Apocalypse: King of Zombies

The Radiant Crystal shot through the air like a bullet, heading straight for the teammate.

The teammate stared at it, unblinking, every nerve in his body stretched taut. He was ready, hands outstretched to catch it, not daring to make a single mistake as the crystal hurtled closer and closer.

But then, something unexpected happened.

Just as the Radiant Crystal was halfway to its destination, there was a sharp snap. Two long, slender fingers caught it mid-flight.

”Huh?”

Everyone froze, stunned.

Ethan’s figure appeared out of nowhere, his gaze lowered as he inspected the Radiant Crystal now resting between his fingers.

The moment it touched his hand, a cool, icy sensation spread through his palm. Under the shimmering glow of the crystal, he could feel his body’s cells buzzing with energy. It was clear—this thing could accelerate evolution.

A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. What a nice little treasure. And I didn’t even have to try.

”Thanks for the hard work, everyone,” Ethan said casually.

”???”

Samantha collapsed to the ground, her eyes wide with disbelief. The Radiant Crystal she had risked her life to grab was now in someone else’s hands.

Dave frowned, his sharp senses picking up on something unusual. His mental scan of Ethan revealed an unsettling presence. This guy wasn’t going to be easy to deal with.

”Another powerhouse?” Dave muttered under his breath.

Samantha, however, was already losing it. She scrambled to her feet, shouting, ”What are you all standing around for? Go get the Radiant Crystal back!”

”Oh… right!”

The teammate who had been ready to catch the crystal snapped out of his daze. A hulking man, clearly a strength-type Awakener, he stomped forward in two massive strides, his face twisted into a snarl as he reached out to grab Ethan by the collar.

”Well, that’s just rude…” Ethan muttered, shaking his head.

In one fluid motion, he raised his hand, and a sleek tachi appeared in his grip. With a swift diagonal slash, the blade cut through the air.

Swish!

The sound was sharp and clean, like slicing through a watermelon. The man’s forearm was severed in an instant.

”AAAHHH!”

The man let out a bloodcurdling scream as blood gushed from the stump of his arm. He stumbled back, clutching the wound, his face pale with shock and pain.

But Ethan wasn’t done. With another effortless swing, the tachi sliced upward, starting at the man’s chin and carving all the way through to the top of his skull. The blade flicked, and a crystal core popped out, gleaming in the light.

The entire sequence was seamless, like a choreographed dance.

The man’s screams cut off abruptly. His lifeless body crumpled to the ground with a heavy thud.

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.

”Holy—”

Someone sucked in a sharp breath. If they remembered correctly, that guy was a B+ level Awakener, nearly A-level. And yet, Ethan had taken him down like he was nothing.

Dave’s eyes narrowed as he studied Ethan. Something wasn’t right. There was no trace of a living person’s aura coming from him.

His heart sank.

No way…

”The Zombie King!” Dave blurted out, his voice trembling slightly. ”He’s a Zombie King!”

”What?!”

The others recoiled in shock.

They were all from San Bernardino and didn’t know much about Los Angeles, but they’d heard the rumors. Whispers of a terrifyingly powerful Zombie King roaming the city.

Could it really be him?

”This guy’s dangerous. Stay sharp!” Dave warned, his voice urgent.

What had started as a simple plan to swoop in and claim the prize had turned into a nightmare. Not only were they dealing with parasitic monsters, but now a Zombie King had entered the fray.

”We don’t need to kill him,” Dave said quickly, trying to rally his team. ”Just grab the Radiant Crystal and get out of here!”

All eyes locked onto Ethan. The Radiant Crystal in his hand had made him the center of attention, the target of everyone’s greed.

Dave was the first to act. His powerful mental energy surged forward, confident in his abilities. His psychic attacks had never failed him before.

Two of his teammates followed close behind, charging at Ethan in perfect sync.

This was their usual strategy: Dave would disrupt or control the target with his psychic powers, leaving them vulnerable for his teammates to finish off. It had worked countless times before.

The group charged forward with overwhelming force, Dave’s psychic energy manifesting into a tangible barrier that surged ahead like a tidal wave, aiming to crush everything in its path.

Ethan stood still, watching them with an almost bored expression. Then, in the blink of an eye, his crimson eyes flared with an eerie glow.

The Domain of the Dead erupted around him.

