Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Bloodveil knew Ethan’s secret—his leverage. The Zombie Kings of Heartland were actively hunting for him, so of course Ethan wouldn’t dare show his real face. In fact, under the circumstances, it made perfect sense for him to stay disguised.

And as an ”ally,” Bloodveil had no intention of exposing him.

”Hmph. That disguise is getting more convincing by the day…” he muttered to himself as he stepped forward.

The surrounding Zombie Kings immediately noticed his arrival. They parted respectfully, clearing a path for him, their tones warm and deferential.

”Lord Bloodveil, you’ve arrived!”

”Thanks for calling us together to hunt the humans.”

”Yeah, we wouldn’t have known otherwise!”

Bloodveil gave each of them a nod, keeping his expression cool. As an Overlord, he had to maintain his presence—his face.

Umbradrake looked up and spotted him, a flicker of surprise crossing his face.

Bloodveil? The Overlord of Eastreach himself?

For someone of that rank, Umbradrake didn’t dare be careless. He immediately put on a welcoming smile and stepped forward.

”Welcome, welcome. Didn’t expect the mighty Overlord of Eastreach to grace us with a visit.”

”Hmm?” Bloodveil’s eyes narrowed slightly.

What’s that supposed to mean? Like I had a choice?

To him, it sounded like Umbradrake was throwing shade—subtle, but there.

Something felt off. Bloodveil focused, carefully probing Umbradrake’s aura. It was different now—less vague, more grounded. More real.

Compared to before, it was like something fundamental had shifted.

Maybe… after absorbing those SSS-grade crystal cores, his disguise evolved again…

Bloodveil didn’t dwell on it. He cut straight to the point.

”Umbradrake, where are the humans? Let’s not waste time—let’s go find them.”

”Uh… right now?” Umbradrake blinked, caught off guard. I haven’t even gotten orders from the boss yet…

Bloodveil’s tone sharpened, a flicker of impatience in his eyes. ”What, you want to stall? We’re all here already. Or are you planning to keep the prize for yourself?”

”No, no, I wouldn’t dare,” Umbradrake said quickly, shaking his head. That thought hadn’t even crossed his mind.

Around them, the other Zombie Kings were already getting fired up, their eyes gleaming with anticipation.

Umbradrake sighed inwardly. Well, if they’re all this eager…

”Alright then,” he said aloud. ”If you’re ready to move, let’s go.”

...

Meanwhile, aboard the Command Frigate slicing through Necroterra’s skies, Garrick sat in the command chair, eyes scanning the terrain below.

He’d entered from the edge of the Exile Zone, and so far, every zombie hive they’d passed had been completely abandoned.

”Commodore Howard,” Garrick reported through the comms, ”we’ve swept several zombie hives—completely empty. No signs of activity.”

”Then expand the search,” Howard’s voice came through, calm and commanding. ”Your job is to keep killing zombies until the Overlord of Southvale shows himself. We’ll be right behind you. You won’t be in any danger.”

With Garrick’s SS+ level strength and cutting-edge tech, Howard was confident they could draw out an SSS-level Zombie King without too much trouble.

”Understood,” Garrick replied, then turned to his second-in-command. ”Deploy the swarm. Full-area scan. I want every inch of this place covered until we find something.”

”Yes, sir.”

Moments later, the escort aircraft surrounding the Command Frigate broke formation, spreading out in all directions. From their undercarriages, they released thousands of tiny, insect-like drones—bionic bees.

Each one emitted high-frequency sonar pulses, scanning the terrain for movement and feeding the data back to the mainframe in real time.

The buzzing swarm spread like a living net, sweeping across the land.

From his seat, Garrick watched the data stream in, a digital map of Necroterra unfolding before him.

”No way we’re not finding zombies in this hellhole…”

Sure enough, it didn’t take long.

”Sir!” his second-in-command called out. ”We’ve got movement—large-scale Zombie Horde migrating from multiple regions, all heading deeper into Southvale.”

Garrick’s eyes lit up. ”Then we hit them. Wipe out as many as we can.”

