Apocalypse: King of Zombies

”Bulldozer... you sure you can handle this?” The zombie squad leader with the lightsaber looked skeptical. After all, Bulldozer still hadn’t broken through to SSS rank.

”Doesn’t matter if I can or not—I’m going in!” Bulldozer’s eyes burned with determination. This was a critical moment—he couldn’t afford to screw up now.

Even Laura was holding her own against the SSS-ranked speed-type Zombie King sent by Endless. Not just holding her own—she was actually gaining the upper hand.

”I can’t be the weak link here!”

With that thought locked in, Bulldozer crouched low like a coiled beast, then launched himself straight at Zombie King Terrax.

The two hulking figures collided mid-charge.

Both raised their fists at the same time, slamming them into each other with bone-crushing force.

BOOM!

It was like two raging bulls clashing head-on. The shockwave from their fists cracked the air.

But Bulldozer was still a notch below in raw power. The impact sent him stumbling backward, and he landed hard on his ass.

One of the elite zombie grunts watching smacked his forehead with a groan.

”Yeah... looks like he’s not ready after all.”

Terrax, radiating violent energy and contempt, sneered. A zombie who hadn’t even hit SSS rank dared to challenge him?

He didn’t waste a second—closed the distance in three massive strides.

His fist, the size of a wrecking ball, came crashing down toward Bulldozer.

But just as the blow was about to land, a mechanical tendril shot out from behind Bulldozer—like a steel arrow slicing through the air, aimed straight at Terrax’s face.

Terrax’s eyes widened. He jerked his head to the side, dodging just in time, then snatched the tendril out of the air with one massive hand.

”Got some tricks, huh?”

With a grunt, he yanked hard. The synthetic limb groaned and screeched, metal straining under the force. Bulldozer stumbled forward, dragged by the pull.

Terrax’s other fist was already cocked back—and he let it fly.

CRACK!

Bulldozer managed to block with both arms, but the sheer force of the punch sent him flying. Pain exploded through his body as he crashed to the ground.

The mechanical tendril sparked violently—then snapped in two with a shriek of tearing metal.

”All that flashy crap—what good did it do?”

Terrax tossed the broken piece of machinery to the ground with a heavy thud, then started walking forward, each step like a drumbeat of doom. His massive frame cast a looming shadow, suffocating in its intensity.

Bulldozer clenched his teeth, rage boiling inside him.

”Damn it... why haven’t I broken through to The Voidborn Undying yet?”

...

From a distance, Endless watched the fight unfold. Seeing Terrax turn the tide brought a satisfied smirk to his face.

But then, far off in the sky, the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser finished charging again. A beam of pure destructive energy lanced out, slamming into the Heartland zombie horde with devastating force.

And yet, standing atop the ship’s prow, Elegy—his fingers stained with blood—kept strumming his guitar, his haunting melody slicing through the battlefield, lifting the spirits of his allies.

Endless frowned.

”If only Candlewraith, my top-tier psychic, were here... If he hadn’t been sent to guard the northern front, I wouldn’t have to put up with this damn music.”

He was starting to feel the lack of long-range firepower—and more importantly, the inability to shut down Elegy’s mind-piercing melody.

Just then, a bloodied zombie grunt came sprinting up, panic written all over his face.

”Boss! The north’s fallen! The Overlord of Frostmere—Wraithshade—he’s back! He’s already crossed into Heartland territory!”

”What?!” Endless’s brow furrowed, clearly caught off guard. Wraithshade had only recently risen to power—his region was the youngest and least established of the four. And yet he’d moved this fast?

Letting him step foot into Heartland was a slap in the face—one Endless had no intention of tolerating.

”Where’s Nerissa? If things get too dicey, send her to reinforce the north,” Endless ordered, his tone calm but firm. With a Deathless Sovereign on the field, he figured the situation would be locked down in no time.

The grunt hesitated, his expression flickering with unease. ”Boss... Deathless Sovereign Nerissa’s barely holding on herself. Her fight’s turned into a stalemate—actually, she’s getting pushed back. She’s already been knocked way off the front line.”

”What?” Endless’s brow furrowed even deeper. That was not what he expected to hear.

The grunt quickly gave a rundown of the eastern front. Apparently, a powerful human had broken through and was the first to breach Heartland’s borders.

Endless’s handsome face darkened, his expression stormy enough to drown the air around him.

Wraithshade invading Heartland was bad enough—but humans? That was a whole different level of insult.

”Pathetic little humans... and they dare meddle in this war?” His voice was ice-cold, laced with fury.

