Apocalypse: King of Zombies

"Uh..." Bulldozer froze for a moment, visibly startled.

Why is she still cursing me?

Gritting his teeth against the sharp pain, Bulldozer mustered his strength and shoved Spider Empress away with both arms.

"Hehehehehe~~~" Spider Empress bared her sharp fangs, her sinister grin spreading wide. Once a dominant force in her own right, she was slightly higher in rank than Bulldozer.

"Neither of you stands a chance against me."

But before her words could fully settle, a figure emerged from the shadows—a young girl carrying a long Tachi sword on her shoulder. The blade's edge gleamed, dripping fresh blood as she walked toward them.

Mia's large, calm eyes locked onto Spider Empress. "Let me handle this."

"Huh? You're asking to die!" Spider Empress's pupils narrowed dangerously. This was supposed to be a battle between zombies, yet this human prey dared to challenge her.

What's more, Spider Empress could sense that Mia's aura wasn't particularly strong.

"Swoosh!"

Spider Empress opened her mouth and spat out razor-sharp webs, shooting them like arrows toward Mia.

Mia swung her Tachi in a flurry of precise slashes, cutting through the incoming webs. However, a few strands managed to graze her cheek and shoulder. The sharp threads sliced through her skin, leaving deep cuts that began to bleed.

Bulldozer and Red-Eyed Crow stared, wide-eyed.

Bulldozer remembered Mia vividly. She had once visited Ethan's territory—the time he had messed up his patrol duties. He still felt guilty about it, so her face was etched in his memory. Plus, the boss had said something important back then:

Mia is a friend.

"Oh no, oh no... Boss's friend is leaking... uh, soup..." Bulldozer muttered nervously.

But Mia's expression remained calm. If anything, she seemed to relish the pain. The sharp, stinging sensation coursing through her body triggered her ability: [Deadly Pain].

"ROAR—"

Spider Empress let out a furious roar. The scent of human blood sent her into a frenzy, like a drug coursing through her veins. Her face twisted with savage excitement as she lunged at Mia, intent on devouring her whole.

Blood streamed down Mia's pale face, but her gaze remained steady, unflinching. Her grip on the sword tightened.

A surge of energy erupted from her. The crystal core embedded in the hilt of her Tachi began to glow with an intense, electric light, spreading rapidly along the blade until the entire sword was enveloped in crackling lightning.

The long blade now shimmered like a bolt of pure electricity, arcs of lightning dancing along its edge.

"Slash."

Mia whispered the word softly. Her figure vanished in an instant, moving so fast that she seemed to disappear. The blade in her hand cut through the air with a sharp, whistling sound.

Spider Empress didn't even have time to react.

The blade's edge sliced through her abdomen like a hot knife through butter, the sound of metal grinding against bone echoing in the air.

"Swoosh!"

The two figures crossed paths mid-air. In the next moment, Mia was already standing behind Spider Empress.

Spider Empress's eyes widened in disbelief. Slowly, she lowered her gaze to her stomach, where a thin, crimson line had appeared. A second later, her body began to shift unnaturally. Black blood gushed out as her torso slid apart from her lower half.

Her head tilted to the side, and she collapsed to the ground. Her upper and lower body were now completely severed.

Mia stepped forward, gripping her sword with both hands. With a motion as casual as swinging a golf club, she slashed diagonally, splitting Spider Empress's head open.

A crystal core flew out from the shattered skull.

Mia caught it effortlessly, her movements smooth and composed, as if she had done this a thousand times before.

"Damn, she's strong!" Bulldozer muttered, his small eyes filled with awe. No wonder the boss called her a friend—she had just taken down Spider Empress like it was nothing.

At the same time, both Bulldozer and Red-Eyed Crow came to the same conclusion in their hearts:

"She's a good person."

...

The battlefield was like a scene straight out of hell. Blood mist hung thick in the air, severed limbs and broken bodies scattered everywhere. In some places, corpses were piled into small mountains, and the foul stench of blood pooled and flowed beneath them.

As the slaughter continued, Serpent-Eye's forces were rapidly dwindling. The tide of battle had turned completely one-sided. Ethan's elite zombie army was so efficient that they even had spare capacity to launch an assault on Genesis Biotech.

Now, Justin and his team were surrounded by a relentless horde of zombies, their attacks growing more frenzied by the second.

"What the hell?! This isn't right!" Justin cursed, his face twisted in frustration. This was supposed to be a situation where they could swoop in and reap the rewards, but somehow, things had spiraled out of control, and they were now the ones in danger.

Around him, the Awakeners were locked in desperate combat.

