Apocalypse: King of Zombies

”Well, that’s definitely a creepy ability...”

Ethan stared silently, unsure where the real culprit was hiding.

On the street, two people were tearing into each other, biting and clawing like rabid animals. Blood poured freely, their life force fading with every second. It didn’t take long before both collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

Two living, breathing humans had just killed each other with their bare teeth.

If an ordinary person had witnessed this horrifying scene, they’d probably be scared out of their mind.

Just then, a shadow emerged from a sewer grate by the side of the street. It was pitch black, and its high-pitched squeals echoed with excitement as it scurried toward the two corpses.

It was a rat.

But not just any rat—it was massive, the size of a large dog, with thick, jet-black fur and two front teeth sharper than daggers.

The creature wasted no time. It sank its teeth into the corpses, tearing into their flesh with a grotesque enthusiasm, devouring them in large, bloody chunks.

Clearly, this rat was the mastermind behind the carnage. A mutated beast with a crystal core, it had the ability to manipulate human minds. It wasn’t just any rat—it was the Rat King, the ruler of this area.

”I wonder... what a mutated beast’s crystal core tastes like,” Ethan muttered to himself.

The last time he hunted, he’d taken down a two-headed wolf. That beast was still in the Neurocore stage, but even then, its meat had tasted pretty good.

Now, Ethan couldn’t help but feel tempted by the thought of claiming the Rat King’s crystal core for himself.

The Rat King, however, wasn’t oblivious. Even as it feasted, its heightened senses picked up on something—it could feel someone watching it.

It froze mid-bite, then slowly turned its head.

Sure enough, perched on a high-rise building in the distance was a human figure.

”Oh? Looks like I’ve been spotted,” Ethan said, raising an eyebrow.

Man and beast locked eyes, even though they were separated by hundreds of feet.

For a moment, the air seemed to freeze.

The Rat King’s crimson eyes glowed with a violent, bloodthirsty light. It let out a series of sharp, angry squeals, its body radiating a faint black mist that began drifting toward Ethan.

The mist was a psychic attack, its range vast and deadly.

But compared to Ethan’s Domain of the Dead, it was laughably weak.

Ethan’s eyes glimmered with a faint red light as he activated his Absolute Domain.

The Domain of the Dead expanded outward, enveloping the area around him.

The black mist disintegrated instantly, like snow melting under the sun. It couldn’t even get close to him.

The Rat King’s nose twitched nervously. It was clearly shaken.

Its gaze remained fixed on Ethan, who stood atop the building like a king surveying his domain. The Rat King could feel it—a suffocating pressure, as if it were staring at a predator far beyond its comprehension.

Rats, by nature, are highly sensitive to danger. They can sense earthquakes, tsunamis, and other natural disasters long before they strike.

And right now, this Rat King could feel death creeping closer and closer.

Abandoning the corpses, it turned and bolted.

”Trying to run?” Ethan smirked.

In one fluid motion, he leapt from the building, landing on the street below. His movements were swift and ghostlike, covering dozens of feet in the blink of an eye.

The distance between them, once hundreds of feet, vanished in mere moments.

The Rat King let out a piercing screech, its voice sharp enough to make the air tremble.

”SCREEEEECH!”

The sound echoed through the streets, carrying with it an eerie, commanding tone.

Ethan suddenly heard a rustling noise beneath his feet.

From the sewers, the sound grew louder and louder, until—

Whoosh!

A swarm of rats erupted from the ground like a black fountain, pouring out of the sewer grates in a writhing, chittering mass.

The Rat King had summoned reinforcements.

The swarm spread out, filling the streets. Rats of all sizes—some as big as dogs, others as small as cats—came charging from every direction, their eyes glowing with a feral intensity.

”So, this is how it calls for backup...” Ethan muttered, now surrounded by a sea of rats.

The swarm surged toward him, a living tide of teeth and claws. Each rat seemed more vicious than the last, their mutated forms brimming with aggression.

