Apocalypse: King of Zombies

The entire Southern Region had been thrown into chaos because of Ethan and his group.

Every major race mobilized. Full-scale searches. They swept through race after race, checking every territory—Azure Nereids included.

But Ethan’s team had Riftwalked in and Riftwalked out. No one on the outside had ever seen them set foot in Azure Nereids lands.

Seraphine cooperated completely, letting the search parties comb through her domain.

Naturally, they found nothing.

And only after they left did Seraphine truly appreciate how decisive Ethan’s people had been.

If they hadn’t killed those scouts at the void passage…

Azure Nereids might’ve been the ones paying the price right now.

Because this wasn’t just Southern Region politics anymore. Other Regions were involved—Central Region had even stepped in. And at that level, it didn’t matter how strong Azure Nereids were within the Southern Region.

Strength didn’t buy you immunity from a Region-wide purge.

Before long, the search teams pulled out of Azure Nereids territory.

But they also left behind an order: Azure Nereids had to send a detachment to join the hunt.

This was a Southern Region matter. Every race participated. No exceptions.

This time, the major races were dead serious.

They were going to find those humans—even if they had to turn the whole region upside down to do it.

While the Southern Region burned itself into a frenzy…

Ethan and his group were still hunting in Greyspine Range.

With Ethan’s True Sight, moving through a mountain range packed with Outland Beasts felt almost casual—like taking a stroll through a market where every stall was marked with a price tag.

And with their small numbers and high strength, even when a beast did spot them, it rarely had time to make a sound before it went down.

Still, after they’d wiped out multiple groups of high-Tier Stage S beasts, Greyspine Range caught on.

The range wasn’t stupid.

Something was hunting.

And it wasn’t leaving tracks you could follow.

Soon, high-Tier Outland Beasts were sweeping the woods and ridgelines, searching everywhere for the intruders.

So yeah—on their very first day in Eldoria, Ethan’s team didn’t just mess up the Southern Region.

They messed up Greyspine Range too.

Outside the mountains, dozens of races were scouring the land for them.

Inside the mountains, countless Outland Beasts were doing the same.

And both sides kept coming up empty.

Because Ethan had too many tools.

True Sight plus Riftwalk meant pinning them down was a fantasy.

In the end, everyone searched for hours.

No one found the humans.

But the mountain range did lose a whole lot of high-Tier Outland Beasts.

From afternoon all the way into the night, more than a hundred Stage S beasts died at their hands.

Every time other beasts heard fighting and rushed over, they arrived too late.

All that remained were bodies—skulls opened, crystal cores gone, the smell of blood cooling in the air.

The news finally reached Greyspine Range’s Beast Lord.

The Stoneplate Behemoth—the Stage SS monster deep in the range.

The moment it heard the reports, rage detonated.

”ROAR…!” Its voice shook the cavern like thunder. ”What nerve. Those insects dare break the agreement in the open—do they think we’re easy prey?”

It slammed a massive forelimb down, stone plates grinding with a sound like mountains collapsing.

”I will report this to the Beast Sovereign. They will pay a price they’ll never forget!”

”ROAR!” The beasts below bellowed back, furious, feeding off their lord’s wrath.

The Stoneplate Behemoth’s eyes flashed with a cold, bloodthirsty light.

”Tomorrow, I will personally take the field. First, I’ll wipe out these arrogant fools.”

Its lips peeled back, and its breath came out hot and heavy.

”Then I’ll lead you down the mountain.”

If not for that so-called agreement, with its Stage SS strength, it could’ve swept through the Southern Region’s races like a storm.

It had honored the deal.

It hadn’t crossed the line.

And now these intelligent beings had broken it first?

Fine.

Then it wasn’t the one at fault anymore.

If they want to tear up the rules…

Then I’ll show them what the rules were protecting them from.

…At the bottom of a narrow mountain ravine, inside a cave.

The Fallen Star Squad was busy patching it up. This was where they’d be spending the night.

