Apocalypse King: Recruiting S-Tier Beauties With My Ruler System
Chapter 45: Crack the Anvil and Burn the Marrow! (I)

Chapter 45: Crack the Anvil and Burn the Marrow! (I)

Ash drifted on the wind like falling snow, coating the cracked pavement and shattered glass in a muted grey. My boots crunched against the ruin of the old main road, Yin’s soft paws making no sound beside me.

The world felt still... too still.

No horde noises, no screams, no gunshots or engines.

Just the sound of my breathing and the occasional mechanical flicker from the corner of my eye.

I stepped into the chaos with purpose.

"Yin," I whispered.

The silver cat leapt down from the railing above, his soft paws landing without a sound. Blue eyes glowed faintly in the sunlight. His fur bristled, not from fear but expectation.

[Query accepted: Nearest Stage 2 targets located—400 meters northeast. Estimated horde: 370 infected. Four Stage 2s. Warning: Cluster contains fast-types.]

"Perfect."

I slid my spear from its holster and placed it across my shoulder. The weight felt comforting now—not like a weapon, but a pledge to myself. The Titan’s Marrow Sutra stirred in my veins, faintly vibrating beneath my skin.

"Living Anvil, huh? Let’s see just how formidable you are."

"Meow?"

My feet carried me forward—through empty crossroads, past abandoned police cars, stepping over shattered vending machines still leaking cans of expired soda. With each step, I tightened the fibres of my legs, as if my coiling my muscles, preparing for something inevitable.

"I’ll do it with my own hands, prove they weren’t just words," I muttered, "without the system’s help."

Yin padded beside me, his tail flicking, head high with pride. Despite his size, his aura was sharp like a hunter’s. His title, the name Lunar beast for a reason. On the way from the base, I gave him four elixirs. Now he was stronger, his fur coat carrying a glossy sheen.

He could probably beat Shen Yifei in a 1v1 right now.

Soon, the scent hit me.

Rotting flesh. Wet fur and blood. A disgusting mixture.

I stepped into the ruined parking lot behind the collapsed mall—part of the upper floors had fallen in, crushing dozens.

Beneath the fallen beams and twisted seal, something moved.

Different from the shambling horde swaying on the other side of the collapsed wall, not stage-one zombies.

I spotted two with green, slim figures and elongated, emaciated figures and the other two... strange, their bodies smaller, with long... extremely long claws.

Without the system’s help, I could only guess they might be the most dangerous mutation so far. Zombies that evolved to kill using those curved blades, each one close to 40cm long. But luckily, the bone claws fused together.

"Yin..."

Unlike the golden glow of the Brute or the green colour of the speed type, this one was definitely an aggressive type.

Blade-Type.

That’s the name I came up with while preparing myself.

Skin blackened and blistered like dark red charcoal. Glowing red cores pulsed inside their chests. Their eyes—milky, sunken—twitched toward me the moment I approached. However, they remained still, as if they couldn’t see me.

Behind them, I noticed forty normal zombies, different from the zombies below.

Why did they follow the four-stage twos?

Among them, four-legged creatures padded low to the ground—zombie dogs—hairless, their ribs exposed like cages, foam dripping from their jaws.

I exhaled slowly.

A pulse ran through my bones.

The Titan’s Marrow Sutra responded.

I rushed towards them along the wall, leaving behind my old self. I wanted to push myself and learn more about this cultivation technique.

My legs propelled me off the concrete, dashing almost two metres at a time.

The first dog leapt.

Yin met it midair, claws flashing like a glimmering moon. He wrapped around the dog’s frame, using his momentum to send it crashing into a concrete pillar. The beast howled, but Yin landed softly, preparing for another attack.

I met the first Stage two head-on, its green figure zooming past my face like a deadly spectre.

Its speed was monstrous—far beyond what I could track with the naked eye. The wind howled as it passed, its claws slicing open a rusted signpost behind me, cleaving it like paper.

"Tch—still too fast..."

I twisted my body sideways, barely avoiding its second charge.

My shoulder clipped a brick wall and sliced open my arm, but the pain flaring down my side vanished and healed. The Titan’s Marrow Sutra throbbed—eager. Hungering for more damage and conflict.

