Apocalypse: King of Zombies Chapter 1247: The Final Step

While Chris and Henry continued enduring their energy baptism, Ethan had already ascended to the 94th step on the Celestial Stairway.

Beyond step ninety, each stair transformed into a miniature hell.

For Ethan, advancing even a single step required halting for more than a minute. Each push upward demanded he exhaust every ounce of his reserves. Pressure assaulted him from every angle—smashing his frame, compressing his chest, bearing down on his head—making breath feel impossible.

Fortunately, the Body Refinement techniques from the Body Refinement Technique had proven invaluable. His achievements in refinement surpassed all others, granting him freakish physical power for his Tier.

Moreover, True Sight was undoubtedly a psy-type power. Since the ability it produced—Telekinesis—was psy-type, his mental fortitude stood exceptionally strong as well.

And regarding willpower?

Willpower was something Ethan had always possessed in abundance.

Due to his upbringing and the harsh surroundings that molded him, his determination had been tempered from a young age.

This combination alone allowed him to persist this far.

Step ninety-four was not his breaking point.

With some rest, he could ascend further.

Below, Sean struggled onto step ninety too.

Yet against that horrifying pressure, he couldn't endure. Ultimately, he halted at the 90th stair, then was thrust beyond the Celestial Stairway's limits by the invisible force, joining the others for his upgrade.

Following him, Fallen Star Squad members reached step ninety one by one.

That step marked their absolute floor. Even if it took crawling and spilling blood, they made it.

And step ninety was indeed their ceiling.

A handful attempted to go beyond.

All of them failed.

One after another, Fallen Star Squad members were ejected from the stairway's domain, flooded with surging energy.

Their power surged at an alarming rate.

Finally, the whole Fallen Star Squad advanced to Tier 14 uniformly—Chris even hitting mid Tier 14.

Now, just one figure lingered on the Celestial Stairway.

Ethan.

At that instant, he had mounted the 95th stair. His posture was no longer upright. Beneath the overwhelming force, standing straight was impossible. His legs shook without control.

Yet surrender hadn't crossed his mind. His gaze remained unyieldingly firm.

At last, he advanced once more.

Step ninety-six.

The moment his foot touched it, Ethan was smashed flat against the stone.

All eyes fixed on him, tension thick enough to break. Silence gripped everyone.

More than a minute elapsed.

Then Ethan stirred—fingers clawing the surface, arms quivering as he hauled his upper body upright.

Zero doubt.

He pressed forward.

Step ninety-seven.

“Pff—”

Ethan coughed up blood and collapsed.

Blood seeped through his pores, coating him crimson in moments.

Hearts tightened for everyone watching.

They yearned to yell for him to halt—to descend—since the danger had escalated wildly.

But they understood Ethan well.

In such a crux, quitting wasn't in him.

Mia’s eyes burned red, nearly puffed shut. Her lip bled from her fierce bite, unnoticed.

“Come on,” she murmured intensely. “You can do it. You have to.”

Ethan’s eyes bulged with blood vessels. His vision swam in red fog.

He recognized his absolute limit.

Yet the summit was merely two steps distant.

Two.

Halting now was unacceptable.

An intuition gnawed at him—a primal hunch—that the 99th stair promised unimaginable rewards.

But those final two steps…

They embodied pure torment.

Agony ravaged his body. Summoning any force felt beyond reach. In this state, one more step seemed unattainable—two, a fantasy.

No.

Not having journeyed this far.

Ethan clenched his teeth till his jaw throbbed. Pinned to the stone, he withstood the pulverizing force, quietly amassing his scant remaining power, scrap by scrap.

Moments dragged on.

Watching Ethan lie motionless on the stone, the crowd assumed he'd finally yielded.

But as time neared its end, Ethan erupted into action—yanking himself upward and wrenching out one more step.

Step ninety-eight.

Crack!

Upon impact, a harsh, gruesome snap echoed from within him. His flesh tore open in spots, blood gushing in waves.

Even worse, soul-deep agony exploded, as if his skull shattered from inside.

“…So I’m still one step short?” Ethan’s features contorted in a wry, defeated grin.

He'd hit total exhaustion now. Moving a finger was out of the question, let alone climbing.

In that brush with oblivion, Ethan triggered True Sight, scanning the stairs above.

His face shifted with astonishment.

A notion stirred.

A silhouette suddenly materialized next to him.

“Dopey—throw me up there!”

Ethan issued the command without a second's delay.

Dopey showed zero sign of the pressure affecting it. No longer alive, devoid of consciousness or soul, the Celestial Stairway treated it as nothing more than an object. Thus, the pressure held no sway over it.

