Apocalypse: King of Zombies

The young man turned his head with visible effort, staring at Chris with disbelief in his eyes.

He couldn’t accept it.

A dignified Stage S powerhouse… getting instant-killed by someone who was only Stage A?

How was that even possible?

”Thud.”

His body hit the floor hard—and the sound snapped everyone in the hall awake.

”Lucan!”

The Luminari powerhouses’ faces changed. Brilliant light gathered in their hands as they started to move.

But the middle-aged man at the head lifted a hand.

A simple gesture.

Everyone stopped.

Then his gaze settled on Ethan’s group, surprise flickering across his features. ”I didn’t expect the human race to still have experts.”

He tilted his head slightly, voice calm but sharp.

”But you—a Tier 32 human—bringing a pack of Stage A kids and daring to walk in here… I don’t know whether to call you brave, or stupid.”

His eyes narrowed.

”If I’m not mistaken, you’re from that one human city that still hasn’t been taken, aren’t you?”

Ethan blinked. ”Huh. You know more than I expected.”

He smiled, cold and confident.

”Yeah. We’re from Fallen Star City.”

”As I thought.” The middle-aged man studied him, gaze cutting. ”Then I’m curious—does your city have even stronger humans? Because with strength like yours… you shouldn’t be able to hold a city.”

”Obviously,” Ethan said, tone lazy on purpose. ”Back in Fallen Star City, Stage SS powerhouses are basically everywhere. Stage SSS monsters show up so often we barely even blink. People like us? We’re small fry.”

”….”

The elder stared at him for a beat, then let out a quiet, humorless laugh.

”So you don’t plan on telling the truth.” His voice cooled. ”Fine. Then we’ll just capture you and interrogate you properly.”

”Capture me?” Ethan’s smile sharpened. ”You don’t have that kind of skill.”

”Is that so?” The elder snorted and flicked his sleeve.

A massive blade of light condensed in midair, huge as a guillotine—and stabbed straight down at Ethan.

Ethan’s eyelid twitched.

A peak Tier 35 attack… he wasn’t about to tank that.

He vanished with Teleportation.

In the same breath, his figure snapped into existence right beside the elder. Ethan’s poleaxe came up in a savage arc, chopping down without hesitation.

Boom—!

A light blade appeared in the elder’s hand and caught the poleaxe head-on.

The clash threw Ethan back several steps, boots scraping.

At the same time, the giant light blade that had been aimed at Ethan slammed into the floor.

The ground cratered instantly, the shockwave cracking the hall’s foundation.

The entire building shuddered—

Then collapsed.

Stone and steel caved in with a roar, dust exploding outward as the fight tore its way into the open. In the next moment, everyone stood on top of the rubble, exposed to the sky.

The commotion drew people from all directions—humans, Luminari, and more Luminari powerhouses rushing in as the news spread.

When they saw Ethan and his group facing off against the Luminari experts, shock rippled through the crowd.

”Wait… those are people from Fallen Star City!” someone shouted.

”That’s Ethan!” a human screamed, voice cracking. ”That’s really Ethan! The hero of the Atlas Federation!”

”Fallen Star City came…”

”They actually came for us!”

The humans couldn’t hold it in anymore. Bodies trembling, eyes turning red, they stared at Ethan like he was the first real hope they’d seen in weeks.

The Luminari around them only sneered.

”Save you? More like here to die,” one of them said coldly. ”In front of our elder, what can a bunch of humans possibly do?”

”Keep laughing,” a Heartland City human shot back, voice shaking with rage. ”In a minute you’ll be the ones crying. Ethan’s here—every last one of you is finished!”

Seeing Fallen Star City’s arrival, the humans of Heartland City compound finally had something solid under their feet.

They already knew Clearford City had been saved.

Humans shared information faster than any Void Realm race ever could—because they had phones.

The Luminari had noticed the devices too, of course… but they didn’t know how to use them. The humans had told them it was for watching ”pretty girl short videos,” and that alone had stunned the Luminari into a kind of baffled awe.

