Chapter 674: A full-on ecosystem

“Oh-ho? Really now?” Howler’s eyes flared with menace, his face twisting in surprise. He hadn’t expected a lone zombie to stand there and threaten him.

Was this guy for real?

Right now, he was standing at his own front door, backed by a whole horde of zombie underlings. With that kind of backup, he felt untouchable, radiating a fierce, oppressive aura.

“Well then, don’t blame me for what happens next. Get him!”

At his command, the zombie underlings—already snarling like rabid dogs—couldn’t hold back any longer. They let out guttural roars and surged forward like a tidal wave of death.

From Ethan’s perspective, it looked like an ocean of zombies crashing toward him.

But then, the power of his Domain of the Dead pulsed outward—massive, overwhelming, and unstoppable. It spread like a shockwave, shaking the earth beneath him. The ground cracked open in spiderweb patterns, the air itself humming with raw energy.

Every zombie caught in its radius exploded into chunks—limbs flying, torsos torn apart, bodies dropping like flies.

The Domain of the Dead was like a giant grinder, pulverizing everything in its path.

In an instant, no zombie could get within striking distance. A vacuum formed around Ethan, a dead zone where nothing survived.

“Holy shit!”

Howler’s face went pale as he felt the crushing pressure of an SSS-class Zombie King. His bravado vanished in a heartbeat.

This guy was a monster.

Ethan’s figure flickered as he charged forward, cutting through the endless zombie horde like a blade through water. The energy of the Domain of the Dead intensified, thickening the air until it felt like time itself had slowed.

Zombies dropped in droves, their bodies piling up into grotesque mounds.

The whole area turned into a hellish slaughterhouse. Corpses stacked like mountains, blood mist hanging in the air, glowing crimson under the sunlight. Shafts of light pierced through the haze, casting an eerie glow over the carnage.

Ethan’s white shirt remained spotless, not a speck of blood on him. Alone, he had massacred thousands of zombies, turning the battlefield into a scene of utter devastation.

That was the power of an SSS-class Zombie King.

At this level of evolution, low-tier zombies weren’t even a threat anymore.

“Stop! Stop! Everyone stop fighting, now!”

Howler’s voice cracked with panic. The overwhelming force of the Domain of the Dead was only growing stronger, and his underlings were being wiped out faster than he could count. It was way beyond what he could handle.

He threw in the towel immediately.

The zombie horde halted their charge and began retreating, the once-ferocious swarm now backing off in fear. One man—one zombie—had forced them all to retreat.

Ethan stepped forward, now standing face-to-face with Howler.

Howler stumbled back, eyes wide with terror. All his earlier arrogance had vanished.

“Mercy! Please, have mercy! Draconis Citadel’s just a small-time nest, and I’m just a low-level boss! You don’t have to kill me!”

Ethan looked him over, unimpressed. The guy was pathetic. Honestly? Not even as decent as Big Ears.

“So… can I come by your place whenever I want?”

“Yes, yes! Come by anytime, for anything!” Howler nodded frantically.

Ethan gave a small nod. “Hand over the mutant plant.”

“Of course, of course!” Howler scrambled to comply, grabbing the humanoid plant tangled in roots and tossing it forward like it was radioactive. He couldn’t get rid of it fast enough.

The plant creature hit the ground hard. Its smug expression from earlier was long gone. It turned to glare at Howler, face twisted in frustration. “Useless piece of trash!”

“Uh…” Howler froze, looking awkward and a little embarrassed.

Ethan didn’t waste time. His katana came down in a clean arc, slicing into the plant creature.

“GRAAAHH—!”

A shriek tore through the air as its Coreseed was ripped out. The rest of its body immediately began to rot and wither, collapsing into lifeless husks. Its consciousness faded into nothing.

Ethan held the Coreseed in his hand, inspecting it closely. It was a deep green, with faint leaf-like patterns etched inside—mysterious and intricate.