Nightwraith and Lilith turned their heads toward Origin Mountain in the distance. The peak was shrouded in swirling mist and storm clouds. From both the eastern and northern fronts, the shockwaves of battle were visible—massive figures clashing in the sky and on the ground.

”Looks like we need to pick up the pace,” Lilith said, her voice low but urgent.

”Yeah...” Endless nodded, his eyes flicking toward the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser. Elegy’s voice still rang out from the top deck, his bloodstained fingers dancing across the guitar strings. The melody surged through the battlefield, rallying the undead forces. New types of zombies kept pouring out like a tide.

That ship was clearly the enemy’s core.

”Nightwraith,” Endless said, his voice sharp, ”I’ll handle that white-shirted Zombie King. While I’ve got him tied up, you take out the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser.”

”You sure you can handle him?” Nightwraith asked, skeptical. Ethan’s Domain of the Dead was no joke—its power was immense, and he had stealth and illusion abilities that made him a nightmare to pin down. Only Nightwraith had the psychic strength to see through his tricks quickly.

”I’ve got this,” Endless replied without hesitation. As the strongest Deathless Sovereign in Heartland—and one of the top-tier beings in all of Necroterra, maybe even all of Originis—he had every reason to be confident.

”Alright then,” Nightwraith agreed. His terrifying psychic energy began to shift, pulling away from Ethan’s location like a storm changing course, sweeping toward the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser.

The pressure in the air spiked.

Every zombie on the battlefield felt it—an invisible weight pressing down on their chests, making their hearts skip a beat.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed. He instantly understood what was happening. He unleashed his Domain of the Dead, sending its power surging after the psychic storm, trying to intercept it.

The space around them rippled violently, on the verge of being swallowed whole.

But then—another force erupted.

It came out of nowhere, slipping between Ethan’s domain and Nightwraith’s psychic wave. It was strange, eerie, and overwhelmingly powerful.

”Your opponent... is me.”

Endless’s eyes gleamed with deadly focus. He unleashed his Temporal Domain at full force. Time itself began to warp—accelerating, decaying, unraveling. Everything caught in its grasp began to erode.

Ethan’s Domain of the Dead was strong, but even it couldn’t resist the grinding decay of time. It started to falter, unable to push forward or retreat.

Nightwraith saw his opening and didn’t waste a second. With Ethan pinned, his psychic energy surged like a beast unchained, tearing across the battlefield toward the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser.

”Shit!” Ethan’s zombie horde panicked. The air in front of them screamed, rippling like a disturbed pond. Something deadly was coming.

Several Zombie Kings rushed to intercept.

Sprout was the first to act. Green energy exploded around him, vines twisting and writhing like a living storm. His Undying Vine Domain bloomed again, a wall of nature rising to block the psychic onslaught.

But he had only just ascended to The Voidborn Undying. His Absolute Domain could hold off a casual strike, sure—but this wasn’t casual. This was Nightwraith going all in.

”You again?” Nightwraith sneered. His psychic energy turned into a swarm of spectral scythes, slicing through the vines like they were paper. The domain shattered under the assault.

Next came Gorewood, unleashing his Arboreal Domain. Trees erupted from the ground, towering and ancient—but Gorewood hadn’t reached SSS rank yet. His Absolute Domain was still immature, weaker than Sprout’s.

Against Nightwraith’s psychic storm, it was like throwing twigs into a hurricane.

The trees were ripped apart, splintered and crushed. The battlefield looked like it had been hit by a supernatural tornado.

Nightwraith’s psychic force tore through every defense, finally reaching the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser.

Elegy’s melody—his Song of Slaughter—was smothered, silenced by the overwhelming pressure.

For a moment, the battlefield fell into eerie silence.

All around, zombies turned to look, eyes wide with fear and awe.

This was the power of a Deathless Sovereign of Heartland.

Unstoppable. Unmatched.

Nightwraith had broken through every line of defense—and he still had power to spare.

”Is the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser... about to be destroyed?” the undead forces whispered, dread creeping into their voices.

But just as the ship seemed doomed, a new force surged outward.

A massive wave of psychic energy erupted from the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser itself—just as fierce, just as overwhelming. It rolled out like a tidal wave, colliding with Nightwraith’s assault.

This power was dense, heavy, and unshakable—like a mountain crashing down from the sky.

SSS-level. No doubt about it.

Then, from the deck of the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser, a figure stepped forward.

A man in a white lab coat.

PhD had arrived.

...