kscans

Chapter 11 - Let's Attack the Town

"Whoa! The outside!"

Finally emerging from the forest, my eyes were met with a vast, open plain.

"First, I should get a lay of the land."

I sprouted wings from my back and soared high into the sky.

"Let's see... Ah, there's a road. Which means if I follow it... there's the town."

Following the main road, I soon spotted a town enclosed by square walls.

"So that's the closest town outside of Father's territory."

My father's domain was the Great Cursed Sea itself, a vast forest on the scale of a nation. As such, the edge of the forest effectively served as the border.

"That makes it the perfect place for my first base."

I decided to attack that town as the first step in acquiring my own territory.

"To do that, I'll need more minions. I have plenty of 'Wolf-chan's, but to attack a town, I'll need greater numbers."

I considered heading back into the forest to turn more monsters into my thralls, but then my eyes caught a small, flickering light along the road.

"Is that... a person? What are they doing out there?"

As I flew closer, I saw that they were camping for the night. Looking along the road, I could see other scattered lights as well.

"Some are small, but there are some larger groups, too. Ah, I see. They're gathering together to protect themselves from monsters."

They must be travelers who couldn't reach the town before sunset, huddled together and waiting for dawn.

"Yes, I can use this."

A grin spread across my face as I made my way toward the smallest of the lights.

◆ The Town Guard of Fenesia ◆

"Fwaaah."

A yawn escaped my lips, born from boredom and drowsiness. That was close. If the sergeant had seen that, I'd have gotten an earful and a smack on the head. Still, the night watch was a pain. The guy next to me was stifling a yawn of his own.

The late shift, where we had to stand guard until dawn, was the absolute worst. You get woken up in the middle of the night and have to stay awake until morning.

"It's not like any monsters or bandits can get over the wall anyway."

"The captain will hear you if you're not careful."

"I know, I know."

I'd heard stories about monsters from the Great Cursed Sea spilling out during mating season, but that only happens once every few decades. And even if they did come, there's no way they could get over the wall. In other words, nothing ever happens.

"Fwaah, wish it were morning already."

"Tell me about it."

It was then that I heard a sudden thud right beside us.

"What was that? Someone trip?"

Even with the lamps lit, it's still dim underfoot at night. Every now and then, some clumsy oaf misses a step coming up the stairs to the top of the wall.

"Hey, you alright?"

"..."

I heard footsteps, so he must be fine. He probably kept quiet because he was embarrassed about making such a loud noise and getting teased. Well, it's a rite of passage for the new guys. I'll pretend I didn't hear anything.

"Guhk!?"

Suddenly, my partner next to me made a strange noise.

"Hey, what's wrong? You trip too? Or did you doze off and hit your head on something?"

What a klutz, I thought as I turned around. There, I saw my partner's form, entangled by something.

"...Huh?"

I couldn't believe my eyes.

"Guuuuh."

It was a person. A person covered in blood was biting into my partner's neck.

"Wh-What the hell are you?!"

In a panic, I kicked the man off my partner. To my surprise, he went flying easily and fell away.

"Hey, are you okay!?"

"Y-Yeah. Thanks."

"What is this guy!?"

I stared at the blood-soaked man who had attacked my partner. Lit by the lamplight, I could see that not only was he covered in blood, but his arms and legs were bent at unnatural angles.

"H-Hey, are you alright?"

His condition was so gruesome that I couldn't help but ask. Had he been seriously injured and come seeking help?

"Guuuuh..."

But the man didn't reply. All that came out was a sound that was somewhere between a moan and a growl. He started crawling toward us along the ground.

"H-Hey! Stay back!"

My partner shoved the man back with the butt of his spear.

"Gah!"

He recoiled but immediately started crawling toward us again.

"H-Hey, cut it out!"

This was clearly not normal. An ordinary injured person would just ask for help. This guy was something else!

But by the time I realized that, it was too late.

Thud! Thud!

More heavy sounds echoed around us.

"...!"

Dreading the worst, I looked around. All over the ground lay more blood-soaked people. One by one, they shakily rose to their feet and began to slowly shuffle toward us.

"A-Are these things undead!?"

My partner's words jolted me. Undead. Living corpses. But why were there undead in the middle of a town like this? They were supposed to be in graveyards or deep in the forest, right? I'd never heard of them showing up in a town!

Thud! Thud! Thud!

A series of dull thuds rang out in succession.

"Don't tell me, more..."

My terrible premonition came true. Before I knew it, we were surrounded by bodies covered in blood.

"Eek!"

"What the hell is going on... What's happening!?"

As if my scream were a signal, the corpses lunged at us.

"U-Uwaaaaaaaaah!"

Overwhelmed by the countless bodies, we were pinned down, bitten all over, completely helpless. The only thing we could do was listen to the sound of the emergency whistle echoing in the distance.

◆

"Yes, this is going nicely."

From high above, I looked down upon the town, now filled with screams.

"Operation Undead Drop is a resounding success!"

The moment I saw this town, I had a thought. Ah, an attack from the sky would end this in an instant. After all, walls can stop an enemy approaching on the ground, but they're defenseless against an enemy flying from above.

They might fight back with arrows or magic, but they can't shoot down everything. Furthermore...

"Undead don't die no matter how high they fall from, and they won't be immediately incapacitated by arrows or magic. So, what happens when I drop them from the sky one after another?"

The answer was this terrible scene unfolding below. I had sucked the blood of the travelers camping along the road, turning them into my thralls, and then dropped them into the dimly lit areas of the town.

Once on the ground, the undead attacked lone, drunk wanderers and people walking near dark alleys, increasing their numbers. Once their ranks swelled, they forced their way into homes to create even more of their kind.

"Start with the civilians. Once you have the numbers, overwhelm the guards all at once."

The town guards, equipped with weapons and armor, wouldn't go down easily. But against overwhelming numbers, they stood no chance. With ten undead swarming a single guard, he was powerless, soon becoming another new victim.

Even as the undead population grew inside the town, I continued to drop in reinforcements. By now, the townsfolk had noticed something was wrong, and the guards began to sound whistles and ring bells to signal the emergency.

"It's undead!"

"Why are there so many!?"

"Is that Tom!? Tom's an undead!?"

"Natasha! Why is Natasha...!?"

Screams and shouts erupted from all corners.

"Rescue the citizens! The undead mastermind must have snuck in somewhere, find them!"

Among the guards, one man was moving with particular skill. Based on what he was saying, he was likely the unit's captain.

"Alright then, let's target that one. Off you go!"

I dropped an undead directly on top of the captain.

Squish!

"Hee-Heeein!"

"Uwaaaah!?"

Unfortunately, the undead missed the captain, but it landed squarely on his horse's rump. The startled horse reared up, throwing the captain to the ground.

The undead immediately swarmed him.

"C-Captain!? Protect the captain!"

The surrounding guards formed a circle around their fallen leader, forcing a potion down his throat.

"S-Sorry. You saved me."

But before they could regroup, the undead encirclement grew even thicker. And then, a new development occurred.

With a loud creeeak, the gate separating the town from the outside world swung open.

"Run! The town is a nest of undead! Get out of the town!"

It seemed that panicked citizens had opened the gate, trying to flee outside.

"Hehehe, just as planned. 'Wolf-chan's, lure them out and then get 'em!"

"Wait! It's dangerous outside! There's no way it's safe out there in this situation...!"

Ooh, that captain is pretty smart. And he was right. Disaster struck.

""""GROOOOOWL!""""

Once the fleeing citizens were a certain distance from the town, my "Wolf-chan"s, who had been hiding in the shadows, pounced.

"Gyaaaaaah!"

"Hieeeeeee!"

Fresh screams filled the air.

"Alright, second wave, go!"

At my command, the undead who had been waiting on the ground charged toward the town. To the humans, whose eyes weren't accustomed to the dark, they looked like citizens who had been frightened by the monsters and were running back.

"Wait!? These aren't... they're unde—Gaaaaaaah!"

The guards only realized they weren't citizens when they were close enough to be illuminated by the torchlight. But it was too late. The horde of undead flooded into the town.

Attacked from within and without, with the fleeing citizens now joining the ranks of the undead, and with the "Wolf-chan"s joining the fray, the town guards had no chance of victory.

"Seriously, why don't people in this world guard against aerial attacks more? If you attack from the sky at night, it's an instant win."

Just then, a massive burst of fire and a blinding light erupted within the town.

"Whoa!? What was that!?"

"Do not falter! Burn every last one of the undead!"

A troop of knights clad in full metal armor and a group of suspicious-looking people in robes had appeared. It seemed they were the ones who had unleashed the flames, turning the undead to cinders.

And the other light... I'd just seen something similar a moment ago.

"Have no fear! The grace of the gods will protect you!"

From another direction came a group dressed in white robes, looking every bit the part of priests. Ooh? Looks like some tough guys have shown up.