Apocalypse: King of Zombies

The fight didn’t last long. Those Winged Clan powerhouses suddenly scattered and fled—like they’d gotten an order from somewhere.

Even the group that had been hounding Ethan nonstop gave up without hesitation, then turned and bolted into the distance.

Ethan scratched the back of his head. A second later, it clicked. Roc must’ve won on its side of the battlefield. These Winged Clan guys had gotten the message and collectively ran for their lives.

Dopey and Aerisara chased after them and killed a few dozen more, but after that the rest of the Winged Clan had already vanished into who-knew-where. They had no choice but to stop.

The Winged Clan were fast. With this many splitting up and fleeing in all directions, there was no way they could keep them all. Killing some was better than killing none.

Ethan flew back to the main battlefield. When he saw the Winged Clan corpses littering the ground, excitement flared in his eyes.

”Take everything. This is premium food for the mutant beasts.”

Then he started packing every fallen body into his spatial storage ring.

Dopey and the others hadn’t actually killed that many—just a bit over a hundred.

It couldn’t be helped. Dopey was basically one punch per kill, but fighting midair limited it a lot. Aerisara, on the other hand, racked up more.

Once the bodies were collected, Ethan also put away the two soulless thralls into the storage ring. Then he found Henry and Grayson, and the three of them flew toward the direction where Roc had been fighting.

But when Ethan reached that battlefield, there were only corpses on the ground. No Winged Clan elites. No roc.

”Looks like it couldn’t finish them and they got away. Roc probably chased.” Ethan shook his head, then began collecting the more intact corpses into his storage ring as well.

Roc’s attacks were viciously tearing. A lot of Winged Clan had been shredded into pieces, and there weren’t many bodies left whole.

Still, by the end he managed to gather a little over two hundred that were mostly intact—just missing their heads. That didn’t matter.

As for the ones torn into scraps, forget it. Too annoying to collect.

After he finished, Ethan rose into the sky and searched in every direction. Still nothing—no sign of the giant bird, no sign of the Winged Clan.

In the end, he could only drop back down with a quiet sigh.

This battle had hit the Winged Clan hard. The threat they posed had been cut down in one shot.

Not that it was zero—they’d escaped in huge numbers, and even a handful of them flying into some compound would be a disaster.

But compared to the pressure before… it wasn’t even close.

Besides, Roc had its sights on them now. Their days probably weren’t going to be easy, and they likely wouldn’t have the time—or freedom—to keep stirring up trouble everywhere.

Still… what a waste.

He hadn’t been able to turn Aeralon into a soulless thrall.

Once everything was handled, Ethan took the two of them and headed toward Goldcrest City.

Goldcrest City wasn’t far. It was already getting dark, so they’d sleep there for the night. Plus, Grayson was from Goldcrest City—Ethan needed to get him home.

Grayson had been genuinely helpful on this trip, so Ethan gave him a Tier 22 crystal core.

At this point, Tier 22 was all Ethan had left in his storage ring. Any lower-tier cores had already been handed over to Miles.

For Grayson, this whole run had been terrifying—so intense he’d nearly scared himself into a heart attack—but the payoff was absurd.

A Tier 22 crystal core was, to him, a fortune dropping straight out of the sky.

He couldn’t use it yet, but he could take it to the government research center and have it broken down into Tier 18 cores. A single Tier 22 core could be dismantled into more than six hundred Tier 18 cores. Even if they paid the government a ”service fee” of a hundred or so, they’d still walk away with over five hundred Tier 18 cores.

And that meant their squad could, in a very short time, produce more than five hundred Stage B powerhouses.

At that point, Apex Squad could be wiped out with a flick of the wrist.

Never—not once—had the day come where the Apex Squad, the team he’d always feared, suddenly felt like… nothing special.

Maybe this was what it meant to follow a true powerhouse.

A strong person didn’t even have to try. Something tossed casually between their teeth—like a snack—could flip your team upside down and rocket you into a completely different league, turning them into Goldcrest City’s number-one squad overnight.

Grayson couldn’t even imagine how strong Fallen Star City must be.

Maybe any random squad there could crush every squad in all of Goldcrest City without breaking a sweat.

In less than half an hour, Ethan reached Goldcrest City.

The guards on the wall spotted the three of them. At first, their bodies tensed—hands shifting to weapons out of instinct. But once they made out who it was, shock spilled across their faces.

”Excuse me…” The captain of the watch stared at Ethan—standing at the front with Poleaxe nearby—and his voice trembled with excitement. ”Are you Mr. Ethan Cole?”

”Yeah.” Ethan nodded.

”It really is!” The entire group of Goldcrest City guards lit up on the spot.

”Welcome to Goldcrest City, sir. Please, come in. I’ll have someone notify the Commander right away!”

The captain hurried them through the gate with almost comical politeness, then waved a few guards forward to sprint off and deliver the news.

Ethan and the others landed in an open square inside the city.

Grayson turned to Ethan. ”If you ever need anything—anything at all—just say the word.”

”Sure.” Ethan smiled, easy and casual.

Then Grayson headed off toward his squad’s quarters.

Ethan had been to Goldcrest City before—last time, he’d come looking for Skinny Pete’s parents.

It hadn’t exactly ended on a friendly note. On his very first visit, he’d killed their Commander and then left in a hurry.

A lot of what happened afterward had started here. It was also here that he’d first heard there was a way to create soulless thralls.

Looks like the guards had been rotated out. No one was glaring at him like he was an enemy.

Or maybe they were just too scared to.

Because Ethan’s status now… wasn’t even in the same universe as before.

”Ethan!” A rough, booming voice rolled across the square. ”You should’ve told me you were coming. I would’ve had a proper feast ready!”

Goldcrest City’s current Commander, Damien Caldwell, came jogging over with several top officials right behind him, all of them moving faster than their positions suggested they should.

”Last-minute decision,” Ethan said with a grin.

”Your presence is an honor to Goldcrest City.” Damien looked practically giddy. ”Come on, come on. I already had the chefs start cooking. I’m gonna let you try our Louisiana specialty.”

”Alright.” Ethan nodded. ”Let’s go.”

He followed Damien deeper into the compound.

All around them, people watching from the sides hurried to clear a path. Everyone stared at Ethan and Henry like they were celebrities—eyes wide, whispering like they couldn’t help themselves.

”That’s Ethan? Holy crap… I’m actually seeing him in person.”

”Man, if I had even one-tenth of his strength, I’d be set for life.”

”Keep dreaming.”

At the same time, Grayson—who’d returned alongside Ethan—instantly became the hottest name in the entire compound.

People poured toward the Grayfang Squad’s residence in waves, shoving and crowding like there was a limited supply of something. In no time, Grayfang Squad’s place was packed and loud. A bunch of people even straight-up quit their original squads on the spot, trying to transfer over.

Grayson had come back with Ethan. With that connection, Grayfang Squad was going to explode no matter what.

Apex Squad saw it too. Their members’ faces darkened.

At this rate, Grayfang Squad might actually surpass them.

All because their captain had made one bad call.

”Hmph. Just a bunch of opportunists,” Cyrus said coldly. ”In a real fight, they’ll be the first ones to run.”

His eyes were sharp, his mouth curled with disdain. ”Grayfang Squad will never compare to Apex Squad. Even if Grayson makes it to Stage B, so what? In front of me, I can wipe him out with one hand.”