Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Just as the Titan Bull hesitated—caught between rage and the very real fear of getting its nose smashed again—Dopey crawled out of the rubble.

Still not a scratch on him.

The Titan Bull’s mouth actually twitched.

Ethan saw that, and decided to press the advantage while the bull’s nerves were exposed.

”Dopey,” Ethan said, voice calm as if they were discussing a training drill, ”if the big guy still wants to fight, go straight for the nose. Looks like that’s the weak spot.”

Then he rummaged in his spatial storage ring and pulled out a club made from some special material.

”Here. Use this,” Ethan said, shoving it into Dopey’s hands. ”Smash it—hard.”

Dopey had always been the ”bare fists solve everything” type before.

But this time was different. The Titan Bull was too strong. If they wanted to threaten it for real, Dopey needed a weapon.

The Titan Bull’s pupils flared.

This human… could he be any more shameless?

But shameless or not, it worked.

Dopey’s unkillable body already made the bull feel sick. Ethan’s attacks were annoying, but they weren’t lethal unless he kept targeting weak points.

If Dopey started hammering that already-injured nose?

The Titan Bull couldn’t ignore that.

It stared at the two of them—both clearly fixated on its nose now—and its fury twisted into something that looked a lot like helpless disgust.

Is this guy a demon?

In the end, the Titan Bull roared at Ethan—half warning, half humiliation—then turned and bolted back into the dense primeval forest of Blackpine Wilds.

As it retreated, the rest of the Outland Beasts scattered after it, flooding back into the trees like water draining away.

Ethan finally let out a long breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

Thank god.

If that Titan Bull had insisted on fighting to the end, Ethan would’ve been the one in trouble.

He stared at the Blackpine Wilds ahead, eyes full of wariness.

Blackpine was ancient forest even before the apocalypse. After everything went to hell, the trees inside had grown like they were on steroids—thick canopy, tangled undergrowth. From the outside, you couldn’t see a damn thing.

Even satellites couldn’t read it.

Over 1,100 square miles of wild, sealed-off green.

Whatever was inside… nobody knew.

And that Titan Bull might not even be the strongest thing living there.

Yeah. We’re not coming back here anytime soon, Ethan told himself.

There were Outland Beasts all over Earth now. Rivermark wasn’t the only hunting ground—deep mountains and other primeval forests had them too. Maybe they weren’t as dense, maybe they weren’t as terrifying, but there were plenty of places to farm.

Worst case?

They could just go overseas.

Most countries had already collapsed. Nobody was policing borders anymore. No one was stopping ”illegal entry” when the world was burning.

With Fallen Star City’s current strength, they could go hunt Outland Beasts anywhere they wanted. Who was going to tell them no?

Once he’d decided, Ethan stopped hesitating.

He sliced the air with his hand, and a dimensional rift opened.

He pulled Dopey back into his spatial ring and started stepping into the rift—

Then a huge shadow moved in the distance.

High in the sky, a massive figure was walking through the air, striding toward them at a speed that made Ethan’s blood run cold.

Ethan’s scalp prickled instantly.

”Nope.”

He dove into the rift—

But he only made it halfway.

A force slammed into him like a hammer. Ethan was thrown backward, crashing to the ground.

The dimensional rift flickered and vanished.

Ethan lay there stunned, stars bursting behind his eyes.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Was today some kind of cursed holiday? He’d finally scared off one monster, and now another—one that felt even worse—showed up before he could breathe.

In a blink, the massive figure arrived overhead.

A pair of eyes looked down at Ethan—cold, measuring, like it was assessing an insect.

Ethan forced himself to look up and meet the creature’s gaze.

The moment their eyes met, a chill ran through him.

Those eyes…

He’d seen them before.

His mind flashed back, and the memory snapped into place—Clearford City, that Void Realm pocket world.

Back then, while they were clearing Outland Beasts, they’d pushed deep into the forest and found an area with not a single beast in it. Ethan had gotten curious, turned on True Sight, and searched.

That was when he’d seen those eyes, deep inside a cave.

