"~~" Ming re-inspected the middle-aged beauty.

Pangu spoke up again skeptically. "You're sure you come in alone?"

"Yes~" Ming stood tall and proper.

Pangu pointed behind him. "With tens of thousands of zombies?"

"~~" Ming turned to see Napoleon's forces present - zombies, beast zombies, flying leeches, stone ogres, cyclops zombies... tens of thousands in all.

Finally here!

They were still outnumbered but no longer so heavily surrounded. After drifting at sea and marching inland, injecting the blood of slain gods, the zombie legions had evolved repeatedly. Even the weakest now 5-star Kings.

Emperors formed the core forces with no less than a few Epic legends. Raoul, Frank, and Kyomoto Jiro were now 1-star Legends. The Pig Demon had become a 3-star Legend.

Poseidon...let's not go there. On dry land without water, his strength was heavily discounted. Proof he was a true water-attuned being.

Pangu sneered coldly. "I know you only delayed until now, but no matter. I favor decisively eliminating future threats~" he pointed his sword forward. "Annihilate them all, advance!"

The tens of thousands advanced at his command, the earth-shaking, sand churning.

Ming tossed Hades to Raoul and shouted out, "You'll abandon him to die?"

Pangu leaned on his chariot, sneering down his nose. "Mortal, how dare you make demands of gods?"

His smile faded as he regarded Hades. "You should know this is the perfect chance to end him. I won't be blackmailed and shamed like our last life. Rest assured, your death will be remembered. I'll erect a fine tombstone for you~"

"~~"

Gods...needed tombstones? No reincarnation?

Thinking of this, Ming laughed aloud again. As expected, this sham god Pangu's intellect was ordinary. If he were him, he'd have told Hades: You're a god; just reincarnate and regain your place in the Divine Court after death.

That would make more sense than a tombstone, right? When self-interest was greatest, gods sacrificed mortals and less important allies.

He turned to Hades, "Is this your first time realizing you're not that important either?"

Hades' fury now was no longer just paternal grief. He also recognized himself as expendable - consumed, useless, discarded, and life ending.He raged, grieved, despaired, and blamed himself. Choking back sobs, he said: "A father's negligence dooms his son. I shouldn't have indulged and ignored him, and I should have set an example. Then I wouldn't have ended up like this... I once vowed to be good and serve all people, yet I fell... No, I'm a god; only gods can eliminate the world's evils... Wrong. What can I do, even as a god? Still powerless in the end?"

"~~" Ming watched Hades struggle with himself.

Pangu tilted his chin upward, "I offer you one final chance to surrender willingly."

Hades burst into laughter, "Nonsense!"

Hades roared with laughter, shouting before all, "It's all a lie! We're mere pawns in someone's game. Have you never questioned whether fate truly exists? Does the will of heaven even exist?"

The gods looked on, bewildered.

"Has Hades lost his mind?"

"Seems like it."

"The sorrow of losing a child cuts deep."

"..."

Pangu smiled subtly, "Whoever slays that fiend will be the next god. Kill!"

"Kill!"

Their eyes ablaze with fervor, the divine assembly took up the chant. Promotion and reward—were these not the aspirations of lesser gods and mortals?

Charge!

Hades' laughter waned; he turned to Ming, "Go forth; beyond that barrier lies a small town. At the town's far western edge stands a two-story building. Everything will end there. My son, I come to join you." Hades breathed his last.

"Your Napoleon gazes at undead Hades. Your son is now one of ours."

"Your Napoleon Puppet +1."

"Your Da Vinci thinks Napoleon is cruel, to have the dead serve you. Napoleon tells Da Vinci utility isn't cruelty, it's just your soft heart. Da Vinci strongly agrees. He'd blow their heads off if it were up to him."

"Kill!"

The gods roared and charged, Ming leading the way, staff in hand.

"Your Napoleon commands the troops. The hardy ones up front, long-range attacks from behind. Charge!""Your Foodie sticks by your side, like a green orb of light, protecting you from all sides, charging at celestial soldiers."

"Your Merlin nestles in your collarbone, continuing to prepare."

"Your Da Vinci perches on your shoulder. He feels this scene is not for him; he's searching for his true target."

Boom!

Gods and zombies collided like two moving walls, causing universal collapse, a plethora of attacks in succession—swords slashing, axes chopping, ice and fire filling the battlefield.

Raoul gripped his six long knives, churning through enemies like a meat grinder, each swipe splattering flesh and blood.

The Black-haired Pig Demon landed, sweeping his rake broadly and chanting, "Five hundred eighty-nine! Five hundred ninety!"

Ming swung his staff, yelling, "One hundred meters!"

Boom!

Ming's staff swelled immensely, sweeping across like an autumn wind that scattered leaves, sending celestial soldiers and generals flying within a hundred meters.

"Your Foodie croaks loudly, wishing the little Koi were here to witness its grandeur; surely that would make it love me more."

"Your Da Vinci assures Foodie, don't worry, your performance today will certainly be shared with your siblings. Keep it up!"

Pangu watched the battlefield with indifference. While celestial soldiers and generals fought fiercely up front, he and the other gods sat in reserve. He knew well that their primary target was him. As the king of gods, he would not be imprudent to engage in battle himself.

Ming found the battle relatively easy, largely because Raoul and the Black-haired Pig Demon while appearing to fight individually, were actually protecting him. This afforded him time to survey the field. He deduced that the gods before him were probably the only ones from the so-called "realm of gods." Any absentees had either not completed their tasks and failed to 'ascend' or, like the Orochi serpent and Ares, had died. That was understandable, given they'd undertaken various quests since before the apocalypse began. His own Battle Angel Aria was a case in point; destined to become an archangel, she unexpectedly died at the hands of an Antlion. Thus, many such accidents must have occurred, like Athena falling to a man in a loincloth. Such was fate.

If all the gods were here, then there was nothing to worry about. It was time to pierce the heavens.

In the back lines of the heavenly army, the God of Wealth approached Pangu and pointed out Raoul and the Black-haired Pig Demon in the distance, "Those are the key players. Eliminate them, and their leader will be left isolated."

"Let's give it a try then," replied the leader of the Seven Fairies serving Atlas, a voluptuous fairy in red with a peach blossom smile. She glanced at Ming in the distance, who wielded his staff like a war god, and then looked to Atlas as if begging for an opportunity.

Atlas nodded, "Even the most heroic men cannot resist the allure of beauty."

At his words, Pangu, the God of Wealth, and the other male gods blushed, inwardly grumbling that the statement was certainly not about them.

As if hearing their thoughts, Atlas turned and looked at them, asking suggestively, "Right?"

The God of Wealth and others averted their eyes, looking back to the battlefield.

"My heart belongs only to you," Pangu declared, his gaze fixed on Atlas.

The God of Wealth fondled a Rolls Royce behind him and said tenderly, "Having you is enough for me."

"Hmm," Atlas gave a soft snort, nodding as a signal to his seven daughters. They took the cue, gliding gracefully from his side like swallows into the melee. In no time, they stood at the center of the battlefield, on a patch of ground hard-won by the struggling celestial troops.