Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Once the last of the Titan Apes vanished from sight, the group finally jumped down from the trees.

”Whew… I nearly pissed myself,” Garrick exhaled, patting his chest. ”That whole horde? They could’ve beaten the crap out of us. Literally.”

”Good thing these monsters don’t have mutant-level noses,” Sean muttered, still pale. ”If they did, hiding up there wouldn’t have saved us.”

”With snouts that flattened, I bet even my nose is sharper,” Big Mike snorted.

Chris looked over at Ethan, brows creased. ”Ethan, were there Tier 10s in that group? They gave off way too much pressure.”

”Yeah,” Ethan nodded grimly. ”Six. All Tier 10.”

”!!”

”Savage as hell!”

”So what now, Ethan?” Chris asked quickly. ”What do we do?”

”We run. What else?” Ethan shot a glance in the direction they’d come from. ”We didn’t even get the Tier 8 corpses into our storage rings. Once those Apes find them, they’ll be after us in no time.”

”Got it!”

The group didn’t waste another second. They turned and sprinted through the underbrush, putting as much distance as they could between themselves and the battlefield.

Just as Ethan had predicted, a squad of Titan Apes soon reached the spot where the fight had taken place. The moment they saw the downed Tier 8s, they erupted in furious howls that echoed across the valley.

Without wasting time, they stormed back to their den and reported to their leader.

The Titan Ape chieftain was livid. He immediately ordered a full-scale manhunt, rallying every Titan Ape in the valley to join the search.

One after another, the massive beasts stormed out in different directions, combing the entire area.

Ethan’s group hadn’t gotten far before the sound of thundering footfalls closed in from all sides. They had no choice—they scrambled up into the trees again, hiding among the branches as the Apes swarmed past below.

Ethan peered down through the foliage, face tight with frustration.

”All this over a few dead apes? A little dramatic, don’t you think?”

”What do we do?” Chris asked in a whisper, keeping himself as still as he could.

”We wait. I don’t care how hyped they are—sooner or later they’ll wear out. Once they come up empty-handed, they’ll get bored and go back.”

”Alright.”

Everyone nodded and fell completely silent, tucking themselves deep into the canopy, barely breathing as the Titan Apes stomped back and forth beneath them.

But Ethan had underestimated how stubborn these bastards could be. From day until nightfall, the Apes never stopped. Worse, they weren’t as dumb as they looked.

At some point, they must’ve figured out the general area. After sweeping the ground several times with no success, the Apes actually started climbing the trees to check the upper levels.

That sent a bolt of cold fear through the group.

If they kept this up, it was just a matter of time before someone got spotted.

Fortunately, night finally forced the Apes to pull back and halt the search. The group had made it through—for now.

But Chris was clearly worried. ”Ethan, this won’t hold. If they’re this thorough now, we’re screwed by tomorrow.”

”Yeah,” Ethan nodded, eyes sharp. ”We need a distraction. Something to pull their focus away from here.”

He paused, thinking. Then: ”Stay put. I’m gonna stir up some trouble.”

”Ethan, that’s way too dangerous—”

”I’ll be fine. My eyes work just fine in the dark. Theirs probably don’t. Plus, I’ve got my Teleportation ability. Worst case, I vanish.”

”…Alright. But be careful.”

”I will. And don’t make a sound up here.”

With that, Ethan picked a direction and vanished with a soft shimmer, teleporting away.

He moved quickly through the shadows, silent as a ghost.

The Titan Apes may have stopped their active sweep, but they hadn’t gone far—they were still posted around the area, clearly unwilling to let the intruders slip through.

Using the night as cover, Ethan moved carefully, weaving through the darkness to stay out of the Titan Apes’ line of sight. Whenever a blind spot wasn’t enough, he simply teleported past the danger.

If he was going to make a mess, he had to do it far enough to really drag their attention away.

After traveling nearly three miles, Ethan finally stopped.

Yeah. This spot felt good.

Eyes scanning his surroundings, he quickly zeroed in on a Titan Ape standing sentinel—a Tier 9, from the look of it. The beast stood alert, posture tense, body slightly hunched as it listened to the night.

Too bad for it, the dark robbed it of vision. All it had was its ears, twitching at every rustle of wind or shifting grass.

And that wasn’t enough.

A shadow emerged behind it. Silent. Swift.

Without warning, a gigantic poleaxe came swinging straight down at its skull, cleaving through the air with a sharp whistle.

The Titan Ape instantly sensed danger and dove to the side, barely dodging in time as the poleaxe smashed into the dirt, slicing a few hairs from its scalp.

But before it could roll to its feet, the weapon came down again—this time not a slash, but a thrust.

The blade drove clean through its chest, pinning the beast to the ground.

It stared up in disbelief, eyes wide. A Tier 10 ambushing a Tier 9? Seriously?

It opened its mouth to roar, but didn’t get the chance.

A short sword flashed through the air and buried itself in its throat, silencing it for good.

The fight had only lasted seconds, but the noise hadn’t gone unnoticed.

A thunderous roar broke the stillness, rattling the trees.

Dozens of Titan Apes charged toward the sound like a herd of berserk bulls.

”Damn, that was fast,” Ethan muttered, eyebrows raising. ”Good thing I didn’t try this in broad daylight.”

He yanked the Tier 9’s corpse into his storage ring, then teleported straight up into the trees.

Moments later, the pursuing horde arrived, screeching in rage as they found nothing but bloodstains on the ground. The frenzy kicked into high gear—Apes began tearing through the forest, bashing aside bushes, overturning rocks, and leaping into trees to continue their search.

Ethan crouched low on his branch, fully prepared to just sit back and enjoy the chaos… until a Titan Ape jumped right onto his tree.

And not just any branch—the same damn one.

They locked eyes instantly.

”Rraaaghh—!”

”Roar my ass!” Ethan snarled, and with a smooth twist of his poleaxe, lopped the Tier 8’s head clean off.

Fast, clean, brutal.

But the moment he moved, every Titan Ape below snapped their heads upward.

And a second later, the tree was under siege as more and more of them sprang up after him.

”Not sticking around for this!”

Ethan snatched the severed head, chucked it into his storage ring, and vanished in a flicker of light.

”ROOOOOOAR!!”

Furious screeches exploded behind him. Every surviving Titan Ape roared in unison, shaking leaves and snapping branches as they stormed after him.

But it was pointless.

With the cover of night and Teleportation on his side, they didn’t stand a chance. Within minutes, Ethan had already slipped away and left them flailing in the dark.

He didn’t head back, though.

Instead, he looped around the search zone and found another quiet pocket of the forest to wait.

Originally, Ethan’s plan was to just stir up trouble and escape. Quick in, quick out.

But now?

Yeah… this was way too satisfying.

Two kills in the span of a few minutes—a Tier 9 and a Tier 8. Two crystal cores in the bag. No risk, no real pushback. Where else was he gonna find a grind this good?

Honestly? This was starting to feel like his true calling. Maybe he was made to be an assassin.

Back in the main search area, the Titan Ape horde had completely lost their minds. Even with night fully settled in, they were still scouring the forest like lunatics.

Someone had snuck into their turf, killed their kind, and dared to keep doing it?

Unforgivable.

That the killer was one of those puny humans they usually treated as food? That just made it worse.

What the Apes didn’t know was—while they thought they were hunting some insolent prey…

He was hunting them right back.

Hidden in a clump of tall grass, Ethan crouched low, watching a small squad of Titan Apes march past just a few feet away. His mouth curled into a quiet, eager grin.

Time to wake up, monsters.

Hunting hour’s just begun.