Expanding the Horde

Whether they had strayed beyond the patrol routes or the greenskins had simply been careless, the two of them went undetected through hours of outdoor sex.

"Hoo— sss— huff…"

With a distinctive breathing technique that circulated mana through her body and accelerated her recovery, Lillian restored her spent stamina.

"Looks like you're done. Shall we move?"

"Hmph."

When Kaisent approached with a bright smile, having waited for her to recover, Lillian turned her head away.

It wasn't deep hatred or revulsion — just a sulky, petulant reaction.

Strange. Even after being put through something that humiliating, I don't want to treat this child harshly.

Rape was still rape, no matter how young he was. Lillian had sworn that once she was free of their bargain, she would land at least one solid blow — yet looking at that pure, sunny smile of his, every ugly feeling simply drained away.

What did he do to me? But…

She wondered if some magic had been involved, yet while restoring her stamina she had carefully assessed her own condition.

My body actually feels better. I've never felt this full of vitality before.

If she were handed a crystal right now, she was confident she could advance to the next rank without a single failure.

Should I break through alone like this?

The thought crossed her mind that pushing hard for Munratel right now might not be such a bad idea.

No. If I get pinned down even once, sheer numbers will crush me.

If greenskins were merely stronger than humans, a cluster of Expert-rank fighters could simply cut down their commanders and be done with it. But greenskins had developed their own form of Prana, and among them were skilled practitioners of it.

Until now they had only circled the outer fringes, deliberately avoiding the stronger ones deeper inside. Beyond this forest there would be greenskin fortresses and encampments, and if even one of those powerhouses caught her ankle, it would be over.

And…

She stole a sidelong glance at Kaisent, who was raising corpses from the earth once more.

Somehow, being with this child feels safer.

The unexpected strength that had killed Kenneth. The black magic that raised the dead. The combat power that combined magic and archery well enough to wipe out a small unit alone. And that… size that could make a grown woman cry, far beyond any normal measure—

"Lillian?"

"Ah— um. Ahem. If you're ready, let's move."

Kaisent tilted his head, wondering why she was standing there dazed while he finished raising the corpses. Looking at that pure white, rabbit-like face, Lillian ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠felt a flush of embarrassment and fondness; she cleared her throat and started walking.

"Kaisent."

"Yes."

"As we move toward Munratel, ambush every small greenskin group we spot and grow the undead numbers."

"They'll notice eventually."

"Exactly. Sooner or later a large-scale battle will break out. By then we'll be close enough to Munratel that we can throw the undead at the greenskins and run. They'll pull in every greenskin in the area to deal with the undead — once we get past that concentration, our odds of running into more enemies drop sharply."

Lillian's plan was not to slip past greenskin eyes in secret. She meant to enlarge the board itself, drawing every greenskin along their escape route into a single mass. It was risky — but creeping and hiding carried its own danger of being surrounded and crushed by sheer numbers.

It was a choice between weathering a long, steady stream of threats, or swallowing one enormous risk to gather the greenskins in one place and then flee in relative ease.

Whether it was because they had shared their bodies, or because he was more bold than expected, Kaisent preferred her proposal to any plan of sneaking away in secret.

"I like it. Then please handle the scouting, Lillian."

"Understood."

If Lillian — stronger and faster than him — took the scouting, they could avoid the powerful ones and quickly lock onto easy prey. Kaisent was agile enough himself, but because he had to answer enemy movements with undead, he needed a constant grasp of the overall situation.

And I want to see how large a force of undead I can actually maintain.

Used well, undead became a weapon of pure numerical violence. Born timid, Kaisent had no interest in the honor or pride of one-on-one duels.

The advice his father had given him years ago, when he was even younger and still among brothers his own age, played its part as well.

Checking the specs of the weapons you have is the most basic of basics. You have to know where the limits are.

Krrash-krrash!

"!!"

"Behind us!"

Along the forest path they had used the day before to flee into the cave, the sound of leaves being clawed and shredded by something sharp rang out.

"Found them!"

"Smooth-skins— ghk!"

"Keh?!"

Two goblin riders on wolves had tracked the trail the zombies left behind. Kaisent did not panic. He hurled an arrow that punched clean through one goblin rider's skull.

"Haaaah!"

Lillian stamped so hard the bark of a nearby tree shattered, launched herself forward, and came down on the remaining startled goblin. Her greatsword cleaved goblin and wolf in half at once.

"Kyaaak! Kiiing!"

The lone surviving wolf yelped in terror and fled the way it had come.

"We've already been spotted. Running is pointless now."

"Lillian. Bring me the corpses. When the enemy arrives, throw them on my signal."

"Got it."

Guessing he meant to use the corpse-explosion magic he had deployed against Kenneth, Lillian dragged over the bodies she had bisected and the one with the pierced head.

A short while later, as expected, a greenskin force appeared.

Standing on the shoulders of a tall orc, Kaisent rapidly counted the enemies coming through the trees.

"Forty!"

"About twice our number."

The undead they had gathered so far numbered roughly twenty. Still, these were undead that kept moving even with heads cut off and hearts blown out — if the goal was simply to hold, they would outperform the living.

"Undead aren't invincible! If the bones that hold a body together — especially the spine — are destroyed, all they can do is lie there and swing their arms!"

"Yes!"

Lillian offered the advice for Kaisent's first real use of undead, gripping the goblin corpse with the hole through its head.

"Kwooooor!"

"Kaaaaah!"

The enemy vanguard was, of course, orcs. Behind them, hobgoblins and goblins mixed together in a charging mass.

