At the temporary Marine branch in Arderay, Sakazuki and Zephyr were discussing their defensive strategy against Alucard when a soldier rushed in, frantic. "In-Instructor Zephyr, Vice Admiral Sakazuki! The p-palace has been breached!"
"What?"
Zephyr's gaze sharpened. "What did you say?"
"A-Alucard appeared, and he… he got to the king and the royal family…" The soldier didn't need to finish his sentence. Zephyr and Sakazuki already knew what he meant.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Zephyr was still furious about the Laguna incident. Hearing that the entire royal family had been wiped out without him even noticing made him explode.
"I had Marines guarding every entrance and even strengthened the palace guards. Unless Alucard can turn invisible, how could he just suddenly appear in the palace?" Zephyr demanded.
"No, it's possible," Sakazuki interjected. "I don't know if he can turn invisible, but he can fly, and that's enough."
Sakazuki stood up, his Marine coat billowing. "We've overlooked one important thing. We exploited the fact that he's a lone wolf in the last battle, but that very fact makes it easier for him to sneak in right under our noses."
"Hmph! A 'black under the lamp' situation, is it?"
Zephyr walked quickly out the door, heading for the palace. "Order the other soldiers to fall back. This isn't a battle you can get involved in. I've heard enough about Alucard's abilities from Garp and the others. To deal with a person like him, a group attack is impossible. It has to be a one-on-one fight with someone on his level."
He paused for a moment. "Sakazuki and I will take the lead. Leave only two hundred men near the palace for support. The rest of you, evacuate the citizens as fast as possible!"
"Yes, sir!"
When Zephyr and Sakazuki arrived at the palace, they were about to enter when they saw several figures stumbling out of the palace gates.
"Hmm?"
Five seconds later, the Marines saw what they were. They staggered as if they had a limp, their bodies hunched, their flesh rotting, and their eyes pale. They looked exactly like zombies from a horror story.
"Is this the same zombie ability as Gecko Moria's?" Sakazuki frowned, then scoffed. "Pathetic! Useless trash that's powerless against saltwater!"
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a ghoul leaped from the stairs, lunging at the Marines.
"They're fast!"
The Marines were startled. Though they were not famous within the military, they were still from headquarters and were far stronger than ordinary people. The ghouls' incredible speed was a shock to them.
"Don't get careless!"
Sakazuki roared. His right arm instantly turned into magma and he launched it upward, the boiling lava gurgling. On impact, it instantly melted the ghouls into ash.
"Hmph, so weak!" Sakazuki scoffed as his arm returned to normal.
"But to ordinary citizens, these are terrifying monsters. And they might have already spread throughout the city," Zephyr said, his Observation Haki flaring up. The auras of the ghouls were faint, somewhere between living and dead, but in the center of the palace was an immense aura.
There was no mistaking it; it was Alucard. "Sakazuki, follow me inside."
Zephyr and Sakazuki strode into the palace hall. As they went, Zephyr turned to the Marines who were about to follow him. "We don't need reinforcements. All of you, search the city. I'm sure there are far more of those ghouls than what we just saw!"
"Yes, sir!"
One was a former Admiral, the other an Admiral candidate. As the two walked side-by-side into the inner hall, they found ghouls gnawing on corpses on the floor. Zephyr recognized one of them. He was wearing the official robes of a minister of the Arderay Kingdom.
"Hmph!"
Zephyr couldn't stand the sight. He used Shigan to blast the ghouls' heads off.
It was only a few dozen meters from the palace entrance to the main hall, but along the way, they saw at least thirty ghouls feeding on corpses. This only strengthened Zephyr's conviction that some had already gotten out and were hunting for new victims.
Alucard was sitting on what was once Squall's throne, legs crossed. Below him were countless ghouls, standing guard like the undead king of a castle.
"You've come a long way from being a simple bounty hunter, haven't you?" Zephyr said, looking up at Alucard from the bottom of the throne dais.
Just as the surrounding ghouls swarmed them, Sakazuki's magma arm whipped out like a lash, sending them all flying.
"It's been a long time, Zephyr..." Alucard remained in his seat. As if to show off, he tilted his head toward the ghouls. "What do you think? These aren't just zombies. They're called ghouls."
"While they're not strong enough to fight you, they're surprisingly useful for harvesting lives. I didn't use this trick when I fought the Marines at Torabia," Alucard said with a faint smile.
"Was that because you were blasted into the sea before you could use it?" Zephyr scoffed.
"No. It's just that I'm not used to biting men... But there were so many people here that it would have been a waste of time, so I threw my boring sense of shame away," Alucard said with a half- joking tone.
Zephyr hardened his left arm with Armament Haki and slammed it into the floor. The ground of the entire hall instantly cracked and shattered. Alucard could no longer maintain his elevated position as the platform and the throne on it were completely destroyed.