Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Ethan quickly moved toward the chaotic battlefield.

At this moment, the fight was intense. The colossal Zombie King, Giant Boulder, was surrounded and under attack by several humans. Previously, these humans had always hidden inside their city, but today they suddenly launched a counterattack, catching the zombies completely off guard.

”Die already!” shouted a muscular human Awakener, throwing a powerful punch straight at Giant Boulder’s shiny head.

BAM!

Giant Boulder staggered backward, crashing heavily onto the ground and sliding several meters, kicking up clouds of dust.

”Ah, damn...” The human Awakener shook his hand, grimacing. That shiny bald head was surprisingly tough—his knuckles were throbbing.

This Awakener was named Kade Stone, an A-class strength-type Awakener. Although he was strong, his physical toughness still couldn’t match a zombie like Giant Boulder, whose mutated skin was thick and hardened. Fortunately, Kade had plenty of combat experience and agility, allowing him to rely on skill and tactics to gain the upper hand.

Behind Kade, dozens of armed fighters in combat gear wielded alloy weapons, locked in fierce battles with other zombies. The battlefield echoed with human shouts, zombie roars, and the gruesome sounds of metal slicing through flesh. Occasionally, the chilling screams of humans being devoured pierced the air.

”ROAR!” Giant Boulder let out a furious howl. Strength-type zombies were usually short-tempered and not particularly bright. Getting punched by Kade had ignited his rage.

”I’m gonna rip you apart!” Giant Boulder snarled, scrambling back to his feet.

”Ice Hammer!”

Suddenly, a clear voice rang out. Above Giant Boulder, the temperature plummeted, and a massive chunk of ice formed instantly, smashing down onto him.

BOOM!

Giant Boulder, who had just gotten up, was slammed back down into the dirt. Ice shards exploded everywhere, and Giant Boulder ended up face-down, mouth full of dirt.

”...Son of a—!”

A young female Awakener appeared beside Kade, one of his teammates. She had chosen an ice hammer attack because sharp ice spikes couldn’t penetrate Giant Boulder’s thick skin, barely scratching him.

”Captain, this guy’s way too tough!” she complained.

”No worries,” Kade reassured her calmly. ”We’ll wear him down slowly. He can’t hold out forever.”

”Got it!” the girl nodded determinedly.

At the same time, another Awakener—a speed-type—began harassing Giant Boulder. He leaped down from above, slashing at Giant Boulder’s back with a short blade.

SCREECH—

The blade scraped against Giant Boulder’s hardened skin, producing a harsh, grating sound. It barely cut about ten millimeters deep before getting stuck, leaving only a shallow wound with a trickle of blood. It felt like slicing into thick, hardened rubber.

Enraged, Giant Boulder swung his massive arm backward, trying to grab the attacker. But the young man easily dodged, using his superior speed.

”Heh heh, too slow!” he taunted.

”ROOOOAR—!”

Giant Boulder was now utterly furious. These humans were infuriating. Usually, they hid inside their city, trembling at the sight of him. Today, they dared to come out and gang up on him. The humiliation was unbearable—like someone he’d bullied for ages suddenly turning around and bullying him back.

”I’ll kill every last one of you!” Giant Boulder roared, charging forward.

But the humans immediately scattered, refusing to engage him head-on, instead dancing around him and wearing him down.

”Stupid zombie! You’re the one who’s gonna die today!”

”You didn’t really think we were afraid of you, did you?”

”Today’s the day we start fighting back! We’re gonna wipe you all out!”

The humans were fired up, confident that killing one of Nightmare’s top Zombie Kings would be a huge victory.

Just then—

Ethan quietly appeared not far from the battlefield, his cold eyes calmly scanning the chaotic scene.

Not bad at all...

The humans really were fighting back. They seemed pretty fired up!

He silently took out the small transparent container, planning to release the ants discreetly. After all, the Devourer Ants were tiny and few in number—if the humans noticed them too soon, they’d probably just squash them immediately.

He had to give them a proper ”surprise.”

Seeing everyone busy fighting, no one paid attention to Ethan’s direction. He carefully opened the lid of the container.

The ants, already desperate to escape, immediately flew out. They drifted silently through the air like specks of dust, heading straight toward the battlefield. Some flew beneath zombies’ legs, others hovered briefly above the humans’ heads, circling around to find suitable targets.

The ants first targeted the armed soldiers fighting ordinary zombies. Unfortunately, these soldiers wore nano-combat suits, tightly sealed and difficult to penetrate. Eventually, the ants found their way in through the soldiers’ ears.

One soldier swung his blade, splitting a zombie’s head in half. Blood splattered everywhere, and he felt a rush of satisfaction, finally venting the frustration he’d built up from being trapped inside the city for so long.

But suddenly, a tiny ant flew straight into his ear.

”Ow!” He flinched, feeling a sudden itch, and quickly tilted his head, digging into his ear with his pinky finger.

His teammate noticed and asked curiously, ”Hey, what’s wrong?”

”Nothing, just feels like a bug flew into my ear.”

”Oh, okay...”

His teammate shrugged it off. After all, they were Awakeners who had formed Neurocores—what harm could a tiny bug do?

But soon, the soldier began digging at his ear more and more aggressively, his expression growing increasingly distressed. The itch quickly turned into a sharp, unbearable pain, spreading rapidly through his head.

”Hey, man, what’s going on?” his teammate asked again, now concerned.

”I...I’m so itchy!” the soldier growled through clenched teeth. Half his face had gone numb, his body stiffening uncontrollably. The itching sensation intensified, driving him nearly insane.

”AHHH—!” Unable to bear it any longer, he screamed and punched himself in the face repeatedly, desperately trying to replace the maddening itch with pain.

But he punched too hard, shattering his cheekbone and causing half his face to collapse inward.

”Stop it! What the hell are you doing?!” his teammate shouted, horror replacing confusion.

But the soldier couldn’t stop. He collapsed to the ground, writhing and screaming in agony.

Moments later, his eyes glazed over, and his body convulsed violently. Suddenly, his mouth opened wide, and a dense swarm of tiny flying insects burst out, spraying into the air like a dark cloud and scattering in all directions.

This wasn’t an isolated incident. Around him, other soldiers began collapsing, exhibiting the same horrifying symptoms.

Their screams echoed across the battlefield, drowning out even the zombies’ roars and startling everyone nearby.

”What the hell is happening to those humans?” Even the zombies paused, confused by the sudden chaos.

But the most terrified were Kade and his squad. Watching their comrades collapse one after another, and seeing the dark clouds of insects spreading rapidly, they felt a deep sense of dread.

”What the hell is that?” someone shouted.

”It looks like...bugs?”

”Bugs?!”

Kade squinted, staring intently. Sure enough, the dark clouds were swarms of tiny insects, multiplying rapidly and making everyone’s skin crawl.

As their numbers grew, the ants became bolder, swarming over the remaining soldiers and quickly overwhelming them.

”This is insane...” Kade muttered, horrified. He immediately realized these were mutated creatures—and now, one of those dark swarms was heading straight toward his team.

”Captain! What do we do?” the speed-type Awakener asked anxiously.

”Cover yourselves! Don’t let those bugs get inside your body!” Kade shouted urgently.

”Got it!” The young man nodded repeatedly.

But in the next second, his eyes widened in shock, and he froze in place, feeling a sudden, unbearable itch in his ear...

...