Apocalypse: King of Zombies

"Master, I'm pretty strong now, right?" Ricky grinned from ear to ear.

"Yeah, not bad," Ethan nodded.

Getting Ethan's approval made Ricky light up with excitement. "Master, now that you're here, let's storm back into human territory! Let's hit Inner City again and turn the place upside down!"

"Not interested," Ethan said flatly. The humans just didn't excite him anymore—nothing left worth taking.

Unless... they had a Dreadnought-class Starcruiser.

"I came to Xenorift to reach the Forbidden Zone. I want to unlock the secrets of the runes."

"The Forbidden Zone?" Ricky's eyes went wide, stunned. Of course, he thought. That's our Master—always aiming for the big leagues.

Compared to the Forbidden Zone, raiding human cities felt like child's play.

"Can we come with you?" Ricky asked eagerly.

"Sure," Ethan replied. His stolen Dreadnought-class Starcruiser was already en route, carrying hundreds of thousands of zombie minions. A few more humans tagging along wouldn't make a difference.

Besides, who knows—they might come in handy.

Behind them, Veyra and the rest of the White Robe Order exchanged uneasy glances.

They're going to the Forbidden Zone? Just like that?

They'd barely managed to survive on the outskirts of the Xenorift continent. Just staying alive had taken everything they had. The idea of heading straight into the heart of Xenorift? That was beyond anything they'd ever imagined.

No one even knew what that place looked like.

"Master, do you know exactly where the Forbidden Zone is?" Ricky asked again.

"Not really," Ethan admitted. All he knew was that it was somewhere in the center of Xenorift. But the continent wasn't shaped regularly, and it was massive.

Even knowing it was in the middle didn't help much when the "middle" could be hundreds of miles wide.

"Let's head back to the Lizardfolk Tribe and see what we can find out," Ethan said after a moment's thought.

"Sounds good!" Ricky's eyes sparkled. Not long ago, the Lizardfolk had been terrifying monsters to them—bloodthirsty killers. But now, with Ethan protecting them, everything had changed.

Ethan then swept up the corpses of Jarek and his crew, along with their weapons and aircraft, storing everything neatly into his spatial ring. With that done, he led Ricky and the others away.

The battlefield was left eerily quiet—aside from the signs of combat, it was like nothing had ever happened.

...

The center of Xenorift was a complete unknown. There could be high-level monsters lurking there.

So Ethan decided to wait for his zombie army to arrive. But the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser was way slower than the smaller aircraft.

It'd probably take another three to five days to reach Xenorift.

In the meantime, Ethan figured he'd pay the Lizardfolk Tribe a visit—gather some intel on the rest of the continent.

Meanwhile...

On the edge of the jungle, a medium-sized Command Cruiser hovered in the sky.

Inside, a young woman in a tactical suit stood at the control deck, her big, bright eyes locked on the screen in front of her.

The cruiser was packed with over two hundred Awakeners, each one armed to the teeth with lightsabers, guns, and full combat gear.

They were elite human soldiers—the House Guard of the Claire family.

Their job? Protect the daughter of the house with their lives.

Alongside them were two Master Instructors from Pinnacle Academy, both SS+ level powerhouses. One of them was even a candidate to become the head of another major family.

With a force like this, going after a few Outer Zone rebels was like bringing a tank to a knife fight.

But even with all that, Claire still wasn't taking any chances. She'd sent other teams to hunt Ricky and his crew for a full month, making sure everything was under control before letting her daughter take part in the Hunt Trial.

So Aria's much-anticipated "real combat experience"? Yeah—her mom had orchestrated the whole thing.

"Miss Aria, one of our teams has gone dark," a young man reported as he hurried over.

"Oh?" Aria's brows knit slightly as she turned to face him. "What happened?"

The young man shook his head. "We're not sure. They didn't check in with any of the other squads before they moved out."

"Where were they last located?"

"Just outside the Lizardfolk Tribe's territory," he replied.

Aria's eyes narrowed in thought.

Outside the Lizardfolk Tribe...

Could they have been ambushed?

"Who was leading that team? What's their combat level?"

"The squad leader was Jarek. SS-rank, lightning-type Awakener. He even trained under Harren for a while—he's no lightweight," the young man answered honestly.

That only made Aria more puzzled.

An SS-rank Awakener, and a student of Harren, just vanishing like that?

No way this could be brushed off.

"Let's go. We're checking it out."

"Yes, ma'am!" the young man responded immediately.

The Command Cruiser banked sharply and shot off in the direction of the last known location.

In Xenorift, when someone goes missing, odds are they're not coming back.

But Pinnacle Academy's motto was Leave No One Behind—which meant they didn't abandon their own, no matter what.

"Jarek..." Aria murmured to herself. "Not exactly how I imagined meeting you..."

...

Roughly half an hour later, the Command Cruiser arrived at the site. The ground below was a mess—splintered ancient trees, scorched earth, and signs of heavy combat everywhere.

The cruiser touched down smoothly, and Aria stepped out with her team.

She scanned the area, her expression growing more and more confused.

"This is weird. Even if there was a fight... where are the bodies? Not even a wrecked aircraft in sight..."

"Maybe... the Lizardfolk dragged everything away?" the young man beside her offered.

But Aria shook her head. That didn't sit right. Even if the Lizardfolk cleaned up, there'd be something left behind. A weapon. A blood trail. Anything.

"What if Jarek's still alive? Maybe he fought the rebels, lost comms, and chased them deeper into the jungle. That could explain why this place is so clean."

"No way," a middle-aged man behind them stepped forward, sniffing the air.

"There's a strong scent of blood lingering. A lot of it. People definitely died here—and not just one or two. Something's off. Miss Aria, if you ask me... we should call off the Hunt Trial and head back."

"Head back??" Aria spun around, eyes wide, staring at him like he'd just grown a second head.

We just got here.

She hadn't even drawn her weapon yet. Hadn't seen a single rebel. Not even a glimpse of a Lizardfolk.

And they were already talking about retreat?

"No. We need to get to the bottom of this. We should keep moving, see if we can find any other clues. What if... there's something else going on?"

"...Alright," the man nodded reluctantly. "But it's getting late. Once night falls, Xenorift belongs to the predators. I suggest we wait until morning to continue."

"Fine," Aria agreed.

The sun was already dipping below the horizon, casting a golden haze across the sky. Flocks of strange, shrieking birds darted overhead, their cries echoing through the trees.

The air turned colder, a chill wind whispering through the forest, rustling the leaves with a soft, eerie hiss.

Everything about the moment screamed one thing—

Night was coming.

...