Apocalypse: King of Zombies

”Wait, what?!” Bloodveil’s expression froze in disbelief. Why the hell are they coming after me? he thought bitterly. Go after Ethan! He’s the real threat here—I just tried a little sneak attack, and it didn’t even work!

But Tharen wasn’t having it. His jaw clenched tight, eyes burning with fury.

”Creeping around in the shadows? That just makes you worse. I’ll take you out first—then I’ll deal with that white-shirted Zombie King!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the air around him dropped several degrees. Frost gathered at his fingertips as he slammed both palms into the ground. In an instant, a forest of razor-sharp ice spikes erupted from the earth, spreading outward like a deadly tide.

The battlefield was soon blanketed in jagged ice, glinting under the pale light.

Bloodveil’s brow twitched. Seriously? You think I’m just gonna stand here and take it?

He was starting to get pissed. He wasn’t just some random undead—he was a Voidborn Undying, and not just any one. He was the damn Overlord of Eastreach.

When the hell did I become everyone’s punching bag?

’Bloodtide Domain.’

With a flicker of focus, a crimson glow surged around him. His Absolute Domain burst outward like a tidal wave of blood, crashing forward with unstoppable force.

The ice spikes shattered on contact, exploding into glittering shards with sharp crack-crack-crack sounds as they were flung into the air.

The flying ice fragments caught the bloodlight, refracting into eerie, otherworldly colors.

Tharen’s eyes widened as he watched the blood tide roll in—massive, violent, and utterly destructive. It surged forward like a tsunami, ready to swallow everything in its path, carrying with it the crushing pressure of a Zombie King’s wrath.

”This guy’s no pushover…”

But beside him, Harren stood calm and unshaken. His face was unreadable, his eyes locked on the incoming wave.

He’d seen worse.

Thirty years ago, he’d fought in the war that changed everything. He’d faced Zombie Kings with powers far more twisted than this. Compared to that, this was child’s play.

”Thunderbreak.”

Lightning exploded around him, so intense it warped the very air. His figure blurred, swallowed by the blinding light—he looked less like a man and more like a living bolt of lightning.

Then, with a single step, he launched forward.

His body shot through the air like a missile, heading straight for the heart of the blood tide.

Compared to the massive wave, his frame looked small—insignificant, even.

But he was like a blade.

A lightning-forged spear.

He pierced straight into Bloodveil’s Absolute Domain, and in the blink of an eye, tore it apart. The blood wave split down the middle, cleaved cleanly in two, like a sea parted by divine force.

Bloodveil’s eyes widened in disbelief. He cut through it?!

Before he could react, Harren was already in front of him.

A blinding light flared in Harren’s palm as he gathered raw lightning into his fist. Then, without hesitation, he swung.

Bloodveil didn’t dare take it lightly. He instantly wrapped his arm in mutated blood, reinforcing it with the full force of his Absolute Domain. He met the punch head-on.

BOOOOM!

The moment their fists collided, the world shook.

A shockwave blasted outward, rattling the earth. Blood splattered, lightning cracked, and the air itself seemed to scream. The energy from the clash scattered in all directions, turning into chaotic streams of force.

But the outcome was clear.

Harren stood his ground, unmoving—like a nail hammered into the earth.

Bloodveil, on the other hand, was sent flying over a hundred feet, skidding across the ground. Lightning had seeped into his body, numbing his limbs and leaving him momentarily paralyzed.

The others watching couldn’t help but feel a surge of hope.

Harren’s still got it…

With him in the fight, maybe—just maybe—they could turn this around.

Harren’s gaze locked onto Bloodveil, his voice cold and sharp as steel.

”Hmph. Thirty years ago, when I was fighting the Zombie Kings of Heartland, you probably hadn’t even awakened your mind yet.”

”What?!” Bloodveil’s eyes narrowed in shock. ”You were in that war?”

He’d heard of it, of course. The legendary battle that had shaken the continent. Anyone who’d fought against the Heartland Zombie Kings back then… that was the stuff of myth.

And this guy had been there?

Harren’s expression turned proud, his eyes distant with memory.

”Not just a soldier. I was the commander. Back then, they called me… the Thunder Warlord.”

