536
Chapter 536
Alicia looked at Zeke standing before her and spoke.
"Zeke Draker, friend of Himonas! I shall clear these useless ones for you."
Though her smile was bright, her words were utterly brutal.
Then Zeke spoke to Alicia in the Northern Continental language.
"Grand Duke, though it may displease you, their strength is currently important military power."
At Zeke's words, Alicia made a dissatisfied expression and lowered her wolf fang sword.
She then looked around at the audience and opened her mouth.
"Hey, you Central Continent bastards. Listen carefully."
THUD!
The palace floor shook as she put down her heavy Lang-ah sword.
Alicia shouted in a thundering voice.
"Don't spew bullshit behind our backs if you want to die, then die yourselves! Evidence? Why do we need such things? It's amazing you can talk such nonsense when tens of thousands of monsters are popping out from the sky!"
She pointed at the images still floating in the air, then turned her head to glare at the Chief mage of Delpoa and said.
"I've especially memorized your face. Don't come crawling to me begging for help when the monsters surge in."
Radiating murderous intent, Alicia sat down with the knights of Himonas on one side of the palace, seeming finished with what she had to say.
Then, resting her chin on her hand, she created an atmosphere of fear by glaring at others with fierce eyes.
The Central Continent nobles, uncomfortable under Alicia's gaze, cleared their throats and deliberately avoided her eyes.
Still, thanks to Alicia, the palace atmosphere reversed again.
"Well, whether the Demon King descends or not isn't important. The Monster Wave itself is the big issue."
"If we don't form an allied army and build defense lines, the problem might grow bigger."
They concluded that forming an alliance would be more beneficial to them than checking Draker's power.
In truth, what moved their hearts was Nirvana and Ishtar's decision to participate.
"And since all the continent's transcendent families have gathered in an unprecedented situation, there must be something to it."
"Even if Draker has some plot, it should be fine since Ishtar and Nirvana will keep him in check."
Even those who opposed and suspected Draker eventually changed their minds and decided to participate in forming the allied army.
Kali created a joint letter to record the list of participants when the situation was settled.
Even the Delpoa side, which had been most opposed, expressed their intention to participate, seemingly judging they couldn't back out now.
With that, the Continental Allied Army was formed again for the first time since the Murkan Empire's invasion twenty-five years ago.
Moreover, this was the largest allied army ever, with participation from the three major transcendent families and the continent's main kingdoms and houses.
The public reported that it was even larger than the allied army formed a thousand years ago to fight against the evil dragon Bahamut.
A few days after the Continental Assembly ended, new news arrived.
It was an urgent report that a Legion of Death composed of demons, monsters, and undead was advancing north.
* * *
"Haa, haa..."
Daria Calvi, knight of the Horse Palace, caught her breath as she put away her longbow.
No matter how many arrows she shot, the enemies showed no sign of diminishing.
No, rather, they only increased as time passed.
GRRRRRRRR!
The dead soldiers were transformed into undead by dark power and returned as enemies.
The Rom Imperial Legion, which had been fighting fiercely, gradually lost their fighting spirit as they witnessed this.
Then Leo's shout was heard from behind.
"Everyone! Stay sharp!"
Prince Leo was personally directing at the frontline.
But then liches revealed themselves in the air.
Groups of three or five liches bombarded the castle walls with magic from the air.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
"AAAAGH!"
Knights and soldiers hit by the liches' magic fell with screams.
The wounded were gasping for breath as they died.
Seeing this, Leo leaped into the air with his sword, consumed by rage.
"HAAAA!"
Lightning sparked from Leo's body as his sword flashed toward the liches.
SWOOSH!
One of the lich groups turned to ash and disappeared like scattered dust when hit by Leo's sword strike.
But such attacks were meaningless against liches.
As long as their life vessel remained, they could recharge their magic power and revive anytime.
Leo landed on the castle wall, seemingly tired as he breathed roughly.
"HUU! HUU!"
Then a horn sounded from afar.
BUUUUU!
With that sound, the advancing Legion of Death began to retreat.
Looking at the sky, light was starting to shine as dawn approached.
The Legion of Death could barely exert power when the sun was up, so they mainly advanced at night.
But that didn't mean they could rest from battle during the day.
During the day, the Breaker Mercenary Corps hired by Jupiter would attack while beating noisy drums and gongs, making it impossible to lower their guard.
After more than a week of this situation, most of the knights and soldiers guarding the fortress were in a walking corpse state, unable to get proper sleep.
Prince Leo was also suffering from extreme fatigue.
He gritted his teeth while looking beyond the fortress walls.
'If this place falls, they'll advance straight to Rom.'
They had to defend Thermo Fortress, the final gateway to the capital Rom, at all costs.
Just then, Daria approached Prince Leo's side.
"Commander."
Leo's current position was Commander, in charge of Thermo Fortress.
She spoke with an obviously exhausted voice.
"At this rate, we may not make it through today."
For the loyal Daria to say such words meant the situation was truly desperate.
Prince Leo bit his lip at Daria's words.
The Legion of Death that wouldn't die even when killed.
It was impossible from the start to face the undead with just these troops.
Daria continued calmly.
"There's still time before the enemy arrives. Please use this chance to escape, Commander."
Prince Leo was destined to become the Emperor of the Empire.
