The North Yamanashi Stronghold was founded a week or so after the outbreak. Since then, it never experienced an attack, and it has grown stronger by the day. Even now, no one dared cross the North Yamanashi Stronghold due to how formidable it was.

However, right now they were at their most vulnerable. Not only did the number of Hybrids present were reduced, but their stronghold leader was nowhere to be found as well.

If anyone wanted to take over the North Yamanashi Stronghold, now was the most opportune moment to do so. And somehow, that’s exactly what happened.

The first sign of the invasion was seen by the patrol as they were unknowingly attacked by a group of Hybrids that instantly eliminated them from this lifetime. One of them escaped, but the Hybrids were quick enough to catch up to him and deliver a swift death before he could warn the others.

However, the ’survivor’ was quick enough to get in the view of the guards, and they caught sight of him before he was killed right in front of them.

Plop~!

"What the—" One of the entrance guards exclaimed as he stood up from his seat. Finally, they took notice of the lone Hybrid who died before he could reach them.

"Oi~ isn’t he part of the patrol? What happened?"

Upon saying that, the man instantly noticed the figure behind the dead scout. And then from afar, a group of Hybrids could be seen, which could only mean trouble.

"WARN THE OTHERS! WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!" The head watchman exclaimed as he swung his arms to the other guards with him. This was the first time a group tried to invade the stronghold in all his years as a guard. This was not the drill, and they really had to defend the fort before their stronghold leader returned and took over.

Without further ado, the head watchman activated the alarm to warn everyone about the upcoming attack. It was a loudspeaker blast that reached the corners of the entire stronghold. In an instant, a commotion could be heard from the inside, and some of the guards who had no idea what was going on decided to go to the guards who were observing atop the fortress of a fence that surrounded the entire stronghold.

"What’s going on?" One of the guards inside the stronghold asked when he received the warning.

"What do you think Sherlock? Of course, we’re under attack! Inform all the Hybrids immediately. We need everyone’s hands on this one," The guard exclaimed as his saliva showered on the guard who asked the obvious question.

Before the guard could add to his insults, they heard a crack, and everyone instinctively looked down... only to see that some of the Hybrids were already scaling the walls like madmen. The guards had no idea where they came from, but that was not their main focus right now.

Right now, they had to defend the stronghold, even if it meant putting their lives on the line.

"Oi~! Did you hear me? I told you to inform all the Hybrids to gather here! Quick! We don’t have much time." Clicking his tongue, the guard grunted as he tapped into his abilities as a Bulwark. The others who were with him prepared to fight as well, jumping out of the concrete fence and free-falling towards the climbing Hybrids who were there to lay waste to the stronghold.

They didn’t hesitate to jump, and by doing that, they caught the climbing Hybrids off-guard. Some of them managed to push off the enemy Hybrids, while the others managed to cling to their backs in a poor attempt to drag them down and prevent them from climbing up.

Regardless, with their engagement in combat, the two sides finally faced each other off, with one on the offensive side and the other on pure defense. It was a messy fight, obviously because the Hybrids never practiced any formation. All they know about fighting is brute-forcing their way through, and the other side is not that different.

Because both sides weren’t that experienced in fighting. It was clear that the side with the most numbers would come out victorious. It wasn’t even a question, and not before long, the invading side had totally overpowered the defensive side, and they didn’t think twice about forcefully inviting themselves inside the stronghold so they could completely take over it.

Since there were only a handful of Hybrids in the stronghold, the invading Hybrids instantly defeated them with their overwhelming numbers. And now, they could easily put up another flag in the stronghold to signify that they’d completely taken over it.

It was so easy that the invading Hybrids felt like laughing. Their stronghold leaders were right. North Yamanashi Stronghold had really fallen, and it was all thanks to their incompetent stronghold leader.

.....

Hinokami instantly fell into Kazuichi’s trap. Without further ado, he charged at him with no shred of hesitation. There was a glint of bloodthirst in his eyes, and he gritted his teeth to the point that they chattered.

Ever since the disrespect he felt during the auction, he wanted to unleash his frustrations on Kazuichi. He was the subject of mockery back then and it was eating him up from the inside. At least now he could finally humor himself by defeating the cause of his embarrassment.

"Graagh~!"

With his Project Blood Art, Hinokami turned his arms into blades and charged at Kazuichi at full speed. He had no idea what type of Blood Art Kazuichi had, but to him, it looked like he just had a big buff on his muscles. With this line of thought, Hinokami assumed that he’d be able to easily slice Kazuichi.

That’s why he didn’t think twice about charging forward.

Hinokami took a giant leap before swinging his blade downward, his momentum carrying him on his descent.

Clang!

His eyes widened. Kazuichi easily blocked his blade arms with his ballooned-up muscly arms. "Impossible." Hinokami muttered to himself as he jumped backward so he could regroup.