Neptune was the hottest target of all abyssals.
The army was able to hold back the Undead in the beginning. After all, they're just a few thousand and weren't overwhelmingly strong.
But as time went by, more and more Undead began to rise from the corpses.
Of course, the number of Undead rising from the corpses was very less compared to the same during the last war. There were no death strands or death crystals to covert all the dead. So, the efficiency plummeted.
Still, the gradual conversion eroded away the defenses of the planetoid.
The first planetoid fell only after nine days.
The second after six days.
The third after four days.
The fourth took just three days.
Even the conversion couldn't have accelerated the falls to this extent.
In fact, for any planetoid to completely fall, the powerhouses must fall. On Neptune, most planetoids had level 9s. So, the reason these planetoids fell so fast was the quick death of level 9s.
And the trigger behind such quick deaths was the Undead Sovereign who's now crossed the threshold of peak level 9 and was hovering below the Sovereign state.
His strength seemed unstoppable, even more so than his army.
But on his fifth planetoid, a man stood up to him.
BOOM!
The clouds in the sky split apart and the ground cracked into two for a hundred miles, followed by a shockwave that swept the whole planetoid.
The Undead looked at the fist blocking his own with a half-serious and half-amused smile.
"I thought you went into hiding and committed suicide." His other arm blurred and shot toward the human's head.
"Why does a Zombie even speak?" Evander caught the fist that was dangerously close to his head and hissed.
"Zombie, heh. She used the same word. Your dead daughter." The Undead grinned and kicked up.
Evander shielded himself with his shoulder but was kicked back several miles. The mountains in the way were destroyed and a huge cloud of dust formed in the area he crashed into.
Before the Undead could even take his eyes off, Evander shot out from the dust and punched him in the gut.
The Undead staggered back while his feet dug into the ground. He didn't stop until he went back a whole mile.
"This power…isn't normal," The Undead clutched his abdomen and stared at the reddish hue around Evander. "You're burning your vitality, aren't you?"
"Don't speak about my daughter with your filthy mouth, you zombie." Evander kicked the ground and reached the Undead in a blink.
The reddish hue around him shone and he punched out with an even greater strength than before.
The Undead responded with a punch and to the utter surprise of Evander, the Undead was able to match him.
"I'm growing stronger with all this death," The Undead pointed to the endless corpses strewn on the battlefield.
Evander wanted to burn up all his life and end the damn bastard right there. But unfortunately, he was still a bit away from achieving the strength of a Sovereign by burning his vitality.
"Come let's fight! I'll let you realize the growing gap between us!" With a roar of laughter, the Undead attacked.
Evander managed to entangle with the Undead for the next fifteen days. But he couldn't stop the Undead army.
Kyle spent up all the treasures to defend the cluster cities and was in position to help either.
His help, however, clearly allowed movement of crucial medicine, treasures and reinforcements to Neptune, prolonging what seemed to be its inevitable collapse.
But the inevitable arrived.
Under the assault of the growing Undead forces that coordinated with the strengthened abyssal army, 70% of all Neptune planetoids fell.
By this time, other planets typically lost 30-40% of their planetoids and were already in a precarious situation.
But Neptune had it the worst.
The remaining army of 30% planetoids grouped together and withdrew to the moons of Neptune.
If they stayed, they'd be taken out one by one and Neptune would be slaughtered without any resistance when the time came.
So, they rushed to Neptune and decided to defend it together.
There's still no hope of winning. And in the current situation, there were no chances of mass migration to inner planets.
Because while Kyle managed to keep the cluster cities from collapsing, he couldn't keep the teleportation formations perfectly safe.
Right now, only a few teleportation formations were working and they had no capacity to let millions pass through. And any migration attempt by spaceships would fall prey to the abyssals who now controlled the space beyond the planetoids and planets!
As Neptune stared at its end, Sovereign Ares was drawn away by Thunder King while Evander was being held back by the Undead Leader.
"Hehehehe! Look! That planet is going to fall in front of your very eyes! Look!" Far away in the outer space, the Undead Leader pointed to the blue planet and laughed as he dodged Evander's attacks.
