Apocalypse: King of Zombies

"Swish—"
Enjoy new adventures from My Virtual Library Empire

Ethan swung his blade in a clean arc, splitting the creature's head wide open. A crystal core shot out, gleaming as it tumbled through the air.

The mutated beast's massive body collapsed with a thunderous crash.

Almost immediately, a horde of zombies surged forward, swarming the fallen creature and tearing it apart in a frenzy.

Ethan reached out and caught the falling crystal core in his hand.

It was translucent, radiating an incredibly pure energy. A rare spatial-type crystal core—exceptionally uncommon and undoubtedly high-grade. This was a treasure, no question about it.

His gaze shifted, scanning the battlefield, and landed on Mia. She looked like she'd been through hell—her body drenched in blood, covered in wounds, some of which had already scabbed over. The sight was gut-wrenching.

Meanwhile, the Azure Scaled Zombie King and the Zombie Fetus stood frozen, their expressions grim. They hadn't expected Ethan to emerge so quickly—let alone take down Griff in mere minutes.

And yet, here he was.

The two of them, even working together, still hadn't managed to finish off Mia.

The tide of the battle had shifted dramatically. A quick glance around the battlefield confirmed it: the Azure Scaled Zombie King's forces were being decimated. Most of his zombie minions had been slaughtered, leaving him at a severe disadvantage.

His top lieutenant, the Brutal Iguana Zombie King, was barely holding on. Bulldozer and Laura were taking turns hammering him, while PhD kept sneaking in attacks from the rear. The Iguana King was already gravely injured, teetering on the edge of death.

And then there was the devastating duo of Sprout and Lil' Shroom. Sprout's vines had been growing nonstop, spreading wildly across the battlefield, blanketing the terrain. The air was thick with Lil' Shroom's fungal spores, and wherever they landed, grotesque red tumors sprouted, multiplying at an alarming rate.

Amidst the chaos, Ethan began walking toward the Azure Scaled Zombie King, his steps deliberate and unhurried.

"You two ganging up on a little girl? That's pretty low, don't you think?" Ethan's voice was calm, almost casual, but there was an edge to it.

"What?" The Azure Scaled Zombie King narrowed his eyes, wondering if he'd misheard. Was this guy seriously lecturing him about morality?

Mia glanced over at Ethan, her expression a mix of irritation and curiosity. "Where the hell did you run off to just now?"

"I don't know," Ethan replied with a shrug. "Let's just say I ended up in another game map or something."

"...Another game map?" Mia blinked, then nodded slowly. "Huh. Interesting way to put it."

Ethan stopped beside her, standing shoulder to shoulder. Together, they faced off against the Azure Scaled Zombie King and the Zombie Fetus. The battlefield's strongest fighters were now locked in a tense standoff.

"It's time to wrap this up," Ethan muttered under his breath.

The Azure Scaled Zombie King immediately tensed, his guard shooting up. Every instinct screamed at him to be on high alert.

The Zombie Fetus, on the other hand, was seething with rage. His two greatest enemies were right in front of him, and the hatred in his heart burned hotter than ever. He wanted nothing more than to tear them apart, piece by piece.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" he shrieked, his voice a twisted cacophony of fury.

Black mist began to swirl around him, thick and oppressive, rising like a storm cloud to engulf the battlefield.

Ethan felt the rush of wind howl past his ears as the mist closed in. His vision was swallowed by darkness, the world around him vanishing into an abyss. It felt like he'd been plunged into the depths of hell.

And within the black mist, streaks of blue energy crackled and surged, adding to the suffocating pressure. It was as if the weight of the ocean itself was bearing down on him.

"Absolute Domain, activate!" Ethan's voice rang out, steady and commanding.

He unleashed his Domain of the Dead at full power, holding nothing back. The energy surged outward like a tidal wave, an unstoppable force that swept across the battlefield. The sheer pressure was overwhelming, a storm that consumed everything in its path.

Trees disintegrated into dust. The ground buckled and collapsed, craters forming as if the earth itself were caving in. It was as if a natural disaster had descended upon the battlefield.

The three forces—Ethan's Domain of the Dead, the Azure Scaled Zombie King's incomplete domain, and the Zombie Fetus's corpse energy—clashed violently, grinding against each other like massive millstones. The air was filled with the deafening roar of their collision.

But Ethan's Domain of the Dead was the real deal—a true Absolute Domain. Neither the Azure Scaled Zombie King's half-baked version nor the Zombie Fetus's corpse energy could compare.

Ethan's domain tore through them like a hot knife through butter, enveloping both the Azure Scaled Zombie King and the Zombie Fetus in its crushing grip.

The two zombie kings staggered under the weight of the domain, their bodies sinking into the crumbling ground beneath them.