A suffocating wave of pressure spread out like a tsunami, engulfing everything in its reach.

Dave’s psychic barrier, which had seemed so formidable, crumbled like fragile paper, torn apart in an instant.

”ARGH—!”

Dave clutched his head, a piercing pain exploding in his brain as he let out a guttural scream.

The two teammates who had rushed ahead fared even worse. Not only was Ethan completely unaffected by their assault, but the oppressive force radiating from him pinned them in place.

”What the hell is this?!”

”This… this isn’t like before!”

Their eyes widened in terror as they realized they were trapped within the Domain of the Dead. Their bodies felt impossibly heavy, as though they were carrying mountains on their backs. They couldn’t move, couldn’t even lift a finger.

And then came the fear. A primal, bone-deep terror that gripped their hearts as they felt death creeping closer.

Ethan walked toward them, his steps unhurried, almost casual. As he passed by, his long, slender fingers reached out, piercing into their skulls with surgical precision.

One by one, he extracted their crystal cores.

His expression remained calm, detached, as though he were performing a mundane chore. Before their lifeless bodies could even hit the ground, he flicked his wrist, storing the cores in his spatial storage ring.

It was all so smooth, so practiced, as if this was second nature to him.

Dave, still clutching his head in agony, watched the scene unfold with growing horror. The pain in his skull was unbearable, but what truly terrified him was the ease with which Ethan dispatched his men.

Ethan didn’t stop. He moved toward the remaining survivors like a gardener harvesting ripe fruit, methodically collecting what he wanted.

That’s when it hit Dave.

He’d been looking at this all wrong.

This wasn’t about fighting for the Radiant Crystal anymore.

This was about survival.

”Forget the Radiant Crystal! We need to retreat!” Dave shouted to the few remaining members of his team, his voice trembling with urgency.

The others didn’t need to be told twice. They turned and bolted, desperate to escape.

But Ethan’s voice cut through the chaos, calm and cold.

”In such a rush? Let me help you with that.”

With a mere thought, the Domain of the Dead expanded further. The trees around them shattered into splinters, leaves and debris swirling violently in the air.

The fleeing group didn’t make it far. The oppressive force of the domain caught up to them, freezing their bodies in place. The weaker ones collapsed immediately, their legs giving out beneath them.

They were spent. The earlier battles had drained them of their strength, leaving them powerless to resist.

Even Dave, who prided himself on his psychic abilities, was at his limit. His mental reserves were nearly depleted, and his body felt like it was being crushed under an invisible weight.

When he turned his head, he realized with a jolt that Ethan was already standing in front of him.

Dave’s entire body trembled. His face twisted in terror, his mind screaming at him to move, to fight, to do something.

But it was too late.

Ethan reached out, his hand plunging into Dave’s skull with unnerving precision. When he pulled back, a crystal core gleamed in his palm.

Ethan tilted his head, examining it with mild curiosity.

”An A-grade psychic crystal core,” he murmured, a faint smile tugging at his lips. ”How cute. I’ve never seen one of these before.”

He turned the core over in his hand, admiring its brilliance for a moment before slipping it into his storage ring.

And just like that, Dave’s lifeless body crumpled to the ground.

The rest of the Black Hand Legion was no more. Ethan had wiped them out entirely.

The only ones left were Samantha, a few other human survivors, and the parasitic monsters that had been lurking nearby.

Samantha was in bad shape. She’d taken the brunt of the earlier psychic attacks while fighting for the Radiant Crystal, and her body was still recovering from being partially parasitized. Her head throbbed painfully, and her strength was all but gone.

She stared at Ethan, her heart sinking into the pit of her stomach.

Dave, the infamous psychic powerhouse of San Bernardino, had been killed as easily as squashing a bug.

”P-please… don’t kill me!” Samantha stammered, her voice shaking. ”You can use me as a hostage! Take me to Sophia—she’ll trade whatever resources you want for me!”

She wasn’t just begging for her life. She knew that pleading alone wouldn’t work on a creature like Ethan. She had to make herself useful, had to offer something of value.

”Sophia?” Ethan repeated, his expression thoughtful. He vaguely recalled hearing about her—San Bernardino’s Genesis Biotech branch leader.

”Not a bad idea,” he said after a moment. ”But… if I need something from her, I’ll go get it myself.”

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