Apocalypse: King of Zombies Chapter 1640: Was I Still Too Late?

The scarred man's attack was about to strike Abyron when a dimensional rift suddenly opened above him.

A figure emerged from it.

"Absolute Stasis!"

The moment Ethan appeared, he saw the danger Abyron was in. He activated Absolute Stasis, flashed to Abyron's side, and dragged him out of the attack's path.

Boom!

Absolute Stasis ended, and the scarred man's attack slammed into the ground, collapsing a huge section of the plain.

"Who are you?!" The scarred man's expression changed as his gaze locked onto Ethan.

"B-Boss!"

Abyron's eyes reddened the moment he saw him.

"You've done enough." Ethan patted him on the shoulder.

"Boss... she..." Abyron looked down at Dahlia in his arms.

Ethan turned to her as well. When he sensed that every trace of life had already left her body, his heart sank.

"Was I still too late?"

He had rushed here as soon as he finished advancing, stopping only long enough for Mia and Emily to buff him. Yet he still hadn't made it in time.

Dahlia might not have been particularly close to them, but she was still a Tier 47 fighter.

More importantly, judging by Abyron's reaction, he had developed feelings for her. Her death would hit him hard.

Ethan's Temporal Rewind could normally have saved her.

But while he had been advancing in seclusion, his previous temporal anchor had long since expired. He had set a new one before leaving New Atlas, but that was already too late.

Even if he used Temporal Rewind now, it would only send him back to the moment before he left. By the time he reached this place again, Dahlia would still be dead.

Ethan sighed and patted Abyron's shoulder, unable to find anything to say.

By then, the scarred man had flown over and was staring intently at Ethan.

"So there are more humans after all—and this one's a prodigy with both time-type and spatial-type abilities."

"It's a good thing your Tier is still low. I can't imagine how powerful you'd become if you reached Tier 47."

"What a shame. You should've stayed hidden and grown stronger, but instead, you came here to die."

The scarred man laughed in excitement.

"Ha! Killing a human prodigy like you is a hell of a lot more exciting than slaughtering a whole crowd of ordinary humans."

"Did you kill her?" Ethan asked, his gaze turning cold.

"Does it matter whether I did?" the scarred man laughed. "She's dead, and both of you will be joining her."

"Then today, I'll see for myself what a peak Tier 47 fighter can do," Ethan said coldly.

"No, Boss! Don't do anything reckless. You can't beat him. Get out of here!" Abyron finally snapped out of it and immediately stepped in front of Ethan.

"I'm no match for him?" Ethan gave a cold smile. "Then let me remind you why you call me Boss."

With that, Ethan pulled the scarred man, Abyron, and Dahlia's body into the Deadlock Dimension.

The area outside was full of enemies. He couldn't leave Abyron or Dahlia behind.

The Varkesh stared blankly at the place where the four of them had vanished.

They soon noticed the distorted space Ethan had left behind.

"It must be some kind of separate dimension. They dragged the Patriarch inside."

"What do we do? Should we break through it?"

"No need. That human is only Tier 44. The Patriarch can kill him effortlessly. Once he dies, this so-called separate dimension will collapse on its own."

"True. Then let's deal with this one first."

The Varkesh turned their attention to the Vesari Patriarch.

After unleashing that final attack, the Vesari Patriarch had slumped to the ground as if all his strength had been drained from him.

He had thought he could kill Abyron, only to fail at the last moment.

Still, killing one of them was better than nothing.

Moments later, the Vesari Patriarch fell beneath the Varkesh's attacks.

Inside the Deadlock Dimension...

The scarred man stared at the unfamiliar surroundings, shock returning to his face.

"Another spatial-type ability? Just what kind of monster is this human?"

He knew more about humans than most, so he understood that their abilities were acquired at random.

Some humans did possess several exceptionally powerful skills, but every single one of this man's abilities was outrageous.

Spatial-type abilities were incredibly rare. Possessing even one was a heaven-defying stroke of luck, yet this human had several of them—not to mention a time-type ability.

It was unbelievable.

"This human has to die!"

The thought roared through the scarred man's mind.

Ethan stood a short distance away, staring coldly at him.

"What race are you, and what world did you come from?"

It wasn't that Ethan cared all that much. Absolute Stasis had consumed a significant amount of mental energy, and he needed time to recover.

Against a peak Tier 47 opponent, he had to be at his best.

"Hmph. There's no harm in telling you. I am the Varkesh Patriarch, from Skyvault!"

"And I'll tell you something else. Humans once appeared in Skyvault. My Varkesh wiped them out!" the scarred man declared arrogantly.

"The scar on your face was left by a human, wasn't it?" Ethan asked calmly.

He could tell it hadn't been caused by an ordinary attack. Some highly unusual form of energy had created it, making the scar impossible to remove.

The scarred man's face darkened.

"Every last human deserves to die!"

"You're the one who deserves to die!"

Abyron gently laid Dahlia's body down, then moved to Ethan's side.

"Boss, we'll fight him together. I can still keep going."

"No need. Stay back. Just lend me some mental energy when I need it," Ethan said.

"But—"

Before Abyron could finish, the scarred man lunged forward and swung his greatsword down at Ethan.

"Die!"

Ethan's expression turned cold.

He activated Absolute Stasis and instantly appeared in front of the scarred man. Pouring all his mental energy into his poleaxe, he brought it crashing down on the man's head.

Boom!

The blow tore open a massive wound in the scarred man's skull and sent him flying. He slammed into the dimensional barrier before crashing to the ground.

"Graaah..."

A hellish growl escaped the scarred man's throat.

He climbed back to his feet, blood pouring down his head. With his bloodshot eyes fixed on Ethan, he looked like a demon straight out of hell.

"I... will kill you!"

"You talk too much."

Ethan gave him no chance to recover. He drew mental energy from Abyron and flashed in front of the scarred man again.

"Soulbane Gaze!"

Light flashed in Ethan's eyes as he launched an attack directly at the man's soul.

The scarred man's gaze went blank for a split second.

That was all Ethan needed.

His poleaxe, now blazing with dense black light, came down on the wound he had just opened.

Shnk!

The poleaxe buried itself deep in the scarred man's skull.

But at the same moment, an arc of blade energy swept across Ethan.

His Nullspace Domain shattered instantly, and the attack struck his body.

Ethan retreated the moment the domain broke, but the blade still carved a massive wound across his chest.