After what happened last time—when an Outland Beast with an earth-type ability had burrowed in—Garrick wasn’t taking chances. He compressed the cave walls again and again, packing the stone until it was dense and hard as iron. The idea was simple: make it so the average Outland Beast couldn’t drill its way in even if it tried.

Ethan pulled out more than a dozen crystal cores from his storage ring.

They’d killed over a hundred Stage S beasts today, sure—but only a handful of those cores were actually useful to them.

Whenever they found a high-Tier target, it usually had a whole pack around it, including plenty of Stage S ”little brothers.” They killed those too on the way out. No reason not to—Stage S cores were never a bad thing to stockpile.

Out of the pile in Ethan’s hand, only three were Tier 35.

The rest were Tier 34.

The Tier 35 cores were obviously for Ethan. He wasn’t at Tier 35 peak yet, and he still needed several more Tier 35 cores to get there.

As for the Tier 34 cores, priority went to Chris and Sean—get the two of them up to Tier 34 peak first.

Nobody felt like wasting time ”absorbing” slowly.

They went with the fast method: eat them.

Unless a core was too high-Tier to swallow safely and had to be absorbed, they always preferred devouring. Absorption took forever.

Three Tier 35 peak cores, absorbed properly, would take two or three days.

And right now, the one thing they didn’t have was time.

Sure, absorption could save them a couple of cores’ worth of efficiency… but with those same two or three days, they could just kill more beasts and earn it back.

So they ate.

Not long after, everyone finished leveling.

Ethan: Tier 35 mid-stage

Chris: Tier 34 peak

Sean: Tier 34 mid-stage

Everyone else: still Tier 34 early-stage

With this lineup, as long as they didn’t run into a Stage SS, they could bulldoze almost anything in Greyspine.

They rested in the cave through the night.

Early the next morning, Garrick opened the entrance. The team filed out into the cold mountain air—and the next round of hunting began.

Half an hour later, Ethan’s True Sight found them another pack.

This one had a Tier 35 Outland Beast.

They hit it instantly.

The fight didn’t take long. The squad cleaned out every Stage S beast in the group, dug out the crystal cores, and turned to leave—efficient as always.

Then Ethan stopped.

A sharp, delighted light flickered in his eyes.

The others were about to ask what he’d seen—

When the ground shuddered under their feet.

A deep vibration rolled through the rocks, like something massive was moving through the mountains toward them.

Everyone’s expression changed, the same thought slamming into place at once.

”The Stage SS?” Chris asked, looking at Ethan.

Ethan nodded. ”Yeah.”

They’d been wondering how they were supposed to find it in a range this huge.

Turns out they didn’t have to.

It was coming to them.

And honestly, it made sense. They’d butchered so many Stage S beasts in Greyspine that the ”king” of this place had no choice but to show its face.

The tremors grew stronger.

Then a colossal figure pushed into view.

Its entire body was wrapped in a patterned shell—like layered armor plates fused together. Only its head, claws, and thick legs were exposed.

The shell vaguely resembled a turtle’s… but everything else didn’t.

Especially the head.

That was pure lizard—ugly, heavy-jawed, and built to bite.

Emily’s face twisted. ”God, that thing is ugly.”

”Agreed,” Big Mike muttered.

The Stoneplate Behemoth stopped in front of them.

Its brown eyes locked onto Ethan with icy focus.

”ROAR…!”

The sound slammed through the forest like a shockwave.

Chris’s head tilted slightly, listening.

”Boss,” he said quickly, ”it says we’ve got a lot of nerve—breaking the agreement and coming here to cause trouble.”

Ethan’s grin widened, like he’d just been handed the punchline.

”Agreement? What agreement?” he said lightly. ”Only meatheads like you follow that kind of thing. The major races stopped caring a long time ago.”

He lifted his poleaxe and tapped the blade against his palm.

”It’s been years. Your crystal cores are fully ’grown’ now.”

”So… it’s harvest season.”

”ROAR!”

Die!

The Stoneplate Behemoth exploded into motion, launching itself straight at Ethan.