Apocalypse: King of Zombies

As the massive figure drew closer, everyone on the wall—and everyone on the ground—finally saw it clearly.

A gigantic, snow-white beast charging across the land like an avalanche with legs.

Just looking at it made people’s throats tighten.

”What is that feral beast…?” someone whispered hoarsely. ”That presence is insane…”

Below, the Void Realm army was already in chaos from the roc’s slaughter. The moment they felt the pressure rolling in behind it, the panic turned into something uglier—pure instinctive terror.

”Another feral beast?!”

”Jesus… this one’s way worse than the bird!”

They could all feel it—that aura wasn’t something you fought. It was something you survived, if it let you.

The beast hadn’t even arrived yet, and their courage was already cracking.

”What do we do? Run?”

”Don’t panic,” the Sylvan elder said quickly, forcing steadiness into his voice. ”Maybe that Glacial Bear is here to chase the bird. We shouldn’t have done anything to provoke a beast at that level—”

”Then go ahead and bet your life on that,” a man snapped, face dark. ”I’m not staying to find out.”

He turned and immediately led the rest of his race’s survivors to retreat.

At this level, even being caught in the shockwave of a fight could wipe them out. Whether the Glacial Bear was here for them or not didn’t matter—staying was gambling with your life.

Once someone broke first, the rest followed.

One faction after another started pulling out, sprinting for distance.

The Sylvans and Stoneborn hesitated—then their expressions changed too, and they retreated as well.

Up on the wall, Miles’s mouth curved.

”Trying to run now?” he said lightly. ”A little late.”

As his words fell, the ground around the battlefield erupted with movement.

From all directions, hordes of zombies surged out—so many it looked like the earth itself was vomiting them up. A black tide that instantly sealed the invaders’ escape routes.

At the same time, the sky turned red.

Thirty thousand Flamebirds lifted off together, painting the air crimson and blocking any attempt to flee upward.

The Void Realm creatures’ faces went rigid.

The zombies weren’t strong—not individually.

But there were too many.

To carve a path through them would take time, and time was the one thing they no longer had.

The Glacial Bear was almost here.

”How is this happening?!” someone shouted, voice breaking.

The crowd’s rage snapped toward the Sylvan elder.

”This is your fault! You pushed us into attacking this city, and now we’re all going to die here!”

”You—!” The Sylvan elder’s face twisted. He looked like he was about to choke on his own fury. ”Everyone agreed to come! Why are you blaming me now?!”

”Enough.” The Stoneborn leader’s voice cut through the screaming, low and harsh. ”Arguing won’t save you. Break out. And that Glacial Bear still might not be here for us—”

He didn’t finish.

A shadow fell over them.

A pressure like a mountain slammed down.

The gigantic snow-white beast was already in front of them—eyes wide and cold, staring as if it were deciding what to eat first.

On its shoulder stood the very roc that had shredded them into a mess minutes ago.

And behind the Glacial Bear…

Humans.

A group of humans walking in with calm, icy expressions—like they’d come to collect a debt.

In that instant, every last scrap of ”maybe” died.

Their faces went gray, hope draining out like blood.

The Glacial Bear wasn’t here by accident.

It was here for them.

”Great beast,” the Sylvan elder said immediately, bending so hard his spine looked ready to snap. He plastered on a smile so wide his wrinkles bunched together. ”If anyone has offended you, please tell me who. I will offer them to you at once.”

His earlier arrogance was gone—erased.

They’d had the courage to fight the roc.

But against the Glacial Bear?

They didn’t even have the courage to think about resisting.

A cold voice cut in.

”You do realize what you tried to attack, right?”

Ethan stepped forward, eyes locked on the old Sylvan. His tone was calm, but every word carried weight.

”I… I don’t,” the Sylvan elder said quickly, shaking his head. ”Truly, I didn’t know.”

”Oh. Then it’s not too late to learn.” Ethan lifted a hand and pointed—first at the Glacial Bear, then at the roc. ”You attacked Fallen Star City.”

