Let's go back in time to a while back, before Teto had woken up.
It was the moment when the attack from monsters had temporarily stopped, and the fort at the border of the Iska Kingdom was wrapped in an eerie silence.
"Listen up! This is a do-or-die moment! A lot of commoners will be harmed if we retreat from here! Though that's our current situation, I'm not saying to throw away your lives either! If you die, the burden on your comrades will increase! That's why, don't die! This is an order!"
So shouted Margrave of Reebel Weiss standing at the forefront of the battle formation as he rallied the knights and adventurers, and behind the troops was his wife, the Margravine of Reebel Selene, preparing to treat the wounded who would be brought in after the upcoming battle.
Thanks to the Ancient Dragon leaving his scent, the monsters instinctively avoided this place, and he also culled quite a lot of the monsters so there were hardly any other monsters in the surrounding area for the time being.
As a result, the invasion of monsters taking advantage of this stampede has already come to an end. Though, there were still beings who weren't intimidated by the scent of an Ancient Dragon as they continued to advance.
Unlike the uncoordinated attacks of the monsters until now, the new invaders were in a group, and dwelling in their eye sockets were crimson lights. It was a horde of skeletons.
«Kael, Kael, Eina, Kael——!»
Driven solely by their past emotions, and continuing their advance to seek for mana abundant land to sustain their existence, the dead were so many in numbers it was impossible to count.
Beyond that horde of skeletons, an aggregation of bones resembling a small hill could be seen moving, and around it, bundles of resentment — Fear Geists — were floating around in gaseous form.
As the blood drained from the faces of the people facing the undead who exhibited eeriness and abnormality far greater than any monster they had dealt with in the past, the battle began.
"——Spirits!"
With a soft voice, the elf Refrya activated her spirit magic, releasing numerous wind arrows that shuttled through the gaps of the skeletons' rib cages, destroying the mana stones in their chests.
"Haaaa!"
Following her with his immense physical strength, the Dragon-Demon Yahada swung the lance in his hand, pulverizing the bones of skeletons one after another.
"Take down! ——«Downforce»!"
Causing the wind to press down on the skeletons and slow their pace to give the knights time to breathe was Shael of the angel race.
And——
"Good grief! Isn't this just the thing that can excite these old bones?! Haa!"
"Master, didn't you say you want to go home quickly?"
The one who spoke in an excited tone was the old swordsman Alsace, holding the holy sword in one hand as he plunged himself into the middle of the monster horde and cut them apart, and the one who talked back in an exasperated tone was his disciple, Tonny, who followed to protect his master's back.
The «Sword of Dawn» in Alsace's hand possessed the ability «Light Blade Creation» which was particularly effective against the undead, so even a slight graze to the skeletons was enough to disperse their power, causing their bones to scatter into pieces.
Meanwhile, the knights maintained their formation to prevent the skeletons from approaching, dealing with them methodically.
The magic users in the rear unleashed their spells as much as their magical power allowed to crush the skeletons lurking in the depths.
The skeletons, on the other hand, were just charging for their sole desire to seek the living and their mana.
Along the way, some other monsters, living ones to be precise, would come targeting the mana stones of the skeletons from the side. However, under the overwhelming attacks of the skeletons, these monsters became prey to them and had their mana and life force stripped away until they perished.
"Watch out, the skeletons are using «Drain»!"
"Take shifts and rest! Recover the stolen mana and stamina with potions!"
"Injured ones, move to the back and get healed! Don't you dare die!"
Anticipating that the upcoming battle would be a prolonged one, the angel race and the Dragon-Demon race had also prepared their own measures to deal with their intense consumption of mana just for this day.
"Haaa! The mana potions the Witch and the others had made have eased the situation a bit, but still, it's not going to be easy for us."
"But today's the day we must hang on at all costs. I am sure Dragon Grandpa or Majou-dono will soon come to our aid."
Drinking the mana potions created by Chise or the maids who were capable of potion making, they replenished their lost mana.
Since it was still daytime, the skeletons were currently weak.
But once the night covered the battlefield, they would undoubtedly become one fearsome force to hold back, far stronger than the current strength they were showing.
That was why everyone was trying everything they could to defeat as many of the undead as possible before nightfall.
By the time afternoon passed, the number of skeletons had been significantly reduced.
But as if to mock their effort, the huge aggregation of bones visible in the distance supplemented the lost force of skeletons with new numbers, continuing this hellish cycle.
In between, there were also higher-level species like skeleton knights and wizards that evolved from ordinary skeletons that began to appear, which were safely defeated by other powerful individuals.
In the fort, the preparation to heal the injured was ongoing while refugees helped out in making the meal, all but to assist those on the front lines. Eating and resting in their shift, the people were somehow able to defend against this relentless onslaught.
However, their opponents were the undead that never grew tired and could easily restore their forces.
Facing such opponents, it was inevitable for the knights to grow weary after fighting nonstop, and as dusk approached, the skeletons gradually regain their strength.
" " "Rooooooooar——" " "
And not long after, a deep, beastly howl echoed in the plain, and following that, the charging momentum of the skeletons visibly increased.
"Tsk, the battle at dusk is dangerous!"
Even Alsace, who wielded the shining holy sword in his hand, was finding it troublesome to deal with the horde of skeletons whose strength was rising with each passing moment as the night gradually came closer.
"All forces, retreat into the fort! We'll defend there until the morning!"
The sound of a horn signaling everyone to retreat resounded. Following that, the adventurers and knights who were on the plain in the morning entered the fort.
"We will be the last line of defense!"
" " "Grooooooo——!" " "
Just as Alsace and the others were about to stay to give time for the rest to evacuate, beings emerged from the ground between them and the skeleton horde.
"Wha!? What the hell are those?!"
