"More than expected... enough to make you sick of counting."
"At least it's not in the tens of thousands. I'd say there's easily over a hundred thousand."
Too many to get an accurate count, but it was certainly more than thirty or forty thousand.
Based on the report of tens of thousands of Imperial troops on the march, I'd estimated at most fifty to sixty thousand — but more than double that could make things difficult... wiping them all out, that is.
"Well, even if the enemy numbers exceed what we expected, as long as we perform better than planned, there shouldn't be a problem."
"Right. Besides, they still haven't noticed us, so even with more than expected, what we do doesn't change... right?"
Saying that, I began firing off Fireballs in rapid succession.
The sheer number was surprising, but whether there were a lot or a little, what I did was the same — just bombard the swarm with magic. With this many targets packed together, there was no need to aim carefully, and since they were marching in a tight formation, each spell could damage several, or even over a dozen.
"The rate of spread is a bit slow... Should have brought some oil."
"We do have some on hand, but not nearly enough to use on a swarm that size."
Despite our chatter, Grandpa and I kept firing off magic. It had only been about ten minutes, but we'd probably already taken out close to a thousand.
"With this many, just firing magic from the sky really isn't efficient... At this rate, they'll scatter and escape in every direction."
"Then how about we get closer and use stronger magic? I'll aim for the rear of the swarm."
"In that case, I'll take the front."
Splitting to the front and rear of the swarm, Grandpa and I dove down from the sky and set about annihilating the horde with more powerful magic.
"As expected, Firestorm is way more efficient than Fireball."
While Fireball burned an average of four to five zombies per shot, Firestorm took down at least twenty, and in densely packed areas, more than double that.
However, as time passed, the zombies began to scatter, seemingly trying to escape — just like at Kukuri Village, someone must be issuing them commands. Well, none with the imposing presence of a Dragon Zombie showed up on my Detection... but there could be ones like Namiitarou that could conceal their presence, and occasionally I spotted strong-looking ones that moved differently from ordinary zombies. When I used Appraisal on those, their Status came back garbled, making their true nature impossible to determine — creepier than just being zombies. Well, like the others, they could be easily taken down with magic, so they weren't exactly threatening... but they were apparently more intelligent than regular zombies, since they'd occasionally throw weapons trying to knock you out of the air.
"Looks like we can wipe them all out at this rate... but as I suspected—"
There was one!
Just as the attacks were becoming routine, that four-armed monster from before came bursting up through the burning zombies.
I'd been attacking from about ten meters above ground level, where regular zombie attacks (aside from the occasional thrown projectile) couldn't reach — but the four-armed creature apparently had no trouble reaching that height.
That said, I'd already anticipated that the Empire was involved with the four-armed monsters, so I'd figured there was a good chance one would be in this horde too. That's why I'd been using Detection since the start of the attack, keeping an eye out for anything moving at speeds no zombie should have. When the creature lunged at me, I shifted a few meters higher into the air to dodge, then fired a Fire Bullet into its back as it fell, taking it out.
"Ah! Grandpa's over there... looks like he's okay."
With Detection, I didn't have to worry about sneak attacks on my end — but what about Grandpa? I belatedly turned to check, only to find that he'd dodged the creature's attack mid-air at almost the same moment I'd turned, and knocked it out of the sky with his beloved staff. He even had the composure to finish it off with magic after it hit the ground.
"Seriously, stop waving at me and watch what's in front of you..."
Grandpa noticed me looking and was showing off by waving his hand — but a rock thrown by a zombie sailed right past his face, and he looked visibly flustered.
Sure, moments of carelessness like that could make your heart skip a beat, but even with the monsters joining the fight, our advantage never wavered. The most we had to worry about was new monsters jumping up and watching for thrown objects from them.
"Still, with the monsters showing up, our clearing speed for the zombies has slowed... Time to bust out the big one, I guess... Grandpa!"
"What is it, Tenma?"
To use the big spell, I fell back to where Grandpa was and proposed the plan. He responded with:
"Filth shall burn in poison flames — !"
Grandpa started flying around, gleefully spamming fire magic in every direction. On top of that, he was scattering lumber and oil he'd had stored in his Magic Bag, so it wasn't long before a huge number of zombies were engulfed in flames.
"Grandpa, it's almost time! Get back!"
"Right! Leave it to me!"
