Chapter 129
Chapter 129
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 129
Chapter Title: Chapter 38: Necromancy War
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing. More importantly, Lanir, you’ve done a huge job.”
Davi smiled and patted the elf boy’s shoulder.
“Thanks to you, we’ve figured out the flesh monster’s weakness. We’ll be able to deal with them much more easily from now on.”
“I’m glad I could help in some way. No matter how hard I struggle, I can’t take out large groups of enemies like Tolari or Linen.”
Flash!
At that moment, a burst of light exploded, scattering fragments of radiance across the battlefield once more.
“Well done. The enemies won’t mass up for a bit yet, so take a break.”
“Yes, Regar.”
Following Regar’s orders, Linen let his shoulders slump. But piercing through the area cleared by the wide-range Holy Lance, two new flesh monsters began charging forward at breakneck speed.
“Captain! Enemies incoming!”
“Leave it to me!”
Even before Linen could shout, Davi had already noticed. He leaped at the closer of the two monsters and this time cleaved its head vertically in two.
Crunch!
‘This should slice the weakness inside too, right?’
His prediction was spot on.
Kugh….
The creature let out a grotesque groan from its split maw, then shuddered like it had been struck by lightning before freezing in place.
Now that the weakness was known, the remaining one fell in an instant. After subduing the other flesh monster, Davi realized the situation was dire.
‘I need to relay this info to the other sectors fast!’
The area to defend was too vast, so the defense forces had been split into three major groups. Davi urgently called for Lanir and issued orders.
“Go to Didi right now and tell him the flesh monster’s weakness. Then have Didi head to the right flank and spread the word there.”
“Why not have me go to the right flank myself?”
“You need to come right back here. While I’m gone, support Linen and handle the flesh monsters. I’ll head to the left flank and pass on the weakness. I’m counting on you!”
With that, he bolted north. Lanir watched Davi’s receding figure and let out a small sigh.
“Glad I could help….”
Until just before the battle, Lanir and Didi had been held back as reserves.
But now the situation had changed dramatically. Lanir raced off to find Didi, who had been with him at the rear moments ago.
* * *
The left flank of the defense forces was under the command of Elstone Count’s army.
The problem was that they were a ragtag bunch scraped together from the entire earldom’s garrison.
They numbered a decent three thousand, but among them, only about a hundred knights wore even low-grade magic armor.
That was why Meredes had moved to the left flank from the start to support them. Of course, even she couldn’t block every incoming enemy alone.
‘The Elstone garrison is struggling just to hold off zombies and skeleton soldiers. At least these monsters have to be taken out on my end.’
Meredes sheathed her sword, eyes fixed on the flesh monster’s remains, now disintegrated into fragments.
“Woooaaah!”
“Long live Lady Meredes!”
“She shredded that horrific flesh monster to pieces!”
The Elstone garrison, having repelled a wave of the necromantic army, cheered toward Meredes.
But the enemies kept coming, and among them were several notably larger flesh monsters.
‘At this rate, better to just blast them one by one with knight skills.’
Compared to the effort of slicing them until they stopped moving, that would consume less stamina.
“Hoo….”
She steadied her breathing, then raised the arm gripping her sword, swinging it lightly as if casting a fishing line.
Lightly.
But the power within was anything but light.
Two shockwaves, born from the time lag, overlapped into one and shot forward.
The target: the lead flesh monster charging ahead.
It sensed something incoming.
But it had no thought of dodging. After all, the shockwave’s trajectory arced over its head.
Yet the moment it passed overhead—
Whumm!
The shockwave curved sharply downward, smashing into the crown of its head.
Boom!
The compressed explosion pierced vertically through its body, drilling into the ground.
All that remained were its arms, legs, and a chunk of protruding belly fat.
Everything else shattered and scattered. Meredes bit her lip, glancing at her wrist, strained from that final curve.
‘Stings a little.’
But it was worth it.
The power of her self-made “focused” Storm Blade was overwhelmingly absolute. The soldiers preparing for the next fight in the rear couldn’t hide their shock at the spectacle.
“Eek….”
“W-what was that just now?”
“Knight skill? Was there ever a knight skill that ridiculous?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know. All I’ve ever seen is Gale Blade.”
“Gasp, isn’t that the master skill we’ve only heard rumors about?”
“Focus, everyone! The enemy’s second wave is coming!”
The elderly Knight Dylon, commanding the Elstone garrison, raised his sword high to rally the disorganized troops.
Dylon was formerly the captain of the Guardian Knights.
But with Kyle currently handling combat command, he had shifted positions to support the defense forces’ left flank.
“We can’t leave everything to Knight Meredes! These are the necromantic army! Don’t let a single one break through—give it everything you’ve got!”
‘But the second wave is too densely packed. I should handle one myself.’
Meredes raised her sword again, unleashing a new Storm Blade toward the densest cluster of incoming enemies.
This time, not focused, but in her original dispersed form.
Booom!
On impact, a ferocious explosion erupted, shockwaves radiating outward.
In one strike, around a hundred necromantic troops burst like fireworks, forming a gruesome pool of corpses.
But that didn’t tip the scales. It merely erased the most protruding cluster at the forefront.
And then the real battle began.
Thousands of skeletons and zombies swarmed the Elstone garrison, swinging their weapons wildly.
“Hold the line! Their attacks are simple! Block and counter!”
Dylon himself struck down oncoming enemies with his sword, shouting.
“Maintain formation! Always check your line! Protruding means encirclement! It’s dangerous!”
“Kraaaagh!”
“S-save me!”
“There! The end of the line is collapsing! What’s the squad knight doing? Snap out of it!”
