THE ZOMBIE SYSTEM-Chapter 76 - 75: Lightning Against Infinity

"You’re still standing."

The commander remarked with something akin to curiosity as Ethella floated before him, blood streaming from wounds. Lightning crackled in the Chairman’s gaze despite.

"Then let us finish this dance."

The battle resumed with the same intensity as before. Ethella unleashed his most devastating storm techniques - maelstroms that could level mountains, lightning webs that covered the entire sky, and tempests that compressed hurricane force into spaces the size of city blocks.

Each technique represented decades of mastery applied with desperate precision.

Thunder boomed across Arcadia as Ethella drew power from storm systems spanning multiple weather fronts. Lightning struck from clouds that existed hundreds of miles away, each bolt guided by will that refused to accept defeat.

The commander retaliated with dimensional constructs that existed partially outside normal space-time. Reality warping absorbed each attack by redirecting force into pocket dimensions where lightning became harmless light.

Time dilated and collapsed as they exchanged blows beyond mortal perception. Seconds stretched into minutes while minutes compressed into heartbeats. The battle existed simultaneously in past, present, and future.

Ethella’s storm magic evolved beyond weather manipulation into fundamental force control. He commanded air pressure with precision that approached divine authority.

But the commander’s dimensional abilities operated by rules that ignored conservation of energy. Each attack was met with response that drew power from infinite sources across multiple realities.

"Your magic impresses," the commander admitted while deflecting lightning that could melt steel. "But finite power cannot overcome infinite possibility."

Ethella manifested the "Eye of Storm," an S-rank technique that channeled storm patterns into singularity of concentrated power. The ability required him to compress an entire weather system into space smaller than his fist.

Lightning strikes fell from as far as the horizon, converging on the commander’s position with mathematical precision. Each bolt carried enough energy to fall hundreds of trolls while moving at speeds that approached light itself.

The commander countered by collapsing pocket of time around himself, suspending the impact just long enough to phase-shift between dimensional layers. The lightning passed through areas where its form maintained only partial existence.

The entity retaliated with dark void blade that ripped gash in the sky itself. The weapon existed in negative space, cutting through reality by removing matter rather than destroying it. The attack barely missed Ethella as he twisted away from erasure.

The blade’s passage left wound in existence that bled otherworldly light. Alien colors poured through the gap while creatures from other dimensions pressed against weakened barriers.

The battle caused tremors felt across Armathor as weather systems spiraled into madness. Storm patterns collapsed and reformed in configurations that violated meteorological possibility.

Hail fell from clouds that burned with inner fire. Thunder blasted windows miles away while lightning moved in spirals that hurt to perceive. The earth itself recoiled from forces that belonged to other realities.

Buildings swayed despite lacking wind to move them. Gravity fluctuated in waves that made citizens stumble while walking on level ground. The very fabric of local space-time was coming apart under pressure from conflicting physical laws.

Ethella began to falter, not from lack of skill, but from depletion of manna that threatened his life. Blood leaked from his eyes where dimensional pressure had ruptured capillaries. His fingers trembled even as they formed ancient storm sigils.

The Chairman’s legendary endurance was reaching limits that no mortal should face. Storm magic drew power from planetary forces, but accessing that energy required strength he no longer possessed.

"Your reserves fail," the commander observed while gathering dimensional energy for final assault. "Surrender and accept inevitable conclusion."

"Never," Ethella replied through lips that tasted of copper and lightning.

The entity prepared its most devastating attack - dimensional cascade that would collapse local reality into singularity before expanding outward in wave of pure destruction. The technique would erase Armathor completely while opening permanent gateway between realms.

Just as the commander began channeling cosmic force that could crack the whole of Arcadia, Leon rose from the crater where dimensional pulse had left him broken. Burned and bleeding, he climbed through rubble that had been three buildings.

His system interface flickered with warnings about critical damage and failing life support. But consciousness remained clear despite trauma that should have killed him instantly.

"You’re not alone," Leon said with voice that was hoarse but steady.

He summoned Tobias and the Warrior Zombie to his side. Both undead materialized despite their anchor point’s weakened condition. Loyalty transcended physical limitations when everything depended on final desperate gambit.

Leon ordered his zombie Tobias to prepare the most devastating attack the former ARES leader could manage. Memories of S-rank combat techniques flowed through consciousness as Tobias gathered fire magic beyond normal necromantic limits.

The attack unleashed as single vortex of flame that blazed with heat approaching stellar temperatures. Fire moved in patterns that existed partially outside normal space-time, making the assault impossible to deflect through dimensional phasing.

The vortex struck the commander from behind while the entity focused on Ethella’s position. For the first time since manifestation, the dimensional being stumbled. Its first real misstep created opening that could be exploited.

"Impossible," the commander hissed as flames that shouldn’t exist burned through dimensional armor. "Undead cannot channel living fire."

"Mine can," Leon replied while directing his Warrior Zombie into flanking position. "Because they choose to serve rather than being forced."

——

Meanwhile, Damian rallied the surviving hunters in the chamber below. Iron-fang veterans and ARES remnants formed unified force under his leadership. Guild politics forgotten in face of extinction.

"All units, advance to chamber perimeter," Damian commanded while raising his sword one-handed. "Engage demon forces from flanking positions."

They crashed into the chamber’s edge with blades drawn, harrying lesser demons that had been attacking from the sides. The coordinated assault disrupted abyssal reinforcements that might have overwhelmed the few remaining defenders.

Sergeant Morrison’s shield caught demon claws that could shred steel. His defensive magic held firm despite exhaustion that made his arms shake. "Sir, we can’t maintain this pace much longer."

"We don’t need much longer," Damian replied while cutting down creature that existed partially in shadow. "Just long enough."

Elise maintained healing magic that kept wounded hunters functional despite injuries that should have forced retreat. Her evolved abilities bridged life and death in ways that allowed impossible recovery speeds.

The coordinated resistance from multiple directions forced the commander to divide attention between aerial combat and ground-based threats. The entity’s overwhelming power remained, but tactical advantage shifted toward defenders.

Ethella felt renewed strength as pressure lessened slightly. The commander’s first misstep created psychological crack in armor of invincibility. If cosmic force could be disrupted once, it could happen again.

Storm magic gathered around the Chairman’s form with intensity that made the air itself glow. Lightning danced between his fingers while wind currents compressed into visible weapons.

With blood on his lips and lightning fading from his hands due to exhaustion, Ethella narrowed his eyes at the distracted commander. The entity was powerful beyond mortal comprehension, but it wasn’t infallible.

"Let’s end this."

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