Apocalypse with my SSS Harem Beauties-Chapter 129: Bleeding Man

They walked for nearly fifteen minutes before the city began to change.

The buildings ahead no longer collapsed in chaotic angles. Instead, they stood unnaturally straight as if something had forced them upright after the world broke. Their windows remained shattered and walls were cracked. But the structures did not lean or sag. They felt arranged.

The street narrowed suddenly. The asphalt that once stretched wide enough for four lanes gradually compressed into a single path.

The cracks in the ground stopped spreading randomly and began forming long parallel lines. Burned vehicles that littered the earlier streets were gone and no debris blocked their way.

The air changed first.

Myles noticed it before anyone spoke. His steps forward from now on made his lungs work harder. Breathing did not hurt but it felt harder. Like inhaling through soaked cloth.

Victor frowned. "You all feel that?"

George nodded slowly. "Yeah. Feels thick."

A faint pressure settled on their skin. It was not painful, but it could be clearly felt. Ether lingered everywhere. It did not drift like thin mist anymore but pressed against them.

Ten steps later the temperature dropped slightly. Then they saw it.

At the end of the narrowed road stood something that did not match the ruined city at all.

There was a single rectangular doorway standing upright in the middle of the street.

It had no wall attached to it. It only has an old, weathered, and cracked concrete frame. About three meters tall. It looked like it had been ripped from some forgotten building and planted here without explanation.

Inside the frame, there was nothing. Just distortion.

The space within the rectangle bent subtly, like heat rising above asphalt on a hot day.

They all slowed their steps.

"This is it," Lilian said.

The closer they approached, the heavier the pressure became. Breathing turned shallow. Ether felt pressed into their pores.

"This is the threshold," Lilian said.

Myles stepped beside her and stared at the distorted space inside the concrete frame.

"The higher zone begins beyond this," Lilian continued. "The Ether density increases sharply past this point. Your bodies will feel it immediately. If your foundation is unstable, the pressure will expose it."

Victor cracked his neck. "So it’s like walking into deeper water."

"More like stepping into a stronger current," Lilian said. "You cannot move the same way you did before. Your actions consume more stamina. Your mistake will cost more."

The air grew even heavier as they stood there.

Myles focused inward. His Ether core rotated steadily.

The distortion inside the frame rippled faintly.

Myles stepped forward until he stood right before the concrete threshold.

He took a deep breath. Then he said, "Get ready."

They all crossed the door together.

—

Beyond the threshold to the high zone, the air changed completely.

Inside a dim concrete structure not far from the entrance point, a man in his forties crouched on the cold floor. This building was located inside the higher zone with denser Ether concentration.

Fluorescent lights above flickered weakly, casting unstable shadows across cracked walls. The room had once been part of an underground parking level. Now it served a different purpose.

In front of him lay a naked man covered in blood.

He was still breathing. But barely.

His eyes were closed. His chest rose in shallow and uneven motions. Blood pooled beneath his back and spread across the concrete in a dark, sticky layer. Thin, precise cuts marked his arms, chest, thighs, even his face.

None of them were fatal. Every wound had been placed carefully. Measured and controlled.

The man in his forties held a narrow blade between two fingers. Its edge glimmered faintly with Ether. It was definitely not a normal weapon.

He tilted his head slightly as he examined the body.

"You’re still holding on," he muttered calmly.

The wounded man trembled weakly but could not respond. His throat was cut just enough to prevent proper speech. Not enough to kill him. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

A few seconds later footsteps echoed from the corridor behind.

A second man entered the room.

He looked only a few years younger. His build was lean, his posture relaxed. His eyes swept across the scene without emotion.

"Alex," he said.

The man crouching did not turn around.

"There’s a new group that entered this zone. They just crossed the threshold. They look strong."

Alex’s blade paused for half a second.

"Hmm... Is that so..."

His voice carried no excitement or curiosity. Just a mild acknowledgment.

He returned his focus to the bleeding man and dragged the tip of the blade lightly across the victim’s ribs. A thin line opened and blood flowed out.

The younger man did not react. He had seen this many times.

He stepped closer but kept his distance from the spreading pool of blood.

"What will you do about them?" he asked.

Alex’s expression did not change.

"I’m not interested," he replied flatly. "Maybe I’ll kill them if I feel like it."

The younger man nodded. That answer was expected.

"Alright. I’ll inform the others."

He turned toward the exit.

"Wait."

His steps stopped. Alex finally lifted his gaze from the body on the floor.

"Maybe keep watching them," he said. "You said they’re strong."

"Yes."

"Then let’s see how strong."

Alex rose slowly to his feet. Blood stained his fingers but he did not bother wiping it off.

"If they can defeat the fire monster boss in this sector, we might consider bringing them along when we move to the next zone."

The younger man studied Alex’s expression for a moment.

There was no excitement there. Only calculation.

"Understood."

He walked out without another word. His footsteps faded into the corridor until silence returned.

The only sound left in the room was the weak, uneven breathing of the man on the floor.

Alex crouched again.

He placed two fingers on the victim’s chest, feeling the faint heartbeat beneath torn skin.

"Don’t die yet," he murmured.

The blade descended once more.

Another clean cut opened across the man’s shoulder.

The scream that followed never fully formed. It broke halfway through.

Alex watched him closely.

—