Apocalypse: King of Zombies

That old bastard calling himself The Voidborn Undying... his tone was eerily similar to Ethan’s.

Nightbane froze on the spot, his face drained of all color. After everything he’d done, all the sacrifices he’d made—this was the result? He couldn’t accept it. Not like this.

”No! What about the power to rule the world? That was the deal!”

”Yeah,” the Undying said in a low, gravelly voice. ”The one who’ll rule this world... is me.”

”...”

Nightbane was speechless.

The Undying’s savage eyes swept across the battlefield, pausing on Ethan and the massive horde of zombies surrounding him. There was a flicker of something like approval in his gaze.

”Still, you’ve all done pretty well. Why not just join me? Stick with me, and I’ll make sure you rise to the top of the undead food chain.”

”No way in hell! I’d rather die than kneel to you!” Nightbane shouted, his voice shaking with fury. He already felt betrayed—there was no way he’d go along with this.

”Oh?”

The Undying’s lips curled into a cruel smile. With a casual wave of his hand, a surge of spatial energy exploded outward, thick and heavy like a tidal wave, condensing into a tangible force that shot straight at Nightbane.

The air around Nightbane seemed to freeze. He tried to dodge, but his body wouldn’t move—he was locked in place. The blast hit him dead-on.

It felt like getting hit by a freight train. Blood burst from his mouth as he was hurled backward, crashing through a building behind him before finally coming to a stop in the rubble.

”Boss!”

Nearby zombie underlings stared in horror, their eyes wide with fear.

”I’ve seen plenty like him,” the Undying said coldly. ”If you don’t beat them down, they never learn their place.”

Daisy, Hellhound, and the other Zombie Kings looked on, eyes burning with rage. They’d fought tooth and nail to protect the Ritual Array, and this was how it ended?

Now, all of them were badly injured, too weak to fight back. A heavy sense of despair settled over them.

Among them, Deathspeaker Falseword clenched his jagged teeth. He’d been suppressed by PhD the entire battle and hadn’t had a chance to do much. But now, his eyes filled with grim resolve.

Without hesitation, he bit deep into his own arm. Blood gushed out, thick and dark. Dropping to his knees, he began smearing his blood across the ritual lines etched into the ground, trying to disrupt the array.

”Courting death!”

The Undying’s voice thundered with fury. He raised his hand again, and this time the spatial force he unleashed was even more devastating.

BOOM!

With a deafening blast, Falseword’s body exploded into a cloud of blood mist. Only his crystal core remained, spinning through the air before clattering to the ground.

”Holy shit...”

The surrounding zombies were stunned. This monster had swatted Nightbane like a fly—and now, with just a flick of his wrist, he’d obliterated Falseword.

Sure, both of them were injured, but they were still top-tier powerhouses. And yet, they hadn’t stood a chance. That’s how terrifying this guy was—he was beyond anything they could comprehend.

And this wasn’t even his full form.

The Undying turned his gaze back to Ethan, the admiration in his eyes growing stronger. Seeing Ethan stay silent, he assumed it meant agreement.

”So? Ready to kneel?”

”Not even close. Actually—scratch that—I was never planning to,” Ethan said flatly, his tone brutally honest.

The Undying’s brow twitched. His eyes, deep and red like a sea of blood, locked onto Ethan’s.

For a moment, the two just stared at each other.

It was like two ancient enemies meeting again after eons—an unspoken clash of wills that sent a chill through the air.

The tension was suffocating. Even the feral zombie horde around them flinched, instinctively sensing the danger.

Not far away, Mia and the others were still watching from a distance.

Lightning crackled in the sky, and waves of spatial energy surged through the air. At first, they thought some kind of ”Terminator” had just dropped in from another dimension—but instead, they got... whatever the hell that thing was.

”Nightbane is such a dumbass,” Chris muttered. ”He let that thing out, and now we’re totally screwed.”

Brandon nodded, his expression grim. ”Yeah. If he can smack around Zombie Kings like that, what chance do we humans have? We’re basically ants to him.”

”Yup, total sucker move—dude clicked on a cosmic phishing link!” Griffin chimed in, his voice high and twitchy.

”Shut up already,” Brandon snapped, clearly annoyed.

Now was not the time for jokes.

Mia’s eyes were cold as she stared at the massive Ritual Array. She hadn’t expected things to go this way either.

But this wasn’t Ethan’s fault.

”This is all on Nightbane...”

”...”

Just as everyone was holding their breath, watching the scene unfold and whispering nervously among themselves, the once smoothly running Ritual Array suddenly glitched—flickering like a short-circuited neon sign.

”Huh?”

The sudden change sent a jolt through everyone present.

Even the usually smug and composed Voidborn Undying froze, his expression stiffening as he sensed something was off with the array that was summoning him.

”What’s going on?”

”Is there... a flaw in the Ritual Array?”

As he tried to make sense of it, the array flickered again—its towering beam of light sputtering, growing more unstable by the second.

”This can’t be good...”

All the zombies on the field turned toward the source of the disruption. Their eyes followed the glowing runes etched into the ground—until they spotted one section that stood out like a sore thumb.

Every other rune was glowing bright red, except for that one spot... pitch black, completely dead.

And faintly—just faintly—you could see a dark, crusty stain. Like dried-up... pee.

”????”

Bulldozer and the other Zombie Kings stared, utterly baffled. What the hell was that?

But then, a flicker of hope sparked in their undead hearts.

”Wait... does this mean the Ritual Array was already broken?”

”So that wrinkly old freak might not be able to come through after all?”

”...”

They were right to be hopeful. The Ritual Array was a delicate, intricate construct—one tiny flaw could trigger a full-blown collapse. Even Nightbane, with his immense mental power, had struggled to carve it properly.

Now, seeing the array falter, the Undying’s face darkened. Damn it... there was a flaw. And that meant he might not be able to fully cross over.

But the real kicker?

Zombies don’t pee.

So why the hell was there a urine stain in the middle of the San Diego corpse nest?

”Who the hell did this?!”

The entire Ritual Array began to destabilize. The flaw was like a clogged artery—blocking the flow of energy. One by one, the other runes started to dim and die out.

The massive beam of light shooting into the sky grew weaker, flickering like a dying flame.

”No!!”

The Undying roared, his voice shaking the heavens. His form, which had nearly solidified, began to flicker—phasing in and out like a bad signal. The immense spatial energy around him started to collapse, and the Celestial Gate behind him began to close.

”I will break through!!”

He howled in fury, his voice echoing across dimensions. Trapped in the folds of space, he thrashed and clawed, trying to force his way into the world—desperate to complete his descent.

The sudden turn of events left everyone stunned.

”What the hell just happened? Why’s the Ritual Array breaking down?” Chris muttered from the rooftop, eyes wide.

Next to him, Sean casually took a long swig from a bottle of juice—glug glug glug glug—then smacked his lips, savoring the sweetness.

”I told you guys when I was hauling supplies—I really had to pee, so I just let it out right there.”

”Oh, right! That was you!” Chris snapped his fingers, suddenly remembering. ”I even gave you crap for it—said you were always running off to take a dump or a leak.”

Who would’ve thought... that one random piss would end up saving the world?

Well… ain’t that a kick in the head.

Sean just shrugged, totally unfazed. ”Told y’all—when it really counts, you can always count on me. Doesn’t matter if it’s some ancient god or interdimensional freak—one good piss and boom, he’s stuck. Can’t even get through the door.”

...