Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Griff stared blankly ahead, his mind racing as he realized what had just happened. If this wasn’t the Zombie King, then his team was in serious danger.

”Damn it,” he muttered under his breath.

They’d been tricked.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Grizzly and the others were still in hot pursuit.

”Heh, gotta admit, these cyborgs are pretty handy. If it were just us, we’d never have tracked down the Zombie King this fast,” one of them said with a smirk.

”Now that we’ve found it, we need to take it out ASAP,” the female teammate nodded in agreement.

The group darted through the crumbling streets, their pace relentless. Up ahead, Big Ears and Shrimpy were sprinting for their lives, their legs pumping furiously.

The two weren’t slow, but compared to human Awakeners, they were no match. Big Ears glanced over his shoulder and saw the humans closing in fast. They were almost on them.

”Oh crap! Somebody help!” Big Ears yelped, his first instinct being to head straight for the building where Ethan lived.

Unknowingly, Grizzly and his team had already chased them deep into the zombie nest. But just as they were about to close the gap, a strange sound echoed through the air above the street ahead.

”Caw! Caw!”

The mournful cries of crows filled the sky as a massive flock swooped down, so dense they nearly blotted out the sun.

”Huh?” Big Ears stopped in his tracks, staring up at the sky. The panic on his face melted away, replaced by a sly grin.

”Shrimpy, stop running!” he called out.

”What? Why?” Shrimpy turned back, confused.

Big Ears’ lips curled into a mischievous smirk. ”It’s time for some caw-caw carnage.”

...

Ahead of them, in the direction the crows had come from, a figure suddenly appeared. He walked toward them with calm, deliberate steps, his presence radiating an unsettling confidence.

Grizzly and his team skidded to a halt, their instincts screaming at them. A heavy sense of dread settled over them like a storm cloud.

The man’s gaze swept over them, casual and unbothered. ”Took you long enough,” Ethan said, his tone light, almost mocking.

”Uh… what?” The three of them froze, their faces a mix of confusion and unease.

The cyborg beside them blinked, its green optical sensors flashing as it began scanning.

[Scanning… Target identified: Zombie King. Level: Unknown. Combat Power: Unknown. Unable to lock onto target…]

The team’s unease deepened into outright fear. If even the cyborg couldn’t get a read on him, did that mean this guy was beyond its computational limits?

What kind of monster were they dealing with?

”Wait a second,” Grizzly muttered, his voice shaky. ”Didn’t Captain Griff say the Zombie King was on his side of the city?”

Before they could process this, a frantic voice crackled through their comms.

”Hey! The Zombie King over here is a fake! Abort the mission immediately and get out of the nest! Now!”

Grizzly’s face went pale. ”...What?”

But it was too late. From the alleys and side streets, zombies began to emerge, their numbers growing by the second. On the buildings around them, elite zombies crawled down the walls like spiders, their movements unnervingly fast.

The ground beneath their feet trembled as massive bio-mutants rose from the ruins, their grotesque forms radiating raw, murderous intent.

The entire area was swarming with the undead. They were completely surrounded.

Grizzly’s lips went dry, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed hard. His voice trembled as he spoke into the comms.

”Boss… we’re not getting out of here.”

”What?!” Griff’s voice came through, sharp with panic. He was starting to piece together what was happening.

The female teammate’s eyes darted around at the encroaching zombies, her body trembling. ”What do we do now?”

The cyborg, devoid of any human emotion or fear, continued its cold, mechanical calculations. Its electronic voice was calm, almost indifferent.

[Scanning… Enemy strength overwhelming. Victory impossible. Recommended action: Escape.]

The three of them turned to the cyborg, clinging to it as their last hope. ”Then hurry up and calculate a way for us to escape!”

[Accessing database… Calculating optimal escape route… Calculation failed. Probability of successful escape: 0.00%.]

”Wha—”

The three of them stared at the cyborg, dumbfounded. Their faces darkened as the realization hit them.

”You’re telling us we can’t escape, and you’re still suggesting we try? What kind of useless junk are you?!”

”Stupid piece of scrap metal!”

”There’s no other way. We’ll have to fight them to the death!” Grizzly clenched his teeth, his jaw tight with determination. A flicker of resolve burned in his eyes.

The cyborg, however, continued its relentless calculations.

[Calculating… Simulating combat scenarios: 20,000 iterations. All failed. Probability of victory: 0.00%. Conclusion: Certain death.]

