Apocalypse: King of Zombies

As Elder Kael charged, an ocean of flame surged toward Ethan again.

”That’s all you’ve got?” Ethan sneered. ”Old man, you do realize that doesn’t work on me, right?”

But Kael’s blood-smeared face twisted into something colder.

”Inferno Burst!”

The moment the words left his mouth, the endless flames detonated.

BOOOOM—!

A terrifying explosion swallowed the entire area.

Even the crowds watching from farther away were blasted off their feet by the heatwave. Nearby buildings were erased in an instant—walls caving, roofs collapsing, everything turning into burning rubble.

At the center of it all, Ethan’s Nullspace Domain shattered on the spot.

”Pff—!”

Ethan spat out a mouthful of blood, genuine shock flashing across his face.

He hadn’t expected Kael to have something like that in his pocket. Even his True Sight hadn’t warned him.

If Nullspace Domain hadn’t soaked up most of the damage, that single hit would’ve killed him.

And Kael didn’t give him a second to breathe.

The Flamekin elder was already in his face again, flaming greatsword raised, cleaving down toward Ethan’s head.

Ethan tried to teleport—

But the flames clinging to his body suddenly twisted into chains, snapping tight and locking him in place. The spatial pull he relied on… wouldn’t answer.

”You think spatial-type abilities make you invincible?” Elder Kael snarled. ”You’re still nothing but a Tier 32 insect. Crushing you takes no effort at all!”

His burning blade descended.

”Die, human trash!”

All around them, faces went white.

Humans froze in horror.

Even some Flamekin stared, breath held—because everyone could see it: Ethan couldn’t dodge. He couldn’t blink away. He was about to be split in two.

But then—

Ethan’s mouth curled.

A cold, vicious smile.

”Yeah?” he said softly. ”Is that what you think?”

The flaming greatsword stopped.

Not slowed.

Stopped.

When it was less than an inch from Ethan’s skull.

And it wasn’t just the blade.

Everything stopped.

The rolling fire. The violent surges of energy. The dust in the air. The terror on people’s faces. The hatred in the Flamekin’s eyes.

The whole battlefield froze like a still image.

Ethan’s voice cut through the dead silence, calm and murderous.

”You wanted to crush me?”

His poleaxe flared with thick black light.

”Then I’ll crush you first.”

He swung.

BOOM!

This Annihilation Strike was fueled by nearly all of Ethan’s remaining mental energy.

The impact crushed half of Elder Kael’s head on the spot and hurled his body hundreds of feet across the ground like a broken puppet.

When Kael finally hit the earth, he didn’t move again.

The flaming greatsword hovering above Ethan’s head dispersed.

The fire-chains binding Ethan’s body dissolved into sparks.

Then—

Time resumed.

Sound flooded back in. Flames roared again. People’s gasps came out all at once like the world had inhaled together and finally exhaled.

Everyone stared at Ethan—still standing there, blood on his lips but unbowed—

Then at Elder Kael, sprawled hundreds of feet away like a dead dog.

And for a few seconds, the only thing on every face was pure confusion.

”What… just happened?”

”Did anyone see that?”

”I swear I didn’t blink—why does it feel like I missed something?”

”Same! I watched Ethan get trapped and I was about to lose my mind, and then… it flipped?”

Aside from Fallen Star City’s people, almost nobody understood what they’d just witnessed.

The Flamekin stood stunned for a few beats, then snapped out of it and rushed toward Kael.

”Elder!”

When they reached him, panic erupted. They grabbed him, shook him, called his name over and over.

But no matter what they did…

Elder Kael didn’t respond.

”Damn…” Ethan’s heart sank when he saw Kael lying there motionless. Don’t tell me I hit too hard and actually killed him.

What a waste.

That was premium material for creating a soulless thrall.

Ethan casually drifted over to Henry’s side and lowered his voice. ”Henry. When the fighting starts again, get that old man’s… ’body’ over here. See if you can patch him up.”

