Apocalypse: King of Zombies

A dense horde of Canadian zombies loomed in the distance, watching like predators stalking prey—but they didn’t move in to attack.

LORN saw right through their game.

”Heh. Playing these cheap tricks again, huh?”

He sneered, then turned to Ethan.

”Wanna take out the trash first?”

”Sure,” Ethan replied casually, like it was no big deal.

In that moment, the two powerhouses were perfectly in sync.

The raging battle between the zombie swarm and the mechanical army came to an abrupt halt, as if on cue. Both sides turned their attention toward the Canadian zombie horde in the distance.

”Still sitting there watching like it’s a damn show? Pathetic.”

”Let’s wipe them out.”

”Charge!”

The two dominant forces of Earth surged forward, launching a joint assault on the Canadian zombies.

Lil’ Shroom’s fungal spores spread like a creeping mist, drifting across the battlefield. As they settled on the zombies, the infected began to twitch violently, collapsing to the ground. Red tumors burst from their flesh, rapidly mutating their bodies until they stood again—no longer themselves, but twisted humanoid puppets under her control.

Meanwhile, Daisy 2.0 raised her hand, and a wave of vibrant flowers erupted from the ground, blooming in an instant. The battlefield transformed into a psychedelic garden, thick with hallucinogenic pollen.

”These guys are way easier to kill…”

”Mhm. Keep going,” Lil’ Shroom said, eyes gleaming. For them, dealing with flesh and blood was child’s play.

Up in the sky, aboard a hovering aircraft, Sophia stared at the scene below, completely dumbfounded.

”What the hell is going on?”

She could clearly see the two forces that had just been tearing each other apart now moving in unison—both charging straight at her.

Malcolm’s face was grim. ”Scarlet Moon, you were planning to swoop in after they’d worn each other down. Now you’re the one caught in a pincer attack!”

Sophia: ”...”

Their zombie numbers were large, sure—but weak. No match for the mechanical army or the American zombie horde.

On the ground, it was a massacre. Her forces were being shredded like meat in a grinder, torn apart and devoured. The battlefield was soon littered with corpses, blood pooling into rivers, bodies stacked like grotesque monuments. It looked like a scene straight out of hell.

LORN glanced around, satisfied. The mechanical army was powerful, no doubt—but still not a match for the American zombie horde.

But now, with the Canadian zombies dragged into the fray, it had become a three-way brawl. That leveled the playing field.

All he had to do was focus on killing the strongest zombie king from the U.S.

”They actually took my bait. Just as I thought… zombies really are brainless. So damn stupid.” LORN looked over at Ethan, who still hadn’t caught on. He was completely unaware he’d just been played.

Perfect.

Time to take him out.

”Die!”

With a low snarl, LORN’s body flared with heat. A massive fireball formed in his hands, pulsing with deadly energy, and he hurled it straight at Ethan.

The fireball was just as devastating as before, tearing through the air like a natural disaster. It looked no different from his earlier attacks.

Ethan raised his eyes, calm and focused. With a thought, he unleashed the terrifying Domain of the Dead, its dark energy spreading out to intercept the fireball.

The two forces were about to collide—until something changed.

A flicker of green light flashed in LORN’s eyes, a glint of triumph. His lips moved silently.

”Phase Rupture.”

The space in front of the fireball shimmered, warping like ripples on water. The fireball entered the distorted space—and vanished. Gone, as if it had been swallowed by the void.

”Oh?”

Ethan’s brow lifted slightly. His Domain of the Dead had struck nothing but air.

Then, without warning, the space in front of him twisted violently, folding in on itself. Heat surged out, bathing everything in a fiery red glow.

The fireball—once vanished—suddenly reappeared, now just inches from Ethan’s face.

LORN had fused fire magic with spatial manipulation, bypassing Ethan’s defenses entirely to launch a direct, point-blank ambush.

”So damn sneaky…”

Ethan muttered under his breath, eyes narrowing. He hadn’t expected LORN to use his multi-element abilities like that.

As the massive fireball closed in, Ethan’s body shot backward at lightning speed, dodging the blast. At the same time, he used his psychic power to conjure a perfect illusion of himself, leaving it standing right where he’d been.

BOOM!

The fireball collided with the fake Ethan and exploded in a blinding inferno. A shockwave ripped through the air, and a mushroom cloud of fire and smoke rose into the sky.

The ground trembled violently, cracks spiderwebbing outward in every direction.

LORN watched it all unfold, eyes locked on the firestorm. He saw Ethan’s figure swallowed by the flames, seemingly obliterated.

”Dead?”

He muttered to himself, almost in disbelief. If that was all it took, then this was easier than he’d imagined.

Just a little trick, and the so-called strongest Zombie King from Earth was toast.

Then again… what could a zombie from Earth really do?

But just as that thought crossed his mind—

Shhhk!

A blade sliced through the air, aimed straight for his head.

Ethan appeared right in front of him, eyes cold, katana flashing. At the same time, the Domain of the Dead erupted at full force, slamming down like a meteor crashing into the planet.

Even LORN’s metal body felt the crushing weight.

The katana was already too close—there was no time to dodge.

SLASH!

The blade carved across LORN’s skull, sparks flying as it bit deep.

His head jerked back violently, a deep gash splitting across his cranium. His entire skullcap was nearly cleaved in two.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed. But something was off.

There was no crystal core flying out.

LORN was still standing. His eyes still glowed green. No signs of critical damage.

So the core wasn’t in his head.

This fifth-gen Cyborg was built differently.

”You think you can kill me that easily?” LORN growled.

Liquid metal rippled across his body, flowing into the wound like molten glue. In seconds, the split skull fused back together, good as new.

He looked fine on the outside, but inside, he was rattled.

He’d seen Ethan get hit by that fireball. There was no way he should’ve survived—let alone counterattack instantly.

This guy was seriously freaky.

Ethan tilted his head slightly, studying the Cyborg in front of him.

Multi-elemental powers, unknown number of crystal cores, and who knew where they were hidden.

LORN’s expression turned cold.

”I’ll admit it—you’re a powerful Zombie King. If you had even half a brain, you could’ve ruled a corner of the galaxy.”

”Oh, and I’ll admit this,” Ethan replied, deadpan. ”If you were on Earth, you might—might—be a little stronger than Nightbane.”

”…What???”

LORN stared at him, completely baffled.

Did he just compare me to a lowly zombie?

Me? A Starborn Celestial?

Unforgivable.

”Bastard!” he snarled, seething with rage.

Meanwhile, in the distance, the American Zombie Horde was still locked in brutal combat with the Canadian zombies.

The battlefield was a blood-soaked wasteland, corpses piled high, rivers of gore flowing through the dirt.

The Canadians, relying on sheer numbers, were grinding the Americans down, draining their energy bit by bit.

Then they began to close in—layer by layer—surrounding them, boxing them in.

”Your little minions are stuck in a war they can’t escape,” LORN said, voice dripping with smug satisfaction. ”Which means… I’ll be the one walking away from this as the victor.”

Everything was going according to plan.

Sure, his mechanical army had taken some losses, but they’d done their job—keeping the American zombies busy.

Ethan turned his head, glancing toward the battlefield.

”…Don’t tell me someone actually sent all their troops to fight the Canadian zombie horde?”

…