Walm, who had finished cleaning the poor district from the rampaging nasty ones, stopped the bleeding of the stab wound in his palm and headed to the walls of the city gate, where the turmoil still continued.
Dealing with the undead that he sporadically encountered, Walm made his way through the alleys to the main streets, where he encountered a group of people heading to the main streets of the city while maintaining their formation.
Their equipment, which showed no signs of dirt, indicated that they were from the outskirts of the city or reinforcements were rushing in from the border.
The undead, walking through the city with a face saying they had found the next prey, ended up as just another thing piled on the side of the road.
The suppression of the urban areas outside the city walls progressed rapidly.
Walm followed the soldiers into the walls. The soldiers, who had seized the city gates, climbed the towers and ramparts, keeping an eye on the inside and outside from high places.
Wearing a bloodstained armor and a demon mask, these suspicious aspects alone would be enough to prevent Walm from passing the gate.
Walm, prepared to be stopped no matter how much time passed, was never stopped. Quite different from what he had imagined.
As a pleasant disappointment rose within him, Walm turned his attention to the soldiers who had gathered near the city gate.
“Segun’s squad shall clear out the undead that remains in the city. Habat’s squad shall head to the former Royal Castle. The enemy and friendly forces haven’t stopped fighting. Even if their numbers are small now, don’t let your guard down!”
Shouted the 1000-man Commander named “Edoardo”, who was temporarily in command of the Labyrinth facility when Walm saw him earlier. With the chain of command restored and a higher-ranking soldier appearing, he must have been moved to a place closer to the front line.
With some gestures, Edoardo diligently gave orders to the arriving units. Following the command of the 1000-man Commander, each unit proceeded at a fast pace to its assigned location.
“……Hmm, what to do now?”
Should I go help maintain the security of the city or take control of the former royal castle?
Walm pondered what to do next.
However, the tragedy at the ceremony, which Walm tried not to think about, flashed through his mind. The hand that held his halberd naturally gripped the weapon tighter. He took revenge he thought was attainable. Nevertheless, there were still ghosts in the former Royal Castle.
Walm glanced at the assembled forces.
Soldiers of good quality and quantity had gathered, and even adventurers who had been called up in an emergency mingled into the formation. With these combined forces already deployed in various places, it would only be a matter of time before the rest of the enemy would be suppressed.
Walm exhaled to calm himself down. Now that he had time, it was time to face the reality he had escaped.
Even though Merrill’s condition has calmed down, she was poisoned… And Lisi…
Walm was conflicted. He was worried about Merrill, but he wanted to mourn his benefactor properly.
In the end, Walm decided to check Merrill first.
Therefore, Walm headed to the Labyrinth facility. However, the demon mask, as if it hadn’t had enough fun yet, trembled to reject his decision.
“Stop making a fuss.”
After so much tragedy, the mask that asked for more was indeed so demon-like.
Walm was stunned by the mask, but soon he felt the ground shake, and every thought he had about the mask was blown away.
It wasn’t that Walm became abnormal due to the mental strain. Clearly, the ground was shaking.
“It’s shaking!?”
“Stay away from the half-destroyed house! Or you’ll get caught!!”
People in the vicinity also noticed the shaking and shouted to each other to get to safety.
The demon mask began to tremble like crazy. And Walm leaked some curses.
All in all, the demon mask with twisted sensibilities trembling with joy was always an ominous omen.
Walm suddenly sensed that something was wrong with the scenery and looked into the distance.
Mixed in with the swirling dust was an unfamiliar black tower. It wasn’t a building, to be precise, it was a living being. Walm’s eyes, which could see the world well, especially today, captured its true form. There was also a fact that he had fought it once. He could make no mistake.
“……Undead Dragon.”
Walm leaked out the words he managed to squeeze out.
One by one, the people also noticed the dragon. The common soldiers froze with their mouths open, and the adventurers dropped their weapons in fright. The 1000-man commander, barely managing to keep his wits about him, summoned the magical means of communication as his mind slowly broke.
The Undead Dragon made a familiar movement. It was a movement Walm had seen at the bottom of the Labyrinth, but unlike the half-body Undead Dragon, the amount of swirling mana was beyond what he had seen, far exceeded that time.
“It’s “breath”. DRAGON BREATH INCOMIIIINNGG!!!”
Walm’s advance warning didn’t mean much. For the only thing the people could do was to go into a building that served as a protective wall and crawl on the ground.
The black flash emitted from the Undead Dragon’s mouth distorted the field of vision, becoming a black line and stretching through the city. The tremendous blow that fell on the city burned the residents along with the house and extended to the horizon.
