While everyone else went to work on the horde, Ethan flew straight up and activated
True Sight
, scanning the battlefield from high altitude.
The zombies were trying to run, but their speed was a joke compared to Flamebirds.
And a tide this big didnât exactly "escape" cleanly. No matter how hard they scattered, there were simply too many bodies and too much chaos.
This time, Ethan had made up his mind: he was dragging that Zombie King out into the open.
Even if it ran to the ends of the earth.
Ethan held grudges like a professional.
Down below, the battle was pure slaughter.
The zombie count was terrifying, sureâbut Fallen Star Cityâs side was just too strong.
Fallen Star Guard:
all at peak
Tier 22
, with some squad leaders already at
Tier 23
Fallen Star Corps:
all at peak
Tier 19
, with a small portion already reaching
Tier 20
Flamebirds:
mostly
Tier 19 to Tier 21
On the zombie side?
The highest was only
Tier 19
.
The gap was ridiculousâso ridiculous that numbers couldnât make up for it.
The hordeâs population dropped at an absurd rate.
Even as the zombies tried to flee, nobody was letting them go. The Guard and Corps chased them down without mercy, hammering the tide from above and cutting it apart on the ground.
After more than two hours, over half the zombies were already dead.
And that was when Ethan finally noticed something... off.
In the sea of running corpses, one zombieâsmall, forgettableâcaught his eye.
It didnât look different from the others. If anything, the only thing "special" about it was that it was short enough that Ethan hadnât even noticed it earlier.
What drew his attention wasnât its appearance.
It was what happened around it.
A Fallen Star Guard member dropped a
Rain of Flames
into a dense cluster. Zombies scattered like ants.
One of the huge fireballs was about to smash down on that small figureâ
And another zombie suddenly leapt up and took the hit for it.
The jumper burned to ash in an instant.
The small figure didnât even stumble. It kept sprinting, unharmed, threading through the horde like nothing had happened.
Normally, with a battlefield this chaotic, nobody would catch a detail like that.
But Ethan did.
He locked onto the small figure immediately and pushed
True Sight
onto it.
psy-type ability... Absolute Dominion.
Ethanâs mouth curved.
"Found you."
He shot downward, a red streak cutting through the air as he accelerated straight toward that spot.
Down in the tide, the small figure still hadnât realized it had been exposed. It kept slipping between bodies, using its size like a cheat.
Because it was short, most of the aerial attacks missed it anywayâblocked by taller zombies before they could reach it.
And those taller zombies... they werenât just "in the way."
They were subtly protecting it.
Not in an obvious formation. Not something a normal person would notice.
But again and again, the big ones drifted into the line of fire, taking hits that shouldâve landed on the small one.
Ethan wouldnât have noticed, eitherâif he hadnât watched one of them die to save it.
Now, though, it was crystal clear.
The small figure cursed nonstop inside its own head, rage boiling as it ran.
Just wait.
Once I get out of this... Iâll gather an army so big these humans choke on it.
But right then, a figure dropped in front of it, cutting off its path.
The small zombieâs heart clenchedâyet it didnât show it. It pivoted like any other fleeing zombie, sprinting in another direction while quietly commanding the surrounding horde to swarm the man in its way.
In an instant, countless zombies lunged at Ethan from all sides.
They never reached him.
The moment they crossed into a three-foot radius around Ethan, they vanishedâswallowed whole by something invisible.
It looked like empty air around Ethan had turned into a mouth that ate anything that got close.
The small figureâs mind jolted, panic flaringâbut it forced its face to stay blank, pushed its legs harder, and kept running.
A low chuckle came from behind it.
"Heh. You really think you can still get away?"
Ethan blurred.
He was suddenly right beside it, and his hand snapped outâ
Smack.
The small body spun through the air, flipping a few times before slamming into the ground.
"GRAAAH!"
This time, it didnât bother pretending.
It was exposed. It knew it.
With that roar, zombies from every direction threw themselves at Ethan like lunaticsâcharging even though they were getting erased the moment they got close, charging anyway like the order itself was stronger than fear.
Ethan didnât even glance at them. They couldnât touch him.
He stepped forwardâ
And appeared at the Zombie Kingâs side again.
"You wanted to play games with me?" Ethanâs voice was ice. "Today Iâm not leaving until Iâve slapped every ounce of clever out of you."
Smack.
His palm cracked across the Zombie Kingâs face again, sending it flying.
The Zombie King had an ocean of underlings, but in front of Ethan, they were worthless.
Ability attacks, physical attacksânone of it mattered. Anything that got within three feet of Ethan simply disappeared.
And the Zombie Kingâs own strength?
It barely registered to Ethan.
It got slapped around without the slightest chance to fight back.
Ethan didnât kill it. Not yet.
He just kept hitting itâleft, right, leftâlike he was venting weeks of irritation through his palm.
At first, the Zombie King thrashed in helpless fury.
Then it started looking... pitiful.
Eyes wet. Expression crumpling. Begging in broken sounds for him to stop.
Ethan ignored it completely.
He didnât let up until it couldnât even crawl anymore.
Only then did he finally stop.
By the time Chris and the others arrived, the Zombie King was sprawled on the ground, barely breathing.
They all swallowed hard.
This was a Zombie King.
And it had almost been slapped to death.
Killing it wouldâve been one thing.
Beating it half to death with open-handed slaps like this was pure humiliation.
Ethan breathed out once and said, "Skinny Pete. See if you can control it."
"Got it!"
Skinny Pete hurried forward and activated
Beast Control
.
Just like Ethan had guessed, it worked on zombies too.
Because the Zombie King wielded a psy-type ability, its mental energy consumption was massiveâbut Skinny Pete was far stronger. The control settled in without much resistance.
In moments, the small Zombie King was fully under his command.
Skinny Pete immediately ordered it to stop the tide from fleeing and call everything back in.
The small figure tilted its head back and let out one sharp roar.
Across the battlefield, zombies that had been running in all directions frozeâthen turned and poured back toward the center, gathering in a tightening mass.
Everyoneâs eyes lit up.
"It works?!" someone blurted.
"Of course it works," Ethan said, still sounding annoyed, like he hadnât forgiven the thing yet. "This little bastardâs ability is the real deal."
Skinny Pete looked like heâd just won the lottery. "So I... I just picked up a treasure?"
"Not gonna lie," Big Mike said, grin turning nasty, "you really did. And this petite zombie girlâif you look close, sheâs kinda cute. Might not just help you fight... might help with some other biological needs too."
Emilyâs face twisted in disgust. "Big Mike, what the hell is wrong with you? Thatâs a
female zombie
. Youâre sick."
"Hey," Big Mike said, suddenly righteous, "you donât get it. Lots of guys are into that vibe."
"Really?" Emily turned and stared at Chris.
Chrisâs soul nearly left his body. "No! Absolutely not! Big Mike being a freak doesnât mean other guys are freaks!"
He grabbed Emilyâs hand like his life depended on it. "Iâm normal. I only like you."
Emilyâs expression eased. "Good."
Ethan felt Miaâs eyes flick toward him and immediately held up both hands. "Donât look at me. Iâm not a freak either."
That earned him a look that was half amused, half done-with-this.
And Big Mikeâopen mouth, zero filterâgot hit with a fresh wave of contempt from the whole group.
Some thoughts were meant to stay inside your skull.