Apocalypse: King of Zombies

”Awaken, slumbering souls—rise and fight once more!”

Lilith’s voice rang out like a whisper from the grave, soft yet chilling. Her robes billowed as a surge of eerie energy exploded from her body, flooding the battlefield in a wave of darkness.

”Specters, return to me…!”

She poured out everything she had—no holding back. As Heartland’s second-ranked Deathless Sovereign, her power was nothing short of terrifying.

A chorus of wails erupted across the battlefield—piercing, mournful, inhuman. It was as if a thousand tortured spirits screamed at once, their cries echoing like a dirge from the underworld.

Black energy spiraled upward, converging on the summit of The Origin Mountain.

The souls of the fallen—those who had died in battle—were being dragged back from the abyss.

The sky darkened.

Ghostly figures blotted out the heavens, swirling in a storm of shadows. The wind howled with unnatural force, carrying with it the stench of death and despair.

Tens of thousands of vengeful spirits surged forward, their twisted forms writhing and clawing through the air. The entire battlefield looked like it had been swallowed by hell itself.

”Goddamn… that’s horrifying…”

”This is Lilith’s true power?”

”She’s the strongest under Endless for a reason!”

Even the most savage zombies felt a chill crawl down their spines.

As for the humans—Claire, Aria, and the others—they could barely breathe. They had already pushed themselves to the brink just to take down Nerissa. Against someone like Lilith, one of the Elite Three, they didn’t stand a chance.

The swarm of specters closed in on Ethan like a tidal wave of death.

These weren’t just ghosts—they were wrathful souls, stripped of reason, driven only by the instinct to kill.

Ethan’s eyes swept across the storm of faces—twisted, snarling, monstrous. Each one more grotesque than the last, all of them lunging for him with murderous intent.

And then he saw him.

Gorthas.

His ghostly form hovered at the center of the horde, his face pale and cold, eyes gleaming with hatred. Unlike the others, he wasn’t mindless—he was focused, deliberate, and far more dangerous.

He looked like a demon risen from the depths of hell, come to drag Ethan down with him.

”RRRAAAHHH—!”

Gorthas let out a bone-chilling roar, leading the charge as the sea of spirits surged forward.

Ethan’s golden runes flared to life, blazing like a beacon in the darkness. He stood tall, the last light in a world swallowed by shadow.

His energy condensed, burning brighter than ever.

Then—he struck.

BOOOOOOM—

The sky cracked open.

His punch tore through the air like a divine hammer, the shockwave flattening everything in its path. Thousands of specters were obliterated instantly, their forms vanishing in a flash of golden light.

A vacuum formed around him—an eye in the storm.

But the ghosts kept coming.

Wave after wave, they filled the space again, clawing and shrieking, endless and relentless.

Ethan didn’t stop.

He fought like a god of war, fists blazing, his Domain of the Dead surging outward with every strike. Each blow shattered dozens of spirits, his presence shaking the very foundations of The Origin Mountain.

The mountain trembled. The sky roared.

It was like the end of the world.

Endless watched from below, eyes narrowed.

”Lilith can’t beat him,” he muttered to himself. ”She’s only buying time.”

Lilith’s energy was unraveling fast. Her face had gone ghostly pale, her body trembling from the strain. She was clearly at her limit—this massive summoning was draining her dry.

Meanwhile, Ethan showed no signs of slowing down. If anything, he was getting stronger—more ferocious with every passing second.

Nightwraith, watching from the shadows, realized they couldn’t drag this out any longer.

This chaos… this was the perfect moment.

He began to gather his psychic energy, weaving it into invisible needles of force. Hidden among the swarm of spirits, his presence was undetectable—silent, deadly.

He was going to strike Ethan down in one devastating blow.

But just as he was about to unleash it—

Another wave of psychic energy slammed into him.

It came out of nowhere—wild, furious, and overwhelming.

It wrapped around his mind like a vice, crushing and suffocating.

”What the hell…?”

Nightwraith’s eyes snapped open, a jolt of panic shooting through him. Something was wrong—very wrong.

But it was already too late.

A psychic storm slammed into his mind like a tidal wave, tearing through his defenses and flooding his consciousness. It wasn’t just an attack—it was a soul-scrubbing purge.

”AAARGHH—!”

He screamed, clutching his head as if it were on fire. It felt like someone had poured boiling oil directly into his brain. The pain was unbearable. But thanks to his Deathless Sovereign-level resilience, he managed to stay conscious—barely.

