Apocalypse: King of Zombies

"Oh?"

Everyone perked up at once.

A crystal core? Seriously?

They all knew the man-eating vines had killed countless people, absorbing their flesh and blood. Any crystal core formed from that would undoubtedly be high-grade—an incredibly rare treasure.

"You said earlier there wasn't a crystal core! Hurry up and hand it over!" Johnny, who was always impatient, barked loudly.

Ethan glanced at him calmly. "Come here, and I'll show it to you."

"Fine!"

Without a second thought, Johnny strode over.

Little did he know, he was walking straight into death's embrace.

Frankie and the others nearby stared intently, their curiosity piqued. They wanted to see what the crystal core of a man-eating vine looked like. At the same time, they couldn't help but mutter to themselves.

He said outside there wasn't a crystal core, but now there is? Guess I'm not intimidating enough. Captain's the one who really scares him into submission.

"Where's the crystal core?" Johnny asked as he stopped in front of Ethan, standing less than six feet away.

The next moment, Ethan raised his slender hand and, without warning, reached forward—straight into Johnny's skull.

With a casual motion, he grabbed something and pulled it out. A dull, earthy-brown crystal core glistened in his hand.

"Here. Isn't this what you wanted?" Ethan said nonchalantly.

His movements had been swift, but more importantly, no one had expected him to pull something like this.

"Hiss..."

Everyone instinctively sucked in a sharp breath, their mouths agape as they realized something was wrong.

They watched in stunned silence as Johnny's massive body crumpled to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

"You... you..." One of Johnny's companions stared in shock, his eyes wide with disbelief. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could finish, Ethan swung his hand.

A gleaming tachi appeared in his grip, and with a swift motion, it sliced cleanly through the man's neck. "Squelch!" His head flew off, and whatever he was about to say died with him.

"What the hell?! This bastard's ambushing us!"

"Kill him! Now!"

"He's playing us for fools!"

The remaining men erupted in fury, shouting as they charged at Ethan.

But Ethan remained calm, unmoving like a statue. Then, in an instant, he sprang into action, swift and deadly. Once he began his slaughter, he left no room for escape.

His eyes glowed with a faint red light, and suddenly, a terrifying Domain of the Dead descended upon the area.

The first two men who rushed at him froze in place, as if paralyzed. Their angry expressions twisted into ones of sheer terror and horror.

Ethan's tachi swept across in a horizontal slash, effortlessly taking both their heads in one fluid motion.

"Holy crap, he's insane!" Frankie was utterly shaken. Watching Ethan kill was like watching someone butcher livestock—quick, efficient, and disturbingly practiced. It was clear this wasn't his first time. He wasn't just some ordinary survivor.

What the hell have I brought here?

A chill ran down Frankie's spine as fear took root in his heart. He quickly retreated, moving to hide behind Tyler. In his mind, Tyler—their Captain—was the strongest person around.

"Ca... Captain, what do we do?" Frankie stammered, his voice trembling.

"This guy's dangerous," Tyler said, his tone grim. As an Awakener who had condensed his own crystal core, Tyler could sense the overwhelming threat Ethan posed.

"What?" Frankie's eyes widened in disbelief.

Even the Captain thought so?

The scene in the cavern was utter chaos. Members of the security team were falling one after another. Heads flew, blood sprayed into the air, and a crimson mist hung over the battlefield, illuminated by the flickering firelight, giving everything an eerie, hellish glow.

For these low-level Awakeners, Ethan was an unstoppable force. They couldn't even last a single exchange against him.

In the blink of an eye, nearly all of them had been slaughtered.

Drawn by the commotion, Ava and the others looked up, their faces filled with disbelief.

In the corner, the wealthy man's wife's eyes lit up with renewed hope.

"Honey, look! Someone's killing those bastards! Are we finally getting rescued?"

"Yeah... I hope he's from a shelter, here to save us," the wealthy man murmured, silently praying for salvation.