Though he had insisted on coming to the frontline battlefield, he was actually someone who should be protected most safely.
Leo shook his head at Daria's words.
"No, I will continue commanding from here."
"Commander... if you stay here, you might die."
Leo gave no response to those words.
Daria realized then.
'The Prince has already prepared himself for death.'
Leo had already arranged for Carus to take charge of the Rom Empire if he died in battle.
After the mad emperor died, while managing Rom's state affairs with Carus, he realized one thing.
'Carus, not I, is suited to be Emperor.'
He could become an excellent knight or general, but he wasn't cut out to be Emperor.
Rather, contrary to expectations, Carus showed aptitude for state administration, wisely handling difficult situations.
Seeing this, when Leo heard news that the Legion of Death was advancing on Thermo Fortress, he volunteered to personally lead the troops.
While it was partly to boost soldier morale, more than anything he strongly wanted to do what he did best.
Since Carus would protect the rear, he wanted to give his all on the battlefield as he had always wished.
Understanding Leo's resolve, Daria knelt on one knee before him.
"Legion Commander Daria Calvi. I shall share your fate, Commander."
At this moment, she too prepared herself for death once again.
No matter what, they had to defend this gateway and buy time for Rom to establish countermeasures.
Just then, huge drum sounds were heard from outside the walls.
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
The sound that had been coming every dawn for days.
When the Legion of Death retreated, the mercenary corps would appear beating their drums loudly.
Every time that sound was heard, the soldiers on the wall fell into despair.
They had to go into battle again without proper rest.
Leo slowly rose from his seat.
"Legion Commander Daria, have the wounded soldiers retreat and divide those who can move into three groups to block the enemy in turns. Let each group get at least an hour of sleep."
"Yes, Commander."
Yet Prince Leo himself hadn't slept for days.
But he had no time to spare.
The mercenary corps brought huge siege weapons with their loud drums.
WHOOSH!
The catapult launched black iron masses toward the wall.
Leo jumped into the air and swung his sword at the iron mass.
"HAAAA!"
His sword strike collided with the incoming iron mass and caused an explosion.
BOOM! BOOM!
It wasn't an ordinary projectile but a bomb filled with gunpowder.
"URGH!"
Caught in the explosion, Leo spun in the air and landed on the wall.
As Leo barely steadied himself, an unbelievable sight unfolded before his eyes.
'That is...?'
A pitch-black horde of advancing monster armies.
Behind the mercenary corps, monsters were advancing in formation toward Thermo Fortress.
Leo's eyes filled with despair.
The mercenary corps alone was tough enough, but they couldn't possibly stop such a massive monster army.
The other knights and soldiers watching showed similar expressions.
Despair and frustration.
They could only sense their deaths approaching here.
"URRRGH! AAAAGH!"
Some soldiers, driven mad by extreme fatigue and fear, wailed and jumped off the wall themselves.
THUD!
A soldier's body hit the stones below, his head bursting and body shattering as he crumpled to the ground.
This triggered more soldiers to climb the wall one by one.
Then they began falling like puppets with cut strings.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
The chilling sound of soldiers falling to their deaths echoed continuously.
Seeing this, Daria shouted.
"Everyone step back from the wall! Knights, reorganize the ranks to prevent soldiers from falling!"
Her voice scattered meaninglessly.
Not just soldiers but even knights were among those climbing the wall.
They too had lost all hope of survival and chose death.
THUD!
In an instant, hundreds of knights and soldiers threw away their lives.
Leo saw a vision of countless vengeful spirits crawling up to grab him.
'You killed me.'
'You led us all to death.'
Amidst the terrible whispers of the spirits, Leo gritted his teeth.
'Fine, I'll gladly descend to hell with you. But not yet.'
The will to kill more enemies before dying moved Leo's tired body.
He took out a potion he had saved, drank it in one gulp, and drew his sword.
WOOOONG!
Drawing out all his remaining strength, he raised his Aura Blade.
He hoped to raise the soldiers' morale even a little this way.
"HAAAAA!"
He shouted at the advancing monster army.
Then he jumped into the air and swung his sword at them.
A desperate sword strike.
But then.
BOOM! BOOM!
A massive explosion occurred where Leo's sword strike landed.
SCREECH!
The monsters charging at the front were torn to pieces and vanished without a trace in the explosion.
Leo, who launched the strike, was more surprised by the unexpected destructive power.
'What was that?'
Then something flew up in the air.
WHOOSH!
An unidentified figure in black armor flew up and threw a blunt-ended spear toward the monsters.
BOOM! BOOM!
Explosions occurred where the spear landed.
The advancing monster army's formation began to crumble from the sudden explosions.
Daria shouted to the surprised Leo.
"Commander! Allied forces, allied forces have arrived!"
Leo was startled by Daria's words.
'Allied forces? Could Carus have sent them?'
But since they wore unfamiliar armor and weapons, Leo could only maintain his bewildered expression.
Meanwhile, one of the groups flying in the air landed near Prince Leo.
THUD!
The figure in heavy armor slowly approached him.
Removing their helmet revealed their identity. It was a Bird tribe warrior with black feathers.
The leader of the Bird tribe and commander of the Western Alliance Army.
The Song of Crouching Flame had appeared at Thermo Fortress.