Chapter 701: Harvest season

The middle-aged man’s face twisted in horror as he instinctively unleashed a tidal wave of psychic energy, forming a dense mental barrier around the area.

But it shattered in an instant.

A far more terrifying force surged outward, swallowing the entire zone in a heartbeat.

BOOM—

The air itself trembled as the Domain of the Dead descended like a hammer from the heavens. The crushing pressure cracked the earth, and the psychic shield Elias had formed was obliterated like glass under a boot.

“AAAHHH—!”

Dr. Elias screamed, clutching his head as a searing pain stabbed through his skull like a thousand needles. His knees buckled, and he nearly blacked out on the spot.

“Dr. Elias!”

“What’s happening?!”

Students rushed to his side, panic written all over their faces.

And then they saw it.

At the heart of that suffocating energy, a figure began to take shape—tall, lean, and eerily composed. His face was strikingly handsome, but cold, detached. He wore a pristine white shirt, untouched by the chaos around him, and his presence radiated something deeply unnatural.

“That’s him… the Zombie King!”

Everyone froze.

The air was thick with dread. Even the most seasoned fighters felt their breath catch in their throats.

City Guards immediately turned their weapons toward him, no hesitation, no holding back.

FIRE!

A thousand beams of crystal core energy lit up the night like a meteor shower, streaking toward Ethan with deadly precision.

But as they neared him, the blasts curved—bent—then exploded harmlessly in the air, as if swatted away by an invisible hand.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The sky lit up with fire, but Ethan stood untouched in the center of it all.

“Not bad,” he murmured, scanning the battlefield with calm, calculating eyes.

The humans had responded quickly. The Inner City’s mobilization was impressive—he was surrounded by elite Awakeners, some of them SS-ranked, and the perimeter was locked down tight.

Whoever was calling the shots wasn’t an idiot.

More City Guards were pouring in from every direction.

Can’t let them box me in, Ethan thought. Time to break through.

Without warning, he moved.

One moment he was standing still, the next he was a blur, charging straight into the human ranks. The Domain of the Dead pulsed around him like a living storm, and the ground cracked beneath his feet with every step.

Debris and rubble disintegrated in his wake. The pressure was so intense, it crushed everything in its path.

To the humans, it was like watching a natural disaster come to life.

“What the hell is that?!”

City Guards screamed in terror. Those caught within the Domain didn’t even have time to react—they simply exploded, their bodies bursting like overripe fruit, blood misting the air in crimson clouds.

Ethan moved through them like a ghost in a white shirt, untouched, unstoppable.

“Dr. Elias! He’s tearing through them like paper!” one of the students cried out.

Elias, still pale and trembling, forced himself upright. His voice was hoarse but certain.

“That’s… that’s an Absolute Domain. He’s an Absolute Domain user!”

Gasps rippled through the crowd.

An Absolute Domain—one of the rarest and most terrifying abilities an Awakener could possess. And this one belonged to a Zombie King.

“Our Crystal Core Firearms are useless against him,” Elias said, his voice urgent. “They might slow him down, but they won’t stop him. We need to deploy the mechs—now!”

As if on cue, the ground trembled.

From the far end of the street, massive figures emerged—fifteen feet tall, hulking Guard Mechs, their alloy bodies gleaming under the searchlights. Crystal core energy pulsed through their frames, forming shimmering shields around them.

Unlike the humans, these machines could withstand the crushing pressure of the Domain.

“DIE!”

The lead mech charged forward, its massive frame surprisingly agile. It raised a fist the size of a car and brought it down like a meteor, aiming straight for Ethan.

The impact would’ve flattened a building.

From the sidelines, the humans watched with renewed hope.

“Finally! The mechs are holding up—just like Dr. Elias said!”

“Yes,” Elias nodded, though his expression remained grim. “If we can break through his Absolute Domain… we might have a chance.”

All eyes were locked on the clash.

The battlefield held its breath.

On the battlefield, Ethan’s slender figure stood in stark contrast to the towering mechanical behemoths around him. A massive metal fist came crashing down from above—yet he didn’t move an inch.

He didn’t need to.

Now that he had a mech in front of him, it was the perfect opportunity to test his current combat capabilities.

“This should be interesting…” Ethan murmured, clenching his fist and raising it to meet the incoming blow.

It was the fist of a Zombie King versus the alloy might of a war machine.

BOOM!

The impact echoed like thunder, as if two mountains had collided. A shockwave exploded outward, sending a blast of wind and debris in every direction.

But then—screeeeech!

A metallic wail rang out, sharp and grating. The mech’s energy shield shattered like glass, and its massive frame was hurled backward, completely outmatched.

The 15-foot-tall alloy monster tumbled across the ground, sparks flying as it crashed through several City Guards before finally skidding to a stop in a heap of twisted metal.

Ethan flexed his fingers, expression calm. “Not bad,” he muttered to himself.

The mech was strong, sure—but it couldn’t withstand a single serious strike from someone at SSS-level.

Behind him, the humans stood frozen, stunned into silence.

He had just punched a mech across the battlefield.

“His physical strength is off the charts!”

“And he’s awakened an Absolute Domain…”

“What level is he even at?!”

Fear rippled through the ranks. The awe was real—but so was the terror.

Dr. Elias stood wide-eyed, his face pale, lips slightly parted as if he’d just seen a ghost.

“No… this isn’t just a Zombie King,” he whispered. “He’s one of the Voidborn Undying… from Necroterra.”

“What?!” the students gasped.

The Voidborn Undying—those were supposed to be myths. Legends from dusty textbooks. No one had ever seen one in the flesh.

“Dr. Elias… are you sure?”

“Almost certain,” Elias said grimly. “His Absolute Domain alone crushed my psychic defenses. And that physical strength… it’s beyond SS-level. He’s likely already broken into SSS.”

Meanwhile, Ethan was still “performing.”

He raised a hand and shattered another mech’s energy shield with a single strike. Then, with both hands gripping his katana, he slashed downward.

The blade sliced clean through the mech’s armor like it was paper, phasing through the alloy and cutting down the pilot inside with surgical precision.

With a casual flick of his wrist, he summoned a spatial storage ring and swept the entire mech—corpse and all—into it.

The whole sequence was smooth, effortless.

To Ethan, it felt like picking cherries. The only difference was these cherries came with a hard shell—like cracking walnuts.

The humans watched in horror, their morale crumbling. Some even forgot to fight, paralyzed by the sheer dominance of the figure before them.

This… this was the pressure of a Voidborn Undying.

But then, a voice crackled through their comms—calm, steady, and commanding.

“Hold him off as long as you can. I’m on my way.”

“Yes, sir!” came the immediate response. The tone in their voices shifted—hope flickered back into their eyes.

Because that voice belonged to none other than humanity’s peak powerhouse—

Howard Hawke.

“Mr. Hawke is coming! We just need to hold out a little longer!”

The words spread like wildfire, reigniting the fire in their hearts. Especially among the Instructors from Pinnacle Academy—each one an elite in their own right. They stood tall, embodying their school’s creed: Never yield. Never retreat.

“Let’s go!”

Energy flared across the battlefield—flames, lightning, shadows, and psychic waves. Every fighter here was at least S+ rank, and they all activated their awakened abilities at once, launching a coordinated assault on Ethan.

He stood at the center of it all, surrounded on all sides.

But his expression didn’t change.

His eyes remained calm. Detached. Almost… amused.

“Harvest season,” he said softly, his voice barely audible over the chaos. “Let’s begin.”

…