Apocalypse: King of Zombies

The mutant jaguar really did seem like the apex predator of this region. Everywhere it passed, other mutant beasts scattered like leaves in the wind. Honestly, it made things easier—less trash to deal with along the way.

Ethan popped a Tier 5 crystal core into his mouth, swallowed it down, and blinked forward again with [Teleportation], keeping up the chase.

Maybe it was the blood loss, or maybe it finally realized it was running out of time, but the jaguar started to panic. Its movements grew erratic, and before long, it had sprinted straight toward a cliff’s edge.

Ethan appeared behind it in a flash, cutting off its retreat.

”Go on,” he said with a crooked smile. ”Keep running.”

The jaguar glanced at him, then back at the cliff behind it. Its expression twisted into something almost human—resignation, maybe even sorrow.

It couldn’t believe it—once the undisputed king of this territory, now cornered by a single human.

As Ethan stepped closer, the jaguar suddenly tensed, then leapt—straight off the cliff, aiming for the opposite mountain ridge.

”Holy crap, is this guy serious?” Ethan blinked, stunned.

The gap between the two cliffs had to be at least 300 feet. Even at full strength, there was no way it could make that jump.

”This thing’s gambling on a miracle,” Ethan thought. ”It knows it can’t beat me. Maybe it’s hoping to catch a branch on the way down and survive.”

”Nice idea,” he muttered, eyes narrowing. ”Too bad you ran into me.”

But then his smirk froze.

His eyes widened.

”What the hell?!”

The jaguar was gone.

One second it was mid-air, leaping across the ravine—and the next, it had vanished.

Ethan rubbed his eyes, then activated [True Sight], scanning the air where it had been.

Still nothing.

The jaguar had disappeared right in front of him.

He rushed to the cliff’s edge, eyes darting across the drop, [True Sight] sweeping the area.

Nothing.

”Am I losing it? Or did that thing just phase out of existence?” Ethan muttered, stunned. ”No… if it had a spatial ability, it would’ve used it way earlier. And I would’ve seen it.”

”Then maybe… it’s not the jaguar. Maybe it’s this place.”

He focused, eyes narrowing as he scanned the air where the jaguar had vanished.

There—about thirty feet out from the cliff’s edge—something was off.

The space looked… warped. Like a ripple in the air, barely visible even with [True Sight].

He turned it off. The distortion vanished.

Turned it back on. There it was again—subtle, but definitely there.

”What the hell is that?”

He picked up a rock and tossed it toward the warped space.

The moment it touched the distortion, it vanished—like it had been swallowed whole.

”...!!!”

”Holy shit,” Ethan breathed. ”Is that… a dimensional rift?”

It sure looked like one.

But this kind of thing was way beyond anything they’d seen so far. He couldn’t be sure.

Just then, footsteps pounded up behind him. The rest of the squad had finally caught up.

”Hey, Captain—where’s the jaguar?” someone asked, glancing around.

”Gone,” Ethan said, throwing up his hands.

”Gone?” The group looked around, confused.

”Did it fall?” Chris asked.

”Nope. It straight-up vanished. Right in front of me,” Ethan said, clearly annoyed.

He quickly explained what had just happened.

”Holy shit!” Big Mike’s eyes lit up. ”Captain, that’s gotta be a dimensional rift! We should go in—what if it’s full of loot?”

Chris rolled his eyes. ”You trying to die? You don’t even know what’s in there and you’re ready to dive in?”

Henry turned to Ethan. ”Your [True Sight] can’t see through it?”

”Nope,” Ethan said, shaking his head. ”Whatever’s in there, it’s not part of this space. All I can see is that the area’s warped.”

Henry nodded slowly. ”Still… I’m with Big Mike on this one. It’s weird, yeah, but weird’s kind of the new normal these days.”

Ethan gave a small nod. ”Yeah. I’m thinking the same.”

Big Mike stepped closer, eyes gleaming. ”So… we going in?”

He wasn’t the only one itching to explore. The others were staring at the rift with barely contained curiosity.

Fear of the unknown was natural—but curiosity?

That was stronger.

”Let’s not,” Sean said, shaking his head. ”Curiosity killed the cat, remember? We don’t know anything about what’s in there. If we just charge in, we could get wiped out.”

”Meow!” Pumpkin let out a sharp cry at Sean, like she was saying, ”Hey! Talk all you want, but leave me out of it!”

Ethan glanced at Pumpkin—and suddenly, his eyes lit up.

”I’ve got an idea.”

Everyone turned to him. ”What kind of idea?”

”We find an animal,” Ethan said. ”Skinny Pete, you take control of it. Then we toss it into the rift and command it to come back out after ten minutes.”

”If it comes back, that means it’s at least survivable in there for ten minutes. Then we can think about going in. If it doesn’t… we leave it alone.”

Ethan was just as curious about the dimensional rift as anyone else. Of course he wanted to check it out.

But going in blind? That was a great way to die without even knowing how.

The others lit up at the suggestion.

”Ha! That’s why you’re the boss.”

”Yeah, that could work.”

”Alright, I’ll go catch a rabbit or something,” Skinny Pete said.

”I’m coming with you,” Big Mike added, already tugging him downhill with a grin.

As the two of them disappeared down the slope, Chris turned to Ethan. ”Hey, what if that mutant jaguar’s still in there? We toss in a rabbit and it just gets eaten.”

”...Right. Forgot about that guy,” Ethan muttered. ”Still, it’s probably fine. That thing was bleeding out hard. Even if it’s alive in there, it’s likely passed out by now.”

”Fair.”

It didn’t take long before Big Mike and Skinny Pete came jogging back up the trail, each holding a fat, squirming rabbit.

Skinny Pete, a Tier 7, had no trouble locking down a Tier 4 mutant rabbit. Within minutes, he had one fully under control.

”Skinny Pete,” Ethan asked, ”if the rabbit dies in there, will you know?”

”Yeah,” Pete nodded. ”Every time I control a mutant beast, I can sense it in my head. I just give it commands mentally. If it dies, I’ll feel it immediately.”

”Perfect. Let’s do it.”

”Alright.” Skinny Pete picked up the rabbit and walked toward the cliff’s edge.

The rabbit, blissfully unaware of its fate, kept nuzzling against Pete’s chest, rubbing its head on him like a pet.

Pete hesitated for a second, visibly torn.

Man, this thing would taste amazing in a stew.

But he shook off the thought, sighed, and tossed the rabbit toward the spot Ethan had pointed out.

Everyone watched.

The rabbit soared through the air—and halfway across, it vanished.