Chapter 182: Arrival of the Zombie Race’s Youngest Prince

He looked to be somewhere in his early twenties.

Smooth pale-gray skin covered a lean face without the rough mutation marks commonly seen among lower members of the Zombie Race.

Short black hair rested neatly above his forehead.

His eyes were a muted crimson, dark enough that they appeared brown from a distance.

There was nothing exaggerated about his clothing as a fitted black military coat covered light armor beneath it.

The only sign of his status was a small royal insignia attached near the collar.

A straight sword rested at his waist.

The Five 3rd Echelons who had crossed behind him remained several steps back.

Each had been personally selected by Marshal Varek.

Their strength was far beyond the soldiers normally assigned to an incomplete invasion front such as Corridor 73-A.

Yet none walked beside the young man.

They remained behind him.

The officers inside the transfer chamber lowered their heads.

"Your Highness."

The young man barely acknowledged them.

His name was Serath.

Within the ruling bloodline of the Zombie Race, he was known simply as the Youngest Prince.

That title caused many outsiders to underestimate him when they first heard it.

Being the youngest royal child did not mean Serath possessed the least authority.

It certainly did not mean he was weak.

Among the royal heirs, Serath was one of the few who had spent much of his time attached to active military fronts rather than remaining inside the royal territories.

He had participated in incomplete invasions before.

More importantly, he was still within the 3rd Echelon.

That made him one of the strongest members of the ruling family who could enter an incomplete and damaged Invasion Corridor like this without placing an unbearable burden on the connection.

Serath looked toward the officer waiting near the chamber entrance.

"Lead me to the Central Command."

The officer bowed.

"This way, Your Highness."

Serath began walking, followed by the six people that came with him.

The central city was already mobilizing.

Columns of Zombie Race soldiers moved between military districts.

Supply transports crossed the broad roads.

Defensive formations surrounding the inner city had been activated after the loss of the second Spatial Anchor.

Serath watched everything without commenting.

He noticed how many soldiers were still positioned near roads leading toward dead regions.

He noticed the supply traffic being divided toward defensive stations that no longer protected anything important.

His expression never changed.

By the time he reached the main command building, he had already formed a poor opinion of the current deployment.

The doors opened before him.

Inside, the commanders responsible for Corridor 73-A were waiting.

The four powerful 3rd Echelon figures who managed the invasion front stood near the circular command table.

The moment Serath entered, all four immediately lowered their heads.

"Your Highness."

Serath walked past them and stopped beside the table.

The map of Invasion Corridor 73-A covered its surface.

Four crystals represented the Spatial Anchors.

The south and east were dark.

Serath looked toward it.

"Give the reports."

The commander who had communicated with the Main World stepped forward.

He began explaining everything that had happened.

A few minutes later, a few dozens of zombies could be seen heading toward the north.

...

BOOOOM!

A distant explosion rolled through the northern region.

Cain raised his head.

They had been moving quickly ever since leaving the Western Anchor Town, following one of the military roads that curved toward the north.

Another impact followed.

The ground beneath their feet trembled slightly.

Aurelia’s expression became more serious.

"We’re close."

Cain did not answer, since he had known as his sense had already begun picking up the changes ahead.

Mana filled the air in quantities far beyond anything he had encountered around the Western Anchor Town.

There were too many different sources to distinguish cleanly from this distance.

Though, he could tell that a huge battle was taking place.

Cain increased his speed.

The people behind him did the same.

The road gradually widened as they approached the northern region.

The road climbed toward a broad ridge.

By the time Cain reached the top, the battlefield on the other side finally entered his sight.

He stopped, followed by the others.

The Northern Anchor Town was considerably larger than the western settlement.

Its outer walls stretched across the distance, but several sections had already collapsed.

The defensive structures built outside the town were no longer recognizable.

Crumbled stone covered the roads.Large trenches carved through the ground had been filled with corpses.

Beyond them, the fighting extended from the broken outer defenses all the way toward the inner district surrounding the Spatial Anchor.

The number of combatants was on a completely different scale from what Cain had encountered in the south or west.

Zombie Race soldiers flooded the streets.

Most were 1st Echelon, but the number of 2nd Echelons scattered among them was enough to make even Aurelia’s group become renderless with its sheer numbers.

The entire Northern Anchor Town had become one enormous battlefield.

Cain’s gaze quickly moved past the lower-Echelon fighting.

Several areas deeper inside the town were completely empty despite the chaos surrounding them.

BOOM!

A massive figure was thrown through what remained of a stone building.

The structure collapsed around him.

A moment later, the figure burst out of the rubble.

Cain’s eyes narrowed.

The man’s body was enormous as he appeared even larger after the dark-red energy surrounding his muscles expanded.

His upper clothing had already been destroyed during the fight, revealing a body covered in wounds.

Despite that, the pressure released from him remained violent.

Across from him stood a 3rd Echelon Zombie Race commander.

The commander carried a massive war hammer in both hands.

The weapon descended toward the man.

The human raised his forearms and received the strike directly.

BOOOOOOM!

The street beneath him exploded, stone fragments shot outward.

The human’s feet sank into the broken ground, but his body remained standing.

He pushed the hammer aside and drove one fist into the commander’s chest.

Bang!

The 3rd Echelon was sent backward.

Cain did not need anyone to tell him who that person was.

"Northern Tyrant."

Aurelia looked toward the fight.

"So that’s him."

Cain had only known the title until now.

Northern Tyrant had been the sixth person in the world to advance to the 2nd Echelon.

Seeing him fight explained the name well enough.

His combat style carried very little subtlety as he met overwhelming force with even greater force.

The 3rd Echelon commander attacking him was clearly stronger in overall energy, yet the Northern Tyrant refused to give him any room to use that advantage comfortably.

Cain watched for a few seconds before his attention shifted.

Northern Tyrant was impressive.

But he was not the reason Cain had come here.

A violent surge of black energy suddenly erupted from the opposite side of the inner town.

The pressure spread far enough that several lower-Echelon Zombie Race soldiers stumbled despite being nowhere near the source.

Cain turned, his golden eyes sharpened.

"...Oh?"

A battle was taking place near the remains of a large military plaza.

Three 3rd Echelon Zombie Race commanders surrounded a single human.

For the first time since reaching the northern battlefield, his entire attention settled on one place.

The man standing between the commanders looked young.

Long black hair fell past his jaw and moved freely around his face whenever Demonic energy surged from his body.

His eyes were equally black.