With everyone watching tensely, the Void Realm creatures spent half the day roaming around Riverton City. They casually slaughtered hundreds of thousands of zombies, and in the end, they captured a high-Tier Zombie King.

Nobody knew how they managed to communicate with it—but somehow, that Zombie King actually started guiding them in the direction of Fallen Star City.

The second Ethan saw that, his face went dark. He hadn’t expected a move like that.

"Fuck," Big Mike spat, furious. "That bastard just led them straight to us. If I get my hands on it, I’m caving its skull in."

"What’s coming is coming," Ethan said with a tired sigh. "Even without that Zombie King, they’d have found other ways to locate us."

"So what now, Captain?" someone asked, voice tight. "At their speed, they’ll reach Fallen Star City in, what—half an hour?"

Nerves spread through the group.

After watching all day, they were pretty sure the enemy’s strength was at least four or five Tiers above theirs. That wasn’t "dangerous." That was "don’t even try it."

Ethan didn’t hesitate. "What do you think? We release Dopey. We clearly can’t take them head-on. This is exactly what you save a trump card for."

"Oh, right." Someone let out a breath. "We’ve got Dopey. What are we even scared of? No way they’re stronger than him."

The moment Dopey was mentioned, the tension in the air loosened. Whatever else happened, they trusted Dopey.

"Let’s move," Ethan said, already turning. "We intercept them on the way. We can’t let them reach Fallen Star City before we fight, or the city could get wrecked."

"Agreed."

They mounted their Flamebirds and shot out of Fallen Star City, heading to meet the threat.

But they hadn’t flown far before a swarm of Flamebirds rose into view ahead—each one with a person standing on its back.

Ethan’s brow furrowed. "What are you doing here?"

"Commander," Guard Commander Harris called out, voice steady. "Take us with you. We’re not dead weight anymore. We can help."

"Yeah!" other Fallen Star Guard members shouted. "There are more than twenty of those Void Realm creatures. Bring us along. We might not be on your level, but we can still help—at least hold some of them back!"

Ethan narrowed his eyes at them. "Do you even understand what kind of enemies we’re about to face?"

"We don’t," the crowd answered, "but it doesn’t matter! If we can help you, Commander, we’re not afraid!"

"This trip," Ethan said bluntly, "a lot of you might not come back."

"We’re not afraid!"

Twenty thousand Fallen Star Guards shouted in unison, eyes blazing with resolve.

Ethan looked at them for a long beat, and a flicker of satisfaction warmed his chest. At least all the effort he’d put into training them hadn’t been for nothing.

But he still wasn’t bringing them.

This wasn’t the kind of fight you solved by piling on bodies. There was a real chance the enemy had reached Stage A. Even Ethan’s own core team might not be able to contribute much—never mind the Guard.

And the more people you had, the more openings you gave the enemy. If Dopey couldn’t end it quickly, all it took was one of those monsters turning on the Guards to cause catastrophic losses.

Ethan raised his voice. "Enough. I get it. But this fight isn’t for you. All of you—go back."

"But Commander—those Void Realm things are so strong. We’re worried you—"

"What’s there to worry about?" Ethan cut in, sharp as a whip. "I’m stronger. Now get the hell out of here. When it’s your turn to move, I’ll call you."

He waved them off like shooing a flock of birds.

Seeing how firm he was, the Fallen Star Guard could only retreat, frustration and worry written all over their faces.

A moment later, under countless anxious gazes, Ethan and his team left Fallen Star City behind.

Atlas City — inside the compound...

"Fallen Star Squad is heading straight for the Void Realm creatures," Maxwell said, his voice low.

"You think they’re sure they can handle it?" someone asked. Worry spread across a lot of faces.

They’d all been watching the feed for half a day. They had a much clearer sense of what those Void Realm beings could do now.

And the more they understood, the heavier it felt.

With strength like that... did Earth really have anyone who could stand against them?

Even the people who believed in Fallen Star Squad the most found their confidence starting to wobble after what they’d seen.

"Ethan isn’t reckless," Gabriel said, forcing calm into his voice. "If he’s taking the initiative, he must have a plan."

"Yeah." Maxwell’s jaw tightened. "I believe in them too. At this point, believing is all we’ve got. Besides them... there’s probably nobody on the whole planet who can deal with this group."

"Then we can only pray they win," someone whispered.

On a highway...

A Stage C zombie—escorted by more than twenty towering figures—was moving fast down the road.

Back in Riverton City, this Zombie King had millions of underlings. It had been the kind of existence that could swagger around like it owned the place.

But today, it had run into monsters even scarier than itself—and ended up a prisoner on a leash.

It had thought they were going to kill it.

Instead, they’d asked one simple question: were there humans nearby?

Their words carried a thread of mental energy, and it understood their meaning almost instantly.

By the time a zombie reached Stage C, its intelligence was basically on par with a human.

And once it realized they wanted to find humans, it immediately volunteered to guide them.

Looking for humans? Oh, I’ve got the perfect place for you.

Didn’t that mean they wanted trouble?

Then it should take them to its lifelong nemesis.

The humans in that compound were terrifying. They came out constantly to sweep zombie hordes, forcing it to drag its underlings farther and farther away just to survive.

Now these outsiders wanted to find humans... perfect. Let them bite each other to death. Best case, both sides got wrecked—then it could come back with its crew and pick the leftovers clean.

I’m a genius, the Zombie King congratulated itself as it walked, a punchable grin creeping onto its face.

No wonder I was the first Zombie King within a thousand miles to hit Stage C.

Smack!

A palm slapped the back of its head hard enough to jerk it forward.

"What are you grinning at?" a Stoneborn powerhouse snapped coldly. "You look disgusting. Move. If I don’t see humans in half an hour, I’m twisting your head off."

"Grr—!" The Zombie King nodded furiously, grin wiped clean. It didn’t dare play cute anymore and sped up, hustling the Stoneborn forward.

Not long after, it spotted something in the distant sky—red shapes streaking toward them.

"Grr! Grr!" It pointed and roared.

Smack—another slap.

"I see it. Quit yelling!"

The Stoneborn, though, looked pleased as they stared at the incoming red silhouettes.

"So it really is the human race. But why are they riding Flamebirds?"

"Probably beast-control skills. Humans are weak physically, but their talent is terrifying—they can comprehend skills of any attribute."

"Exactly why the other races on Eldoria united back then and wiped humanity out." The speaker sounded almost nostalgic. "Didn’t expect humans to still exist here."

"Doesn’t matter. They’re just ants," another Stoneborn said with a laugh. "Sooner or later, they’ll become our slaves."

"Hah. True." Someone cracked their knuckles. "Come on. Let’s see what the humans of this world are capable of."

The Stoneborn picked up their pace, moving toward the confrontation.

In the air — on the Flamebirds...

Ethan’s group saw them too.

Ethan activated True Sight immediately and swept his gaze over the enemy.

His stomach dropped.

"Ethan," someone asked tightly. "What are we looking at?"

"Minimum... Stage A," Ethan said, voice turning hard. "And the strongest one..."

He swallowed once, then forced the words out.

"Tier 28."

"!!!"