Apocalypse: King of Zombies

The Southern Region, in Bloodfang Orc territory—the place where the void passage had opened before.

A dimensional rift suddenly appeared, and several figures emerged from it.

”Haha! We’re finally going home. I’ve missed Miles like crazy,” Big Mike said excitedly.

”Is it really Miles you’ve been missing?” Chris shot back. ”I’m not even going to expose you.”

”…”

”I’ve been ready to go home for a while too,” Sean said with a smile. ”We’ve had to watch our backs every day here. Earth is way more comfortable.”

”Yeah. I miss home too,” the others agreed.

Ethan turned for one last look at the Eldoria Continent, feeling a little emotional.

Honestly, he hadn’t had a clear goal when he first came here. He had only planned to gather more crystal cores to increase his strength while weakening the Eldoria Continent’s various races along the way.

After all, Eldoria was the continent closest to Fallen Star City, which also made it the greatest threat. Anything he could do to weaken it would ease the pressure on the city later.

But even he hadn’t expected things to go this far. The outcome had completely surpassed his expectations.

Fate really was impossible to predict.

”Let’s go!”

Ethan was about to open the void passage when Skinny Pete, who had been silent until now, suddenly reached out to stop him.

”Boss, don’t open it!”

Everyone looked at Skinny Pete in confusion, only to find his expression deadly serious.

Their hearts sank, and they immediately closed ranks.

Ethan sent Dopey to the front while activating True Sight and carefully searching the area.

Skinny Pete would never raise an alarm for no reason. If he looked like this, he had definitely sensed something. There was probably danger nearby.

”Hmph. You’re more alert than I expected. Not that it matters. You’re far too weak to do anything even after noticing us.”

A voice rang out. Two figures stepped out from behind a large boulder nearby.

Ethan’s expression changed the moment he saw them.

The Celestials Patriarch!

And the other Tier 47 fighter among the foreign races—the Gildari Patriarch!

Why are they here?

Ethan quickly figured it out.

They already knew his group wasn’t from the Eldoria Continent, so it wouldn’t be hard to guess that they would eventually return home. They might even have learned that the group planned to leave within the next few days and come here to wait for them.

The pair hadn’t revealed themselves earlier because they wanted Ethan to open the void passage first. Then they could follow the group to Earth. There was no Beast Sovereign there, and with their strength, no one would be able to stop them.

Cold sweat broke out across Ethan’s back.

Thank goodness Skinny Pete’s danger sense had caught them. Otherwise, the two Patriarchs really might have succeeded.

Unfortunately, their current situation wasn’t much better.

They couldn’t handle two Tier 47 enemies.

Ethan glanced discreetly at Chris.

Chris nodded, turned invisible, and quietly retreated.

There was no need to say anything. One look was enough after everything they had been through together.

The two Patriarchs approached the group. The Celestials Patriarch swept a cold gaze over them.

”I never imagined that a few pathetically weak humans could bring so much ruin upon our races. If I’d known this would happen, I would have personally killed you the moment I learned you’d come to the Eldoria Continent!”

”That doesn’t seem fair,” Ethan said innocently, trying to stall for as long as he could. ”How did we bring ruin upon you? You started fighting each other. That had nothing to do with me.”

”Hmph. You know exactly how that war started. And if you hadn’t saved the Beast Sovereign, we would have already defeated the Outland Beasts. You are the reason we’ve been reduced to this. So… you deserve to die!”

The Celestials Patriarch’s face darkened. A Radiant Blade surging with terrifying energy appeared in his hand.

”Open the passage. Otherwise, I’ll show every last one of you what it means to wish you were dead.”

”Hey, no need to get worked up. I’ll open it right now.”

Ethan hurried to the passage’s opening and began fiddling with it.

The Celestials Patriarch frowned at how cooperative he was being.

”Celestials Patriarch, one of them is missing,” the Gildari Patriarch said quietly. ”I searched the area but couldn’t find him. He probably left to alert the Beast Sovereign. We can’t let them keep stalling. We need to act now.”

”I noticed. It doesn’t matter. The Beast Sovereign is still in the Central Region. Even at full speed, it would take him several hours to get here. Do you think these people can survive against us for that long?”

”Of course not.”

”Then there’s no problem. Our priority is leaving the Eldoria Continent. Otherwise, the Beast Sovereign will find us sooner or later.”

”Understood.” The Gildari Patriarch nodded. ”But that brat doesn’t look like he’s opening the passage. He looks like he’s buying time.”

”I can see that.”

The Celestials Patriarch’s face turned livid. He raised his Radiant Blade and stared coldly at Ethan.

”You have one minute. If the passage isn’t open by then, I’ll kill one person. For every additional minute, I’ll kill another.”

”One minute? You think opening a passage between two worlds is that easy? Give me an hour and I might manage it.”

”Do you take me for a fool?!”

The Celestials Patriarch stopped wasting words and swung his blade directly at Mia.

If threats weren’t enough, then it was time to make an example of someone.

But before the attack could land, a figure appeared in front of Mia. A massive fist of energy formed in the air and slammed into the Radiant Blade.

Boom!

The energy fist and Radiant Blade shattered at the same time. Dopey and the Celestials Patriarch were each forced back a step.

The Celestials Patriarch stared at Dopey in shock.

During the battle in Veilmist Range, their attention had been fixed on the Beast Sovereign. None of them had paid much attention to the fighting elsewhere, so they had no idea how strong Dopey was.

They had noticed him just now, but as a thrall, he gave off no detectable energy fluctuations. The Patriarch hadn’t considered him worth worrying about.

He never imagined that this soulless thrall, who had been standing there motionless the entire time, could possess such terrifying strength.

”It seems I underestimated you. So you have a soulless thrall this powerful. No wonder you managed to throw the entire Eldoria Continent into chaos.”

His voice turned colder.

”But do you really think one soulless thrall is enough to stop both of us?”

”Damn, you play dirty, don’t you?” Ethan complained. ”I’m already opening the passage for you, and you’re still attacking us? You planning to stay in Eldoria after all?”

”Hmph. Do you really think I can’t see through you? That spatial-type ability of yours can open a void passage directly. You’re deliberately stalling until the Beast Sovereign arrives!”

”But don’t worry. I won’t give you that chance.”

”Open it now, or I’ll kill everyone else!”

”Like hell you will! You think I’m scared of you?!” Big Mike suddenly stepped forward and challenged him.

Ethan: ”???”

Everyone else: ”!!?”

The Celestials Patriarch: ”!!!”