I, the Supreme Overlord, Start by Enslaving the Zerg Queen
Chapter 43 - 43: Endgame

Medusa's chillingly icy voice seemed to be pronouncing a judgment, as a blood-red bell kept spinning relentlessly.

Louis's face grew increasingly twisted, displaying a visage of excruciating pain.

Charles extended his left hand,, as a crimson energy began to slowly coalesce within his grasp.

Before long, this energy formed into a black sphere. The sphere appeared profoundly deep, almost as if it encompassed the entirety of darkness.

"The farce should come to an end, and the spoils should be claimed by the ultimate victor." Charles murmured softly.

Subsequently, the black sphere, which had gathered its energy from blood, floated slowly above Louis's head.

In the next instant, the battlefield, like a gruesome meat grinder, began to exude the stench of blood, all of which was drawn towards the black sphere.

The deceased Zerg and coalition forces gradually transformed into ghastly white skeletons, presenting a terrifying spectacle.

Nearly over six thousand life essences, their blood, were slowly channeled from the black sphere atop the high platform, streaming entirely into Louis's body.

Buzzing sounds echoed...

Countless blood energies converged into Louis, who writhed and struggled incessantly on the ground.

From mid-tier of the third rank... to high-tier of the third rank... and finally elevating his combat strength to the lower-tier of the fourth rank!

The terrifying sense of oppression caused everyone, except Charles, to wear a grave expression. Little Green, the Zerg hero who had yet to fully master his own powers, was nearly crushed under the immense pressure.

As Medusa had once remarked, the progression from the first to the third rank is a matter of quantitative accumulation, requiring continual consolidation of systemic energy in a certain sense.

The fourth rank, however, is a watershed, a qualitative leap.

"It's merely the fourth rank. How dare you try to suppress my sisters?" Medusa's cold snort instantly dispelled the oppressive force, making it vanish without a trace.

Having once reached the seventh rank, she was adept at dissipating such oppressive forces.

"Master, I believe we have succeeded. This can be considered the first fourth-rank warrior we've crafted with our own hands." Catherine remarked with admiration as she looked at the figure shrouded in deep crimson, clicking her tongue in amazement.

The concept of the Bloodthirsty Zerg was no secret, the heroes all understood its purpose.

However, knowing about it was one thing, while witnessing it ascend to the fourth rank through the aura of slaughter and the stench of blood on the battlefield was quite another.

"After all, it is the essence of thousands of life forms. I believe our research on the Bloodthirsty Zerg can be further refined. You all could also use this method to quickly break through to the fourth rank." Charles said with a smile, his tone tinged with a hint of sentiment.

The essence of over six thousand lives, forged into a genuinely lower-tier fourth-rank entity, was indeed a remarkable achievement.

Catherine was not surprised by his words. After all, her master had previously mentioned that the Bloodthirsty Zerg was a significant breakthrough point for their hero units. It was now merely confirmed that this path was viable.

Sigh, looks like she'll be working overtime again.

Suddenly, a subtle smile curled the corners of Catherine's lips. "Oh, it seems our little darling is somewhat rebellious~"

Upon hearing this, everyone turned their gaze toward the blood-red clock, focusing on the coalition leader who was silently rising—Louis.

The wounds on his body had been completely healed by the blood energy, and the aura emanating from him was as nauseating as a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

A fourth-rank warrior, capable of breaking through this clock.

But it wasn't enough, he needed more blood energy!

With bloodshot eyes, Louis cautiously eyed the four figures in the distance, the malice and fury within him continuously simmering.

Just wait. Once his fourth-rank power stabilized, he would personally torment them to death!

All for... revenge for that girl, for retribution against the coalition that had been reduced to mere bones!

Fearing that his adversaries might detect his intentions and act prematurely, Louis feigned madness—laughing one moment, crying the next. Charles and the others, however, were more than happy to let him absorb energy in peace.

After all, no matter how powerful he became, this amount of blood energy wouldn't allow him to break through to the next rank.

And as for lower-tier fourth-rank combat strength, they had plenty of that!

About twenty minutes later, the slaughter on the battlefield had completely ceased.

The ferocious Zerg warriors let out a collective roar toward the heavens, then fell silent, immobile in their places. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but ghastly remains, the coalition's entire army and their Overlords had all perished here.

