Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Deep in the Void Realm, a massive pit—over three hundred feet deep—yawned open in the ground…

At the bottom, Garrick slumped on the dirt, looking like he’d been wrung out and tossed aside.

His ability could reshape terrain and carve out a deep pit fast, but the deeper he pushed, the harder it got—and the more mental energy it burned.

The first hundred feet had been manageable. But once they passed three hundred, the energy cost started multiplying exponentially, and it basically flattened him.

”Haa…” Garrick wheezed, barely able to lift his head. ”Captain… how much deeper is it?”

”Uh…” Ethan scratched his cheek, visibly embarrassed. ”I don’t know. I still haven’t actually seen the thing.”

”…”

Everyone stared at him.

”Captain,” someone said slowly, eyes wide, ”you haven’t even seen it and you made us dig! What if there’s nothing down there? Then we just dug for nothing!”

”Relax.” Ethan raised a hand quickly. ”I may not be able to see the object itself yet, but I can see an energy fluctuation. If something’s still giving off energy after all this time, whatever’s down there is definitely good.”

That did it. The excitement lit right back up on everyone’s faces.

”Good work, Garrick,” Chris said with a grin. ”Emily, hurry up and get him back on his feet. We’re not stopping now.”

”…”

With Emily’s healing, Garrick’s color came back fast. He looked lively again, like someone had flipped his power switch. He pressed both hands to the ground once more, and the pit continued sinking deeper.

But the deeper they went, the more pressure piled onto him.

They’d only had to stop once in the first three hundred feet. From three hundred to six hundred, Emily had to restore him twice.

From six hundred to nine hundred, she restored him five times.

And from nine hundred to twelve hundred…

It was basically once every thirty feet.

”Haa… no. I’m done.” Garrick flopped onto his back the moment they hit twelve hundred feet. ”Let me lie here for a minute.”

Even with Emily healing him, it barely helped anymore.

And at this depth, Ethan didn’t even need to explain—everyone could feel it. Thin threads of energy seeped through the air and into their bodies, like the space itself was breathing into them.

Faces lit up across the board.

They still hadn’t seen what was down here, but they were already sure of one thing:

Whatever it was, it was absolutely worth it.

They were itching to keep going, but looking at Garrick sprawled there like a corpse, nobody had the heart to rush him.

”The concentration of mysterious energy is pretty high here,” Ethan said. ”While Garrick rests, try absorbing it. See if it works.”

”Sounds good.” Everyone nodded and sat down, following the method recorded in the Energy Absorption Technique.

Almost immediately, the surrounding energy surged into them—so similar to the way they absorbed mysterious energy under the stars at night that it sent a jolt of excitement through the group.

If this worked…

Did that mean they wouldn’t have to wait for nighttime anymore?

They calmed their breathing, focused, and started absorbing in earnest.

…

Two hours later, after a solid nap, Garrick finally pushed himself upright.

Everyone stopped absorbing mysterious energy and got back to work.

With Emily supporting him, Garrick forced the pit down another hundred and eighty feet.

Ethan kept [True Sight] active, peering downward.

Then his whole body jolted.

His eyes went wide.

”Captain—did you see it?!” someone blurted.

The others snapped to attention, instantly fired up.

”Ethan, what is it? What kind of treasure?!”

It took Ethan a long moment to come back to himself. Even then, the shock was still written all over his face—because what he’d seen was nothing like what they’d imagined.

”This ’treasure’… isn’t really what we were expecting,” he said slowly. ”Just get down there and you’ll understand.”

He swallowed, then pointed. ”About another hundred and twenty feet. Garrick, push a little harder!”

”Got it!”

Having an actual target gave Garrick a second wind. He gritted his teeth and kept forcing himself past his limits, again and again.

Ninety feet…

Sixty…

Thirty…

”Careful!” Ethan suddenly called out. ”It’s hollow down there!”

”Hollow?” Everyone blinked, not quite understanding.

And then Garrick pushed again.

The soil under their feet gave way with a sudden collapse, and the entire group dropped straight down.

”Thud—! Thud—! Thud—!”

Heavy bodies hit the ground one after another.

Below them was a vast underground chamber—so open it felt unreal, with a ceiling easily three hundred feet high.

Everyone clutched their asses and shot Ethan a resentful look.

The fall hadn’t done any serious damage, sure. But falling from that high still hurt like hell.

”Why are you looking at me like that?” Ethan spread his hands. ”I told you it was hollow. You’re the ones who didn’t watch your step.”

Then he seemed to feel something. His expression snapped tight, and he immediately sat down.

”Don’t talk,” Ethan said fast. ”The mysterious energy down here is insanely dense—but it’s dissipating fast. Absorb it. Now!”

No one dared waste time. They dropped where they stood and started absorbing immediately.

Instantly, countless streams of mysterious energy rushed into their bodies. The sensation was unreal—like getting hit with a power rush straight to the veins.

An hour later, Henry, Garrick, and Mia all broke through to Tier 11. Ethan’s strength also surged, reaching the peak of Tier 11.

The rest of them were right on the verge too, teetering at the threshold—but the mysterious energy in the chamber had nearly dispersed by then. There wasn’t enough left to push them over.

Still, with Ethan’s current state, he was sure that after absorbing mysterious energy under the stars for another night or two, he’d be able to break into Tier 12.

”That felt insane,” someone breathed. ”Why is the mysterious energy here so thick?!”

Everyone looked stunned.

That one hour just now was basically worth several nights of absorbing mysterious energy under the stars.

”It’s probably because of that thing.” Ethan pointed off into the distance.

They followed his finger—and every last one of them went wide-eyed.

Now they finally understood why Ethan had looked so shaken earlier.

Not far ahead stood something like a massive altar. And around it were nine enormous stone pillars.

Each pillar had a chain made of some strange metal. One end was anchored into the stone. The other end was wrapped around a gigantic skeleton lying at the center of the altar.

It had to be the remains of a mutant beast. What kind, they couldn’t tell anymore—but it was huge. Just looking at the bones made your skin crawl. Whatever it had been, it wasn’t something you wanted to meet alive.

And the craziest part?

After all these years, the skeleton was still remarkably intact.

That alone said it all—this thing had been terrifying when it was alive.

On top of the skull sat a transparent crystal core.

It had to be the beast’s crystal core… but the energy inside it seemed to have already dissipated, leaving it clear and empty. With it like that, they couldn’t even guess what tier it had been.

The mysterious energy they’d just absorbed was probably what remained in this underground space after the crystal core’s power leaked out over time.

But why the energy had dissipated in the first place… Ethan couldn’t make sense of it. Maybe it was simply too ancient.

”This…” Big Mike swallowed hard. ”What the hell is that?”

”Probably a seriously badass mutant beast,” Ethan said, eyes narrowed. ”If I’m right, this whole underground space was built to imprison it.”

”It’s that big…” Chris said, still staring. ”How strong was it when it was alive?”

”Who knows?” Ethan said casually. ”Strong enough to swat us like flies, that’s for sure.”

What bothered him more was the why.

Why had something like this been locked up down here? And why had whoever did it gone through all this trouble instead of just killing it?

Ethan took a breath. ”Come on. Let’s go take a closer look…”