”Ha—haha!” A group of Luminari burst out laughing when they heard the humans talk back. ”They said we’ll be crying—did you hear that?”

They’d already sized up Fallen Star City’s group. Sure, these humans were stronger than the locals… but in front of their elder?

Still ants.

So this is it, some of the Luminari thought, amused. These must be humanity’s top dogs. No wonder these slaves are suddenly so confident—clinging to them like lifesavers.

They had no idea.

In the Luminari ranking, this level of strength didn’t even qualify as impressive.

Humans really were ignorant.

”We’re looking forward to that moment!” the Luminari shouted, laughing even harder—faces full of mockery as the tension in the air tightened, one spark away from exploding.

In the ruins of the hall, Chris and the others had already pulled back. On the Luminari side, the other captains also retreated.

In the shattered center of the field, only Ethan and the Luminari elder remained—locked in a silent standoff.

”A spatial-type ability…” The Luminari elder narrowed his eyes at Ethan. ”That surprises me.”

”I know you’re surprised,” Ethan said, smiling. ”But don’t get too excited yet.”

His smile widened a touch.

”The real surprises are still coming.”

He vanished with Teleportation—reappearing behind the elder—and swung his poleaxe down hard.

Ethan was already set up for the follow-up.

The moment the man turned his head, Ethan planned to pin him with Absolute Stasis and split his skull open in one clean chop.

But—

The middle-aged man disappeared.

At the same time, Ethan felt Nullspace Domain behind him shudder violently… then crack apart like glass.

Ethan’s expression changed instantly. He Teleported away, yanking distance open, then spun to face him.

The Luminari elder hovered in the air now, a pair of radiant wings unfurled from his back, beating gently. His face was openly shocked—like he couldn’t believe Ethan was still standing.

”You… you actually have a space-based defensive ability?!” His expression turned downright colorful.

In that exchange, he’d felt his attack get swallowed by the void. Only spatial-type abilities could do something like that.

And space-based defense was far rarer than ordinary spatial movement.

To have two spatial-type abilities—one of them defensive—was absurd.

”I told you,” Ethan said lightly. ”The surprises come later.”

But his eyes had gone serious.

That move just now… something like Radiant Blink. A short-range burst technique that wasn’t any slower than Teleportation.

Annoying.

Troublesome.

”Yeah, I’m surprised,” the elder said, recovering, voice turning cold. ”But that’s all it is. Surprise.”

Light flashed.

His figure snapped right in front of Ethan, and the light blade in his hand came down like an executioner’s axe.

Fast! Ethan’s heart lurched.

He didn’t hesitate.

Absolute Stasis.

The elder froze mid-strike, locked in place. The edge of the light blade hung an inch from Ethan’s face.

”Bad matchup,” Ethan said, voice flat and sharp. ”I specialize in shutting down flashy tricks.”

Black light flooded his poleaxe.

Ethan swung.

BOOM—!

A low, brutal impact.

Blood burst into the air, and the Luminari elder’s body was launched backward like he’d been hit by a truck. He crashed to the ground hard, sliding through rubble.

Same old routine.

Still disgustingly effective.

Absolute Stasis plus Annihilation Strike—Ethan’s strongest killing combo, the one that had never failed him yet.

Even a Stage SS powerhouse would have to eat that hit. It might not kill them outright… but it would hurt like hell.

A moment later, everything resumed.

Ethan stood with his poleaxe in hand, posture straight, aura sharp enough to cut.

A hundred feet in front of him, the Luminari elder lay on the ground, head soaked in blood. His eyes were crimson, locked on Ethan with pure disbelief, like his mind refused to accept what his body was telling him.

Around them, silence.

The humans were frozen, terrified to breathe.

The Luminari looked like they’d seen a ghost.

Just a second ago, their elder had held the advantage.

So how did he end up slammed into the dirt—just like that?