Evander continued to punch him as he burned his vitality.
But a glance at their bodies—Evander with multiple injuries all over and the Undead—perfectly fine except for a few bruises, was enough to showcase the difference in their current powers.
"Ares, the planet you protected with all your heart and soul. It's going to turn into purgatory. The billion lives will be sacrificed for the greater good. This was always supposed to happen."
Even farther away from Evander and Undead Leader was a spherical golden field. It's actually heavy lightning mana solidified into something tangible and looked like a golden field.
Inside it was Thunder King with several injuries chuckling at Ares with significantly more injuries.
Since the past few minutes, Thunder King even stopped attacking and just dodged.
But Ares wishes his enemy just attacked instead of talking.
"How do you feel now, Ares? All your life's work is going to be destroyed." Thunder King laughed and thunder roared with his laughter.
Ares' body blurred and he instantly appeared a few hundred miles toward Neptune.
It seemed that he could reach there in just a few more seconds. But before he could take a step further, a lightning hammer struck him in the chest and shot him back toward the Thunder King and away from his planet.
Ares raised his bleeding hand toward Neptune and materialized a lightning bolt aiming at the Undead. But just as it's released, a lightning shield blocked and neutralized it.
"Give up, you can't win." Thunder King's voice sounded behind him.
Ares stared at Neptune with bloodshot eyes, not caring if Thunder King would take the opportunity to sneak attack on him.
His clenched fist continued to bleed. "No….no…don't…"
"I can't hear you?" Thunder King gave a harmless smile.
"D-Don't….k-kill…" Ares growled like an injured beast.
"Are you begging? Requesting? Ordering?" The Lord of Thunder Abyss showed a puzzled expression.
Ares turned around and met his archenemy's eyes. His own eyes burning with hatred reflected off in Thunder King's eyes.
Looking at those chilling eyes, the abyssal ruler's heart shook.
But clicking his tongue, he smirked. "It's over, Sovereign Ares. Your planet is only the first. Humanity will fall soon. We made even more preparations, but it seems like it's not necessary."
Ares' heart grew cold as he watched the Undead and Abyssal army reach Neptune's moons.
The huge swarm of ash-colored dots were overwhelming compared to the much smaller human army.
Even with all the defense treasures, the human army wouldn't even last ten minutes.
And once they're breached, the abyssals would reach Neptune and…
Imagining the carnage that'd soon be unleashed, Ares closed his eyes.
Thunder King and the Undead Leader stared at the planet with a grin while Evander looked at with grief.
The seven billion citizens from all cities of Neptune looked up at the sky and saw their deaths.
No media coverage could cover this truth now.
Families hugged each other and cried. Entire streets were wailing. Only desolation seemed to remain in the once bustling cities.
"P-Please…" A mother cried.
"P-Please…" A father begged.
"P-Please…" A veteran whispered.
"Someone…" A little girl clasped her hands together and wished.
"Something…" An old scientist closed his eyes and hoped.
"Somehow…" A soldier facing the endless horde of Undead muttered.
"Save us."
BOOM!
The space in between the abyssal army and the human army ripped apart and a huge space door appeared.
A handsome young man walked out in calm steps.
Even though he didn't even utter a word yet, the abyssals started shaking. Even the Undead army took a step back following their instincts.
Thunder King's laughter long stopped as he stared at the familiar nightmare with shock.
Ares rubbed his eyes and opened his mouth in surprise.
Evander froze like a statue as he stared at one of the girl that silently appeared behind him.
The Undead Leader opened his mouth to speak but his chest felt heavy and his throat was clogged. An emotion he longed to forget sparked inside him again.
The crowd of Neptune too saw this man on the giant screens on the buildings.
That familiar face...the face of the legends.
In an instant, the depression of the whole planet seemed to vanish and a burning hope raged in the hearts of every man, woman and child.
The soldiers stared at the back of this warrior whose exploits could only be described as a miracle and raised the hopes in their hearts.
Varian stared at the silent, dumbfounded, scared and hopeful crowds and waved his hand. "Yo! What exactly did I miss?"