”What’s going on?” Lilith turned sharply, confused. She was in the middle of unleashing her full power—how the hell was Nightwraith the one getting wrecked?

She scanned the battlefield—and then she saw him.

A figure in a white lab coat, standing calmly amid the chaos.

PhD.

One of Ethan’s most dangerous lieutenants.

”I’ve been watching you for a while now,” PhD said, his voice cold and clinical. ”Thought you could sneak in a cheap shot? Not on my watch.”

”Damn you!” Nightwraith snarled, his face twisted in rage. Veins bulged across his forehead, and his aura flickered—his strength clearly waning.

He’d been fighting since the very beginning. After Gorthas fell, he was the first to arrive, the first to engage. He’d gone all-in—especially during the two failed assaults on the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser. His psychic reserves were nearly tapped.

Just like Endless said—even the strongest eventually run dry.

That… was the answer time had given.

”You still good to fight?” Lilith asked, glancing over her shoulder.

”I’m fine,” Nightwraith growled through clenched teeth, nodding hard.

Lilith gave a small nod, but she didn’t have time to worry about him. She turned back, channeling more of her ghostly energy, trying to hold Ethan back just a little longer.

But then—another presence crept in.

A new energy, just as strange and terrifying as her own.

”What now…?”

Lilith’s instincts screamed at her. She spun around—and the cliff behind her exploded.

A massive head rose from the shadows below, its jagged scales glinting in the dim light. A Leviathan—its yellow, diamond-shaped eyes each the size of her entire body—stared her down with primal fury.

And standing atop its head, cloaked in shadow, was Wraithshade.

Both of his heads spoke in unison, their voices overlapping in a raspy, bone-chilling echo.

”You dared to bind my friend with your filthy ghosts… Now you’ll pay for that.”

Lilith’s eyes widened.

While she’d been focused on Ethan, Wraithshade and the Leviathan had broken free from her spectral bindings—and circled around behind her.

”RRRAAAHHH—!”

The Leviathan of the North let out a thunderous roar and raised one massive claw. It came crashing down like a falling planet.

At the same time, Wraithshade unleashed his ultimate move:

Soul Reaver Domain.

He wasn’t holding anything back. He knew how powerful Deathless Sovereigns were—he wasn’t aiming to kill.

He was aiming to break her.

Their attacks hit simultaneously.

BOOOOOOM—

The impact was cataclysmic. A shockwave of psychic and physical force erupted, swallowing Lilith whole.

Her body was slammed by the Leviathan’s claw, while her mind was shredded by Wraithshade’s soul-rending domain.

”Deathless Sovereign Lilith!”

The Heartland zombies cried out in horror. Even their strongest were now being overwhelmed.

No one knew if she’d survived.

The sky was still filled with howling spirits, but something had changed. The ghosts shrieked louder, more frenzied—like they could sense their master’s pain.

But Ethan didn’t stop.

His fists tore through the air, golden runes blazing. Another wave of specters was obliterated in a single strike.

He leapt forward, landing on the mountain’s rocky face. The summit was close—just a few more steps.

”Look! He’s almost there!”

”Boss is gonna reach the top!”

”Is he really gonna open The Origin Mountain?!”

”Let’s go! We’ve gotta back him up!”

The zombie horde roared in unison.

But the energy radiating from the mountain’s core was too intense. Ordinary zombies couldn’t even get close—they’d be vaporized on contact.

Only the elite could follow.

”Undying Vine Domain!”

Leading the charge was Sprout. He unleashed everything he had, pouring his full power into his domain. Vines erupted from the ground like serpents, writhing and twisting, some weaving together into massive, sky-piercing tendrils.

”Arboreal Domain!”

Beside him, Gorewood followed suit. Towering trees burst from the earth, encircling the mountain like a living fortress.

Petal and Lil’ Shroom weren’t far behind, each unleashing their strongest techniques.

The four plant-type fusion Zombie Kings moved as one—an unstoppable teamfight engine.

They tore through Heartland’s remaining forces, even sweeping away the lingering vengeful spirits in the air.

Meanwhile, Bulldozer, with help from Little Shadow and Laura, finally brought down the Voidborn Undying Terrax in a brutal, no-holds-barred brawl.

”Nice work,” Bulldozer grunted, wiping blood from his jaw. ”Let’s move.”

”Time to finish this,” Laura said, eyes locked on the summit.

…