Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Central Region…

The fighting continued to rage.

The entire region had been devastated, its lands shattered and rivers of blood flowing everywhere.

Every one of the Central Region’s hundreds of higher races had been dragged into the war.

In only a few days, dozens had been wiped out. The survivors had suffered catastrophic losses, and even the pinnacle races had paid a heavy price.

The Outland Beasts had lost even more.

They were fighting in enemy territory, where the intelligent races held the advantage. The Central Region’s races also possessed deep foundations. Once backed into a corner, they could often unleash strength far beyond their usual limits.

The intelligent races could also consume crystal cores during battle to grow stronger. Outland Beasts could do the same by devouring corpses, but they needed time to digest and absorb them. It was far slower than consuming crystal cores.

As a result, the intelligent races’ numbers kept falling, but those who survived were becoming stronger.

The Outland Beasts improved much more slowly. Their superior numbers and powerful bodies had kept them from falling behind so far, but if the war continued like this, they would inevitably lose.

The Stage SSS battlefield was even more vicious.

After several days of fighting, both sides had taken casualties.

The pinnacle races had lost four Stage SSS fighters. Another six had been gravely wounded and could no longer fight. The rest were still battling.

The Outland Beasts had lost three Beast Lords, with seven more critically injured. Their remaining Stage SSS fighters were also still in the fight.

By now, both sides had fought themselves into a true blood feud. Retreat was no longer an option.

The clash between the Beast Sovereign and the four Patriarchs remained the most terrifying battle of all.

Both sides were in terrible condition. Even the Beast Sovereign’s formidable body was covered in wounds from the Thundari Patriarch’s lightning.

The four Patriarchs were equally pale, each of them clearly suffering from serious injuries.

They had all exhausted a tremendous amount of power, yet none showed any intention of stopping.

The four Patriarchs no longer tried to persuade the Beast Sovereign to stand down. The way they stared at it had changed. Their eyes gleamed with obvious hunger for its crystal core.

The Beast Sovereign was eyeing their bodies in much the same way. Perhaps by devouring the flesh of several Tier 47 fighters, it could finally break through the barrier that had kept it from reaching the next Stage.

While the two sides fought with everything they had, a dimensional rift opened inside a mountain range near the Central Region.

A lone figure stepped through.

Ethan looked around at the deserted mountains and relaxed slightly.

It seemed all the Outland Beasts here had gone off to fight.

After accidentally teleporting right into the middle of a battlefield in the Western Region, Ethan hadn’t dared Riftwalk directly into the Central Region this time. Instead, he had chosen a mountain range nearby.

If he teleported straight into the region and happened to appear above the main battlefield, he could find himself surrounded by dozens of Stage SSS fighters.

That would be awkward.

Now that he had reached Stage SSS himself, he understood how sensitive fighters at this level were to spatial fluctuations. If he opened a dimensional rift anywhere nearby, they would notice immediately.

So he would fly the rest of the way.

At Stage SSS, the distance was nothing.

After confirming his direction, Ethan took off toward the Central Region.

A little over ten minutes later, he heard the sounds of battle.

His eyes lit up. He immediately landed and continued toward the battlefield on foot.

Before long, he saw a massive army of intelligent races and Outland Beasts fighting ahead.

Ethan thought for a moment, then grabbed a handful of grass and squeezed out its green juices. He used the liquid to dye his hair, then smeared it over his face and every patch of exposed skin, hiding his most obvious human features.

Powerful fighters could still identify his race through his bloodline and presence, but everyone was too busy fighting to examine every stranger they saw. As long as he didn’t look human at first glance, it should be enough.

Ethan checked himself over.

It wasn’t bad, though the green hair bothered him.

He had no better option. Mia and the others weren’t here, and he hadn’t brought anything useful for a disguise.

Once he was satisfied, Ethan found a spot no one was watching and teleported onto the battlefield.

Just as he’d expected, no one noticed him.

Now that he had reached Stage SSS, he could conceal his presence extremely well. As long as he didn’t attack, no one below Stage SSS would be able to determine his strength.

Ethan moved quickly through the battle, heading toward its center.

The fighters here were too weak to interest him.

The closer he got to the central battlefield, the stronger the combatants would become.

That was where he could quietly pick off valuable targets.

Shock waves from the surrounding battles struck him again and again, but he ignored them. The aftermath of clashes between Stage A and Stage S fighters couldn’t injure him.

After moving through the battlefield for more than half an hour, Ethan finally came across a fight between three Stage SS combatants.

Two Stage SS fighters from the intelligent races were battling a Stage SS Outland Beast.

Everyone else had given them a wide berth, afraid of being caught in the crossfire.

The three seemed to have been fighting for a long time. Their presences were unstable, and all of them were covered in wounds.

A smile tugged at Ethan’s lips.

Stage SS.

Now they were worth the trouble.

He checked the surroundings and confirmed that no Stage SSS fighters were nearby.

Light flashed in his eyes.

Several invisible rays struck the three combatants.

Their bodies suddenly stiffened.

Then all three collapsed.

Soulbane Gaze—direct damage to the soul.

With Ethan’s current Stage SSS strength, killing a few Stage SS fighters was effortless.

He had originally intended to kill only the Outland Beast, take its crystal core, and leave. But that would affect the balance of the battlefield, so he decided to eliminate all three instead.

Before anyone could react, Ethan appeared beside the fallen Outland Beast. He split open its skull, extracted the crystal core, then teleported into another crowd.

By the time the surrounding fighters realized something had happened, Ethan was nowhere to be found.

The nearby Outland Beasts and intelligent races stared blankly.

The three had been fighting just fine.

Why had they all suddenly fallen over?

Had they exhausted themselves so badly that they passed out?

When the others moved closer, they discovered that all three were dead.

The Outland Beast’s crystal core was gone too.

The entire area erupted into chaos.

Still, the disturbance was confined to that small section and had little effect on the overall battlefield.

Ethan continued moving through the war unnoticed.

Every so often, he struck.

The instant he did, he teleported away.

Every attack claimed at least one Stage SS life.

The closer he got to the center, the more Stage SS fighters he encountered—and the more frequently he attacked.

As the number of inexplicable Stage SS deaths continued rising, word finally began spreading across the battlefield.

Every Stage SS fighter felt a chill crawl up their spine. Some even stopped fighting and began scanning their surroundings warily.

Whoever was hiding in the shadows was killing both Outland Beasts and intelligent races.

What the hell did they want?

But while the Stage SS fighters were looking around in fear, Ethan had already set his sights on a new target.

A Stage SSS fighter.