Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Tonight, no one would be sleeping.

All across New Atlas, people left their homes and gathered outside, staring up at the sky.

On the rooftop of the Commander’s Residence, the Fallen Star Squad watched with equally grave expressions.

Everyone waited in silence.

At last, the clock struck midnight.

Under their tense gazes, the nine stars of the Nine-Star Dipper slowly appeared. Alongside them came another star, glowing bloodred.

The Crimson Star.

The sight of that strange yet familiar star drew a collective sigh. What had to come had finally arrived.

As The Crimson Star appeared, spatial fluctuations rippled across the Earth. Dimensional rifts began opening one after another.

In countless worlds, hordes of Void Realm creatures had already gathered at the passage entrances, eagerly watching them take shape.

The first time the passages opened, they had been completely unprepared and could only send advance parties to investigate.

This time was different.

They had spent all this time preparing. A newly discovered world had to be explored. Who knew what unexpected treasures they might find?

Many Void Realm creatures who had remained on Earth immediately sent messages back to their respective races.

Most of those messages said the same thing: Earth was overflowing with mysterious energy. Send powerful fighters at once.

The news made the Void Realm’s strongest figures even more eager to visit this new world. Many who had been stuck at the peak of Tier 47 wondered whether they might find an opportunity to break through on Earth.

The thought was enough to draw even the greatest fighters of the various worlds out of seclusion. One after another, they flew toward the Void Realm passages.

While everyone else anxiously watched the rifts open, Ethan looked up at the Nine-Star Dipper and The Crimson Star.

He remembered the vision he had seen upon reaching Stage SSS, and a strange thought surfaced in his mind.

Were those really stars?

Why did they seem almost alive?

From the vision, Ethan had inferred that the Nine-Star Dipper had been suppressing The Crimson Star all along.

Then, for some unknown reason, The Crimson Star broke free, triggering Earth’s apocalypse.

It had been suppressed again soon afterward, but it would always break free again before long—and the intervals kept getting shorter.

Ethan could clearly see that the Nine-Star Dipper’s light was growing weaker while The Crimson Star’s was growing stronger.

That couldn’t be good.

He had a feeling that once the Nine-Star Dipper could no longer suppress The Crimson Star, an even greater disaster would occur.

He couldn’t imagine what that disaster might look like. It was already beyond anything he could comprehend.

But one thing seemed certain.

Compared to what was coming, their current disaster might be nothing more than child’s play. Even Stage SSS fighters might not be able to protect themselves.

Ethan shook his head, stopping himself before his thoughts spiraled any further.

First, they had to survive the crisis in front of them. If they couldn’t even manage that, there was no point worrying about something worse.

Miles handed him a large tablet displaying live satellite footage.

Dimensional rifts had appeared all across the Atlas Federation’s territory, including the Void Realm entrances they knew in Riverton City, Atlas City, and Redwood County.

There were many others they had never seen or paid attention to before. The sheer number was enough to make their scalps crawl.

Hundreds of Void Realm passages, large and small, had appeared within the Atlas Federation alone.

How many were there across the entire planet?

Some might lead to lower-level or barren worlds, but there would be plenty of higher-level worlds among them.

”Record the location of every Void Realm passage,” Ethan said.

”The Satellite Operations Control Center is already handling it,” Miles replied.

”Good.”

As the dimensional rifts widened, the Void Realm creatures on the other side grew restless. However, the spatial forces within the passages were still too violent. None of them dared risk entering yet, so they had no choice but to suppress their impatience and wait.

This time, the passages opened much more easily than before.

In only two hours, they were fully open—and even larger than last time.

The moment the dimensional rifts stabilized, countless Void Realm creatures flooded onto Earth.

Even Ethan felt his scalp tingle at the densely packed figures filling the tablet screen.

The entire planet erupted into chaos.

All kinds of voices rang out across the world.

”Hahaha! A brand-new world! The Flamekin will claim our rightful place here!”

”From this day forward, this world belongs to the Nightborn!”

”When the Bloodborn march, nothing survives! Every other race, get out of our way!”

Arrogant proclamations rang out one after another, and war immediately followed.

Creatures from different worlds crossed paths, took one look at each other, and started fighting.

Just as Ethan had predicted, humanity wouldn’t have to face all of them at once.

They were already tearing into each other.

The fighting spread like a plague, plunging the entire planet into turmoil.

The groups that emerged over land were actually the lucky ones.

The truly unfortunate Void Realm creatures came through passages above the ocean.

Many dimensional rifts had opened in the sky over the sea. Any creature below Stage SSS without the ability to fly came raining straight down into the water.

Splash! Splash! Splash!

Countless bodies struck the surface, throwing up spray in every direction. Screams followed almost immediately.

”Ah! Help!”

”Gurgle... gurgle...”

Blood spread across the waves.

Before those Void Realm creatures could even get a good look at this new world, they had already moved on to the next one.

Below the surface, countless sea creatures stared eagerly upward, grateful for nature’s generosity.

New Atlas.

It wasn’t long before the city received its first group of Void Realm visitors.

They were thickly built creatures with dark red skin and muscles bulging across their bodies.

Their eyes lit up when they saw New Atlas’s enormous gates.

”Are the natives of this world living here?”

”Must be. Only natives would bother building such an impressive city.”

”Hahaha! Perfect. From now on, this will be the Crimsonborn’s home in this world.”

”I like that idea.”

”Come on. Let’s see how strong these natives are.”

The group of hulking figures strode directly toward New Atlas.

The city guards soon spotted them and immediately reported the intrusion. At the same time, they issued a warning.

”You are approaching the territory of the Atlas Federation! Trespassers will be killed!”