Apocalypse: King of Zombies

”Holy shit! Are you kidding me? We’ve only got one Stage SS! Did they really need to call in a monster like that?” Everyone stared with wide eyes.

”How should I know?” Ethan was just as dumbfounded.

Normally, Tier 37 or 38 would’ve been more than enough to deal with someone who had only just reached Stage SS. Who the hell sent a peak Tier 41 after him? Talk about overkill. Did the Outland Beasts have Stage SS fighters to spare or something?

What Ethan and the others didn’t know was that the unicorn had originally been heading out to deal with Vaelor. It had simply spotted them while passing overhead and decided to wipe them out along the way.

They were just unlucky.

As the unicorn charged toward them, Ethan immediately activated Deadlock Dimension, pulling Chris, the others, and all the soulless thralls inside.

There was no chance of winning. The difference in strength was simply too great. Even if he dragged the unicorn into Deadlock Dimension, they still wouldn’t stand a chance. All they could do was hide for now.

Fortunately, Deadlock Dimension activated with a thought.

When the familiar space appeared around them, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

”Whew... Good thing your Deadlock Dimension is so reliable, Boss. Otherwise, we might’ve all died out there.”

They were only Stage S. A peak Tier 41 Stage SS could kill any of them with a single ability.

”Yeah, this skill is pretty useful,” Ethan said with a smile.

Then—

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A series of violent impacts shook the entire Deadlock Dimension.

”What’s happening?” Everyone jumped.

Ethan’s heart tightened. After a moment’s thought, he realized what was going on.

”That unicorn must be attacking the point where Deadlock Dimension connects to the real world.”

”What?” Chris asked. ”I thought even a Stage SSS couldn’t destroy this space.”

”It can’t be destroyed from the inside, but it looks like it can be attacked from the outside.” Ethan frowned.

This was the first time he had discovered that weakness. Apparently, hiding inside Deadlock Dimension wasn’t completely safe after all.

”Then what do we do? If it breaks through, aren’t we screwed?” the others asked anxiously.

Ethan checked the state of Deadlock Dimension, then relaxed slightly.

”It’s fine. At this rate, it shouldn’t be able to break through anytime soon.”

His frown quickly returned.

”Wait. Emily, use Energy Link on me! Its attacks are draining my mental energy faster and faster.”

Emily immediately linked herself to Ethan and began restoring his mental energy.

Even with Energy Link, however, his expression didn’t improve.

She couldn’t restore it as fast as he was losing it.

Ethan quickly took out a crystal core and tossed it into his mouth, but that still wasn’t enough.

He frowned, then glanced at the others. His eyes lit up.

”Big Mike, I need to borrow your mental energy.”

Without waiting for an answer, Ethan activated Deadlock Dimension’s other function and began draining the mental energy of a living creature inside it.

Big Mike immediately felt his mental energy plummeting. His instincts screamed at him to resist, but he quickly forced himself to relax.

”Boss, why am I always the one you screw over?”

”Because you’re lucky.”

”...”

As his mental energy rapidly recovered, Ethan’s eyes filled with delight.

This ability was incredibly useful.

If he brought enough allies into Deadlock Dimension, he would never have to worry about running out of mental energy in here.

With this, I might even be able to take on a Tier 39. If I have an endless supply of mental energy, I can just keep spamming Annihilation Strike. Let’s see who can stand up to that.

Tier 41 is still out of the question, though. That bastard’s at the peak of Tier 41. Even a full-powered Annihilation Strike probably wouldn’t scratch it, and one hit from it would be game over.

Outside...

The white unicorn was furiously attacking the warped space where Ethan’s group had disappeared.

It had watched them vanish and could see the distortion left behind, so it knew they were hiding inside.

Yet no matter how fiercely it attacked, it couldn’t destroy the warped space. That made no sense to it.

The strongest member of the group was only Stage SS. How could an ability cast by someone that weak withstand its attacks?

Unwilling to accept that it couldn’t break through, the unicorn continued its assault.

Just then, several large birds flew over from the distance and cried out urgently.

”Skree!”

The peak Tier 41 outsider is slaughtering our kin! The Stage SS lords there can’t hold out much longer. Please hurry and reinforce them!

The unicorn frowned. It looked at the warped space, then toward the distant battlefield.

In the end, it beat its wings and shot away.

Its actual target was the peak Tier 41 outsider. It couldn’t afford to waste too much time here.

Before leaving, the unicorn roared down at the beasts below.

”Keep a close watch on this place. Don’t let them escape. I’ll come back after I deal with those intruders.”

The unicorn clearly had no intention of letting Ethan’s group go. A pack of weak outsiders had escaped right under its nose. It couldn’t overlook such an embarrassment.

”Roar...”

But if they come out, we won’t be able to stop them.

The Outland Beasts weren’t completely stupid.

”I’ve already summoned one of my subordinates. It will be here soon.”

”Yes!”

Inside Deadlock Dimension...

When the attacks stopped, Ethan let out a long breath.

In that short time, he had already drained Big Mike’s mental energy dry. If the unicorn had kept attacking, he would’ve had to start draining the others one by one.

”Huh? Why’d it suddenly stop?” Skinny Pete asked.

”No idea. Maybe it got tired,” Big Mike said weakly. He felt completely drained.

”You think everyone’s as weak as you?” Chris rolled his eyes. ”That thing is peak Tier 41. There’s no way a few attacks tired it out.”

”Maybe it realized it couldn’t break through and gave up,” Sean suggested.

”That’s possible,” Ethan said. ”Or it could be baiting us. It might’ve stopped on purpose and is waiting for us to come out.”

Since Deadlock Dimension was an independent space, he couldn’t see what was happening outside. That was a major drawback.

”Then what do we do? Go out or keep waiting?”

”We’ll wait a little longer. If it doesn’t start attacking again, I’ll go out and check.”

”But what if it stays outside the whole time?” someone asked worriedly. ”Wouldn’t going out be suicide?”

”It’s fine. I can use Absolute Stasis. If it’s still there, that’ll give me more than enough time to pull all of you back inside.”

”Right. Boss has nothing but broken abilities.”

”...”