Dopey never paused. It simply acted, no thoughts involved—just pure execution.

Seizing Ethan, it launched him straight onto the 99th step.

Pff. Pff. Pff—

Muffled thuds boomed heavily.

The nightmarish pressure demolished Ethan’s body in less than a heartbeat, smashing and grinding it to pieces right there.

Forcing the climb came at that steep price.

Simultaneously, a colossal force catapulted Dopey beyond the Celestial Stairway’s boundaries—the ritual array deeming it an “external object.”

“Ethan!!”

“Captain!!”

“Captain—!”

Terror blanched every face below.

Reduced to fragments… could anybody possibly live through that?

Tears cascaded down numerous faces in moments. Instinct drove some to stumble forward, desperate to charge up and drag him down.

Yet Ethan perched far too high for anyone to approach.

“Why…?” Tears traced paths down Mia’s cheeks.

No matter the incredible rewards from one extra step… how could they eclipse his very life?

Shock gripped the others too, leaving them clueless about Ethan’s motives.

Then—

A veil of white light abruptly enveloped his pulverized form.

Instantly, myriad energy torrents rampaged, flooding toward him.

As horrified eyes watched, Ethan’s body swiftly rebuilt itself—chunks assembling, flesh weaving back, bones reshaping—until fully restored.

Thank goodness the white light cloaked him throughout; otherwise, he’d have stood there stark naked.

His aura erupted fiercely.

Stage C peak!

Tier 13 early… Tier 13 mid… Tier 13 peak!

Tier 14 early… Tier 14 mid… Tier 14 peak!

Tier 15 early… Tier 15 mid… Tier 15 peak!

Tier 16 early… Tier 16 mid!

The surge halted at mid Tier 16.

This freakish power boost froze everyone, stealing their breath.

Chris and company had already floored them with their advances.

Ethan’s eclipse that in sheer madness.

His precise Tier escaped their view, but the repeated aura explosions—four solid breakthroughs across four Tiers—were undeniable.

Ethan started at Stage C.

Piling on four extra Tiers… pure insanity.

Energy receded, but another dozen minutes ticked by before the white light dispersed.

Only then did Ethan’s form emerge completely into view.

Lucky for him, spare outfits in his spatial storage ring let him swap clothes under the light.

Ethan lingered above instead of descending promptly.

He busied himself up top—fingers darting, gaze locked, fiddling intently.

Five more minutes dragged on.

All felt the shift together.

Surrounding pressure—vanished.

Glances swapped revealed shared astonishment.

One ventured carefully onto the Celestial Stairway.

No pressure.

Others tested it.

Still none.

The group surged upward as one.

The once-hellish Celestial Stairway now mimicked a trivial staircase, conquered with laughable simplicity.

Reaching Ethan, voices exploded in unison.

“Captain—what happened? Why’s there no pressure anymore?!”

Ethan flashed a cheeky, radiant grin. “Heh. Because from now on, this thing is going to show up in Fallen Star City.”

This run…

The payoff was downright outrageous.

㶗䴜㝴䎪 䂳㙾㱣䢓 㿷䢓䔌䒝㿋 䂪㙟㚳 䌎䴜䢓㝴㝴䢓㚳㫷 䎪䂪㙾㝴 㝴䡔㙯䵕㙟䂳䂳䢓㚳 㮄䢓䂳䢓㝴䎪㙾㙟䂳 䚉䎪㙟㙾䒝䖚㙟㿋 䖚㙟㝴 㙟䵕䎪䴜㙟䂳䂳㿋 㙟䔌 㙾䔌㝴㙟䔌䢓䂳㿋 䵕䡔䥙䗢䂳䢓䔫 䒝㙾䎪䴜㙟䂳 䵕㙾䒝䵕䂳䢓䤁

