Apocalypse: King of Zombies

While Ethan continued absorbing the crystal core, the war outside raged on.

The Stage SSS fighters still hadn’t entered the fray, but as the fighting dragged on, the hatred between both sides only deepened. Many had also profited from the conflict, pushing the war to even greater heights.

By now, it had spiraled completely out of control. Even if someone wanted to stop it, they couldn’t.

Nearly half of the Western Region had fallen, with almost half of its races wiped out by the Outland Beasts.

However, the Outland Beasts attacking the Central Region had also suffered terrible losses once the strongest races joined the battle. They had been driven back into the forests several times.

Neither side had gained a real advantage.

Central Region — The Celestials’ High Hall

”We found them. Those humans are currently in the Eastern Region,” the Celestials Patriarch announced.

”The Eastern Region…” An elder frowned. ”Wasn’t that where the fighting first broke out and started spiraling out of control?”

”That’s right. And before that, those humans first appeared in the Southern Region. Soon afterward, the races there somehow ended up fighting the Outland Beasts. That was what set off this entire war.”

”…”

”So those humans are the ones responsible for all of this?”

”Yes. To be precise, they single-handedly started this war.”

”I thought they were only a group of Stage S fighters. How could they possibly cause this much trouble?”

”According to our latest information, some of them have reached Stage SS. Their abilities are also extremely unusual. They can turn invisible and use spatial-type abilities, so it isn’t that surprising they managed to create this much chaos.”

”It seems they came for revenge. They provoked a war between us and the Outland Beasts to weaken our forces.”

”Unfortunately, we learned the truth too late. The fighting has gone too far. Even if we wanted to stop it now, we couldn’t.”

”Then let them fight. Fewer races may not be a bad thing. Our priority is capturing those humans. We need to know how many more humans are behind them and how powerful they are.”

”Agreed. Humanity is our greatest enemy. Since the fools below can’t get the job done, we’ll handle it ourselves.”

”Should we send someone at Stage SSS?”

”No. They’re currently in the Suncrest Range. If we deploy a Stage SSS fighter, the Outland Beasts may take it the wrong way. That would escalate this war beyond all hope of control.”

”Those humans only have one or two Stage SS fighters, and they’ve only just advanced. A few peak Tier 41s will be more than enough.”

”Very well.”

Eastern Region

Of all the regions, the Eastern Region was seeing the fiercest fighting.

Many of its races had launched direct assaults on the mountain ranges, slaughtering vast numbers of Outland Beasts before they could react. This enraged the Beast Sovereign, who sent a large number of Stage SS Outland Beasts to reinforce the region.

With those reinforcements, the Outland Beasts finally established a foothold and began fighting back.

After several days of war, the various races were eventually forced to retreat.

Now, brutal battles were raging across the entire Eastern Region.

The Galeborn Territory

Led by more than a dozen Stage SS flying beasts, the Outland Beasts of the Suncrest Range had pursued the Galeborn all the way back to their territory.

The Galeborn called in a large number of powerful reinforcements, and the two sides clashed in a vicious battle.

After several days of fighting, the Suncrest Range forces gradually began losing ground. They had suffered too many high-tier casualties, and they were fighting far from their own territory.

Even so, the dozen or so Stage SS flying beasts were formidable. They had almost fought their way into the heart of Galeborn territory.

In the end, Vaelor paid a steep price to bring in several high-tier Stage SS fighters from other races, finally stabilizing the battlefront.

Even then, the two sides remained evenly matched, with neither able to defeat the other.

Vaelor glared at the two Tier 40 Outland Beasts that refused to leave him alone.

”Is this really necessary? You can’t defeat me. Continuing this fight is pointless.”

The two beasts ignored him and kept attacking relentlessly.

”You’re not my target anymore. If you stop now, I swear I’ll never attack the Outland Beasts of the Suncrest Range again. How does that sound?”

Silence.

”What the fuck will it take for you to stop?” Vaelor roared. ”All I want is to kill those humans. I don’t want to fight you!”

”Keep this up, and every Outland Beast down there is going to die!”

”Screech!” one of the birds finally responded. ”We don’t care if they die. Our only goal is to kill you!”

Vaelor’s face went completely dark.

”Fine! Then none of you are leaving here alive!”

With a cold snort, Vaelor stopped holding back.

At that moment, a crack suddenly split open in the space above the battlefield. Several figures emerged from it.

The battlefield was a chaotic mess, but the sight still drew most people’s attention.

When they saw that the newcomers were human, members of the other races stared in surprise.

The Galeborn reacted with fury.

Vaelor and several elders looked ready to burn Chris alive with their eyes.

”Hahaha! I can’t believe you actually dared to come back.” Vaelor stared coldly at Chris. ”Should I call you brave or just stupid? Don’t tell me you thought you could steal more crystal cores like last time.”

Even the two Tier 40 Outland Beasts stopped attacking, watching the unexpected arrivals with curiosity.

Ethan surveyed the battlefield, looking a little awkward.

”Can I say we teleported to the wrong place? Don’t mind us. Keep fighting. We’ll just watch.”

He then led the others backward as if he truly meant it.

Skinny Pete had acquired the memories of a Galeborn guard, so he knew where their territory was located. Ethan had teleported to the coordinates Pete gave him, only to arrive in the middle of a massive battle.

”You think you can leave now? Too late!”

Vaelor snorted and charged straight at them.

The two Outland Beasts stayed where they were. They clearly understood the benefit of letting their enemies fight each other. No matter who won, the outcome would work in their favor.

Ethan shook his head as Vaelor rushed toward them.

”I was going to give you a little more time to show off, but you seem awfully eager to die.”

Vaelor moved with astonishing speed, reaching them in the blink of an eye. A colossal blade of compressed wind took shape in his hand as he unleashed his strongest attack—Tempest Cleave.

Ethan merely glanced at him.

The wind blade dispersed instantly.

”!”

”It was you!” Vaelor stared at Ethan in horror.

He finally understood.

This was the human who had interfered in his battle with the unicorn lord, leaving both of them gravely wounded and allowing someone else to steal the crystal core.

Vaelor’s fury exploded. He glared at Ethan as if he wanted to tear him apart.

”You only figured it out now?” Ethan sneered. ”Too late.”

He appeared directly in front of Vaelor. Black light covered his poleaxe as he swung it down at Vaelor’s head.

Vaelor tried to activate a skill to defend himself, only to discover that he couldn’t mobilize his mental energy. He immediately retreated.

”You think you can escape?”

Light flashed in Ethan’s eyes.

Dominion Gaze!

Vaelor’s mind went blank.

He recovered almost instantly, but that split second was enough.

The poleaxe slammed into his head.

Boom!

Vaelor was smashed into the ground, leaving a massive crater behind.

”!”

Everyone stared with wide eyes, unable to believe what they had just witnessed.

This was Vaelor—the Galeborn Patriarch and a peak Tier 41 fighter. His strength ranked among the top three in the entire Eastern Region.

Wave after wave of Outland Beasts, including two Tier 40s, had attacked him for days without taking him down.

Yet a Tier 39 human had flattened him in a single move!

Who could have believed it without seeing it for themselves?

If not for the blood pooling at the bottom of the crater, they might have thought Vaelor was putting on an act.

Every powerful Galeborn fighter went pale, their eyes filled with disbelief.

”Patriarch! Why didn’t you fight back?”