Chapter 547: What the hell was that?!

“Impossible. No way. Lord Monroe is way too powerful—there’s no chance he’s dead!” Gunner flat-out refused to believe it.

Ethan just flipped his hand over, and in his palm appeared a glowing, blood-red crystal core.

“Here. This is your boss.”

“…What?” Gunner’s eyes went wide, pupils contracting as he locked onto the core. The aura coming off it—it was unmistakable. Familiar. Intimate.

Chris and the others nearby exchanged awkward glances. Damn. That was brutal.

“It was you… It had to be you! You killed Lord Monroe, didn’t you? I’ll avenge him!” Gunner roared, his face twisting with rage. Muscles bulged across his body like coiled steel cables, and he looked ready to tear someone apart.

But Ethan’s Domain of the Dead surged forward like a tidal wave. At this close range, its power was overwhelming. In a flash, Gunner was pinned in place, completely immobilized.

“Monroe’s gone. There’s no point in fighting anymore,” Ethan said calmly. “Why not join me instead?”

The radiation zone was crawling with danger, and with tens of thousands of vampires still out there, Ethan figured if he could bring them under his control, it’d be a huge win.

But Gunner wasn’t having it. He thrashed against the crushing pressure, refusing to yield.

“Keep dreaming! We, the noble Vampire Race, will never bow to the likes of you!”

Even under the weight of a mountain, he forced himself forward, step by agonizing step, like an old man dragging his feet through a storm.

To him, surrendering to Ethan wasn’t just defeat—it was betrayal.

Gunner clenched his fangs, eyes burning with defiance. His body trembled under the strain, but he kept moving, inching closer, like he was determined to bite off a chunk of Ethan’s flesh even if it killed him.

But the Domain of the Dead was just too strong. Gunner poured every last ounce of strength into his final push, barely managing to reach Ethan. He slowly raised a hand, aiming for Ethan’s face.

But his movements were sluggish, like he was underwater. There was no real threat left in him.

“Just as I thought…” Ethan muttered under his breath. Everything was going exactly as expected.

As Gunner’s hand crept closer, Ethan suddenly reached out, his fingers slicing through the air. In one swift motion, he plunged them into Gunner’s skull and casually plucked out his crystal core.

Gunner froze. The fire in his eyes flickered… then went out completely. His body collapsed with a heavy thud.

“Man… that guy was stubborn as hell,” Chris said, shaking his head.

Truth was, killing Monroe was only part of it. Gunner had been infected with a mutated zombie virus that turned him into a vampire-zombie hybrid. He didn’t really identify with the regular Zombie Kings, so there was no way he’d ever submit to one.

Off in the distance, the vampire underlings who were still fighting the mutant beasts started noticing the commotion.

They saw Gunner’s massive body lying motionless on the ground.

“Big Gunner’s… dead?!”

“No way! Did I see that right?”

“This can’t be happening!”

“…”

Their jaws practically hit the floor. Some even rubbed their eyes, thinking they were seeing things.

With their leader gone, the vampires lost all will to fight. Panic set in. They scattered in every direction, each one just trying to survive.

The battlefield descended into chaos—fighters fleeing, formations breaking, everything falling apart.

And then, from the forest behind them, more waves of mutant beasts came crashing out. They looked spooked, like something was driving them forward, and they barreled through the battlefield in a blind frenzy.

“What now?” Mia asked, her sharp eyes scanning the mess.

Ethan paused for a beat. “Forget the vampires and the beast horde. We’re heading straight into the forest to find the Radiant Crystal.”

“Got it!”

The others nodded in agreement.

The appearance of parasitic monsters earlier meant they were close—probably just beyond the treeline.

Without wasting another second, they skirted around the densest parts of the beast horde, avoiding unnecessary fights, and made their way straight into the thick, shadowy forest ahead.

The trees here towered over sixty feet high, thick and ancient, their canopies blotting out the sky. But even these massive old-growth giants had been snapped like twigs—some crushed under the weight or force of rampaging mutant beasts. The forest floor was a wreck, littered with fallen trunks and shattered branches.

Deeper in the jungle, more mutated creatures were still charging outward.

Drawn by the scent of human flesh, they attacked with unrelenting fury.

The ground ahead trembled, and leaves rained down from the canopy like a green snowfall.

Mia and the others looked up just in time to see several massive bears lumbering into view. Some had two heads, others were covered in pulsating tumors, and a few looked like they’d fused with entirely different species—twisted, grotesque forms that defied logic.

The moment they caught the scent of humans, their eyes went bloodshot with rage. With guttural roars, they veered off course and charged straight at the group.

“Great. Just what we needed,” Mia muttered, her brow furrowing as she raised her Stellar Fang katana, ready for a fight.

Ethan, on the other hand, didn’t seem fazed at all.

Not like they were here for him, anyway…

Of course, those mutant bears didn’t stand a chance. Mia and the others took them down in a matter of seconds—clean, efficient, brutal.

But the forest wasn’t done with them yet.

More creatures emerged from the shadows—mutated leopards, apes, even rabbits, and flocks of birds. All of them twisted by radiation into bizarre, nightmarish versions of their former selves. The only thing that hadn’t changed was their bloodlust.

Progress through the jungle became slow and grueling.

Then, out of nowhere—

“ROOOAAARRR—!”

A thunderous roar ripped through the air, so loud it shook the ground beneath their feet. The sound echoed through the trees like a war drum from the gods.

“What the hell was that?!” Chris blurted out, eyes wide with panic.

Ethan narrowed his eyes, listening carefully. That roar… it wasn’t just loud—it was massive.

“Could be a sea beast. One of the big ones. Looks like it came ashore.”

“What?!” The others stared at him in disbelief.

Came ashore? For what?

Could that be what’s driving all these beasts into a frenzy? Were they running from that?

The direction the roar came from did line up with the coastline…

As they tried to make sense of it, another wave of mutated creatures appeared ahead—this time, a herd of massive deer. But these weren’t the gentle forest dwellers they used to be. Radiation had turned them into carnivorous monsters, their antlers jagged like blades, their eyes glowing with hunger.

“Again? This is getting ridiculous,” Chris groaned, exasperated.

Just as they braced for another fight, a few birds swooped down from the sky. But these weren’t ordinary birds—they had long, writhing tentacles sprouting from their bodies. The tentacles shot out mid-dive, piercing into the mutated deer with surgical precision.

Then came the squirming. Tumorous growths pulsed and writhed as the parasites injected themselves into the deer, taking over their bodies in seconds.

“Holy shit—parasitic monsters!” Chris shouted, recoiling in shock.

The infected deer staggered to their feet, their movements stiff and unnatural. After a moment of eerie stillness, they turned around and bolted back into the forest—heading the way they came.

“Wait… are they retreating?” Chris asked, confused. “Is the whole forest already crawling with parasitic monsters?”

Brandon frowned, thinking it over. “It’s like they’re responding to something. Those deer—they looked like they were going back to reinforce something.”

“Yeah,” Ethan said, eyes narrowing. “They’re fighting something back there. I’d bet anything it’s connected to the Radiant Crystal.”

The forest rustled again—more birds, more parasites. They shrieked as they dove, spotting Mia and the others and locking in like missiles.

They were coming for them now.

Chris’s expression hardened. Heat shimmered around him, and in the next instant, flames erupted from his body, engulfing him in a blazing aura.

“This time, I’m not holding back!” he growled.

…