Apocalypse: King of Zombies

”Copy that!” crackled the reply through the comms.

At least six or seven squads were converging on the location. Big Ears’ little stunt with the fog had worked like a charm—though maybe too well. They’d drawn in more attention than expected...

A short while later, a young man piloting a small aircraft was the first to approach the black fog zone. As he neared the edge, he immediately slowed down, flying with extreme caution.

”Captain Kaelen, what’s it look like up ahead?” a few teammates gathered around, eyes scanning the terrain.

Kaelen narrowed his gaze, analyzing the thick, unnatural mist. ”Judging by the environment, this fog definitely isn’t natural. I’d bet there’s a zombie with some kind of weird ability behind it.”

”Captain Kaelen... when you say ’weird ability’... do you mean those three zombies down there?” a girl nearby asked, pointing.

”Huh?”

Everyone turned to look.

At the edge of the fog, three zombie figures stood in plain sight. One of them was swaying its hips, striking exaggerated poses like it was trying to seduce someone. Another had massive ears with dangling trinkets hanging from them, and looked like it was giving orders. The whole scene was... bizarre.

”What the hell...?”

The group stared, stunned.

Zombies with strange abilities?

Yeah. Strange was putting it lightly.

They’d expected the edge of the fog to be crawling with danger—not... whatever this was.

”These zombies... don’t look like any we’ve seen before.”

”Did they evolve in the wrong direction or something?”

”...”

They all exchanged uneasy glances, murmuring under their breath.

Kaelen, meanwhile, activated the aircraft’s scanning system. A quick sweep revealed that all three zombies were around A+ level—not quite S-rank, but still formidable.

”Their power levels aren’t low,” Kaelen muttered. ”Looks like they’ve developed intelligence. Should we try capturing one alive? Might be able to get some answers.”

A burly man nearby nodded. ”Yeah, if they’re smart, maybe we can interrogate them.”

The girl frowned. ”Smart or not, they’re still acting super weird. I mean, what kind of zombie just... dances around like that?”

”Let’s wait for the other teams to arrive,” Kaelen said firmly. ”No solo moves. We don’t know what we’re dealing with yet.”

But as they waited, the dancing zombie started getting really into it.

The one with the hips—Shrimpy—was now grinding like he was on a nightclub stage.

Another zombie, Locomotive, had one foot propped up on a rock and was nodding his head so hard it looked like it might fall off.

”Uhh...”

”...What are we even looking at?”

Meanwhile, Big Ears, with his superhuman hearing, picked up the faint hum of aircraft engines in the distance.

”They’re coming! Let’s go, let’s go! Crank it up—sell it harder!”

”Ohhh, I got this!” Shrimpy shouted, throwing his whole body into the performance, hips swinging like a maniac.

Locomotive joined in, nodding along with increasing intensity. ”So... we came back to revive the legendary ’Overlord Squad’ name... and this is what we’re doing?”

”All’s fair in war,” Big Ears said with a smirk. ”They’re still keeping their distance, probably watching us right now. But they’ll be here any second.”

And just like that, the aircraft began to descend.

The humans were coming.

”Wait... hold up a second.”

Big Ears’ brows furrowed, the smug grin on his face freezing mid-expression. His ears twitched slightly—he’d picked up something with his superhuman hearing. The sky above was getting noisy. Way too noisy.

He looked up.

Sure enough, streaks of light were crisscrossing the sky. Not just one aircraft anymore—five, six more were closing in fast.

Shrimpy squinted at the glowing trails. ”Heh heh, now this is what I’m talking about! Look at all of ’em! Big Ears, your plan’s working like a charm!”

But Big Ears didn’t look thrilled. His face darkened. ”Did it ever occur to you that if too many humans show up... we might not be able to take them?”

”Uh... yeah, that’s... actually a good point.”

Shrimpy’s grin vanished instantly.

After all, among the four of them, only Bulldozer was an SS-rank Zombie King. They had no idea what kind of power the humans were packing—but if they had the guts to come into Necroterra, they definitely weren’t pushovers.

And now?

The sky was roaring with the sound of engines. Multiple aircraft were closing in from all directions, their presence overwhelming.

Locomotive stopped mid-headbang, his expression deadpan.

”This isn’t a master plan... this is a disaster plan.”

Six aircraft in total began descending, preparing to land. The human squads had already agreed: capture the zombies alive if possible.

With a mechanical clunk, the hatches opened.

Kaelen and his team stepped out, forming a semi-circle around Big Ears, Shrimpy, and Locomotive. Behind the zombies, the thick black fog loomed like a wall.

”What the hell? It’s just these three?” Kaelen muttered, scanning the area.

The other squads looked just as unimpressed. Over twenty elite Awakeners had shown up, many of them high-rank.

”Even better. Let’s just grab ’em and find out what’s going on.”

”Fine, but stay sharp,” Kaelen warned.

”Relax.”

The others nodded, their expressions turning serious. Energy flared around them, pressure building like a storm about to break.

Big Ears glanced around, tension rising. ”Well... looks like we’ve got no choice. Time to bust out the real moves.”

”Right!”

Shrimpy and Locomotive nodded hard.

Big Ears looked at them both. ”You guys remember the plan, right?”

”Of course!”

”Good! Then let’s do this!”

And with that—he turned and bolted.

Straight into the fog.

Gone.

Shrimpy and Locomotive didn’t hesitate either. Their legs blurred into afterimages as they sprinted after him—and quickly overtook him.

”Damn!” Big Ears gasped, impressed even as he ran. ”Still got it!”

Outside, Kaelen and the others blinked in surprise.

Did... did those zombies just run away?

Well, that just confirmed it—this place wasn’t nearly as dangerous as they’d feared.

”They’re not that strong. After them!” Kaelen barked, leading the charge.

Among the group was a psychic-type Awakener. Her mental energy surged outward like a hurricane, sweeping through the fog and tearing it apart.

Big Ears glanced back—and his heart nearly stopped.

The fog was thinning fast.

He pushed his legs harder, sprinting even faster.

Up ahead, he spotted Mist, still standing there, pumping out fog like nothing was happening.

”Mist! Stop standing there like a statue—run!” Big Ears shouted as he blew past.

”Huh? What’s going on?” Mist blinked, confused.

But just then, the humans burst into the fog zone. The psychic’s power swept through the area, scattering the darkness like smoke in the wind.

Mist finally sensed it—powerful human auras, closing in fast.

He turned around.

Over twenty humans were charging straight at him.

”Holy sh—there’s so many?!” Mist’s face went pale. Without missing a beat, he activated his ”Ultimate Survival Protocol” and took off after Big Ears.

”Dude! What the hell?! Why’d you lure this many humans here?!”

”How the hell should I know?!” Big Ears shouted back, clearly panicking.

”...” Mist was speechless.

Bulldozer was right, he thought. You really shouldn’t be in charge of strategy.

”Wait—Bulldozer!” Big Ears suddenly remembered.

He was still back there, hidden in the fog.

But now, with the mist being torn apart, a massive figure began to emerge from the shadows.

A hulking silhouette.

Then—

ROOOOAAAAARRRRR!!!

Bulldozer let out a thunderous roar that shook the ground. The sound was so loud it felt like it could rupture eardrums. Stones trembled. The air itself seemed to vibrate.

The aura of a Zombie King exploded outward like a shockwave.

Kaelen and the others froze, eyes wide.

”There’s another one...?”

And this one wasn’t like the others.

This one was a monster.

...