Apocalypse: King of Zombies

When Ethan stepped out of the Deadlock Dimension, the remaining Stage SS birds were already gone, and the powerhouses of the major races were chasing the Outland Beasts down like hounds on a hunt.

”…Why’d they run?” Ethan blurted, genuinely dumbfounded.

By his logic, after losing three companions, those Stage SS birds should’ve gone berserk and started a massacre.

And in that chaos, he could’ve fished in muddy waters and picked off a few more. Even if he couldn’t wipe them all out, he should’ve been able to kill at least half.

Instead, those birds had tucked tail and bolted.

”So damn wasteful.” Ethan let out a long sigh.

Those were Stage SS crystal cores—one after another. And he’d only managed to snag three before it was over.

What a loss.

”Boss…” Chris and the others came up beside him.

”Should we follow them and help chase down the Outland Beasts?”

”Help my ass. We leave first.” Ethan didn’t even think about it. ”Once the top experts from other Regions get here, we won’t be able to walk away even if we want to.”

”Got it.”

While the major-race powerhouses were busy running down the fleeing Outland Beasts, Ethan and his crew quietly peeled off from the main force.

They slipped into a nearby stretch of forest and vanished.

They’d shown up quietly.

And they left just as quietly.

Well—quietly, but not empty-handed.

They’d walked away with three Stage SS crystal cores… and they’d flipped the entire battlefield upside down in the process.

A few people from other races threw wary looks toward the woods, but nobody cared enough to go investigate.

If this had happened earlier, in the thick of the fighting, anyone who deserted would’ve been dragged back and punished on the spot.

But now the Outland Beasts were running for their lives, and the battlefield had turned into a one-sided harvest. Everyone was scrambling to grab crystal cores.

Who cared if a few people slipped away?

Fewer mouths meant bigger shares.

And just like that, Ethan and the others disappeared without a trace.

Once they’d reached a safe spot, Ethan looked around at the group, still puzzled.

”When I was inside the Deadlock Dimension, what happened out there? Why’d those birds all bail?”

”They thought the outlanders deployed a Stage SSS expert,” Skinny Pete said. ”So they ran. Said they were going back to report to the Beast Sovereign. But honestly? I think they were just scared.”

Skinny Pete could understand the languages of the different races, so he’d caught what the bird yelled at the end.

”So that’s what it was.” Ethan nodded slowly, almost amused. He hadn’t expected them to have that kind of imagination.

”Whatever. It’s a shame they got away, but our goal’s still done.”

”And with things like this, even if the experts from other Regions show up, there’s no way negotiations happen anymore.” Ethan’s smile turned a little sharp. ”Those dumb birds will definitely go back and cry bloody murder—with extra spice. When that happens…”

He chuckled under his breath.

”As long as they fully turn on each other, we’ll have plenty of chances to third-party them,” Ethan said.

”Man, I get it now.” Big Mike grinned ear to ear. ”No wonder people love third-partying. This feels way too good.”

”Alright.” Ethan clapped his hands once. ”I’ve got two Tier 36 crystal cores and one Tier 37 crystal core.”

He pointed as he spoke.

”These two Tier 36 cores—Chris and Sean, you each take one. The Tier 37, I’ll absorb myself.”

A Tier 36 core wouldn’t boost him much anymore. Better to pull Chris and Sean up.

But that Tier 37 was a different story. That one was worth keeping.

”Hell yeah!” Big Mike laughed.

Chris hesitated, then frowned. ”Ethan, I only just hit Tier 35. Sean’s still stuck at peak Tier 34. To reach Tier 36, we’ll need a lot more Tier 35 crystal cores.”

”And it feels like Greyspine Range barely has any Tier 35 Outland Beasts left.” Chris looked uneasy. ”Are we switching locations?”

”Yeah.” Ethan nodded without hesitation. ”Even if there were Tier 35 beasts here, we’d still have to move. Once the super experts from other Regions arrive, they’ll sweep Greyspine Range top to bottom.”

He turned his head, eyes narrowing slightly.

”Better to get out early.”

Chris exhaled. ”Okay. Then where are we going? We don’t know this place that well.”

”Let’s go pay the Azure Nereids a visit,” Ethan said.

Chris’s eyes lit up. ”Right. We’ve got acquaintances there.”

”Then move.” Ethan lifted a hand.

With a casual flick, a dimensional rift tore open in front of them.

No dramatic build-up—just a clean, dark slit in the air.

