The Devil’s Cage

An hour later.

The convoy that departed from West Coast City was forced to a stop.

A huge meteor which was a size beyond words blocked the road.

It radius alone was over a hundred meters, and sunk into the ground almost 30 plus meters, not only did it destroy the road to Hologest Port from West Coast City, the surroundings were also caught in the impact. Especially inside the crater, the lingering heat was still burning and although it wasn’t as hot as to burn one’s shoes off, one could still experience pain from the heat if one was barefoot.

Kieran slightly frowned. He sized up the meteor crater before him before starting to search his surroundings.

The tracks and traces on the ground were almost destroyed by the meteor impact but relying on Musou level [Tracking], Kieran still picked up some intriguing spots.

A couple of footsteps!

He didn’t even need to rely on the number of prints, all he did was compared the prints with the memories in his head and he was sure that the footprints belonged to Charles, Raul, and Cidney but other than the couple footprints, Kieran could find anything else.

He then headed to a further spot to confirm his search but from the starting point to the further point of impact, all Kieran found were the footprints and no expected enemies sighted.

The most peculiar point about the footprints was, based on the direction the prints were heading, after Charles used his ace, the group went straight to Hologest Port.

”What the hell happened? There was no enemy but Master Charles uses Comet Burst?” Kieran wondered but he shook his head instantly.

”No! That doesn’t sound right. Not that there is no enemy but the enemy might be formless! Not only was it strong, it even blocked their way of retreat! Only then Master Charles would take the risk by heading towards the zombie-infested Hologest Port!” Kieran thought and muttered while rubbing his chin.

”Then, who is the formless enemy?” Kieran started to recall the information that he gathered in his mind and the knowledge that he had but he couldn’t find anymore clues.

Amongst the monsters he knew, there wasn’t one who fit the criteria of being formless and able to withstand a strike of Comet Burst while still able to force Charles and the others into a difficult position.

Fuuu!

Kieran took in a deep breath and turned around as he waited for Simones and the others.

With such a huge meteor crater obstructing their path, the car wouldn’t be a viable option anymore and the group had to travel on feet for the rest of the journey.

From the looks of the situation of Charles and the others were in, there wasn’t any time for Kieran to waste.

Kieran was ready to travel alone from there onwards and Simones and the others didn’t object.

The odd happening before them allowed them to know what was the best option out of the situation.

...

While having a big backpack on his back, Kieran’s sprinting speed was faster than a common galloping horse.

A rank Strength and Agility granted him the explosive power and speed that sent one to awe. An S- rank of Constitution allowed him to have superior perseverance and stamina.

Kieran only spent 1 hour to travel the distances that took 2 hours originally.

When Kieran arrived outside Hologest Port, he was looking at the nightfall port city and heard the roars and grunts even the waves from the sea could hardly cover. Kieran quickly took out the potion that Simones formulated, drinking a portion of it and smeared the rest on his skin and equipment.

The worst part to deal with the living dead was not the monster itself but the plague that followed their presence.

Kieran had quite the confidence with his S- ranks Constitution but it didn’t stop him from providing himself with an extra layer of protection.

There was only a thin line of difference between confidence and arrogance, let alone that Kieran was always leaning towards the side of vigilance.

After preparing himself, Kieran hastened his steps and headed into Hologest Port.

The moment he set foot on the port, a series of roars sounded from afar.

ROAR!

A couple of figures were charging at Kieran clumsily, similar to a bunch of angry drunkards yet were ten times more dangerous than one.

The pale face with a dash of skin had its wrinkles gathered at a single spot. The blood and flesh were absent as if they had been dissolved, all that was left was its dry body but its strength was elevated, making it stronger than before. The zombies could simply break the bat as thick as an arm with its strength.

Its defense was even more shocking, smaller caliber guns couldn’t even penetrate its wrinkled skin!

Yet it still had a weakness!

Bang Bang Bang!

Kieran took out his [Python-W2], the silver revolver, and fired in succession.

The bullets with the buff from [Armor Penetration Lvl 1] easily blasted off the crown of their skull.

After being converted into a zombie, its vigorous survivability caused them to struggle for a long while. When their brains fell of their skull, the body followed and after a couple of twitches, the zombies finally died.

Kieran carefully approached the zombies and carefully examined the bodies after making sure they were really dead.

”Other than the wounds from my attack, there isn’t really real wounds on its body, means the first zombie might have been using airborne methods to spread the plague?” Kieran muttered.

It was the first time Kieran encountered the living dead and its kind but there wasn’t any lacking of information in the books about these monsters.

Not only were the methods to create the living dead extremely strange, they also had the ability to spread the plague from their body, infecting a normal human being and turning them into one of their own.

Though the books clearly stated, in order for the living dead to infect a normal human being, one must be bitten. Well, most of the people would not have the chance of being converted into a living dead should they encounter a zombie attack because most of the human being will only end up as the living dead’s food.

The living head had an insatiable hunger. A common living dead would have to eat up at least three to five people at once, otherwise, it wouldn’t even start converting humans.

Now, the situation was obviously different from the books.

”Excessive amount of the living dead contaminated the air as well?” Kieran’s heart skipped a beat as he hastened his steps.

Although Simones had provided Charles and the others with enough potions to prevent conversion, they were just enough for Charles and co., and not everyone in the port who desperately need them.

Kieran’s destination was clear: Wine Glass Inn!

The spot where all the mystics gathered in Hologest Port and also the only spot viable to set up a defense against the assault of the living dead.

As for the other places, even if there was a police station nearby with fully loaded arsenals inside, it would be useless against airborne plague.

Unless the West Coast Government had extra precaution taken against such a specific situation, but throughout the whole journey to the inn, the scenery that Kieran saw told him that it was impossible for such precaution. There were many police zombies along the way, each of them were much harder to deal with than a common one.

The bulletproof vest, iron helmet, and mask granted the police zombies a second layer of defense.

If it wasn’t for Kieran’s Transcendence level [Firearm Weapon, Light Firearm], granting him extreme precisions beyond human comprehensions and special buffs, the bullets couldn’t even perforate the two layers of defense.

Bang bang bang!

Gunshots sounded from afar. It came from some dark spots further down the path which let Kieran felt relieved.

The living dead couldn’t use firearms and other tools after losing their intelligence, if there were gunshots, they should be from humans.

If there was a resistance, that meat that Wine Glass Inn’s situation wasn’t beyond redemption.

Kieran strode towards the inn but the moment he took the first step, a tremendous power, enough to suffocate him landed on his body out of a sudden!