”Thunder Warlord…”

The name hit Bloodveil like a cold slap. His smirk faded, and a flicker of unease crept into his eyes. So it’s really him… One of humanity’s top-tier powerhouses. A man who’d once stood toe-to-toe with the terrifying Zombie Kings of Heartland. No wonder his presence felt so damn oppressive.

But while Harren spoke of past glory, there was a shadow behind his words—a weight of regret. After all, he’d been on the losing side of that war. When he returned to human civilization, he’d spent over a decade in quiet despair before finally clawing his way back to the battlefield.

Today, he wasn’t just here to fight—he was here to redeem himself.

”So let’s start with you.”

The moment the words left his mouth, lightning exploded around him. Harren surged forward like a thunderbolt, heading straight for Bloodveil.

”...Seriously?” Bloodveil’s face darkened. Why me? I’m just the damn backup!

But Harren was already on him, his momentum unstoppable. Bloodveil had no choice but to meet him head-on. He pushed his Bloodtide Domain to its limit, trying to hold back the storm of lightning.

But it wasn’t enough.

Harren’s strikes came fast and hard, each one laced with paralyzing electricity. Bloodveil’s reactions slowed with every hit, his limbs growing numb. He couldn’t keep up.

And then came the beatdown.

Harren didn’t just fight—he dominated. Blow after blow rained down, slamming Bloodveil into the ground, grinding him into the dirt like a ragdoll.

It was brutal.

Absolutely brutal.

From a distance, Ethan watched the scene unfold with a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He was quite pleased. Bloodveil had drawn Harren out, and now Ethan had a front-row seat to observe the strength of one of humanity’s old-school legends.

Bloodveil’s suffering? Totally worth it.

Meanwhile, Howard and the other two—Serah and Gareth—had reengaged Ethan, just like they had back at the base of The Skywall. But this time, they were even more cautious. After seeing Ethan flatten Tharen with a single punch, their wariness had only deepened.

Howard quickly adjusted their strategy.

”We don’t need to beat him. Just stall. Once Harren finishes off that other Zombie King, he’ll come help us. And I refuse to believe that even Ethan can survive five SSS-level Awakeners coming at him at once.”

”Got it,” Serah and Gareth responded in unison. The plan made sense.

”You two think you can hold out?” Howard asked, glancing at them.

”We should be fine,” Serah replied after a quick calculation. ”As long as we’re not going toe-to-toe, just buying time, it’s manageable.”

The three of them shifted into a defensive stance, no longer pressing the attack. Their goal now was simple: survive long enough.

If they could do that, they’d win.

The battlefield shifted again.

Ethan, for his part, didn’t seem in any rush. He stood still, calm and composed, facing off against the three humans without making a move.

From the distance, Bloodveil caught a glimpse of this and nearly choked on his own frustration.

He was getting his ass handed to him.

He’d been counting on Ethan to take out the humans and come bail him out. But the guy was just standing there, doing nothing.

”Hey! Do something already! Are you fighting or filming a damn movie?!”

”Relax,” Ethan replied coolly, his voice echoing in Bloodveil’s mind. ”I told you—wait for the right moment.”

”Wait?! Wait for what?! I’m getting electrocuted over here! What the hell counts as the right moment?!”

But before he could finish ranting—

CRACK!

Harren’s fist slammed into his chest again, lightning bursting on impact. Pain and numbness surged through Bloodveil’s body as he was sent flying, crashing into the ground with a thunderous thud.

He groaned, twitching from the residual electricity.

Still, he was Voidborn Undying. His body was tough, his regeneration fast. He wasn’t going down that easily.

Ethan didn’t even glance his way again. He turned his attention toward the larger battlefield, where the real carnage was unfolding.

There, a blur of motion danced through the chaos—swift, deadly, and unstoppable.

Wherever she passed, blood sprayed, bodies dropped.

Laura.

Her mechanical arms spun like blades, turning her into a walking meat grinder. She tore through human soldiers like paper, and even a few SS-level Awakeners had fallen to her.

Each time she devoured a crystal core, her body changed.

Her skin, once a dull gray-white, had turned pale and smooth—almost porcelain. Her features softened, taking on a strange, haunting beauty. She looked more like a ghostly young woman than a monster now.

But her eyes…

Her eyes were cold. Focused. Calculating.

Only in the moment of the kill did the madness return—just a flicker of the bloodlust that once consumed her.

And then it was gone again, buried beneath that eerie calm.

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