“Time to go plant a tree,” he muttered, turning to leave.

The dense zombie horde around him instinctively parted, clearing a path. Even if they didn’t like it, they couldn’t stop him. They could only watch as he walked away, calm and unbothered.

Ethan stepped over the blood-soaked battlefield, littered with corpses, and soon disappeared from sight.

“Is he gone?” Howler didn’t dare move for a long while. His eyes darted around nervously. Only when he was sure Ethan was really gone did he finally let out a breath of relief.

Around him, his underlings growled low in their throats, seething with frustration.

“This is humiliating! Absolutely humiliating!”

“Howler, we’re just gonna let him walk away like that? If word gets out, the other nests are gonna laugh us to death!”

“…” Howler didn’t seem too bothered. He scratched his head.

“Eh, it’s not like this is the first time something like this has happened in our nest.”

“…” The zombie underlings were speechless.

Howler just shrugged. “Being alive beats being dead. Let’s go tell the boss.”

“…”

Ethan cruised back to the necro-nest aboard his aircraft, the wind slicing past as the landscape of Originis stretched out below him—wild, strange, and full of secrets.

This trip had been worth it. He’d scored a Coreseed, and if that was any indication, this world still had plenty of bizarre and wondrous things waiting to be uncovered.

But for now? Time to plant a tree.

Up ahead, a group of elite zombies had gathered—his top-tier troops, the best of the best.

Ethan scanned the crowd, eyes locking onto a male zombie who looked a little slow on the uptake. “Hey, you. Yeah, you. Come here.”

“Uh… me?” the zombie rumbled, voice deep and dopey, scratching his head like he wasn’t sure what was happening.

The others immediately started egging him on.

“Go, go! Boss is calling you!”

“Bet it’s something good again.”

“Dude, this is your big break—don’t screw it up!”

“Yeah, and when you make it big, don’t forget your brothers!”

The whole squad was buzzing, eyes fixed on the lucky guy, clearly excited to see what was about to go down.

The chosen zombie shuffled over to Ethan and bowed his head respectfully, posture stiff with nervous anticipation.

And just like that, the “coronation” began.

Ethan had done this enough times that it was practically routine. He raised his hand and pressed the Coreseed into the zombie’s skull.

A moment later, a guttural roar tore through the air.

The zombie dropped to his knees, clutching his head, howling at the sky as his body began to mutate at breakneck speed.

But this time, it was different from Sprout or Lil’ Shroom.

No sapling sprouted from his head. Instead, thick roots burst from his body, twisting and curling like living vines. Even his hair transformed—branches now jutted from his scalp, replacing the strands.

Ethan nodded, clearly pleased. “Nice. I like it.”

He gave the newly evolved zombie a name: Gorewood.

From this day forward, the necro-nest would have its own forest.

And once he added vines, flowers, and those red mushrooms into the mix… yeah, it’d be a full-on ecosystem.

…

Meanwhile, back at Draconis Citadel, Howler had returned to report in.

He found his boss and laid it all out—every gory detail.

“That Zombie King was outta control. Crazy strong, too. No idea where he came from. He just rolled into our territory, snatched the mutant plant, and walked out like he owned the place…”

“Unbelievable!” roared the figure seated before him, radiating menace.

Massive, hulking, with jagged fangs jutting from his mouth—this was Umbradrake, the overlord of Draconis Citadel.

His eyes narrowed, glowing faintly as he turned to Howler. “You didn’t tell him I’m The Voidborn Undying? That usually scares the crap outta people.”

“I did!” Howler threw up his hands, looking genuinely offended. “I gave him the full speech. He just… didn’t care.”

“He wasn’t scared?” Umbradrake blinked, stunned.

Of course, he wasn’t actually The Voidborn Undying, but he’d been claiming that title for years. It worked like a charm—kept the neighboring nests in check, made him sound untouchable.

But this time?

This time, it hadn’t worked.

“Why the hell didn’t it work this time…?”

…