"What!?"

The second speed types, mouth appeared in the air, truly horrific creatures, but with these four dead the area around the base would be safer! Its body flung at me like a mortar, a face of horror, grinning wide with a half-destroyed face.

I opened my eyes wider, gripping my spear tighter and thrust!

A narrow margin of inches, his mouth or my spear... that would determine everything. I could almost feel their presence. Was it a result of the Titan Marrow Sutra or fighting these things for a prolonged time?

I had no clue!

The spear caught it in the ribs, but only barely—the thing twisted like a serpent, avoiding a kill strike. Still, it recoiled with blood from its punctured side.

Then the first Speed-Type attacked.

Like a cannonball, it slammed into my chest, knocking the wind from me. My back struck asphalt, rolling backwards with the momentum as a sharp pain shot up my spine.

"Guh—!"

I flung back, barely dodging the downward arc of its claw, which shattered the road where my skull had been a second earlier.

My breath grew heavier. But the pain... it helped. The Titan’s Marrow Sutra flowed from my stomach, growing more intense after each moment, each strain of muscle, and each scream of my flesh.

A crackle.

To my left, Yin flashed again—this time in front of one of the Blade-Types. The blackened zombie slashed in a wide arc. Yin ducked low with supernatural grace as the bone-fused blade sliced apart two of the zombie dogs.

Then leapt away with Feline prowess.

"Wow..."

The Blade-Type followed up without pause, movements jagged yet somehow elegant—like a butcher wielding a dancer’s blade. Its arms vibrated, curved bone blades fused into a deadly sword designed to sever life.

I couldn’t let them isolate Yin.

Gritting my teeth, I forced myself up.

The second Speed-Type lunged again. I spun, ducked and jabbed my spear into its thigh, twisting deep until the tip pierced the other side, using the momentum.

I tore its muscles apart, severing its leg—but I didn’t stop. My feet rooted, hands locked, I thrust again into its throat, using the momentum to fling it across the air, crashing it into the side of a half-collapsed wall.

Crack

its skull dented against the stone, and it shuddered, sliding to the ground.

I turned toward Yin—only to find the second Blade-Type bearing down on me.

Its body shimmered with heat. The red core in its chest pulsed violently—like a beacon of death. Almost as if it might shoot a beam. It dragged its claws along the pavement, golden sparks flickering.

I charged forward, my spear held in both hands, pointing towards the ground, focused on its blades, opening my eyes to the limit as they started to hurt.

Bone blades flashed as I ducked beneath its initial swing, then slid across the ground like a baseball player diving for home.

Pain lanced through my knee, but I came out behind it.

I pivoted—and smashed my spear into the monster’s spine.

It howled, blades thrashing wildly.

Yin struck from the flank, raking across its chest, aiming for the glowing red core—but missed by inches as it spun and clipped him with the back of its claw.

He flew back, hitting a lamppost. But he landed upright—shaking it off with a low growl.

"Yin!" I called out, breathing hard.

We couldn’t win this by rushing.

Another pulse radiated through my bones.

The Sutra was stirring.

Almost there.

The remaining Speed-Type stumbled back to its feet, blood trailing from its side. It circled like a jackal, watching for my next move.

One Blade-Type remained uninjured, the other now staggered, core slightly cracked.

The forty infected began to press forward slowly, drawn by the scent of blood.

And the dogs circled like vultures, barking that twisted, broken sound no real animal should ever make.

I looked at them all—then at Yin.

"You take the dogs."

"Meow!"

He darted forward, agile as ever.

I let out a breath, lowering my centre of gravity, feeling every twitch of my strained muscles.

[Titan’s Marrow Sutra Stage 0 Progress: 95%]

"Oh?"

A smile came to my face—the bruises, cuts and pushing myself seemed to have all counted. Isn’t this skill telling me to be reckless and fight like a lunatic?

Time to finish this.

If I could kill one of the Stage 2s... if I could endure...

Then I’d break through.

The Sutra would ignite, and I would reach the first stage, the starting point.

I braced myself, spear tip pointed towards the ground, heavy but comfortable in my grasp.

And Charged.

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