Apocalypse: King of Zombies

By now, most of the nearby monsters had been cleared out, but since the entrance hadn’t been sealed, a large number of them were still gathering, trying to return to their nest.

Brandon suddenly remembered something. "Wait a second—Isaac’s dead now. We don’t have an Earth-type Awakener anymore. How are we supposed to seal the entrance? What do we do?"

"Oh, no big deal. Looks like I’ll have to step in and handle it," Ethan replied, completely unfazed.

"What?"

Chris and the others were stunned. They all knew Ethan was a Zombie King, but he’d never shown any Earth-type abilities before. Could he really pull this off?

Ethan’s bright eyes gleamed, his expression calm as ever. He turned his gaze toward the 1,000-foot-long entrance, which was packed with parasitic monsters swarming forward in a frenzy.

His Domain of the Dead began to expand outward, growing more intense with every passing second. The pressure in the air surged, and soon, the domain reached its full extent.

The moment the monsters touched it, it was as if they were being crushed under a massive millstone. They disintegrated into fine dust instantly.

The air filled with a mournful wail. The ground beneath their feet and the surrounding walls began to creak and groan as cracks spread outward in all directions.

The area covered by the Domain of the Dead was suffused with an aura of utter destruction, as though it was about to obliterate everything in its path.

As the cracks widened, dust and debris rained down from the ceiling, which looked like it could collapse at any moment.

"Holy crap!" Chris and the others behind him stared wide-eyed, completely dumbfounded.

It was clear now what Ethan intended to do.

When faced with overwhelming power, there was no need for strategy. Just hit hard enough, and miracles would happen.

Ethan lifted his foot and took a step forward, stomping down hard on the ground.

"BOOM!"

The impact was like the final straw that broke the camel’s back. The ground trembled violently, and chunks of rock began to collapse, as if a natural disaster had been unleashed.

The walls of the entrance corridor cracked completely, and massive boulders fell from the ceiling.

These enormous rocks, weighing tens of tons, crashed down onto the parasitic monsters in the corridor, turning them into nothing more than bloody pulp.

The monsters screeched and howled in agony, their cries sharp and desperate. But those sounds were quickly drowned out by the deafening roar of the falling boulders. The 1,000-foot-long corridor entrance was soon buried under a mountain of rubble.

The collapse lasted for several dozen seconds before finally settling down.

The entire entrance was destroyed, completely buried under the debris.

"Wow… That Earth-type ability is seriously something else," Brandon said, his eyes filled with awe.

But behind him, two figures stood quietly—the scar-faced man and the freckled-faced girl. Both were from the Rancho Cucamonga shelter, and now that they’d realized Ethan’s true identity, they were utterly terrified.

"What a terrifying Zombie King…"

"He’s gotta be at least S-rank, right?"

"Wait… Shouldn’t we get out of here?" The scar-faced man suddenly snapped out of it. After all, Ethan had killed Isaac—there was no way they’d be safe either.

The freckled-faced girl nodded frantically. "Yeah! We need to tell Captain Zane about this!"

The two exchanged a quick glance, silently agreeing. While Ethan was busy sealing the entrance, they began to back away slowly, slipping into the shadows as quietly as they could.

But suddenly, an overwhelming, ferocious aura surged out from deep within the shelter, so powerful it made the air feel heavy.

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The scar-faced man and the freckled-faced girl froze, feeling a tight grip around their waists.

They looked down in horror to see a massive, trunk-like tentacle wrapped around them. Their faces went pale with fear.

Before they could react, the tentacle tightened and pulled them backward with an unstoppable force. They let out piercing screams as they were dragged into the pitch-black darkness. Within moments, their voices were gone.

"Hm?" Ethan glanced in their direction, sensing the ferocious aura as well. His expression grew more cautious. It seemed there were still significant dangers lurking in the parasitic monsters’ nest.

Chris heard the brief, blood-curdling screams. Though they faded quickly, they left him shaken to his core.

"What… what was that?"

"What else could it be in a monster nest?" Brandon replied with a rhetorical question, his voice tinged with unease.

Both of them were still shaken. The monsters they had fought earlier were mostly juveniles, not particularly strong—roughly equivalent to Awakeners who had just formed their Neurocores.

But deeper in the nest? That was a whole different story. There could be A-rank monsters, A+ even… or worse, S-rank.

The creature that had just snatched those two away? Its strength was definitely above A-rank.

"That’s just terrifying…" Chris muttered under his breath. He pulled out a small transparent bottle and began pouring its contents—a camouflage potion—all over himself.

He wasn’t sure if it would still work, but anything was better than nothing. Even a little protection was better than none at all.

"Ugh, what the hell is that smell?" Brandon grimaced, waving his hand in front of his nose.

"You smell awful…"

After the intense battle, Ethan had successfully played the role of an Earth-type Awakener, sealing the entrance completely. Even if the monsters managed to dig through the rubble, it would take them at least five or six hours.

That was more than enough time.

Ethan began collecting the corpses of both humans and parasitic monsters, storing them all in his spatial storage ring.

There were so many.

Too many to eat. He couldn’t possibly finish them all…

The only thing of real value to Ethan was Isaac’s A-rank crystal core. As the 005-ranked Awakener from Rancho Cucamonga, Isaac’s strength wasn’t insignificant.

"Alright, let’s move. Time to find more food—uh, I mean, the rest of the team," Ethan said casually.

"Oh, right! Sure, sure!"

Chris, Brandon, and the remaining seven or eight Awakeners nodded quickly, not daring to voice any objections.

The group began making their way deeper into the dark, ominous nest.

Strangely enough, they didn’t encounter any more parasitic monsters. It was eerily quiet, as if something was brewing in the shadows.

...

Meanwhile, on the other side of the nest, Mia’s team had also managed to fend off the monsters and seal another entrance. With Sean, Zane, and a few other powerhouses in their group, their strength was formidable.

Zane, ever the opportunist, was busy trying to charm Mia. "Mia, I just took down a few B-rank monsters and collected some crystal cores. Here, they’re all for you."

"Are you trying to teach me how to do my job?" Mia glanced down at the crystal cores in Zane’s hand. Despite her sharp words, she took them without hesitation.

"No, no, of course not," Zane said, shaking his head quickly. He forced a smile and added, "Your friend, Ethan, right? Gotta admit, he’s a good-looking guy. Even back in my prime, I’d have to step aside in the looks department. But… his strength doesn’t seem all that impressive. He’s probably all show, no substance."

"Don’t talk bad about my friends in front of me," Mia interrupted bluntly, her tone leaving no room for argument.

The group continued moving forward, heading toward the rendezvous point with the other teams. Zane pursed his lips, feeling a bit annoyed. Protective, aren’t we? he thought to himself. Not like it matters. Who knows if your friend is even still alive?

He couldn’t help but wonder if Isaac had managed to carry out the task he’d been assigned.

But with Isaac’s strength?

There shouldn’t have been any issues… right?

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Still, Zane decided to plant a seed, just in case. "Mia, this mission is incredibly dangerous. Losses are inevitable. If something happens to a friend of yours, don’t take it too hard, alright?"

"Oh?" Mia turned to look at him, her gaze sharp. "Didn’t expect you to be so… philosophical. You’ve got quite the mindset."

"Heh, well, yeah. Comes with the territory. We’ve been on so many missions, seen so much life and death… you just get used to it after a while," Zane said with a forced chuckle, trying to sound nonchalant.

...