Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Fallen Star City — Central Plaza…

Miles had gathered the remaining Fallen Star Guard, along with the women from the Azure Nereids.

Ethan had only said, ”Something happened,” then rushed off. That had left Miles uneasy. So he pulled together every bit of combat power he could reasonably mobilize, ready to head out as reinforcements.

He’d originally wanted to bring the Glacial Bear too.

The bear ignored him completely.

Miles could only give up.

Just as everyone was about to depart—Miles in the middle of a pre-battle pep talk—a ripped open in midair behind him, right above the front of the crowd.

Then a whole group of people dropped out of it like dumplings falling into boiling water.

”???”

The plaza froze.

Hundreds of eyes stared up at the sky, brains refusing to catch up with what they’d just witnessed.

”Ow—damn it!” Skinny Pete groaned, rubbing his backside as he rolled onto his back. ”Boss, if you’re gonna put the exit that high, at least warn us first. My ass is filing a complaint.”

The others shot Ethan looks full of betrayal.

Ethan scratched his head, visibly embarrassed. ”Uh… first time using it. Still getting the hang of it. Next time, I’ll know.”

”That’s why you always need wings,” Big Mike said, smugly hovering over them with a grin. ”You peasants can keep falling.”

A gigantic hand of condensed energy appeared out of nowhere and slapped him out of the air like a bug.

BANG!

Big Mike smashed into the ground in the most undignified way possible, staring up with pure resentment.

Sean lowered his hand, expression dark with satisfaction. ”That’s what you get for running your mouth.”

”Let you be smug for one second,” Big Mike muttered, looking like he wanted to cry.

Seeing him flattened instantly made everyone else feel a lot better.

”…Guys,” Miles said, pinching the bridge of his nose. ”Maybe try to behave a little. There are people watching.”

Only then did the Fallen Star Squad realize what was happening.

In front of them, countless faces were staring, completely blank. Like their souls had temporarily left their bodies.

”…”

Everyone hurriedly got up, brushed dust off their clothes, and forced on calm, unfazed expressions.

It didn’t help much.

Their twitching mouths betrayed them, and you could practically hear the screaming in their heads.

My image…!

Ethan looked at Miles, puzzled. ”What are you doing?”

Miles coughed, looking faintly awkward. ”Uh… I was about to gather people to go support you.”

He glanced at Ethan’s squad, then at the empty sky where the rift had been.

”…Now it looks like we don’t need to.”

Ethan nodded. ”Yeah. Something came up, but it’s handled.”

”Good.” Miles didn’t push for details. He simply turned to the Fallen Star Guard. ”Alright, it’s fine. Everyone go back.”

”Yes!”

The Fallen Star Guard responded in unison and quickly dispersed.

They were curious as hell about the Fallen Star Squad’s ridiculous entrance, but none of them asked. At this point, anything involving Ethan and his people had long since passed the stage of ”normal.”

After the Fallen Star Guard left, Miles turned to the Azure Nereids.

”Thank you all for coming,” he said politely. ”The situation has been handled, so you may return and rest for now. I’ll have food prepared and sent to your rooms shortly.”

”You’re too kind, Miles,” Nerissa said, giving him a graceful nod. ”We didn’t actually do anything. If you need us next time, just call.”

With that, she led the Azure Nereids away.

Still, before leaving, many of them couldn’t help looking back at Ethan and the others again.

The shock in their eyes hadn’t faded at all.

Back at their residence, several Azure Nereids high-ranking members finally let it spill out. They stared at Nerissa, voices trembling.

”Ethan… can tear space open?”

It wasn’t an overreaction.

As far as they knew, even Stage SSS powerhouses couldn’t rip open space itself.

Yet Ethan had done it—and not as some once-in-a-lifetime miracle, either. He’d used it like a tool.

If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes…

They wouldn’t have believed it even if someone swore on their life.

