That night, at the royal castle.
“…What did you just say?”
Hearing the words of the messenger who rushed into his office, Hilbert asked back with an astonished expression on his face.
“Wesala has been destroyed! All the knights and farmers under the duke’s banner who had gathered to defeat the undead turned into undead and attacked the citizens! The slain citizens also turned into undead and began to assault the city, finally destroying it. Refugees are now pouring into the surrounding towns and villages!”
The messenger himself was skeptical, or perhaps he didn’t want to believe it.
The idea of turning the Knights as a whole into the undead was a nightmare, but it was a lukewarm one.
Undead.
Hilbert thought of this situation as a natural connection to a certain named monster.
The one who used to be Hilbert’s niece. One that would hate, loathe, detest everything in this country.
“Rose Princess of Hellrage”… Rene “Rosey” Ruvia Ciel-Terra.
When Hilbert was in a state of shock, Lawrence, who had just arrived at that moment to report on his duties, changed his expression, put his hand on his chest, and howled bravely.
“O King! I ask your approval to go into battle! I will lead the First Order of Knights to defeat the undead.”
Lawrence also seemed to share Hilbert’s view, and was more interested in defeating the “Rose Princess of Hellrage” than in the undead knights.
“I have something to report!”
Before Hilbert could say anything, another messenger burst into the room.
“What is it this time!”
“An army of undead with a red rose banner has been observed in the vicinity of Temina, Marquis Edfeldt’s territory, east of the capital! Total number is approximately 4,000!”
“… What did you say!?”
＊ ＊ ＊
Temina was a typical lodging town, with inns and other facilities lined up on both sides of the road.
Although there were few visitors during the winter season, there were a few travelers, adventurers who traveled without concern for the winter, and merchants who came to buy jewelry and snow roses.
In the middle of such an inn town, a horde of undead was passing majestically.
In the afterglow, moving corpses and skeletons marched in an orderly, though somewhat fast-paced, fashion. The sight of the armed undead advancing in an orderly fashion resembled an army.
The undead procession that filled the street was so long that it was foolish to even try to count it. Zombified hippogriffs with skeletons on them, zombified horses pulling some kind of cargo on wagons, and so on.
The most conspicuous thing in the procession was a palanquin.
It was a canopied palanquin containing a throne, carried by about 10 skeletons and surrounded by ghouls in knight’s armor (only one was dressed in a kimono).
A curtain hung down, but only the front was open, so that if anyone had been brave enough to observe the procession, they could have seen the person seated in the palanquin.
Sitting on the throne with her legs crossed and her cheekbones propped up was a … skeleton with beautiful silver hair wearing a white dress dyed by a red rose… It was about the size of a child. The empty eye sockets were filled with silver light.
Although somewhat unwilling, René dared to choose a horrifying appearance, aware that she was being watched.
The military banner that the undead pushed up around the palanquin was a bright red rose dyed on a tattered cloth that looked like it was made by tearing open a sack of mud. The flag, which looked like it was drawn by bludgeoning it with human blood, had both an aesthetic and immoral beauty, as well as a disastrous effect.
The rose was also one part of the national emblem of Ciel-Terra, but that was a white rose.
The snow rose, a specialty of Ciel-Terra, was a white rose that bloomed in the snow. It was also prized for its ornamental value, and its shiny, beautiful petals were used to make potions.
The name of René “Rosey” Ruvia Ciel-Terra (i.e., the named monster name “Rose Princess of Hellrage”) was also derived from her silver hair and silver eyes, which were likened to a white rose.
However, she was pushing up the fresh blood rose as a military banner now.
As if to show her sins to those who have dyed the White Rose Princess with their blood.
Or, perhaps, as if to suggest that this red was the proof of the blood that must be shed as compensation.
Those who had been in the inn town were divided into several groups and remained motionless and patient. As if they would be killed if they made a single sound, even a breath.
“Remember that.”
René muttered to herself in the palanquin.
She didn’t want anyone to hear.