But in the melee, Dylon’s voice didn’t carry far. He clicked his tongue, suddenly recalling Kyle’s overwhelming talent, who had taken over the Guardian Knights in his stead.
‘No matter how noisy and chaotic… that kid’s voice would surely thunder across the battlefield.’
The front line had already crumbled, tangling with the necromantic army without regard for front or back.
The rear rushed forward to restore the broken formation, but supporting the messed-up front recklessly was risky.
‘So the second wave was the real deal. We’ll lose at least a thousand out of three thousand in this fight.’
At least this left flank had fewer enemies massing. By now, the central main force or Kyle’s right flank must be facing even larger, more horrific battles.
‘Even after the second wave, powerful enemies keep coming. Compared to that, the Elstone garrison is frail. No matter how well that young lady fights, the limits are clear.’
Amid it all, Meredes dove into the enemy ranks alone, carving out empty spaces in seconds.
Slash!
One spinning cut sliced through a dozen zombies, creating a gap.
Graaah!
Enemies rushed to fill the gap in an instant, only to be slashed away again.
Slice!
And so, into the crescent-shaped void, skeleton soldiers poured, swinging rusty swords wildly.
Slash!
Slaash!
Sliiice!
No matter how swiftly she wielded her blade, it wasn’t enough.
Scratches from zombie claws began accumulating on Meredes’ pristine new magic armor.
A skeleton soldier with its waist severed stubbornly swung its sword, denting her steel boot heel, while a headless zombie’s flying skull bit onto her gauntlet and wouldn’t let go.
“…….”
Meredes swung her fist with the skull still attached, smashing it into an oncoming new zombie for a head-on kiss.
Crunch!
Both skulls shattered mid-air, scattering. In the midst of the enemy throng, she spotted a flesh monster protruding from the waist up and immediately prepared and unleashed a Storm Blade.
Boom!
Another monster vertically collapsed in a cylindrical shape from the crown, exploding outward.
But the enemies didn’t miss the brief opening. Meredes charged headfirst into dozens of surging skeleton soldiers.
Bam!
Grabbing a flying skeleton leg like it was hit by a carriage, she swung it down like a club toward another zombie horde on the left.
Crack!
Meanwhile, three or four zombies wrapped around her sword arm, clinging with their whole bodies. Meredes spun like a windmill to shake them off, then unleashed a frenzy of Gale Blades in all directions without even looking.
Boom!
Boom!
Boooom!
Her right hand’s orthodox Gale Blade with the sword intertwined with the bare-handed Gale Blade from her empty left, deleting surrounding enemies in a wide area.
A Storm Blade would be ideal, but with foes this close, she’d get caught in the shockwave too.
‘First, create some distance. Then catch my breath, regroup, and….’
But in that instant, threats loomed from both front and rear.
Strong presences.
Hard to pinpoint exactly what or how strong, but.
Ever since consuming the Ancient Seal’s core, she occasionally sensed such things.
Turning her gaze, she spotted a new flesh monster about fifty meters ahead. Instinctively, she launched a Storm Blade at it.
And the moment she turned to check the powerful presence at her rear—
“Meredes!”
Bursting through the necromantic army on all sides, Davi, captain of the Claude Knight Order, was already right behind her back.
“Came to tell you the flesh monster’s weakness… Hm?”
In that instant, he saw a flesh monster burst like fireworks nearby. Davi blinked in surprise, then grasped the situation.
“Storm Blade? A focused one, precisely targeting just that thing amid this chaos?”
“Yes, Captain.”
Meredes silently swung her sword at the oncoming necromantic army. Davi joined in, inwardly marveling repeatedly.
‘This girl’s a born warrior. Curious how far she’ll go. Definitely, the next core should go to Meredes—I’ll ask His Highness.’
“Shouldn’t you be at the main force, Captain? Did you figure out the flesh monster’s weakness and come to share it?”
“Mm, yeah.”
With their backs together, the surging necromantic army dwindled in moments. Feeling the enemy pressure nearly gone, Davi turned to Meredes.
“The flesh monster’s weakness is inside the center of its forehead. Stab or slash there, and it drops dead instantly. Well, ‘dead’ isn’t the right word for undead. Neutralized, immediately.”
“…It had a weakness like that?”
She hadn’t known and had been blasting them one by one with Storm Blades, wearing out her right arm terribly. Davi pointed to the center of his own brow.
“If it’s hard to hit precisely, just split the head in half. Might even be easier.”
“Understood. Thank you.”
“Then I’ll head back. The central main force is too thin without me—I can’t linger. I’m counting on you.”
Davi nodded and immediately dashed south. Meanwhile, the Elstone garrison, having just cleared the second wave, spotted him running off and sighed in awe.
“Wow…. Is that Knight Davi?”
“Knight Master.”
“The armor’s just plain white? Isn’t that the White Knight Order?”
“You idiot. Sir Davi was originally with the White Knight Order.”
“How am I supposed to know that?”
“Wait, there’s a rumor the Knight Master has a prized disciple…. Is that girl her?”
It made the now-alone Meredes seem even more radiant. But the respite was brief—everyone froze as the enemy’s third wave approached.
‘Fought too recklessly.’
Meredes felt fatigue crashing in. She openly pulled out the stamina elixir and sugar bar she’d stashed in her armor, downed them, and slowly fell back.
“Sir Dylon. From now on, I think I should fight in formation with the troops.”
“You’ve done well. Do that.”
Dylon, covered head to toe in zombie gore, nodded vigorously. He turned to the badly distorted garrison formation and bellowed at the top of his lungs.
“Entire force, form up! The enemy’s third wave is almost here! Stay sharp! Blink once, and you’re dead! Don’t give your lives to those horrific undead!”