Aron's senses picked up the monstrosity that had killed one of the clones. It wasn't like any zombie he'd ever seen. The thing looked more like a humanoid beast.

Its face was smooth, lacking eyes, nose, and ears, just a wide, unsettling mouth that kept muttering something like a broken record. Its head was fixed directly to its torso, with no neck in between.

Each of its hands and feet had only three digits, their sharp ends looking like natural blades that Aron assumed were its nails.

Wherever its feet touched, the ground blackened and decayed.

"Well," Aron muttered under his breath. "That's new."

He was about to take another bite of his food, ready to watch the spectacle unfold, but before he could, he froze in disbelief.

Because contrary to his expectations, the clones, now down to sixteen, didn't engage the monstrosity. Instead, they turned tail and started running away.

(No freaking way.)

Aron stared blankly.

Even with clones, they chose to run instead of fight? Such cowardice. Cautious to the bones.

He couldn't even be mad, it only made him more grateful he hadn't shown himself to them earlier.

Snapping out of his stupor, Aron leapt off his bike, stored it, and sprinted after them.

As they fled, each clone pulled out a white pearl from their person, crushed it, and, boom, their speed tripled. within moments they were already slipping out of Aron's sensory range.

"Oh, come on!" he growled.

He wasn't about to lose the targets he'd been tailing for three sleepless days. Tossing his bike back into storage, Aron activated stealth and dashed forward at full speed, trying to keep them within range.

The monstrosity, however, just continued walking. It didn't even glance at the fleeing clones, only muttering its broken words as it marched toward Aron's direction, like a mindless robot.

Soon, Aron reached the area where the monster was. Its energy felt close to his rank, enough to give good EXP. Normally, that would've been cause for celebration. But this time, he wasn't interested.

He sprinted right past, assuming it would ignore him just as it did the clones.

Unfortunately, he assumed wrong.

The moment he crossed its path, the abomination lunged toward him.

A suffocating pressure slammed into Aron. His danger sense screamed. It was the feeling of death pressing down on him.

He wanted to punch the monster to death, after all, he could tell he was of a higher level, but the dread intensified. Every instinct told him that if he dared to engage, he would die.

That was when Aron remembered the first clone that had attacked it, and how it had dried up and died in seconds.

Clicking his tongue, Aron dodged and quickly fired several bolts of thunder in the monster's direction as he kept running, unwilling to waste time. His focus was still on the clones.

But instead of the usual notification confirming a kill, his senses picked up something bizarre: the lightning vanished on contact. It decayed. Disintegrated into nothing.

Aron's eyes widened.

(What's wrong with this zombie?)

He decided to abandon the fight entirely. Losing the clones wasn't an option.

Activating Stealth again, Aron darted through a nearby building, hoping to throw the monster off. But contrary to his expectations, it kept tailing him, no matter how he turned, the abomination followed, step for step, muttering its eerie gibberish.

If not for his senses confirming otherwise, he'd swear it had locked onto him with a tracker.

Frustration flickered across his face. He was within five hundred meters of the clones now, and at their current speed, he had roughly six seconds before they escaped his range.

If he didn't deal with this monster now, considering how cautious the clone's owner was, he might never find the original.

Aron suddenly stopped.

The rain around him froze midair, droplets merging and swirling. Water pooled from the ground, splitting and morphing into countless tiny spheres.

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

Hundreds of thousands of small water bullets shot toward the charging monster.

The closest waves of attacks decayed before doing much damage, but Aron didn't stop. Thousands upon thousands of water bullets filled the air, completely obscuring the monster from sight.

Even with his vision blocked, Aron used his senses, and within seconds, he detected the creature turning into a mist of blood, not even a shred of skin remaining.

[Abomination of Decay - Level 27 killed. 95,000 EXP!]

All of it had happened in less than three seconds.

Aron blinked at the notification, surprised by the amount of exaggerated EXP. It was enough for a level-up, but he decided to deal with that later. The clones were still on the move.

He darted forward again, noticing their speed boost had finally worn off.

He knew what it was, the so-called Arati Artifact.

Even though Aron wasn't active in the Solara group chat, he always paid attention to the information there. He'd learned that items from ancient history had a higher chance of becoming Arati Artifacts, relics with special abilities that came in many forms.

Some could be used continuously. Others only once.

He was sure the pearls the clones used were the one-time kind.

A few minutes after killing the abomination, the rain stopped, just as abruptly as it had started.

But that wasn't all.

As the rain ceased, the dark sky that had loomed since the apocalypse began started to clear.

The sun appeared.

...

..

.

****

Author note:

If you've read this far, then it's clear you're loving the journey just as much as I enjoy writing it.

Every scene, every twist, every chapter you read is built with time, effort, and passion. I pour that same energy and tension into each update because I want you to feel the weight of the choices, the thrill of the fights, and the despair of a dying world.

But here's the truth: stories don't grow on their own. They grow because of you, the readers who stand beside them. And on Webnovel, your Powerstones are the heartbeat that keeps a novel alive. Each stone you cast isn't just a number on a chart. It's a signal that you want more, that you believe Aron's story deserves to climb higher, to reach more people, to carve its name into the rankings where it belongs.

And then there are Golden Tickets. These aren't just votes, they are the greatest show of faith an author can receive. When you choose to give your ticket here, you're telling me that you believe this story can stand among the best. That trust fuels me. It drives me to write harder, faster, and sharper, so I can give you chapters that are not only bloody and thrilling but unforgettable.

Your encouragement decides the pace of this journey. Together, we can push this story through the chaos, step by step, one stone, one ticket, one chapter at a time.

So thank you, for every stone, every ticket, every moment you've given this story. You are the reason Aron's world lives and grows.

Let's walk through the apocalypse together.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.