He remembered it too clearly.

That thing had only opened its eyes for a brief instant, and Ethan had nearly died on the spot.

Eyes like that weren’t something you forgot, even if you wanted to. So the second he saw them again, the old fear came roaring back like it had been waiting for him.

After he’d obtained Dopey, Ethan had actually considered going back into that Void Realm and using Dopey to deal with whatever was in that cave.

But every time he pictured those eyes, his spine turned cold.

In the end, he never dared.

Now, seeing the creature in person, Ethan felt a wave of relief so strong it was almost sickening.

Thank god he hadn’t gone back.

That wouldn’t have been ”testing his luck.”

That would’ve been delivering himself to suicide.

Unfortunately…

His current situation didn’t look any better.

He’d never imagined that the beast he’d glimpsed for one heartbeat back then was actually Stage SSS.

It shattered everything Ethan thought he understood.

Seriously?

This was what fate decided to throw at him?

Ethan wanted to scream.

Facing a Stage SSS beast, he couldn’t even bring himself to think about running.

That speed just now—Teleportation plus Absolute Stasis wouldn’t save him.

And with a monster at this level, the gap was so ridiculous that Ethan wasn’t even sure Absolute Stasis could freeze it at all.

As for Riftwalk… forget it. The thing wouldn’t give him the time. It had interrupted him from far away earlier—now it was right in front of him. He’d be lucky to blink.

For the first time since the apocalypse began, a deep, ugly helplessness crawled up Ethan’s throat.

The only comfort was that it hadn’t killed him immediately.

If it wanted him dead, he’d already be dead.

Which meant… maybe there was still a chance.

A low, heavy voice rumbled from the massive beast above him.

”Have we met somewhere before?”

Ethan almost choked.

He stared up at it, eyes wide. ”Y-you… you can talk!?”

”Obviously.”

”…”

It took Ethan a few seconds to shove the shock back down and accept that this thing spoke human language.

He swallowed and answered carefully. ”We have. I saw you before—in your world. I… I saw your eyes.”

He didn’t dare lie. Not to something like this. If he tried to play games and annoyed it, he’d die on the spot.

The beast nodded, expression still indifferent. ”That explains it. Back then, I sensed someone watching me. So it was you.”

Ethan let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding.

Then the beast spoke again, simple and cold.

”Release that soulless thrall from earlier.”

”…Dopey?” Ethan blurted, thrown for a second.

”Dopey?” The beast sounded offended. ”That’s an awful name.”

”…”

It repeated, impatient. ”Release it.”

”O-okay.” Ethan didn’t argue. He immediately summoned Dopey.

The instant Dopey appeared, the beast’s calm mask finally cracked.

A faint ripple passed through its eyes—something like recognition.

”So it really is you…”

It stared at Dopey for a long moment, voice dropping into something almost… reflective.

”I never thought I’d see you again after so many ages.”

Then its gaze shifted back down to Ethan.

”Where did you find it?”

Ethan answered honestly, keeping his tone careful. ”In another Void Realm world.”

The beast’s voice sharpened.

”Take me there.”

Ethan blinked. ”Huh?”

”But… the Void Realm entrances are closed right now. We can’t get in.”

The beast’s eyes narrowed. ”That skill you used just now can enter.”

Ethan’s heart skipped. ”Really!?”

”I said it can. So it can.”

”…Okay.” Ethan nodded fast.

Truthfully, he’d had the same suspicion for a while—that Riftwalk might be able to do something like that. He’d even wanted to test it, to jump into other Void Realm worlds and cause trouble.

But things had been nonstop lately. He’d never had the chance to experiment, and he hadn’t been sure.

This beast took one look and decided it was possible.

Of course it did.

Stage SSS.

Different rules.

After that, Ethan activated Telekinetic Flight and began leading the beast in the direction of the Void Realm near Atlas City.

If it wanted him to guide it, then he’d guide it.

What else was he supposed to do?

Since the apocalypse began…

This was the first time Ethan had ever felt this completely, miserably powerless.