"New entry: The Silverback has incredible defense and insane jumping ability," Ego noted.
"No kidding," Zack muttered, pulling back to a safer altitude. Once he was out of reach, he let loose his full arsenal.
The rotating barrels of his Vulcan machine gun hummed to life, unleashing a hail of bullets. At the same time, the missile pod on his shoulder launched a barrage of micro-missiles. Explosions ripped through the hillside, engulfing the monstrous zombie and a nearby cluster of undead in a massive fireball.
"Ego, scan the area!" Zack barked as the flames roared below.
"There's still activity… one life form detected," Ego replied, its tone edged with concern.
Zack's jaw tightened. He reached back and pulled out his chain sword, the weapon roaring to life as its teeth spun. Ignoring the inferno below, Zack descended through the flames. His war machine's armor made the heat irrelevant.
From the smoldering remains, The Silverback emerged, its skin blackened and peeling away, revealing burned, bloody muscle underneath. The fact that it was still standing was unbelievable.
"You still want more? Fine," Zack growled, landing firmly on the ground and charging toward the monster.
"Left thruster, full power!" he ordered.
A blast from his left thruster propelled Zack out of the way just as The Silverback lunged at him. Using the momentum, he swung his chain sword, carving deep into the creature's thigh. Blood sprayed everywhere as The Silverback roared in pain, its muscles twitching and struggling to close the gash.
"It's over," Zack muttered. Before the creature could recover, he leapt onto its back. With a powerful swing, he drove his chain sword into the back of its neck. The blade buzzed and tore through flesh, grinding against bone.
The Silverback thrashed wildly, trying to shake him off. Zack held firm. "Stay down!" he shouted, forcing the blade deeper until there was a sickening crack. The creature's head fell to the ground with a heavy thud, followed by its massive body collapsing in a cloud of dust.
The battlefield grew eerily quiet, except for the faint, dying growls of The Silverback. Zack barely had time to catch his breath before a piercing roar echoed from deep within the zombie horde. Ego's voice broke the silence.
"Sir, I believe there's been a mistake. Actually, you made a mistake," Ego said, its tone dry.
"Huh?" Zack frowned, clearly confused.
"I'm picking up another high-frequency signal. The source is now pinpointed. Margin of error is less than 50 meters," Ego explained. A red marker flashed on Zack's HUD map.
"Wait, you're telling me the zombie I just killed wasn't controlling the horde?" Zack's disbelief was obvious. "Are you serious? We got tricked by a zombie?"
"Sir, the spiders are in position," Ego informed him. Right on cue, a transport helicopter appeared overhead.
"Perfect timing!" Zack grinned. "Have one of the spiders follow me. Deploy the others to the target area and prep them for detonation."
Activating his thrusters, Zack shot toward the coordinates where the roar had originated. Below him stretched an endless sea of zombies. Despite the overwhelming number, there was no sign of another mutant.
With the error margin of 50 meters, the search radius spanned over 8,000 square meters. Finding one specific zombie in that swarm could take hours, but Zack had no intention of wasting time.
"Ego, are the spiders ready?"
"Yes, sir. They've been deployed and are standing by for detonation," Ego confirmed as the helicopter released the final spider to join Zack.
"Good. Blow them!" Zack commanded.
"Spider 4, 11, 12, and 3 will detonate Hydrogen Fuel Cells in three seconds," Ego responded. Zack's HUD dimmed to shield his eyes as the world around him plunged into darkness.
A split second later, four blinding flashes lit up the landscape like miniature suns, their light blossoming into massive mushroom clouds. Zack's jaw dropped.
"Whoa. That's… insane," he muttered, watching in awe as the explosions grew. He had underestimated the raw power of those hydrogen fuel cells.
Moments later, the shockwaves hit—an earth-shaking roar accompanied by tremors that rattled his armor. Below him, chaos erupted. Zombies were thrown into disarray, some crushed in the stampede, while others closer to the blasts were obliterated.
Within a 200-meter radius of each explosion, there was nothing left—just charred earth and ash. The primary blast zones, spanning nearly 500 meters each, had wiped out vast portions of the horde, leaving only scattered pockets of undead still standing.
From her position on a sentry tower at the construction site, Erza watched the mushroom clouds rise into the sky, their light piercing through the darkness. Her flames flickered as she whispered in disbelief, "Was that… a nuke?"
At the same time, Antonny and his team were flying over a steel mill when they spotted the explosions on the horizon. The pilot's voice crackled over the comms, filled with shock. "Are those nuclear bombs?"
"No," Antonny replied grimly, his gaze fixed on the distance. "Too small for nukes. That's something else entirely."
Beside him, Ava stared silently, her thoughts drawn to the black-armored figure they had encountered before. Somehow, she knew he was behind this.
Back at the blast zone, Zack steadied himself mid-air, recovering from the shock. The destruction was absolute—millions of zombies gone in an instant. Those outside the immediate radius weren't spared either. Their flesh peeled away from the intense heat, leaving nothing but charred remains.
Then came a new sound—a defiant roar cutting through the carnage. Ego chimed in. "Sir, I've identified the source."
An arrow appeared on Zack's HUD, pointing to a zombie on the ground. Unlike the others, it didn't cower or flee. It stood still, glaring up at Zack with something almost like hatred.
"That's it?" Zack muttered in disbelief. "You're kidding, right? It looks just like the rest of them…"
Zack studied the zombie closely. There was nothing remarkable about it—its appearance and energy levels were ordinary, just like any low-level zombie. He raised his hand, his palm cannon glowing as it powered up. A beam of white light shot out, piercing through the zombie and leaving a fist-sized hole.
"Not much for defense," Zack muttered, unimpressed.
But then the zombie moved. Slowly, it pushed itself back up, as though the gaping wound meant nothing. Its hollow, lifeless eyes locked onto Zack, and its jaw fell open in a silent, eerie roar. Suddenly, there was movement all around as countless zombies surged toward it. They ignored the deadly radiation from the mushroom clouds, many of them collapsing instantly from the heat. But others kept coming, their flesh burning and falling away, leaving charred bones and mangled skin.