Reinforcements on the Horizon
Sssssshaaaaa―
Sssssh―
The undead soldiers kept clawing their way up out of the sand, one after another without end. When Simon glanced back, he could see the coachman and Lisa huddled inside the carriage, trembling in terror.
"Erze!"
WHAM! Simon shouted as he kicked an undead soldier square in the face.
"Protect the carriage!"
[Yes, yes~]
At the sound of her reply from somewhere overhead, webs of spider silk snaked out and latched onto the carriage and its horses. In one smooth motion they were hoisted high into the air, lifting the pair safely beyond the reach of the undead soldiers' grasping hands.
[Don't you worry about this side, now~]
"Counting on you!"
Slash! Beside Simon, Kajan swept his arm through the air, and three undead soldiers were torn apart in a single blow. Even so, fresh flesh was already crawling back over the severed stumps.
"A nuisance," Kajan muttered, swinging his arm again.
"Simon—these regenerating undead. Anything ringing a bell?"
"Yes."
Simon's expression hardened with grim focus.
"The Dungeon Addicts. The ones who turned immortal during the Gold Mine Dungeon incident."
Of all places, this had to be the very ground where the Gold Mine Dungeon once stood—and that suspicion only deepened with every passing second.
THUD!
This time it was Simon's turn, a Chakgeom fist splitting an undead soldier through the chest. It was almost as if time itself had been frozen in place—no matter how he cut or tore them, the undead always reverted to their original state moments later.
There are too many of them!
Unbreakable was trouble enough on its own, and now their numbers had climbed past a hundred.
—Kreeeeeagh!
Ducking and weaving through a hail of thrown spears, Simon suddenly felt his feet sink deep into the sand and lost his balance. An undead soldier lunged instantly, slamming him to the ground.
"Ngh!"
Its jaws split wide open, snapping down toward his throat to tear it apart. Calmly, Simon twisted his body just slightly, then kicked the creature off and rolled back to his feet.
"Look out!"
His whole body reacted to Kajan's urgent shout. A mid-sized undead—far larger than the rank-and-file soldiers—was driving its fist straight at him.
"Pier!"
Clatter-clatter-clatter-clack!
With a grinding sound like machinery locking into place, Simon's left arm was sheathed in gleaming white bone. He clenched his left fist and drove it straight into the oncoming blow.
CRACK!!
The two fists collided with a thunderous impact. Cracks spread from the mid-sized undead's fist across its entire body, and it crumbled to pieces where it stood.
—Kiiiiie!
He'd barely caught his breath before the surrounding soldiers came swarming in again. Simon wiped the sweat-soaked bangs from his brow.
"What a pain."
Click-click-click—
Now Pier's bones locked into his right leg. Simon lifted it and lashed out through empty air, and the sheer force of the swing sent undead soldiers flying in every direction.
Clatter-clatter-clack!
Pier's bones fitted themselves over his left leg as well. With both limbs fortified, he planted them against the earth and charged—and the undead soldiers, unable to match his speed, were bowled over left and right.
Even as he carved a fearless path through enemy lines, more of Pier's bones raced across Simon's body. The Bone Armor over his chest hardened into a solid breastplate, and the plating spread on down his arms and legs. Pier's mantle settled across his back.
[Boy! On your flank!]
Undead soldiers came charging in from the side, axes raised. Simon raised his right hand.
Clatter-clatter-clatter-clack!
The Bone Gauntlet assembled over his right hand like a portrait sliding into its frame—and then, with a satisfying snick, Pier's weapon settled into his grip: the Sword of Ruin.
He gripped it tight, braced his right leg firmly against the ground, and twisted at the waist. Then his gaze, his arms, and the greatsword all followed through together—and the world spun.
CRASH-HOOOOOM!
A straight line that pulverized everything in its path.
The mid-sized undead's body split at the waist, top half and bottom half sailing apart before slamming into the dirt. In the distance came the heavy boom! boom! of falling giants.
'Haah.'
Simon felt the emotion surging up inside him.
That power flooding through his entire body. And the sensation of the Sword of Ruin hilted in Pier's hand.