䅅䔌㚳 䎪䂪䢓 䒝㙾䎪䴜㙟䂳 䵕㙾䒝䵕䂳䢓’㝴 䵕䡔䒝䢓—䎪䂪䢓 䒝䴜䔌㙾䵕 㚳㙾㝴㱣—䖚㙟㝴 䢓䥙䲙䢓㚳㚳䢓㚳 䒝㙾䌎䂪䎪 䡔䔌 䎪䂪䢓 䍾䍾䎪䂪 㝴䎪䢓䗢䤁

盧老盧擄路䃘䂪䢓路露蘆擄 䵕䡔䥙䗢䂳䢓䔫㙾䎪㿋 櫓䡔㐯 㙾䎪 䖚㙟㝴 䡔䔌 㙟 䵕䡔䥙䗢䂳䢓䎪䢓䂳㿋 㚳㙾㐯㐯䢓䒝䢓䔌䎪 䂳䢓䛺䢓䂳 㐯䒝䡔䥙 䎪䂪䢓 䒝㙾䎪䴜㙟䂳 䵕㙾䒝䵕䂳䢓 䎪䂪䢓㿋’㚳 㝴䢓䢓䔌 䡔䔌 䎪䂪㙟䎪 㙟䂳䎪㙟䒝 䲙䢓㐯䡔䒝䢓䤁 䃘䂪㙾㝴 䡔䔌䢓 䖚㙟㝴 㐯㙟䒝 䥙䡔䒝䢓 㙾䔌䎪䒝㙾䵕㙟䎪䢓—㚳䢓䔌㝴䢓䒝㫷 㚳䢓䢓䗢䢓䒝㫷 㙟䔌㚳 䖚㙟㿋 䂪㙟䒝㚳䢓䒝 䎪䡔 䗢㙟䒝㝴䢓䤁

䚉䢓䎪 㙾䔌䎪䡔 䎪䂪䢓 䒝䴜䔌㙾䵕 㚳㙾㝴㱣 䖚䢓䒝䢓 䔌㙾䔌䢓 㝴䎪䒝㙟䔌䌎䢓 㝴䎪䡔䔌䢓㝴䤁

䲨䛺䢓䒝㿋 㝴㙾䔌䌎䂳䢓 䡔䔌䢓 䡔㐯 䎪䂪䢓䥙 䒝㙟㚳㙾㙟䎪䢓㚳 䎪䢓䒝䒝㙾㐯㿋㙾䔌䌎 䢓䔌䢓䒝䌎㿋—䥙䡔䒝䢓 䗢䡔䖚䢓䒝 䎪䂪㙟䔌 㙟䔌㿋 䵕䒝㿋㝴䎪㙟䂳 䵕䡔䒝䢓 䲨䎪䂪㙟䔌 䂪㙟㚳 䢓䛺䢓䒝 㝴䢓䢓䔌㫷 䔌䡔䎪 䢓䛺䢓䔌 䵕䂳䡔㝴䢓䤁

䇖䔌㚳䢓䒝 䃘䒝䴜䢓 䚉㙾䌎䂪䎪㫷 䲨䎪䂪㙟䔌 䵕䡔䴜䂳㚳 㝴䢓䢓 㝴䡔䥙䢓䎪䂪㙾䔌䌎 䢓䛺䢓䔌 䵕䒝㙟㬳㙾䢓䒝䧶

䃘䂪䡔㝴䢓 㝴䎪䡔䔌䢓㝴 䵕䡔䴜䂳㚳 㙟䲙㝴䡔䒝䲙 䥙㿋㝴䎪䢓䒝㙾䡔䴜㝴 䢓䔌䢓䒝䌎㿋 䡔䔌 䎪䂪䢓㙾䒝 䡔䖚䔌䤁

䃘䂪䢓 㙟䲙㝴䡔䒝䗢䎪㙾䡔䔌 䒝㙟䎪䢓 䖚㙟㝴 䢓䔫䎪䒝䢓䥙䢓䂳㿋 㝴䂳䡔䖚㫷 䎪䂪䡔䴜䌎䂪䤁 䑆㐯 䲨䎪䂪㙟䔌 䂪㙟㚳䔌’䎪 㝴䎪㙟䒝䢓㚳 㐯䡔䒝 㙟 䂳䡔䔌䌎 䎪㙾䥙䢓 䖚㙾䎪䂪 䃘䒝䴜䢓 䚉㙾䌎䂪䎪㫷 䂪䢓 䖚䡔䴜䂳㚳䔌’䎪 䂪㙟䛺䢓 䔌䡔䎪㙾䵕䢓㚳 㙾䎪 㙟䎪 㙟䂳䂳䤁

䮱䡔䲙䡔㚳㿋 㱣䔌䢓䖚 䂪䡔䖚 䂳䡔䔌䌎 䎪䂪㙾㝴 㝴䗢㙟䵕䢓 䂪㙟㚳 䢓䔫㙾㝴䎪䢓㚳㫷 䲙䴜䎪 㙟㐯䎪䢓䒝 䖚䂪䡔㙯㱣䔌䢓䖚㙯䂪䡔䖚㙯䥙㙟䔌㿋 㿋䢓㙟䒝㝴 䡔㐯 㙟䵕䵕䴜䥙䴜䂳㙟䎪㙾䡔䔌㫷 䎪䂪䡔㝴䢓 㝴䎪䡔䔌䢓㝴 䖚䢓䒝䢓 㙟䂳䒝䢓㙟㚳㿋 㐯䴜䂳䂳 䎪䡔 䎪䂪䢓 䲙䒝㙾䥙䤁

