Apocalypse: King of Zombies

"Jenny, you're serious about this, huh?" Chris gritted his teeth in pain, but still refused to let go of her. He thought to himself, Damn, this Zombie King's powers are freaky—he can actually mind-control people.

Make someone who originally had a crush on you turn around and attack you? That's messed up.

Still, Chris figured it wasn't all bad. In a way, this was a classic "hero saves the damsel" moment. Once she snapped out of it, she'd definitely be super grateful...

"Deathspeaker's here! Everyone, stay sharp!" Robert's eyes locked onto the darkness ahead.

A wave of overwhelming psychic pressure swept over them, thick with danger, like a razor-sharp blade hovering right between their brows.

"What do we do now?"

Everyone was visibly shaken.

"I'll handle him!" Robert's eyes gleamed with determination as he charged straight into the shadows.

The horde of zombies surged forward, a sea of twisted, grotesque faces. Their guttural howls filled the air, a deafening, endless chorus.

Robert's Lightning Blade flashed, slicing clean through skull after skull with deadly precision. He moved like a force of nature, cutting a bloody path through the undead.

But it wasn't long before a chilling voice whispered in his ear:

"Stand still... don't move."

For a split second, Robert's mind wavered. His limbs stiffened, his once-fluid movements faltered.

In that brief moment, the swarm closed in, a tidal wave of rotting flesh threatening to swallow him whole.

But Robert shook his head violently, snapping himself out of it. His eyes cleared, sharp and focused once more.

With a fierce roar, he swung his Tachi in a wide arc, cleaving through the zombies around him. Black blood sprayed everywhere, severed limbs flying through the air.

Still, the whispers kept coming, gnawing at his mind, trying to drag him under.

"God, this is so damn annoying..." Robert gritted his teeth, hacking at the undead with even more ferocity.

And the closer he got to Deathspeaker, the stronger the psychic assault became.

The mental pressure was suffocating, like he was a tiny boat caught in a raging storm—one moment lucid, the next on the verge of losing himself.

Without hesitation, Robert bit down hard on his tongue. The sharp pain jolted him back to full awareness.

After cutting down another wave of zombies, a figure finally emerged from the darkness ahead.

It was Deathspeaker—Falseword himself.

"Well, well... didn't think you'd last this long," Falseword said, his voice dripping with amusement.

Robert grinned back, blood from his bitten tongue staining his teeth.

"Heh... there's a lot you didn't see coming."

"Then let's see what you've really got," Falseword growled, his eyes flashing with a wild, manic light.

Two S-class powerhouses, face to face. The air grew heavy, the night wind carrying the scent of blood and gunpowder. It felt like the whole world was holding its breath, waiting for the explosion.

Robert had come for revenge—and he was ready.

He casually reached up and cranked the volume on his Bluetooth earpiece to max. A heavy, pounding beat blasted into his ears.

"Doom doom doom... doom doom doom..."

"Get ready to meet the night..."

...

Meanwhile, back with Jenny—

With Falseword's hypnosis broken, she slowly came back to her senses. Her eyes refocused, and for a moment, she felt like she'd just woken up from a long, strange dream.

The first thing she saw was Chris, grimacing in pain, pinning her down—and his hand was planted squarely on her chest.

Her face instantly flushed bright red. "You... what the hell are you doing?!"

"Jenny, you're awake! You were hypnotized by a Phantom Infected just now!" Chris blurted out.

"Oh..." Jenny nodded slowly, still a little dazed. Then she frowned. "Could you, uh, get off me first?"

"Oh! Right, right!" Chris scrambled off her, though he moved a little too fast and pulled at his injuries. A sharp, tearing pain ripped through him, and cold sweat broke out all over his body.

Jenny, still foggy from the hypnosis, had no memory of what had happened. She blinked at him, concerned. "Wait, you're hurt? What happened?"

"I got hurt protecting you!" Chris said immediately, seizing the perfect chance to play the hero. He imagined she'd be super touched by his bravery.

"Thanks," Jenny said sincerely, giving him a grateful smile. But then she muttered under her breath, "Still... looks like you're kinda weak if you got hurt protecting me."

"I—" Chris's face turned beet red, a giant black cloud practically forming over his head.

...

The battle had hit a fever pitch.

Two of the Four War Generals had already shown up, and the surrounding Zombie Horde was growing even more ferocious by the second.

Up in the air, Hellhound hovered menacingly, black blood dripping from a wound on his shoulder. Even injured, his face was twisted with savage fury.

He spotted Mia deep in the horde, her Tachi flashing like a meat grinder, hacking the Rabies Zombies into bloody chunks.

Everywhere she went, corpses piled up, severed limbs flew through the air—it looked like a scene straight out of hell.

"Goddamn... she's a monster," Hellhound muttered, a chill running down his spine.

He, a proud Zombie King, had been scarred—mentally and physically—by that devastating slash Mia had landed earlier. Just the sight of her now made him hesitate, made him afraid to get too close.

But Hellhound wasn't about to back down.

You kill my men? Fine. I'll kill yours.

His blood-red eyes locked onto Chris and the others. With Mia busy slaughtering zombies and Robert locked in a duel with Deathspeaker, the rest of the group was left wide open—no real heavy hitters left to defend them.

"Guess I'll start with you," Hellhound growled.

His skeletal wings snapped open, and in a flash, he dove from the sky like a hawk spotting prey.

"Keheheheh... Die!"

"Shit! Zombie King incoming!" Chris shouted, heart pounding as he saw Hellhound zeroing in on them.

Griffin practically squealed, "Brandon, what do we do?! I'm totally freaking out right now!"

"Fight back, what else?!" Brandon snapped, his eyes narrowing. He activated his Blood Burst ability, sending a surge of crimson energy through his veins. But against a beast like Hellhound, Brandon's power alone wasn't going to cut it.

Chris, Jenny, and the others quickly rallied, elemental energy flaring around them.

Flame Barriers and Torrent Barriers sprang up, along with walls of ice and tangles of thick roots. One after another, over a dozen layers of defenses rose between them and the incoming threat.

The ground trembled under the force of their combined magic, wild energy crackling through the air. Together, they were strong—but was it enough?

Hellhound didn't even flinch.

With his S-class mutated bones, he bulldozed through everything like a living battering ram.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The ice walls shattered, the roots exploded into splinters, and the elemental barriers disintegrated into shockwaves that blasted outward.

"Shit! We can't hold him!"

"He's breaking through!"

"Should we run?!"

Panic rippled through the group. But with Hellhound's insane speed and terrifying sense of smell, running was pointless. Someone was going to die if they didn't do something fast.

Just then, behind them, Sean's eyes gleamed with a flash of cunning.

Quietly, he dug into his backpack and pulled out a massive glass jar.

"You really think I came unprepared?" Sean muttered under his breath, a sly grin spreading across his face. "When it counts... you can always count on me."

He twisted the lid off, and instantly, a wave of gut-wrenching stench filled the air. The black liquid inside reeked so bad it made their eyes water.

Hellhound's snarling face was getting closer by the second.

Sean took a few quick steps forward, shouting, "Everyone, get down!"

Then, winding up like a pitcher in the World Series, he hurled the jar with everything he had, sending it hurtling straight at Hellhound's face—

—whistling through the air like a bullet.

...