“The only reason I’m not killing you here is because I simply don’t have the time. I will return after the capital has fallen.”
The westward march along the highway toward the capital meant passing through towns along the way. If they were to destroy all of them, it would eat up a lot of extra time. Therefore, René had to cut through villages and lodging towns, and bypass cities that had city walls.
In addition, René had sent a unit with excellent covert action ahead of the others to delay the discovery of the disaster by destroying the communication stations of the towns in their path. Fortunately, the only major city with a detection and defense apparatus that would not allow the undead to invade was Wesala, which was the first to be destroyed.
In addition, those who were strong like adventurers and those who used magic like priests were added to the formation by having the advanced unit secure them if possible.
The number of miscellaneous soldiers was sufficient in Wesala, so René wanted to use her limited magical power for elite soldiers.
A good warrior could win even against ten or a hundred of the mundane troops without a hitch. It was even more so when dealing with undead.
The irregular army, which needed neither rest nor sleep, was heading west almost without stopping.
To the royal capital.
＊ ＊ ＊
“The army of the undead passed through Temina approximately four hours ago in the evening… After the army passed, a knight under Marquis Edfeldt, who had Temina as his territory, sent out a message, and the situation was discovered when the Marquis Edfeldt sent an urgent message directly to us…”
“There must have been towns and inns between Wesala and Temina. Have you heard from them?”
“No, we have not received any specific information…”
Hilbert’s worst fears were on his mind.
The town on the way there, a swarm of corpses pushing forward, slaughtering all living creatures.
“Kuh… I want you to try to communicate with the communication stations in the cities around Temina and anyone else who can be contacted! I want to hear from Marquis Edfeldt. Contact him from the communications room and tell him to come to the communications station as soon as possible.”
“Yes, at once!”
The messenger who came later left the office in a hurry.
Anyway, first of all, they had to try to understand the situation.
Although the report of 4,000 undead was probably just a mistaken count, the report was made by a knight and the lord who had received the report. Since it was certain that a large number of monsters were approaching, it was necessary to send out scouts from their side to ascertain the enemy’s strength. The towns and villages in their path must be alerted to evacuate and be on the lookout…
And just as he was thinking that, Hilbert realized that something was wrong.
“… Hey, there. Did you happen to hear when the destruction of Wesala took place?”
“Yes… Although it is not clear at what point the slaughter ended …, the first appearance of the undead was at approximately 10:00 in the morning today. After that, we don’t know exactly, but it appears that the slaughter continued until at least noon.”
“How could they be so close already!?”
Marches generally took a long time. In addition, the larger the size of the army, the longer it took.
The march of 4,000 troops from Wesala to Temina usually took more than a day, depending on the weather and the condition of the road. Even if they left Wesala at noon, they arrived in Temina too fast.
“…If all of them are undead, then the marching speed of humans is of no use to us. The undead have no concept of fatigue. There is no need for unified effort. And the undead can see at night. Perhaps … they are still marching…”
Lawrence said, grinding his teeth.
Hilbert plotted a map of the country in his mind and calculated the speed at which the undead army was advancing.
The results of his calculations were immediately hopeless.
“At this rate, they will reach the royal capital by … tomorrow morning!?”
Hilbert stood up from his chair like he was being faced with an invisible sword.
No way they would pass through the royal city. The situation was clear that the target was the royal capital.
The “Rose Princess of Helragel” was coming to kill Hilbert and destroy … the Kingdom of Ciel-Terra.
The battle usually started slowly, like an icy rain melting snow.
In the meantime, there would be enough time to deal with the situation …and to prepare themselves, heart and mind.
The ridiculous situation of a 4,000-strong army suddenly appearing and attacking tomorrow was beyond comprehension.
In a hollow, backwards voice, Hilbert exclaimed.
“Gather the troops! Get the neighboring lords to send out as many men as they can! I don’t care if they are sleeping, wake up the whole country and bring them to me! Contact the Temple and have them send out the Knights of the Temple and the priests! I’ll call the Adventurers Guild, too. If we are dealing with monsters, they won’t have a problem with it. I don’t care how much money it costs; I’ll get as many adventurers as I can …!”
