Chapter Nine "Undead Army"
Brain's accumulated fatigue hit him all at once, and so he slept for almost a full day upon entering Gazef's home. He woke up to eat a little, and then went right back to bed.
He did not wish to admit it, but he could rest easy in Gazef's home because he felt safe there. He knew that even his rival Gazef could not endure a single blow from that Shalltear, yet the home of his former nemesis was now the safest place in the world for him. It relieved his tension and allowed him to sleep soundly.
Light fell across Brain's face through the slats of the louvred window. The light woke Brain from his dreamless sleep. He opened his eyes, but the piercing rays made him squint them again. He reached his hand out to block the sunlight.
Brain propped himself up on one arm and then swung his legs over so he was sitting on the side of the bed. He looked around the room like a frightened mouse. The plain room only had the bare minimum of furniture in it, and Brain's wargear was piled up in a corner of the room.
"Is this the room which the Kingdom's Warrior-Captain uses to receive guests?" Brain asked himself in disbelief as he stared around his one-time rival's home.
As Brain looked around the empty room, he let a few biting words fall from his lips as the lack of people put him at ease. Then, he stretched himself, and his joints made cracking noises as his stiff body relaxed and the blood circulated through his body once more. A huge yawn escaped him.
"...He must have let his people stay the night here in the past, no? They must have felt so disappointed."
The reason why royalty and nobility led such luxurious lives was not simply because they enjoyed it. It was also for vanity's sake; to protect their image. Similarly, when the men saw their leader's opulent lifestyle, it would spur their desire to make a name for themselves and give them motivation.
"...No, it's not my place to say such things," Brain mumbled.
Then he snorted; but it was directed at himself and not Gazef. It must have been because he had been pulled back from the brink of madness, the place where he had nearly been driven by those twin mental shocks. To think he would actually be thinking about such trivial matters. As Brain thought about that powerful monster, he found that he could not stop the tremors in his hand.
"As I thought…"
The terror which clung to his heart had not been removed yet.
Shalltear Bloodfallen. A figure of absolute power, one whom even Brain — who had abandoned everything else in pursuit of sword skills — could not possibly match. She was a monster among monsters; yet one whose looks were the sum total of all the beauty in the world. She was a person who wielded true power. A thrill of fear shot through his heart at the mere memory of her.
He had lived in constant terror of that monster's pursuit, and once he had reached the road to the Royal Capital he had not slept or even rested, only fleeing for his life. The spectre of Shalltear appeared before him when he did sleep, and the night seemed to take her shape as he ran along the roads. Crushed under this disquiet, he had not been able to get a good night's rest. All he could do was run like there was nothing else in the world for him. Brain had chosen to flee to the Royal Capital because he believed that he could lose himself among the masses of people there and throw her off his trail. However, he had not expected the heavy toll which his gruelling flight had taken on him, or the lack of self-preservation which had developed as a result.
Meeting Gazef was an unexpected development. Perhaps Brain imagined that Gazef could eliminate Shalltear, and so his legs had unconsciously brought him in search of his rival. Yet, he had not found his answer.
"What should I do now…"
He had nothing. He opened his hands, and they were empty. He looked at his wargear in the corner of the room. He had obtained a Katana in order to triumph over Gazef. Yet, what would he do after beating Gazef? He now knew that there was a being several orders of magnitude more powerful than himself. If he could not defeat said being, what was the point of triumphing over those who were beneath it?
"I should probably go take up the plow instead… it would probably be more meaningful."
Then, Brain sensed someone outside just as he was about to mock himself.
"Unglaus, are you awake? ...You should be, right?" That voice belonged to the owner of this home.
"Ah, Stronoff. I'm up. Please come in," said Brain.
The door opened and Gazef entered.
"You sure slept for a long time. I was shocked by how deeply you were sleeping." Gazef commented.
"Yeah, thanks for letting me be. Sorry about that."
"Don't worry about it. Tell me about what happened."
"...It's pretty bad, you know? You might end up like me."
"Even so, I have to listen."
Brain thus began his terrifying story about a seemingly invincible vampire known as Shalltear Bloodfallen. A battle that showed how weak he was, despite being called the equal to the man before him. The man known as the Strongest Warrior of the Kingdom and one of the few strongest humans in the surrounding countries. The battle that had shaken even a battle-hardened Brain and completely shattered his confidence in his own combat ability.
"I will not lie. If I had been in your position than I feel I would've been in the very same situation as yourself." Gazef admitted as he heard the story. "My original goal was trying to get your confidence back as a warrior, but it seems there is no need."
"What do you mean by that? You are speaking in riddles." Brain asked in a very confused tone.
"I received a letter addressed to me someone by the name, Shirou Emiya. In the letter, he asked how he should deal with a certain situation. A situation regarding a dead vampire that you were just talking about." Gazef replied.
"You are joking right, Gazef?! To belittle me for losing my nerve and becoming a shell of who I was. That I am a coward." Brain screamed as for a moment part of former self came back as he reached for katana.
"Do you think I am joking?" Gazef asked as responded to Brain's threat with his own power to remind Brain that he wasn't just any man, who was scared into submission. He was Gazef Stronoff, one of the strongest humans in the Kingdom and the surrounding countries.
"No, you don't seem to." Brain conceded as he saw how serious Gazef was. "I will not doubt you, but what about the letter sender."
"I know the letter sender. He was the one that saved my life from a politically organized assassination attempt." Gazef replied.
"What? When did this happen? How could I haven't heard about it?" Brain asked.
"You wouldn't have because it was all hushed up, but the people that tried to kill me were the nobles."
"Ahaaaa…." Brain nodded. "I heard about what they have been trying to since you became the Royal Guard Captain. They have been trying everything to get you discredited and kicked out. Only to succeed and never fail. The nobles were bound to have tried to assassinate you. Who did they send?"
"The Sunlight Scripture." Gazef replied bluntly.
"The…" Brain spat out in surprise. "The SUNLIGHT SCRIPTURE?!"
"Yes, indeed. The nobles must have promised the Slane Theocracy a lot for them to send one of their premier elite units after me. It wasn't a small number of elites too. They sent an entire company of elite mages and soldiers, numbering three hundred, to try and kill me."
"I know that you're strong, but we are talking about a specialized military unit for killing demi-humans. Beings that often have traits that make them superior to humans in one way or another. How did you survive?" Brain inquired.
"The sender of the letter. His name is Shirou Emiya. He saved me. His combat prowess and experience are nothing to sneeze at. He is stronger and more experienced than me, despite being a decade younger than me. In fact, I bet that the two of us, you and I, will not be enough to overcome the man," said Gazef in a serious tone that made even Brain take his word without compliant.
"If he is this strong as you say he is than I can believe the story that he might've been able to kill Shalltear Bloodfallen," Brain conceded and he was shocked that there was even a human out there that could kill such a powerful and invincible-like vampire. "Is he really a human than?"
"He is completely human. I am sure. He seems the closest things about the legendary human heroes we grow up hearing about."
"If he is as strong as the legendary heroes than yea it is very possible that the vampire could've been killed…" Brain admitted as he became accepting of the fact that there were humans that could take out something as powerful as Shalltear. "What did he say in his letter? What is this situation that you were talking about before."
"Emiya has told me that he is a newcomer to this region and that he has signed up as an adventurer. Currently he is a… copper-class adventurer," said Gazef with mixed tone.
"How the hell is someone so powerful, only copper-class?!" Brain shouted in disbelief.
"He is the humble kind, shunning fame." Gazef explained. "Getting back to your previous question. Emiya was asking several things. That if the news of the vampire has spread and if it has, how far. He is worried about the terror and panic that would spread if the vampire's existence was known. Thus, he is asking me as I am the Kingdom's Royal Guard Captain. I have access to the highest level of the Kingdom, the King."
"I don't have any of the connections that you have, but I didn't hear anything about any vampire on the streets," said Brain.
"Same, and I am talking about from my connections with the Kingdoms' upper echelon. So I presume, Emiya killed the vampire before it could attack anyone else." Gazef concluded.
"It's possible. When I fought the vampire it had been in the middle of nowhere. This Emiya you talk about might have killed the vampire not to long after I fought it." Brain suggested.
"Well that answers the first part of the letter," Gazef nodded. "The other questions that Emiya asked… many of them relied on the assumption fear and panic of the vampire. Given that the vampire is dead most of these questions no longer need anymore answering, but there is…"
"What?" Brain asked in annoyed tone as he felt Gazef was dragging out his words to aggravate him.
"He wants to help researching the vampire's corpse…"
"Study the vampire's corpse? Didn't you say he was a warrior? Why would he want to study the corpse of a vampire?" Brain asked in confused tone.
"He was a very talented fighter. Emiya was a mage and archer of a level that I have never seen or heard. I also saw various signs of a warrior. I would not be surprised if he happens to be a scholar or research too, given that he seemed so multi-talented." Gazef explained.
"How the hell?! You make him sound perfect…" Brain shouted in disbelief.
"…So are some of the legends, but I've met one of them already," said Gazef distantly as he looked at one of his rings on his hands.
"Who?" Brain asked as he stared at Gazef earnestly.
"Rigrit Bers Caurau, one of the Thirteen Heroes." Gazef replied.
"WHAT?! THAT OLD WOMAN WAS A MEMBER OF THE THIRTEEN HEROES?!" Brain shouted in disbelief.
"You know of her?" Gazef asked in interested tone.
"Ya, but after you told me, who she really was, I think she was only fighting me with a fraction of her strength." Brain said in disbelief.
"Anyway…" Gazef coughed. "I think will send over some experts and reading material that he requested… That reminds me. You seem to not believe me about Emiya or the vampire so much… Do you by any chance want to meet Shirou Emiya?"
- O -
"Hmm…" Shirou hummed looked over to a certain part of the village.
He saw several villagers lined up in a row. There were men, women, and children of all ages. He could see a motherly-looking forty year old woman as well as teenagers. The one thing they had in common was the stern look on their faces, which might even be mistaken for hostility. It was a clear sign that nobody here was in the mood to play around.
The line of villagers slowly raised their bows. They were simple, shabby shortbows which looked warped and were probably self-made. After drawing their bows all the way back, they took aim at the strawmen some distance away. Someone must have given an order, because the villagers loosed as one. The bows looked crude, but the arrows they launched flew in beautiful trajectories. All of them struck the straw men, without a single miss.
"Not bad…" Shirou could not help but praise them, given how far they seemed to come since the villagers had first started training.
"Are they really that good?" Nigan, standing behind Shirou, expressed his doubt.
"You're right, Nigan. What they can do right now is hardly something to get excited over. However, ten days ago, they did not even know how to use a bow, much less know how to defend themselves. An impressive feat."
"We are here. They don't need to worry about for their own safety with us around to protect them. So why are they so training so diligently." Nigan asked in a puzzled tone.
"They don't trust you. You were the ones that tortured and killed them. The only reason why they are not out for your blood is for two reasons. All the injured or killed villagers were healed and resurrected. I personally promising that they will be safe as you're all my followers. The villagers want to be able to defend themselves from both you and any future threats that they might face." Shirou explained.
"I see…" Nigan said in enlightened manner. "Why are we still here? We should be in the Slane Theocracy, where we can bring the news you, Emiya-sama, is another awakened God-Kin. The whole country be celebrating and praying for your good health."
"Because I said so. We will return to the Slane Theocracy when I make the call." Shirou replied in a firm tone.
"Forgive me, Emiya-sama. I didn't mean to question your decision." Nigan bowed for forgiveness.
"It is alright, but please don't bring up that topic again. We will return to the Slane Theocracy one my word." Shirou waved at Nigan.
"Of course, Emiya-sama."
Shirou watched the villagers continued with their training. More arrows sailed through the air and penetrated targets. Seeing how the villagers were focused on getting stronger a thought came to him. How strong could they become?
He wasn't thinking in realistic terms. People didn't tend to become stronger over a short period of time. To become strong, it took months to see some tangible results. To see vast improvements that no one could deny took years. There were of course, exceptions such as himself, but his case was rare. He had undergone a rare magical phenomena that involved absorbing the combat ability and experience of a possible future self of himself, EMIYA, through soul resonance.
Except the world Shirou Emiya found himself, the New World, was not normal. For one, it seemed to possess traits that could be found in video games. The most obvious one was his health and mana bars and all manner of displays so commonly MMORPGs. He had found traits of not just MMORGPS, but things that Shirou swore was ripped out of YGGDRASIL of all games. At the same time, it seemed the rules of the material universe also seemed to be thrown together with what seemed like YGGDRASIL. A world that seemed to have influences YGGDRASIL incorporated into it like the laws of physics.
The normal conventions of becoming stronger out the window when the logic of video games was applied to the real world. In video games, a person could become a wholly different level of strength by defeating a being that was stronger than them with the aid of others. Something that should take years in real life, shortened potentially to a matter of minutes using video game logic.
That reminded Shirou. He consciously activated his HUD, and the icons that would appear on the computer screen when playing RPGs games. Shirou tapped on several icons to access his character stats. His stat page showed that he had attained the maximum level in YGGDRASIL, level 100. His excess XP bar was around ninety percent full. He was no longer playing YGGDRASIL and in some other world that seemed like the real world with some YGGDRASIL game concepts. So it was now possible might be able to level up to 101 if he filled up his remaining ten percent of the experience bar. Even go beyond.
Shirou's thinking came to abrupt end as dread came over him. He remembered the panoply of wargear that the Black Scripture, the humans that had been fighting Shalltear before he had killed the Dead Apostle, had worn. The original and first users of the Black Scripture's wargear had been individuals that were not from this world, the New World. They had been like him. Players of YGGDRASIL. They had become the Six Gods, whom had created and worshipped in the Slane Theocracy about six centuries ago. If they were still alive and it was possible to go beyond Level 100 then he was in a big fight if he had to fight any of the Six Gods as they had six centuries to powerlevel. That also not counting their followers that the Six Gods had powerleveled others using the power of the Six Gods – i.e. helping them with the abilities of powerful players in order to gain experience faster than normal.
The fact that the Slane Theocracy had not yet taken over the world might be because there were other beings of the same calibre lying in wait. Who knew how many level 100s and above existed in the New World.
How stupid am I?! Shirou berated himself mentally. Why am I limiting myself to thinking the way I had while playing YGGDRASIL! The gaming mechanics and placing for gameplay purpose don't apply to the New World that happens to obey the laws of the material universe. I have fought being more stronger in real life than myself such as Dead Apostle Ancestors and come out victorious.
"Emiya-sama, how does it look? The training that you instructed for me and my subordinates to offer to the villagers?" Linda asked as she walked towards Shirou and Nigan.
"It is rather impressive the level of improvements that the villagers had made since the start," Shirou complimented. "How is training of your own troops going? Are you having difficulties with training and fighting manuals that I had provided?"
"I never knew there were so many ways of training and fighting. What is not optimal method or how to reduce the odds of losing. The concept of guerilla warfare has caught my attention the most." Linda replied eagerly and as if she had been enlightened.
"That is good to hear… but I asked how the training is going…" Shirou replied with polite smile.
"Please, forgive me, Emiya-sama." Linda bowed her head. Shirou was about to open his mouth to say that bowing to him was unnecessary, but he gave up when he remembered how many times he had tried to get his new 'followers' to stop with that. "The training is proceeding, but the results are not happening as expected. We are spending more time trying to unlearn old habits before we can learn from the learning material you had provided."
"Tell your subordinates not to rush. I would rather that you fully master one skill than partial learn one thing in an attempt to learn as much as possible."
"Of course, Emiya-sama."
"Then if you have nothing more to report than I will must return to E-Rantel. Continue with the plans I have provided. If anything happens and needs my attention contact by via the amulets that I had provided," said Shirou before he disappeared.
- O -
"Are you looking around for me?" An aged one asked.
"And who might you be?" Shirou replied respectfully as he turned around.
"My name is Lizzie Bareare. The pharmacist of the store that you're in front." The elderly woman replied.
"That would be correct," said Shirou. "My name is Shirou Emiya."
"Then, please come in," said Lizzie as took out her keys. Then, she looked down, and pushed. The door swung open, without any resistance. "What's this? The store is unlocked. This is too careless of my grandson." Lizzie muttered to herself as she entered the shop. Shirou followed her in."Nfirea, a late-night customer is here."
Lizzie's voice echoed through the shop, but it was silent. It felt as though there was nobody there. She let out a muffled voice as Shirou covered her mouth and looked up at him with a questioning look.
"Bareare-san, please remain quiet." Shirou whispered and then he let his hands off Lizzie's mouth.
"What happened?" Lizzie asked quietly.
"Trouble," Shirou replied. Lizzie frowned in confusion. "Do you see the herbs that are on the ground and stepped upon?" Lizzie nodded but was confused to what Shirou was getting at. "Any self-respecting pharmacist wouldn't let herbs go to waste. The herbs should be put away in a container or hanging from rack. So why are there some wasted by being on the ground and stepped on?"
"I don't know. What does that have anything to do with all the caution that you are showing?" Lizzie whispered.
Shirou drew his weapons and entered the store. He kicked the door open and kept to the right as he went in. Though this was a stranger's house, completely unfamiliar to him, there was no trace of hesitation in Shirou's footsteps.
"What, what are you doing!?" Lizzie shouted.
"Please don't come in. A thief or someone armed may be inside. If you come in I cannot guarantee your safety." Shirou shouted.
He rushed in where he detected a smell that was not of herbs. It was a scent that he was intimiately familiar with his experience on the battlefield. It was acrid odour. The stench of blood. He smashed through several doors and navigated through rooms until he found a room where it had many things out of place.
"It is safe to come in," said Shirou as he went outside the store to get Lizzie. "You might want to see this." Shirou spoke as he escorted Lizzie inside the store and to a particular room.
"This, what is this…?" A surprised Lizzie asked as she looked at the room.
"Do you have any enemies? People that might to kidnap or kill someone from this store?" Shirou asked.
"Not enemies that will result to violence. I only have business rivals, who might resort to spying and sabotage. The usual business methods to get an advantage over a business rival. At least to my knowledge. I have no enemies that would try to kidnap or kill me or anyone that works in my store." Lizzie replied then she suddenly began to panic. "My grandson! Nfirea's gone!"
"Do you have anything that belongs to your grandson? Something that he uses or wears a lot is the best." Shirou asked in a calming voice.
"I do! I do! Here is his pharmacist equipment," said Lizzie in a desperate tone as she drugged Shirou to a work station. "Do you know a spell or have an item that can track my grandson?!"
"I do, but they all need time to prepare or might have prepared counter-methods to thwart any methods I might have to track them. Sometimes the simplest method is best," said Shirou as he began to sniff around the workstation.
"Do you have some demi-human ancestry…?" Lizzie asked with mixed tone, curiously and hint of fear.
"No," Shirou shook his head. "Please think carefully… Any bit of information may help me in finding whoever kidnapped your grandson."
"I have told you. I cannot think of any enemies that would kidnap my grandson or anyone working in my store."
"Let us not think about the reasons being connected to you, your family or business. What about your grandson? Does he have some particular talent or skill that make him an ideal target to kidnap?"
"He does have a born talent to use just about any magical object and use them with a surprising degree of skill even if he hadn't ever touched it before, sometimes even surpassing the original user."
Shirou's blood went cold. That was an incredible potent talent that Shirou had just heard. Under the right circumstances, it could make Nfirea a very powerful warrior or mage. It sounded eerily similar to part of his own ability, minus making copies and reading the history of objects. If Nfirea was able to get his hands on a powerful Mystic Code or even a Noble Phantasm, there was no telling how dangerous he could become in the future. That just limiting himself to Nfirea as a fighter. He could serve as a powerful support role. Healer, alchemist and anything that didn't involve fighting. There was no way he was going to let someone use Nfirea for malevolent purposes. If Nfirea couldn't be saved, Shirou would have to eliminate him for the greater good.
"How about hiring us?" Shirou asked without even thinking. A habit that had been drilled into him by Rin to make it seem that he wasn't always doing things out of his own good will and to deter others from taking advantage of him.
Lizzie looked angrily at Shirou, but understood where he was coming from. Most people would help others in times of need, but not often if that included risking their own life. They needed an incentive to risk their one and only life.
"How much?" Lizzie asked.
"Let us discuss the price another time. The more time I waste not looking for your grandson, the more time for the kidnappers to get away."
- O -
There was a place which occupied roughly a quarter of E-Rantel's outer ring, which was also most of the western quadrant. It was E-Rantel's communal cemetery. While other cities had their own graveyards, none of them were as big as this one. This was in order to suppress the spawning of the undead.
Although many things were unclear about the spontaneous genesis of the undead, the basic idea was that vile creatures frequently spawned from the places where the living came to an end. Of these, people who died sudden, violent deaths and the dead who were not properly revered had the highest chance of coming back to unlife. Therefore, battlefields and ruins tended to be infested by the undead.
Since E-Rantel was very close to the Empire and consequently its battlefields, it required a huge graveyard. A place where remains could receive the proper veneration. In this aspect, the neighboring country, the Empire, also adhered to their common agreement to respect the dead. Though they slaughtered each other, they both saw the undead that attacked the living as their common enemy.