Nerissa frowned. She didn’t believe Ethan was truly so strong he could rip the void itself open.

If he really had that kind of power, why would the other races’ elites dare run wild in this world?

She thought for a long time. Then something clicked, and she lowered her voice.

”It has to be a spatial-type ability.”

”Spatial-type?” Naia stared at her like she’d lost her mind. ”But I remember Ethan already has several spatial-type abilities. Aren’t human abilities supposed to be random? Spatial-type skills are ridiculously rare—how could one person have that many?”

”I don’t know,” Nerissa admitted, eyes narrowing. ”But it’s the only explanation that makes sense. Tearing space itself should require a powerhouse at least above Stage SSS… and it’s not like he’s that kind of monster.”

”…Fine,” Naia muttered, still looking stunned. ”Then it has to be that. But that’s insane.”

”They’ve been doing insane things since the day we met them.” Nerissa’s voice turned serious. ”At this point, you might as well get used to it. And honestly… I have a feeling—if they don’t die halfway—this group might even surpass ancient humanity.”

”That…” Someone nearby couldn’t hide her disbelief. ”Commander, you’re overestimating them, aren’t you? They’re not even in the same league as ancient humanity. Ancient humanity was something even the top races feared.”

”Here? A random higher race could come and crush them.”

”That’s because they haven’t grown yet.” Nerissa’s tone was firm. ”If they’re allowed to develop, with their kind of abilities, they won’t be weaker than any top race.”

Naia’s expression turned grim. ”But do you really think they’ll be allowed to grow?”

”The top races will never let humans become strong again.”

”These races already out right now are hard enough for them to deal with. When the real top-tier races appear, they’ll erase them with a flick of the hand.”

That shut the room up.

Nerissa fell silent too, because she knew it was true.

A slightly older Azure Nereid spoke carefully, testing the waters. ”Then… maybe we should keep some distance from them. I’m worried we’ll get dragged down with them later.”

Nerissa’s gaze snapped to her, cold enough to freeze.

”Don’t say that again.”

”The Azure Nereids are not an ungrateful people. Since fate has put humans in our path again, then as long as it’s within our ability, we help when we can.”

She paused, her voice dropping.

”As for what happens after that… we leave it to the heavens. We just need to be able to live with ourselves.”

”…Understood,” the older woman said quietly.

Elsewhere, the Fallen Star Squad returned to their residence. Chris gave Miles a quick, efficient rundown of everything that had happened over the last few days.

After that, Ethan took the crystal cores he’d collected back from the Fallen Star Guard out of his spatial storage ring and handed them to Miles.

”Miles,” Ethan said, voice level, ”we need to raise Fallen Star City’s overall strength—not just the combat units. The noncombat Enhanced need to be boosted too.”

”From now on, prioritize resources for them as well. Push their Tiers up as fast as possible.”

”Got it.” Miles nodded immediately, understanding what Ethan was getting at.

By noon, the Fallen Star Guard members who’d been out in the field had all returned.

They brought back a mountain of Void Realm corpses—along with more than a dozen crippled, dying Stage S fighters.

Ethan told Chris and the others to feed their existing low-Tier soulless thralls to the white-furred ape, then recreate stronger ones using the new Stage S bodies.

Because soulless thralls couldn’t transfer ownership.

Unless the master died and the thrall became ”unclaimed,” nobody else could imprint a new soul mark onto it.

So if Chris and the others wanted stronger Stage S soulless thralls…

They had to abandon the old ones.

Ethan, however, didn’t plan on swapping his out anytime soon.

His own strength was already among the stronger ranks within Stage S. With Dopey, Aeralon, and Aerisara as his three soulless thralls, additional Stage S thralls didn’t tempt him much.

Besides, it didn’t matter who created them.

Whether Chris made the new thralls or Ethan did, the result was the same—because in the end, all those soulless thralls were still going to be stored inside Ethan’s spatial storage ring anyway.