Henry shot him a look. ”If you knew you wanted him alive, why didn’t you hold back just now?”

Ethan rolled his eyes. ”Holy shit. In that situation, you think I had the luxury of ’holding back’? If I didn’t put him down, I was the one dying.”

Henry went quiet for a beat, then sighed. ”…Alright.”

While Ethan and Henry were whispering, the Flamekin had already locked onto Ethan. One by one, flames rose off their bodies—anger turning into heat that distorted the air.

”You killed a Flamekin elder!” one of them roared. ”The Flamekin will never let this end!”

”Never let this end?” Ethan sneered.

In the next instant, he teleported straight in front of the Flamekin powerhouses.

”I’m right here,” he said coldly. ”Come and make me move.”

His voice rang out across the broken streets.

One man.

Standing alone before thousands of Flamekin.

And yet he looked so steady—so unshakable—that everyone watching felt their hearts clench.

The humans’ eyes burned with near-fanatical excitement.

”That was so damn cool!”

”Ethan is unreal!”

”Okay, I’m a guy, and even I think I just fell for him. What do I do?”

Behind him, the Fallen Star Squad was murmuring fast, low enough that only they could hear.

”Boss has fired off Annihilation Strike multiple times and used Absolute Stasis… his mental energy has to be running low.”

”Yeah. If I know him, he’s basically drained.”

”Then why is he still acting this arrogant? Isn’t he scared they’ll just mob him?”

”He’s probably panicking inside,” someone muttered. ”We get ready to move the second things turn.”

”Agreed.”

For a moment, the Flamekin really were shaken by Ethan’s presence.

Mainly because they’d just watched him ”kill” their elder. Whatever arrogance they’d had was now mixed with real fear.

”Cowards!” Ignar—the man Ethan had smashed earlier—shouted, trying to prop himself up with pure rage. ”He’s strong, but he’s only one person! We have so many—what are you afraid of? All of you, together! Avenge the elder!”

”Who said he came alone?” Chris’s voice cut in.

He hurried over with the rest of Fallen Star City’s people and lined up behind Ethan, taking position like a wall.

If their boss was going to bluff this hard, then as loyal underlings, they had one job:

Make sure the bluff didn’t collapse.

The Flamekin fighter sneered. ”Hmph. Even if you’re here, so what? A few hundred people—today you all die in front of our ten thousand Flamekin!”

”Ten thousand?” General Cross suddenly spoke.

His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried.

And as his words fell, figures started appearing from every direction—pouring out into the streets, onto rooftops, out of alleys, over broken walls. A sea of humans, dense enough you couldn’t see the end of it, closing the area off until it was airtight.

General Cross’s face was hard, his usual restraint gone.

”This is human territory,” he said coldly. ”You want to play numbers with us here?”

The Flamekin powerhouses’ expressions darkened.

They hadn’t expected these humans—who’d spent days bowing their heads and swallowing humiliation—to suddenly show this kind of spine.

”A swarm of low-tier insects,” Ignar said icily. ”So what if you pack the streets full of them? What difference does it make?”

Ethan laughed, short and cold.

”Funny.” He looked straight at them. ”In my eyes, you’re low-tier insects too.”

He lifted his poleaxe slightly, like the answer was obvious.

”So tell me—what difference does your number make?”

Then he flicked his hand.

The soulless thralls he’d kept hidden finally appeared.

And the lineup that stepped out… made even the Flamekin’s flames stutter.

Dopey—Tier 35.

Elder Corvin—Tier 35.

Elder Gale—Tier 34.

Aeralon—Tier 33.

On top of that were more than a dozen more Stage S-level powerhouses, their auras heavy enough to suffocate the air.

Even the weakest soulless thralls among them were Tier 29.

And that wasn’t counting what Calvin and the others had stored with Ethan.

Altogether, Ethan now had forty-eight soulless thralls.

This—this—was the real reason he dared to stand here and tell the Flamekin to come at him.