Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Seeing Ethan really looked ready to finish it, panic finally flashed in the Zombie King’s eyes.

Right as the war hammer was about to smash down, a pleading, desperate roar burst from the Zombie King’s mouth.

The hammer stopped an inch from the remaining half of its skull. Ethan’s mouth curled into a satisfied grin.

”Then move. Make the horde retreat. Now.”

”Rrr…!”

The Zombie King roared again, like it was saying, If I do it, you’ll really let me go?

Ethan chuckled. He understood perfectly.

”Relax. I’ll stake my character on it,” he said easily. ”You make them retreat, and I won’t kill you.”

The Zombie King stared at him with half a face full of suspicion.

”What, you don’t trust me, kid?”

Ethan’s tone stayed light, but his eyes didn’t. ”Let me tell you something—my character’s solid. And besides, you don’t have another option. Believe me, or I kill you right now.”

He lifted the war hammer again.

”Raaah!”

The Zombie King jolted, terrified. It nodded rapidly, then threw its head back and let out a long roar toward the battlefield below.

”ROAR… ROAR…!”

At the Zombie King’s command, the zombies beneath them froze mid-fight, then quickly backed off several steps. Almost as one, they looked up at their king, clearly confused—because they had the advantage. Why retreat now?

Then they saw it.

Their Zombie King was dangling upside down by its ankles in a human’s hand.

Understanding hit instantly.

”ROOOAR—!”

The entire horde howled up at Ethan, furious enough to shake the air.

Smack—!

Ethan slapped the Zombie King across its already-ruined face.

”Make them shut up,” he said coldly. ”And get the hell out of here.”

The Zombie King shot him an injured, resentful look that practically screamed, They’re yelling at you—why are you hitting me?

But it also knew arguing with this human was pointless. It forced itself to roar again, sharper this time.

Down below, the zombies hesitated, unwilling.

But zombie hierarchy was absolute. They didn’t dare defy the Zombie King.

In the end, they could only turn around and sprint back the way they’d come.

When that happened, everyone on the ground just… blanked for a moment.

Then joy detonated across the line.

”They ran? The zombies ran!” someone screamed, laughing like they’d lost their mind. ”Yes! I’m alive!”

”I’m still alive…” another voice choked out, breaking into sobs.

People shouted, cried, laughed. Some just fell where they stood, shaking.

The fight hadn’t lasted that long, but the casualties were brutal.

Watching friends collapse into pools of blood and get torn apart… it had pressed down on everyone’s chest like a weight. Against zombies that outmatched them in both strength and numbers, nobody—except the very strongest—could be sure the next one dragged down wouldn’t be them.

But once the battle started, there was no backing out.

They’d had no choice but to grit their teeth and hold.

Now, seeing the horde retreat, every survivor finally let out the breath they’d been holding. It felt like crawling back from the edge of the grave.

We lived.

Slowly, people began looking up.

High above, Fallen Star Squad’s captain, Ethan, stood on the back of a massive peregrine falcon. In one hand, he held a baby-shaped zombie by the ankles. In the other, he gripped a war hammer.

The whole scene looked like some pissed-off dad disciplining a misbehaving kid.

But everyone knew the truth.

That ”baby” in Ethan’s hand wasn’t some brat.

It was the real Zombie King.

If Ethan hadn’t grabbed it and forced the retreat, the fight would’ve kept going. And anyone who’d ever fought zombies before knew exactly how that would end.

Maybe the top-tier fighters would survive.

Everyone else would be left here.

”Thank you, Ethan!” someone yelled.

And like a fuse catching, the voices spread.

”Thank you, Ethan!”

”Thank you, Ethan!”

…again and again, until it became a roar of its own.

Colonel Mitchell was so worked up he was practically shaking.

They’d won. They’d actually won.

General Cross had gambled right—this man really had saved the entire compound again.

The zombies retreating meant the battle was over. The compound held. They didn’t have to talk about evacuating anymore. They could keep living here.

And if they could collect all the crystal cores from this fight, the compound’s overall strength would jump dramatically. Next time they faced a horde like this, it wouldn’t be nearly as miserable.

When the zombies had fully withdrawn back across the river, the Zombie King roared at Ethan again, like it was saying, Alright, you can let me go now.

Ethan just shook his head.

”Not enough. If I let you go now, they’ll be back in no time. I want them pushed back until they’re out of sight.”

The Zombie King had no choice. It roared again, ordering the horde to keep retreating.

”Out of sight,” of course, was based on Ethan’s line of vision.

With its life on the line, the Zombie King could only keep forcing the horde back… and back… and back.

Finally, after they’d retreated a full seven miles, Ethan nodded in satisfaction.

”Rrr!” (Now you’ll let me go, right?!)

”Sure.” Ethan’s face went solemn, like he was making a sacred vow. ”I always keep my word. I said I wouldn’t kill you, so I won’t.”

The Zombie King’s expression visibly loosened with relief.

Then Ethan casually tossed it downward.

And he just happened to throw it in the direction of the white-furred apes.

”I’m not killing you,” Ethan called after it, sounding almost cheerful. ”But if you piss off something else, that’s not my problem.”

”RAAAH—!”

At first, the Zombie King was thrilled—Ethan was really letting it go. The drop was high, sure, but not high enough to kill it.

Then it saw what was waiting below.

Several white-furred apes were looking up with open curiosity.

As a psy-type ability zombie, the Zombie King could tell at a glance what they were.

Tier 12.

It freaked out instantly, screaming and flailing its arms and legs, trying to twist its fall onto a different path.

It didn’t help.

Its tiny body kept dropping straight down, and in seconds it was right above one ape’s head.

Smack.

One slap.

The infant Zombie King burst into a cloud of blood mist.

The message was pretty clear: the white-furred ape found zombies disgusting.

Watching it, Ethan silently gave the ape a thumbs-up in his heart.

Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. You’re getting an extra roasted wolf leg tonight.

There was never any chance Ethan would let that Zombie King live. Only its death would make the horde lose its central command and fall into chaos. After that, they’d be easy to deal with.

Ethan Teleported down, then bent and collected the Zombie King’s crystal core.

Before long, Colonel Mitchell arrived with a group of soldiers.

”Ethan, thank you,” the colonel said, completely sincere.

”Small thing.” Ethan waved it off.

”Those zombies probably won’t be coming back anytime soon,” Ethan added. ”But stay on guard. Best plan is to find a way to break them up and deal with them in batches.”

”Understood.” Colonel Mitchell nodded, expression serious.

”Alright. This is yours now—we’re heading back.”

Colonel Mitchell hesitated. ”Then these crystal cores…?”

”You guys pick them up.” Ethan flicked his hand like it didn’t matter. ”Keep ’em.”

He genuinely didn’t care about cores like these anymore.

”Yes. Yes, sir—thank you!”

Not long after, Ethan led the Fallen Star Squad off the battlefield.

Colonel Mitchell immediately started issuing orders to clean up and secure the area.