"They are... the golems of Majou-dono!? Hold your fire, they aren't enemies!"
At the appearance of the innumerable clay golems from the ground, Alsace, his disciple Tonny, and the elf Refrya immediately put their guard up, however, Yahada quickly stopped them from taking any action.
«Gom, Gom!»
"Huh, are you saying to head to the fort first? Sorry, and thanks!"
"I don't quite get it, but let's go, everyone!"
The clay golems lined up like a wall as the evening fell. They took charge of the rearguard with hand signals.
With their soft mud bodies, the golems intercepted the incoming skeletons and submerged them in their mud pool. In the meantime, as the skeletons tried to pass through the clay bodies of the golems, the golems extracted their mana stones so even when the skeletons managed to escape from the mud, all that was left was their bones.
Aside from this, they swung their heavy mud fists at the skeletons, instantly pulverizing their bones, forcefully pulling out their mana stones, and further increasing their own mana.
Unbeknownst to many, during the daytime, these clay golems lurked underground, slowing down the skeletons' movements by miring their footing in the mud. They also incorporated the mana stones from the defeated skeletons, preventing them from reviving.
With the power acquired from these absorbed magic stones, the clay golems now bravely fought during the night.
Nevertheless, some skeletons still managed to overcome the clay golems as they clung to the wall of the fort and smashed themselves onto it.
The skeletons' attacks weren't enough to even graze the fort's wall, but that wasn't the main problem. Rather, it was the succeeding skeletons using previous skeletons as their stepping stone and gradually approaching the top of the fort's walls as they repeated that process that was the problem.
"Bring out the fire! Pour boiling oil on them!"
"Sprinkle the holy water blessed by Sereneriel-sama who prepared it during the day! Do not let them breach the fortress!"
"Knock them down with spears from above! Hold the line at all costs!"
Spears, magic, and holy water that were effective against undead rained down from the top of the fortress as the defenders strived to prevent the skeletons from breaking through.
Beyond the walls of the fort were over 50,000 refugees, and even beyond that was their homeland.
Everyone did everything they could and somehow managed to hold on.
But when the sun had completely set and the darkness covered the battlefield, even more despair struck the people of the fort.
«——Ooooooooooooo!»
The aggregation of bones which could always be seen in the distance during the day slowly rose to its feet.
With moonlight at its back and crimson lights glowing from its eye socket, the skeleton giant slowly walked towards the fortress.
The height of the skeleton giant towered the fort, and its arms could easily reach the top of its walls.
"Refrya, Tonny, I'm going to see to that giant. I'm leaving the rest to you."
"......I understand. Be assured and leave it to us."
"Master......"
Alsace went to the top of the fort, took a stance, and infused his mana into the holy sword.
Gradually, the holy sword began to emit a bright light, illuminating the pitch-black surroundings after the sun had completely set.
"Haaaaaa——«Radiance Blade»!"
Then he released the mana infused in the holy sword instantly, forming an enormous blade of light. Then he swung down his holy blade, the towering light blade slicing through the skeleton giant, and leaving a massive crack on the ground behind it.
"Huff, huff...... How about that?"
This was one of Alsace's ace moves that he gained after acquiring the holy sword «Sword of Dawn».
As someone who fell short on mana compared to magicians, by storing his excess mana into the «Sword of the Dawn», he could release an enormous light blade surpassing his own power like now whenever he needed it.
Alsace has cut down and burned many large-scale monsters, taken down many flying monsters from the high heavens, and mowed down many large hordes of monsters with this gigantic light blade made from his stored mana.
It was this power that allowed Alsace to remain an A-rank adventurer with undiminished strength despite his advanced age.
And today too, his strike has once again managed to deal huge damage to the skeleton giant, but——
"Impossible. This damned-"
Indeed, the massive light blade had cut through the skeleton giant from its right shoulder to below its waist, causing its body to lean precariously.
However, it wasn't able to damage the mana stone inside its body, so its bones that scattered on the ground reassembled and regained the shape of giant limbs.
Although the bones surrounding the area sliced by the massive light blade did not regenerate, the giant remained nearly intact, and at best, it had just shrunk to a smaller size, but that was all. It resumed its march towards the fort once more.
"Alsace-dono! Can't you do it again!?"
"Unfortunately, no...... This is my trump card."
It may be called the holy sword of ruin, but due to forcing it to use power beyond its capabilities, its sharpness has dulled temporarily as the glow on it flickered in uncertainty.
Furthermore, this move has also forced the blessing of the holy sword, «Physical Ability Reinforcement», to stop temporarily causing a wave of tiredness to spread throughout his body.
"Damn it...... I came here to not experience the same humiliation again but, I'm sorry."
Recalling the bitter memories of his young days when his magic sword, which he was proud of, snapped in two during the dungeon stampede, Alsace stared at the skeleton giant with his immobilized body.
Countless spells were fired from the fort at the approaching skeleton giant, but they only caused the surface bones to crumble, failing to deal an effective blow like the Alsace's strike.
Instead, the skeleton giant, once again back on its feet, swung down its massive arms, detaching a part of its body and hurling it towards the fort.
The bone mass, propelled like a catapult, collided with the top of the fortress, and from it, more skeletons rose.
Amidst this scene that was no longer indistinguishable from a literal pandemonium, Alsace, having his body strained to the limit, had just looked up at the sky when a large shadow passed overhead——
"That was amazing! Can't wait to try it right away!"
Right after hearing the following words from the sky and feeling the rise in mana, a shadow wielding a blade glowing in an ochre hue, resembling the giant light blade Alsace had released, descended from above.
«——Ooooooooooooo!»
As the figure wielding the shining blade slashed at the skeleton giant, a cry of anguish was heard.
Their biggest and long-awaited reinforcement had finally arrived.
