Boneclaw was completely speechless. He asked them a simple question, and all he got was a bunch of blank stares. What the hell was the point of having these guys around?

But just as he was silently cursing their uselessness, a figure strolled over from the distance, moving at a lazy, unhurried pace. His skin was a dull yellowish hue, dry and cracked, and his eyes were mismatched in size—classic signs of the fringe-zone Zombie Leader, Peanut.

The moment Boneclaw laid eyes on him, his blood pressure spiked.

Just look at this guy. What a mess.

"Where the hell have you been?" Boneclaw snapped.

"I went for a walk," Ethan replied casually, perfectly mimicking Peanut's voice and expression.

"...Huh???" Boneclaw froze, his face scrunching up like he'd just been slapped with a wet rag.

A walk? Now? Are you kidding me?

The elite zombies nearby were all sweating bullets. If Peanut had just bowed his head and apologized, maybe—just maybe—he could've walked away with his life. But this? This was suicide.

"I told you to stay alert and hold the line! The other four Regions are mobilizing! Why didn't you follow orders?" Boneclaw barked, his voice booming like a war drum. This was the final warning.

Ethan, still wearing Peanut's face, shrugged like it was no big deal. "Didn't see any zombies. I figured I'd wait till they actually show up."

"..."

Boneclaw's jaw clenched so hard his fangs ground together. A vein bulged on his forehead, throbbing like it was about to burst. He was one second away from snapping.

This idiot... was a liability. Keeping him around was worse than useless—it was dangerous.

"You know what? I've had enough. Honestly, I think a crystal core's more valuable than your brain," Boneclaw growled, stepping forward.

With each step, his killing intent surged, rolling off him in waves. As an SS+ class Zombie King, his aura was suffocating, like a storm about to break.

The elite zombies around them started to panic.

"Oh no... Boneclaw's gonna kill him!"

"Peanut's toast!"

"Why didn't he just say sorry? What the hell's wrong with him today?"

"Seriously, when did he get this dumb?"

Boneclaw's massive frame loomed closer, his fists clenched tight. Bone spikes jutted from his knuckles like built-in brass knuckles, gleaming with menace.

"You can die now."

With a roar, Boneclaw swung his massive fist straight at Ethan's—Peanut's—head. The punch was so fast it tore through the air with a sonic boom. No ordinary zombie could've reacted in time.

But Ethan didn't even flinch.

His body shifted sideways in a smooth, unnatural motion—almost like he'd glided through space.

Boneclaw's punch hit nothing but air.

"What the—?!"

His eyes widened in disbelief.

He missed?

The elite zombies watching were just as stunned.

Boneclaw's face twisted with rage. He spun around and threw another punch, this time a wide, sweeping hook aimed to take Ethan's head clean off.

But again, Ethan moved like a shadow—slipping just out of reach, his body flowing backward with eerie precision.

"Holy shit!"

The surrounding zombies were frozen in place, jaws hanging open.

If the first dodge was luck, the second one was definitely skill.

"Did... did Peanut just dodge Boneclaw?"

"When the hell did he get this strong?"

"I have no idea!"

"Is this even Peanut anymore...?"

"..."

Boneclaw's missed strike was the last straw. The Zombie King's fury exploded—his eyes burned red, glowing like twin coals, and his whole body tensed like a bull about to charge.

"I don't believe this!"

With a roar that shook the trees, he surged forward, muscles bulging, throwing his full weight into a punch aimed straight at Ethan.

The air cracked with the force of it, the pressure alone enough to make it feel like a mountain was crashing down.

But under that crushing momentum, Ethan just smiled. A slow, confident curl of his lips.

This time, he didn't dodge.

He punched back.

BOOM!

The two fists collided with a deafening crash, like steel slamming into steel. A shockwave burst out from the impact, flattening the ground beneath them. The earth split open in jagged lines, and several thick trees nearby were snapped clean in half.

The elite zombies who'd been watching from the sidelines were caught in the blast. They were flung through the air like rag dolls, crashing down amid broken branches and swirling leaves.

