Apocalypse: King of Zombies

A smile tugged at Ethan’s lips when the two sides resumed fighting.

He swept his gaze across the battlefield and quickly locked onto a burly Tier 44 fighter.

If I take out another Tier 44, the Outland Beasts should gain a clear advantage.

Ethan teleported beside the Goldenmane Lion fighting the man.

”Hey, I’ll handle this one. Go help the others.”

”You?” The Goldenmane Lion scoffed. ”Don’t make me laugh. Stay back before the shock waves kill you.

”You’ve helped the beast races, so we’ll do our best to keep you alive. Don’t throw your life away!”

”…”

Ethan shook his head helplessly, locked onto the burly man, and pulled him into the Deadlock Dimension.

”?”

The Goldenmane Lion stared blankly at the spot where they had vanished.

It quickly noticed the irregular distortion in the space Ethan had occupied.

”A spatial-type ability?” The lion frowned. ”Is something wrong with that guy’s head? He just reached Tier 42, and he dragged a Tier 44 fighter into a separate dimension? Is he trying to die faster?

”Fuck! We’re out here trying to protect him, and the bastard goes looking for death himself!”

The Goldenmane Lion cursed up a storm but didn’t leave. Instead, it began studying the distorted space, trying to figure out if there was any way inside to save Ethan.

The other Outland Beasts and pinnacle-race fighters had noticed what happened as well.

”Goldie, what happened?” the Titan Mammoth asked with a frown.

”That kid said he’d deal with the Stoneborn brat for me. I told him no, but he dragged the guy into a separate dimension anyway!”

”!”

”Is he trying to get himself killed?” The Outland Beasts frowned.

The pinnacle-race fighters, however, were delighted.

They had thought killing Ethan would be difficult with the Outland Beasts protecting him. They never expected the human to deliver himself straight into the hands of a Tier 44 fighter.

What a pleasant surprise.

While everyone outside assumed Ethan was doomed, inside the Deadlock Dimension…

The burly Stoneborn stared at the unfamiliar space for a moment. When he realized Ethan was alone, disbelief crossed his face.

”Hahaha! I can’t decide whether you’re stupid or simply too ignorant to be afraid. You’ve only just reached Stage SSS. What gave you the courage to trap yourself in here with me?”

”You’ll find out soon enough.”

Ethan smiled, instantly appeared beside him, and swung his poleaxe at his head.

Mockery filled the man’s eyes. He raised his massive hammer to meet Ethan’s poleaxe head-on.

”Absolute Stasis!”

Ethan activated the ability without hesitation.

The hammer froze halfway through its swing, and Ethan’s poleaxe slammed into the Stoneborn’s head.

Boom!

The burly man was sent flying. He crashed into the Deadlock Dimension’s spatial barrier, then fell to the ground.

Ethan rubbed his numb arms and stared at him in shock.

The blow had only left a shallow wound on the man’s head. A little blood seeped out, but it barely counted as a minor injury.

How the hell is his skull this hard?

Ethan had deliberately chosen a Tier 44 opponent because he wanted to see whether his current strength could handle someone at that level.

The result was far beyond his expectations.

A Tier 44 fighter was this powerful?

An Annihilation Strike using sixty percent of Ethan’s mental energy had only opened a small wound.

Was the gap between tiers at Stage SSS really that enormous?

Back at Stage SS, the Deadlock Dimension had allowed him to kill opponents three tiers above himself. It hadn’t exactly been effortless, but he could still handle them without much trouble.

Now, at Stage SSS, he couldn’t even seriously injure someone two tiers above him.

That realization hit Ethan hard.

The Stoneborn had already climbed back to his feet. He touched the wound on his head, his expression darkening.

”Humanity truly has no right to exist. You even possess a time-type ability!

”A weakling who only just reached Stage SSS managed to injure me. Your race can’t be allowed to survive!”

A layer of protective Earthen Armor covered his body.

He waved a hand, and crushing gravity slammed Ethan flat against the ground.

A colossal mountain peak then appeared overhead and plummeted toward him.

Blood trickled from the corner of Ethan’s mouth. The sudden pressure had injured him.

The sheer force of the gravity had exceeded his expectations as well.

As the mountain came crashing down, Ethan looked at the Stoneborn.

Light flashed in his eyes.

The crushing gravity vanished instantly.

Ethan teleported away.

Boom!

The mountain smashed into the ground, shaking the entire Deadlock Dimension.

Ethan tossed a crystal core into his mouth and watched the Stoneborn with a grave expression.

He still had Dopey as a trump card, so he wasn’t afraid of losing.

But he didn’t want to use Dopey so soon.

He wanted to find out whether he could kill this man by going all out himself.

The Stoneborn, meanwhile, stared at Ethan in astonishment.

Ethan’s abilities had completely shaken him.

Spatial-type abilities. A time-type ability. An immensely powerful attack. And now a sealing ability.

He could no longer mobilize his mental energy at all.

How could one person possess so many terrifying abilities?

The Stoneborn was shocked—and deeply afraid.

The humans of the past had been powerful, but even they had never produced a monster like this.

Why did every one of this man’s abilities have to be both incredibly rare and absurdly powerful?

Weren’t human abilities supposed to be random? How could random chance create something this monstrous?

If every human in Ethan’s world was like him, then there would be no point in fighting. The Eldoria races might as well surrender now.

No. That’s impossible.

If the humans in his world were truly this powerful, they wouldn’t need to resort to underhanded schemes to provoke a war between the Outland Beasts and our races. They could simply invade the Eldoria Continent and destroy us.

The fact that they’re using these methods proves they aren’t strong. This is the only way they can weaken Eldoria before we reach their world.

The realization reassured him.

He looked at Ethan with a cold smile.

”You went to all this trouble to provoke a war between the Outland Beasts and the races of Eldoria because you’re afraid, aren’t you? You’re afraid we’ll enter your world and wipe out humanity once and for all.

”So the humans in your world aren’t particularly strong after all.

”Unfortunately for you, your plan is destined to fail. This war may cost our races dearly, but once we win, every surviving fighter will have grown far stronger.

”And when the time comes, we’ll enter your world and erase humanity completely!”

”You’re pretty smart,” Ethan said with a smile. ”But what if you lose this war?”

”Lose?” The Stoneborn burst out laughing. ”Do you honestly think killing a few Stage SSS fighters will change the outcome?

”Even if you killed me, it wouldn’t matter. The true outcome of this war will be decided on the Beast Sovereign’s battlefield.

”Once the Beast Sovereign dies, do you really think there’ll be any reason to keep fighting?” he asked with a cold smile.

”!”