Apocalypse: King of Zombies

”Abyron...” Vaelrath stared at him, his eyes red.

Abyron turned to the Dread-Eyed Lion and smiled. ”Vaelrath... I never thought I’d see you again.”

”Abyron...” Vaelrath’s voice choked. ”I searched for you for over ten thousand years.”

”Ten thousand years...” Abyron gazed up at the sky.

”Did we survive the catastrophe?”

Vaelrath shook his head, his expression heavy.

”Once the Stage Mythic fighters appeared, even those at Stage EX were wiped out. The entire world was shattered. Humanity suffered catastrophic losses, and only a small number of survivors were carried into other worlds by the spatial turbulence.”

Grief filled Abyron’s face.

It took him a long time to regain control of himself. Finally, he managed a faint smile.

”It’s all right. At least we’re still alive.”

”Yes.” Vaelrath nodded, his eyes still red.

”How did you find me?” Abyron asked.

”I didn’t. He did.” Vaelrath turned toward Ethan.

Only then did Abyron notice Ethan standing nearby.

For some reason, the young man seemed strangely familiar.

Abyron shook off the feeling and gave him a warm smile.

”So some humans survived after all. It seems you were swept into the same world as us.”

”Dopey... Uh, no, Abyron. My situation is a little different. I’m not from your world. This fragment of your world became a wasteland long ago. I came here from another world.”

The whole situation felt indescribably weird to Ethan. The man before him was the person he knew best—Ethan even knew how much hair he had on his body—yet at the same time, he now felt like a complete stranger.

”Dopey...” Abyron murmured.

”I don’t know why, but you feel familiar. I’m certain we’ve never met, though. Do you know what might be causing it?”

Ethan rolled his eyes.

You followed me around for so long. Of course I feel familiar.

Out loud, he said, ”Maybe it’s fate.”

Abyron nodded and didn’t pursue the matter.

”You said we come from different worlds. Are there humans in other worlds as well?”

”There are, but I suspect they originally came from your world,” Ethan said.

”You don’t know for certain?”

”I’m only in my twenties. You people keep talking about things that happened ten thousand years ago. How would I know?”

”You’re only in your twenties?!” Abyron stared at him in shock. ”Stage SSS in his twenties...”

”Uh... I basically ate my way here on crystal cores.” Ethan scratched his head.

”I see...” Abyron nodded.

”But how did you find me?”

”I came here looking for treasure. Didn’t find any, but I dug you up instead.”

”...”

”Do you remember why you were buried underground?” Ethan asked cautiously.

”Of course.” Abyron’s eyes turned sharp.

”When the catastrophe struck, humanity devoted everything it had to fighting it. But the Hale family took advantage of the chaos to slaughter Beasts and increase their own strength. They even abducted Vaelrath’s mate.”

”I went to persuade them to let her go, but the Hale family patriarch and their elders joined forces and severely wounded me.”

”They imprisoned me underground and attempted to use a ritual circle to turn me into a soulless thrall.”

”As I lay dying, I separated a fragment of my soul essence in the hope that I might one day be resurrected.”

”It seems the heavens took pity on me. I truly have returned to life.”

Abyron turned to Vaelrath.

”What happened to the Hale family?”

”They’re gone. Nearly all of humanity’s great families were wiped out,” Vaelrath said painfully.

The light in Abyron’s eyes dimmed.

He had awakened to a world where his family and his enemies were both gone. It was almost as if he were the only person left in existence.

The loneliness was crushing.

After a while, he looked at Ethan.

”Are there other humans still alive in your world?”

”Plenty,” Ethan replied. ”But that’s only in my world. I have no idea whether the humans who drifted into other worlds are still alive. All I know is that the humans on the continent of Eldoria were exterminated by the local races.”

”Why?” A cold light entered Abyron’s eyes.

”Because they were stupid. Instead of keeping their heads down and building up their strength, they went around trying to be heroes,” Ethan said in exasperation.

”I’m starting to think you ancient humans were all pretty dumb. You included. You were weaker than them, yet you still marched into their territory alone. How was that anything but suicide?”

”What do you know?” Vaelrath shot back. ”The Evercrest family was humanity’s foremost family, and Abyron Evercrest was its heir. There was nowhere in the world of Primora he couldn’t go. Who could have known those lunatics would dare attack him?”

”The world was ending. Who cared which family ranked first? If someone got in the way of me becoming stronger, I’d kill them even if they were a god.”

”You—”

”That’s enough, Vaelrath,” Abyron interrupted. ”He’s right. I was reckless.”

He looked back at Ethan.

”By the way, young man, what is your name?”

Young man...

Hearing Abyron address him that way brought back the same strange feeling.

Ethan shook his head. ”I’m Ethan Cole. You’ll be my little brother from now on, so you can call me Ethan or Boss.”

”You want Abyron to be your little brother?!” Vaelrath’s eyes widened.

”Why not?” Ethan looked genuinely confused. Dopey had always been his little brother.

”I mean... but...” Vaelrath opened its mouth, then found itself at a loss for words.

Abyron wasn’t offended. He only smiled.

”Ethan, I wouldn’t necessarily object, but shouldn’t you at least be stronger than me first? At your current level, you don’t qualify yet.”

”Don’t worry. Surpassing you will be easy. Besides, you can’t use much of your strength right now, can you?” Ethan asked with a grin.

”That’s true.” Abyron smiled bitterly.

”Too much time has passed. This fragment of my soul essence has grown incredibly weak. It will take at least a hundred years for me to return to my peak.”

”Exactly. You can’t beat me right now, and neither can this little lion. I’ll protect both of you from now on, so becoming my little brothers is only fair.”

”Oh?” Abyron looked at Vaelrath in surprise. ”You can’t defeat Ethan either?”

”Well...” Vaelrath looked embarrassed. ”I don’t want to admit it, but my instincts tell me I’d lose badly if we fought.”

”Haha! Interesting.” Abyron laughed.

”But if you want me to acknowledge you as my boss, you’ll need to show me something convincing.”

”That’s easy. Didn’t you say it would take at least a hundred years to recover? I can restore you to your peak in a single night. Would that qualify me to be your boss?”

”Is that true?!” Abyron shot upright.

”Of course.”

”Very well. If you can truly do that, I’ll gladly become your little brother.”

”Haha! It’s a deal.”

A smile spread across Ethan’s face.

He had lost a thrall who obeyed his every command, but in return, he had gained a living person with thoughts and feelings of his own. When he looked at it that way, this wasn’t much of a loss.

More importantly, a thrall’s strength was fixed, while a living person could continue growing stronger.

Abyron clearly had far more potential than Dopey ever had.