Chapter 705: Way too dangerous

BOOOOM!

A deafening explosion ripped through the sky above the Inner City. The ground shook violently, like an earthquake had just hit.

Ethan’s fist came crashing down like a falling star, his Zombie King physique slamming straight into the towering Skywall.

The runes etched into the Skywall began to flicker, pulsing erratically as waves of terrifying energy rippled outward.

Nearby buildings couldn’t withstand the shock—one after another, they crumbled like sandcastles in a storm, collapsing into rubble.

Bit by bit, the runes on the Skywall dimmed and died out in clusters. Cracks started to spiderweb across its surface.

Everyone watching was stunned.

“Wait… is he actually breaking through the Skywall?”

“No way… that’s impossible, right?”

“This Zombie King is insane!”

“…”

As more runes faded and the wall trembled, it looked like it could come crashing down at any second.

But Ethan didn’t stop. He pulled his fist back, energy surging around him again.

“There’s nothing one punch can’t solve. And if there is… then I’ll just throw another.”

The power radiating from him grew even more intense. He was winding up for another devastating blow.

His fist reached its peak, energy compressed to the limit. The moment it was unleashed, the air itself seemed to warp and twist. Space trembled in its path—nothing could stand in the way. It was about to obliterate everything.

But just then, a figure darted in from the side—a woman.

“You wanna break the Skywall? Try getting past me first.”

Her right arm bulged with muscle, almost grotesquely so. She swung a punch straight at Ethan.

He sensed her coming instantly. His fist, originally aimed at the wall, veered off course and met hers head-on.

CRACK—

The two fists collided like colliding comets, like the tip of a spear meeting the edge of a blade. The shockwave was monstrous, blasting the ground beneath them into pieces.

“She’s strong…” Ethan instantly sized her up.

But the woman didn’t flinch. She held her ground, then flexed her arm, muscles retracting as her calves tensed. In a flash, she leapt back, putting distance between them with incredible speed.

The shockwave from their clash slowly faded. Dust and debris settled.

The defenders watching from the wall lit up with excitement the moment they saw her.

“Look! That’s the War Goddess—Serah Vale! Even she showed up!”

“Thank god she got here in time. If she hadn’t, we’d be screwed.”

“Now that she’s here, that Zombie King’s done for!”

“…”

Confidence surged through the crowd.

Clearly, Serah held serious weight in their hearts.

Not long after, Howard arrived with another middle-aged man. They saw Serah go toe-to-toe with Ethan and couldn’t help but be impressed.

“Damn, Serah. Looks like you’ve still got it. Maybe even gotten stronger.”

“I was never old to begin with,” she replied coolly.

Though she was pushing fifty, she looked barely over twenty. As an SSS-rank Awakener, she was still considered young.

To have reached this level of power at her age? That was pure talent—borderline monstrous.

Serah’s ability was unique too—attribute conversion. She could manipulate her muscle cells, switching freely between strength and speed modes.

She was a close-combat specialist, a flawless all-rounder. A true six-dimensional warrior.

“Back in the day… they called me the Alliance’s number one War Goddess,” Serah said, eyes gleaming with pride.

Ethan scanned the area. More human elites had arrived. Besides Howard, there were now two other top-tier powerhouses.

All three of them were SSS-rank.

And behind them, a whole squad of Awakeners had shown up.

The atmosphere was electric. People were fired up—seeing Howard and the other two together was a rare sight, and it meant one thing:

Shit was about to go down.

“I’ll ask you one more time—where the hell is my son?” Howard’s voice was low and cold, his face dark as a storm.

Serah and the other middle-aged man beside her tensed as well. They were locked in, focused—because among the group that had been running with Trent, their own protégés were involved too.

Every eye in the area was fixed on Ethan.

He finally spoke, his tone calm, almost casual. “Didn’t you want him to focus on his studies? So I left him in the lab. Don’t worry—he won’t be running off again.”

“You—” Howard’s jaw clenched so hard it looked like his teeth might crack. Fury surged through him like a tidal wave.

Because now, the lab was overrun with zombies.

And that could only mean one thing.

His son… had turned.

“No… I’ll kill you!”

Howard roared, the pain of a father twisting into uncontainable rage. Heat exploded off him as his Infernal Soulflame Domain ignited once more, his ultra-fire ability surging outward like a living inferno.

The air shimmered with heat. The ground cracked beneath his feet. His fury was a wildfire, ready to consume everything.

Ethan’s eyes flashed red. In response, his Domain of the Dead erupted around him, a wave of deathly energy clashing head-on with Howard’s flames.

The battlefield, which had just begun to settle, was thrown into chaos again.

“Move! Get back!”

“If you wanna live, run—now!”

“This power… it’s insane!”

“…”

The lower-tier Awakeners and Inner City guards scrambled to retreat. This level of combat was way beyond them—just a stray shockwave could wipe them out in an instant.

As the clash escalated, the other man stepped forward, no longer able to hold back.

His name was Gareth Voss—an SSS-rank psychic Awakener, and a terrifying one at that.

“I’ll lock down his Absolute Domain!”

A tidal wave of psychic energy surged from Gareth’s mind, vast and overwhelming, like an ocean crashing into Ethan’s Domain of the Dead.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed. They’re no joke…

Psychic Awakeners were rare to begin with. One at SSS-rank? That was a nightmare.

With Gareth in play, the Domain of the Dead’s power was severely weakened. Its stealth and illusion effects—normally a huge advantage—were nearly useless now.

In Ethan’s mind, Gareth was even more dangerous than Nightbane.

Now he was facing three top-tier human powerhouses—alone. He’d never been in a situation this dangerous before.

Serah’s calves flexed, her muscles shifting as she switched into speed mode.

In a blink, she vanished from sight.

She reappeared right in front of Ethan, faster than the eye could track, her fist already flying toward him.

Her forearm bulged mid-swing, shifting into power mode for maximum impact.

Ethan didn’t dare take it lightly. He raised his arm just in time to block.

BOOM!

The impact sent a shockwave ripping through the air.

But before he could recover, a wave of searing heat came crashing down from above—Howard’s flames, descending like a meteor.

Ethan twisted back, narrowly dodging.

The fire slammed into the ground with a thunderous blast. The sand and stone beneath it turned red-hot, then melted into glass.

That heat… was monstrous.

Meanwhile, Gareth’s psychic pressure kept building, locking onto Ethan’s position and forming barriers to suppress the Domain of the Dead.

“Let’s see how long you can keep running!” Howard shouted, his flames spreading like a wildfire.

Ethan kept blinking through space, dodging every attack with precision—but Gareth’s psychic energy clung to him like a parasite, impossible to shake.

These three weren’t just strong—they had history. They’d been teammates in their younger days, fighting side by side on countless missions. Their coordination was flawless.

This is bad, Ethan thought, his mind racing. Way too dangerous.

Looks like it was time to stop holding back…

…