Apocalypse: King of Zombies

The Titan Ape leader stared at the Void Realm exit ahead, hesitation flickering in its eyes.

It could feel it—stepping through would mean a completely different world.

Its kind had lived in this forest for generation after generation. Asking it to walk into a place it knew nothing about… it couldn’t help feeling uneasy. It was a raw, instinctive fear of the unknown.

Sophia seemed to read that hesitation. She hurried to reassure it.

”Don’t worry,” she said, gesturing at herself as she spoke. ”Over there, it’s nothing but creatures like me—called humans. If you go there, you’ll absolutely be the strongest!”

She kept pointing to herself, trying to make it idiot-proof.

The Titan Ape leader’s eyes lit up.

A lot of you… human females?

Wouldn’t that mean it could switch to a different one every day—try all kinds of ”new tricks”? And maybe even rebuild the Titan Ape race and make it flourish again?

The thought pushed it over the edge.

The Titan Ape leader clenched its jaw.

”ROAR…!”

At its roar, one Titan Ape after another plunged into the exit.

In a nameless little town, Chris and the others had already cleared out the zombies. They found a house that was still in decent shape and settled in to rest while they waited for Ethan to come out.

They hadn’t even been resting long when Golden Eagle Nugget—posted on the rooftop to watch the Void Realm exit—swooped down and cried a few times at Skinny Pete.

”Something’s happening at the exit?” Skinny Pete stood up fast. ”Did Ethan come out?”

Everyone else snapped to their feet and rushed outside, staring toward the exit up on the nearby hill.

The moment they saw it, their faces changed.

One black figure after another was crawling out of the opening—fast.

”Titan Apes!”

”Why are Titan Apes coming out too?” Big Mike frowned.

”The exit doesn’t exactly have a rule saying mutant beasts can’t come out,” Skinny Pete muttered.

”…”

”They’re not… coming out to hunt us down, are they?” Sean swallowed hard.

”If I had to guess,” Chris said quietly, ”yeah. That’s exactly why.”

”…”

”Then what do we do?”

”Pull back while they still haven’t noticed us.”

”Right.”

Just then, Big Mike pointed, eyes wide with shock. ”Holy shit—there’s a person on that Titan Ape’s shoulder!”

Everyone squinted. Sure enough, one Titan Ape had someone sitting up on its shoulder. It was too far to see clearly, but the silhouette was unmistakably human.

”That person… don’t tell me it’s Sophia,” Sean said.

”It is.” Emily’s voice came out through clenched teeth. ”That’s her.”

”!!”

”I knew she hooked up with that Titan Ape leader,” Big Mike said, scowling. ”These Titan Apes are probably only coming out because she talked them into it. Otherwise why wouldn’t they come out before? She shows up, and suddenly they’re leaving?”

This time, nobody jumped to argue with him.

Because, annoyingly… it sounded plausible.

”Does that woman have any idea how terrifying a Titan Ape troop is?” Sean ranted under his breath. ”Dragging them into our world is basically turning an already hard apocalypse into nightmare mode. With their strength, who on Earth can stop them right now?”

”Maybe that’s the point,” Mia said. ”Maybe she wants the world to get worse—so she can use the Titan Apes to dominate everything and become some kind of queen.”

”…Yeah.” A few people nodded grimly. ”That actually fits.”

”Damn it,” Skinny Pete grumbled. ”She doesn’t even have a beast-control ability, right? How does she look more busted than me? I can only control a few mutant beasts around my own Tier, and she’s out here ’getting’ a whole pack way stronger than she is?”

Big Mike gave him a low chuckle. ”Heh. Maybe she paid a higher price than you did.”

”What’s that supposed to mean?”

”Think about it yourself. Now move—time to go.”

Emily kept staring toward Sophia, bitterness twisting her face. ”But Sophia…”

”Don’t worry,” Chris said firmly. ”When Ethan gets back, he’ll help you get your revenge. And if she’s still alive, maybe you’ll even get the chance to kill her yourselves.”

”Come on, Emily,” Henry urged.

”…Okay.”

Using the buildings for cover, the group slipped out of the town from the opposite side and disappeared before the Titan Apes could lock onto them.

Up on the mountain, at the exit linking the Void Realm to Earth…

The Titan Apes stared around with open curiosity, excitement shining in their eyes.

On the Titan Ape leader’s shoulder, Sophia looked even more thrilled.

”Finally… I’m back,” she murmured, voice shaking with intensity. ”I’ll make this land tremble because of me.”

”This way.” Sophia pointed off in the distance—toward the direction of Clearford City.

In a place this unfamiliar, the Titan Ape leader had no clue which way to go. So it simply followed her guidance.

And just like that, more than four hundred Titan Apes thundered forward in a massive wave, charging toward Clearford City.

Before long, the commotion drew nearby zombies.

A huge swarm shambled in, converging on them from all sides.

Sophia sneered.

Zombies—things that used to terrify her—looked like trash now.

The Titan Apes, on the other hand, were practically giddy at the sight of so much ”prey.”

Zombies were originally human. The apes couldn’t tell the difference yet—they assumed they were all the same kind of human.

Then the Titan Apes slammed into the zombie horde and started slaughtering like they were blowing off steam.

Like they were venting every ounce of frustration they’d taken from Ethan.

A pack of zombies that topped out at Tier 7 running into Titan Apes where even the weakest were Tier 7… that was pure bad luck. Zombie heads popped like melons under those palms.

Wherever the Titan Apes went, the zombies collapsed completely.

The fight lasted only a few minutes.

Every zombie hit the ground.

A few Titan Apes grabbed bodies off the ground and took a bite—then immediately frowned.

”Roar…”

(Why’s the taste… wrong?)

The leader picked up a zombie too, bit once, and tossed it aside.

Disgusting.

Sophia pointed at a Tier 6 zombie.

The Titan Ape leader walked over, picked it up, and took a bite.

Better. Still nowhere near as ”fresh” as what they’d eaten before.

Sophia understood what they were thinking. She patted the Titan Ape leader, pointed at the bodies on the ground, and waved her hand.

”These aren’t the same as us.”

Then she pointed toward Clearford City again. ”Where I’m taking you, there are tons of people. Enough for you to eat as much as you want!”

Seeing her gestures, the Titan Apes finally seemed satisfied. The leader gave a slow nod.

Sophia had the leader set her down. Then she ran to the Tier 6 zombies and started digging out crystal cores.

The Titan Ape leader frowned at what she was doing, then roared a command to the others.

A moment later, the Titan Apes started helping her dig too.

Sophia’s delight only grew.

Maybe… being taken by the Titan Ape leader hadn’t been a pure loss.

Maybe this was a turning point. A twist of fate.

After they finished harvesting the crystal cores, Sophia led the Titan Apes onward toward Clearford City.

On the way, any zombies they encountered were wiped out on sight. Meanwhile Sophia collected crystal cores until her hands practically hurt, smiling wider and wider—so much so that even the Titan Ape leader started looking… less unbearable to her.

She used to not understand how, before the apocalypse, some women could marry men older than their own fathers just for money.

Now she did.

Holy shit—who cared if someone was older?

She could accept a Titan Ape now. What couldn’t she accept?

As long as she got what she wanted, there wasn’t a line she couldn’t cross.