Chapter 51 : Chapter 51

Chapter 51. I Will Show You the True Terror of Black Magic (1)

Patrick was right behind the vanguard, watching what the three brave-but-foolish idiots up front were doing.

He approached the only one among the three who seemed reasonable enough to talk to.

“Viscount Preis. Would you mind listening to me for a moment?”

“Hmm, and you are?”

“I am Patrick Schneider, son of Baron Schneider.”

“I know of you. You’re that fellow from back then.”

Patrick had made an impression on the eastern nobles at the previous banquet.

He had originally intended to remain inconspicuous, but his reward… no, his unavoidable action in response to the Count’s daughter’s crisis, had resulted in the perception among the eastern nobles that ‘the son of the Baron Schneider family is quite skilled with a sword.’

Among them, Viscount Preis had looked at Patrick with particular interest.

In the eyes of the Viscount, who had led troops and fought in several territorial wars in his youth, Patrick’s level was by no means something that could be expressed as ‘quite skilled.’

He himself was at the 3-star level, yet he hadn't even been able to see what this young man had done.

‘He must be at least 5-star.’

Thinking that this level of talent made him a genius among geniuses, Viscount Preis spoke to Patrick with a somewhat gentle expression.

“Hahaha. I think I know why you’ve come.”

“Ah, you do?”

“Yes. Your body must be itching for a fight, isn’t it?”

“……”

“It’s natural for someone your age. If you wish, you may stand at the front of our army as well.”

‘Nope, that’s not it, old man.’

Patrick let out a sigh and said.

“First, please slow the pace of the advance. The damage from traps is steadily increasing.”

“But if we do that…”

Won’t we lose the vanguard position to the other two families?

He couldn't say that out loud.

Even if that was his true intention, it was shameful to openly admit to sacrificing soldiers for the sake of merit.

Patrick said to Viscount Preis.

“The role of the vanguard is not to advance quickly. It is to secure a safe path for the rear guard.”

“Ummm…”

“For now, please fall back and reorganize your ranks. If my prediction is correct, the bandits’ ambush will appear soon.”

“An ambush?”

“The path is getting narrower as we go. If I were the bandits, I would place archers to target our forces.”

“Such a cowardly act…”

“What do you expect from bandits?”

He held back from adding, ‘And what’s so cowardly about an ambush?’

Viscount Preis calmly looked around.

It was true that the competition for the lead had become overheated, and the army's formation was in great disarray.

If an enemy ambush were to fire arrows in this situation….

“Hmm, Sir Terius!”

“Yes, my lord. You called?”

“We will reorganize the formation once and then advance again. Take care of the soldiers.”

“Yes, my lord.”

After giving instructions to his knight, Viscount Preis said.

“Is this better?”

“Yes. Thank you for listening to my opinion.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s been a while since I’ve been in a real battle, so I got too excited myself. To think I didn't even notice the formation was in such disarray.”

Watching Viscount Preis, who was aware of what the problem was, Patrick thought.

‘So he has some real combat experience from his youth? This old man is definitely the better of the lot.’

Patrick then looked at the other two families.

They were charging forward with a brave ignorance that reminded him of the Orcs he had left back in the fiefdom.

“Advance! Advance!”

“Ignore the traps! Prove that such cowardly tricks cannot stop us!”

They were a lost cause.

Blinded by the prospect of glory, they didn't even see the expressions on their own soldiers’ faces, merely pushing them unreasonably from behind. Patrick shook his head as he watched them.

He hadn't thought he would see such a sight again, even after dying and being reborn.

As the Preis Family temporarily fell back, the Haspir and Baison families pushed their soldiers even harder.

It seemed they thought that with one competitor out, they could monopolize the vanguard position if they just beat one more.

They had to reach the bandits’ camp at the very front, no matter what.

Only then could they claim to have fulfilled their role as the vanguard and be recognized for their merits and receive rewards later.

If they retreated now, they would be nothing more than fools who had needlessly sacrificed their soldiers.

Therefore….

‘We’re there. We’re almost there.’

‘We can’t turn back now.’

The heads of the two families, charging with the classic mindset of a failing gambler, failed to grasp the situation at all.

Neither the increasing number of traps nor the narrowing of the path. Then, in the midst of it all….

“There it is! That’s the bandits’ main base!”

“Chaaaaarge!”

Finally, the target appeared before their eyes.

A wooden stockade, which seemed to have been hastily built by the bandits, was visible.

The commander, having confirmed the target, immediately ordered the soldiers to charge, and the soldiers, thinking they had finally reached their destination, charged forward without looking back. However….

“Fire!”

A command shouted from somewhere.

And the clear sound of bowstrings twanging was heard from all directions. What followed next was….

“Aargh!”

“Keok!”

“Ugh… krrk….”

It was the soldiers of the two families, falling as they were struck by a rain of arrows pouring from all sides.

“Shields up!”

“Block the arrows! Block them, I say!”

“Form a tight formation and use your shields to… Kugh…”

The bows used by the bandits were not very high-performance weapons.

They could be blocked sufficiently not only by the knights’ plate mail but also by the soldiers’ wooden shields.

If they had maintained their formation at a normal pace, they would have been able to block an arrow attack of this level. However….

“Kuaaargh!”

“Aaaargh…”

“No! Uwaaaargh!”

“Run away!”

An army without command is nothing more than a large group of targets.

A few soldiers tried to follow their commander’s orders to raise their shields and block the arrows, but without a proper tight formation, they could not stop the rain of arrows.

Thus, the soldiers of the two families fell helplessly.

And the heads of the two families who were watching the scene turned pale.

“Damn it, Sir Kalson!”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Leave the soldiers and have the knights alone break down the enemy’s stockade.”

