Horrific Shorts: Zombie Edition

Chapter 2415: Story 2416: The King of Endless Night

The black beam pierced the heavens.

It rose beyond the clouds.

Beyond the atmosphere.

Beyond sight itself.

For several moments, nobody moved.

The battlefield remained frozen beneath the shadow of the Devourer.

Even the ancient armies stood silent.

Watching.

Waiting.

Fearing.

Noah felt the cracked Silver Crown trembling upon his head.

Something was calling to him.

Not the Devourer.

Not the Throne King.

Not even the Silver Kingdom.

Something older.

Something wounded.

Far away, beneath a forgotten continent, the Fourth King had awakened.

And somehow Noah could feel his pain.

It flooded through the Crown like an endless ocean.

Loneliness.

Betrayal.

Sorrow.

Ten thousand years of suffering.

The emotions nearly brought Noah to his knees.

"He is alive," he whispered.

The Throne King’s glowing eyes dimmed.

"No."

His voice sounded broken.

"He stopped being alive long ago."

The Crimson Queen looked toward the distant black beam.

For the first time, tears appeared in her crimson eyes.

"My brother..."

The words barely escaped her lips.

Aiden stared at the ancient rulers.

The beings who had once seemed like gods.

Now they looked like survivors.

Broken survivors carrying ancient regrets.

Above them, the Devourer laughed.

"You abandoned him."

Its voice shook the sky.

"You feared what he had become."

The Throne King clenched his staff.

Purple fire exploded around him.

"We feared what you were turning him into."

The Devourer’s smile widened.

The truth hung between them.

Malthor had entered the prison to save the world.

Instead, he had become another prisoner.

A prisoner trapped with the greatest horror in existence.

For ten thousand years.

Noah suddenly saw another vision.

A dark realm.

A prison beyond reality.

Malthor standing alone.

Year after year.

Century after century.

Watching worlds die within the Devourer’s memories.

Listening to its whispers.

Enduring its corruption.

Fighting it.

Resisting it.

Until eventually...

The darkness began changing him.

Black armor formed around his body.

Black flames consumed his crown.

His silver eyes turned into endless voids.

Yet one thing never vanished.

His determination.

His desire to save everyone.

Even after ten thousand years.

The vision ended.

Noah gasped.

"He isn’t serving the Devourer."

The ancient rulers looked at him.

The Crown glowed faintly.

"He’s still fighting."

Hope flickered across the Crimson Queen’s face.

For the first time in centuries.

Then the world shook.

A shockwave rolled across the planet.

The black beam expanded.

The sky darkened further.

Stars vanished.

Sunlight disappeared.

Night spread across the world.

Not natural night.

A deeper darkness.

A living darkness.

The Devourer’s laughter slowly faded.

For the first time since its release, uncertainty appeared in its crimson eyes.

It sensed something approaching.

Something powerful.

Something dangerous.

Then a voice echoed across existence.

Not loud.

Not angry.

Not cruel.

Simply exhausted.

"Enough."

The single word silenced the battlefield.

Every zombie stopped moving.

Every silver warrior froze.

Even the wind ceased.

The darkness above twisted.

A gigantic rift opened in the heavens.

Black fire poured from its depths.

And from that rift descended a lone figure.

A king clad in obsidian armor.

A shattered black crown resting upon his head.

Wings of darkness spread behind him.

His eyes contained galaxies of sorrow.

And endless rage.

Malthor.

The Forgotten Fourth King.

The King of Endless Night.

The Devourer stared upward.

For the first time in recorded history...

The cosmic monster looked afraid.