THE ZOMBIE SYSTEM-Chapter 79 - 78: The Void Blade

"Observe true power."

The commander raised one hand, summoning a colossal void blade forged from pure darkness. The weapon materialized from nothingness, its edges writhing with trapped souls that screamed soundlessly as they tried to escape.

The blade pulsed with ancient suffering as reality recoiled from its presence. Dimensional energy bled from its surface while space-time bent around metal that existed in negative space. This wasn’t just a weapon - it was concentrated entropy given form.

Leon felt his system interface screaming warnings about power levels beyond classification. The void blade registered as threat that could unmake existence itself. Its presence made his undead servants flicker like dying flames.

"Impossible," Ethella breathed while storm magic recoiled from the weapon’s aura. "That’s not dimensional energy. That’s something older."

With single swipe of the void blade, the commander sent wave of black light toward the trio. The attack moved faster than thought, cutting through air that screamed in protest at forces that belonged to other realities.

Ethella’s storm barrier cracked like glass under pressure that rewrote local physics. Lightning dissipated while wind currents collapsed into random turbulence. His legendary defenses meant nothing against a majestic dark blade .

Leon’s undead scattered as the wave approached, their forms destabilizing under exposure to force that negated existence itself. The Warrior Zombie’s spectral armor dissolved while Tobias fought to maintain coherence.

Damian narrowly deflected the brunt with his silver sword, enhancement magic blazing as he channeled everything into desperate defense. The impact drove him to his knees while his blade cracked under stress that exceeded its design limits.

"Can’t absorb this," Damian gasped as void energy ate through his weapon’s enchantments. "It’s not destroying - it’s erasing."

The commander followed up with dimensional slash that cut through space itself. The attack cleaved reality in half, creating wound in existence that bled otherworldly light.

The slash caught Leon mid-dodge, sending him spiraling downward through air that suddenly felt like liquid concrete. His system interface flickered as dimensional energy disrupted his connection to necromantic abilities.

Damian lunged to protect his falling friend, but the commander appeared behind him mid-motion through dimensional phase-shift. The entity struck him with the flat of the void blade, launching him hundreds of meters through the air.

The impact sent shockwaves through Damian’s enhancement magic while dimensional energy short-circuited his neural pathways. His body tumbled through space like broken doll, trailing blood and sparks of failing magic.

He slammed into pile of rubble below and didn’t rise. His silver sword clattered beside him, its blade cracked from absorbing forces that shouldn’t exist in their reality.

"Damian!" Leon’s voice cracked as he watched his childhood friend disappear into the debris.

Leon’s Warrior Zombie shielded him from another attack, Commander Northwind’s spectral form interposing itself between master and cosmic threat. Loyalty transcended death when everything depended on final sacrifice.

Leon felt the connection sever as his most loyal servant returned to whatever peace awaited beyond existence. Her sacrifice bought him seconds he desperately needed.

Ethella attempted to summon another lightning barrage, drawing power from storm systems across multiple continents. His legendary abilities reached for forces that had shaped weather patterns for millennia.

But the commander stepped through ripple in space and appeared beside the Storm Caller before the attack could form. Dimensional phase-shift made distance meaningless against cosmic entity.

The commander countered with pulse of void energy that struck Ethella center mass. The attack didn’t burn or crush - it simply negated the area where his chest had been.

The Storm Caller staggered backward, his form flickering between existence and nothingness. Blood poured from wounds that couldn’t decide whether they were real or imaginary.

"Ethella!" Leon scrambled toward his fallen ally while his remaining undead provided covering fire.

The two hunters regrouped on floating platform Ethella had created from compressed wind currents. But only barely - bloodied, winded, and gasping for breath that tasted of copper and ozone.

Leon’s system interface showed critical warnings:

[Mana: 12/930]

[Undead Cohesion: Failing]

[Dimensional Exposure: Toxic Levels]

[Warning: System Failure Imminent]

Ethella’s storm magic guttered like candle in hurricane. His legendary endurance was shattered by void energy that ate through his defenses like acid through paper.

"Status?" Leon asked while helping Ethella maintain balance on their precarious platform.

"Dying," Ethella replied with bitter honesty. "That blade cut through more than flesh. It severed my connection to planetary forces."

Below them, Damian’s unconscious form lay buried in rubble. No movement indicated whether their friend still breathed or had joined the casualties of cosmic warfare.

The commander hovered above them, fully stabilized in its monstrous form. The entity’s true nature manifested without restraint - tentacles of living shadow, eyes that burned with starlight, presence that made reality weep.

"This is the power of an SS-rank Demon Commander," it declared, voice echoing with aeons of conquest. "I have devoured dimensions older than your reality. You have no chance against infinite darkness."

The void blade pulsed with trapped souls of countless civilizations. Each victim added their screams to weapon that grew stronger with every reality it consumed.

"Accept your fate," the commander continued while gathering energy for final assault. "Your dimension will serve as gateway to infinite consumption."

Leon and Ethella stood side by side, their bodies trembling from wounds that went deeper than flesh. Blood stained the air around them while their combined power flickered like dying ember.

Despite everything - the overwhelming force, the impossible odds, the friends who’d fallen - they raised their weapons again. Leon’s Shadow-edge blazed with what little necromantic energy remained. Ethella’s storm magic crackled weakly around fingers that could barely form lightning.

"We don’t break," Leon said hoarsely.

His voice carried determination that transcended rational thought. They were outmatched by cosmic force beyond mortal comprehension. Their abilities were depleted while their allies lay fallen.

But surrender meant the end of everything they’d sworn to protect. Every civilian in Armathor. Every hunter who’d died defending their reality. Every hope for future that didn’t involve dimensional slavery.

The storm crackled faintly behind them - but the sky remained dark.