Apocalypse: King of Zombies

From a distant peak, Ethan’s group crouched on a mountaintop and watched the battlefield below.

The chaos was a blur of flashing abilities, collapsing trees, and bodies colliding in waves. Even from up here, the roar of it made the air feel hot.

Every face in the Fallen Star Squad was lit with the same kind of excitement.

”Yeah—fight, fight,” Big Mike said, practically vibrating. ”The harder you idiots go, the happier I get.”

Garrick laughed under his breath, eyes gleaming. ”Gotta hand it to the boss. This hate-transfer was clean. Textbook.”

Ethan scratched his cheek, looking a little embarrassed. ”Uh… I honestly didn’t expect them to show up.”

He kept watching the mess below. ”I was still thinking about how to stir things up between them. Didn’t think they’d rush in at that exact moment.”

Chris snorted. ”Then we’ll call it perfect timing.”

Sean grinned. ”This is gonna get Eldoria real lively.”

Ethan’s smile widened. ”Good. The more lively, the better.”

He turned. ”Alright. Let’s hide and power up.”

Everyone nodded.

They found a secluded spot—tight terrain, thick cover, hard to spot from above—and disappeared into it.

This time, Ethan had collected seven Tier 35 crystal cores.

He only needed six.

The last one was perfect for Chris.

Garrick dug them a new hole, quick and efficient. The squad slipped inside, sealing themselves away.

Ethan and Chris started upgrading while the others kept watch.

Central Region…

The Central Region sat at the heart of Eldoria Continent—resource-rich, with dense spiritual energy that made cultivation easier and monsters stronger.

It also housed more than a hundred races.

But you didn’t ”settle” here unless you were somebody.

Any race that could stand its ground in the Central Region was, at minimum, a high-tier race—meaning the clan had to possess at least one Stage SS expert.

Across Eldoria, there were:

24 top-tier races

several hundred high-tier races

over a thousand mid- and low-tier races

Every one of those 24 top-tier races had a Stage SSS powerhouse—some even had multiple.

Those top-tier races clustered in the Central Region’s core lands, while the outer rings were dominated by powerful high-tier races.

Long ago, Eldoria had once had 30 top-tier races.

But in the war against the human race, six of them were crippled—top experts dead, foundations shattered. In the end, they were forced to withdraw from the Central Region entirely, fleeing to other Regions just to survive.

The remaining 24 top-tier races had also paid a heavy price. For years afterward, they rarely showed themselves, focusing on recovery behind closed doors.

But time had passed.

And after so many years of rebuilding… their strength had largely returned.

Inside the core area, within a gilded palace that gleamed like it had been carved out of sunlight, several elderly figures sat in silence.

Their faces were old.

Their eyes were not.

The atmosphere was heavy enough to choke on.

At the head of the hall, an old man in a gold robe finally spoke.

”You all know why I called you here.”

One of the elders below him answered in a low voice. ”We received the report. Humans have appeared again.”

”Is the information accurate?” another demanded immediately.

”It’s confirmed,” the elder said. ”No doubt.”

Silence fell.

Maybe most of Eldoria’s newer powerhouses didn’t truly fear humans anymore. They’d grown up on stories—legends passed down by older generations. Hard to be terrified of something you’d never faced.

But the people in this room had lived through that war.

They knew what humanity looked like when it was cornered.

They knew what it had cost to put them down.

The gold-robed elder’s voice cut through the quiet again.

”How strong are these humans?”

”Based on what we’ve gathered,” someone replied, ”not high. Around Stage S.”

”Where did they come from?” a short, compact elder asked, frowning.

The gold-robed elder’s gaze sharpened. ”I had people investigate. Not long ago, a dimensional rift appeared in the Southern Region. It seemed to connect to another world.”

He paused, letting the implications settle.

”The rift only lasted a day before disappearing. Many Southern Region races sent teams through. None have returned.”

”And these humans appeared at the exact location where that rift first opened.”

His voice lowered.

”If we’re not mistaken, they came from that other world.”

One elder’s jaw tightened. ”So there’s a passage… and the world it connects to is a human world.”

”Yes,” the gold-robed elder said.

”Has anyone returned from that world?” another asked. ”Do we know the state of humanity there?”

”We don’t,” the gold-robed elder answered. ”Which is why we must seize these humans and extract everything they know.”

He swept his eyes across the room.