Doom Hunter's ammunition was nearly depleted, his weapons clicking uselessly as he fired his last rounds.

Suddenly, a chilling laugh echoed through the chaos. "Hehehehehe~~~" One of the Awakeners, who had just formed a Neurocore, turned his head toward the sound—only to find Laura's ghostly face inches from his own.

Before he could react, a sharp pain tore through his abdomen. His stomach had been ripped open, and his heart was yanked out in an instant.

Blood gushed from the wound as his lifeless body crumpled to the ground.

Laura's figure flickered and vanished, only to reappear in front of her next target. She struck with precision, aiming directly for vital points.

In terms of sheer kill count, Laura was unmatched in this battle. She had already earned herself a chilling nickname: "The Heart Reaper."

"Stop her! Someone stop her!" Justin shouted, his voice tinged with panic. The way she moved was too eerie, too unnatural.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The surrounding Awakeners scrambled to erect barriers—walls of earth and ice—to block Laura's advance.

But while Laura wreaked havoc in front, a shadowy figure loomed behind them.

For the humans, both Laura and the shadow were terrifying adversaries. They killed without warning, striking from the darkness like true Phantom Infected.

"Did you all forget about me?" A deep, magnetic voice suddenly rang out from within the crowd.

Justin turned toward the sound, his eyes widening in horror. It was Ethan—the very figure who had disappeared earlier. Somehow, he had silently infiltrated their ranks and was now standing right next to him.

Before Justin could react, Ethan unleashed his Domain of the Dead. A suffocating pressure blanketed the battlefield, enveloping everyone within its reach.

With a casual wave of his hand, Ethan reached into the skull of an Awakener nearby and effortlessly extracted their crystal core.

Holy shit! Justin's scalp tingled with fear.

This guy is the final boss!

As Ethan moved through the crowd, he plucked out three or four more crystal cores with the same ease as if he were picking fruit in an orchard.

Captain Marina gritted her teeth, struggling to withstand the overwhelming pressure. Summoning all her strength, she activated her awakening ability.

"Water Prison!"

Streams of pale blue energy began to coalesce, forming shimmering walls of water in the air. The water barriers surrounded Ethan, resisting the oppressive force of his Domain of the Dead and trapping him inside.

The water prison was composed of pure energy, and since Ethan's Domain of the Dead could only pass through physical objects, he couldn't simply walk out of it.

But his elite zombie warriors seized the opportunity. One by one, they broke through the gaps in the human defenses, pouncing on the Awakeners. They pinned their victims to the ground, tearing into them with savage ferocity. The scene was gruesome beyond words.

As the zombies closed in, Serpent-Eye clenched his jaw. Despite his disdain for humans, he had no choice but to cooperate with them now.

After a brief rest, his mental energy had recovered significantly. He summoned a tide of giant serpents, which surged forward and encircled Ethan's elite zombies.

The once-ferocious zombies froze in place, their expressions flickering with uncertainty. Some even collapsed to their knees, trembling uncontrollably.

Any zombie that came into contact with Serpent-Eye's mental energy was dragged into the Phantom Realm, their minds thrown into disarray.

This gave Serpent-Eye a moment to catch his breath.

Surveying the battlefield, he realized the situation was hopeless.

"Maybe... it's time to bail?"

After all, survival was the key to making a comeback. As an A-rank zombie king, he might not be able to win, but he was confident in his ability to escape.

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With that thought, Serpent-Eye began to retreat, his movements slow and deliberate to avoid drawing attention.

But just as he was about to slip away, a figure suddenly charged at him with incredible speed. Like a raging bull, the figure slammed a fist into Serpent-Eye's chest, sending him flying over a hundred feet.

It was Sean, who had arrived to assist.

"Huh?"

Justin, startled by the commotion, turned toward the source of the noise. His eyes widened in disbelief when he saw that there was a human fighting alongside Ethan's forces.

What the hell is going on?!

The man's appearance was strikingly familiar. Justin quickly recalled seeing his profile on the refugee shelter's official website. It didn't take long for him to piece it together.

"You... you're Sean?!"

Sean glanced at him, his sharp eyes gleaming with intelligence. "Oh? You've heard of my legend?"

But before Justin could respond, Serpent-Eye roared in fury. He unleashed a torrent of mental energy, directing it all toward Sean in a desperate attempt to crush him.

Sean, however, remained completely unfazed.

"As long as I abandon my rational mind, your tricks won't work on me."

With that, his body began to crackle and pop as his bones shifted and expanded. In an instant, he activated his [Fearless Berserk] state.

...