'Fighting as Pion... it's the first time since second year.'
[Kheheheh! Indeed it is!]
Best of all was Pier's battle-lust, burning hotter through their bond than it had in ages.
[But it's too soon to let your guard down, boy!]
From the severed lower halves of the mid-sized undead Simon had sliced apart, fresh flesh had already begun creeping upward again.
Simon ran, trampling over the heads of the surrounding soldiers, and brought the Sword of Ruin down on the great beast himself.
CRRAAASH!
The blade split the body cleanly in two—and the mid-sized undead turned pitch-black and collapsed, crumbling apart where it fell.
'Just as I thought.'
The Sword of Ruin's edge carried an effect that severed regeneration and healing. These immortal undead, too, could be truly destroyed—so long as he cut them down with the greatsword itself.
The problem was that even now, even this very second, more undead soldiers were crawling up out of the sand.
They had even begun climbing toward the webs Erzsébet held aloft, and Kajan had been buried beneath the swarming bodies entirely, lost from view.
Slash!
Crunch!
Simon strode across the battlefield cutting them down with the Sword of Ruin, but the rate at which new undead sprang up outpaced every strike.
And then—
[Boy! A large force of humans approaching at ten o'clock!]
As if things weren't bad enough already. In the direction Pier called out, a haze of dust rose into the air, and a band of mounted cavalry was bearing down on them.
"YOOOYOOYOOYOOO!"
They carried banners emblazoned with the Black Wolf's sigil.
Riding down upon them, shrieking that bizarre war cry, they could only be Ganes Guild bandits.
'Of all times—NOW?!'
The worst-case scenario he'd feared. He was already stretched thin fighting the Society, and now their underlings from Ganes Guild had to show up too.
If this went on, the coachman and Lisa in the carriage would be in danger—and so would Kajan.
'Ugh!'
Simon cut a relentless path forward through the undead soldiers.
The Ganes Guild horsemen kicked up a roiling cloud of dust and closed the distance in the blink of an eye. Hoofbeats shook the earth, and the horses' shrill whinnies rang out sharp and clear.
Shhk!
Gripping the greatsword, Simon planted himself resolutely in their path, tilting his arm out to the side and dropping into a low stance.
'Before they reach me, I'll cut down the vanguard with—'
Flit—
Just then, a single white feather drifted down beside Simon, mid-preparation for his slash, and came to rest on his shoulder.
[Miss me?]
'!'
Simon's eyes flew wide and he aborted the strike instantly.
KRRRUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!
The next moment, hundreds of riders surged past him and charged headlong into the undead soldiers.
WHAM!
THUD!
Every last one of them ignored Simon and Kajan alike, cutting down only the undead. Blades flashed and undead heads went tumbling. Whirling slings let fly, and the soldiers' skulls burst like smashed watermelons.
—Neiiiigh!
The horses' ferocious cries and hammering hooves were deafening. Simon turned to look back, his face frozen in astonishment.
[You wanted to see me, didn't you?]
And there—amid that swarm of mounted bandits, the lone woman among them—a girl rode a striking white mare, both legs swung casually to one side as she led the horde, her eyes curving into a sly smile.
"Serne!"
Simon's mouth hung open.
"What's going on? Why do you have the Ganes Guild—!"
[Nothing all that remarkable.]
Her voice drifted up from the feather on his shoulder.
[I simply decided that guild was going to be mine.]
WHAM! THUD!
Watching the bandits smash the undead soldiers to pieces, Simon let out a hollow laugh.
'Like a guild is something you just take because you feel like it.'
Still, thanks to her, they'd finally gotten some breathing room.
Kicking off the ground, Simon charged into the fray as well, cleaving apart the undead as they tried to regenerate and rendering them incapable of rising again.
"Hum~ hm-hmm~"
And atop the lead horse, Serne was absorbed in filing her nails. Feathers swirled around her, fighting in her stead, and even the horse she rode was being puppeteered by a feather tucked into the back of its head.
"My Queen! We have just pierced through enemy lines!"
