Horrific Shorts: Zombie Edition

Chapter 2417: Story 2418: The Prison Master

The battlefield trembled beneath the shadow of Endless Night.

Malthor hovered above the wasteland, surrounded by black fire and the countless spectral memories of civilizations long consumed by the Devourer.

For the first time in ages, the cosmic monster looked uncertain.

Its shattered claw slowly regenerated.

Crimson energy flowed through the broken limb.

Bone.

Scale.

Fire.

The wound healed.

But the fear remained.

The Devourer had finally met something it could not easily destroy.

Malthor.

The forgotten king.

The lost guardian.

The prisoner who had become master of the prison itself.

The Devourer’s massive wings unfolded.

The movement generated hurricanes across entire continents.

Oceans churned.

Mountains cracked.

Cities already ruined by the apocalypse collapsed completely.

The creature’s voice shook reality.

"You have grown stronger."

Malthor’s expression remained unreadable.

"I had ten thousand years to practice."

Black lightning exploded around him.

The darkness spread further.

The sky above Earth transformed into an endless sea of night.

Stars vanished completely.

Only the Silver Crown upon Noah’s head continued shining.

A small beacon in the darkness.

The Devourer suddenly attacked.

Not with claws.

Not with fire.

With memory.

A crimson wave erupted from its eyes.

The attack raced across the battlefield.

Everyone it touched fell into visions.

Aiden collapsed.

Marcus dropped his rifle.

Zara fell to one knee.

Even the ancient armies froze.

The Devourer was showing them their greatest fears.

Aiden saw Lena torn apart by zombies.

Marcus saw himself becoming one of the undead.

Father Gideon saw the world burning forever.

Noah saw his parents dying.

Again and again.

A thousand terrible futures.

The battlefield became trapped inside despair.

Only Malthor remained standing.

The King of Endless Night looked toward the crimson wave.

Then raised his hand.

The darkness obeyed.

Black fire swept across the battlefield.

The visions shattered instantly.

The survivors gasped as reality returned.

The Devourer growled.

Malthor’s voice echoed softly.

"You still use fear."

The darkness around him intensified.

"And you still fail to understand humanity."

Noah stared upward.

For the first time, he understood Malthor’s true power.

It wasn’t darkness.

It wasn’t destruction.

It was endurance.

No matter how much pain he suffered.

No matter how much darkness consumed him.

He continued fighting.

Then the Silver Crown flashed.

A new vision struck Noah.

This one different.

This one hidden.

He saw Malthor inside the prison.

Alone.

Broken.

Bleeding black fire.

Yet he wasn’t truly alone.

Something stood beside him.

A shadow.

A figure made entirely of darkness.

Watching.

Waiting.

Guiding.

Noah’s eyes widened.

The shadow wasn’t the Devourer.

It was something else.

Something older.

Something that existed before the prison itself.

The vision vanished.

"Malthor!" Noah shouted.

The ancient king looked down.

"You’re not alone in there!"

For the first time, genuine shock crossed Malthor’s face.

The Devourer’s crimson eyes widened as well.

The monster roared.

"Silence him!"

Suddenly thousands of crimson meteors appeared above the battlefield.

A storm powerful enough to erase entire nations.

The final attack.

The attack that would end everything.

But before the meteors could fall, a new voice echoed from the darkness behind Malthor.

Ancient.

Calm.

Infinite.

A voice older than the stars.

Older than the guardians.

Older than the Devourer itself.

"The child has finally seen me."

The universe seemed to stop breathing.

Malthor slowly turned around.

For the first time in ten thousand years...

Fear appeared in his eyes.

And from the heart of Endless Night, a silhouette began to emerge.

The true master of the prison.