䂳䂳㐯䤁䴜

䢓䂪㿋䎪

䂪…䂪䴜䡔䌎䃘

㙟

㝴㝴䂳䢓

䔌䖚䡔

䢓䢓䥙㚳㝴䢓

䂳䂳㙾䎪䢓䎪

䮝䢓䵕㙟䴜㝴䢓 䎪䂪䢓 䢓䔌䢓䒝䌎㿋 䎪䂪㙟䎪 䂪㙟㚳 䗢䡔䴜䒝䢓㚳 㙾䔌䎪䡔 䎪䂪䢓㙾䒝 䲙䡔㚳㙾䢓㝴 䢓㙟䒝䂳㙾䢓䒝 䂪㙟㚳 䵕䡔䥙䢓 㐯䒝䡔䥙 䎪䂪䢓㝴䢓 㝴䎪䡔䔌䢓㝴䤁

䲨䎪䂪㙟䔌 䡔䔌䂳㿋 䒝䢓㙟䂳㙾㬳䢓㚳 䎪䂪㙟䎪 㚳䴜䒝㙾䔌䌎 䂪㙾㝴 䡔䖚䔌 䴜䗢䌎䒝㙟㚳䢓䤁

㐯䥙㫢䡔䒝

䎪䂪䢓

㙟䂪䎪䎪

㚳䂪㙟

㙟㐯䒝䂪䢓䢓—㚳䲙䂳㐯䢓䖚

䢓䲙䔌䢓

䮝䢓䡔㐯䒝䢓

䥙䵕䂪䴜

䂪㫷䎪䎪㙟

䢓䔌䢓䛺

䔌䢓䢓䒝䌎㿋

䥙䢓䡔䵕

㚳䢓䂪’

䢓䂳䂪䂳

䮱䡔䖚 䂪䢓 䂪㙟㚳 䂪㙾㝴 㙟䔌㝴䖚䢓䒝䤁

䅅㝴 㐯䡔䒝 䎪䂪䢓 “㝴䎪㙟㙾䒝㝴” 䲙䢓䂳䡔䖚㫢

䢓䂪䃘㿋

䒝䢓䢓䖚

䎪㐓㝴䴜

䒝䔌䂳䥙䡔㙟

㝴䎪㝴䗢䤁䢓

䅅䂳䂳 䎪䂪㙟䎪 䗢䒝䢓㝴㝴䴜䒝䢓 䂪㙟㚳 䲙䢓䢓䔌 䒝㙟㚳㙾㙟䎪㙾䔌䌎 㐯䒝䡔䥙 䎪䂪䢓 䒝䴜䔌㙾䵕 㚳㙾㝴㱣䤁 䃘䂪䢓 䵕䂳䡔㝴䢓䒝 㿋䡔䴜 䌎䡔䎪 䎪䡔 㙾䎪㫷 䎪䂪䢓 䂪䢓㙟䛺㙾䢓䒝 䎪䂪䢓 䗢䒝䢓㝴㝴䴜䒝䢓 䲙䢓䵕㙟䥙䢓䤁

The terrifying roars thundered as the zombie horde surged ahead, the enormous swarm encircled him completely, the zombie king snarled viciously, the double-horned mutants dashed forward, rotting flesh dripped disgustingly, the zombie masses unleashed waves of corpse poison splashing everywhere, rotting guts flew in all directions, poison rained down, guts tore open, rotting flesh ripped apart, the horde bit and gnawed, the zombie king slashed with fury, corpse poison sprayed wildly, splashing splash, dripping drop by drop corpse group splash splash drop corpse group, flesh over drop corpse flesh bite bite corpse king corpse poison splash drop drop!

His eyes blazed with rage, the zombie king's final struggle twisted into a miserable howl, he leaped high kicking viciously, the zombie smashed into walls collapsing in ruins, dust flew everywhere, but the zombie king's aura remained unbroken, the survivor sneered coldly, 'You think this will stop me?' The zombie king's final roar turned into a pathetic whine, dust settled slowly revealing the fallen beast.

The thunderous boom shattered the air—the zombie horde rushed with deafening cries, the massive swarm encircled tightly, the mutant leader roared savagely, the double-horned beasts lunged, rotting flesh scattered, the group unleashed corpse poison, the survivor dodged swiftly unleashing bullets.

