Slipping into the Empire
They slipped into the Empire in secret. Identification papers were a nuisance to obtain, and there was no time for them anyway.
The Holy Empire was not what it used to be. In War of the Gods, that vast realm had been a fortress of iron, and it was hard to believe a place like that could now be entered and left so easily.
Getting to the capital from here would take forever.
There was no need to go all the way to the capital, where the imperial palace stood. Even if the undead legion marched on the palace, it would have to pass through here. Spatial movement to the palace would be impossible, so whether the undead came by air or on foot, Yujun judged that standing in this spot was the best choice.
"Yujun, do you know how close they are?"
"Why?"
"So I can get the chimeras ready."
"You're bringing the chimeras out this time?"
"Yeah. I made a whole lot of them. Be a shame to let them sit and rot."
"Think they can handle the undead? The ones coming for the Holy Empire aren't playing around."
"Yeah. I'm sure of it."
Manuela answered with complete confidence, and Yujun nodded.
"The legion should get here in about half a day. They don't look like they're at full speed, so they might arrive sooner."
"Good. Preparations ought to be finished by then."
"Then let's grab a room and rest until the undead show up."
"Okay!"
Rest, in name only. Everyone had work to do, and no one sat idle.
Time slipped by quickly, and the streets outside grew loud. The number of players had swelled, but tension was written plainly across every face. On an ordinary day the Holy Empire's players would have sneered at undead; this time, the enemy was of an entirely different order. Everyone knew the host advancing on the Empire was vast, yet no one knew just how vast, and that uncertainty only fed the dread.
Only the players of the Raidan Papacy, bearers of divinity—a power fatal to the undead—wore easy smiles.
"No matter how strong the undead get, they can't so much as twitch before divinity."
"Daring to set foot in the Holy Empire. Undead really are fearless."
In truth, even fearless undead usually would not come near the Holy Empire, where the energy called divinity—or holy power—lay thick. These undead seemed not to care in the slightest. They advanced without hesitation, and the unprecedented scale of the legion made itself felt in the tremor of the earth, which reached even here. Every time they marched in step, the ground seemed to heave.
The Holy Empire, moreover, had long been a peaceful realm that had not suffered so much as a single war. Peace had held because the Empire's strength was overwhelming. This event, however, was being forced by the system, and there was no way to avoid the fight.
"Heh heh..."
"They say killing undead gives you something called Peace Contribution. Once we stop this raid, we could even head out on deployments."
"The higher-ups are already planning on it. We take payment from the other kingdoms and earn Peace Contribution on top of it. Two birds with one stone."
The Papacy players made no effort to hide their excitement. An undead raid was the perfect stage for them to shine.
Thud. Thoom.
In the space of five minutes the tremors grew heavier. The undead legion was drawing near.
Compared with the capital, this place was little more than a small city, but it boasted stout walls—the so-called first line of defense of the Holy Empire. Famous players from the capital had come to prepare as well. The Empire's strength was considerable.
The moment the players standing atop the high walls caught sight of the legion, they readied their magic as one. Yujun watched the sky fill with spells of every color and let out a breath of admiration.
"Now that is a sight."
It was a world apart from war seen through a monitor. The Holy Empire's mages were especially skilled, and the power packed into their spells was anything but ordinary.
Thousands of spells rained down on the undead legion. As if they had expected it, a thick membrane formed over the host. It appeared as naturally as if it had always been there, and every spell that struck it vanished into nothing. Whether shield or barrier, the membrane did not so much as shudder. The magic was drawn in as if swallowed, and with every spell it drank, the membrane grew thicker.
"S-stop!"
"Halt the casting!"
A few quick-witted players poured mana into their voices and shouted.
"What is that?"
"Never seen it. Dark magic?"
"It's a shield, right?"
"A bit murky for a shield, isn't it?"
"Who cast it?"
"One of the undead, obviously."
No one understood it. Only guesses came out.
Sheltered by the thick membrane, the undead legion charged and slammed into the walls. Traps sunk into the earth dropped undead into pits, but the host simply trampled the bodies filling the holes and pressed on, and on.
"Master. It would seem the hour has come for us to take the field."
The wall shuddered once, and Paranet spoke. Yujun nodded.
"From the look of it, they won't last more than a few minutes."
Perhaps because there had been no war in so long, the walls had not been properly maintained, and weak spots showed here and there. No change was visible yet, but cracks were already running through the stone. Dozens of mammoth-like undead, made of nothing but bone, struck the wall, and every impact sent the players atop it staggering.
Then the membrane protecting the legion vanished.
The mages, who had been waiting for an opening, launched their spells again. This time, fortunately, no thick membrane formed. The magic fell straight onto the undead.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-boom! Kwa-kwa-boom!
