Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Ethan teleported back to his seat, casually grabbed another handful of popcorn, and started eating like nothing had happened.

”You guys keep fighting,” he said around a crunch. ”Don’t mind us. We’re just watching.”

”…”

The elites of all three races stared at him, speechless.

After this… you still want us to keep going? How?

Up until now, they’d treated the humans like background noise. That was why they’d been willing to throw down right in front of them without a second thought.

But now?

Now they’d just seen a human who could drop a peak Tier 35 Stormkin elder in a single exchange.

Who the hell could keep fighting with that sitting on the sidelines?

”If I’m not mistaken,” Rimekin Elder Eira said suddenly, ”you’re from that human place called Fallen Star City.”

Ethan glanced over, genuinely surprised. ”Oh? You know Fallen Star City?”

”Of course.” Eira’s smile was calm. ”This region only has one human city that hasn’t been occupied by other races. I got curious and asked around.”

”Curious?” Ethan’s grin widened. ”Funny. Sounds more like you were scouting it so you could hit Fallen Star City.”

”Uh…” A flicker of awkwardness crossed Eira’s face. ”No. Absolutely not.”

The truth was, she had considered taking people to check Fallen Star City out. But she’d heard some… rumors. So she didn’t go.

Later, when Isolde invited her to team up against the Stormkin—promising the Frostborn and Rimekin could share Goldcrest City afterward—Eira had agreed.

Now, seeing what Fallen Star City’s people were capable of, she felt nothing but relief.

Good thing I didn’t go.

Tharok wiped blood from his mouth, eyes burning as he looked at Isolde and Eira.

”You’ve both seen what that human can do,” he said hoarsely. ”None of us have a good relationship with humans. If he kills me, you won’t be able to run either.”

His voice sharpened.

”I suggest we put our grudges on hold and deal with the humans first. What do you say?”

Both women frowned.

Honestly, with Tharok wounded, this was the best chance they’d had all day to finish him.

But Tharok wasn’t wrong. If he died here, that human would almost certainly turn on them next.

And neither of them had seen how Tharok got smashed. One moment he was counterattacking, the next he was on the ground bleeding. If they faced Ethan head-on, neither of them could say they had real confidence.

Besides…

Tharok was badly hurt. He wasn’t going anywhere. They could deal with the humans first, then come back and clean him up afterward.

Isolde’s eyes lit up as the calculation clicked into place. She nodded once.

”Fine.”

But right then, Eira spoke up with an easy smile.

”Isolde, I agreed to help you deal with the Stormkin.” She shrugged. ”I never said anything about fighting humans.”

Isolde’s brows drew together. ”What are you talking about?”

”Exactly what I said.” Eira’s tone stayed light. ”The Stormkin offended us, so I was willing to join you against them. But humans haven’t offended me. Why would I fight them?”

She spread her hands.

”And you keep saying you have a bad relationship with humans—you do. We don’t. We never occupied a human city. There’s no ’bad blood’ on our side.”

Eira’s smile turned brighter, almost cheerful.

”So if you want to fight the humans, you two go ahead. The Rimekin won’t be joining.”

Isolde’s face darkened. She hadn’t expected Eira to pull out at a moment like this.

Eira, meanwhile, had her own reasons.

The reason she’d abandoned the idea of visiting Fallen Star City in the first place was a piece of under-the-table gossip: Fallen Star City has a Stage SS ferocious beast.

She couldn’t confirm it. But rumors didn’t appear out of nowhere. And Eira had always been cautious—cautious enough to back off rather than gamble her entire race’s safety on ”probably not true.”

Now she was watching a Tier 32 human drop a peak Tier 35 Tharok in one move.

Her wariness shot straight through the roof.

This fight?

She wasn’t touching it.

”You—!” Isolde snapped, staring at her.

Eira waved a hand, all innocence. ”Hey, don’t look at me like that. That human is only Tier 32. With the two of you, you’ll handle it just fine. I won’t make a difference either way.”

”I looked carefully,” Eira said with an innocent smile. ”That human is the only Stage S over there. The rest are Stage A at most.”

She tilted her head slightly.

”With two of you here, surely that should be enough, right?”

Isolde frowned and swept her gaze over the human side. Sure enough, there was only one Tier 32. None of the others had reached Stage S.

That eased her a little.

”Fine. You don’t have to fight,” Isolde said coldly. ”But once we take this city, the Frostborn will be in charge.”

”Deal,” Eira agreed instantly, nodding without hesitation.

In her heart, she added, If you can even take it.

She had a bad feeling about this. That human felt way too calm—like he genuinely didn’t care about them.

And someone like that only came in two flavors:

Either insanely confident… or clueless.

But Ethan had watched their fight for a long time. He obviously understood exactly what kind of enemies he was facing.

If he knew their strength and still looked that relaxed, then the only explanation was that he had absolute confidence he could handle them.

Maybe the Frostborn and Stormkin had enslaved humans for so long that it had become instinct to look down on them. Even after Ethan showed terrifying combat power, they still believed that if they worked together, they could crush a mere human.

Eira didn’t see it that way.

After hearing that Fallen Star City might have a Stage SS ferocious beast, she’d already been wary. Ethan’s calm only made her more uneasy.

So no—she wasn’t optimistic about the Frostborn and Stormkin at all.

Isolde studied Eira suspiciously. She had the nagging sense that this woman was hiding something.

Ethan, too, flicked a surprised look at Eira.

Smart.

Most Void Realm creatures didn’t just look down on humans—they didn’t even register them as a threat. But Eira clearly wasn’t like that. Ethan could feel it: she didn’t want to provoke them.

During the earlier fighting, Ethan had already pieced together the relationships from their shouting. Eira and the people behind her belonged to the Rimekin, a race the Frostborn had called in to help deal with the Stormkin.

Frostborn and Rimekin looked similar at first glance, but the differences jumped out once you focused.

Frostborn had snow-white hair and skin so pale it looked bloodless, with sharp noses and small mouths—almost doll-like, cold and severe.

Rimekin hair was more silver-white, and their features were closer to humans. They actually had color in their faces, their noses weren’t as knife-sharp, and their expressions didn’t default to contempt.

Even the ”vibe” was different.

Frostborn felt proud to the point of cruelty.

Rimekin felt… casual.

Isolde stared at Eira for a long time, but couldn’t find anything concrete in her expression. In the end, she could only frown and say, ”If you’re not participating, then move aside.”

”Gladly.” Eira didn’t argue. She immediately retreated with her people.

Isolde’s gaze returned to Ethan’s group.

It really was only one Stage S—Tier 32—and the rest were below Stage S.

But there was that soulless thrall too. It had tanked Tharok’s Thunder Strike without a scratch, so it clearly wasn’t weak.

Still… that was it.

Between the Frostborn and Stormkin, they still had more than twenty Stage S fighters combined. There was no reason to be afraid.

As for that human…

Yeah, he was strange.

But he was only Tier 32.

With Isolde’s control abilities locking him down and Tharok’s lightning attacks tearing into him, there was no way he could turn the tables.