The Crimson Count was on the move, heading straight for the Mount Elbert refuge. There was no way the humans could hold him off. And now that heâd shown himself, Ethan had made up his mindâhe was going to hunt him down.
A clash between two Zombie Kings was inevitable. The winner would stand at the top of the world, the undisputed overlord of the undead.
But just as Ethan was about to set out for Mount Elbert, a deep rumble echoed across the pitch-black sky. Tiny points of light began to appear overhead, streaking toward him at breakneck speed.
"What the hell is that?" Ethan narrowed his sharp eyes.
The lights tore across the horizon like a meteor shower, growing denser by the secondâthousands of them, maybe more.
As they got closer, their shapes became clearer. They werenât meteorsâthey were aircraft. Sleek, futuristic, and gleaming with a high-tech sheen, each one bore the red-lettered insignia:
GB
.
"Genesis Biotech!"
"Thereâs so many of them! Are they going all in?"
"What are they planning?"
"..."
Big G and Lilâ B stared up, their savage eyes filled with unease.
Ethan stood alone, unmoving, as the swarm of aircraft came to a halt in the air before him, hovering like a constellation of stars.
One of the ships opened its hatch with a hissâand a figure leapt out.
He dropped from a height of over 700 feet, landing with one hand braced against the ground, steady as a rock.
BOOM!
The earth cracked beneath him, dust and debris exploding outward.
The young man slowly raised his head, revealing a strikingly handsome faceâsharp nose, piercing sapphire-blue eyes that gleamed like gemstones.
But right now, those eyes burned with fury as he locked onto Ethan.
"Finally found you."
"You got here fast..." Ethan muttered under his breath. The man standing before him wasnât humanâhe was LORN, a being who once called himself one of the Starborn Celestials.
And he was here for revenge.
"My true form has descended. So tell meâhow do you plan to deal with me now?"
"Youâd better step aside," Ethan said coldly. "Donât get in my way."
Behind him, the Zombie Horde snarled and growled, their eyes glowing with menace, radiating pure bloodlust.
But LORN didnât flinch. "Hmph! Looks to me like youâre scared to face me. Trying to run?"
Ethan didnât have time for this. His mind was still on Mount Elbert.
ROOOAAARâ
The horde behind him let out a deafening roar. The signal had been given. They surged forward like a tidal wave, bloodthirsty and wild, ready to tear LORN apart.
But LORN stood his ground, unfazed. He was far too powerfulâlow-tier zombies couldnât even scratch him.
A blue aura pulsed around him, radiating an intense, bone-chilling cold. The already freezing night dropped to absolute zero in an instant.
"Frostbound Expanse," he whispered.
A pale blue light spread from beneath his feet, racing across the ground. Everything it touched froze solidâtime itself seemed to stop.
Zombies that came into contact with it froze mid-charge, locked in place like statues. Thick layers of ice formed over them in seconds, turning them into eerily lifelike sculptures.
But they were fragile. One toppled overâand shattered on impact, exploding into shards of ice that scattered across the snow.
LORN had revealed his true power. He was a top-tier ice-type Awakener, known by his title:
Winter Sovereign
.
With a single move, he wiped out thousands of zombies. The entire battlefield became a frozen dead zoneânothing could get close.
Standing in the heart of his Absolute Frost Domain, LORN looked like a god of winter, commanding the storm, radiating overwhelming power.
But thenâanother force surged in.
Stronger. Heavier. Crushing.
It swept across the field like a tidal wave, shattering the hardened ice with explosive force.
Ethan stepped through the storm, his body wrapped in the power of the
Domain of the Dead
. He raised his arm, muscles coiled, and threw a punch straight at LORN.
"Move."
LORN didnât back down. Frost gathered at his fist, and he swung to meet Ethan head-on.
BOOOOOOM!
Their fists collided like colliding comets, unleashing a thunderous shockwave that tore through the air.
The sky screamed. The earth split open. The world around them cracked and crumbled like it was being torn apart by a natural disaster.
"Charge!!"
Big G and Lilâ B roared as they led the Zombie Horde forward, surging past Ethan in a wave of snarling, undead fury.
At the same time, the hovering aircraft above began opening their hatches one after another. From each one, sleek, silver-toned cyborgs dropped down like thunderbolts.
Their heavy, metallic bodies slammed into the ground with bone-rattling force.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The earth trembled with every impact.
The cyborgs landed right in the middle of the Zombie Horde and immediately launched into brutal combat. They felt no fear, no painâjust cold, calculated violence. They were pure war machines.
Among them were the Division Chiefs of Genesis Biotechâelite units with terrifying power.
Meanwhile, Ethan and LORN had just clashed fists, and the result was a deadlock. Neither had gained the upper hand. Ethan had to admitâthis alien wasnât just talk. He was the real deal.
"Die!" LORN snarled.
With a flick of his wrist, a long, razor-sharp ice spike extended from his palm, aimed straight at Ethanâs forehead. The air around it turned frigid, the kind of cold that made your spine crawl.
Ethan reacted instantly. With a sweep of his hand, a pitch-black katana materialized in his grip. He raised it just in time to block the strike.
CLANG!
The blade met the ice spike with a metallic screech. But the cold didnât stopâit crept along the katanaâs edge like a living thing, trying to freeze it solid.
Ethanâs eyes narrowed. He channeled energy into the weapon, and the crimson crystal core embedded in the hilt flared to life. Flames erupted along the blade, roaring to life.
Ice and fireâtwo forces in total oppositionâcollided in a violent burst.
The air around them cracked and snapped, the shockwaves rippling outward like a bomb had gone off.
"Damn, heâs strong..."
"Yeah, anyone who can go toe-to-toe with the boss has to be a monster."
"But wait, wasnât the boss heading to Mount Elbert? Is that off the table now?"
"..."
Big G, Lilâ B, and the other zombies muttered among themselves, watching the battle unfold.
Ethan, though, was already losing interest. He wasnât here to waste time. With a sudden burst of strength, he shoved the ice spike aside and leapt back, vanishing in a blur.
"Trying to run?" LORNâs eyes narrowed.
But he wasnât worried. With the power of his Absolute Frost Domain, tracking Ethan wouldnât be hard.
"Frost Spikes!"
Blue light surged from beneath LORNâs feet, spreading across the battlefield. Massive ice spikes erupted from the groundâeach one over twenty feet tallârising in chaotic, crisscrossing patterns.
From a distance, it looked like a frozen river had come to life, jagged and deadly.
Ethan didnât hesitate. He swung his katana in a wide arc, flames trailing behind the blade like a serpent. The fiery wave fanned out, incinerating everything in its path. The ice spikes shattered instantly, exploding into shards and clearing a path.
But the attack also forced Ethan out of stealthâhis figure flickered back into view.
LORN stood atop one of the towering ice pillars, slowly rising above the battlefield. He looked down at Ethan with a smirk.
"Looks like youâre really trying to run."
"Iâve got other things to do," Ethan said flatly. "No time to waste on you."
"Oh?" LORNâs eyes gleamed. "Then how about thisâyou hand over the spatial key, and maybe Iâll let you walk away."
"Sure," Ethan replied without hesitation, nodding calmly.
LORN blinked, surprised by how quickly he agreed.
Ethan flipped his hand, and a glowing stone tablet appeared in his palmâthe
Star Map
. Three pieces had already been joined together, and six
Radiant Crystals
were embedded in it, pulsing with a brilliant, dreamlike light that shimmered like a living aurora.
It was beautiful. Otherworldly.
And incredibly dangerous.
...