Chapter 876: Number one prodigy

Aboard the massive Dreadnought-class Starcruiser, a heavy aura of power hung in the air. At the very front of the ship stood a woman clad in a custom-tailored blue battle robe, embroidered with golden thread. She looked regal, composed—every inch a commanding presence.

Behind her stood two more figures—leaders of the other major families. Their eyes were sharp, their bearing imposing. These were humanity’s elite, the strongest of the strong.

“It’s been years… and here we are, fighting side by side again,” Claire said, her voice calm but tinged with nostalgia.

Like Howard and Serah, the three of them had once been part of the same squad in their youth—comrades who’d bled together, survived together. Bonds forged in fire.

“Yeah,” rumbled one of the men, a broad-shouldered middle-aged warrior with a voice like rolling thunder. “Looks like we couldn’t outrun fate. Fighting for Heartland… it was always going to come to this.”

The three of them radiated raw power. Without hesitation, they leapt from the Starcruiser like hawks diving from the sky, plummeting toward the battlefield below.

Behind them, countless points of light flared to life—troops deploying, engines igniting—bursting outward like a sky full of fireworks.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM!

Dozens of Guard Mechs slammed into the ground alongside them, shaking the earth, sending shards of rock flying in every direction.

Each mech gleamed with cold, metallic brilliance—machines built for one purpose: war.

Claire raised her voice, sharp and commanding. “Let’s begin.”

At her signal, rows of Lightsabers extended from the Guard Mechs, their blades humming to life. Jets roared as the machines surged forward, flames blasting from their backs.

Meanwhile, the Dreadnought-class Starcruiser continued to deploy wave after wave of aircraft. In the blink of an eye, the sky was swarming—tens of thousands of them, moving like a living cloud.

“They’re carpet-bombing the whole damn place…” someone muttered, awe-struck.

The crystal cores of the aircraft pulsed with light, gathering searing energy. Then, like a meteor shower, they unleashed it all at once—streaks of white-hot power raining down from above.ity had gone all in. Their firepower roared across the battlefield in a storm of destruction, slamming into the Heartland’s zombie horde.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ground shook violently. Crystal Core Blasters fired in rapid succession, blanketing the elite undead forces in a relentless barrage.

“RAAARGH—!”

The zombies howled in agony, their cries quickly drowned out by the thunder of explosions. Limbs flew. Bodies were torn apart. The once-ferocious Heartland horde was being crushed under the sheer weight of firepower.

In mere moments, the tide of battle turned.

“Holy shit!” Bloodveil gasped, the pressure on him and the other zombies suddenly lifting. He couldn’t help but be impressed.

That backup came outta nowhere…

Humans might not be much in one-on-one combat, but when it came to tech and large-scale warfare? They were on a whole different level. This was a straight-up dimensional beatdown.

Aria smirked, clearly proud. “Well? Not bad for reinforcements, huh?”

“Not bad? Not bad?! That was amazing!” Bloodveil nodded enthusiastically, clearly thrilled.

“But uh… I do have one tiny request,” he added, scratching the back of his head.

“Oh?” Aria raised an eyebrow, curious. “What is it?”

“Well… after the battle’s over, think I could get one of those big aircraft for myself?” Bloodveil asked, eyes gleaming with hope.

“…Huh?” Aria’s pretty face scrunched up in confusion, a giant question mark practically floating above her head.

“…..”

On the eastern front, the slaughter had escalated. What started as a desperate retreat for Bloodveil and his forces had now flipped—under the cover of human tech and firepower, they were pushing forward, reclaiming lost ground and charging straight back toward Heartland.

“Kill them all!”

The zombies roared, their cries shaking the battlefield, wild with bloodlust and adrenaline.

At the heart of Heartland’s defenses, the Deathless Sovereign Nerissa stood tall, her crimson hair whipping in the wind, her expression darkening. She hadn’t expected humans to show up and stir the pot at such a critical moment.

“These humans have some nerve,” one of her zombie lieutenants sneered. “They’ve lost to us time and time again, and now they think they can come back for more?”

“Hmph. Humans never learn from history,” Nerissa snapped, her voice cold and sharp. “They just keep repeating it.”

