Apocalypse: King of Zombies

All those cyber-zombie modification materials? Yeah, those were generously ”sponsored” by Nathan. From start to finish, he never actually manufactured a single Cyborg himself.

And over in the American Zombie Horde, they had their own elite units—fan-favorite, top-tier zombies juiced up with evolution serums. These things were beasts: ripped, lightning-fast, and armed with Crystal Core Firearms, tearing through the battlefield like living artillery.

All of it? Courtesy of Genesis Biotech.

”Useless trash!”

LORN cursed under his breath, seething with frustration. In his eyes, the North American regional commander was a total traitor—worse than useless. The guy had negative combat value. They’d have been better off without him.

Thankfully, LORN had brought along the Division Chiefs of Genesis Biotech from HQ—each one a powerhouse in their own right, capable of holding down entire fronts solo.

Especially Simon, Genesis Biotech’s CHRO. His fire-based abilities had fully awakened, and now he stood wreathed in flames, lighting up the night sky like a living inferno.

”Blazing Dominion!”

With a thunderous shout, the searing flames around him turned pure white, radiating outward in a scorching wave.

The rocky ground beneath his feet melted into glassy crystal.

Any zombie that so much as brushed the fire didn’t even get the chance to scream—they just disintegrated into black ash, scattered on the wind.

Even the countless emerald-green vines were no match. They caught fire instantly, Sprout’s Vine Domain unraveling in a cascade of burning tendrils.

”Verdant Surge!” Sprout wasn’t giving up. Green energy surged from him, and the vines kept sprouting wildly, trying to reclaim lost ground.

”Hmph! Know your place,” Simon sneered, eyes full of contempt. His fire powers were the natural enemy of all mutated plant life.

He poured more energy into his flames. The Blazing Dominion clashed head-on with the green tide of vines, the air crackling and popping with heat. Sparks flew in every direction.

The stench of scorched earth filled the night, turning the battlefield into a vision of hell.

Sprout’s Vine Domain just couldn’t keep up—it was too heavily countered.

”Die, you disgusting freak!” Simon shouted triumphantly.

But while the two Absolute Domains were locked in their elemental clash, no one noticed the shadow creeping in from the distance.

It moved like a phantom, silent and deadly, slipping behind Simon without a sound. Then it rose—revealing the twisted, hulking form of a Zombie King.

”Heheheheh... Surprise attack!” cackled little shadow, his razor-sharp bone claws plunging straight toward Simon’s back.

Shlunk—

Simon’s smug grin froze. Pain twisted across his face as he slowly turned his head—only to see a pitch-black, snarling face grinning back at him.

The ambush shattered his concentration. The Blazing Dominion faltered, its intensity dropping sharply.

Sprout seized the moment. Green energy surged again, and a fresh wave of vines exploded upward, crashing down like a tidal wave, smothering the weakened flames.

Simon felt his wrists, waist, and neck tighten—vines coiling around him like snakes. All he could see was green.

”Ugh—AAARGH!”

His scream tore through the night as he was swallowed whole, his body vanishing beneath the writhing mass.

The fire died with him...

”...”

”Another one down.”

LORN’s brow furrowed, his expression dark. These sneaky bastards... If it had been a fair fight, Simon could’ve gone toe-to-toe with any Zombie King. But no—they had to pull a cheap shot.

Now, with the Blazing Dominion gone, Sprout was like a tiger unleashed. No longer restrained, he turned into a one-man wrecking crew, tearing through enemy ranks like a lawnmower on overdrive.

As the battle dragged on, the American Zombie Horde gained more and more ground. The tide had turned. At this point, it was only a matter of time before they wiped out the opposition completely.

”We can’t wait any longer...”

LORN turned to look at Ethan. Up until now, he’d only been testing the waters—partly out of selfishness, hoping to conserve his strength and let The Crimson Count wear himself out in the fight.

But now it was clear: The Crimson Count was just another disappointment. Despite all his posturing, he couldn’t land a decisive blow—and had even taken a few bricks to the face for his trouble.

Still, the guy was built like a tank. Every time he got hit, he healed up almost instantly, like nothing had happened.

LORN’s assessment of The Crimson Count’s abilities?

”All defense, no offense.”

”Let me show you filthy creatures what real power looks like.”

LORN’s icy blue eyes gleamed as he prepared to unleash his trump card. Slowly, he closed his eyes, drawing in a deep breath as he began to charge up.

’Absolute Zero!’

A bone-deep chill began to radiate from his body. The sheer force of his frost energy surged outward, and in an instant, the surrounding temperature plummeted to freezing.

Frost began to form everywhere—on shattered rocks, on blades of grass caught midair—everything froze in place, suspended in eerie stillness.

Even the wind atop the mountain came to a halt.

The clouds above stopped swirling, locked in place as if time itself had frozen. Crystalline frost blossoms drifted down from the sky, glowing with a soft blue light, tracing delicate arcs through the air like something out of a dream.

”So cold...”

Even humans far from the battlefield felt the creeping chill, like they’d been dropped into the dead of winter. Their bodies shivered uncontrollably, breath turning to mist.

Everywhere the eye could see was coated in shimmering blue ice. Just brushing against it would shatter you into frozen dust.

At the center of it all stood Ethan, caught within the heart of this frozen world. Even his Domain of the Dead began to slow, its expansion stalling as if frozen in time.

Not even his powerful Zombie King body was immune—he felt the cold bite into him.

The Crimson Count’s eyes widened in awe. He’d never seen elemental power like this before. It had to be SSS-level at the very least—maybe even strong enough to alter the planet’s climate.

LORN opened his eyes slowly, frost curling from his breath.

His presence was overwhelming, like a god standing at the center of his own frozen kingdom.

”Well? Ready to feel the wrath of an eternal winter?”

With that, LORN vanished in a blur, his body wrapped in a vortex of sub-zero energy as he shot straight toward Ethan.

He moved like a dagger of ice, slicing clean through the Domain of the Dead.

Ethan, trapped within Absolute Zero, felt his movements slow to a crawl. He couldn’t dodge. His powerful body surged with blood energy as he raised a fist to meet the attack head-on.

BOOOOM!

Their fists collided with a thunderous crash, like two titans clashing at the edge of the world. The shockwave exploded within the frozen domain, shattering ice in every direction. Even the clouds above were torn apart by the force.

For a moment, the world fell silent.

When the dust settled, both Ethan and LORN had been blasted back, each skidding to a stop some distance apart. The clash had ended in a draw—for now.

But one thing was clear: LORN’s true body was far more powerful than any fifth-gen Cyborg.

”I told you—when I arrive in person, it’s your death sentence!” LORN snarled.

Ethan didn’t flinch. ”Wasn’t that impressive...”

”Hmph. That’s because you’re celebrating too early,” LORN said with a smirk, the corner of his mouth curling up in satisfaction.

Then Ethan felt it—a creeping chill spreading from his fist. He glanced down and saw it: a faint blue glow clinging to his knuckles, icy energy pulsing through his skin.

It had latched onto him during that last punch.

”Something nasty...”

He muttered under his breath, but it was already too late. The blue energy spread rapidly—from his hand to his forearm, then across his entire body.

Wherever it touched, ice formed instantly. In the blink of an eye, Ethan was completely frozen.

He stood there, locked in place like a statue carved from crystal-clear ice—so lifelike, it was haunting.

He had become part of the frozen world around him, swallowed whole by Absolute Zero.

...