They hit the ground hard, groaning, their insides feeling like they'd been scrambled.

But more than the pain, what really shook them was the sheer power behind that clash.

That... that was insane.

Peanut—Peanut!—had just gone toe-to-toe with a core-region Zombie King and didn't get flattened?

As the dust began to settle, they looked up—and what they saw made their blood run cold.

Peanut was still standing.

Right where he'd been, unmoved. The ground in front of him was torn open in a fan-shaped trench, carved by the force of his punch.

And not far away, Boneclaw lay half-buried in the dirt, his body soaked in blood. His right arm was mangled beyond recognition—bones shattered, twisted at an unnatural angle, jagged white shards piercing through torn flesh.

"Wha..."

The elite zombies were stunned into silence. No one had expected this. Not in a million years.

But then, the realization hit them.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

Even with their limited brains, they could tell—this wasn't right. There was no way the real Peanut could've done that. No way in hell.

Which meant...

This wasn't Peanut.

A chill swept through the group like a cold wind through a graveyard.

Boneclaw, still conscious but barely, stared up at the figure in front of him, his eyes wide with horror.

"You... who the hell are you?"

"I'm Peanut," Ethan said with a smirk, still wearing the familiar face. But now that the game was up, he knew he had to finish this fast—before anyone else caught on.

In a blink, he vanished.

Boneclaw's pupils shrank. It was like the guy had disappeared into thin air. He couldn't see him—but he could feel it. Death was coming. Fast.

It was like a demon had been unleashed, claws out, fangs bared.

He threw up his arms in a desperate defense, crossing them in front of his face. Bone spikes shot out from his joints, growing rapidly into a forest of blades. His whole body bristled like a porcupine.

Boneclaw wasn't weak. His skeletal mutations, his raw strength, his potential to evolve into a Voidborn Undying—he was a powerhouse.

But compared to Ethan?

He was nothing.

Ethan's fist tore through the air like a cannonball. The bone spikes shattered one after another, splintering under the force. And then—

CRACK!

His punch landed square on Boneclaw's skull.

The forest shook. Dust exploded. Energy rippled through the trees.

Boneclaw's head burst like a melon, his body collapsing in a heap of gore and broken bone.

Ethan calmly reached down and plucked the crystal core from the remains, holding it in his palm.

Clean. Efficient. Brutal.

"Boneclaw... is dead?"

"What the hell just happened?"

"Was that an enemy Zombie King? Did someone infiltrate us?!"

The elite zombies were frozen, their minds struggling to process what they'd just seen. Their eyes locked on "Peanut," wide with disbelief.

Some of them started to move, trying to send out a signal—call for backup, alert the others.

But before they could even twitch—

The air thickened.

It was like the world itself had turned to sludge.

Ethan turned his head slowly, his gaze sweeping over them. "What are you looking at?"

The moment his voice dropped, the Domain of the Dead surged out from him like a tidal wave.

The elite zombies didn't even have time to scream.

They were erased—snuffed out in an instant, their bodies disintegrated, their cores shattered. Not a single one left standing.

No witnesses.

Ethan waved a hand, and the corpses vanished into his spatial storage ring. He cleaned up the scene in seconds, erasing every trace.

Then, with a flicker of mental energy, his appearance shifted again—flesh reshaping, bones realigning.

In the blink of an eye, he became Boneclaw.

Just in time.

A few zombies, drawn by the noise, came running through the trees. They stopped short when they saw "Boneclaw" standing tall amid the wreckage, the ground around him scarred by battle.

"What the hell are you doing back here?" Ethan barked, his voice now Boneclaw's deep, guttural growl. "You think I won't kill you too if you slack off? Get back to your patrols—NOW!"

The zombies flinched, nodding frantically, and scattered like frightened dogs.

They didn't dare question it. Judging by the destruction and the lingering energy in the air, it was obvious—Peanut had been executed.

And Boneclaw had done it.

No one wanted to end up the same way.

...

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.