And these more than two thousand second-rank combat units had only managed to take down over two hundred Zerg warriors, all of which were merely mid-tier second rank, none of them high-tier.

Henceforth, the Overlord coalition was utterly eradicated.

Within the blood-red clock, Louis had absorbed all the blood energy, thoroughly stabilizing his combat strength at the lower-tier of the fourth rank.

It was time for revenge!

"Number One, your greatest failure was leaving behind someone like me—a soul consumed by the flames of vengeance!" Louis shouted, swinging his blood-imbued great sword with ferocity.

In an instant, the blood-red clock shattered, and the viscous blood slowly poured over Louis's face.

A look of nostalgia crossed Louis's face, momentarily quelling the flames of his vengeance.

He murmured quietly, seemingly offering prayers for the fallen, for only by doing so could he use this power with a clear conscience.

Only then... could he formally declare war on Number One in the name of the flames of revenge, and drive his blood-red sword into Charles's chest!

"The time for remembrance has passed. You should speak your last words, Louis." Charles said, his face impassive and his tone devoid of any emotion, as he looked at the motionless Louis.

Hearing this, Louis slowly picked up the blood-red sword embedded in the ground and abruptly drove it into Charles's chest.

The speed of a fourth-rank warrior was indeed astonishing, piercing Charles's chest before Medusa could even react.

"How dare you! You wretched tainted blood, go to die!" Medusa instantly transformed into a massive purple serpent, simultaneously summoning the power of the Bloodthirsty Zerg to attain lower-tier fourth-rank strength.

"Master!" Little Green and Catherine's faces turned ashen. They were too weak, unable even to see Louis's movements!

"Hahaha! So, this is all you amount to, Number One? In the end, you were easily slain by me!" Louis's eyes were ablaze with bloodlust as he laughed maniacally.

In the eyes of others, Louis might very well have appeared as nothing short of a madman.

What puzzled him, however, was that although he had driven his great sword into Charles's chest, he had not extracted any of blood energy.

No...no, something was wrong!

Not only had he failed to draw out Charles's blood energy, but why was his own power diminishing?

What in the world was going on...

"Heh, pondering why you haven't drained my blood energy?" Charles chuckled, gently caressing the blood-imbued greatsword, appearing utterly at ease.

He continued, "Before you start pondering that question, you might want to consider something more important."

"And that is... who do you think granted you this cheat-like ability to grow stronger through slaughter?"

This statement caused Louis's pupils to contract slightly. He stared in horror at the young man before him, who wore a faint smile.

Could it be...

As if drawn to each other, Charles merely raised his hand slightly, and Louis's body was involuntarily lifted into the air.

The three women looked on with worry as they used a special technique to remove the great sword, which bore not a drop of blood. The blood-red patterns on the blade glowed faintly.

"Well...all of this...it's your doing...my power..." Louis struggled continuously in the air, realizing that he couldn't muster any of his fourth-rank strength.

If, earlier, he could at least retaliate with mid-tier second-rank power, now, before Charles, he was no different from an ordinary person before arriving in the Continent of Overlord.

Charles smiled warmly and nodded, not intending to conceal the truth: "This outcome was decided days ago in the coalition's camp. You should still have some memory of that."

Upon hearing this, Louis's gaze grew unfocused, recalling the remnants of the forces that had escaped just a few days prior. So that's how it was...

Seeing Louis lost in thought, Charles shook his head slightly. He had no habit of sparing his enemies, but there was something he needed to retrieve first.

"Come forth, Bloodthirsty Zerg, and don't even think of resisting my will." Charles murmured softly.

Soon, Louis's entire face contorted grotesquely, as if he were undergoing some unimaginable torment.

A blood-red glow flickered around his abdomen, fluctuating in intensity as it roamed through Louis's body.

Heart...liver...kidneys—the organs were being devoured one by one by some terrifying presence, and Louis's once menacing gaze gradually dulled.

His life was nearing its end.

Splat!

He spat out a mouthful of blood, followed by fragments of his disintegrated organs.

After a series of insect-like hums, the blood-red, horrifying insect slowly crawled onto Charles's hand, appearing unusually docile.

"What...is it called?" Louis asked in a hoarse voice.

"Bloodthirsty Zerg." Charles replied coolly.