At my signal, Grandpa immediately pulled back. Once I confirmed he was clear, I conjured a Tornado from wind magic at the center of the blazing zombie horde. And then:
"'Fire
Tornado
' — still as powerful as ever, I see."
The same spell that had dealt a devastating blow to the zombie horde back at Kukuri Village was once again wreaking havoc upon them.
"I've gotten better at things like this compared to before."
"Oh! You can even move it around now!"
Since the situation was more relaxed than before and both my technique and Magic Power had improved, I could move the "Fire Tornado" around, if not perfectly. As a result,
"Given the Zombies' speed, they can't even escape and are just being swallowed up."
The "Fire Tornado" approached faster than the Zombies could flee, continuously sucking them in and swirling them up into the sky.
"Gramps, be careful of anything falling down."
"Understood. More importantly, Tenma, what about the Zombies that survive being sucked in, or those outside its range?"
I hadn't confirmed it, but among the Zombies caught in the "Fire Tornado," there was a possibility that some might survive through a miraculous chance. Furthermore, since the horde was so large, many Zombies still remained outside the "Fire Tornado's" range.
"For those outside the range, you should pick them off from a distance, Gramps. You don't need to go for the kill, just try to slow them down while being mindful of the 'Fire Tornado.' For the ones you slow down and any survivors still moving after being sucked in, the Golems should be able to handle them, right?"
However, since chunks of earth or stone like Golems would be dangerous if sucked up and whirled into the sky, they had to operate at a safe distance from the "Fire Tornado." But the Zombies being pulled in gave a rough idea of a safe distance, and if I ordered them to eliminate Zombies located away from the "Fire Tornado's" path, it should be fine.
"Yes, that would be the most efficient... Just make sure not to send them my way."
With that, Gramps flew toward a Zombie that had luckily escaped the "Fire Tornado's" range and was trying to flee, firing magic at it from behind. The half-dead Zombie was then finished off by the Golems coming up from behind.
"If only I could increase its speed a bit more, but this seems to be the limit for now. Gramps doesn't seem too happy with it either, so speed is something to work on in the future."
Ideally, I'd want it moving at a galloping horse's speed, but currently, it was about as fast as a brisk human walk. I could technically push it a little faster, but... if I tried to exceed its current speed, the control would become unstable. In fact, when I tested how fast I could make it go, the "Fire Tornado" almost veered toward Gramps, which was quite frightening. Well, Gramps was probably even more panicked, though...
"Still, maybe we sucked in ten to twenty thousand? It was helpful that the Zombies were slow... although, the ones still escaping are mostly the four-armed monsters or individuals stronger than those that were swallowed."
There might be strong individuals that were slow, but generally, the faster-moving ones tended to be stronger than ordinary Zombies, so it was highly likely that only weaker ones had been defeated. Still, the original goal was to reduce the horde's numbers, and even if they were strong, they were still Zombies—unless it was some ridiculously exceptional one, even a member of the Royal Capital Guard could likely handle it one-on-one.
While thinking this, I kept advancing the "Fire Tornado," but it seemed to have lost some of its power compared to the beginning. Then, after it had swallowed over thirty thousand Zombies, just as it was nearing forty thousand, its power rapidly faded, and it eventually dissipated on its own.
"What's wrong, Tenma! Did something happen!"
"No, it just dissipated on its own due to something like that, so there wasn't any particular problem."
The "Fire Tornado" was a large and powerful spell, but it relied heavily on natural phenomena, so it was possible for it to dissipate due to changes in terrain or air pressure. Well, I had only used this magic a few times, including back at Kukuri Village, so I wasn't entirely sure if that was the case, but if it had dissipated, I could just cast it again without issue.
"So that's the plan, Grandpa. I'm going to use Fire Tornado again, so I'll need your help."
"Well, I don't have as much Magic Power as you, Tenma, and I've been flying around casting spells until just now... Still, one more round should wipe out about a third of the horde, so I suppose I can push a little harder."
"All right then, let's go!" With that, Grandpa charged straight into the fleeing zombie horde.
"I'll summon some extra Golems to help with cleanup... Guess I should head in too!"
Since I deployed additional Golems, I followed shortly behind Grandpa and headed toward the horde to unleash fire magic. We were short on timber and oil, but the two of us compensated by burning more thoroughly, making the flames fiercer than the first time.
"Grandpa, it's about time."