“Yes. Understood.”

The lord of Baison sent his prized knightly order ahead.

The bandits' crude arrows could not penetrate a knight's plate mail.

And the flimsy stockade built by the bandits could not stop his prized 4-star knight, Kalson Meyer.

Just by breaking down that stockade, he could claim to have fulfilled the minimum role of the vanguard, so he bet everything on it.

“I am Kalson of Baison!”

As if to prove his 4-star level was no lie, a single knight, holding a bastard sword shimmering with aura, rode his horse at the forefront.

His horse, also clad in dense barding, ran towards the stockade, unfazed by the bandits' arrows.

And the moment he reached the stockade….

Kwaaaang!

The aura exploded against the bandits’ stockade.

The wooden stockade, struck by the aura of a 4-star knight, was shattered into pieces.

“Knight Kalson of the Baison fiefdom! Has arrived at the front!”

The knight, understanding his lord's intention, announced his name in a loud voice.

With this, the role of the vanguard was sufficiently….

“Hup!”

Kalson, who had broken through the stockade and entered the camp, momentarily covered his mouth.

A rotten smell.

The place that seemed to be the bandits’ main base was filled with the terrible stench of decaying corpses.

There wasn't a single living person, only corpses.

Corpses that looked like ordinary commoners, to those presumed to be from the punitive force and bandits, all half-rotten, had been gathered in this place.

The moment he saw the pile of rotten corpses filling the base, he felt a chill run down his spine.

Bandits, a black mage, and corpses.

What could this combination of three things mean?

“Re… retreaaaat!”

Along with his loud shout, the rotten corpses lying on the ground began to squirm and rise.

“Grrrrr….”

“Grrrrrr….”

Zombies rose in large numbers.

Zombies are a peculiar type of monster.

They are the lowest-ranking monster among the undead, and a well-armed regular soldier could defeat one if they kept their wits about them.

However, it’s a different story when the number of such zombies increases.

They are slow and dull, but they feel no pain and do not fall from ordinary wounds.

On top of that, they have an endless obsession and madness for the blood and flesh of the living.

When dozens, hundreds of such zombies attack in a horde, it was nothing short of a disaster.

Against a wall of flesh that keeps charging forward no matter how many times you cut it, neither armed soldiers nor trained knights were of much use.

Such zombies poured out of the bandits’ base and fell upon the punitive force.

“Grrrrr…”

“Uwooooargh…”

A vague obsession and hatred for the living.

Whether a good person or an evil one, it was all the same once they were reborn as moving corpses under the baptism of demonic power.

Even with their hearts pierced by a sword or their limbs torn off, the zombies, moving forward only to tear at the flesh of the living, began to bite into the soldiers of the punitive force.

“Uwaaaargh!”

“No! Don’t come neaaar!”

“Aargh! Aaaaargh! Aaaaaaaaargh!”

Some swung their weapons randomly in terror, while others collapsed on the spot, surrounded by zombies and eaten alive.

A scene that seemed to have been brought straight from a corner of hell unfolded in this place.

And the one who had created this tragedy was watching the scene from not too far away.

He watched this scene with a cynical smile on his lips and said.

“Kukuku, yes. Bleed. Scream. Your blood and sorrowful cries will be my nourishment.”

This man, wrapped in a black robe and holding a skull that emitted a sinister aura, was the black mage who was lending his power to this band of bandits.

No, strictly speaking, the phrase ‘lending his power’ was incorrect.

One could tell by listening to another bandit standing next to him.

“What should we do now?”

That's right. This black mage was the leader of this band of bandits.

To be precise, there was an original leader.

But the black mage had suddenly appeared one day, killed the leader, and cast a brainwashing spell on the bandit group, seizing it entirely.

He had taken over the entire bandit group because he needed a force that would move at his beck and call.

All to efficiently carry out the orders given to him by the cult.

It was under the black mage's instructions that they had attacked the roads around Pilseu Mountain and plundered the surrounding fiefdoms.

And now, he looked intently at the punitive force being unilaterally ravaged by the zombies and said.

“The rate at which the corpses are increasing is slow. To deal with the ones coming from behind, I’ll need to use a more certain method. Fire arrows at them.”

“Yes. Understood.”

The bandit, with a dazed expression, relayed the black mage's command to his subordinates.

At that, the bandits' arrows flew fiercely towards the enemies who were in chaos due to the zombies.

“Fire! Show no mercy!”

“Yes, sir!”

It is not right to shoot arrows in a melee where friend and foe are mixed.

But it’s a different story if those ‘friends’ are zombies.

Zombies feel neither pain nor itch even if they are hit by arrows. But for the soldiers, who were dealing with zombies while arrows rained down on them from above, it was a living hell.

On top of that, their fallen comrades also began to rise again as zombies.

In the process of their allies decreasing, the enemy was steadily increasing.

“Hyaaaaaap!”

In the midst of it all, the knight from the Baison fiefdom named Kalson was doing his best to deal with the zombies.

His form, dealing with the zombies while brandishing a clear aura, proved that he was not a 4-star knight for nothing.

“Do not be afraid. If you face them calmly, zombies are not a great threat.”

As he dealt with the zombies and encouraged the soldiers, the soldiers around him gradually began to regain their morale.

“There was a rather useful one.”

The black mage, who was watching the scene from afar, muttered.

He had expected that there would be such a person, as the punitive force included many knights.

So, naturally, he had a countermeasure.

“I will show you the true terror of black magic.”

An incantation began from the black mage’s lips, and a sinister energy gathered in the skull staff he was holding.

“Curse of Confusion.”

And the dark energy that had gathered on his staff began to creep towards the battlefield.

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