Published at 18th of April 2026 7:41 am

Chapter 1820 Group Up

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The tide of battle across the country underwent a sudden and drastic change. In every city, both those openly struggling with the Glutton infestation and those keeping the conflict in the shadows, the feral werewolves began to act as one.

Daphne Bree, who had been relentlessly chasing leads with a much larger force than her previous outing, witnessed this shift firsthand. Because it had become clear that Altered were being specifically targeted, she had taken the tactical precaution of forcing all Altered under her command to travel in condensed, defensive groups of ten.

Daphne’s team had been in the middle of tracking a pack of Gluttons to a roadside diner on the outskirts of the city. The werewolves had been using the location as a grim trap, picking off unsuspecting travelers who stopped for a break. This predatory behavior was why it had taken Daphne’s group a little longer to pin them down. They were in the thick of a heated battle, the air filled with the sounds of snarling and the clashing of powers, when the Gluttons suddenly broke off. Without warning, the beasts jumped out of the windows, tore through any doors they could reach, and started to sprint off into the distance, ignoring the combat entirely.

“What was that about? That was strange,” Daphne commented, lowering her weapon. She watched the dust clouds kicked up by the retreating monsters, a sinking feeling in her gut telling her that something much larger was unfolding.

However, while these attacks were spread out over the entire country, no place had been hit quite as hard as Slough. The city had been suffering through a coordinated nightmare, with attacks erupting in every corner of the urban sprawl. This had forced the Howlers to act as a unified front, doing their absolute best to fight back the waves of Gluttons. They had even reached out to neighboring territories, calling for help from their closest allies.

Eventually, the reinforcements arrived. Slough’s allies Numba, Izzy, Ian, and various Altereds from the surrounding regions poured into the city. Many of these were the same warriors who had stood together during the large-scale battle that had previously taken place with Lupus. As the situation began to stabilize and the Gluttons started their mass escape from Slough as well, reports began flooding into the command center from every district.

Xin was at the heart of it, receiving the frantic reports from every sector. In response to the shifting battlefield, she issued a city-wide order for everyone to stay on high guard, while calling a core group of leaders to meet back at the Manor for an emergency briefing.

Xin, Marcus, Olivia, Crawley, Slit, and Tom gathered in the war room of the Manor, the tension thick enough to breathe.

“The labs are safe. It seems the Howlers did a better job at protecting the facility than I initially thought,” Tom reported, checking the security feeds. “Vlad and Vere were instrumental in holding the line there.”

“It’s strange, though, right?” Xin asked, looking at the tactical map. “From the sounds of the reports, all of them were running in the same general direction. What exactly is going on?”

She checked her phone, and that was when the messages from Lupus and his group finally came through. Xin went on to explain the news to the others, relaying every detail Lupus had sent, including his urgent insistence that they go after Unzoku as soon as possible.

“The timing of all of this can’t be a coincidence,” Tom said, his analytical mind already connecting the dots. “If you check the logs of when he sent the first message about Unzoku’s arrival, it was shortly after we first came under attack by the werewolves here. I think Unzoku probably planned the synchronized attack on Slough specifically so we couldn't get involved in helping Lupus defend the castle.”

“I agree,” Xin replied. “And it seems he might have underestimated Lupus’s strength. Lupus injured him until he was forced to run away, and as you said, the timing matches perfectly with all the Gluttons retreating.”

“Right,” Marcus added, his voice grim. “If anyone were to guess what a heavily injured, ancient creature who likes to eat things would do when he has a load of pawns at his command, pawns he doesn't care about the answer is pretty obvious. In my head, I imagine that Unzoku is having a massive feast right about now to recover his strength.”

Xin looked back at her phone and saw incoming messages from Gary’s group as well. They explained that they had successfully saved Midwak and that the Gluttons in Centerfield had escaped in the same mysterious fashion. They stated they were already on their way back to Slough. Xin immediately made a call to Gary to tell them everything that was happening at the Manor.

After listening to the briefing, Gary and the others were stunned by the scale of the event. Once everything was explained, Kai asked Gary to put the phone on loud speaker so the entire group could hear and participate in the strategy.

“Wait, can you ask Lupus’s group to tell us exactly what direction Unzoku went in?” Kai asked. “And I need the same data from the scouts in Slough.”

The messages were sent out immediately. After they gathered all the answers and plotted the trajectories on the map, Kai’s eyes narrowed as he figured something out.

“I think your guess is right. All of the Gluttons are heading toward Unzoku,” Kai stated. “If we look at the positions of Ruin City, Slough, and Centerfield, we are practically in a triangle formation. All of the packs are running inward, toward the center of that triangle. Unzoku has to be somewhere within the area between the three cities.”

He looked at the others, his resolve hardening. “Luzen is tracking the Gluttons down as we speak. As soon as we have a confirmed location, we will head there immediately. I think Lupus is right this is our time more than ever. We should all head toward the center together. We’ll pick a meeting spot where Lupus can deliver whatever equipment it is he’s prepared for us, and then we’ll take out Unzoku once and for all.”

Kai gripped the medallion in his hand, the weight of the coming final battle settling over the group.

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