"Grandpa, is there anything that looks like a Lich?"
"No, there isn't. At least not within visible range. Well, that one is capable of hiding its presence and seems quite skilled at concealing itself, so we might have missed it. On another note, I'd heard its power was low, but when this many are fired at once, it does get a bit troublesome."
"On average, it's probably about the same as Luna's magic. Well, there seems to be individual variation, so we can't let our guard down too much."
After the decoy operation was relayed to the surrounding forces, Grandpa and I flew directly above a horde that had broken through the first defensive line — the first of our designated targets.
We were flying at roughly fifty meters above ground, so the four-armed monsters couldn't reach us and could only glare upward. But the zombies capable of using magic had stopped in their tracks and begun targeting Grandpa and me. So far, only the four-armed monsters and magic-using zombies had halted; the rest continued their advance without paying us any mind. The four-armed monsters and magic-using zombies likely had different priority rankings for threats compared to the regular zombies.
"Perhaps the four-armed monsters and the magic-using zombies function like special forces in a human army. Their role might be to eliminate threats and obstacles on the battlefield."
"If that's the case, then even if the Lich doesn't show up, our flying over the horde would still be effective?"
"That's right. Oh—!"
While I was talking with Grandpa, a spell suddenly came flying at us with far greater speed and power than before. For a moment, I thought the Lich had appeared, but the power was too low for something the Lich would cast. To be safe, I gained some altitude to assess the situation, and the caster turned out to look slightly different from the magic-using zombies we'd seen before. How should I put it — it didn't feel very much like a zombie. Its expression was motionless, and despite missing an arm and dragging one leg strangely, it showed no sign of pain, so I figured it had to be a zombie. But compared to the others, its movements were smoother. If it weren't for its deformities, one might mistake it for a living person.
"'Appraisal' doesn't work on them, so we should treat them as threats on par with the four-armed monsters, right? Grandpa, should we take just those ones out first?"
"Indeed. However, thinking about the Lich, Tenma, you should conserve your strength as much as possible. Let me handle them alone for now."
With that, Grandpa dropped altitude and fired a Fire Bullet at the magic-using zombie.
"It hit dead center in the chest, but... it doesn't seem to have taken much damage."
Grandpa's spell had punched clean through the zombie's chest, yet it showed no sign of distress and continued firing spells at Grandpa. Unlike the four-armed monsters, that zombie might not have had a Magic Stone in its chest.
Grandpa apparently came to the same conclusion — he fired several shots at its chest and head, finishing it off. Then, after taking down two or three more in the same manner, he flew back to me.
"Tenma, those ones seem to have some magic resistance, so a single shot won't do the trick, but several hits should put them down without any problem. They might actually be easier for us to deal with than the four-armed ones. I'll handle them — you save your stamina."
With that, Grandpa resumed picking off the magic-using zombies from above. Throughout the exchange, zombie spells and stones hurled by the four-armed monsters kept flying our way. If this had been a ground-level magical duel, the four-armed monsters would have charged in right after the zombie spells. But unable to fly, the four-armed monsters could only throw things upward with all their strength. While they were thrown with considerable speed and range, gravity was still against them, so they posed no real threat to Grandpa, who was attacking from a safe distance. For similar reasons, most of the other zombies' spells either dissipated or veered off course long before reaching Grandpa.
As for the powerful magic-using zombies — their spells did reach Grandpa with enough force to cause damage if they connected, but for Grandpa, dodging that level of magic was trivial. So far, not a single dangerous moment had arisen. Then —
"Grandpa, we've got a bite!"
Suddenly, from an angle that exploited Grandpa's blind spot, a spell of utterly different magnitude was launched. But I intercepted it with my own magic before it could reach Grandpa, neutralizing it completely.
"Tenma! As we planned, I'll shift to support! I'll take out the magic-using zombies where I can, but watch out for stray shots from below! And... there!"
