Apocalypse: King of Zombies

While the Central Region descended into all-out war, the fighting elsewhere began to ease.

The pinnacle races’ true strength had exceeded the Beast Sovereign’s expectations. It was forced to recall every high-tier Outland Beast sent to reinforce the other regions, immediately reducing the pressure on the races there.

The Western Region had been on the verge of complete collapse, but the outbreak of war in the Central Region slowed the Outland Beasts’ offensive and gave the survivors a chance to breathe.

Of the Western Region’s hundreds of races, fewer than a hundred remained.

Those that survived were either exceptionally strong or incredibly lucky.

Every survivor felt as if they’d narrowly escaped death, but no one could celebrate. They knew this reprieve was only temporary. The Outland Beasts could resume their offensive at any time, and they had nowhere to run.

The Aurelians were the only race in the Western Region that wasn’t panicking.

A group of powerful Stage SS fighters was living in their settlement. Any ordinary Outland Beasts that attacked would simply be delivering themselves to their deaths.

Their only concern was that the pinnacle races might discover the humans. If that happened, the entire Aurelian race would be implicated.

Fortunately, the war in the Central Region had grown so intense that the pinnacle races probably had no time to worry about them. That allowed the Aurelians to finally relax.

Back in the Aurelian settlement…

Ethan remained in seclusion, working toward his breakthrough, while Chris continued absorbing crystal cores to raise his tier.

Everyone else had it easy. They spent their days either watching beautiful women dance or teaching them how to play cards.

At first, they had considered going out to hunt more Outland Beasts and collect crystal cores. But nearly all the high-tier beasts had apparently been recalled to the Central Region. They couldn’t find a single Stage SS Outland Beast anywhere in the Western Region, so they eventually gave up.

It was better not to wander around anyway.

If another race spotted them and secretly reported their location to the pinnacle races, they would be in trouble.

The pinnacle races might be occupied right now, but they placed enormous importance on the humans. No one knew whether they might send a Stage SSS fighter directly after them.

So the squad stayed inside the Aurelian settlement and enjoyed themselves.

All they had to do was wait for Ethan to complete his breakthrough. Once he came out, he could take them hunting for crystal cores again.

The days passed.

Finally, on their sixth day among the Aurelians, a tremendous surge of energy erupted from Ethan’s training chamber.

The entire settlement was shaken.

Sean and the others abandoned the dancing without hesitation and rushed outside, gathering in front of Ethan’s training chamber.

Solren and a group of Aurelian elders soon arrived as well. When Solren felt the terrifying energy surging from within, a possibility occurred to him.

Disbelief filled his face.

He turned to Sean and carefully asked, ”My lords… is this…?”

”He’s breaking through. What else would it be?” Sean replied. ”Keep your voices down. Don’t disturb the boss.”

”Breaking through… Then could it really be…?” Solren’s eyes widened.

”Yeah. Stage SSS.”

”!”

Solren and the elders sucked in sharp breaths, their faces filled with shock.

Stage SSS!

That was the pinnacle of power on the Eldoria Continent.

People of their status weren’t even qualified to meet such beings, yet now a Stage SSS fighter was being born right here in the Aurelian settlement.

Ethan wasn’t one of them, but the fact that he had broken through within their territory was enough to earn a place in Aurelian history.

They remembered that Ethan had only been Tier 39 when he arrived.

How had he reached Stage SSS so quickly?

Then they recalled the crystal cores in his possession—including a Stage SSS crystal core.

That thought sent another shock through them.

A Stage SSS crystal core could only be obtained by killing a Stage SSS Outland Beast.

But this group had only been Stage SS.

How could they possibly have killed something at Stage SSS?

Could they really cross an entire Stage and kill a being on a fundamentally higher level?

Impossible.

Stage SS and Stage SSS weren’t remotely comparable. No matter how powerful a Stage SS fighter became, they were still an insect before someone at Stage SSS.

That left only one explanation.

There was another Stage SSS human somewhere on the Eldoria Continent.

Solren exchanged glances with the elders, seeing the same shock in their eyes.

Humanity’s foundations were every bit as terrifying as the legends claimed. Even a small group like this had a Stage SSS fighter behind them.

But that was good news for the Aurelians.

They had already chosen to follow the humans. The stronger the humans became, the better the Aurelians’ chances of survival.

Inside the training chamber…

Ethan’s consciousness once again entered that empty void.

This time, however, something was different.

Instead of countless points of light, nine radiant stars appeared before him.

They were scattered across the void, each shining brilliantly.

Before long, smaller points of light began appearing around them. Compared to the nine stars, these new lights were dim and faint. They remained for only a short while before going out.

More and more appeared, but none lasted long.

Then the nine stars began to move.

They slowly drifted toward one another and formed a strange pattern in the void.

Ethan recognized it immediately.

It was the constellation of the Nine-Star Dipper.

The moment the formation took shape, it seemed to alter the rules of the void. The dim lights stopped going out. Instead, they gradually began to brighten.

More continued to appear until they filled the entire void.

Ethan had no idea what any of it meant.

He tried to examine the lights and identify the skills they represented, only to find that they weren’t skills at all. They were simply points of light, as if the void were showing him the evolution of something.

As he stood there at a loss, the scene changed again.

A brilliant red light appeared without warning, illuminating the entire void.

The other lights immediately began going out, one after another. Many more turned red and hurled themselves recklessly at the Nine-Star Dipper.

Chaos consumed the void.

Under the relentless impacts, the Nine-Star Dipper’s nine stars grew dimmer and dimmer.

Then the remaining lights began devouring and merging with one another.

After absorbing hundreds of millions of lights, they fused into one enormous, dazzling point.

The massive light shot straight toward the red one.

A blinding flash filled the void.

When it faded, the red light was gone. The enormous light had vanished as well.

But in the place where the red light had once hung, a strange new star remained.

The void fell silent again.

Then the entire vision disappeared.

Countless skill lights replaced it, filling the void just as they had every other time Ethan advanced to a new Stage.

But Ethan’s feelings were complicated.

He felt as if he understood what he had just witnessed.

And yet, at the same time, he understood nothing at all.