Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Ethan, driven by curiosity, walked toward the commotion. Without hesitation, he activated his Domain of the Dead ability, phasing straight through the wall and into the brightly lit building.

The moment he stepped inside, a cacophony of shouts and cheers filled his ears. The place was packed, the atmosphere electric with excitement.

At the center of it all stood a massive octagonal cage.

Inside, the floor was smeared with blood, bodies sprawled lifelessly across it. Severed limbs and chunks of flesh were scattered around like discarded scraps.

And in the middle of that gruesome scene, two completely naked humans were locked in a brutal fight.

They tore at each other like rabid dogs—scratching, biting, clawing—pure, unfiltered savagery.

One of them, a woman, suddenly tackled her opponent to the ground. Without hesitation, she sank her teeth into his carotid artery and ripped a chunk of flesh away. Blood gushed out in a violent spray.

The man convulsed for a few seconds before going completely still, his body slumping into the growing pool of crimson beneath him.

”HELL YEAH!”

”Blair wins again!”

”That’s three in a row!”

”Haha! Big win! Let’s keep it going!”

The crowd outside the cage erupted in cheers, fists pumping in the air, their excitement palpable.

Ethan’s gaze swept across the scene, quickly piecing together what was happening. This was an underground deathmatch arena—a place where people were forced to fight to the death for entertainment, like some twisted version of cockfighting.

And judging by the sheer number of Black Hand Legion members in the audience—easily over a hundred—this was a well-established operation.

”Damn, making this much noise in the middle of the night? Don’t these guys sleep? Staying up like this is bad for your health… gonna get yourselves killed early,” Ethan muttered under his breath.

Just then, another unfortunate soul was shoved into the cage, the brutal cycle continuing without pause.

Up in the stands, a middle-aged man immediately started shouting.

”Place your bets! Odds are two to one! The more you bet, the more you win!”

A crowd quickly gathered around him, buzzing with excitement.

”Who are you betting on this time?”

”I’m sticking with Blair—three wins in a row, she’s on fire.”

”Yeah, but she’s running out of stamina. I think she’s gonna lose this one.”

”That’s what I thought last round, and I lost big. This time, I’m winning it back!”

”Hmm… you’ve got a point. Alright, I’m putting down five B-grade crystal cores!”

One by one, they placed their bets, the anticipation only adding to the thrill.

The reason they used a gauntlet-style fight was simple—it kept things unpredictable. The more uncertain the outcome, the more exciting the gamble.

The Black Hand Legion members were practically foaming at the mouth, tossing crystal cores into the betting pool like maniacs. In the post-apocalyptic world, crystal cores were the ultimate currency—hard, tangible wealth.

The bookie’s tray quickly piled up, a small mountain of multicolored crystal cores forming in front of him—over a hundred in total, a mix of human and mutant beast cores.

”A fruit platter?” Ethan’s eyes flicked toward the tray, and without hesitation, he started walking over. Damn, they even peeled the ’skins’ off for me. Nice service.

A few moments later, the betting frenzy died down.

The middle-aged bookie grinned from ear to ear as he eyed the massive pile of crystal cores. He was practically salivating.

”Another big haul tonight...” He turned to one of his subordinates. ”You, grab the tray. We’re locking this up in the vault.”

”Oh, got it!” The younger man nodded quickly, eager to follow orders.

The bookie wasn’t taking any chances. He didn’t trust anyone—not even his own men. If this guy lost or pocketed even a single crystal core, that would be a serious problem.

So, the two of them moved together, the bookie pulling out a ring of keys as they passed through several heavy iron doors, eventually reaching a back room.

The moment they stepped inside, the noise from the arena faded, replaced by an eerie silence.

The room was small, but it housed two large safes—both used to store crystal cores.

The bookie unlocked one of them.

”Put it in.”

”Got it.” The subordinate carefully placed the tray inside.

The bookie narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the pile one last time. He then glanced at his subordinate, making sure nothing was missing—no cores had been pocketed, nothing had been tampered with.

Satisfied, he shut the safe and locked it up tight.

”Alright, let’s go back and watch the match. Let’s see how much we’re making this round.”

The middle-aged man and his subordinate left the room, heading back toward the octagonal cage.

But the moment they shut the door—

Not even three seconds later—

A shadowy figure materialized inside the room.

”Damn, this is perfect~”

Ethan couldn’t help but admire his luck. He had just been out for a casual stroll and stumbled upon a goldmine.

Maybe he really should get out more instead of staying cooped up all the time…

The safe in front of him was high-tech, built with precision and security in mind.

But to Ethan? It was nothing more than an inconvenience.

He reached straight through the metal, grabbed the tray, and effortlessly stored all the crystal cores into his spatial storage ring.

Most of them were low-tier—B-grade, maybe a few B+—but still, a decent haul.

His gaze then shifted to the second safe.

Inside, more crystal cores were neatly stacked. Unlike the first batch, these weren’t from the betting pool—this was the bookie’s personal stash, his accumulated winnings.

Over two hundred cores in total.

And among them, the highest quality ones had even reached A-grade.

Ethan repeated the process, sweeping them all into his inventory.

”Man, this is way too easy...”

…

Outside, the crowd was still going wild.

The arena was a chaotic mess of shouting and cheering, everyone hyped up over their bets.

Inside the cage, the fight was nearing its end.

The latest contestant—a terrified, trembling man—was clearly out of his depth. He was just another unfortunate survivor who had been dragged here against his will. His eyes darted around in panic, taking in the frenzied Black Hand Legion members screaming for blood.

Across from him, Blair was barely standing, her body exhausted from the relentless battles.

But at this point, she had lost all sense of reason.

The sheer brutality of the fights had driven her into a berserker-like state—she was no longer human, just a wild beast, completely consumed by bloodlust.

With a guttural snarl, Blair lunged at her opponent, hands locking around his throat.

She squeezed with everything she had, muscles straining, fingers digging into his flesh.

Then—

CRACK!

The sickening snap echoed through the arena.

The man’s terrified, pleading expression froze in place. His lifeless eyes remained wide open, staring blankly at the ceiling of the cage.

Another corpse hit the floor.

”HELL YEAH! BLAIR WINS AGAIN!”

”See? Told you! She still had it in her!”

”Unreal! We just made back everything we lost!”

”Come on, let’s go collect from Big Frank!”

The crowd erupted, some rushing off to claim their winnings, others slumping in defeat, muttering curses under their breath and vowing to win it back next time.

Meanwhile, the middle-aged bookie—Harvey—was grinning from ear to ear.

Blair’s fourth consecutive win had made him a lot of money.

Most people had bet against her, assuming she’d finally collapse from exhaustion. But she had defied the odds, and Harvey had raked in the profits.

”Alright, alright, don’t worry! I’ll get your crystal cores right now. We run an honest game here!” Harvey reassured the gamblers, his tone full of confidence.

The crowd kept pressing him.

”Harvey, hurry the hell up! I need to place my bet for the next round—I’m not missing my shot at a big win!”

”Yeah, yeah, I’m on it!” Harvey waved them off, motioning for his subordinate to follow him back to the storage room.

Still in high spirits, they retraced their steps, passing through the iron doors once more.

Harvey was practically humming to himself, pleased with how the night was going.

When they reached the safes, everything looked exactly as they had left it.

Untouched.

Harvey stepped forward, casually punching in the code.

Click.

The safe door swung open.

”Alright, start counting out their winnings. Be quick about it,” Harvey instructed.

His subordinate nodded eagerly. ”Got it, boss!”

But the moment Harvey reached inside—

His hand froze.

”...Huh?”

…