Apocalypse: King of Zombies

”You still wanna put me on trial?” Ricky grunted, his voice strained. ”Try surviving first.”

The four dog-headed statues were relentless, their fists pounding down like they had infinite strength. The Domain of Tides trembled under the onslaught, its once-brilliant blue glow flickering like a dying flame.

Aria’s face had gone pale, her lips pressed into a tight line as she struggled to hold the barrier together.

”This isn’t gonna hold…”

She bit down hard, forcing herself to stay upright. Even for a prodigy like her, power had its limits—and she was at the edge of hers.

Pure defense was just delaying the inevitable.

And sure enough—

BOOM!

A deafening crash echoed through the chamber.

The Domain of Tides shattered.

The blue energy burst into a thousand tiny lights, drifting like stardust through the darkness.

And just like that, they were exposed—completely vulnerable beneath the towering statues.

”Is this it?” Aria thought, staring up at the descending fist. It tore through the last remnants of the barrier, a mountain of stone and fury crashing down from above.

She had nothing left to stop it.

But then—suddenly—she felt herself yanked downward.

A strong hand clamped onto her shoulder and shoved her to the ground.

Ricky.

He threw himself over her, arms braced against the floor, shielding her with his own body.

”If someone’s dying here… it’s gonna be me first,” he muttered.

”Wha—” Aria’s breath caught.

In the dim light, she saw his bloodied face, eyes still burning with that same stubborn fire.

Why?

Why was he doing this?

She didn’t understand.

Behind him, the statue’s fist was almost on them. The wind howled with its descent, the pressure alone enough to crush bone.

They were seconds from being obliterated.

Aria couldn’t look anymore. She squeezed her eyes shut, heart pounding in her ears. Her arms moved on instinct, wrapping tightly around Ricky’s neck, clinging to him in the face of death.

But then—

Nothing.

The impact never came.

The air went still.

The roar of destruction vanished.

The statue’s fist… stopped.

Frozen in place, just fifteen feet above Ricky’s back.

Its golden eyes dimmed, the light inside them snuffed out like a candle in the wind. The massive body locked up, unmoving, as if someone had cast a petrification spell.

The entire chamber fell into silence.

Aria kept her eyes shut, waiting for the end—but it never came.

After a long moment, she cracked one eye open.

”…What the hell?”

She blinked, then opened both eyes fully.

The statue’s fist was still there—suspended mid-air, unmoving.

It hadn’t hit them.

They were alive.

”We’re… not dead?” she whispered, stunned.

”Cough—can you, uh, let go now?” Ricky groaned beneath her. ”You’re choking me out here.”

Aria’s face flushed bright red. She looked down and realized her arms were still wrapped tightly around his neck.

”Oh—! Sorry!” She scrambled off him, flustered. ”Are you okay?”

”Still breathing,” Ricky said, flopping onto his back with a wheeze. ”Kinda soft, though.”

”…Huh? Wha—?!” Aria’s face turned an even deeper shade of red as the meaning hit her. ”You—! You perv!”

Ricky just grinned, eyes half-lidded, chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. He was completely spent.

After a moment, he added, more seriously, ”Don’t get the wrong idea. I only jumped in ’cause Master said I had to keep you alive. That’s all.”

”Yeah… I know,” Aria murmured, lying back beside him. Her voice was soft, her energy completely drained. Tears welled at the corners of her eyes, though she didn’t let them fall.

They stared up at the unmoving statues, the silence around them almost surreal.

They’d survived.

Somehow.

In the darkness, the two of them lay side by side, not speaking.

Only the sound of their breathing filled the space between them.

The air was thick with exhaustion, relief… and something else neither of them could quite name.

But for now, they were alive.

And that was enough.

Aria was the first to break the silence.

”…Hey. Why do you think those statues just… stopped?”

Ricky, still lying on his back, stared up at the unmoving stone fist above them. ”No idea,” he muttered, frowning. After a moment of thought, he added, ”Unless… maybe Master already tore through the entire Forbidden Zone?”

…

And he wasn’t wrong.

Elsewhere, Ethan was doing exactly that—tearing through the Forbidden Zone like a storm in human form.

Every step he took shattered the impossible. Every swing of his fist reduced the so-called ”deadly threats” to rubble.

The dog-headed statues that had nearly killed Ricky and Aria? Ethan crushed them like they were made of wet clay.

Twelve of them. Gone in minutes.

He landed lightly amid the wreckage, white coat fluttering, surrounded by shattered stone and broken runes that no longer held any power.

”These things…” Ethan muttered, narrowing his eyes. ”Where the hell were they getting their energy from?”

Because after smashing every last one of them, he’d found nothing inside. No crystal cores. No energy nodes. Nothing.

It looked like he was steamrolling through the Forbidden Zone—but in truth, he was getting nothing out of it.

No loot. No answers. Not even a damn clue.

And that golden energy he’d seen earlier? Gone. Vanished without a trace.

The fog ahead remained thick, the path still hidden, like the world itself was refusing to reveal its secrets. The pressure in the air was growing heavier, more oppressive with every step.

But Ethan wasn’t about to stop now.

He was going to tear this place apart if that’s what it took to get answers.

Without hesitation, he stepped forward, his figure swallowed by the mist once more.

The journey ahead was smoother—no more traps, no more illusions—but the deeper he went, the more intense the pressure became. It was like the Forbidden Zone itself was trying to crush him.

Eventually, the terrain shifted.

A massive staircase appeared before him, stretching upward into the unknown. The steps seemed endless, vanishing into the fog above like they led straight to the heavens.

Ethan didn’t hesitate.

He started climbing.

The moment his foot touched the first step, glowing patterns lit up beneath him, flowing along the stone like liquid starlight. The runes shimmered with a dreamlike beauty, depicting the shifting of stars, the rise and fall of suns and moons.

Boom!

Ethan stomped down with one foot, and the runes shattered instantly. The glowing lights scattered like fireflies.

They hadn’t attacked him—but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t later.

He wasn’t taking chances.

Better to break it now than regret it later.

But as it turned out… the runes really were harmless.

Maybe they were just for show. A bit of mystical flair to make the Forbidden Zone look more ancient and mysterious.

Still, Ethan could feel it—the higher he climbed, the more the pressure intensified. It wasn’t just physical. It was spiritual. Mental. Like the very air was trying to crush his soul.

But he kept going.

He activated the Domain of the Dead, letting its cold, oppressive energy ripple out around him, neutralizing the pressure with ease.

His body, enhanced by the Zombie King’s physique, didn’t even flinch.

Step after step, he climbed.

Hundreds of stairs passed beneath his feet. The pressure reached levels that would’ve instantly crushed any S-rank Awakener.

But Ethan? He barely blinked.

Eventually, the fog began to thin.

He reached the top.

Before him stood a massive stone platform, built from stacked slabs of ancient rock. At its center, seven towering stone pillars rose into the air, each one etched with dense, glowing runes.

The energy radiating from them was immense—raw, ancient, and overwhelming. It blanketed the entire Forbidden Zone like a divine net.

Ethan narrowed his eyes.

”What the hell is this? A giant Wi-Fi router?”

He muttered the words under his breath, but his expression was serious.

Because he knew exactly what this was.

A ritual site.

A damn altar.

As golden light pulsed from the pillars, a crushing aura filled the air. Then, from the center of the altar, a voice echoed—deep, ancient, and laced with power.

”Well done. To make it this far… your journey must’ve been quite the trial.”

Ethan’s eyes sharpened.

”…Who’s there?”

...