So spoke Karac, the bandit captain who had become her faithful slave. She filed away at her nails and answered with airy indifference.
"Let's circle around and go again."
"Yes, my Queen!"
The cavalry wheeled into position, readying their next charge. From the first pass, more than half the undead soldiers had been smashed and shattered into a broken, writhing mess.
Just as the Ganes Guild readied to charge once more—
"Q-Queen! They've come! Enemies!"
"?"
From the opposite direction, another mounted force came galloping toward them, silhouetted against the sunset, dust rising in their wake.
The banner of the Tarados Territory fluttered into view.
"The Lord's soldiers of Tarados!"
"Hmm—"
Serne decided to set the undead aside and deal with these newcomers first. She tidied the bandits' formation and gave the order to charge the Tarados soldiers.
The bandit captain Karac bellowed.
"Works out fine for us! Let's sweep away those Lord's soldiers we never liked anyway!"
"For the great Queen!"
Warhorses bred through crossbreeding with monsters shrieked and thundered forward. The Tarados soldiers did not break their charge either.
The gap between the two forces narrowed, and narrowed.
"..."
Then something odd flickered in Serne's eyes.
Her gaze had locked with someone at the very head of the Tarados column.
"What a pest this is~"
She gave a faint smirk.
"Even all the way out here, our threads stay tangled."
So murmuring, Serne raised her arm and gave the signal.
The Tarados side raised their signal flag as well.
The two forces, moments from colliding head-on, wheeled their horses about in perfect unison—
KRRRASH-KWAKWAKWAKWAKWA!
—and together they crashed headlong into the undead soldiers in the center.
WHAM!
KRAK!
Crunch!
Simon quickly darted to the side. The horsemen of both forces swept past each other from left and right, pulverizing the undead soldiers between them.
'...Haha. What on earth is even happening right now?'
Serne, fine—but now the Lord's soldiers were backing him up too?
Simon turned his head.
Leading the Tarados troops was a knight in full plate armor—and riding beside him, a red-eyed girl in a Kizen uniform.
No mistaking it.
'Lorraine!'
From horseback she swept a pair of blood-red daggers through the air, and undead soldiers far off in the distance split cleanly apart.
Serne was no slouch either—she sent her feathers soaring skyward, transmuted them into Dark Flare, and poured down a rain of black flame.
Watching the immortal army being suppressed in the span of moments, Simon hid Pier's armor away and gripped the Sword of Ruin in his right hand alone.
"Simon! What in the world is this?"
Kajan came over and asked. Simon shrugged.
"Looks like Serne took over the Ganes Guild, and Lorraine took the Lord's soldiers."
"...Why are those two even in Tarados?"
"Guess I'll have to go ask."
The two of them had appeared at the most perfect possible moment, leading powerful reinforcements.
Two formidable forces had turned allies before his eyes.
'You've got to be kidding me.'
Simon smiled and turned his head.
Now the only enemy left was the Society.
KWAANG!
In the Tarados branch headquarters of the Society, Nirrti—the organization's chief officer for the region—slammed her fist down on the armrest of her chair.
"Do you hear what you're saying?!"
She shouted.
"Are you certain you checked properly? The Ganes Guild AND the Tarados Regular Army both fell into the hands of students? Students?!"
"Th-that is correct."
A man of the Society bowed his head.
"Ganes of the Black Wolf has vanished without a trace, and General Amin appears to have already gone over to Kizen's side..."
She pressed a trembling hand to her forehead.
"How is this even possible? They're not even third-years—you're telling me they're second-years?"
"As it happens, we just received the full personnel records of every member."
The man bowed his head once more and spread open the documents.
"Kajan Edvalt, holder of an undefeated record spanning two years. Serne Aindark, the official heir of the Ivory Tower. Lorraine Archbold, daughter of Nephthys. And..."
His mouth opened.
"Simon Polentia. Student Council President of Kizen."
Nirrti's face went blank, as though the back of her head had been struck with a hammer. A hollow, bitter laugh spilled from her lips.
"...What even is that. Did they come here to slay a dragon?"