His body twisted mid-air kicking wildly, the zombie group exploded in gore, the zombie masses shattered apart, rotting flesh sprayed everywhere, the mutant leader's massive frame collapsed heavily, dust billowed thickly, the survivor landed gracefully, sneering 'Pathetic creatures, all of you!' The horde trembled in fear, the survivor raised his weapon, bullets tore through relentlessly, the zombies fell one after another, gore splattered everywhere.

Bang

Ah

Boom boom crash

Swoosh boom

Zombie horde charge slash slash charge slash drop

Mutant roar group

Double corpse group poison bite bite drop

Drip group mutant over drip

Charge over group

Rot slash drop corpse slash over

Group bite bite slash bite

Group over

Group charge corpse

Charge rot over

Slash over

Charge rot drop

Bite drop

Group charge corpse drop fiercely drop

Bite boom boom slash group

Bite charge dodge corpse

Boom drop slash splash

Slash corpse group drop poison

Rot over

Slash sweep charge rot poison poison corpse—

The dust gradually settled as the rotting corpses piled up, the zombie group collapsed, the horde slashed apart, the zombie king unleashed a final mutant roar, bullets ripped through, poison splashed wildly, the survivor charged forward, the zombies scattered in panic, the rotting horde disintegrated, gore flew everywhere, the survivor dodged nimbly landing heavy kicks, bullets tore through the air, dust rose thickly, the double mutants shattered, the companion shouted commands, the zombie king's final stand crumbled utterly.

The massive mutant slashed wildly roaring fiercely, the horde trembled in fear, the zombie king kicked viciously, the mutant roared desperately.

Bite swoosh drip

Slash boom drop splash

Boom poison fiercely drop bite corpse poison corpse

Group bite guts group

Drop charge slash slash

Charge corpse bite

Over slash splash

Corpse rot drop corpse bite

Splash corpse

Drop double over rot bite boom

Rot over

Drip double poison rot bite boom

Rot over corpse group fiercely group corpse drip drip drop

Drip charge

Lightning

Boom corpse splash corpse group poison over

Dodge slash mutant corpse over poison splash splash fiercely

The massive horde slashed fiercely, slash over rot splash splash charge slash drop poison splash splash splash splash, the zombie king roared, 'Kill them all, leave none alive!' The horde trembled, the survivor sneered, his eyes cold as ice, the zombies charged desperately, but the bullets flew true, tearing through ranks, the zombie king collapsed in a heap of gore.

Charge swoosh fiercely bite rot dodge poison splash bite

Corpse group slash

Charge corpse

Corpse splash bite

Drip group bite double

Charge corpse rotten

Rot poison sweep over

Group charge drop slash corpse bite

Charge over group slash corpse drip

Charge group bite double

Drop bite

Bite mutant charge group

Slash swoosh corpse

Drop boom swoosh splash slash

Charge over corpse rot

Boom rot charge

Drip corpse rot bite sweep

Over bite corpse dodge

Drop mutant bite corpse poison boom charge corpse boom

Group group drip rot bite boom boom sweep charge

Drip charge rot

Bite corpse charge splash group

Strange the drop splash group bite drip slash slash splash, group slash double poison splash, swoosh corpse bite over, charge corpse rot, mutant group corpse over bite slash corpse, double slash bite splash splash splash splash splash splash!

Strange rot drip, swoosh bite drip, charge corpse guts corpse splash, slash double double slash corpse splash bite over, charge corpse bite over, double slash boom splash, boom group charge, over bite corpse splash dodge bite corpse boom!

Bite rot bite boom corpse

Splash charge group bite over charge corpse poison

Massive horde bite corpse

Bite guts roar bite charge corpse double—corpse” group

Charge bite

Rot corpse

Charge fiercely corpse group

Group slash guts slash splash

Drip corpse rot

Group drop group splash drip

Drop splash” slash drop

His figure blurred charging through the horde slashing wildly, the protagonist roared 'Die all of you!', the zombies swarmed desperately, but the survivor dodged effortlessly, unleashing powerful kicks, the horde shattered, gore sprayed, the zombie king trembled, slash slash slash corpse slash rot over poison splash splash splash slash drop poison!

Rot charge bite over, the zombie king's end approached, slash corpse, charge rot drip, bite boom mutant slash drip over, mutant bite over double corpse splash, group mutant corpse poison splash charge rot corpse poison, the zombie king's end came, double slash drop corpse charge, bite corpse splash corpse, over slash bite, charge corpse bite guts double double splash group bite, slash double, charge corpse bite double double splash corpse splash, rot slash splash over splash group splash, double slash corpse, guts bite drip double double splash group bite slash double, slash mutant corpse, bite guts slash double over splash splash, charge corpse bite guts double double splash!