Apocalypse: King of Zombies

”Hold the rest of the Outland Beasts,” Ethan barked to the team. ”This one’s mine.”

Then he surged forward to meet the Stoneplate Behemoth head-on.

”ROAR—!”

The Behemoth bellowed, and a massive mountain peak materialized out of thin air overhead—then slammed straight down at Ethan like a divine hammer.

”Jesus—starting with that?” Ethan’s eyelid twitched.

He didn’t hesitate. Teleportation.

His body blinked away, reappearing at the Behemoth’s side. His poleaxe whipped up and crashed down toward its head with everything he had.

At the last possible second, the Behemoth’s head snapped back—

And vanished into its shell.

”CLANG—!”

Metal-on-stone screeched across the clearing.

Ethan’s poleaxe struck the shell…and the recoil damn near tore the weapon out of his hands. He held on, but the shock split the skin at his palm. His whole body got blasted backward, boots carving a trench through the dirt.

”Not a turtle,” Ethan spat, shaking out his hand, ”but it sure does the whole tucking-your-head-in thing like a pro.”

The Behemoth’s head slid back out.

Then its huge body dropped—straight into the ground, vanishing like it was water.

Ethan reacted instantly, stepping onto a floating dagger and shooting up into the air.

But the moment he lifted off, a crushing force slammed onto him.

Gravity.

His body was yanked down like a rock.

”Of course,” Ethan snarled as he started falling. ”Why is it always the earth-types that know the gravity trick?”

Right before he hit, he drove his poleaxe down like a spear.

And right on cue—

A gigantic shadow exploded out of the earth beneath him.

The Behemoth swatted Ethan’s poleaxe aside with a brutal slap, and a massive earthen spike shot upward with lightning speed—aimed straight at Ethan’s skull.

Ethan’s eyes went cold.

”Absolute Stasis!”

The world snapped still.

The spike froze in midair, its tip hovering less than an inch from Ethan’s head.

Ethan snatched his poleaxe back, muscles tightening, and poured everything into one strike.

Annihilation Strike.

The poleaxe came down like judgment.

”BOOM—!”

The impact split the air.

The Stoneplate Behemoth’s head burst open with a gaping wound, blood spraying out in a red arc.

Ethan’s brows furrowed.

He teleported away immediately, widening the distance.

He’d expected that full-power Annihilation Strike to shatter the Behemoth’s skull.

Instead… it only wounded it.

It didn’t drop.

So yeah—he couldn’t use the Glacial Bear as his measuring stick for all Stage SS beasts.

No idea which one was stronger overall, but defensively?

This Stoneplate Behemoth was on a completely different level.

Seraphine had warned him it was absurdly tanky. Ethan had assumed she meant the shell.

Turns out the head was just as ridiculous.

Hard enough to remind him of that old bull—almost the same kind of maddening stubborn durability.

This thing’s not going to die easy.

Stasis ended.

The earthen spike resumed its path, stabbing through empty air where Ethan had been a heartbeat ago.

”ROAR—!”

The Behemoth let out a pained, furious howl, eyes turning vicious as it locked onto Ethan again.

Yellow energy surged off its body in waves, forming a thick, earth-colored shield that wrapped it from head to tail.

Ethan’s hit had scared it.

Good.

”ROAR!”

It charged again, a living battering ram.

A Stage SS Outland Beast didn’t take humiliation well.

Ethan flicked his hand—

And released Dopey.

His own mental energy was running low, and Emily was still linked to him, feeding him recovery as fast as she could. He needed pressure, space, and time.

Dopey appeared and immediately rushed the Behemoth like it had a death wish.

Seeing yet another creature daring to challenge it, the Stoneplate Behemoth’s rage spiked. It raised a massive palm and slammed it down at Dopey.

Dopey didn’t dodge. Didn’t hesitate.

He cocked his fist and punched straight back.

”THUD—!”

A heavy, muffled impact shook the ground.

Then Dopey’s body launched backward like a missile, sent flying by that single slap.

The Stoneplate Behemoth’s eyes flicked with pure contempt as it turned, ready to lunge back at Ethan.