In addition, there was another problem with the undead. If left unattended, the undead spawned more powerful undead. This was why the city guards and adventurers patrolled the graveyards day and night to exterminate the weaker undead as soon as possible.
A wall surrounded the graveyard. This wall was the boundary between the living and dead. While it was only four meters tall and could not compare to the city walls, it was wide enough for people to walk on top of it. The large doors set into its side were sturdy and could not be easily breached. All this was in order to ward against the undead that spawned in the graveyard.
There were staircases to the left and right of the doors, and watchtowers along the length of the wall. The guards took turns observing the graveyard below them as they yawned from the watchtowers, in shifts of five men at a time. The graveyard was lined with sconces enchanted with Continual Light spells, so there was ample illumination despite it being nighttime. Still, there were many shadowy places, and visibility was even worse in those places blocked by tombstones.
A spear-wielding guard absentmindedly looked out to the graveyard, and said to his yawning colleague. "Tonight's quite peaceful too."
"Yup, there were only five Skeletons earlier, right? That seems a lot less compared to the past."
"Hm, could it be the souls of the dead were called back by the Four Gods? That would be pretty lucky for us if it were true."
The other guards were drawn in by the topic, and began speaking up.
"Well, if it's just Skeletons and Zombies we can deal with them. Still, it's a pain to take out Skeletons with a spear."
"I think the most troublesome ones are the Wights."
"For me it's the Skeleton Centipedes. I'd be dead by now if the adventurers standing guard nearby didn't chase them away from me."
"Skeleton Centipedes? I heard that the powerful undead only show up when you let the weak ones get away. So all you need to do is kill them all when they're weak and the strong undead won't appear."
"Yes, that's right. The captain chewed out the squad patrolling the graveyard last week. While it's nice to have them buy a round for us, I'd rather not have to go through that sort of thing again."
"Still… when I think about it, I've got a bad feeling about the lack of undead right now."
"…Why's that?"
"Ah, I just feel like we might have missed something out during our watches."
"You're thinking too much. There aren't that many undead normally. They say that they only pop up frequently when they bury the corpses of the people who died while fighting the Empire. So on the flip side, this is what happens when there aren't any big wars, right?"
The soldiers nodded to each other in agreement. They had buried human corpses in their own villages, but they had never heard of the undead appearing that often.
"…So that means the Katze Plains must be pretty insane."
"Yeah, didn't they say something about an unimaginably strong undead creature showing up?"
It was a place where the Empire and the Kingdom clashed in fierce battles. It was also a place famous for the proliferation of its undead. Adventurers hired by the Kingdom and Imperial knights would often go there to hunt down the undead. This task was important enough that the Empire and Kingdom's support corps had built small towns nearby to support their personnel.
"I heard—" A guard who was about to speak suddenly shut his mouth.
Another guard, who felt easy about this, spoke up. "Oi, don't scare me—":
"Quiet!"
The silent guard looked straight at the graveyard, as though he could see through the darkness. Following this, the other guards turned to look at the graveyard one after the other.
"…Didn't you hear it?"
"Were you imagining things?"
"Though I didn't hear the wind blowing or the grass moving… I think I can smell dirt. Didn't they dig a few graves just now? It smells just like it did then…"
"Come on, don't joke about this sort of thing."
"…Eh? Ah, oi! Look over there!"
One of the guards pointed to the graveyard, and everyone else looked toward the spot he was pointing at. Two guards were sprinting for the doors. Both of them panted heavily, their eyes bloodshot, and their sweat-slick hair stuck to their foreheads.
A growing sense of dread filled the other guards as they saw this. Guard patrols in the graveyard moved in groups of at least ten. Why were there only two people here? Judging by the way they had no weapons and were running for dear life, they had panicked and fled.
"Open, open up! Hurry up and open the doors!"
Upon seeing the two men shouting in front of the doors, the guards hurriedly ran down the stairs and let them through. Before the doors could even swing fully open, the two guards forced their way in. They collapsed to the ground but kept scrabbling on.
"What the hell…"
The two pale-faced guards who had just escaped the graveyard interrupted their questioners, panting and shouting:
"Close, close the doors! Quickly!"
This strange behavior sent a chill down the spine of the other guards. Working together, they pushed the doors shut and barred them.
"What happened? What about the others?"
As they heard this question, a haunted look appeared on the guards' frightened faces.
"They, they were eaten by the undead!"
Upon realizing that eight of their fellows had lost their lives, the guards immediately turned to their captain. He immediately ordered. "…Oi, one of you go upstairs and take a look!"
A guard hurriedly climbed the stairs, but halfway up, he froze in place.
"What, what happened?"
The trembling guard shouted. "The undead! The undead are everywhere!"
If one listened carefully, they would be able to make out a sound which sounded like ten thousand horses galloping, coming from the other side of the wall. Everyone, not just the guard from just now, were struck dumb by the scene before them. A massive quantity of undead, so great as to render all who saw it speechless, approached the doors of the graveyard.
"Why, in such numbers…"
"Looks like it's more than one or two hundred… there should be a thousand of them… or more…"
The magical lights illuminated countless undead, like shadows writhing in the dark, and it was difficult to get an exact count. Wreathed in the scent of rot, the shambling mass of undead pressed in toward the doors like gathering clouds. It was not just Zombies and Skeletons down there; there were also a few rarer and more powerful undead — Ghouls, Ghasts, Wights, Swell Skins, Corrupt Dead, and more.
The guards could not help their shivering. Because the graveyard was surrounded by a wall, the undead could not attack the common folk as long as the wall held out. However, even if they mobilized all their guards, it was doubtful whether they could fend off such a massive horde of the undead. The guards were essentially normal citizens, and they had no confidence in wiping out these undead.
In addition, some undead could turn their slain victims into others of their own kind. If things went poorly, the guards might end up becoming undead themselves and attacking their fellows. And while they had not seen any flying undead yet, the guards had a bad feeling — that if they did not wipe them all out, a flying undead creature would end up spawning sooner or later.
The undead tide washed up against the side of the wall. The swarming, mindless undead had no sense of pain, and banged wildly against the doors. It was as if they knew that they could attack the living if they broke the doors down. The sounds of repeated pounding and the constant moans of the dead came from the other side of the door.
They did not need siege rams. The undead, who did not care if their bodies were destroyed by their non-stop battering, were siege weapons in their own right. Cold sweat broke out on the backs of the guards who saw this.
"Ring the bell! Ask for help from the barracks! You two, go inform the other doors about this!" The captain, who had recovered his senses by now, continued giving orders. "The ones behind, take your spears and stab the undead getting close to the doors!"
The guards remembered their duty as they heard the orders, and they started thrusting savagely at the undead below them. The undead covered the land like a flood, so any stroke of theirs found a home in undead flesh.
They thrust, withdrew, and thrust again.
Tainted blood spilled over the ground, while the guards' noses were soon inured to the stench of decay. They repeated the same motions over and over again like workers. They killed several undead, which fell to the ground and were trampled to paste by the ones behind them. Because the undead had little intelligence, they did not strike against the guards stabbing at them with their spears. Repeating the same simple actions eroded the guards' sense of danger.
And then, as though aiming for that moment —
"Uwaaaaaaaah!"
A scream pierced the air. As the other guards turned to look, they saw something long and wriggly curled around another guard's neck. It was a slimy, pink object — an intestine.
The creature that had shot forth this length of intestine was an egg-shaped undead creature, with a huge cavity on the front of its body. Within that cavity were several people's worth of internal organs, churning and wriggling like parasites. This undead creature was called an Organ Egg. The writhing intestine pulled at the guard's body.
"Hyaaaaaaa!"
Before his friends could save him, the guard wailed and fell.
"Save, save me! Someone save me! Agyaaaah!"
His screams filled the air. Every guard saw the terrible fate of their colleague, eaten alive by the throng of undead. The armor which protected his body and his attempts to protect his face only prolonged his suffering. His fingers, his calves, his face, all of them were picked clean.
"Fall back! Get down from the wall!"
After seeing the Organ Egg's innards twitching, the guard captain ordered a retreat. All the guards hurriedly ran down the stairs, and they could hear the sounds of the undead banging at the doors getting louder. The doors themselves began groaning under the strain. The sense of doom grew stronger. The chances of them holding out until help arrived, or that no other strong undead would show up were very low. Once the doors opened, the tide of death would flood in, and only the gods knew how many lives would be lost.
Just as the guards were fully consumed by despair, there was a clattering of metal. Everyone reflexively looked to the source of the sound. Before their eyes was a warrior in full plate armor. Beside them was a beautiful woman who seemed completely mismatched to the pair.
"O-Oi! This place is very dangerous! Get out of—"
Halfway through the guard's words, he realized that there was a metal plate dangling from the warrior's neck. An adventurer. However, that ember of hope was snuffed out when he saw that it was a copper plate. Adventurers of the lowest class could not possibly deliver them from this dilemma. A look of disappointment appeared in the eyes of all the guards present.
"Didn't you hear me? Get out of here now!"
"Nabe, my sword."
The warrior's voice was softer than the guard's shouting, but it was surprisingly resonant even through the clamor of the swarming undead. The beautiful woman approached the warrior, and drew a greatsword from his back.
"Look behind you. It's dangerous, right?"
The guards turned around in response to the warrior's words, and they looked upon their doom. They saw a shape which was taller than the four meter high walls. It was a Necrosome Giant, a gigantic undead creature made of countless corpses.
"Uwaaaaah—"
Just as the guards screamed and prepared to flee, a strange sight appeared before them. The warrior from just now raised his sword in a javelin-thrower's stance.
What was he doing? In the next moment, that question vanished like mist in sunlight.
The warrior hurled his sword with unbelievable speed. The guards hurriedly looked where the sword had flown, and there they saw an even more incredible sight. The Necrosome Giant, that vast, seemingly invincible undead creature, staggered back like it had been hit in the head by an even larger foe, before collapsing to the ground. A thunderous crash provided the proof that the gigantic creature had been knocked down.
"—These undead are in the way."
With that, the dark warrior drew his other greatsword and advanced.
"Open up."
The guards did not seem to have understood what the warrior said. They blinked several times before they finally managed to parse the warrior's words.
"Don't, don't be foolish! There's a whole crowd of undead on the other side of the door!"
"So? What does that matter to me, Momon?"
Faced by the absolute confidence of the dark warrior, all of the guards were shaken to the core, and they could not respond.
"…Well, if you won't open up, it can't be helped. I'll go over there myself."
The warrior broke into a sprint and kicked off the stone floor, vanishing over the other side of the wall. He had leapt over a four meter high wall in a single bound, and while wearing full plate too. It was a scene that barely seemed real at all. The guards could not bring themselves to believe the events which had just occurred. Each of them continued staring slack-jawed at the place where Momon had been.
The beautiful woman floated into the sky from her original position. She looked like she would cross the wall like that.
Now all was silence. They stared with open mouths and stunned eyes for a while, as though a typhoon had just swept past them. The first guard to recover spoke in a voice that trembled uncontrollably:
"Oi… do you hear it?"
"Hear what?"
"The sounds of the undead."
Even though they strained their ears to listen, they could not hear anything. It was as though a veil of silence had been drawn across the land. The constant sound of the undead pounding on the doors from just now was nowhere to be found.
The frightened guards muttered. "Oi, did that actually happen? That warrior… there were undead like that, and so many of them, and he broke right through them… went straight ahead."
They were filled with equal parts shock and awe. The reason why the noise had stopped was because the nearby undead had been drawn away by a new target. Given that the sound still had not returned, it implied that they were still fighting and had not returned. This unbelievable scenario drew the guards to the top of the walls to satisfy their curiosity. They could not believe what they saw from up there, and they muttered:
"What is this… that warrior… what kind of a man is he…"
Countless bodies littered the ground. Mountains of corpses were everywhere, covering the entire graveyard. Although some of the undead hung on to a thread of unlife and struggled weakly to move, all of them had lost the ability to fight. The smell of decay floated over as they expected, and they heard the sounds of distant battle.
"…No way… he's still fighting? All these undead, strong ones too, and he could actually break through them! Incredible…!"
"Who was that warrior, anyway?"
"…He called himself Momon, I think… but calling someone with skills like that a copper plate is too much of a joke. He should be one of those legendary adventurers with an adamantite plate, right?"
The others quietly voiced their approval. Someone like that could not be a mere copper plate adventurer. He should be someone who possessed a plate made of the highest ranked of all metals — in other words, a hero. There was no other possibility.
"We… perhaps we just saw a man of legend… a dark warrior… no, a dark hero…"
Everyone else could not help but nod in response to that.
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