kscans

Chapter 42 - The Ever-Shifting Tides of Battle

As the sun set, our turn finally arrived. The undead who had been hiding underground dug their way out and emerged onto the surface. Those who had been buried behind the allied army also appeared, trapping them in a pincer formation.

"Hehehe, let's see how long they can fight against a horde of the dead who know neither fear nor pain… Wait, we're getting crushed."

Yep, the undead army was being pushed back hard. The knights were cutting them down one after another.

"The terror of the undead lies in their lack of fear and their toughness, which allows them to overwhelm enemies with numbers. But this time, our opponents have the superior numbers. Moreover, low-tier undead are slow, making them perfect targets for large formations of archers and magicians."

So it's a terrible matchup. A cavalry unit with long lances charged in, and our undead were sent flying like bowling pins.

"That's a charging tactic using body-enhancement magic on both horse and rider. Without heavy shield bearers using defensive magic, it's difficult to withstand that."

Whoa, people in this world can fight like they're in a battle manga?! All I'd seen humans do so far was shoot magic like pew pew, so seeing them charge while cloaked in magic is a first. That's straight out of a comic book.

Grr, I thought having my full army available would make things easier, but it seems it's not that simple. What's more, the troops we sent to flank them were essentially ignored, with only a minimal force left to intercept them as the enemy pushed forward to decide the battle quickly.

"And the remaining soldiers are the highly trained professionals of the great nobles. In terms of quality, they have the upper hand as well."

This is bad. We're losing in both quality and quantity.

"What about making the remaining allied armies retreat?"

"The great nobles have large territories, so the soldiers left to guard them are likely strong as well. Expecting them to withdraw is probably unrealistic. It would require a long-term war of attrition to even have a chance."

So forcing the great nobles to voluntarily retreat is out of the question, huh.

"So was targeting the minor nobles pointless?"

"No, reducing their numbers is still a fact, and as the threat of undead within their borders grows, the mid-tier nobles will have to seriously consider retreating. If we can successfully increase the number of casualties, even the high-ranking nobles won't be able to ignore it. Though, that's probably being too optimistic."

The enemy will fight back, so things won't go that smoothly.

"Which means our current battle situation is the real problem, huh."

The allied army's coordination between nations was nonexistent, but they were still organized at a national level, so for us, it was a negligible difference.

Even worse were the Holy Knights from the Church.

"O light! Grant salvation to these cursed dead!"

Countless blindingly bright lights filled the night, and the undead lost their strength, collapsing to the ground, motionless.

"Holy Magic is such a pain. And it's so bright."

The fact that Holy Magic is super effective against us undead is a real problem. Thanks to it, our forces were being taken down helplessly.

"Our poisonous snake tactics and underground attacks were figured out in the last battle, so their effectiveness is limited. They work somewhat on the regular soldiers at the edges of the battlefield, but the main camp is protected by a barrier of Holy Magic cast by the priests, preventing any undead from getting close."

Sure enough, I could see a faint, shimmering, semi-transparent dome in the rear. That must be the barrier.

"Hey, is that thing moving?"

Yeah, it felt like it was getting closer.

"Maintaining the spell is taxing, so their movement is slow, but they are likely taking turns casting the barrier to advance."

Ah, I see. Half of them cast the barrier, then the other half moves to the edge of it and recasts it there. That allows them to effectively move the barrier forward by half its radius.

"They can't move while maintaining the barrier, but by doing that, they can simulate movement."

"And there are more of those barriers popping up in other places."

Just as she said, several barriers had appeared, seemingly encircling the town and closing in on us.

"They probably intend to capture this town by surrounding it with the barrier, shrinking the perimeter as they advance. You can escape by flying, Sister, but in that case, the undead will have no choice but to flee underground. Then, they can simply purify the trapped undead with Holy Magic, and the recapture of this town will be complete."

Grrr, is there no choice but to abandon this town we worked so hard to take? And the encirclement wasn't the only problem. The small groups of Holy Knights were also a nuisance. They sought out the stronger undead among our forces, riding them down on horseback and purifying them. Our undead who had flanked the enemy couldn't even get close, blocked by the barriers.

"And I went to all the trouble of making them my kin!"

"Yes, which is why we will proceed to the next phase. Deploying the flying undead unit."

At Adolnel's command, a new unit of undead took to the skies.

"""Let's go-chu!"""

It was my kin, the Vampire Bats, and the Bird Undead we had created by having them attack and convert local avians.

"From the sky, we will first annihilate the priests maintaining the barriers. Commence rubble bombardment."

At her command, thin objects rained down from the sky in unison. The humans, focused on the enemies before them, didn't notice the projectiles falling under the cover of the night sky. And then, they pierced the priests' bodies, starting from their heads.

"Guh?!"

Without even time to process what had happened, the priests collapsed, blood streaming from their heads.

"The barrier?! What in the—huh?!"

The knights, startled by the disappearing barrier, turned to see the priests submerged in a sea of blood.

"Wh-what happened…?!"

"Second wave, deploy. First wave, hurry and replenish your munitions."

As a successive wave of Bird Undead flew out, the first wave returned. They swooped down to a nearby pile of rubble, grabbed sharp pieces of stone and wood, and returned to the sky. Yes, that rubble was the weapon that had struck down the priests. During the town's reconstruction, Adolnel had seen the small, unusable pieces of debris and thought of a way to reuse them.

"Even the weaker Bird Undead can carry small fragments. Dropped from high enough, they will be a one-hit kill for anyone not wearing a metal helmet."

And so, the attack was a great success. Furthermore, soldiers without metal armor and special forces units moving silently also suffered heavy damage from the rubble, which gained speed as it fell from high altitudes.

"The anti-undead barrier created by Holy Magic is also meaningless against rubble."

"Master-chama, it seems the rear units are in big trouble too-chu."

"The rear units?"

Solfi, who had been scouting, reported that not just the clergy, but the rear echelon units had suffered immense damage.

"Ah, I see. The non-combat logistics personnel. They are responsible for transporting, managing, and distributing food and supplies. If they are incapacitated, it will affect distribution and could, in the worst-case scenario, lead to infighting among allies over resources."

Seriously? It can get that bad?

"This was more effective than I anticipated. Now, let's seize this opportunity. Next, we will drop Poisonous Snake Undead directly on top of the main camp and the knights on the battlefield. We must incapacitate them with poison before the barriers can be recast!"

Poisonous Snake Undead rained down, and screams erupted from all over.

"But can't they just cure the poison?"

"Even if they anticipated it as a tactic, their supply of antidotes and magic is finite. By depleting their stock of medicine early, they will grow wary, fearing it might happen again."

Wow, that's ruthless.

"Well, at this pace, it seems neither side will be able to claim victory by dawn."

"Hold on! Hold on until dawn!"

Now it was their turn to go on the defensive, trying to hold out until morning. So we intensified our attacks, but we couldn't quite push through.

"Almost there!"

And then, the sky began to brighten, and the sun's light finally appeared.

""""Ooooh!""""

The humans cheered, believing they had endured.

"Yes, just as planned."

But Adolnel uttered a cruel phrase with a gentle smile.

"Commence collapse."

In that instant, the ground beneath them gave way. The footing of every soldier who had pressed forward, racing against time, was swallowed by darkness.

"They were too eager to settle the fight during the day and pushed too far forward."

The rear units tried to flee in a panic, but the undead who had been held back by the barriers now blocked their path, forcing them to a halt. As a result, along with the very undead who stood in their way, they too plunged into the newly formed chasm.