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“Push! Push harder!”

“Uwaaaah!!”

Under the command of the S-rank Adventurer, Louis, the Adventurers of Schwarzheim collectively pressed forward with their shields.

“Grahhh—!”

Thud! Bam!

Bang! Crackle!

The hordes of Skeletons and Zombies climbing the city wall were knocked back by the shields and fell down below.

Even if they were Undead, falling from such a height would likely smash their bodies to bits, but before I could even feel a sense of accomplishment, more Undead crawled back up the wall in numbers we had just pushed down.

[Kyahhh—!]

“B-banshee! No! Those swords won’t work on it!”

“Don’t be afraid! Hold your formation! Defend your positions and hold out!”

Rustle!

[Kiyahhh—!!!]

Louis drew his aura sword and swiftly sliced the banshee flying towards him in half. The banshee, unable to withstand the Master Class sword aura, was instantly turned to ash.

But many more ghostly beings, such as specters and ghosts, were soaring above their heads.

“Damn it….”

I thought it was manageable. Just until last night.

It wasn’t like I was walking into a dungeon filled with danger; this was a defensive battle, just holding out for a few days until reinforcements from the Empire arrived.

We had about 30,000 elite Adventurers skilled in fighting Undead. Counting the volunteer citizens who helped with the city defense, the numbers easily surpassed 50,000. Considering that defense is far easier than offense, we should theoretically be able to deal with the waves of Undead that attacked on the first day without too much trouble.

However, the enemy numbers were incomprehensible.

The flame traps crafted over the last few days, the city walls reinforced heavily by dwarves, and the holy barriers spread by the priests were all brutally shattered by the sheer mass of Undead filling the horizon.

It wasn’t completely ineffective. We likely managed to kill tens of thousands. But it felt no more than scooping a few buckets of water from a lake. There was no noticeable change.

In the end, all I had to rely on were the weapons in my hands and the comrades beside me, and so I desperately held out for half a day. But now, we were nearing our limit.

What truly despairing for Louis was not the countless numbers of Undead nor the comrades who were staggering and falling in battle.

It was the single dark mage commanding the Undead army from some distance away from the city. That very presence instilled despair in Louis.

Having participated in past wars, he could recognize it. Although it was the first time he had seen it in person, there was only one necromancer in the continent’s history capable of controlling nearly a million Undead. So it was harder not to recall the name when facing that many Undead.

Because it wasn’t well-known, among the citizens of the Ionia Kingdom, they had referred to it only as the “Undying King”. Now, it was more widely known as the Undying Legion Commander, an elven dark mage.

“How the hell am I supposed to handle something like that…!”

Has he been alive all this time? Or did he resurrect five years after the war ended? I couldn’t tell for the moment, and I had no time to think.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the Undying Legion Commander was sending more Undead but did not move himself. However, Louis felt that it would be impossible to overcome this dire situation without at least one of the Seven Heroes present.

“…Just how many have I killed? How much longer do I have to hold out?”

The number of Undead he had personally slain had surely exceeded hundreds. Even without rest, Louis’s aura was nearly depleted. Though he had fought off thousands on the wall, the mass of Undead filling the horizon looked just as vast as when the battle first began.

From yelling all day to rally his comrades, his throat felt raw, and after sweating buckets, he was hit by severe nausea and dizziness from dehydration.

He longed for a single drop of water. Louis reached out to his aide.

“Jayden, water…”

But instead of an answer, what flew back was his aide’s sword.

“Cough!”

Reflexively ducking his head to narrowly avoid the blade, Louis stared at his aide in shock. His aide’s eyes were completely rolled back, revealing the whites of his eyes in a terrifying manner.

A classic sign of being possessed by an Evil Spirit. Even his aide, capable of using a strong body technique, had succumbed to the Ghost after enduring the long fight.

“Cugh, anyone! The priests…!”

In the midst of speaking, he realized the truth. All the priests had been drawn to maintain the sacred barrier in the city center. Moreover, the barrier had already been breached, so even if he brought the priests back, they would have no divine power left to help after pouring everything they had into it.

“…I’m sorry!”

The decision was quick, and the resolution was harsh. The neck of his aide, who he had fought alongside for years, flew into the sky.

Yet, before he could grieve that fact, the horde of Undead climbing the city wall rushed over Louis. They were not ordinary zombies but mid-grade Undead like ghouls and skeleton knights, and there were no subordinates left to defend him, either dead or fled.

There seemed to be no hope at all, yet Louis tightly gripped the hilt of his sword.

“Yeah, come on! You rotten meatbags!”

The glow of his aura radiated everywhere. It was the deathly light that sliced through everything it touched. But like a candle flickering brightly just before it goes out, Louis’s aura was merely a last-ditch effort, squeezing out the last remnants of his drained magic.

Soon, the aura dissipated, leaving him with only a somewhat well-crafted sword and his exhausted body.

Kaboom! As if to make matters worse, a sound of something breaking echoed from below. It meant that the defense of the guild led by the S-rank Adventurer, the dwarf Bain, had crumbled.

The S-rank Adventurer Mark from the grass tribe, tasked with skirmishing, and his guild members had suddenly become invisible. If they were alive, they would have come to help, but their absence suggested they were either trapped somewhere or had already perished.

Louis let out a hollow laugh and said, “Is this my end…?”

Even if that were the case, he readied his sword with the resolve that he wouldn’t go down without a fight. However, Louis only had two hands, and with just one sword devoid of aura, it was impossible to fend off the multitude of Undead rushing at him.

After slicing through three ghouls with heads as hard as steel, he saw one of their claws aimed right at his neck.

Louis felt the unavoidable death closing in.

“Haah!”

At that very moment, someone wielding a sword leaped in like a bolt of lightning and swiftly slaughtered the surrounding ghouls.

Slice!

A small figure utilizing quick movements. Accurate and efficient swordsmanship.

“Are you okay?”

“Y-you…?”

The identity of the person who saved Louis was none other than Gwen.

Louis, caught off guard thinking a student would save him, asked in surprise, “T-thank you. You saved my life. But shouldn’t you be somewhere else? Weren’t you supposed to go to the shelter?”

“Right. But staying there would mean we’d all die like this. Haah!”

Gwen kept swinging her sword while speaking.

Her swordsmanship was straightforward and honest. Even with her unadorned movements, each swing of her sword accurately took the life of an Undead.

Louis was astonished to feel that Gwen’s sword aura was merely at the mid-level of body techniques, yet the power behind it was anything but ordinary.

His long experience recognized her straightforward movements as somehow extraordinary swordsmanship, and as he watched her weapon again, he felt an odd familiarity in her grip.

‘Could it be, the Sword of the Rock…!?’

Louis had once seen the Swordmaster’s sword in person by sheer chance. The sensations from that time and this student’s sword were remarkably similar. However, there was a distinct difference.

The Swordmaster’s sword had appeared heavy yet filled with power, while the student’s sword was light and precise. It felt like he was witnessing a new swordsmanship derived from the Sword of the Rock.

Her skill was unbelievable for someone her age—a rare talent. Despite speculating that this student could be the Swordmaster’s disciple he had only heard of, Louis felt no tumult within himself. After all, it wouldn’t change the situation.

“…I appreciate the rescue, but if you want to live even a moment longer, you need to return to the shelter right away. This city is already finished. Just your presence—”

“I didn’t come alone.”

“What?”

In response to that, a loud voice echoed, ringing in his ears.

“Uwooooh!! Heavenly Holy Mother, watch over me—!!”

A giant, larger than a regular person, charged forth brandishing a steel axe, mowing down Undead on the city wall as if they were ground meat.

“Ahh! How much effort did it take to make this!!”

From below the city gate, a red-haired student was quickly throwing something over. Moments later, intricately crafted golems rose from the ground, holding shields to block the city gate. The numbers were only dozens, but the impact was undeniable. Each golem showcased strength comparable to an Adventurer skilled in body techniques.

But that wasn’t all. A Middle-Eastern-skinned student and a gray-haired student wearing glasses, resembling nobles, were also wielding their swords against the Undead.

“Let me see the swordsmanship from the royal palace of Al-Kamil!”

“Just don’t trip me up!”

Though they bickered occasionally, their coordination was seamless as they fought back-to-back.

Their performance, including Gwen, was far beyond what one would expect from students, but Louis could only admire for a moment; he still couldn’t view the situation with optimism.

“…The Undead outside the city number over a million. Just being good with a sword won’t turn the tide—”

At that moment, a brilliant light shone overhead. Then, a colossal thunderclap reverberated, drowning out all surrounding sounds.

Thunder! Boom!!!

A massive bolt of lightning, akin to a natural disaster, struck outside the city. It appeared as if the sky itself had raged. Each time it struck, it incinerated everything there, be it Zombies, Skeletons, Ghouls, or Banshees, indiscriminately.

“……”

The bolt of lightning emanated from the fingertips of a girl suspended in the sky.

Louis couldn’t contain his astonished expression, his mouth agape as he shouted, “Why on earth did we only bring someone like her now?!”

 

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