Apocalypse: King of Zombies

The members of the Black Hand Legion were struck with terror. They knew all too well how ruthless Vanessa could be—retreating meant certain death, so they figured they might as well charge forward.

”Brothers, let’s take her down!”

Faces twisted with rage, they roared and howled as they surged toward Mia.

Her slender figure was quickly swallowed by the tide of bodies.

There were just too many of them. The crowd was so dense, it blocked out everything—no space, no light, just a wall of enemies pressing in from all sides.

Mia swung her Tachi in wide arcs, the blade slicing through the air and leaving behind ghostly afterimages. Anyone who got close was shredded in an instant.

She had become a human meat grinder once again.

But deep down, she knew—wiping them all out wasn’t realistic. Her body wouldn’t hold up for long.

She needed to find a way out. Best-case scenario? Retreat and leave this mess to the one who should really be cleaning it up—the Zombie King responsible for this whole disaster.

…

Meanwhile, not far off, Leah and the others were still crouched behind a pile of rubble. When they saw Mia take down Slade, their eyes went wide with shock.

”Mia’s even stronger than before!”

”Hell yeah! We just took out the Black Hand Legion’s leader. Let’s head back to the L.A. safe zone!” Chris said quickly, clearly eager to get moving.

Brandon shot him a look of pure disdain. ”Uncle Chris, when did you turn into such a coward?”

”Coward? Me? No way! I just… I need to get back and train my students. What are they gonna do without their instructor?” Chris tried to defend himself, but it sounded pretty weak.

Brandon rolled his eyes. →_→

”The fight’s just getting started. We can’t leave now. Even if we can only help a little, it’s better than nothing.”

Chris looked worried. ”The enemy’s way too strong. Even if we wanted to help, we’d just get in the way. And if Genesis Biotech spots us, we’re screwed.”

Genesis Biotech had sent in their elite operatives—top-tier Awakeners built to take on the strongest Zombie King in L.A. There was no way the group could stand up to them. If they got caught, it’d be game over.

And right on cue, some of those Genesis Biotech elites—who’d arrived with the so-called ”Perfect Team”—did spot them.

A few of the operatives noticed the group crouched behind the rubble, looking sketchy as hell. Definitely not the kind of people you’d trust at first glance.

A squad of elites started heading their way.

”Shit! Hide, now!” Chris hissed, panic in his voice.

Brandon and the others ducked down behind the rocks, following his lead.

”Uncle Chris, I swear, you’ve got the worst luck. Every time you say something, it happens. We really did get spotted by Genesis Biotech!”

”How is that my fault?!” Chris protested, clearly feeling wronged. ”We’ve been sitting ducks here this whole time—it was bound to happen eventually!”

”So what now? Should we fight?” Leah asked, her fiery nature flaring up.

As they all scrambled to figure out what to do, they suddenly noticed Sean—still sticking his neck out, casually peeking over the rocks like he didn’t have a care in the world.

”Hey! Sean! What the hell are you doing?!”

”Oh great, now we’re definitely busted!”

”...”

Everyone was on edge.

Sure enough, a group of Genesis Biotech Awakeners approached. The first thing they saw was Sean’s head poking out, looking… well, not exactly like the sharpest tool in the shed.

”What the hell are you guys doing here? Get out where we can see you!”

”Uh…” Chris and the others slowly raised their heads, caught red-handed.

They could already feel elemental energy building up inside them, ready to go down swinging if it came to that.

But Sean? He looked completely chill, not even a hint of panic on his face.

”We’re with the Black Hand Legion. You guys should be focusing on that Zombie King in L.A., not us.”

”Oh…”

The Genesis Biotech Awakeners sneered.

They clearly had no respect for the Black Hand Legion—and judging by Sean’s clueless expression, they didn’t think he was smart enough to lie.

”Tch. What a bunch of cowards, hiding out here like rats.”

