by K R Zax
Get lost.”
After saying all of that, I turned my back on them. They are strong girls, each of them could beat an orc or two on their own, that is why they came here. To accumulate some accomplishments, to rise higher. Why on Earth would they stick to me? And even go as far as to put makeup if they don’t like it? Or perhaps they do like girly stuff, but are just trying too hard, to have the people around them focus on their abilities, and not on their gender.
“That was harsh, don’t you think?” Bjorsal said and looked at the girls who were whispering among themselves. Probably debating on whether or not to go with me.
“Nah, that was the right choice,” Aler said approvingly. “The members of the pack should have a clear mind and decide if they want to follow their leader or not.”
“So, did you hear something interesting? I saw some of the Duke’s men going around, talking to people… What did they say?”
“The usual,” Aler said casually, and then remembered that I was a noob, “If you defeat an opponent - in this case, a zombie, you get to keep anything from it. For example: if it’s a monster, you can take any material that can be sold. If it is a person, you can keep any money or weapon you find on them.”
Two of the Duke’s soldiers walked over to Lillian and discussed something with her. These guys didn’t look like the other soldiers that I saw talking to the adventurers. One of them was carrying some parchments with him while the other was doing the talking.
After the soldiers left, Lillian called her group, and they all approached us.
“Sorry,” was the first thing she said to me and the members of the Three Wolf Fangs. “Duke McGregorov and Sir Stephen Gorzo decided to split our forces into three groups. The first group, led by Sir Gorzo, will ride to the east, to a place where the zombies were seen, and then cut through the forest to join with our forces tomorrow at noon, in a village south from here.
The second group will do the same, only from the west part.”
“Which group are we?” I asked Aler, surely he would know after talking with some of the soldiers.
“The hell if I know.” He shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, you see...” Lillian said while avoiding to look at me. “Yesterday, when I made the arrangements for our rooms, they took that as a sign that you are all part of my group.”
“Oh, okay, I get it.” No big deal, we traveled all this time together. A few more days won’t change things much. Aler, Bjorsal, and Velira didn’t seem bothered by the misunderstanding either. “So, which group are we?”
“The third group. We will be riding with Duke McGregorov to a village in the south that was attacked two nights ago.”
We talked some more as our group moved south, and since Aler was in a good mood, I took advantage of it to get useful information. He knew a lot about rare species of monsters, and unrelated things like shady merchants and organizations.
The first and second groups soon got out of sight. They were composed of knights, soldiers, mages, and adventurers, each equaling 2500 people. They took enough rations to last them until tomorrow when they will meet with us, and left the slow-moving wagons and carriages in our care.
A few times during the journey, Lina and I left the group to see if we could find some monsters, and each time we came back empty-handed. Did the majority of the monsters run away from the zombies? We came across a few corpses. The remains were at least several days old, but I might be wrong since the days were hot and any corpse would decompose at a faster rate. Still, there should be more of them. The Lich did what I do, turn the dead monsters into zombies. But if that was the case, why would the reported numbers be around a thousand?
I spent most of the day lost in thought, and before I knew it, we arrived at the designated location.
On a hill, surveying the vast forests in southern Samran, were the remains of a village. One side of the wooden wall was broken, and several houses collapsed, while most of the others had broken doors and windows. According to the information, the sentries spotted about a thousand zombies coming from the west. They alarmed the villagers on time, and most of them managed to escape to Tolia.
This was the third village that suffered an attack from zombies in the last month, and like in all previous cases, the reported number of zombies didn’t exceed a thousand.
Duke McGregorov chose the village as a command center, and the rest of us would set up camp around it. Sentries were posted on regular intervals, and everyone was on high alert, even the ones who tried to look brave were often glancing at the forests.
“Would they attack while so many soldiers are here?” We were sitting around a fire, eating a freshly baked orc when Velira voiced her concern.
“I doubt it,” Bjorsal was drinking some ale he bought in Tolia. “There is undoubtedly someone controlling the zombies, or else we would encounter at least one of them along the way. And if that’s the case, he wouldn’t want to attack a force this big, with only a thousand low-rank undead.”
“Who knows, maybe one of the two groups already dealt with them,” Lillian spoke with disappointment in her voice. “Each group had 2500 warriors, killing a Lich with a thousand zombies would be as easy as cake. At worst, they would only lose around 500 of their soldiers but the threat would still be dealt with.”
“Wouldn’t that be a good thing?” Velira was a fighter but had a healthy amount of common sense. “If they beat the undead, it would mean that peace and stability would be restored, so people can go back to their lives. You can always gain some achievements fighting, as there are a lot of threats elsewhere.”
“You are right, I was being selfish,” Lillian admitted honestly and groaned. “I am a failure as a knight, only thinking of myself and putting the needs of the people last.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself, we’ve all been like that when we were younger.”
“You are right, Aler. I will strive to do better from now on.” Lillian was motivated as she looked at me. “What about you? You’ve been awfully quiet the whole time, is there something bothering you?”