But Ethan’s Domain of the Dead was unstoppable.

Any rat that dared to enter his domain was instantly obliterated. Their bodies exploded like overripe fruit, splattering the ground with gore.

The rat swarm was relentless, but around Ethan, there was a vacuum of death—nothing could get close.

Still, the rats showed no fear. They charged forward like moths to a flame, throwing themselves at him without hesitation.

Ethan had become a living meat grinder.

Chunks of flesh and sprays of blood filled the air around him. In just a few breaths, the ground was piled high with rat corpses, layer upon layer.

Everywhere he looked, there were rats.

Ethan’s sharp gaze scanned the chaos, searching for the Rat King. But the cunning creature had vanished, blending into the swarm. Its exact location was impossible to pinpoint.

”This rat’s harder to catch than I thought...” Ethan muttered, his eyes narrowing.

As he surveyed the battlefield, he suddenly spotted a large rat lounging on top of a bus stop. Its eyes were half-closed, its tail swaying lazily, and it was staring at him with a smug, almost mocking expression.

”Still daring to taunt me, huh?”

Ethan immediately recognized it as the Rat King. Without hesitation, he charged toward it.

But the Rat King didn’t panic. With a casual leap, it disappeared into a nearby sewer grate, vanishing into the swarm once again.

Ethan cursed under his breath. He’d lost sight of it again.

Something wasn’t right.

His Domain of the Dead could only remain active for about twenty minutes, and two minutes had already passed. If this dragged on, his chances of success would drop significantly.

As Ethan weighed his options, the Rat King reappeared. This time, it was perched on the roof of a wrecked carport, staring at him with the same infuriatingly smug expression.

Ethan lunged toward it again.

But, just like before, the Rat King slipped away at the last second, disappearing into the shadows.

Meanwhile, the endless tide of rats continued to surge toward Ethan, wave after wave.

It was clear now—the Rat King wasn’t trying to fight him. It was trying to wear him down.

Ethan’s mind raced. Should he just give up?

If his Domain of the Dead ran out, the rats would swarm him. While his body was strong enough to withstand their sharp teeth, the thought of being covered in filthy sewer rats made his skin crawl.

And without the domain’s protection, hunting the Rat King would become even harder.

”Even with my abilities, there’s no guarantee I’ll succeed in taking it down,” Ethan thought to himself.

But just as he was about to retreat, the Rat King appeared again.

This time, it was perched on a trash can, its eyes half-closed as it stared at him with that same infuriatingly smug look.

Ethan clenched his fists, but he didn’t move.

He wasn’t going to fall for the same trick again.

Instead, he decided to use the remaining time on his Domain of the Dead to escape the area. He could always come back later to deal with the Rat King when the odds were more in his favor.

But just as he was about to leave, something unexpected happened.

The bright sky suddenly darkened, as if a massive shadow had fallen over the area.

”CAW—CAW CAW!”

A piercing cry echoed through the air.

Ethan looked up, startled.

Far above, a massive black shape loomed, and the sound of flapping wings filled the sky.

Among the cacophony of caws, a strange, almost human-like voice rang out:

”Hello, good man...”

”Oh?” Ethan raised an eyebrow, glancing upward.

It was a large crow, the same one he’d fed before.

The bird circled above him, its crimson eyes gleaming with a fierce, predatory light.

It had come to help.

The red-eyed crow let out a sharp, ear-splitting screech, and suddenly, the sky was filled with thousands of crows.

The flock descended like a black storm, diving toward the rat swarm below.

Each crow was like a missile, plummeting toward the ground with deadly precision. Their razor-sharp beaks pierced through the rats with ease, killing them instantly.

The tide of rats was halted.

The crows tore through the swarm, their numbers overwhelming the rodents.

The Rat King, still perched on the trash can, watched in disbelief. Its once-relaxed demeanor was gone, replaced by twitching nostrils and a look of pure rage.

It was furious.

...