The group dove in one after another, and the rift swallowed them whole.

Azure Nereid Council Hall…

”It’s a mess,” Seraphine groaned, pressing her fingers to her temples like she could physically hold her headache in place. ”This time it’s going to be a full-blown disaster.”

”Matriarch…” one of the elders asked cautiously, voice lowered, ”do you think this was done by those human outsiders?”

”Who else would it be?” Seraphine said, equal parts tired and resigned.

”But… they’re only Stage S.” A couple elders exchanged looks, clearly unconvinced. ”How could a handful of Stage S stir up something this huge?”

Seraphine let out a humorless laugh.

”The day they came to me, they specifically asked about Stage SS Outland Beasts. I told them what I knew.” Her eyes narrowed. ”The very next day, every Outland Beast in the entire Greyspine Range went berserk.”

She leaned forward slightly, gaze sweeping across the room.

”Tell me—under what circumstances do you think all the Outland Beasts in Greyspine Range would riot at once?”

”This…” The elders stiffened. Then one of them sucked in a breath. ”Don’t tell me… they actually killed the Stoneplate Behemoth?”

A stunned silence fell.

Seraphine’s expression hardened. ”That’s the only explanation that makes sense.”

”How is that even possible!?” an elder blurted out. ”Everyone knows the gap between Stage S and Stage SS. Just those few people—how could they kill it in Greyspine Range, surrounded by Outland Beasts?”

He slapped the armrest, agitation rising.

”And that Stoneplate Behemoth’s defense is absurd. Even if it stood there and let them hit it, it wouldn’t die!”

”Elders.” Nerissa spoke up, cutting through the noise.

Her tone was calm, but there was something firm behind it—like she’d already lived through the argument and come out the other side.

”You can’t measure Ethan and his group by common sense. Especially Ethan.” She paused, choosing her words carefully. ”He has multiple spatial-type abilities. His combat power is terrifying. He’s not comparable to an ordinary Tier 35.”

Nerissa’s eyes didn’t waver.

”They really do have the ability to kill a Stage SS Outland Beast.”

After spending two months in Fallen Star City, Nerissa had learned one thing the hard way:

Common sense didn’t apply to Ethan’s team.

If someone told her they’d pulled off the impossible, she’d question reality before she questioned them.

Seraphine nodded slowly. ”I believe Nerissa.”

She drummed her fingers once against the table.

”Only the Stoneplate Behemoth’s death explains the sudden madness in Greyspine Range. And after that first outbreak, we never saw it again.”

Her voice dropped, heavy with certainty.

”If it were still alive, with how intense the fighting got afterward, it wouldn’t have stayed hidden.”

”…That’s true.” The elders looked sick, but they couldn’t find a better answer.

Seraphine’s mouth tightened. ”And then the major races’ powerhouses just happened to enter Greyspine Range right as the Outland Beasts erupted.”

She let out a breath through her nose.

”Throwing gasoline on a fire. The outcome was obvious.”

Her expression darkened further.

”Still… it cost us.” She sounded genuinely irritated now. ”I lost that Azure Nereids team.”

Even if she’d only sent an outer-circle squad to go through the motions, they were still her people.

Losing them still hurt.

”Matriarch…” Another elder leaned forward, eyes wide. ”If that’s the case… then the Stage SS birds—don’t tell me they were killed by them too?”

Seraphine froze.

”This…” She hesitated, and for once her confidence cracked. ”That… probably… isn’t them.”

She wanted to say it was.

Honestly, she almost believed it was—because in the entire Southern Region there weren’t any known Stage SS existences. If multiple Stage SS Outland Beasts were dying, who else even had the qualifications to do it?

But it was too ridiculous.

Even with the highest possible evaluation of Ethan, she couldn’t picture him—under the eyes of that many elites—silently killing several Stage SS birds in succession like they were nothing.

”I don’t think it was them either,” High Elder Maris said, shaking her head. ”Even if they could kill a Stage SS existence, it should’ve cost them everything.”

Her gaze turned sharp.

”But the reports say those Stage SS birds barely left any traces of battle. They were basically killed on the spot.”

Maris’s voice fell into something close to dread.

”Unless a Stage SSS existence made a move… I can’t think of any other explanation.”

Nerissa opened her mouth.

Then she thought about Ethan.

About that damned Deadlock Dimension. About how he could make things vanish—make things die—and leave nothing behind but silence.

And she quietly closed it again.