Apocalypse: King of Zombies

While Chris and Henry were still undergoing that energy baptism, Ethan had already stepped onto the 94th stair of the Celestial Stairway.

After step ninety, every single stair turned into its own little hell.

For Ethan, climbing just one step meant stopping for over a minute. Every time he pushed himself up another stair, he had to burn everything he had. The pressure came from all directions—crushing his body, squeezing his lungs, pressing on his skull—until it felt like he couldn’t even breathe.

Thankfully, the Body Refinement methods he’d practiced from the Body Refinement Technique had paid off. His refinement results were far better than anyone else’s, and his physical strength was absurdly high for his Tier.

On top of that, True Sight was almost certainly a psy-type ability. After all, the skill it spawned—Telekinesis—was psy-type, which meant his mental strength was unusually strong too.

And as for willpower?

Willpower was the one thing Ethan had never lacked.

Because of the way he’d grown up—because of the kind of environment that shaped him—his grit had been forged young.

All of it together was the only reason he’d managed to hold on this long.

Step ninety-four wasn’t his endpoint.

If he rested a bit, he could still climb higher.

Down below, Sean forced himself onto step ninety as well.

But faced with that terrifying pressure, he couldn’t hold out. In the end, he stopped on the 90th stair, then got pushed beyond the Celestial Stairway’s boundary by that unseen force, just like the others—sent to receive his upgrade.

After him, the rest of the Fallen Star Squad hit step ninety one after another.

That stair had become their bottom line. Even if it meant crawling and bleeding for it, they were getting there.

And step ninety truly was their limit.

A few people tried to push higher.

Every single one failed.

One by one, the Fallen Star Squad members were pushed out of the stairway’s range, and torrents of energy poured into them.

Their strength shot up at a terrifying pace.

In the end, the entire Fallen Star Squad rose to Tier 14 across the board—Chris even reaching mid Tier 14.

Now, only one person remained on the Celestial Stairway.

Ethan.

At this moment, he’d stepped onto the 95th stair. His body wasn’t straight anymore. Under that crushing weight, he couldn’t stand tall even if he wanted to. His legs trembled uncontrollably.

But he still hadn’t given up. His eyes were rock-solid.

Finally, he moved again.

Step ninety-six.

The instant he crossed onto it, Ethan was slammed face-down onto the stone again.

Everyone watched him, tense enough to snap. No one dared to say a word.

Over a minute passed.

Then Ethan moved—hands digging into the ground, arms shaking as he forced his torso up.

No hesitation.

He stepped again.

Step ninety-seven.

”Pff—”

Ethan spat a mouthful of blood and crashed down.

Blood beads forced their way out through his skin, and in seconds he looked like he’d been painted red.

Everyone’s hearts clenched.

They wanted to scream at him to stop—to come down—because this was beyond dangerous now.

But they all knew Ethan.

At a moment like this, he wouldn’t quit.

Mia’s eyes were so red they looked swollen. She’d bitten her lip hard enough to draw blood and didn’t even seem to realize it.

”Come on,” she whispered fiercely. ”You can do it. You have to.”

Ethan’s eyes were bloodshot. Everything ahead of him was a haze of red.

He knew he’d reached his limit.

But he was only two steps away from the top.

Two.

He couldn’t accept stopping here.

He had a feeling—an instinct deep in his bones—that reaching the 99th stair would bring a benefit he couldn’t even predict.

But these last two steps…

They were hell.

Pain flooded his entire body. He could barely force out any strength at all. In this condition, climbing even one more stair felt impossible—let alone two.

No.

Not after coming this far.

Ethan ground his teeth until his jaw ached. Still flattened against the stone, he endured that crushing pressure and silently gathered what little strength he had left, bit by bit.

Second by second, time ticked by.

Seeing Ethan sprawled on the stone, not moving at all, everyone started to think he’d finally given up.

But right when the time was about to run out, Ethan suddenly exploded with motion—jerking himself up and forcing out another step.

Step ninety-eight.