Then Dopey came charging again.

The Behemoth’s brow creased. Another slap—Dopey went flying.

Before it could even reset its stance, Dopey rushed it again.

”…?”

The Behemoth’s patience snapped.

What is wrong with this thing?

Its claws swept through the air. A mountain peak manifested and crashed down—

Pinning Dopey underneath with a thunderous impact.

Alright. Now you’re dead.

The Stoneplate Behemoth let out a low, satisfied snort and started forward again—

Then a hand reached up from beneath the earth and clamped around its ankle.

The Behemoth’s face darkened instantly.

It yanked upward—

And Dopey came up with it, dragged out of the ground like a nightmare that refused to stay buried.

Dopey was still intact.

Still moving.

The Behemoth’s rage spiked so hard it was practically visible.

It grabbed Dopey and began smashing him into the ground like a hammer.

”BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—!”

Each slam shook the clearing. Dirt and rock exploded outward in bursts.

Off to the side, Ethan’s group watched, and even they couldn’t keep their faces straight.

Their mouths twitched.

Chris swallowed hard. ”Uh… Dopey’s not gonna die, right?”

”Probably not,” someone muttered. ”That body’s Stage SSS.”

”…Right. Yeah.” Chris nodded, still staring.

Then Big Mike grimaced. ”Still, he’s getting wrecked. A Stage SSS getting used like a rag doll by a Stage SS—if he ever gets his power back, he’s 100% returning the favor.”

Chris snorted. ”He won’t get the chance. Boss isn’t letting this thing live that long.”

”Fair.”

After a final, savage slam, the Stoneplate Behemoth lifted Dopey up to check if he’d finally gone limp.

Instead, it ate a fist.

”THUD—!”

Dopey’s strength was sealed, but even what leaked through that seal was still far beyond an ordinary Tier 35 peak.

The punch didn’t crack the Behemoth’s skull—

But it did shatter the yellow energy shield wrapped around its body.

The Stoneplate Behemoth’s eyes widened.

Shock—real shock—flashed across its face.

After all that… it’s still fine?

And in that heartbeat of disbelief—

Ethan moved.

His mental energy had recovered more than halfway thanks to Emily’s link. He didn’t waste a single second.

Teleportation.

He blinked above the Stoneplate Behemoth’s head—

And instantly activated Absolute Stasis.

Time locked.

Ethan’s poleaxe erupted with intense black light, the edge humming with the same killing aura as before—only sharper now, more focused.

He brought it down on the Behemoth’s already-injured head.

”CRACK!”

The sound of bone splitting rang out.

This time, there was no ”almost.”

The Behemoth’s skull shattered. Blood burst up in a violent spray.

Ethan didn’t retreat.

While Absolute Stasis still held, he drove the poleaxe forward again—straight into the wound.

”SHNK—!”

The blade plunged deep into the Behemoth’s head, sinking in with a wet, final force.

Absolute Stasis ended.

The world snapped back into motion—

But the Stoneplate Behemoth didn’t.

Its massive body stood frozen in place, poleaxe embedded in its skull. Its eyes—still vicious, still locked on Ethan—were filled with raw unwillingness.

It couldn’t accept it.

It couldn’t stop it.

”ROAR…”

A dying sound dragged out of its throat.

Around them, Outland Beasts saw their lord fall—and the entire mountain range seemed to answer.

A tidal wave of furious howls erupted, rolling across Greyspine Range like thunder.

Then the beasts lost their minds.

They charged from every direction, throwing themselves at Ethan’s team with no fear left at all.

Chris and the others reacted instantly, forming a tight ring around Ethan and taking the first impact—blades, fists, ice, flame, and abilities flashing as they held the line against the swarm.

Ethan twisted his poleaxe and yanked.

Something popped free inside the broken skull.

A yellow crystal core sprang out, spinning through the air.

Ethan caught it cleanly in his palm.

The weight of it felt unreal.

He stared at that core, heat rising in his eyes.

With this…

He could reach Stage SS—soon.

A true apex existence.

The kind of monster that sat at the top of the food chain and decided what everyone else was allowed to be.