Regardless of who it was, seeing the security team being slaughtered filled them with a twisted sense of satisfaction.

Meanwhile, Tyler clenched his jaw tightly. Watching his men get wiped out one by one, he could feel the overwhelming danger emanating from Ethan. But there was no way out now. Retreat wasn't an option. Whether he wanted to or not, he had to fight.

Heat began radiating from Tyler's body as flames erupted around him, engulfing him in a fiery aura. It was clear he was a B+-rank Fire Awakener.

His attack was straightforward but powerful.

With his body wrapped in flames, Tyler leapt into the air, raising his fist. The fiery punch roared through the air, creating a series of sonic booms as it hurtled toward Ethan.

To an ordinary person, it would have looked incredibly fast and devastating.

"Come on, Captain! You've got this!" Frankie cheered silently, his heart pounding. As a Neurocore Awakener, Frankie wasn't strong enough to participate in a fight like this. But seeing Tyler take action gave him a glimmer of hope. Maybe this was the turning point.

But...

Ethan, sensing the fiery figure charging toward him, glanced up. His Domain of the Dead expanded outward like a tidal wave, crashing over Tyler.

Tyler's body froze mid-air, as though he had been plunged into the depths of the ocean. He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to move with all his strength. He managed to push through the oppressive force, but it wasn't enough.

Ethan's blade flashed in a diagonal arc, slicing cleanly through Tyler's body. The sharp edge cut through him effortlessly, splitting him in two.

"Whoosh—"

The once-raging flames around Tyler's body extinguished instantly. His lifeless corpse hit the ground with a dull thud, and a fiery red crystal core rolled free from his remains.

"Wha—what...?" Frankie stood frozen, his mind blank with shock.

The Captain, the strongest person in his eyes, had been killed in a single strike. It was no different from watching an ordinary person get slaughtered.

"How... how is this possible?"

At that moment, it felt as though Frankie's entire belief system had crumbled.

Ethan continued his rampage, cutting down the remaining Awakeners with swift, precise strikes. The entire process took only a few seconds. From the moment he killed the Earth Awakener earlier, the others had no chance of escaping. Their deaths were inevitable.

After finishing Tyler, Ethan gripped his blood-soaked tachi and began walking toward Frankie.

Frankie's entire body trembled as he watched Ethan approach. His liver felt like it was quivering, and he shook like a chick caught in a storm. Suddenly, a thought struck him.

"The man-eating vine... was it you who killed it?"

Ethan glanced at him, his expression indifferent. "You're the only one who figured it out. But there's no reward for that." With that, Ethan swung his blade, ending Frankie's life in an instant.

And just like that, the entire security team was wiped out. The cavern fell silent once more, save for the crackling of flames in the background.

The flickering firelight cast eerie shadows across the walls, illuminating the gruesome scene. Headless corpses littered the ground, blood pooling everywhere. The metallic stench of blood filled the air, made even more suffocating by the enclosed space.

Ethan turned his gaze toward the corner where the survivors huddled. Slowly, he began walking toward them.

"Good riddance! Those bastards deserved to die!" The wealthy man's wife snarled, her face twisted with rage. There was a hint of her domineering, shrewish nature in her tone.

"Please! Get us out of here!" she shouted.

Ethan didn't respond. Without a word, he raised his blade and slashed her throat.

Her eyes widened in shock, filled with disbelief. She tried to speak, but all that came out were muffled gurgles. Blood poured into her windpipe, choking her as she collapsed into her husband's arms, her body twitching a few times before going still.

"Don't kill me... please don't kill me..." The wealthy man was sobbing uncontrollably, snot and tears streaming down his face.

"I have money! Lots of it! I'll give it all to you—just let me live!"

Ethan glanced at him, his expression cold and detached. "Look at you, rambling nonsense."

In this post-apocalyptic world, money was no different from scraps of paper. It was utterly useless.

Seeing no value in keeping the man alive, Ethan ended his life with a swift strike, granting him "release."

...