Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night-Chapter 345: The Final Showdown

Zane hovered in the air above his rivals who gazed upon him as if they were witnessing the specter of death himself. His armor and weapons had been upgraded to the maximum level, his gear was black as the night itself, and yet exuded a shadowy miasma across every level, his cloak was the same his mother had given him all those years ago, worn, tattered, stained with dried blood.

His sickles were forged of blackened metal, wrapped in black leather, chains forged from the same substance as the blades themselves bound them to his hands, while at the end of them were bleached and polished skulls dangling with the wind.

Runes in bright white light were glowing across the edges of the blades, in contrast to the dark aura that exuded from the edge. His hood was pulled up, and wrapped around his face in a way that concealed his identity, but his blood-red eyes were glowing with the rage and fury of a man who had clawed his way from the depths of hell to be here today.

But what was most surprising to the remaining Horde Kings who had gathered here today was that each and every one of their former comrades who they believed had perished were standing behind Zane, they were legion, and kneeling in mid air in reverence to their King.

All of which wore a similar set of gear and were clearly at a level of power that matched or exceeded Balthasar. The eyes of Lilith and Damian damn near fell out of their sockets when they saw this.

But Lilith? She stared not in shock, not in terror, not in dread, but in recognition that Zane alone could mop the floor with the four of them. Because of this, she simply sighed and stretched as she shook her head.

Causing all eyes to shift towards her. Believing she was about to launch a sudden attack, Zane braced himself. But it was too late. Before anyone could even move Lilith pulled out a pin from within her hair, which had once belonged to the "Goddess of Elysium" and shoved it straight in her throat, killing herself on the spot while staring at Zane with a look that said "I know when I am bested, raise me if you dare!"

Damian began to panic, the odds were already stacked against them, but Lilith was more powerful than Balthasar realized, and Damian knew this.

"What the hell! Why? Lilith! Together, we could have at least stood a chance?"

What was shocking to both Damian and Balthasar, was in the very next moment, shadows twisted around the wound on Lilith's neck, sealing it up, as she herself found herself crawling back from the floor, and kneeling on the ground, pointed directly at Zane.

Her words however were not directed to him, and instead to her fellow Horde Kings, as she sounded a bit infatuated with Zane who managed to resurrect her, despite her performing an ancient, and sacred ritual that nobody but she knew, which could thoroughly obliterate her soul.

"No, we couldn't have… I should not have been able to come back.. But he did so nonetheless, his power is beyond our comprehension. Only mother can do such a thing, and she's watching us right now…"

Lilith wasn't wrong. Death was sitting on the outskirts of the city, gazing upon the scene with amusement and leisure. Even she did not expect Zane to have become so powerful, and because of this she couldn't help but smile and speak proudly with an approving maternal tone in her voice as she did so.

"That's my boy… He's grown so powerful, so handsome since I last saw him… Now let's see him finish this!"

Before Damian and Balthasar could even react, Zane had closed the distance between them. The time for words had passed, and the swiftness and cruelty of his twin blades proved this as he swung for the vitals instantly.

He was so fast that Damian found himself beheaded in an instant, while Balthasar managed to trade the forearm for another moment of his life, which hit the floor at the exact same time as Damian's head.

But still, the previous leader of the Horde Kings, a fanatic of the most reprehensible variety, did not concede defeat, instead a glowing shadow wrapped around his gaping wound, restoring the flesh that had been cut off a moment before, as he grabbed his own weapon, a spear, clearly scavenged from an elite level awakened human who had dared to challenge him.

The sight of these things caused Zane to stop his assault for a moment, and raise his brow, before muttering with his voice as a question that Balthasar was not expecting.

"Oh? It appears you have discovered that skills can be extracted from the heart of an awakened, and that their weapons aren't as useless as your kind always thought… You are different from the others… But it doesn't matter, you discovered this truth too late.

Balthasar raised his spear and launched a flurry of strikes at Zane, clearly enraged by the comments just now, screaming as if he had lost his mind, while asserting victory would still be his in the end, all while his target effortlessly evaded his strikes.

"Damn heretic! You may have beaten the others, but mother protects me! You will kneel before me before this day is over!"

Zane scoffed, and dropped one of his blades, catching the spear's tip with a single finger. It did not even manage to penetrate his flesh, instead the spearhead fractured, and the shaft began to rot into decay and eventually nothingness, all while Zane had nothing but cold scorn on his face as he revealed the truth to the damn fool who had challenged him so brazenly.

"My mother protects you? It seems I was mistaken. You're not more intelligent than the rest, you're just a resourceful fool…. My mother has come here today to see me take your head… And it appears that wish has been fulfilled without you even realizing it."

Balthasar could only gaze in astonishment as his weapon vanished into thin air, and it was only then he realized that the moment it did his head had already been severed from his shoulders and was contained in Zane's hand that was staring into his eyes. The last words he would hear would be those of his resurrection and eternal servitude.

"Now… rise brother…"