"Lillian! In front of the orcs!"

"Hup!"

On Kaisent's signal, Lillian hurled the goblin corpse.

Chrrrrrrrk!

At Kaisent's incantation the goblin corpse was consumed as a sacrifice, and tall fences of bone rose into place. The orcs, already committed to their charge, did not bother to go around — they slammed into the bone walls ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with their bodies, intent on smashing through. Cracks spidered everywhere and sections began to break, but for a critical moment the barrier snagged the orcs' advance and forced them to bunch up with the hobgoblins and goblins behind them.

"The rest of the corpses — over the orcs' heads!"

On the second signal she flung the bisected goblin corpses with both hands. The bodies arced through the air, trailing guts and blood—

"More!"

She followed with the wolf corpse, and he cast Corpse Explosion again.

"Kieeeeek!"

"Gkkeget!"

"It hurts! Hurts hurts hurts!"

Those with shields could block some of the damage; those without took wounds as if their heads, shoulders, and arms had been flayed. Even the shield-bearers had been caught by the first blast and were already injured.

"Attack!"

Kaisent ordered the waiting undead forward while leaving the tall orc he stood on alone — he still needed the elevated view. The bone walls, their purpose spent, collapsed limply, and undead and greenskins crashed together.

"Kwoooooragh!"

"Kuoohhh!"

"Wawawak!"

Greenskins howled every grotesque sound imaginable as they attacked. The undead were hacked and torn in places — but already dead, they simply began to counterattack from wherever they stood.

"Lillian!"

"I know!"

While ally and enemy tangled in a chaotic melee, Lillian drove into the outer edge and swung her greatsword, cutting greenskins down from the outside in.

"Kieeeeek!"

"Stop her, you idiots!"

The cowardly goblins flinched at the sight of Lillian casually swinging that massive blade and tried to hide behind the others; the hobgoblins kicked them forward, playing the role of commissars.

"If you run, I'll— ghk!"

"An arrow? Where— grrk! Gaaagh!"

Arrows from somewhere punched through the shouting hobgoblins' mouths and dropped them, and with that the goblin line had nothing left to hold it together.

"Haaaah!"

Lillian swung her body — now at its absolute peak — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠without restraint, carving through greenskins.

So light! The more I swing, the more strength wells up!

In peak condition, she loaded mana into her greatsword and cut down everything in sight.

"Kiek!"

"!!"

Then a goblin burst from her flank and thrust a spear. The blade was crudely forged, and something dark brown clung to its tip — dung-poison, almost certainly. The price of driving too deep because her body felt too good.

Lillian hastily shaped mana into a barrier along her side—

"Kuek!"

An arrow from somewhere slammed into the goblin's torso hard enough to hurl it away. She looked toward the source and saw Kaisent on the tall orc's shoulders, still holding the follow-through of a throw.

That idiot! Instead of watching me he should be managing the undead—!

Worried that Kaisent was focusing only on her and ignoring the undead, Lillian checked their condition.

Kakakakang! Puhak!

"Guaaaah!"

"Kiek! Damn it!"

"Dangerous!"

"Huh?"

But the undead were fighting far better than her fears allowed. No — not "better than expected." They were moving with real tactics.

Orc zombies held the front line. Goblin undead used their small stature to stab at enemy legs. When enraged orcs shoved inward, the line opened left and right, isolating the protruding orc alone — and waiting for it was concentrated fire from hobgoblin and goblin undead.

The orcs that died that way rose again as undead and turned on the greenskins who had been their comrades moments before.

He's covering me and still adjusting the undead in real time, building tactics on the fly!

Most necromancers who used undead won through characteristics and raw numbers. Mages lived with the paranoia that falling even a little behind in study meant being left behind by everyone else — what would people like that know about war tactics and strategy?

They knew the weakness, of course, and tried to solve it by turning gifted commanders into sentient undead to lead for them. But a commander undead that retained its reason harbored hostility toward the black mage who killed it, and fully dominating such a creature required even more mana. Pour that much mana in, and the number of undead you could maintain shrank. Strip the reason away, and the commander was no different from any other undead.

That dilemma was why simply drowning the enemy in numbers remained the necromancer's basic winning strategy.

Kaisent had none of that dilemma.

He learned how a mercenary company moves under me. But to command undead like that, you'd have to issue orders to every single unit, wouldn't you?

Covering her, reading the battlefield, giving individual instructions one by one. Easy to say — it demanded a wide field of vision and precise judgment.

"Lillian!"

"I know!"

The moment her assault paused, Kaisent urged her to attack again.

The undead are matching their movements to mine.

As Lillian resumed her offensive, the greenskins she had just killed rose as undead and began supporting her from behind. Greenskins trying to ambush her were blocked by undead and lost the opening. Any that still tried to break through and strike from the side—

Thud!

—caught an arrow in the head without fail.

This is easy. I've never had a fight this comfortable. Even fighting alongside Fredrick never felt like…

The thought that this was far easier than fighting with Fredrick made her scold herself and scrub the distraction away. How could she even make that comparison — Fredrick, with whom she had coordinated for over a decade, and Kaisent, who had violated her?

With the momentum firmly theirs, she focused on hunting down greenskins trying to flee, stretching the interval before the next pursuers as far as she could.

The battle cost them about ten undead rendered combat-ineffective, but Kaisent raised thirty greenskin corpses whose bones were largely intact, swelling their force. Then the two of them began the journey of flight toward Munratel in earnest.