Apocalypse: King of Zombies

After the Windkin fled, Chris had a group of Flamebirds swoop down and feast on the Windkin corpses. Then he sent Mia back first, along with the two crippled Stage S Windkin.

Those two Windkin were hurt too badly to be dragged around. If they waited, they might die—so they needed to be created into soulless thralls as soon as possible.

Once Mia left, Chris led the others toward the forest Miles had mentioned.

This trip’s main objective had never changed: hunt Outland Beasts. The Windkin were just an obstacle in the way.

They pushed into the forest, searching for about half an hour before they finally spotted Outland Beasts moving between the trees.

So they really are here. Chris’s spirits lifted. He turned to a Fallen Star Guard scout nearby. ”That one we just saw—what Tier?”

”Tier 25,” the scout replied.

”Then Miles picked this place for a reason.” Chris nodded, satisfied. ”Yeah. This area’s a good fit for you guys.”

He glanced at Tyler Hale.

”Go. For the next stretch, this is where you’ll be living.”

”Understood.” Tyler Hale nodded once, then started issuing orders immediately. Units of a hundred fanned out, sweeping through the forest in organized lines.

Chris and the squad didn’t follow.

They stayed where they were, resting and keeping watch.

This was the Fallen Star Guard’s operation. Chris’s group was just the emergency valve—here to deal with anything the Guard couldn’t handle. If an Outland Beast showed up that was beyond them, then they’d step in.

Back at the compound, Mia returned with the two crippled Windkin Stage S fighters. She tossed them to the white-furred ape to eat, then headed into the basement and created the two Windkin into soulless thralls.

Once it was done, she gathered Calvin and the others and hurried back toward the forest where Chris’s team was stationed.

The next few days passed in steady, orderly motion.

On Earth, the fighting never stopped.

Goldcrest City changed hands again—its occupiers were replaced by another powerful Void Realm race, one that wielded lightning-type abilities. The previous occupiers were almost wiped out, escaping with only about half their force.

Goldcrest City did not get peace after changing hands.

The lightning-type Void Realm race that replaced its former rulers was every bit as savage as the race occupying Clearford City. To the humans trapped there, it was simply a new nightmare.

Meanwhile, Heartland City Compound had become a battlefield that never truly went quiet. Its location was too valuable. Almost every day, another Void Realm force arrived, trying to seize it.

Unfortunately for them, the light-type race occupying Heartland City Compound was strong enough to hold. Every challenger so far had been beaten back.

But in this endless cycle of conflict, the ones paying the highest price were still the humans.

Those Void Realm creatures even forced humans to serve as cannon fodder—throwing them into the front lines to soak attacks from other powerful Void Realm forces.

Commander Graham of Heartland City Compound was executed on the spot after he finally snapped and spoke out against them.

When the compounds were merged, most of the other compound leaders had already pulled back from public view before the occupation ever happened. Graham was the exception. He’d been commanding the battle against the Minotaurs when the light-type Void Realm race arrived, so they immediately recognized him as one of the humans in charge.

That left him nowhere to hide.

During that period, the Void Realm creatures used him as a mouthpiece—forcing him to relay orders down to the humans. No matter what they demanded, Graham gritted his teeth and complied.

But when they ordered him to send his own people out as cannon fodder against another powerful Void Realm force… he finally couldn’t swallow it anymore.

That one moment of defiance cost him his life.

The Void Realm creatures never saw humans as people in the first place.

And once they realized humans couldn’t give them the secret to awakening multiple ability types, whatever ”value” humanity still had in their eyes dropped off a cliff.

Now, to them, humans were nothing more than slaves to be used.

That was true in the Atlas Federation… and it was true everywhere else, too.

Aside from a tiny handful of races—like the Azure Nereids, who still maintained relatively decent relations with humans—most Void Realm occupiers did the same thing after taking a human city:

Enslave. Torture. Kill. Humiliate.

Not for strategy.

For entertainment.

In just a few short days, countless humans were broken into something barely recognizable.

And in that living hell, people clung to one desperate hope:

That a human powerhouse would appear—someone strong enough to crush the Void Realm creatures and drag them out of the abyss.

The humans of the Atlas Federation all looked south.

That was where their hope was.

Outside the Atlas Federation, though… most people’s eyes had already gone dull, their hope burned down to ash.

Fallen Star City…

As the only human city that still hadn’t been occupied, Fallen Star City naturally drew plenty of hungry eyes.

A few Void Realm groups had tried to probe and attack over the past two days.

Miles’s response was… almost insulting in how casual it was.

He had people set up grills right at the compound entrance. Meat sizzling, smoke rolling into the air—like it was a festival. Then he ”invited” the Glacial Bear over to eat.

Miles knew better than to outright ask it to defend the city. That beast didn’t even bother acknowledging Ethan most of the time—why would it take orders from anyone else?

So Miles didn’t ask for help.

He just offered barbecue.

And the moment the Glacial Bear showed its face, those invading Void Realm groups turned around and fled like their lives depended on it.

After that, Fallen Star City fell into an uneasy quiet.

Inside a mansion near the city center, a door that had stayed shut for days finally opened.

Ethan stepped out.

He stretched hard, then drew in a deep breath of fresh air like he’d been starved for it.

He’d been sitting there absorbing that crystal core for four straight days. His whole body felt stiff and numb.

But when he checked his strength, a smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

Worth it.

A Tier 36 crystal core had pushed him from Tier 29 all the way to peak Tier 32—three full Tiers.

”A Tier 36 crystal core really is something else,” Ethan said, half impressed, half satisfied. ”That energy was no joke.”

Then his smile sharpened.

”Below Stage SS… I’m not afraid of anyone anymore.”

Miles arrived just in time to catch that line. He lifted an eyebrow. ”Captain, that was dangerously close to bragging.”

”Not bragging,” Ethan said calmly. ”Just stating facts.”

Miles’s expression immediately sobered.

”Then we can move on the other compounds, right?” he asked. ”Those people are living in hell.”

Ethan’s eyes cooled, the warmth in his face vanishing like someone had flipped a switch.

”That was always the next step,” he said. ”No one gets to trample the people of the Atlas Federation and walk away from it.”

”Good.” Miles nodded once, already turning it into action. ”I’ll notify them right away—before they lose hope and do something reckless.”

Ethan frowned. ”Lose hope? What happened?”

Miles’s voice tightened. ”The last few days… under the way those Void Realm creatures have been tormenting them, a lot of people have started resisting. But you know the gap in strength. Resistance just means death.”

”The death tolls in the compounds have been climbing fast.”

Ethan nodded slowly, jaw working like he was grinding something down inside his mouth.

”Then go tell them,” he said. ”Let them know.”

Miles paused. ”By the way—where are Chris and the others?”

”They took the Fallen Star Guard out to hunt Outland Beasts,” Miles replied. ”They’ve been gone for days. They should be back soon.”

Ethan’s gaze lifted, the air around him seeming to drop a few degrees.

”Then call them back,” he said. ”Once they return…”

His eyes flashed with a cold, murderous light.

”…it’s time for the counterattack.”

Those Void Realm creatures had been having it too easy.

It was time they learned—humans weren’t as easy to crush as they thought.

Miles nodded, voice firm. ”Understood.”