Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night

The journey from the DMZ to the outskirts of Seoul was not a long one. I mean, it was well within the range of North Korea artillery, which had been a major concern of the South Korean government prior to the collapse of human civilization as a whole.

And that would still be a large concern for anyone who stilled lived within Seoul's borders, considering the fact that North Korea still existed as a political entity, and the DMZ was more fortified now than ever on their side.

Whether or not anyone was left alive in this wasteland of a city, Zane honestly did not know. It was not unusual for human settlements to exist in some limited capacity within the ruins of old world cities. But such an idea was predicated on the situation in America.

Which the larger cities Zane had witnessed seemed to be ruled over by the moderate faction of undead. But here in Asia, especially this close to Shanghai, this was the backyard of the Fanatics, and among their ranks were the two most powerful undead in existence.

They were zealots in the worship of death, and their misunderstanding of her will. Which was to devour or infect every human being on the planet creating a world where the dead reigned supreme. But Zane knew better, as he was the only one to actually speak with Death herself. She was his mother, after all.

Was it true that his mother considered humans being to be a petty, violent, and faulty species? Oh yes, but was such beliefs really unfounded? I mean look at human history. Hell, look at how they behaved even when confronted with a universal threat to their very existence?

They still continued to fight with one another over the scraps of the old world rather than unite against their collective enemies. It was truly an absurdity that only a failed species like humanity could possibly perform in any form of reality.

Perhaps Zane's perspective of humanity had shifted now that he had embraced his role as the Prince of Death. But, was that really the case? I mean, even in life he never had a good outlook on humanity as a whole.

Possibly because he was mistreated by them all his entire life. To the point where even as a human being he considered himself more akin to an alien. But there was no denying that his negative outlook on human beings had increased after becoming what he was always meant to be.

Yet, it had also increased in some ways. I mean, before the apocalypse he wouldn't care if every single human being died a horrible death. But now, there were at least five human beings he did not want to see anything bad happen to.

Gwen could tell Zane was lost in thought as she pointed towards a ruined skyscraper in the distance. Tapping on his shoulder to waken the man back to the reality they were currently living in.

"Hey big brother…. We best keep moving. I can sense our sister is in that building. If she catches sight of us, it's all over. This is the territory of the fanatics, after all."

Zane quickly looked over to where Gwen was pointing and acknowledged her statement with a slight nod of his head. He then wandered off through the streets of Seoul, which were not only damaged beyond all repair, but were filled with undead around every corner.

As Zane walked through the streets of the city, he was almost certain that they would not find a single living human being within the boundaries of the city. As there were no visible signs of such things existing within the one thriving metropolis.

---

The war was sudden and violent. Unlike Zane who used old strategies and tactics to best make use of his undead and their abilities. The majority of Horde Kings had a simple strategy. Send wave after wave of their undead at one another until one side emerged victorious.

It was how they overwhelmed humanity after all, and was that not good enough? Because of this, Balthazar had crossed the Pacific Ocean to confront the leaders of the Moderate Faction.

Lilith proved shockingly capable when it came to holding the coastline of the City of Angels. Or Necropolis, as she had renamed it after the city had fallen to her control. Not only were her undead of a higher tier on average than her counterparts.

But she had used very simple tactics to a great advantage. Having seemingly learned from observing the behavior of the awakened humans. As for Damian, he was unable to provide support to Lilith, as his own territory was under siege from the Fanatics in Europe who, like their Eastern counterparts, had crossed the Ocean to assault the Moderate leader of America's eastern seaboard.

In addition to this, Lilith, Damian, Victor, and the others among their ranks had to deal with fanatics within the borders of North America who were launching assaults on the opposite side. Ophelia however was noticeably absent.

She had sent her own forces to assist Balthazar in his attack on Lilith. But refused to confront the Queen of the Moderates herself. Her reasoning was that she was still recovering from the battle she had with the bitch.

But the reality was something else entirely. Ophelia had grown fearful of Lilith and the power she displayed. She herself had her own special abilities, but they did not matter if Lilith could simply hijack control of her mind and end her with a single command.

She had damn near torn her own head off because of Lilith's charm, which as far as she was aware was not supposed to be powerful enough to affect her, or Balthazar. And though she had warned Balthazar that Lilith was more powerful than they were led to believe.

He was so angry at her taking advantage of his focused state to start a war that he disregarded her words entirely and instead chose to chastise her.

As a result, the second Most Powerful Horde King was hiding in her own territory. Secluding herself away from the war which she started as she struggled to come to terms with how it was possible for Lilith to be so powerful.

And though Zane did not know it yet, this was his opportunity to make significant gains in Asia, which due to the presence of the world's most powerful undead, had rapidly begun to change in ways far more substantial than that of North America.

If he thought that Tucson's shift to a rain forest was strange, then Zane would be in for a very strange sight indeed when he traversed further into the ruins of Seoul.