“Monsters.” I murmured while watching the farm fields. “There wasn’t any. Not a single one.”
A few clouds were drifting in the night sky, partially painted by the moon’s red light. Our 3000 strong army was encircling the village on this slope and there wasn’t even a tree growing in a one-mile radius.
“Well, they run away from the zombies, I guess,” Bjorsal said and everyone seemed to agree with that.
“But where?” My question draw a few confused looks, so I explained what has been bothering me. “You see, according to the reports the Lich came from the south. And I heard that there weren’t that many monsters around Tolia either. There’s a river west from here, but even on the other side, there weren’t that many monsters.”
“So let’s say that there are no monsters in the south, none on the west - all the way to the river, and there weren’t many in the north where Tolia is. Does that mean that the monsters went to the east?” Lillian used a stick to draw a rough outline of the region, and put three ‘X’ signs on the south, west, and north, only leaving the east side open.
“Hmm, I think that is safe to assume that some did escape and the others were killed by the Lich, he does have a thousand zombies at his command. That would be enough to kill about… Maybe 70% of the monsters if he launched surprise attacks on their nests and settlements, taking them down one group at a time.” Aler's words did make a lot of sense, but still.
“Then why he only has a thousand zombies? He could increase his numbers with all the monsters he killed. He should have way more than that.”
“Well, a Lich is C rank. He doesn’t have enough power or strength to control more than that.” Everyone agreed with Velira’s words, and then she added, “It would be worse if he had a higher rank.”
“Yeah, like B rank, or maybe even A rank, but then he would be an Elder Lich. That would be terrible.” Bjorsal said while sipping his ale.
“Hahahaha! C’mon Alex, the chances of there being a high-rank Lich are small, that kind of thing rarely happens.”
As if on cue, a horn sounded in the night, and the attention of everyone was focused on the east, where a lot of movements could be spotted.
“It’s Sir Gorzo!”
“They made it!”
“Sir Gorzo’s here!”
The Imperial Knights and soldiers shouted, some of them even run down the slope to hear the news from their comrades.
"Did you find the undead?"
"Did you kill them?"
“Oh, shit! Thanks, Bjorsal.” I said sarcastically while using my Nightvision, “Those guys are zombies.”
“Huh?”
“What?”
“Stop joking Alex.” And just as Velira said that, screams could be heard from the people who went to meet with the arriving soldiers.
“No!”
“Zombies! They’re all zomb...”
“Aaaaaaa!”
Mages cast Fireballs, and few used Earth Wall to make a defensive line, while adventurers rushed to guard them against the undead. Luckily, there weren’t a lot of zombies so the mages could work without too much pressure, but they only managed to build Earth Walls for the east side of the camp, before they run out of mana.
At that time, the voice of Duke McGregorov could be heard, he rode out of the village, and addressed the crowd from his horse.
“Everyone! Prepare to battle! The Zombies will have to circulate around that Wall to get here. The knights will take the south section and the adventurers the north.”
When we arrived at the northern end of the wall, things were already under control. The zombies attacking were mostly taken down by ranged attacks, so we could only watch.
“Shouldn’t you be at the southern end?” I asked Lillian and the rest of the girls who came along with us. They were from a Knight Order, it would be bad if they fell in some trouble for not following their superior’s orders.
“It’s fine, I guess. We were closer to the north side anyway, if they were in a pinch, we would go help them.” She looked kind of uncomfortable despite all of what she just said. “But anyway, did Sir Gorzo lost? He had 2500 people with him, that can’t be right.”
From the eastern forest, more and more zombies started coming out: soldiers, knights, monsters. A lot of people panicked when they saw the organized mass of more than five thousand undead approaching our location.
And if that wasn’t enough.
“The west! Thousands of Undead are coming from the west!”
Crap.
Chapter 19.
Arrows flew into the night sky and fell on the zombies, but very few of them were incapacitated. No matter how many arrows hit them, if their head isn’t damaged, they will just keep going.
“Hold your fire! Hold! Wait for them to get closer! Then target their heads! Target their heads!” Duke McGregorov yelled after he saw how the panicked archers from the Imperial Army shot volleys of arrows into the enemy, and were only able to take down a small number of them.
The adventurers on the other side had a better count, as they were quick to adapt to the situation. They were working in teams, going only after the undead that came too close to them.
“It looks like they are slowing down.”
As Lina said, they were. Their attacks have subsided, but they kept popping out from all directions until our army was encircled.
“Kriss, we’re screwed.” Bjorsal tightened the grip on his sword.
More than twenty thousand zombies gathered around the village, staring at us with their lifeless eyes. Upon careful observation, I saw some of the people that split into two groups this morning, mixed with the monsters. Most of the undead were goblins, orcs, and lizard-man, but there were also monsters that used to be C and even B rank when they were alive, like Trolls, Minotaurs, wolves, spiders, and Vogors. Moreover, a huge number of them had weapons like swords and spears or at least clubs in their hands.