"Mm... This one looks more dangerous than before, so just to be safe, I'll hang back a little further."
Once I confirmed Grandpa had retreated to a safe distance, I cast the Tornado spell once more. A Fire Tornado larger than the first one descended upon the zombie horde and began devouring it with terrifying force.
"At this rate, it should be over soon. Grandpa, I'll leave the cleanup to you. Be careful not to get sucked in."
"Leave it to me! And you, Tenma—don't mess up the control like last time."
So he's going to bring that up after all... I thought to myself as I turned forward to push the Fire Tornado even further ahead, when—
"Grandpa, defend yourself!"
"Hm? Whoa—!"
The Fire Tornado suddenly destabilized, and in the very next instant, it burst apart. Rather than going out of control on its own, it felt more like someone's
ma
gic
had interfered and blown it to pieces. The resulting blast pulverized several thousand zombies near the Fire Tornado, and both Grandpa and I were sent flying. However, I had noticed the disturbance right away and immediately put up a magical barrier, and Grandpa barely managed to activate his defense in time. As a result, the shock from the blast was significantly reduced for both of us, and neither of us suffered injuries severe enough to be incapacitated.
"Grandpa, are you okay?!"
The impact had left aches all over my body, my vision was blurry, and I felt nauseous, but I was still able to move. Grandpa, however, didn't seem to be in the same shape.
For the moment he was still hovering in the air, albeit unsteadily, but his eyes seemed even more dazed than mine and it looked like he could crash at any moment. On top of that, his hearing appeared to be affected as well—he wasn't responding at all despite me calling out to him in a loud voice.
"Grandpa!"
"Hm? ...Oh, Tenma. Sorry, but I can't make out a word you're saying."
I immediately grabbed Grandpa's arm and decided we needed to pull back from our current position. As we moved, I called out to him once more, and he gestured to his ear to let me know his hearing was shot. Other than that, he seemed to be in pain all over, so I used recovery magic to treat him. With that, everything except the nausea and dizziness should clear up soon.
"Tenma, we should probably pull back a little further, just to be safe."
"Yeah. The situation feels a lot like when that Dragon Zombie showed up... and I've got a really bad feeling about this."
Part of me felt like we could probably handle even that Dragon Zombie from before if it came down to a fight now, but something that huge and conspicuous would've stuck out in the herd right away. Duke Sanga and the others would have reported it no matter what. Besides, the idea of there being multiple creatures like that was absurd.
"Maybe there's something out there that would make a Dragon Zombie look like the better option..."
Just as Grandpa dropped that spectacularly ominous flag, we finished evacuating. We were now a full five kilometers from where we'd started. We'd been careful to put serious distance between us, but the smoke from when the Fire Vortex had burst outward had swallowed our original position, and it showed no signs of clearing. If there really was a Dragon Zombie-class creature lurking in that smoke, even this distance might not be safe.
"For now, let's keep our guard up—not just the smoke, but everything around us—while we use our healing potions. They might not do much, but it's better than nothing."
"That's right. Ideally, I'd like to land on the ground and catch my breath... but I'm too scared to do that."
I wanted to do the same, honestly, but if we landed at this distance, the terrain would block our view of the smoke's center. If the enemy had some kind of long-range attack or high-speed movement, we'd be handing them a fatal opening.
So Grandpa and I stayed airborne, remaining on guard as we used our healing potions. Normally, it would've been wise to at least get some food in our stomachs, but even swallowing the healing potions was rough right now.
"The smoke seems to have thinned out quite a bit... What do you think—could the Fire Vortex have been some kind of accident?"
"A lot of time has passed with no movement at all, so I want to believe that's the case... but it's not. I don't know why it's so quiet, but there's definitely something out there."
Even as I thought how wonderful it would be if grandpa was right, I was absolutely certain that wasn't the case.
Completely
and utterly
convinced.
"Grandpa, I don't know what's out there, but let's keep our distance from each other. If we stay clustered together like this, we could both get taken out in one shot."
"Agreed. I don't know why it's staying hidden, but I doubt this is going to end peacefully."
We had agreed to fight if it was alone and flee if there were multiple, and just as we tried to put some distance between us, a fierce wind swept through the entire area, blowing away the remaining smoke in one gust.
What emerged from the smoke was...
"A person?"
A humanoid figure, roughly the same size as us, its entire body shrouded in a cloak—
What—
ever—
it was.