As she spoke, the air around her began to pulse with dark energy. With a flick of her hand, she unleashed her signature ability—Virulent Domain.

A blood-red mist surged outward, thick and toxic, swallowing the sky like a demonic tide. It twisted and writhed like a living nightmare, racing toward the incoming human forces.

This time, she aimed high—targeting the skies.

Several aircraft were instantly caught in the fog. Their reinforced alloy hulls melted like wax under a blowtorch, dissolving in seconds.

Smoke poured from the engines as one after another, the ships spiraled down in flames.

The might of a Deathless Sovereign was not to be taken lightly.

“Damn, she’s still a pain in the ass,” Bloodveil muttered, narrowing his eyes. With human support, the zombie horde wasn’t as terrifying anymore—but when it came to top-tier combat power, they were still outmatched.

But then—something shifted.

From within the sea of red mist, a sudden flash of blue light burst forth. Water energy surged, condensing rapidly into a shimmering shield.

“Tidal Aegis!” Claire’s voice rang out, calm and commanding.

A wave of radiant blue light exploded outward, forming a massive barrier that stretched across the sky like a divine curtain, splitting the battlefield in two.

The toxic red fog slammed into the barrier with a hiss, sizzling violently—but it couldn’t push through. Inch by inch, it began to dissolve, unable to advance any further.

“She blocked it?” Bloodveil’s eyes widened in disbelief. He hadn’t expected Claire to be able to stand toe-to-toe with a Deathless Sovereign.

That water energy—gentle on the surface, but deep and unyielding—was like an ocean in motion. Relentless. Immovable.

The other zombies around him were just as stunned.

“Holy crap, that human’s strong!”

“Well, she is their leader.”

“Honestly… I think she might be stronger than our boss.”

“…”

Claire, as the leader of humanity, carried the weight of an entire civilization. If she couldn’t hold her own against a Deathless Sovereign, she had no business being on the battlefield.

But she didn’t just hold the line—she advanced.

The blue light around her flared even brighter. Two massive water dragons coiled around her, their forms swirling with power.

The air trembled with their roar.

Claire shot forward like a comet, tearing through the battlefield. Zombies, Zombie Kings, even the lingering poison mist—nothing could stand in her way. The water dragons shredded everything in their path.

Nerissa’s eyes blazed with fury. That was it. She’d had enough.

“A mere human dares to challenge me up close?” she snarled, her voice dripping with venom.

Dark energy surged around her. Poison mist coiled tighter, and with a burst of speed, she launched herself at Claire.

Blue and red collided mid-air—two forces of nature crashing together like twin comets.

BOOM!

The sky itself trembled. The shockwave rippled across the battlefield, sending debris flying and soldiers stumbling.

When the dust cleared, both combatants had been forced back, neither gaining the upper hand. They hovered in the air, facing off, power radiating from them in waves.

Nerissa’s face twisted into a sneer. “So that’s it? I expected more.”

Claire, calm as ever, looked down at the ground beneath her feet. Her voice was soft, but carried weight.

“But I’ve already stepped onto Heartland soil.”

She was right. By territorial lines, she had crossed into Heartland. She was the first human in this war to do so.

Nerissa’s jaw clenched. Rage burned in her chest.

For a Deathless Sovereign, this was humiliation of the highest order.

Behind Claire, the human forces erupted in cheers. Their morale surged. It had been a long time since they’d felt this kind of momentum against Necroterra.

“Claire’s a total badass!”

“No wonder she’s our new leader!”

“She’s got brains, guts, and power—she’s the one who’s gonna lead us to victory!”

“Hell yeah!”

With the poison mist neutralized, the troops fought with renewed fury, blasting through the Heartland zombie horde with everything they had.

Claire had split the battlefield in two, charging deep into enemy territory alone. Her presence radiated dominance—this was what a true leader looked like.

From a distance, Aria watched her mother’s figure, a mix of awe and emotion in her eyes.

“Maybe everyone forgot,” she whispered to herself, “but she was always humanity’s number one prodigy.”

…

Here’s a redemption code for everyone: