Chapter 142

What greeted us after our successful breakthrough was Leopold, his face beaming with joy.

Though usually dignified and splendid, befitting a royal, his usual appearance was nowhere to be seen. Dark circles under his eyes, disheveled hair, and a torn, dirty uniform made him look utterly haggard.

“I had a feeling, but it really is Princess Ai-shan Gi-or! You came to help us, didn’t you?”

His voice was filled with gratitude, as if he had stumbled upon unexpected luck. The bandage wrapped around his right shoulder was particularly noticeable.

It wasn’t like his arm was cut off, but seeing him like this without proper treatment… Did he pour all the potions and healing spells into the soldiers?

“Haah… haah… For now, yes.”

I nodded, sitting on the ground, gasping for breath. The priests’ blessings had restored some of my stamina, but I had used it all up in the final breakthrough.

The stench of rotten blood covering my body made my head spin.

Did I come to help? Well, I had no choice.

If you fall now, I’ll be dragged down with you. Everyone who needs to know already knows I’m part of the 1st Prince faction.

“Truly, thank you. With the assistance of a powerhouse like the Princess, it’s as if we’ve gained an army of thousands.”

Leopold smiled, looking reliable. But from my perspective, it was just irritating.

Thinking about the number of soldiers who died because of the Prince’s gamble, I wanted to curse him out.

Really, if only he weren’t the Prince…

“By the way, the knight beside you is someone I’ve never seen before. Their bravery rivals that of the Princess.”

“This is Asha of the Red Copper lineage. You must have seen her at the medal ceremony.”

We hadn’t spoken, but since she was standing behind the podium, you’d recognize her face.

“Ah! The demi-human knight who received the Medal of Honor that day! You’ve grown so much. Thank you for coming, Sir Asha.”

Finally remembering, Leopold greeted Asha.

“Huff… Yes. Huff…”

Asha, too exhausted to even respond properly, had taken off her helmet and was gasping for breath. Her face was drenched in sweat, as if she had been doused with water.

Well, it’s understandable. After losing the jetpack’s propulsion, she had to run desperately. Though her armor was sturdy enough that she didn’t have a single wound.

“Both the Princess and you seem exhausted. You’ve done well. Rest until your stamina recovers.”

“…I don’t think we have the luxury for that.”

I sighed, pointing toward the center of the castle. Two massive monsters were roaring and causing chaos, surrounded by five men and women engaged in a fierce battle.

Explosions and screams echoed, with shattered rocks and fierce flames filling the air.

“Groooar!”

Sharp-clawed forelegs swung repeatedly, targeting them. The ground scraped by the claws was deeply gouged, as if dug by an excavator.

A medium-sized undead, over 20 meters tall.

Its whale-like head was completely decayed, with only scraps of skin hanging from the exposed skull. The long spine, unable to support the head’s weight, arched outward in the middle.

Thick ribs, like ivory, enclosed blackened flesh that pulsed within the chest. Rotten intestines spilled out from the abdomen, writhing like tentacles.

Grave Devourer.

A monster that devours human corpses, using their bones and flesh to strengthen itself.

A monster even masters would struggle to face alone, and here, two of them were rampaging inside the castle.

Yet, the soldiers around were busy dealing with enemies beyond the walls, showing no interest in the monsters.

They must really trust those five. Well, watching them fight, they do seem like master-level fighters.

One paladin, two knights, a female mage, and a female knight… Ah, that’s Nigel.

Indeed, with five master-level fighters, the Grave Devourers were like hunted beasts, despite their loud roars. Their skeletal frames were deeply gouged and torn, on the verge of shattering. Every time the mage’s flames scorched their flesh, they screamed and thrashed.

“It’s fine. Those monsters have been successfully contained and will soon be exterminated. Thanks to you, many other monsters have been destroyed. They’ll likely retreat soon.”

“Retreat? The monsters?”

I widened my eyes in shock.

Not just any monsters, but undead that hate the living, retreating in the face of humans?

An act that goes against their very instincts. In other words, someone was controlling them, making them obey their will.

“You look like you can’t believe it. I understand. I was just as shocked when I first saw it… But it’s true. They have a command tower. One with the intelligence to understand tactics.”

From what I remember, there were only three types of intelligent beings capable of controlling lower-level monsters.

It can’t be a high-level monster. If something like that had appeared at this point, we would’ve been wiped out in a day.

Then it must be either evil god worshippers or… those cultist bastards. Neither of them were supposed to be active at this point, though. Do I really have to worry about them already?

“…Alright, I get it. Let’s take a breather for now.”

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of enemies. If we don’t recover our stamina, we might collapse at a critical moment. I’ve already taken down about four hundred monsters, so the rest should be able to handle themselves somehow.

“Ah, over there, in the makeshift command headquarters, the Margrave of Randenburg is inside. If you want, you can go meet him.”

“Sure.”

“Good. Then I should go rally the soldiers again. Let me say it once more, I’m really grateful you came.”

Before I could even respond, Leopold dashed back to the frontlines. His skills are, at best, on par with a junior knight… but it seems the fact that the prince is fighting alongside them boosts the morale of the soldiers and knights.

Is this the advantage or the downside of the class system? Come to think of it, the reason they’re fighting to the death here is because of that prince.

“Knights! And soldiers! Hold on just a little longer! The enemy has also suffered heavy losses, so they’ll retreat soon! Today, too, we shall be victorious!”

From afar, Leopold’s voice echoed loudly. He’s got a good set of lungs. Though half of what he’s saying is probably lies.

I stomped out the match I used to light my cigarette and got up, heading toward the building they called the command headquarters. First, I need to meet Ludwig.

—

Marquis Ludwig was inside the building, puffing away on his own. He was glaring at some papers on the table that looked like maps.

“Enjoying a nice break all by yourself, huh? Lucky you. Are you figuring out a way to retreat?”

Hearing my voice, the Marquis looked up. He seemed surprised, as if he hadn’t expected to see me here.

“…This is an unexpected meeting. I didn’t think you’d come this far. Weren’t you heading to Karmaine Forest? That’s what I heard from Sir Nigel.”

“I already took care of that. I came back and heard Prince Leopold had walked into a death trap, so I rushed here without a break.”

“A death trap, huh… Yeah, I guess so.”

Marquis Ludwig nodded with a grim expression, as if agreeing with the term “death trap.”

I sat down in the chair across from him and blew out a puff of smoke.

“So, how’s the situation so far?”

“…Not good.”

As if I couldn’t tell. One of the walls is completely gone, there are thousands of undead, and the number of soldiers seems fewer than I’d heard.

“Well, obviously. Fighting thousands of undead with 8,000 troops from the 3rd Legion is insane. You should’ve stopped him. The prince is gambling with his life, and you just let him?”

“If things had gone according to plan, it wouldn’t have been hopeless.”

The Marquis defended himself. So there was some kind of plan to win?

“Doesn’t look like there’s much hope now. Whatever the plan was, it seems to have gone completely off the rails.”

“That’s true…”

Marquis Ludwig began explaining the current situation. I quietly listened to his story.

—

The initial battle wasn’t bad, apparently.

After hearing Leopold’s speech—I didn’t catch what it was about—the Imperial Army’s morale was quite high, and the holy knights were always in top form.

The formation didn’t seem to be a problem either. The holy knights and paladins held the frontlines while the Imperial Army and Imperial Knights covered the center and flanks, blocking any enemies trying to flank. The rear was supported by the saintess and battle priests.

A pretty standard formation, you could say.

And in the end, they held out well. Until the reserve forces of experts managed to defeat the bone serpents.

The problem started after that. It was when they were supposed to retreat to the castle for a defensive battle.

“…That’s when the plan started to fall apart.”

Marquis Ludwig let out a sigh.