”Several high-tier races have already mobilized. Three Stage SS have entered the Southern Region and are coordinating with the local races. If the targets are only Stage S… they’ll be captured soon.”

The elders exchanged looks.

Then the gold-robed elder nodded once.

”When they catch them, they hand them over to us.”

”It’s already been arranged,” someone said.

”Good,” the gold-robed elder replied.

Central Region — the other side, Veilmist Range…

Veilmist Range was the most mysterious—and the most dangerous—mountain range on the entire Eldoria Continent.

It stayed wrapped in fog day and night. Visibility was so bad you could barely see your own hand in front of your face. Adventurers from every race went in chasing treasure and legends… and almost none of them ever came back out alive.

That was why it had another name among the races:

A forbidden zone.

There were rumors the Beast Sovereign lived deep within this range.

No one had ever proven it.

No one had ever come back with proof.

Right now, a black roc was tearing through the sky at terrifying speed, arrowing straight toward the range’s heart.

As it neared the deepest part, several enormous birds burst from the fog and blocked its path.

”Kii—!”

(Beast Sovereign’s resting ground. Unrelated Outland Beasts are forbidden to approach!)

The black roc immediately slowed and dipped its head.

”Kreee…”

(My lords, I have urgent business to report to the Beast Sovereign. Please announce me.)

One of the massive birds’ eyes sharpened. ”What urgent business could possibly require an audience?”

The Shadowroc King’s voice shook with rage he was trying hard to keep buried.

”Southern Region races have violated the agreement. Stage S and above experts have openly entered Greyspine Range, ambushed and killed our Beast Lord.”

His wings trembled as he forced out the next words.

”And now they’ve sent a huge force to slaughter our kin. There are even Stage SS among them. I beg the Beast Sovereign to judge for us!”

”…What?”

The air turned hot.

The guarding birds’ fury spiked instantly.

”You swear this is true?”

”It’s absolutely true!” the Shadowroc King cried, and to his own humiliation, tears welled in his eyes. ”The battle is still ongoing—our losses are horrific!”

The guards exchanged a look.

Finally, one bird snapped, ”Wait here. I will report to the Beast Sovereign.”

”Thank you!”

A single guard vanished into the fog.

Not long after, it returned—moving faster than before.

”The Beast Sovereign will see you.”

”Yes!”

The Shadowroc King followed the guards deeper into Veilmist Range, slipping through layers of mist so thick it felt like flying through wet cloth.

At last, they reached a still pool hidden among jagged stone.

And there, above the water, it waited.

The Beast Sovereign.

It looked like a colossal python—except it had a pair of enormous wings, and along its belly were four powerful, hooked claws that could tear stone apart.

It could fly.

It could swim.

It could run.

A creature built to hunt anywhere the world had room to breathe.

The instant the Shadowroc King saw it, he dropped to the ground, body flattened in total submission.

”Speak. Stand,” the Beast Sovereign commanded, its voice calm and heavy with authority.

”Yes!” The Shadowroc King scrambled up, then poured out everything that had happened in the Southern Region from start to finish.

He didn’t leave out a single detail.

Especially not Ethan’s words.

He repeated them exactly—every syllable.

When he finished, the pool went quiet.

Then the Beast Sovereign spoke again, still almost disturbingly even.

”Good. Very good.”

”So the agreement was just a lie. A cover.”

”You’ve been treating us like idiots.”

The tone never rose.

But every beast in that place understood what that meant.

The Sovereign wasn’t calm.

It was holding itself at the edge of an explosion.

It inhaled once—slow.

”Those invaders are still in Greyspine Range?”

”Yes,” the Shadowroc King said hoarsely. ”Three Stage SS leaders, and tens of thousands of experts from the various races. They’re slaughtering our kin in Greyspine Range right now.”

”Good,” the Beast Sovereign said softly. ”Very good.”

It lifted its head, and the fog around the pool seemed to shrink away from it.

”Summon Goldenwing King. Tell him to take ten Stage SS birds and fly to Greyspine Range at full speed.”

Its voice turned razor-flat.

”If the report is true…”

”Then I want every foreign race that dared enter Greyspine Range wiped out.”

A pause.

Then the Beast Sovereign added, almost conversationally—

”And while you’re at it…”

”Wipe the Southern Region clean.”

The Shadowroc King’s blood went cold.

But he didn’t hesitate. He bowed so low his beak nearly touched the stone.

”At once, my lord.”