Grandpa simultaneously widened his distance from the Lich and fired a spell skyward, creating a firework-like explosion. This was the signal to alert Jean and the others waiting at a distance, as well as the Royal Army forces stationed in formation nearby, that the Lich had appeared.
On this signal, the surrounding Royal Army forces gradually pulled back from the Lich's vicinity while intensifying their assault on the zombies. Jean and the others moved to an even greater distance, linked up with reinforcements from the nearby Royal Army, and prepared to intercept the horde that would try to slip past us. It would be a fight in an extremely dangerous position, but if things went south, they were to retreat to a safe position even if it meant leaving Grandpa and me behind, then regroup.
"Looks like it's going all out from the start this time..."
Last time, the Lich had converted the zombies' life force into its own power, growing stronger mid-battle. This time, it had apparently fortified itself in advance through some other means. If it had been the same as before, we'd planned to gradually thin the zombies while suppressing the Lich's power-ups. But it seemed it had taken countermeasures. We'd anticipated this pattern too, so there was no need to panic — but the situation was undeniably tough. Moreover, even if we managed to deal damage to the Lich, it could sacrifice the countless zombies below to recover, so we needed to thin the zombie ranks in parallel.
"Tenma! Don't let it hit you!"
While the Lich and I were locked in a stalemate, Grandpa made the first move.
He unleashed a barrage of spells on a trajectory that arced down from above the Lich, attacking in a way that would also cause collateral damage to the zombies below.
"Hmm... not very effective. So I need to land more powerful hits, is that it?"
Grandpa's attack had prioritized volume and speed, meaning each individual spell had lower power. While it dealt significant damage to the zombies below, the Lich treated it like being pelted with pebbles — it easily dodged most of them or swatted them away with the great scythe it had drawn. Thanks to the sheer number fired, a few spells did graze it, but that was far from what one could call meaningful damage.
"Well, it could be useful for thinning the zombies."
Using it during the fight with the Lich did carry the risk of hitting me too, but Grandpa wouldn't make such a blunder... I think.
It would become a risky tactic, but since Grandpa's earlier spell also served to pin down the Lich, it would be problematic if he used it too frequently — but equally problematic if he didn't use it at all. Still, Grandpa had far more experience than I did when it came to gauging the right moment, so he wouldn't misjudge it.
"Tenma! Jean's group has started fighting too!"
I couldn't take my eyes off the Lich, so I couldn't look in that direction, but the sounds I could hear told me the battle had turned fierce right from the start.
"I'm going in — cover me!"
The area where Jean and the others were fighting might actually be closer than we'd anticipated. If so, the Lich could turn its attention toward them, so rather than staying on the defensive, I should press the attack with enough force to push the Lich back.
"Roger! Here I go!"
Grandpa's spells surged toward the Lich, racing past me as I charged in. Exploiting the opening that created, I managed to land a solid hit on the Lich.
---
Jean's Side
"Captain Jean! We've received reinforcements from House Salsarmo and House Cagliostro!"
"Understood. Bring their representatives here."
As vice-captain of the Royal Guard, I wasn't yet fully accustomed to the title, but I couldn't afford to show any uncertainty — doing so might invite contempt from those who'd come as reinforcements. After all, not all of them were necessarily inclined to follow my orders obediently. Some might even be scheming to defy instructions in order to distinguish themselves here and secure greater rewards after the war. Among all of them, the fact that House Salsarmo and House Cagliostro had been the first to respond was a blessing. Both were count-level houses within the faction of Duke Sanga, a pillar of the Royalist Faction. Their respective heads were Duke Sanga's stepsons — and Tenma's stepbrothers. Even if they harbored their own ambitions, they were unlikely to take any action that would disadvantage Tenma.
I tightened my focus even more than usual and gave Chris her orders. Soon enough, she returned with the two knights who were the respective representatives. We held a brief meeting to discuss objectives and the chain of command, and the two knights each produced letters bearing their lords' seals. Summarizing those letters:
They essentially directed their troops to follow the special unit captain's orders, and each letter bore the personal signature of its respective lord.
