Apocalypse: King of Zombies

”Come on,” Nerissa said quickly. ”Come with me to the clan first.”

Ethan thought for a second, then shook his head.

”Better not. They’ve already seen us. If we go with you now, Azure Nereids will definitely get dragged into this.”

Nerissa lifted her chin, still confident. ”Relax. In the Southern Region, the other races still give Azure Nereids face.”

”And if there are people from other Regions mixed in?” Ethan asked.

”…There shouldn’t be,” Nerissa said, but the hesitation was already there. ”The Southern Region’s poor. Nothing big happens here. Other Regions don’t usually come.”

Ethan didn’t let her off the hook. ”Then let me ask it this way—does a dimensional rift appearing count as a ’big deal’ on Eldoria?”

”…”

Nerissa went quiet.

Because yeah.

It wasn’t just a big deal. It was the kind of big deal that made entire Regions move.

Ethan saw her expression and understood immediately.

”Go back,” he said, tone firm. ”We’re not going to your territory. I don’t think Azure Nereids can carry this.”

He’d brought Nerissa’s people partly because having locals made things smoother—information, routes, opportunities. But if that convenience came with the price of getting Azure Nereids wiped out, it wasn’t worth it.

They’d treated each other well.

He wasn’t going to repay that by dragging them into a war they didn’t ask for.

Nerissa’s lips parted like she wanted to argue—wanted to insist on hospitality, on responsibility, on pride.

But ”pride” didn’t matter when your entire race could be erased for one bad decision.

In the end, she nodded.

”Alright. Then you be careful.”

Then she added, quieter, ”If you run into trouble later, you can still come to our domain and find us. Azure Nereids territory is a thousand miles north of here. With your abilities, you should be able to reach it without anyone noticing.”

”Got it.” Ethan nodded.

Chris frowned, glancing toward the scouts. ”But they saw us come in together. Even if we split now, won’t Azure Nereids still be implicated?”

”It’s fine,” Nerissa said. ”At worst they’ll ask questions. They won’t attack us over that.”

Ethan’s eyes narrowed. ”I don’t think it’s that simple. You said humans are taboo on Eldoria. If it’s about humans, this won’t end with a friendly interview.”

He paused, then asked something else entirely.

”How do you people usually send messages?”

”Each race has its own secret method,” Nerissa said. ”Some kind of technique to transmit information.”

”Can those methods communicate across races?”

”No. And it’s usually just a simple signal. Nothing like your human ’phones.’”

”So they can’t describe details clearly,” Ethan said, thinking out loud.

”Top-tier races, I don’t know,” Nerissa admitted. ”But for Azure Nereids and most of the Southern Region races, we can only send basic alerts.”

Ethan nodded slowly.

”So those scouts can only report that something happened here,” he said. ”Not exactly what.”

Nerissa frowned. ”That’s right.”

Ethan’s smile thinned.

”Then it’s simpler.”

Nerissa’s eyes widened. ”Ethan—don’t!”

Ethan looked at the group and spoke like he was calling a routine operation.

”Move. Don’t leave a single one.”

Nerissa panicked. ”They can retrieve the last scene seen by the dead from their eyes!”

Ethan waved her off without even looking back.

”Then don’t participate,” he said calmly. ”You and your people stay out of it.”

A cold edge settled into his voice.

”My people will handle the rest.”

And with that, Ethan led Chris and the others straight toward the watching scouts, closing the distance fast.

The scouts were still frozen in shock from seeing humans at all. They hadn’t even finished processing it—let alone imagined these humans would charge them like a hit squad.

On Eldoria, background mattered. A lot.

These people weren’t just random nobodies. They represented their races—especially since a few of them were from higher-tier races from other Regions.

Even if their personal strength was only Stage A, their status was the real shield.

Who would dare lay a hand on them?

Unfortunately for them… they’d just run into a bunch of lunatics who didn’t play by Eldoria’s rules.

Ethan’s group closed in, and the scouts still hadn’t grasped how bad it was. One of them actually called out, voice sharp with disbelief.

”Are you humans?”

”Yeah.” Ethan smiled—and with a quick gesture, had his people fan out and cut off the escape routes.

The scouts’ eyes lit up.

”So humans really still exist…”

”Then there have to be more on the other side of the void passage.” Excitement rippled through the group. ”This is huge—if we report it, it’s a massive merit!”

They were practically vibrating, already tasting the reward.

Ethan’s smile didn’t change.

”Uh… you’re not getting that chance.”

Behind him, dozens of daggers appeared out of nowhere—hovering in a tight formation. Then they shot forward like a storm.

”You dare!”

The scouts’ faces twisted, and they lunged to dodge—

But in the next instant, their bodies locked up.

Stiff. Frozen.

Mia’s Absolute Freeze slammed down.

And the moment they were immobilized, Ethan’s daggers punched clean through their throats.

One after another.

Clean. Fast. Final.

Even as their lives drained out, none of them could understand it.

How could these people possibly dare?

Big Mike lowered his raised hand with a scowl, like he’d been gearing up for a show and the curtain dropped.

”Well, great,” he muttered. ”The lovebirds make one move and the rest of us are just background extras.”

”You can burn the bodies in a minute,” Ethan said flatly.

Then he turned to Skinny Pete. ”Pete. Pull their memories.”

He’d deliberately avoided their heads for exactly this reason.

”Got it.” Skinny Pete nodded.

He walked to the nearest corpse, pressed a hand to its head, and closed his eyes.

A moment later, he opened them and moved to the next.

Big Mike leaned in and whispered, ”That’s it? He already got it?”

”What did you expect?” Chris shot back. ”They’re Stage A trash. How hard could it be?”

”...Okay, fair.”

It didn’t take long. Skinny Pete moved down the line, and one by one, he extracted everything he needed.

When he finally stepped back, his face had gone a shade more serious.

”Boss,” he said, ”you were right. Six of them were from other Regions.”

He counted on his fingers. ”Two from the Central Region. Two from the Eastern. One from the Western. One from the Northern. The rest were Southern Region races.”

Ethan’s eyes narrowed. ”Any of them from a really strong race?”

”Yes.” Skinny Pete pointed at one of the dead—a young man with a hooked nose and metallic bronze skin.

”From his memories: his race is called the Razorborn. Central Region. They have more than ten Stage SS in the clan. And they’ve got three at Tier 41 peak—basically one step away from the top-tier races.”

”Holy shit…” Big Mike’s voice cracked. ”We just got here and we’re already doing this?”

Skinny Pete didn’t even look amused.

”Not just him. Two more—one Central, one Eastern—their clans also have plenty of Stage SS.”

Silence hit the group like a weight.

Someone swallowed.

Then Big Mike let out a rough breath and muttered, half in disbelief, half in dread:

”Great. We just started on nightmare mode.”