Chapter 2617: Story 2618: The Brother of the Dead

The ground beneath the Last March split apart.

Soldiers screamed as the earth opened beneath their feet. Tents collapsed into the darkness, weapons scattered across the ground, and horses bolted into the forest.

Kael grabbed Lena and pulled her away from the widening crack.

“Mara! Ethan! Adrian!”

“I’m here!” Mara shouted.

Ethan dragged Adrian away from the collapsing ground.

Isabella stood at the edge of the fissure, staring downward.

“This isn’t natural.”

A deep rumble answered her.

Then pale hands began climbing from the darkness.

“Zombies!” Ethan shouted.

The soldiers opened fire.

Gunshots thundered across the valley.

Kael raised his shield as several infected climbed over the broken earth.

But something strange happened.

The creatures stopped.

They looked toward Elias.

Elias raised his hand.

Every zombie froze.

The battlefield became completely silent.

Kael stared at his brother.

“How are you controlling them?”

Elias smiled.

“The same way you can.”

Kael shook his head.

“I don’t control the dead.”

“You will.”

Elias stepped down from the ridge.

His movements were calm, almost human.

But beneath his skin, black veins pulsed with red light.

Lena stared at him.

“You changed.”

Elias looked at her.

“So did you.”

He approached slowly.

“Do you remember the laboratory?”

Lena’s eyes filled with tears.

“I remember you screaming.”

Elias stopped.

“I remember you crying.”

Kael stepped between them.

“Stay away from her.”

Elias laughed softly.

“You always protected Lena.”

Kael tightened his grip on his sword.

“I’ll do it again.”

Elias’s smile disappeared.

“You still don’t understand.”

He pointed toward the ground.

“The First Origin isn’t beneath us anymore.”

Adrian’s face turned pale.

“Then where is it?”

Elias looked at Kael.

“Inside us.”

A sudden pulse of red energy erupted from the fissure.

Everyone staggered.

Lena collapsed.

Kael caught her.

Her eyes turned black.

Then a voice came from her mouth.

“THE BLOODLINE HAS REUNITED.”

Elias lowered his head.

“The First Origin has awakened.”

Kael stared at Lena.

“No.”

Adrian rushed toward her.

“Her heartbeat is changing.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know.”

Elias looked toward the mountains.

“But I do.”

He raised his hand.

The undead army began marching.

Not toward Kael.

Not toward the Last March.

Toward the eastern mountains.

Elias followed them.

Kael shouted after him.

“Where are you going?”

Elias stopped.

Without turning around, he answered,

“To the First Kingdom.”

Kael stepped forward.

“Why?”

Elias slowly looked over his shoulder.

“Because the Sleeping King was only the beginning.”

A distant roar rolled across the mountains.

The soldiers fell silent.

Even Elias looked uneasy.

Then another roar followed.

Closer.

Much closer.

The ground shook beneath their feet.

Isabella raised her spear.

“Everyone prepare!”

Kael lifted his shield.

Elias stared into the darkness.

For the first time, fear appeared in his eyes.

“It found us.”

Kael looked at him.

“What found us?”

Elias pointed toward the sky.

Above the mountains, black clouds were forming in a perfect circle.

Red lightning flashed inside them.

Then a gigantic shadow moved behind the clouds.

Adrian whispered,

“That isn’t a storm.”

Kael raised his sword.

The shadow descended.

Elias looked at his brother.

“If you want Lena to survive...”

Kael stared at him.

“Then what?”

Elias’s voice became cold.

“You must come with me.”

The enormous shadow roared above them.

And every corpse in the valley suddenly stood.

The dead had chosen their battlefield.