After reading the letters and confirming with both knights for good measure, I was told they'd been dispatched with instructions to obey unless given unreasonable orders. They'd also been told, "Be sure to make yourselves useful to our dear brother-in-law."
Since both sides had received nearly identical instructions, it was likely that Count Salsarmo and Count Cagliostro had consulted beforehand.
"Jean, can those two be trusted?"
"Well, they should be fine. House Salsarmo and House Cagliostro are both closely tied to Tenma through Duke Sanga. Rather than making trouble and drawing the ire of the Ōtori family, Duke Sanga, and the Royal Family, they stand to gain far more by simply acting cooperatively. By any rational calculation, they'd choose to follow orders. Besides, as long as they stay under my command and do as told, they can deflect any blame onto me if something goes wrong. On top of that, being the first to send reinforcements looks good to the Royal Family, and barring anything extraordinary, they'll carry more influence than reinforcements who arrive later."
After that, reinforcements continued to arrive in quick succession, and our numbers soon exceeded a thousand.
It was still a modest force for battling a horde numbering well into the tens of thousands, but each unit was composed of elite cavalry. As long as we didn't overextend, we should be able to fight effectively.
The ratio among reinforcements was roughly: over half from the Royalist Faction, about thirty percent from the Neutral Faction, and the remainder from Reformists (moderate Royalist sympathizers) and unaffiliated nobles. The most prominent among them were, as one might expect, the knights from House Salsarmo and House Cagliostro — the first to arrive. This wasn't just because they'd arrived first. While most other nobles had sent reinforcements of perhaps fifty at most, the two houses had each dispatched a hundred and fifty knights. As a result, the Duke Sanga faction controlled nearly a third of the entire force. Additionally, among the reinforcements, they held the highest noble rank as count-level houses.
Just as a wave of magic was launched from the zombie horde toward Tenma and Merlin, and Merlin began returning fire — signaling that our turn was finally approaching — I was about to ready for battle when word arrived that yet another force was heading our way. And it was a group that clearly outnumbered all previous reinforcements combined.
"Chris!"
"Right away! I'll go confirm!"
Since we'd already formed our battle lines, this new group would unfortunately have to be placed toward the rear. But we still needed to confirm who they were, so I sent Chris to greet them. After a while, however, she returned with a flustered expression, several knights following behind her. The banner held by the knight at their front bore a family crest that stunned everyone present — and the knights dispatched by House Salsarmo and House Cagliostro could barely conceal their agitation.
"I never expected reinforcements to come from House Cromfel."
House Cromfel was a storied noble family whose head was the son of Foreign Minister Alan Van Cromfel, Count. Count Cromfel — who held the Marquis title at the time — had ceded the head position early and returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he'd served in his youth. He'd risen all the way to Foreign Minister in under a decade — a truly extraordinary figure. The "Count" in his title was one held by House Cromfel in its own right.
"I apologize for the delay. My uncle, who serves as head of House Cromfel, instructed me to bring along volunteers from the Neutral Faction. However, more people gathered than expected, so I went to obtain permission from the military to relocate to the battlefield. That's why I've arrived only now."
The fact that this young man called the Marquis Cromfel his uncle meant he was either a blood relative or close to it. This could potentially disrupt our chain of command, but the letter he'd produced from the Marquis stated that command was to be left to me, and the young man himself said he was happy to serve in the lowest position as a junior. Still, I couldn't very well place the Marquis's nephew — the Marquis's younger brother's son, who currently held no title but was widely expected to inherit one someday — in the back ranks as he'd suggested. So I restructured the formation to place him alongside the knights from House Salsarmo and House Cagliostro near the front.
