Apocalypse: King of Zombies-Chapter 288: Special brand of "assistance"

The entire city erupted into chaos. The guttural roars of zombies echoed through the streets as grotesque faces emerged one after another, quickly merging into a massive horde—more than fifty thousand strong.

A single glance revealed an overwhelming sea of undead.

Attacking San Bernardino was no small feat. Nightmare knew better than to charge in recklessly. Instead, he planned to lead the Zombie Horde to the outskirts first, scouting the area.

Once reinforcements from San Diego arrived, they would launch a full-scale assault.

Nightmare, along with Scissorhands, Toxin, and the other Zombie Kings, led the monstrous tide toward San Bernardino.

The horde surged forward like a biblical plague of locusts, an unstoppable force sweeping across the land. The sheer scale of it was breathtaking.

Their eyes burned with bloodlust, their presence radiating pure menace. After being suppressed for so long, they finally had their chance for revenge.

This battle would not end until one side was completely annihilated.

The zombies tore through forests, raced across open plains, and before long, they neared San Bernardino.

Nightmare scanned the area. The outskirts of the city were eerily quiet. The humans who had previously launched counterattacks were nowhere to be seen.

"Where the hell did they all go?"

As they advanced further, they began to find human remains scattered across the sandy ground. But these weren’t just corpses—every last shred of flesh, every organ, even their brains had been devoured. Some skulls were left with nothing but hollow, black sockets where their eyes had once been. The deaths were gruesome beyond words.

There was no doubt about it—this was Ethan’s handiwork.

"That bastard… Did he wipe out every last human?" Even Nightmare found Ethan’s methods disturbingly brutal—borderline psychotic. The guy didn’t discriminate between zombies and humans; he slaughtered everything in his path.

Wreckhead, meanwhile, stared at the remains on the ground and smacked his lips.

"Damn… what a waste." Without hesitation, he dropped to the ground and started gnawing hungrily at the leftovers.

...

Elsewhere, Ethan was still wandering around, as casually as an old man browsing a supermarket.

The Devourer Ants he had unleashed had caught the humans completely off guard, sweeping through the area like a hurricane.

Wherever they passed, screams of agony filled the air.

Of course, there were some elemental Awakeners who fought back with everything they had.

And when that happened, Ethan figured they just needed a little… extra encouragement.

His gaze locked onto a fiery glow in the sky ahead. Flames raged, painting half the heavens red.

In an instant, swarms of Devourer Ants were incinerated, reduced to drifting ashes.

These mutated insects had one major weakness—they were terrified of fire.

It was their natural enemy.

"Man, it’s already hot as hell, and they’re still setting things on fire?" Ethan muttered, shaking his head. "That’s just not right."

Clearly, these humans needed his help.

He started walking toward them.

Even from a distance, he could see a group of Awakeners going all out against the Devourer Ants. Among them were both fire and ice users, creating a dramatic clash of elements—flames roaring, frost spreading.

"Where the hell did these freakish bugs come from?!" a young man shouted.

"No idea," another replied. "Maybe we should track down the source, figure out what’s going on before something even worse shows up."

Cold mist swirled around him as he spoke. The air itself seemed to freeze, and in an instant, a whole swarm of Devourer Ants was encased in ice, plummeting to the ground in brittle shards.

Earlier, these insects had already claimed the life of one of their teammates. Once they burrowed into a body, there was no saving the victim—only a slow, agonizing death.

But now that they were prepared, the threat wasn’t as overwhelming.

After all, the Devourer Ants were no match for human Awakeners in a fair fight.

The two men continued wiping out the swarm, while a few armed soldiers nearby cheered them on.

"Glacier, keep it up! Freeze those disgusting things solid!"

"The numbers are thinning! Just a little more!"

"Hang in there! I’ll jump in as soon as I catch my breath!"

They weren’t just standing around watching, either. If any stray zombies wandered too close, they took them down without hesitation.

But among them was a young woman—an Esper with heightened perception.

And right now, her brows were furrowed in concern.

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"Huh? Do you guys feel that… something’s off?"

"What do you mean? Everything seems fine to me," a teammate replied, confused.

But the girl’s psychic energy spread outward, her instincts screaming at her. Something was approaching—something incredibly dangerous. A sudden, inexplicable fear gripped her chest.

"Something’s coming!"

"What? Where?" The others still didn’t get it.

"Right here."

A cold, detached voice whispered in her ear.

Ethan had appeared right beside them.

"Uh…"

The two froze, their bodies stiffening as they turned to look. The moment they saw Ethan’s face, their blood ran cold. Their hearts skipped a beat.

But his arrival had already sealed their fate.

With a single slash, his blade flashed like a streak of silver lightning. Blood sprayed. Two heads hit the ground, rolling to a stop.

Ethan figured that if they could sense him, then they deserved a one-way ticket to meet their maker.

The rest of the group immediately noticed something was wrong. Their nerves tightened, tension crackling in the air.

Glacier, the ice Awakener, reacted the fastest.

"Watch out!" Without even looking, he conjured an ice spear in his hand and hurled it backward. His body moved on pure instinct.

The razor-sharp icicle sliced through the air like a bullet.

But just as it was about to pierce Ethan’s forehead—an inch away—it suddenly stopped.

Frozen midair.

As if someone had hit pause.

The force behind it vanished completely, and with a soft crack, the ice spear dropped uselessly to the ground.

Ethan’s Domain of the Dead expanded outward, rolling forward like a crimson tide, ready to consume everything in its path.

Glacier had no time to dodge. His body locked up, paralyzed where he stood.

But Ethan didn’t even need to finish him off.

A few Devourer Ants buzzed through the air and dove straight into Glacier’s ears.

"Glacier!" The others’ eyes widened in horror.

"It’s over…" Glacier himself felt the icy grip of despair. Once those things got inside you, there was no saving you. The death that followed was slow, agonizing.

The fire Awakener beside him looked just as panicked. "Glacier, what do we do?!"

"There’s only one way…"

"Huh?" The fire Awakener didn’t understand.

Glacier, still under the crushing weight of Ethan’s domain, forced his trembling hand to his waist, drawing a short blade.

Then, without hesitation, he slashed his own throat.

Schlick!

Blood sprayed.

He collapsed before the Devourer Ants could even begin their feast.

A quick death was better than being eaten alive.

The fire Awakener stood frozen, staring at his fallen comrade in shock.

Just moments ago, everything had been under control.

Now, it had all gone to hell in an instant.

Too fast.

Too sudden.

He couldn’t process it.

"You bastard! I’ll kill you!" His eyes burned red with fury. Flames surged around him as he launched himself at Ethan.

But his fate was already sealed.

The others, meanwhile, were gripped by sheer terror. It was like they had encountered a predator far beyond their comprehension. Some screamed. Others simply stood there, paralyzed by fear.

But one man was different.

He was handsome, eerily calm, his face devoid of any human emotion.

[Scanning… SS-Rank Zombie King. Combat Power: MAX. Abilities: Unknown.]

…