Apocalypse: King of Zombies

After killing dozens of Stage SS fighters, Ethan had nearly reached the center of the battlefield. He was about to make his way toward another Stage SS clash when the sounds of battle high above caught his attention.

Stage SSS fighters!

He recognized the level of both combatants almost instantly.

Ethan’s blood heated.

He had risked coming to the Central Region precisely to collect more crystal cores.

Stage SS crystal cores were no longer enough to excite him. His real targets were Stage SSS cores.

He had only just reached Stage SSS, but with his abilities, ordinary Tier 42 or Tier 43 opponents shouldn’t pose any problem. Even if he encountered a Tier 44, he could drag them into the Deadlock Dimension and kill them there.

And if that still wasn’t enough, he had Dopey.

As long as the enemy wasn’t Tier 46 or higher, Ethan was confident he could take them.

The two fighters battling in the distance didn’t seem far beyond his own level. If he intervened, he should be able to finish them quickly.

But Stage SSS fighters weren’t like the opponents he had killed so far.

The moment he killed those two, every other Stage SSS fighter on the battlefield would notice.

Then they might stop fighting one another and join forces to eliminate him first.

After all, if Ethan made a move, he would have to kill both combatants. That meant offending both sides. If they suddenly called a truce to deal with him, he’d be in serious trouble.

Ethan hesitated.

There was another option: help the Outland Beasts destroy the intelligent races.

The Eldoria races were humanity’s true enemies. As far as the Outland Beasts were concerned, humans were probably no different from any of the other intelligent races.

If the Outland Beasts won this war, they would indirectly eliminate an enormous threat to Earth.

Helping them wouldn’t be difficult. Ethan only needed to assassinate several Stage SSS fighters from the pinnacle races. Once the Outland Beasts gained the upper hand, they might even wipe out their enemies completely.

But the Eldoria Continent wasn’t humanity’s only threat.

When the dimensional rift opened again, countless races from multiple continents would flood into Earth. There would undoubtedly be Stage SSS fighters among them.

If Ethan wanted to defend the Atlas Federation against an invasion like that, he needed far more strength than he possessed now.

And the fastest way to grow stronger was through crystal cores.

But obtaining Stage SSS crystal cores meant killing Stage SSS Outland Beasts, and doing that would make an enemy of the beast races.

After thinking it over for a long time, Ethan gritted his teeth and gave up on collecting more cores for now.

He would deal with the pinnacle races first.

This wasn’t the time to antagonize both sides. If they both decided to kill him before resuming their war, he would be finished.

So he could only target one faction.

Naturally, that meant killing the intelligent races. Humanity and the Eldoria races were already mortal enemies.

Even if the pinnacle races flew into a rage, the Outland Beasts would still be there to keep them occupied.

More importantly, killing the pinnacle-race fighters meant helping the Outland Beasts. The Beast Sovereign would owe him a favor.

Whether it acknowledged that favor remained to be seen. If it did, perhaps Ethan could convince it to help defend the Atlas Federation.

If it refused, Ethan still wouldn’t lose anything. He could always find a chance to kill a few Stage SSS Outland Beasts, take their crystal cores, and leave the Eldoria Continent with the squad.

Having made his decision, Ethan stopped hesitating and quickly approached the distant battle.

To avoid devastating the forces below, the Stage SSS fighters were battling extremely high in the sky.

Ethan couldn’t attack from the ground. If he wanted to interfere, he had to fly up there.

That was why he had been so reluctant to act.

The moment he took flight, his presence would be exposed.

If he hadn’t gained Temporal Rewind, he never would’ve taken that risk.

Once the pinnacle races discovered him, their Stage SSS fighters might abandon the Outland Beasts entirely and attack him together.

Ethan couldn’t bet his life on the Outland Beasts stopping them.

Logically, they should. Ethan would be helping them kill their enemies. If the pinnacle races wanted him dead, the Outland Beasts had every reason to interfere. Both sides were already at war, and denying the enemy what they wanted was only natural.

But even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance that the Outland Beasts wouldn’t protect him, Ethan could still end up dead.

Without Temporal Rewind, he wouldn’t have dared make a move.

Now things were different.

If everything went wrong, he could simply activate Temporal Rewind and try again.

That was what made the ability so absurdly powerful. It gave Ethan the confidence to take risks he otherwise never would have considered.

No longer hesitating, Ethan rose into the air. Several consecutive Teleportations brought him close to the battlefield.

The two Stage SSS combatants immediately sensed someone approaching and locked their gazes on him.

The intelligent fighter’s face lit up at the sight of Ethan.

He didn’t recognize Ethan or know where he had come from, but the newcomer was unquestionably Stage SSS. More importantly, he appeared to be a member of one of the intelligent races.

Clearly, he had come to help.

The Stage SSS Outland Beast’s expression changed.

The two of them were evenly matched and had fought for a long time without gaining an advantage. If another Stage SSS fighter joined the battle, the beast was finished.

When did they gain another Stage SSS fighter? I’m screwed!

”Which race are you from?” the intelligent fighter called out with a laugh. ”Your timing is perfect! Help me kill this beast, and I’ll ensure your people are given a place among the pinnacle races!”

He knew every Stage SSS fighter from the pinnacle races, and he had never seen this man before.

The newcomer was probably a reclusive fighter from some higher race—someone who had remained at the peak of Tier 41 for years and only recently broken through.

That was the only explanation that made sense. Such breakthroughs were rare, but not unheard of.

The promise of elevating his people to a pinnacle race should motivate him to fight even harder.

”Really?” Ethan approached with an expression of delighted surprise. ”My people can truly become a pinnacle race?”

”Of course!”

”Then if I kill you instead, can we still become one?” Ethan asked with a smile.

”?”

The fighter froze.

Before he could react, Ethan’s poleaxe was already coming down on his head.

”You dare!”

The man roared as terrifying power erupted from his body. Flames surged into the sky around him.

Then light flashed in Ethan’s eyes.

The flames vanished.

”!”

The fighter’s expression changed drastically.

But a Stage SSS fighter’s instincts were nothing to scoff at. The instant he realized he could no longer mobilize his mental energy, he retreated at full speed.

Light flashed in Ethan’s eyes again.

Agonizing pain tore through the man’s soul, and his retreat faltered.

That single instant sealed his fate.

Terrifying black light engulfed Ethan’s poleaxe as it slammed into the man’s head.

Thud!

The Stage SSS fighter’s skull burst like a watermelon, and his body plummeted toward the battlefield below.

”!”

The Stage SSS Outland Beast went completely still, staring at Ethan in stunned disbelief.