The Zombie Fetus, in particular, was struggling. Despite his A+ rank and impressive innate abilities, he was still far outmatched. His skin began to crack, blood oozing from his pores like needles piercing through. In mere moments, he was drenched in his own blood, looking like a grotesque, crimson-stained doll.

If not for his extraordinary regenerative abilities, the Zombie Fetus would have been torn apart by the Domain of the Dead already.

"ROAR—"

The Zombie Fetus let out a piercing shriek, the sound so sharp and agonized it felt like it could shatter eardrums.

Mia's figure flickered as she darted forward, her voice cutting through the chaos like a blade. "Do you remember how your mother died?"

The Zombie Fetus, trapped within the crushing force of the Domain of the Dead, could barely move. Seeing Mia charging at him, he struggled in vain, unable to dodge.

"Dad, help me!" he cried out desperately.

"..." The Azure Scaled Zombie King clenched his jaw so hard it seemed his teeth might crack. "Oh, now you remember to call me Dad?"

But he was in no position to help. He could barely keep himself standing under the oppressive force of Ethan's domain.

Mia's fist slammed into the Zombie Fetus's head with the force of a volcanic eruption, her raw power enough to obliterate any A+ level zombie in an instant.

BOOM!

The Zombie Fetus's head exploded like a water balloon, spraying foul black blood into the air in a misty cloud.

A crystal core shot out from the carnage.

An A+ level psychic-type crystal core—rare and valuable, a true prize.

"Well, I guess we should thank Azure Scaled for raising him to A+ level," Mia muttered, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Excuse me???" Azure Scaled's face twisted in disbelief. So I was just raising a boss monster for you to farm, huh?

"Die!" he roared, his voice filled with fury. His body, fused with a mutated beast, radiated raw physical power. Ignoring the crushing weight of the Domain of the Dead, he lunged at Mia, throwing a massive punch.

Mia didn't flinch. Instead of dodging, she met his attack head-on, driving her elbow forward to clash with his fist.

The collision was like steel meeting steel, the sheer force of it sending shockwaves rippling through the air. Both fighters had strength that surpassed S-level, their clash a battle of titans.

Azure Scaled felt a jarring force reverberate through his arm, but instead of resisting it, he used the momentum to propel himself backward, retreating at high speed in an attempt to escape the Domain of the Dead's range.

"Trying to run?" Ethan's voice was calm, but his eyes were locked onto Azure Scaled as he moved to pursue.

Azure Scaled glanced over his shoulder, his voice sharp and commanding. "Stop him!"

A thunderous roar echoed across the battlefield as a massive figure lumbered into view. It was Zombiezilla, Azure Scaled's prized pet—a towering zombie monstrosity, its enormous body like a wall of flesh and bone, blocking Ethan's path.

The creature charged forward, its sheer size and weight shaking the ground beneath it. It was a desperate move, a sacrifice to buy its master time.

But under the relentless pressure of Ethan's Domain of the Dead, Zombiezilla's body began to break down almost instantly. Flesh tore away, blood sprayed in torrents, and bones crumbled like brittle twigs. It was as if the creature had been thrown into a giant blender, its massive form reduced to a grotesque slurry of gore and viscera.

Even so, its sacrifice wasn't in vain. The brief delay gave Azure Scaled the precious seconds he needed.

His figure blurred as he retreated at full speed, putting as much distance as possible between himself and the battlefield. Truth be told, the moment Ethan had emerged, Azure Scaled had lost all desire to fight.

"What's the point of this fight, anyway?" he muttered under his breath. Survival was the key to a comeback. If he could just make it back to the deep sea, no one would be able to find him.

As for his forces? He could rebuild. Slowly but surely, he'd gather strength again. And one day, when the time was right, he'd return.

Striking back was only a matter of time.

In the blink of an eye, Azure Scaled had already put several hundred feet between himself and the battlefield, finally escaping the oppressive range of the Domain of the Dead. The crushing weight on his body lifted, and he felt a sudden lightness.

"Haah—" He exhaled deeply, relief washing over him. Sure, Ethan might be stronger, but speed? Speed was his forte. No way that guy could catch up.

His legs moved like a blur, leaving afterimages in his wake as he tore through the forest like a gale-force wind.

Behind him, chunks of Zombiezilla's remains rained down from the sky. Ethan glanced up, his sharp eyes tracking Azure Scaled's retreating figure.

"Zombies in Santa Monica are really this good at running away, huh?" Ethan muttered, his tone laced with dry humor.

Meanwhile, Azure Scaled's heart was pounding in his chest, his nerves stretched to their breaking point. He couldn't stop himself from glancing back, his paranoia getting the better of him. When he saw that Ethan hadn't caught up yet, a surge of hope filled him.

He might actually make it.

But in his haste, he failed to notice the figure stepping out from behind a large tree up ahead. The figure had been waiting there, lying in ambush, their sharp, calculating eyes locked onto him with a mix of anger and satisfaction.

"You think you can just step on my apples, huh?"

...