Chapter 88
Chapter 88
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Those Who Worship Death (5)
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The original plan had been for Cain himself to lead the vanguard, secure the path, and then wait directly for the reinforcements trailing behind.
Of course, there had been voices of opposition, but this time, Cain had no intention of yielding. And who could blame him?
The memories of that day were still vivid. Even though it was broad daylight, the sky had been stained black. And the legion of corpses.
[My body is rotting away!!]
[Uwaaaah!!]
[......]
The routed soldiers couldn't have looked good in any case... but that day had been particularly gruesome. Was it because their enemies were undead?
Those things, envious and covetous of the living's warmth and life, devoured the flesh of the living with ravenous greed.
And yet, despite lacking the guts or teeth to even digest it, their victims gained no nourishment—only agonizing death.
'I have no idea what they did back then, but even ignoring the Death Knights, the other undead rose again immediately after dying.'
It seemed that the moment that 'black sky' descended, it granted the undead infinite regeneration and immense power.
In a word, an area-wide buff. If that happened, neither the Empire nor the Alliance would escape unscathed.
After all, it would complete a true immortal legion—one that turned the dead into allies, and no matter how many times you killed them, they wouldn't stay down.
Therefore, Cain could not compromise. He ignored the objections and took the field himself. To kill them for certain.
However, he did accept the suggestion to bring one of the masters as an escort. It would increase their chances.
And now, Cain was sincerely regretting that decision. Because it had led to this untimely sparring request...
"Just once, I beg you! Lord Blackguard!!"
"I can't afford to let my guard down. Sorry, but I must decline."
"Please!!"
"......"
He had forgotten. Hidden behind his sister, Chris was still very much one of those madmen called Swordmasters.
Who would have thought he'd request a duel in a situation like this? And yet, since he followed all the rules, there was no stopping him.
Cain already had more than enough on his plate; the last thing he wanted was to spar with a master, regressing over and over in the process.
"The Lord has much work to do, Sir Leonhart. Why not stop bothering him?"
"If even Master Grandel says so much..."
"Phew......"
Fortunately, thanks to Master Grandel, who was assigned to escort the lord, Cain managed to escape the crisis. A silver lining in the misfortune.
Slipping away from Chris like he was fleeing, Cain let out a sigh and lifted his head. The forest shrouded in pitch-black darkness.
The chatter of soldiers and the crackling of burning firewood didn't extend beyond the palisade.
'We've sent scouts not far from here, so we can safely assume no risk of a surprise attack.'
From the lesson of the previous encounter, Cain had rediscovered the importance of scouts. He had known it before, but...
There's a difference between knowing something intellectually and experiencing it firsthand.
That's why he had sent out scouts to monitor likely enemy approach routes.
"No report from the scouts yet?"
"No, sir."
"Don't slack on vigilance."
"Yes, sir!"
Despite the knight's report, full of discipline, Cain showed no sign of coming down from atop the palisade.
He wasn't content with just sending scouts; he pondered his own strategies. What if he were the enemy? What would he do?
A full-frontal assault? Throw everything at them? Possible, but too uncertain. One mistake and they could lose.
'If they wanted a frontal battle, they would have done it from the start. Though that force wasn't small by any means...'
Compared to the 800 Death Knights and tens of thousands of undead he had seen that day, it was downright meager.
Even so, Cain had something to rely on. Special information he had heard from Melisto before regressing.
Until the ritual was fully complete, even Melisto couldn't control an army of that size...
'Before the ritual, she could only control about 20-30% at most.'
Even accounting for the tens of thousands of undead created by devouring the territory's people and soldiers on the day of the ritual,
the real problem was the 800 Death Knights. Taking out 100 still left 700.
Of course, without the 'Day of Ritual,' she couldn't control all 800 at once. Still, they were a threat.
'But she's unlikely to waste her key forces like Death Knights frivolously. So the strategy she'll choose is obvious...'
"My lord!"
"As expected."
Even amid the knights' urgent calls, Cain nodded as if he had anticipated it and responded.
First came the rotten stench assaulting his nose. Then the eerie clatter of bones colliding.
As expected, ghouls and skeletons filled the area beyond the palisade. But their numbers were few.
'Just as I thought. Infiltrate with small forces to accumulate fatigue continuously. Classic, but effective.'
Using small units that could bypass scouts to keep infiltrating, inducing attrition and wearing them down.
That would force the side with wounded to move cautiously, never knowing when or where the next attack would come.
Of course, that only held if they had no idea of the enemy's movements. Cain let out a sigh.
It looked like quite a few would have to die.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ He didn't know who the enemy was, but they seemed like a particularly vicious monster.
Forcing an intense war of attrition using undead, no less. In a way, it was a strategic approach.
A war of attrition against undead that don't die—or resurrect even if they do? What army would want that?
But amid the confusion, Cain calmly found a way to counter the undead legion's attrition tactics.
"From now on, we'll handle undead raids solely with the watchmen. It's a scale the knights can manage."
"But what if they suddenly attack with Death Knights?"
"I'll let you know when that happens. Until then, rest as usual."
However, Cain's strategy was overly radical. Relying only on the knights on watch duty.
Sure, the raid sizes were manageable by knights alone. But what if...
It wasn't that they distrusted Cain's abilities, but even a tiny mistake could lead to massive losses...
"Is it really okay to rest like this?"
"What are you worried about? The Lord's here."
"Trust the Lord and get some sleep. He's the one who's always led us to victory."
At first, there were plenty who couldn't hide their anxiety, but even more placed their faith in him.
But even that anxiety began to fade with time. Because nothing went wrong at all.
Of course, the enemy wasn't stupid. They gradually increased the scale, and after three days, it became impossible to ignore.
Even then, Cain didn't change his policy. Instead, for safety, he recalled the external scouts,
and merely increased the watch personnel slightly. And the next day, Melisto went all-in.
Unlike before, it was a full-frontal raid of sorts, deploying not just Death Knights but even undead golems.
"Indeed... This time, a proper ambush."
And yet, a lone man stood against that mighty undead horde. A man with black hair and black eyes.
Cain Blackguard. The enemy's top commander had appeared before them. Naturally, no reason not to kill him.
They swarmed him in an instant, tearing into his flesh. But for some reason, Cain offered no resistance.
His limbs ripped off, innards devoured, head split open as his brains and eyes were sucked out... and so he died.
But death couldn't stop him. Once again, Cain awoke unerringly in his tent.
He jumped up hurriedly and stepped outside. The sun was dipping below the horizon.
"Attention all! No one sleeps tonight. Stay vigilant without exception."
"Pardon?"
"The necromancer will launch a night raid tonight. It's a full assault, unlike before. Violators will face military law."
"U-Understood!"
Sure enough... that night, not only Death Knights but even flesh golems assaulted them.
Thankfully, they had prepared in advance, and with command that saw through the enemy's moves, it wasn't too hard to handle.
And the next morning, the knights were left awestruck by Cain's near-prophetic strategy. What in the world?
"Can the Lord see the future?"
"How does he predict their moves so accurately?"
"It's downright supernatural..."
Cain had accumulated strategies through countless experiences by now, but even he wasn't that precise.
However, the real reason he knew the enemy's scale, movements—everything—even after recalling the scouts.
He had seen it with his own eyes. The troop composition, numbers... even their advance direction. All before dying.
'Still, this counts as a cheap price.'
And now, a week later, the main force of over 10,000, hastily assembled, finally joined Cain.