Crack!

The instant he landed on it, a sharp, ugly fracture sound rang out from inside his body. His skin split in multiple places, and blood surged out in sheets.

Worse than that was the pain in the depths of his soul—so violent it felt like his head was being blown apart from the inside.

”…So I’m still one step short?” Ethan’s face twisted into a helpless, bitter smile.

He was completely at his limit now. Forget climbing—he couldn’t even move a finger.

In the haze of that near-death moment, Ethan activated True Sight and looked up the remaining stairs.

Then his expression flickered with surprise.

A thought moved.

A figure appeared beside him.

”Dopey—throw me up there!”

Ethan gave the order instantly.

Dopey didn’t seem to feel the pressure at all. It wasn’t a living thing anymore—no consciousness, no soul. To the Celestial Stairway, it counted as an object. The pressure simply didn’t apply to it.

Dopey didn’t hesitate. It never did. It didn’t think—it executed.

It grabbed Ethan and hurled him up onto the 99th stair.

Pff. Pff. Pff—

Dull, heavy sounds thudded out.

Ethan’s body couldn’t withstand that horrifying pressure for even an instant. It was crushed—ground apart on the spot.

That was the price of forcing your way up.

At the same time, Dopey was blasted out of the Celestial Stairway’s range by an enormous force—clearly judged as an ”external object” by the ritual circle.

”Ethan!!”

”Captain!!”

”Captain—!”

Below, every face went bloodless with terror.

Crushed into pieces… could someone even survive that?

In an instant, tears spilled down more than a few cheeks. Some people even lurched forward on instinct, like they could rush up there and pull him back.

But Ethan’s position was so high none of them could reach it.

”Why…?” Mia’s tears slid down her face.

Even if one more step meant some insane benefit… how could it be more important than his life?

The others were just as shaken, unable to understand what Ethan had been thinking.

Then—

A layer of white light suddenly wrapped around Ethan’s shattered body.

And immediately, countless streams of energy went berserk, converging on him.

Under everyone’s horrified gaze, Ethan’s body began to reconstruct—fast. Pieces drawing together, flesh reknitting, bone reforming—until he was whole again.

Luckily, that white light covered him the entire time; otherwise he would’ve been standing there completely naked.

His aura began to surge.

Stage C peak!

Tier 13 early… Tier 13 mid… Tier 13 peak!

Tier 14 early… Tier 14 mid… Tier 14 peak!

Tier 15 early… Tier 15 mid… Tier 15 peak!

Tier 16 early… Tier 16 mid!

Only when he reached mid Tier 16 did it finally stop.

That monstrous increase left everyone staring like they’d forgotten how to breathe.

Chris and the others had already shocked them with their jumps.

Ethan’s was even more terrifying.

They couldn’t see his exact Tier, but they could feel his aura shatter upward again and again—four distinct breakthroughs. Four full Tiers.

Ethan had already been Stage C.

Now add four more Tiers on top of that… it was absurd.

After the energy faded, it took another ten-plus minutes before the white light finally dissolved.

And only then did Ethan’s figure return fully to their sight.

Good thing he had spare clothes in his spatial storage ring—he’d already changed inside the light.

But Ethan didn’t come down right away.

Up there, he seemed to be messing with something—hands moving, attention fixed, like he was tinkering.

Another five minutes passed.

Then everyone felt it at the same time.

The pressure around them—gone.

They looked at each other, seeing the same disbelief in each other’s eyes.

Someone cautiously stepped onto the Celestial Stairway.

No pressure.

More people tried.

Still nothing.

Then the whole group started moving upward.

The Celestial Stairway that had just been a nightmare… now felt like an ordinary staircase. They climbed it easily, almost stupidly easily.

The moment they reached Ethan, everyone blurted out at once.

”Captain—what happened? Why’s there no pressure anymore?!”

Ethan grinned, bright and unapologetic. ”Heh. Because from now on, this thing is going to show up in Fallen Star City.”

This run…

The payoff was downright outrageous.