His eyes didn’t soften.

”And they’re members of Fallen Star City.”

”!!!”

The line hit like a hammer.

All across the invading ranks, faces changed—shock, disbelief, then something close to horror.

”How is that possible?”

”How could a human city have beasts like that backing it?”

In that moment, a lot of them wanted to slap themselves awake. What kind of insanity had possessed them to come here in the first place?

Thud.

The Sylvan elder dropped to his knees.

”I was wrong,” he said rapidly, voice trembling. ”I truly didn’t know this city was under your protection. If I had known, I wouldn’t have dared come even if I had a hundred lives to spare.”

Several Void Realm leaders frowned hard, disgusted.

This was beyond humiliating.

He was throwing Eldoria’s dignity straight into the mud without even trying to save face.

But even as some of the Eldoria leaders looked down on the Sylvan elder, more of them dropped to the ground.

One after another, they prostrated themselves just like him, begging.

If there’d been even the slightest chance to fight their way out, none of them would’ve chosen this.

But that Glacial Bear was too terrifying. This wasn’t a ”hard battle.”

This was zero hope.

Begging was the only move left.

Just then, Miles flew in on a Flamebird. He looked down at the kneeling Sylvan elder and slowly shook his head.

”I thought you had a spine,” Miles said mildly. ”Turns out you folded pretty fast. So much for dragging me out and tearing me apart.”

”You…!”

The Sylvan elder’s face darkened, humiliation and rage twisting together.

”Hiding behind beasts proves nothing!” he barked. ”If you have any courage, fight me yourself. One-on-one. Life or death!”

Miles shook his head again.

”Nice try. That kind of provocation doesn’t work on me.”

His smile didn’t change, calm as ever.

”As far as I’m concerned, any method that kills my enemy counts as my ability.”

Then Miles glanced at Ethan.

”Captain—can you leave this guy to me later? This old man’s got a punchable face. I’ll keep him around. When I’m stressed, I’ll summon him and slap him a couple times. Sounds… therapeutic.”

”I—” Big Mike’s eyes bulged like he’d just met Miles for the first time. ”Miles, you’re into that?”

Miles sighed with a straight face. ”Hey. Life’s stressful. Everybody needs an outlet.”

Ethan’s mouth twitched. ”Fine. Sure.”

”You…!”

The Sylvan elder’s face turned a deep, furious purple.

Then he snapped his head toward the other Void Realm creatures and shouted, ”We’re dead either way! If we’re going down, take at least one of them with us! Kill one and we break even—kill two and we come out ahead!”

The surrounding leaders stared at him like he’d grown a second head.

He’d been the first to kneel and beg… and now he was screaming about a last stand.

Shameless didn’t even begin to cover it.

Still—nobody here was stupid.

They could see it now. Fallen Star City had no intention of letting them walk away. The zombies had sealed their retreat. The Flamebirds had locked the sky.

This was a wipe.

And if they were going to die anyway… they weren’t going to die kneeling.

”Move!” the Stoneborn leader roared.

In the next instant, the Eldoria army surged forward—skills flaring, bodies launching, killing intent flooding the air—as they charged Ethan’s group.

Garrick reacted on reflex, throwing up the protective dome.

Then—

”ROAR!”

The Glacial Bear bellowed, furious.

It hadn’t moved because Henry hadn’t told it to.

But now, these idiots were trying to attack Henry?

That was a line you didn’t cross.

White fog blasted from its mouth, spilling forward like an avalanche.

Everything it touched froze.

Attacks. Bodies. Weapons. Blood in the air.

A huge swath of Void Realm creatures locked up instantly, turned into frozen statues mid-charge, along with the entire volley of incoming skills—stopped cold as if the world had been paused.

”!!!”

Silence fell for a heartbeat, the battlefield staring at the frozen massacre.

”Stage SS…” someone whispered hoarsely.

Big Mike swallowed hard, eyes wide. ”Stage SS really was no joke.”