“Yup,” I had to agree with Bjorsal. Though we had powerful individuals, the undead won’t be attacking us one at a time. They’ll come en mass, hitting, hacking, beating, clawing, tearing apart… Even at the price of their own limbs, they will only be focused on killing.
“At least! There you are, Lord of Samran!”
Creepy laughter echoed into the night, and from the eastern forest, a swirling mass of darkness emerged. In its center was a skeleton with glowing green eyes, floating a couple of steps above the ground. He was holding an ordinary mage’s cane and seemed to be strong, but nowhere near as powerful as Dr. Sam.
“I, the mighty Uhra dim Zar, have caught you! Fool! You fell for my trap, and even split your forces! Just as I planned. Once I turn you, and the rest of your army into my mindless minions, the whole mighty Empire will tremble before me! Villages, cities, I will add them all to my army!”
Yeah, this guy is definitely crazy and everyone could see that, based on his exaggerated movements and insane laughter.
Someone, probably the Duke, ordered the mages to continue building Earth Walls. They were taking mana recovering potions, so they could keep going, but a few fell unconscious from overwork. They were C rank at most, so they couldn’t handle casting a lot of magic in succession.
Fire, Water, Air, Light, and Darkness weren’t suitable for making a physical barrier that would last longer, unless the mages supplemented the spells with a continuous flow of mana.
“Now die!” The Lich screeched, and zombies started closing in on us.
“Fire!” On Duke McGregorov’s roar, mages and archers fired their spells and arrows, taking down any undead creature that came close. Some more powerful spells landed in the zombie crowd, destroying dozens of them.
“We’re doing good.” Lillian and the girls were excited after witnessing the Mages' power. Knights and adventurers rushed at the zombies, they would kill a few, and run back, only to have another team do the same. It was a nice tactic, but it doesn’t work on a large number of enemies, and several people got caught and killed instead.
“No,” I replied to her and pointed at the north side, where the soldiers formed a line of spears, and the zombies were pushing against them.
Some of the zombies were burning and the fire spread to the others, but it still wasn’t enough to kill a large number of them.
I took my Trinity staff and climbed on a wagon, then start shooting Fire Bullets in the undead mass, a lot of them fell, and were trampled by other zombies who just continued going forward.
“Why did you stop?”
“It’s slow,” I told Velira and the others, who were getting ready to fight since the adventurers in front of us were backing away, exhausted and injured. “I don’t have the time, they are getting closer and closer with every second.”
This will slowly turn into a massacre. The soldiers were already running out of arrows, and only half of the mages were still casting spells. But their efforts were sporadic, since the Lich used Darkness to protect his minions, and devour the Mages' mana.
Tendrils of Dark Magic moved above the undead army, absorbing the majority of the spells that our side threw at them.
“Soon you’re all be mine! Hahahaha!”
I should run. I can make an opening, take Lina, and get the hell out of here. Sure, once I have enough zombies I could try to find the Lich and beat him.
“Alara! Hold on! We need a healer! Someone, please!” Milia, one of the Demonic Order girls, came from the front line carrying one of her comrades. The girl was hit on the shoulder with some sharp weapon, she was bleeding intensely, and probably had her collarbone broken. The amount of undead in front of us was so big that it was difficult to see where it ended. If the Lich wasn’t floating he would be barely visible.
Lillian was about to charge on the front line and
help the other members of her Order when I grabbed her arm. She seemed pissed that I stopped her and wanted to complain, but I put a finger on her lips.
“Shut it. I want to try something, but I need your help.”
“What do I need to do?” Not only Lillian, but the Three Wolf Fangs also looked ready to assist me.
“Step away and watch my back, I don’t want people attacking me while I charge into the zombies.”
“What? People? Why would anyone attack you?” Bjorsal and the rest were confused, only Lina knew what I wanted to do.
“Go, Darling,” she said and Air magic started circulating along the blades of her Razor Bird daggers. “I will kill anyone that tries to approach you.”
Shadows gathered, expanding around me. Adventurers and soldiers who were close alarmed the others of an incoming spell, unaware of what exactly will happen. Even the Imperial Mages looked in my direction, wondering what I will do. Dark Magic was not researched enough, so many couldn’t guess its potential, other than it being used for evil purposes.
“Is that a Golem?”
“A Vogor! But it’s weird somehow.”
“Is dead! A zombie!”
“Did he turned into a Lich?”
“Run!”
The adventurers who were in front of me, fighting against the undead, scattered away when they saw the massive dead creatures emerge from the Shadows. My zombie Vogors were not just ordinary, but Darkness Zombies, some of them were way more powerful than the few Vogors that Uhra dim Zar had.
And that wasn’t all.
“Orcs, kobolds, and lizardman. And almost all of them have weapons!”
“That guy! He’s the Demon Lord! A real Demon!”
“A Necromancer!”
“Trolls! More than twenty, Trolls!”
“Demon!”
“Look! Some of them are using magic!”
My Darkness Zombies had more intelligence than the regular ones. They held swords and spears, dealing precise blows to the enemy undead, destroying their heads efficiently. And yes, some could even use magic.