Skeleton knights, mages, and other relatively frail undead were helpless before the spells. A fair number of death knights and dullahan crumbled as well. It lasted only a moment. Liches in the rear began resurrecting them, and they were restored almost at once.
The players poured magic without pause.
Kwaaang! Kwaang!
Dozens of spells flew from the undead side as well, but in power and scale they fell short of the players' magic. A handful of high-ranking mages blocked them easily with shields.
"This is doable."
"Right? Maybe they just have the numbers."
"The experience is insane... It's a gold mine. A gold mine."
"I didn't get a single point. You stole every last hit."
"Seriously? What about Peace Contribution?"
"Contribution went up a little."
"So it rises even without the finishing blow, as long as you contribute."
"Next one's mine."
"If you can land it."
Unlike the mages, who had only to loose spells from the rear, the melee players were burning with impatience. They needed Peace Contribution and experience, yet charging the undead legion looked like a fine way to die without a trace. They were meant to fling only crude magic—and how were they supposed to compete with renowned mages who had devoted their lives to the art?
Still, if they waited, an opening would come. In a tangled melee they might even profit more than the mages, and it might be safer besides. The moment a mage was truly in danger was the moment the wall was breached. Undead would certainly slip into the rear, and without protection from other close-fighters, a mage was as good as dead. An overwhelmingly skilled mage might be different, but how many were at that level?
Then the bone werewolves of the undead legion moved.
They were superb assassins. Their bodies were transparent—invisible to the naked eye as a matter of course—and they gave off no presence, so only warriors with exceptional senses could detect them. Before anyone noticed, bone werewolves had climbed the wall and begun cutting down mages.
Chk! Shhk!
Their movements were so stealthy that the mages did not even realize they had been struck.
"Gyaaah!"
Only when the mages' crimson blood filled the air did the players grasp how grave things had become.
"B-block them! It's an ambush!"
"Is this the Demon God Worshippers?"
"No. It's undead."
"How do you know?"
"The smell of Demon God Worshippers and undead is completely different."
Thanks to a few players with unusually keen senses, the rest learned that the assassinations were the undead's work.
"Deal with the ones that climbed up first!"
Below the wall was already chaos. Above it, invisible assassins turned everything into pure confusion.
A bone werewolf approached Yujun, who had been quietly casting.
"What?"
It came up behind him so naturally that he took it for an ally—until the claws swung. He drew his sword in a flash and blocked. Claws and leg-bone alike, where they met his blade, were sheared clean off. Half its body gone, the bone werewolf made not a sound. Well. It was undead. Of course.
"Master! I shall stand as your shield!"
"Don't bother."
Yujun gave the sword a light swing and shattered the bone werewolf.
Peace Contribution has increased by 11!
"Oh. It pays decently."
Yujun decided to clear the bone werewolves on the wall first. The mages were being cut down so helplessly it was almost stupid, and the more of them survived, the easier things would be for him. From the moment he stepped in, no mage died atop the wall. He finished the bone werewolves in an instant, checked once more to be certain, and returned to his place. Paranet watched him with eyes full of awe.
Kwaaang—!
The wall shook again. The shields the mages had layered over it were brutally shattered by the giant undead. They tried desperately to hold, but it was beyond them.
Then the players of the Raidan Papacy stepped forward.
"Bring out what we prepared."
"Yes!"
Astonishingly, they drew something resembling a cannon from a large orange sack. It did not fire shells, but the shape was much the same.
"Infuse!"
"Infuse!"
The Papacy players each reached toward dozens of the cannons. A pure white energy flowed slowly into the openings at their rears.
Wooong—woong!
The cannons shuddered as if they might burst at any moment. It lasted only a second.
Pang—!
With a rather dainty little report, a flash of energy fired down at the undead beneath the wall. There was no explosion. The bodies touched by that pure white power simply began to melt. There were no exceptions.
The effect's a bit like my Touch of Healing.
The difference was that a lich could still resurrect them, and the melting was slower than Touch of Healing. Even so, there was no doubt the Raidan Papacy's holy power was fatal to the undead. It might be an inferior echo of Touch of Healing, but when dozens—hundreds—of players wielded it, that was another matter.
An enormous sweep of holy power poured over the undead host, and for the first time the undead faltered.
"It's working!"
"That's the Papacy for you!"
The joy lasted only an instant. Weakened by the repeated impacts, the wall began to collapse. Only the section around the gate gave way, so the players did not suffer heavy losses. The problem was that the undead had set foot inside the Holy Empire.
The second line, waiting within because there was no room left atop the wall, unleashed the magic they had prepared. And that first thick membrane formed over the undead legion once more. Watching their spells sink into it and vanish, the players stood dumbfounded.