If Tempest had known everything that had happened in Shanghai City’s secret realm, she would not have chosen that kind of attack just now.

She would have used continuous attacks to wear down Lu Su’s life force.

Fortunately, it was not too late.

"In that case, I’ll kill you a hundred times. A thousand times."

"You’re only a Diamond Grade Card Master. Your Spiritual Power will run out eventually."

With that thought, Tempest immediately wanted to pursue Lu Su, but the surviving cards on the battlefield blocked her path.

At this point, Lu Su only had three surviving cards left: Kurosaki Ichigo, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, and Hashirama Senju.

As for his other cards, they had all been wiped out.

Luffy had simply been poorly matched against Tempest. If he had faced a Master Grade opponent whose ultimate move relied on blunt-force attacks, he might have had a chance to survive.

Unfortunately, Tempest’s Storm Sword dealt nothing but cutting damage.

But if Luffy had been replaced with Buggy, he could have emerged completely unscathed.

Case solved. Baggy the Clown was a Master Grade Card.

As for why three cards had survived, one reason was that, under the effects of their Traits, their strength had barely reached the threshold of Master Grade.

The other reason was that Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto’s Heavenly Ash Extermination, unleashed before Storm Sword formed, had weakened it somewhat. Combined with Hashirama Senju’s Summoning: Fivefold Rashomon, that was how they had survived.

The wound on Tempest’s cheek had also been caused by Heavenly Ash Extermination.

The White Armor Warlord frowned slightly as she looked at the True Several Thousand Hands that had appeared once more. "How troublesome."

Then she sighed softly, lightly tapped the ground with her toes, and slid sideways to evade the giant palm rushing toward her. At the same time, she swung her right hand, sending a wind blade comparable to the giant Buddha itself slashing toward Hashirama Senju atop its head.

But midway through, the wind blade was blocked by the suddenly appearing Kurosaki Ichigo.

Screech—!

The wind blade, split in two, sliced through several falling Giant Palms before flying into the sky.

Kurosaki Ichigo calmly dodged the attacks that occasionally shot up from the ground, silently calculating how much longer he could hold out.

Mugetsu was powerful, but it could not be maintained for long.

I have to find an opportunity to catch her opening.

The blond youth continuously swung the black long blade in his hand to block attacks coming from the ground, occasionally firing Getsuga Tensho in counterattack.

Screech—!

After a burst of piercing friction, Kurosaki Ichigo furrowed his brow and used Flash Step to evade a sharp wind blade that had nearly cut open his throat.

Because the gale had no physical form, he had no opportunity to engage Tempest in a tug-of-war.

By then, Lu Su had reached the edge of the Binding Barrier. If he wanted to flee, he could have Little Spider take him away at any time.

But he had not forgotten that today’s objective was to kill an Army Lord of the Demon Army, so he merely stood where he was and observed the battlefield from afar.

"Ichigo won’t last much longer…" Lu Su thought, his gaze flickering as he sensed Kurosaki Ichigo’s condition. "And she isn’t showing even the slightest opening?"

"Tch."

If they kept dragging this out and still could not find an opportunity, he could only forcibly unleash Mugetsu.

Lu Su had not expected Tempest to be so much more cautious than Chris.

More importantly, if this continued, the surrounding Demon Army would likely come to support her.

Just as he was thinking that, a foul-smelling viscous liquid suddenly shot toward him from afar at incredible speed.

Fortunately, Little Spider reacted quickly. She grabbed Lu Su’s arm and used Space Magic to shift them elsewhere.

In the blink of an eye, the place where Lu Su had been standing corroded into a reeking swamp.

Lu Su’s expression darkened. "Just as expected, reinforcements."

As he watched a group of grotesque figures slowly emerge in the distance, he took a step back and shielded Spider-girl behind him.

"And they’re all Diamond Grade Demons."

Normally, Lu Su would not have feared them. But at present, he only had four main cards remaining, and aside from Little Spider, the other three were all fighting Tempest for their lives.

At that moment, a Diamond Grade Demon in the distance extended a scarlet tongue and licked his face. He said mockingly, "Good thing you took the initiative to come out. Otherwise, we really wouldn’t have dared approach where Lady Tempest is."

After speaking, he glanced at the Army Lord in question with lingering fear.

The Demon was now grateful that he had not been assigned to ambush Thousand Peaks City. Otherwise, he would probably have ended up no differently from those comrades in the city.

Lu Su was not surprised that the Demon Army had reinforcements. After all, the allied army was fighting in the enemy’s territory.

"Little Spider, can you hold them off?" He observed the Demons before him and quietly asked Spider-girl beside him. "If not, we’ll retreat first."

"Leave it to this great spider." Little Spider casually twirled the giant scythe in her hand, and the compound eyes on her spider head began gleaming scarlet. "Besides, if Little Spider can’t beat them, I won’t force myself to hold on."

Lu Su nodded slightly, agreeing with her.

Indeed, given Little Spider’s personality, unless he gave her a death order, she would definitely run if she could not win. There was no need to fight to the death.

With his mind somewhat at ease, he began examining the appraisal information Little Spider had sent him.

"Corrupt Great Demon, King of the Living Dead, Mirror Count…"

"Wait."

As Lu Su browsed the information on those Diamond Grade Demons, his gaze suddenly sharpened.

Name: Sean

Title: Never Die

Grade: Diamond

Potential Drop Material: King of the Living Dead

"After searching everywhere, it’s come right to me…"

Thinking of the Warlord and Divine Eye materials stored in the Shadow Kingdom, Lu Su could not help curling his lips into a smile.

"Obtained without the slightest effort."

Seeing suitable material deliver itself to his doorstep, he decided to do something bold.

Like those protagonists in the novels he had read before transmigrating, who made breakthroughs in the midst of battle, Lu Su was preparing to make a card on the battlefield. Though King of the Living Dead was only barely usable.

Fortunately, he had prepared the materials for his next card early on. Otherwise, he truly could not have done this now.

Of course, he also had to thank the Demon Army for placing these Diamond Grade Demons at the edge of the Binding Barrier.

"Little Spider, ignore everyone else. Kill him first!"

Of course, Spider-girl knew who "him" referred to. "Understood!"

At that moment, the King of the Living Dead named Sean suddenly felt an inexplicable chill rise in his heart.

But he quickly understood why.

Sean’s vision blurred, and he saw that the spider card beside that Diamond Grade Card Master had already appeared in front of him.

At the same time, the Diamond Grade Demons present felt their legs go weak.

Dominator: Sloth: Greatly increases the consumption of hostile creatures around the holder, including but not limited to life force, magic power, spiritual power, and so on.

"I can’t deal with that crazy woman, but you trash think you’re beyond me?!"

Little Spider shouted excitedly. The frustration she had bottled up for so long was finally being vented. Ever since Lu Su advanced to Diamond Grade, she had been acting as his bodyguard. And because they had always faced Master Grade monsters, Spider-girl had not fought a favorable battle since becoming Lady Spider.

Bang—!

With a crisp cracking sound, a scarlet eyeball on Spider-girl’s head abruptly burst, blood streaming down in torrents.

Of course, she was not a masochist who enjoyed self-harm.

Death Evil Eye activated!

The next moment, Sean’s head exploded like a watermelon.