The sudden formation change might not have sat well with the count houses' knights, but I hoped they'd accept it as being "placed side by side." After all, with House Cromfel's participation — technically, the Neutral Faction's coalition — the numerical balance between the Royalist and Neutral factions had now flipped. As long as the Marquis's house was willing to follow orders, I wanted to avoid stirring up trouble and disrupting our cohesion.
"Captain Jean! The Lich has appeared! The zombie horde has begun its advance! We're moments away from the anticipated interception point!"
"Understood! The moment the enemy reaches the designated point, we begin our operation! I'll say it again — our goal is not to annihilate the zombie horde! While keeping casualties to a minimum, we reduce the enemy's numbers and support the Ōtori family! Those engaging in close combat — do not pursue too deep! If it looks dangerous, pull back immediately! Those using magic — always aim to fire at long range! There are enough enemies that even without precise targeting, firing into the horde will guarantee hits! And do not forget — when the signal sounds, break off combat and retreat to the rear!"
Our role in this operation included supporting Tenma and Merlin by reducing the zombie count as much as possible. This was meant to hinder the Lich's ability to sacrifice zombies for self-enhancement and recovery. Naturally, some had argued that we should simply assemble a massive force and crush the horde in one blow. But doing so would prevent Tenma and Merlin from operating freely. Rather than being a hindrance, it would have been more productive to simply tend to the two Ōtori family members' needs before the battle and then pull back to observe. Our combat effectiveness would have been greater that way.
However, deploying civilians to a battlefield (and in my personal opinion, the Ōtori family didn't really fit that category) and entrusting them with the entire fight was a matter that touched on the very purpose of the military's existence.
So we'd arrived at the conclusion of using an elite force to gradually reduce zombie numbers. But no matter how capable the individuals, they were often meaningless against sheer numerical superiority. Moreover, the larger a unit grew, the more its coordination degraded — it was unrealistic to expect everyone to move in perfect synchronization simultaneously. To mitigate this as much as possible, I split our force of roughly fifteen hundred (a thousand before House Cromfel arrived) into three divisions. While the First Division engaged, the Second would secure the perimeter, and the Third would rest and serve as an emergency reserve. To keep the signals simple, I used a spell taught to me by Tenma that created small explosions in the sky. This explosion would signal the combat division to pull back while the next division advanced. If the next division failed to move forward, that would indicate something unexpected had occurred, and the fighting division was to follow the next division commander's orders. Incidentally, the First Division commander was myself, the Second was Chris, and the Third was a captain from the First Knight Order whom Tenma knew personally.
I'd asked each reinforcement group's leader (or the leader of each faction cluster) to split their forces into three, trying to balance combat strength across the divisions. But as I'd feared, the strength was concentrated in my First Division. This was because House Salsarmo, House Cagliostro, and House Cromfel (the Neutral Faction coalition) all had their leaders in the First Division — it was the most visible and offered the best chance to distinguish oneself. After the war, there'd probably be disputes over who had struck down or defeated the first zombie, but I'd let them sort that out among themselves once everything was over. No matter how well our unit performed, we'd be completely overshadowed by Tenma and Merlin's exploits. In fact, the more they postured, the more embarrassing it would be for them afterward. In terms of competitive spirit, I was also a bit worried about Chris — but given her closeness to Tenma, even if she tried to one-up the others here, she wouldn't keep it up beyond this battle. If anything, she'd probably just leverage her connection to Tenma to make some shameless request afterward. In the entire Royal Army, she was probably the only one who could get away with it. Lord Lyle might be able to as well, but if he did, it would create all sorts of complications. Lady Maria would be furious.
"Captain Jean! The zombies have reached the designated point!"
"Understood! First Division, are you ready?! Never throw your lives away! Rather than desperately taking down one zombie in front of you, pull back and take down two or three afterward! There is no shame in retreating! What truly deserves scorn is throwing away your life through reckless bravery! And beyond that reckless act lies only the consequence of pushing your comrades into dire straits! Now — move out!"