”Captain, these Black Hand guys are pathetic. They haven’t even faced the Zombie King yet and they’re already pissing themselves.”

”Just a bunch of street thugs and wannabe gangsters. No real combat power.”

”...”

The Genesis Biotech Awakeners muttered among themselves, then turned away without another glance at Sean and the others.

Looked like they were moving out—getting into formation to take on the Zombie King of Los Angeles.

Chris and the others were completely dumbfounded.

”Wait… that actually worked?”

None of them had expected Sean to brush off the Genesis Biotech Awakeners with just a few casual lines.

Sean, on the other hand, looked pretty pleased with himself. ”See? If I’d kept my mouth shut, we’d be toast.”

Leah jumped in with a grin, ”You know what? Sometimes you’re actually kinda smart.”

”Damn right,” Sean said, puffing up with pride. ”They call me ’Little Einstein’ back at the shelter.”

…

Meanwhile, the Genesis Biotech Awakeners had moved on and were now surrounding Ethan’s position. They raised their Crystal Core Firearms in unison, all of them locking onto the center of the battlefield.

”Open fire!”

With that command, the weapons lit up, energy spheres forming at the muzzles before launching in a barrage that rained down on Ethan like a storm of bullets.

At that moment, Ethan was locked in a fierce clash with Sable. Their Absolute Domains collided, sending out shockwaves of raw, destructive power that rippled through the air.

Compared to that, the energy blasts from the Crystal Core Firearms were like raindrops falling into a raging ocean—barely noticeable. But even so, they were starting to wear him down.

”This is draining too fast…”

Ethan calculated quickly, then pulled back, retreating just far enough to get out of their firing range.

Despite the intense battle, the swirling sandstorms, and the overwhelming force of Sable’s Domain, Ethan’s white clothes remained spotless—like he hadn’t even been touched.

”This Zombie King… he’s no joke,” said the only woman in the Perfect Team, her voice calm but intrigued.

She was a well-known powerhouse listed in The Awakened Files, codename: Bloodrose. She hadn’t made a move yet—just stood there, quietly observing.

Sable scoffed. ”Hmph. Doesn’t matter how refined he looks—underneath, he’s still a savage.”

Bloodrose licked her lips, eyes gleaming. ”Then I’d love to see what he looks like when he snaps.”

With the Genesis Biotech Awakeners now fully engaged, the Perfect Team was ready to launch their full-scale assault—the real hunt for the Los Angeles Zombie King had begun.

”Sand Cataclysm!”

Sable’s voice rang out as he unleashed the same technique that had once wiped out a horde of five thousand zombies.

The ground trembled as golden sand surged upward, forming into countless chunks of varying size—floating in midair like a constellation of deadly stars.

Then, with a flick of Sable’s hand—

All the sandstones shot toward Ethan at once, drawn by an invisible force.

It was like watching a natural disaster unfold. A Meta-Ability of this scale didn’t just look powerful—it felt apocalyptic.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The barrage of sandstones collided, encasing Ethan in a massive sphere of rock and sand, suspended in the air like a planet.

”Detonate.”

Sable clenched his fist.

The massive ”planet” exploded in an instant. The shockwave was so intense, the ground below cracked and split apart, rumbling violently as the earth caved in.

It felt like an earthquake had just hit. The entire battlefield shook.

”What the hell is that?” Even Vanessa, watching from afar, furrowed her brow.

She could feel the sheer destructive force from where she stood, and it sent a chill down her spine.

”Richard really brought in monsters like this?” Mia, her face streaked with blood, turned to look. She saw Ethan’s figure swallowed by the sandstorm and felt a strange unease settle in her chest.

This fight… wasn’t like the others.

Chris and the rest were thrown off balance by the shockwave, barely managing to stay on their feet.

”Holy shit! These guys are insane! What the hell are they made of?!”

Leah’s face was tight with worry. ”Yeah… do you think Ethan’s okay?”

...