Margrave Houst's Side
"What are the casualties!"
"Of the five squads stationed outside the fortress, the three deployed to the front engaged the enemy and were routed! Those who managed to evacuate were the two squads positioned in the rear, along with roughly half of the three that fought!"
"Several four-armed monsters gave chase and latched onto the fortress, but we have since driven them back! In the process, however, one broke through, and several people were killed!"
This was the worst! We had been holding our ground, but in one fell swoop we'd been pushed back. And what's more—
"So, is it true the imperial army was—
a
ho
rde
of
zom
bi
es?"
"There is no mistake. We have testimony from survivors of the units that engaged them, and more importantly, it appears that zombies attacked alongside the four-armed monster — there are numerous eyewitness accounts. Even though night had fallen, the area around the fort is kept well-lit at all times, so it's inconceivable that all the witnesses could have simultaneously mistaken what they saw."
That was certainly true enough... but then again, if one were to argue that point, it was equally inconceivable that units who were supposed to be on full alert had all failed to spot an enemy that had advanced to within several hundred meters.
"However, it appears the enemy has no immediate intention of committing fully to taking the fort. Rather than assaulting the fort, they seem to be devoting the bulk of their forces to attacking the Royal Capital."
If that was the case, then we might need to mobilize immediately and strike out. If we could coordinate with Duke Sanga's army and Marquis Samons's army, we could drastically reduce the Empire's numbers and perhaps even stall or halt their advance entirely... but the real question was how many of us would survive. Fighting while surrounded by the enemy, defeating them, and still maintaining our military formation — even dreaming had its limits.
"My lord Border Count, we've just received reports from Duke Sanga's army and Marquis Samons's army!"
"Let me see! ...Damn it! They're in the same situation over there too!"
In other words, they couldn't come to our aid. They were in the same position as us — probably just as desperate for help.
If it had come to this, all we could do was hold the fort and wait for an opening. Even if all three armies coordinated their movements, the likelihood of total annihilation was still high — for the Border Count's army alone to go on the offensive would be nothing short of suicide.
If there was any silver lining, it was that the forts designated for the Duke's and Marquis's forces had been completed and reinforced, that ample food supplies had been transported into all three forts, and that we had the Golem cores secretly provided by the Ootori family.
No matter how high-performance Tenma's Golems were, five thousand of them would struggle to defeat an enemy force of unknown size. On the other hand, Golems that required no rest were an immense comfort in the current situation... but if we revealed the Golems at the wrong moment, the enemy might pivot to crushing us before even continuing their advance, and the same outcome would occur if there happened to be Imperial spies within the Border Count's army.
"(Maybe it's better to keep them hidden until the last possible moment...)" "So, what's the status of communications with the Royal Capital and Shelheim?"
"That has already been taken care of. We sent word to Shelheim first, and they will relay it onward to the Royal Capital."
It seemed that hiring several Tamers who commanded bird-type Monsters — specifically for situations like this when we couldn't move freely — had paid off in spades. Since we had also placed the Tamers we'd hired under Duke Sanga's and Marquis Samons's command, it was a tremendous advantage that all three armies could communicate without anyone having to leave the fort. Moreover, sending Lyra — who was originally the person in charge of this fort — to Shelheim in my place had been the right call. If we had kept her here, there would have been no one in Shelheim to whom we could safely entrust full military authority.
"Hmm... Send an urgent additional messenger to Shelheim. The message reads: 'Tell Shelheim to gather the surrounding residents and soldiers —"
"every"
"last"
"one"
"of"
"them —"
"and hold the castle to weather the Empire's assault. When gathering residents, only allow them to bring the barest minimum of daily necessities. For soldiers, have them bring as much of their base's supplies as they can.'" And tell Duke Sanga and Marquis Samons: "The Border Count's army has chosen to hold the castle."
Detailed communications could be put off for now. Those two would understand our intentions from that alone. More pressing was organizing the forces for the siege... This being the case, the reduction in our ranks from the ambush might come back to haunt us later on.
"Once more, tell the soldiers to engrave the army's discipline deep into their hearts. The situation is already dire enough — we cannot afford to let the army be worn down over something trivial."
This was by far the harshest situation any of them had ever faced, but all they could do was hold on as long as possible and wait for circumstances to shift. They had to pray to the gods that things would change for the better.
Border Count Haust's Side — End