I don't know how much my words would actually accomplish, but I could only hope they'd reduce even one person from making a reckless charge.
Despite my concerns, the First Division's knights launched into action, charging at the zombie horde with reckless abandon. Some charged so hard they plunged into the horde itself and were thrown from their mounts. At that momentum, the impact of the fall alone might have killed them before the zombies could reach them.
"As long as your mounts are fresh, use your mobility to fight!"
Early in the battle, I realized I'd made a significant miscalculation: our forces had a critical lack of experience in cavalry combat at the scale of several hundred.
The kingdom had enjoyed relative peace — for better or worse — with no major wars in decades despite occasional skirmishes. As a result, while cavalry formations were assembled for training exercises, no one here had experienced actual combat at this scale.
Of course, on an individual or small-group level, there were those with cavalry combat experience, and even some called masters or experts, within this force. But whether in exercises or real combat at this scale, individual or small-group experience offered limited utility.
"Having gathered more people than expected was part of the problem too... Damn it! We need to reorganize quickly!"
Before the assembly, I'd estimated that even including reinforcements, we'd barely reach a thousand. But in reality, reinforcements from nearby areas alone nearly hit a thousand, and the unexpected participation of House Cromfel pushed us past fifteen hundred. As a result, the three divisions I'd originally planned had roughly double the personnel each, making coordination far more difficult. On top of that, the Royalist Faction members — stung into competitiveness by the late-arriving Neutral Faction — had charged with excessive momentum, leaving many unable to see the bigger picture.
"The Royalist reinforcements are dragging us down — unbelievable! Hmm?"
While cutting down approaching zombies and barking orders to those around me, I was barely ten minutes into the fight when the retreat signal sounded.
"It's early, but this is our chance to reorganize... Pull back! Pull back! RETREAT —!"
I bellowed the retreat order at the top of my lungs, and most immediately responded. But some were too excited to hear, and others had pushed too deep into the horde to extract themselves. Eventually, those who were merely overexcited were dragged back by comrades, but those who'd gone too deep were pulled from their horses by zombies during the attempt to turn around and vanished from sight. At that rate, they were certainly dead. Even if some were still alive, sending rescuers would only invite secondary casualties. And since their own mistakes had put them in that position, harsh as it was, I had no choice but to leave them behind.
"Second Division — go!"
Threading through our retreating ranks, Chris's Second Division charged toward the zombie horde. Unlike our First Division, they'd witnessed our mistakes firsthand, and sure enough, no one was rushing ahead despite their fighting spirit.
"Reform the lines! And assess the casualties!"
After pulling back behind the Third Division, I immediately issued orders to the First Division's key members. The result:
"Twelve who didn't make it back..."
Against an enemy of that scale, twelve casualties might seem low. But considering that these were opponents weaker than ourselves (the four-armed monsters and magic-using zombies seemed to be targeting Tenma instead, so I couldn't confirm their presence during that engagement), and that this had occurred in roughly ten minutes of fighting, it was significant. The fact that most casualties came from the Royalist Faction's reinforcements was an additional headache.
"Those who are wounded, get treated immediately! Even minor wounds from zombies can lead to festering later!"
Depending on the state of a zombie's decay, wounds from an enemy of unknown contamination could prove fatal even if minor. For this reason, our force had been provided with the same quantity of medicine normally given to a unit of ten thousand. We also had medicinal supplies provided by the Ōtori family, giving us enough wound medicine to treat even minor injuries freely. However, if things continued at this pace, we might need to ration our usage.
"I'm going to check on the Second Division."
I moved to where the Third Division was staged to observe the Second Division's performance. Chris and her people, unlike our First Division, were dispatching zombies with composure.
"Chris's group seems to be doing well, but... judging by how things are, I can already imagine what she'll say to me afterward."
As a captain, Chris's success was welcome — but considering how she'd behave toward me afterward... that was yet another headache.
End of Jean's Side