”...” Grizzly’s face twitched, veins popping on his forehead. He was seriously considering shutting the damn thing off for good.

But Ethan wasn’t about to give them the luxury of time. His eyes flashed crimson, and in an instant, the terrifying Domain of the Dead surged forward like a tidal wave.

The three were immediately engulfed. Their bodies felt impossibly heavy, as if they’d been plunged into quicksand.

At the same time, the surrounding zombies let out guttural roars and charged at them with feral intensity.

[Ice Wall activated.]

The cyborg emitted a chilling aura, and countless shards of ice crystallized around it, forming a thick barrier to fend off the oncoming horde.

The wall was solid, its surface gleaming with frost. Zombies clawed at it, their razor-sharp nails scraping against the ice with a grating shhhk-shhhk sound that made their teeth ache. For a moment, it held firm.

But then, one of the bio-mutants lumbered forward. Its massive claw swung down with the force of a meteor, aiming straight for the ice wall.

CRACK!

The wall shattered instantly, shards of ice scattering like glass.

The cyborg, however, had anticipated this. Its right arm had already begun gathering earth-element energy, forming a massive stone fist.

BOOM!

The cyborg swung its fist upward, meeting the bio-mutant’s claw head-on. The impact reverberated through the air, and flames erupted from the cyborg’s fist, exploding with a deafening roar.

The sheer force of the blast sent the bio-mutant stumbling back dozens of feet.

It was clear this cyborg wasn’t ordinary—it was an A+ grade, wielding ice, earth, and fire elements. Its combat capabilities were formidable.

”Not bad,” Ethan remarked, his tone casual, almost amused. ”Too bad… you’re all bark and no bite.”

With a flick of his wrist, a tachi appeared in Ethan’s hand. The blade ignited with roaring flames as he swung it toward the cyborg.

[Scanning… Target’s power exceeds limits. Defense impossible.]

The cyborg froze, momentarily stunned.

Ethan’s blade sliced downward, cutting through the cyborg’s earth-element armor with a screech of metal grinding against metal.

SHRRK!

The cyborg’s body split open, revealing not blood but sparking wires and exposed circuitry.

[Energy supply insufficient. Transmitting combat data… Shutting down.]

The light in the cyborg’s eyes dimmed, and its metallic body collapsed to the ground with a resounding thud.

Grizzly and the others stared in horror. An A+ grade, triple-element cyborg—taken out in mere moments.

The female teammate, a psychic Awakener, gritted her teeth, her silver hair damp with sweat. She was using her mental barrier to resist the crushing pressure of the Domain of the Dead. But the domain’s power was overwhelming, and her head throbbed as if needles were stabbing into her brain. Her body trembled, and she was on the verge of collapse.

Behind her, another figure loomed in the shadows—a second Zombie King, PhD. His eyes gleamed with malice as he seized the opportunity to strike. His Mind Spike ability lashed out, a brutal psychic attack meant to finish her off.

”AHHH!”

The girl screamed, her mental defenses shattering like glass. It felt as though boiling oil had been poured into her skull. The pain was unbearable. Her vision went black, and she crumpled to the ground, lifeless. Brain-dead.

”Emma!” Grizzly roared, his eyes bloodshot. With Emma gone, her psychic barrier vanished, and the oppressive weight of the Domain of the Dead grew even stronger. His movements became sluggish, his body heavy as lead.

A scream from nearby snapped his attention away. The younger teammate had been cornered by two bio-mutants. They pummeled him mercilessly before a swarm of elite zombies descended, dragging him to the ground. Their claws and teeth tore into him, and within moments, he was reduced to a bloody mess, his body ripped apart.

The battle had lasted less than a minute, and Grizzly was the only one left standing.

He watched in despair as his teammates fell one by one, their lives snuffed out like candles in a storm. The cyborg’s calculations had been right—there was no hope of survival.

Grizzly turned his head instinctively, and his heart sank. Ethan was standing right beside him, his expression calm, almost indifferent. His long fingers reached out toward Grizzly.

Before he could react, darkness consumed him. His massive frame crumpled to the ground with a heavy thud.

”Grizzly! Can you hear me? Are you still there?!” Griff’s frantic voice crackled through the comm device on Grizzly’s collar.

Ethan glanced down at the comm, his lips curling into a faint smile. He leaned in slightly and replied, his voice smooth and unhurried.

”He can’t hear you anymore.”

...