The fleet banked hard, redirecting toward the detected horde.

They didn’t need to land. From the air, they could unleash hell.

”Prepare the Crystal Core Blasters,” Garrick ordered. ”Full sweep. Don’t hold back.”

They had no reason to conserve ammo. The Dreadnought-class Starcruiser was right behind them—resupply was just a jump away.

...

Just as Bloodveil and the other Zombie Kings finished strategizing and were about to set out to hunt the humans, a sudden boom shattered the air.

Far off on the horizon, several mushroom clouds erupted into the sky, followed by a series of thunderous explosions that rolled across the land like a shockwave.

The Zombie Kings, with their enhanced vision, could clearly see what was happening—dozens of human aircraft were swarming the skies, unleashing a relentless barrage of firepower.

”Tch! Still standing around? The humans are already bombing your territory’s zombies!” Bloodveil snapped, his voice laced with scorn.

But Umbradrake just frowned, his expression puzzled. Something didn’t add up.

”That’s the outer edge of Southvale,” he muttered, eyes narrowing. ”But we don’t have any zombies stationed out there. Ethan ordered all of them to regroup toward the center.”

”What?” Bloodveil’s brow furrowed. ”No zombies?”

One of his lieutenants stepped up behind him, face pale. ”Boss… I think that’s the route we used to move our Zombie Horde from Eastreach into Southvale…”

”...” Bloodveil’s face went dark, a vein twitching in his temple.

So all this time… they’re bombing my own damn troops?!

”Move! We’re going now! Kill those humans before they wipe out everything!” he barked.

”Got it!” the other Zombie Kings responded in unison, bloodlust igniting in their eyes. Some leapt into their aircraft, others simply took off on foot or by air, their monstrous speed kicking up clouds of dust as they tore across the land.

Bloodveil, naturally, was the fastest. A crimson aura exploded around him, and in a flash of bloodlight, he vanished like a streak of lightning.

”Damn, he’s in a hurry,” Umbradrake muttered, watching the blur disappear into the distance.

”Boss, should we go too?” Howler asked from behind.

Umbradrake thought for a moment, then nodded. ”Yeah. Let’s go see what the hell they’re bombing.”

He and Howler boarded a nearby aircraft and took off, trailing behind Bloodveil.

Mostly, he was just curious—what exactly were the humans blowing up out there?

...

The Zombie Horde Bloodveil had pulled from Eastreach had been marching toward Draconis Citadel, so they weren’t far from the blast zone.

Now, they were caught in a storm of fire and steel.

The air was filled with the deafening roar of explosions, the screams of the undead, and the sickening sound of flesh being torn apart. Limbs and gore rained down like confetti.

Above them, a Command Frigate hovered like a floating fortress, its underbelly bristling with black cannon ports. It was unleashing hell.

Each shell it fired was devastating—blast radius over 300 feet. Every shot carved a crater into the horde, vaporizing dozens of zombies in an instant. Some were blown apart, others simply ceased to exist.

Only the strongest Zombie Kings could survive the onslaught—and even they were barely hanging on.

One of them, a bloated, pig-faced monstrosity with rolls of fat hanging off his body, was Snout—the same Zombie King who’d once run with Ethan.

His hive was located right on the Eastreach-Southvale border, so he’d been swept up in the mobilization.

Now, he was regretting everything.

Shells exploded all around him, sending shockwaves through his massive frame. His fat rippled with every blast, and though his body was tough enough to avoid instant death, he was being tossed around like a ragdoll.

His skin was scorched black, pain radiating through every inch of his body.

”If this keeps up, I’m gonna end up as roast pork!” he howled.

”Snout! What the hell is that thing?!” one of his underlings shouted, teeth clenched in frustration. The aircraft above was untouchable—too high, too fast. A few flying zombies had tried to get close, but they were swatted out of the sky before they even got near.

”How the hell should I know?!” Snout roared back, his voice full of rage and panic.

He’d thought this was going to be a cushy gig—hunt some humans, grab some loot, maybe score a few crystal cores.

Instead, he’d walked straight into a meat grinder.

...