Hilbert then recalled an even more desperate fact.
Adventurers were more effective than military personnel in fighting monsters.
If they were up against an army of undead, adventurers would be a great help. A high-ranking party might be able to clear a hundred or two hundred.
But the most dependable and strongest party in the country was now…
“When will “Sub-Zero Crystal Spear” return?”
They were now on their way to exterminate a horde of undead that had appeared in the south.
Recommended by Duke Gerald, Hilbert himself sent out the request.
“No way… those undead were a diversion…?”
“The skeleton champion, high ghouls, skeleton vanguards, skeleton assassins,… a diversion, with such a lukewarm force…, they could have as many as 4,000 troops… It’s not too much to ask for a diversion of that magnitude, then.”
Lawrence spat out in disgust.
The skeleton champion was considered a threat equivalent to a 6th class Elite. This didn’t mean that it was the equivalent of a single 6th class Elite adventurer, but that it was suitable for a party that included 6th class Elite adventurers to take it down. This was a somewhat overblown estimate of the danger for the safety of the adventurers, but there was no doubt that the enemy was that dangerous.
Furthermore, if the “Rose Princess of Hellrage” was behind the attack, any half-hearted adventurers would be sent to their deaths in vain. It was necessary to use a party that could solve the problem or at least bring back information in the event of an unexpected situation. The decision to send the “Sub-Zero Crystal Spear” was appropriate.
–…It was appropriate! If only it hadn’t come to this!
“Can’t we have the flying cavalry pick up Sub-Zero Crystal Spear?”
“My king, all our cavalrymen have hippogriffs! All hippogriffs have bird’s eyes. Even if we give them night vision through magic, they instinctively avoid flying at night. I must say that it is a difficult situation without training for night flying. If we wait until morning, we can pick them up…”
“… We can’t…! Then our enemy would have come this far! We can’t… defend ourselves without the airborne cavalry!”
Hilbert held his head.
“…We have no choice, we’ll call Noacurio for reinforcements. If it’s just cavalry, they’ll be here by tomorrow. We can probably get a few cavalrymen out right away…”
Hilbert said in a desperate tone, muttering.
Even if they survived this, they would surely be used as a frontline base for Noacurio. However, at this point in time, they could not afford to think about the trouble that would come in the future.
No matter how much they owed, they had to survive by using all the cards at their disposal.
“We will use the city walls as a shield to defend ourselves. If Noacurio’s reinforcements come…
“No, my king.”
Lawrence took up the sheath of the Terra Ayur, which he carried at his waist, and presented it to Hilbert.
“Everything will be all right as long as we take ‘her’ down. The daughter of the foolish king who sold out his country to the Federation. A treacherous villain who still resents her homeland even in death. Every minute that she exists on this land is a desecration of your reign! Now that she has reappeared, this is her final hour. I, Lawrence, will surely strike her down!!”
His tone was strong.
Undead could not continue to operate without a supply of magical power. If there was a magician who created the undead (it was certainly the “Rose Princess of Hellrage”), then once the magician was defeated, even a 4,000-strong army could be completely neutralized.
As long as Lawrence defeated the “Rose Princess of Hellrage”, they would win the battle.
But Hilbert was not blindly clinging to a single possibility. Hilbert was a cautious and thoughtful man who would think before he acted.
“If you can beat her, beat her. That’s the best way… But it doesn’t mean she’s going to come running to you. She might just keep sending her army of undead.”
“I understand that,… The undead army is an army that does not need to be replenished. They also have a ridiculous tendency to increase in number with the number of corpses they create. There is a good chance that they will try to bring the battle to an endurance battle. However, given the … opportunity, I will certainly…”
“Oh. I’ll be relying on … you then.”
“Understood!!”
Encouraged by Lawrence’s brave salute, Hilbert could think just a little bit, ‘I think we can manage it’.
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