Apocalypse: King of Zombies

High above the ground, two figures tore across the sky at blistering speed.

Up front, Ethan balanced with a dagger under each foot, pushing his telekinetic flight to the limit—testing, just once, whether there was any chance he could shake the thing behind him.

There wasn’t.

No matter how fast Ethan went, the massive ferocious beast behind him followed at the same pace, unhurried and effortless, like it was strolling through a park.

After a few hopeless seconds, Ethan’s shoulders tightened.

…Yeah. That was enough.

He killed the escape fantasy and swallowed the frustration, forcing himself to ”behave” and keep guiding it.

In front of a Stage SSS existence, everything he had—Teleportation, Nullspace Domain, even Absolute Stasis—felt flimsy.

Atlas City — Command Center

Maxwell’s face was grim as he listened to the Satellite Operations Control Center director, Marcus Reed.

”You’re sure that’s Ethan?”

”Positive,” Reed said firmly. ”They’re moving too fast to catch clear facial detail, but the body shape matches. And more importantly—telekinetic flight. On Earth, only Ethan uses it.”

Maxwell nodded. Reed wouldn’t bring a report like this unless he was certain.

He looked around the room. ”The beast chasing Ethan—what Stage do you think it is?”

Silence fell.

After a moment, Gabriel spoke, voice heavy. ”Based on what we’ve learned from the Void Realm captives… only a Stage SSS existence can walk through the air.”

The room went even quieter.

They’d all been thinking it.

They’d seen the Stage SS Glacial Bear—still running on its feet. But this thing? It was walking in midair.

Different tier. Different world.

Reed swallowed, then dropped the second bomb.

”And there’s another critical point. From the satellite track, they’re headed toward Atlas City.”

”!!”

Faces changed instantly.

Charles’s eyes went wide. ”Ethan isn’t planning to drag that Stage SSS monster here and have us intercept it, is he? Does he seriously think we can do that?”

A few people just stared, stunned.

Stage SSS wasn’t even something they dared imagine fighting. Their strength had improved lately, sure—but in front of a Stage SSS ferocious beast, they wouldn’t even qualify as ants.

Maxwell’s expression was just as tense, but his voice was rock-solid.

”If that’s what’s happening, then we cooperate. Fully.”

”But… it’s Stage SSS,” someone said helplessly. ”How do we cooperate?”

Maxwell didn’t hesitate.

”Mobilize every Enhanced in Atlas City Compound,” he said coldly. ”Even if we have to pile bodies, we buy Ethan even a sliver of time to escape.”

His gaze swept the room, sharp and absolute.

”The Atlas Federation can survive without Atlas City Compound.”

”But it cannot survive without Ethan.”

”With him, humanity has a chance. Without him—when the dimensional rifts open again—humans won’t exist anymore.”

”…Yes!” The room answered as one, resolve snapping into place.

When it came to human survival, their stance had never wavered.

Gabriel hesitated, then spoke. ”General Kane… should we notify Miles?”

Maxwell thought for a beat, then nodded hard. ”We should.”

He looked at Reed. ”Contact Miles in Fallen Star City. Tell him everything.”

”Yes, sir,” Reed said immediately.

Fallen Star City…

Miles was buried in the Ritual Circle Compendium, eyes sharp, mind completely locked in.

Ethan had taken the Fallen Star Guard and Fallen Star Corps out again, and nothing major had happened inside Fallen Star City. For once, Miles had actual quiet time—real time—to dig into ritual circles without someone yelling his name every five minutes.

Then his phone rang.

Miles frowned, pulled it out, and saw it was from Atlas City. He answered casually—

And within seconds, his expression tightened.

”You’re telling me our captain is being chased by a Stage SSS ferocious beast?”

”Yes,” the voice on the other end said, dead certain.

Miles’ brow furrowed harder.

”That doesn’t make sense,” he said bluntly. ”If it’s really Stage SSS, the captain wouldn’t even have a chance to ’be chased.’ He’d be swatted dead before he could blink. Why would it be chasing him at all?”

Maxwell’s people only had a rough idea of how terrifying Ethan was, and how much worse Stage SSS would be. In their heads, ”stronger monster” automatically meant ”pursuit.”

But Miles understood the gap way more clearly.

A real Stage SSS didn’t chase.

It decided you died—and then you died.

So this ”pursuit” didn’t add up.

They probably misidentified it, Miles thought at first.

Then he said, ”Send me the satellite shots. Now.”

”Yes.”

A moment later, several images hit Miles’s phone.

He opened them—and his face went stiff.

The photos were blurry, but the silhouette up front was unmistakable.

That was Ethan.

And behind him… a massive beast walking through the air.

Miles didn’t need anyone to explain what that meant. Between his constant communication with Nerissa and everything he’d learned about power tiers, he knew there was only one answer.

”…It really is Stage SSS.”

For the first time in a long while, Miles felt the kind of cold panic he hated.

What kind of cursed luck was this?

Running into a Stage SSS beast wasn’t ”bad timing.”

It was the kind of thing that ended stories.

But Miles forced himself to breathe and looked again—harder this time.

Something felt off.

Ethan was using telekinetic flight.

Miles knew Ethan’s kit better than anyone. If Ethan was truly running for his life, he’d be chaining Teleportation with Absolute Stasis—not relying on telekinetic flight.

And in every photo, the background changed… but the distance between Ethan and the beast stayed almost the same.

If a Stage SSS beast wanted to catch up to telekinetic flight, it would’ve done it instantly.

Which meant…

It wasn’t chasing him.

It was following him.

That realization loosened the knot in Miles’s chest—just a little.

”As long as it’s not a pursuit,” he muttered, ”then with Ethan’s brain, he should be able to get out of it.”

A creature at that level? Miles couldn’t help. No one in Fallen Star City could.

All he could do was pray Ethan didn’t say something stupid and get himself erased.

Then Miles immediately called back and gave a hard warning:

”Don’t do anything reckless. Do not mobilize a suicide interception.”

Atlas City had apparently been planning to pile bodies in front of the beast to ”buy Ethan time.”

Miles almost laughed from sheer disbelief.

That was a Stage SSS beast. Human lives wouldn’t buy Ethan time—they’d buy everyone a faster funeral. If they irritated it, it might swat Ethan dead along with the entire compound, and their ’help’ would become the dumbest joke on the planet.

Maxwell and the others didn’t really understand why Miles was so certain.

But they listened anyway and scrapped the original plan.

After everything that had happened, they trusted Miles’ judgment—and more importantly, Miles was the person who understood Ethan best. If he said ”don’t move,” then he had a reason.

Still…

Even after the plan was canceled, nobody in Atlas City felt relief.

Because one question hung over all of them like a blade:

A Stage SSS ferocious beast…

Could Ethan really survive an encounter like that?