When Walm witnessed the Flame Emperor Dragon’s Breath at Dandurg Castle, he was perched on the ramparts overlooking his surroundings. He noticed that even if the attack was called the Breath of the Dragon species, it was one or two levels inferior to the breath of the Flame Emperor Dragon, which bore the crown of the emperor, that could destroy mountains. Still, for a small human being, the difference wasn’t that much.
The breath burned down the densely packed houses and pierced through the walls. The ruins were painted black, which made it easy to imagine the fate of those who were on the attack line.
The safe citizens who were hiding in their houses panicked and immediately poured into the streets.
Even if the undead were manageable for the soldier, that couldn’t be said the same as a natural disaster.
The 1000-man Commander shouted at the soldiers who were confused by the flood of information, impatience, and fear.
“CALM DOWN!!! I’m passing you an order from the main castle command center. The northwestern part of the city where the Undead Dragon has manifested is set as the main battlefield, and the citizens should be evacuated to the city outskirts from the east city gate and the south city gate. Regardless of the corps, start attacking the Undead Dragon. All damage to the city and civilians will be tolerated. That’s it…… Don’t put your face down! What’s the purpose of your eyes?! Glare at the enemy! LISTEN!! KILL THE DRAGON, OR WE WON’T HAVE TOMORROOOWW!!!”
Encouraged by their commander, the restless became disciplined soldiers again, albeit with lingering fear. Waves of people fleeing like arachnids were led by soldiers, showing that they hadn’t quite given up hope.
The troops outside the city gate weren’t the only ones who had recovered from the chaos. To prove that, an attack was launched on the undead dragon that had been crawling around on the ground. Various magic attacks lightly scratched the powerful magical barrier, and the arrow hit the scales with an unreliable sound.
The fire point disappeared each time the Undead Dragon swung its limbs, but the next attack began as if it were bubbling up. And when the bubble was poked by the dragon, human lives were taken.
“You should have known, what would happen…”
It was a reckless attack. Still, Walm couldn’t say they were stupid. The intent of the act was painfully conveyed to Walm.
The soldiers of the Archipelago weren’t stupid. They knew that if they were attacked, they’d receive a counterattack that would result in instant death. They also realized that they were acting as bait to attract the Undead Dragon and buy time for the citizens to evacuate and for the troops scattered around the city to get into position.
A soldier, scooped up by the tail together with a building, spewed his viscera out of his mouth as he flew high into the sky.
The chain of tragedies wasn’t over yet. The debris from the houses that landed in the alleys fell on the running refugees.
A blow equal to that of a large stone shattered the densely packed citizens in an instant. They were of low priority to the Undead Dragon, and their lives were snuffed out in the aftermath of the attack, with no clear killing intent against them. Their death had no meaning.
Walm didn’t have time to mourn their death, as fist-sized pebbles rained down from above. He calmly determined the point of impact and tried to dodge, but not everyone could deal with it.
Those who took a defensive posture were excellent. The shields and gauntlets protecting their vital points repelled the pebbles with a dull sound. The problem was those who took on the pebbles without even having time to notice it.
The head of a soldier running beside Walm burst open like a fresh pomegranate, and another nearby soldier fell silently to the ground. They had been invited to the Netherworld and had accepted that invitation even before they could finish their death throes in this world.
“Spread out as you approach! Don’t crowd in one street! Or you’ll be mowed down together for nothing!”
Before approaching the attack range, the 1000-man Commander, who didn’t like how quickly his troops were being worn down, gave a serious order.
When troops were scattered, a concentrated attack was generally difficult. Moreover, it would be difficult to convey orders. Apart from that, the enemy was a moving natural disaster with a huge body that could easily break through walls and a breath comparable to a battalion-scale or regiment-scale concentrated magic attack.
One could say that the 1000-man Commander had made a rational decision.
“SECOND SHOT, INCOMMIIINNGG!!!”
Those who perceived the sign of the breath concentrated their attacks on the head, but they couldn’t stop it.
The second shot was fired as if to clean one of the dirty main streets. This time, those who had drawn the bad lot were those in three nearby streets. Such a blow that didn’t allow the survival of everything it passed also affected the surroundings of Walm.
Although the power of breath was reduced due to the distance and the shield, the body of the fully armed soldier floated due to the impact and the explosion.
Bricks and dislodged pieces of wood rolled at Walm’s feet as he entrusted himself to the building. There were no fatalities, but many suffered burns and bruises.
Still, the soldiers couldn’t stop. The citizens took less damage while the Undead Dragon targeted them. Someone had to be a decoy. Walm had the same thoughts. He didn’t know if the next breath would be against the Labyrinth facility where the Trimagitack members were. Right. Someone had to be a decoy.
“Don’t guide it to the evacuation site!!”
“Bring it to the side!”
After spitting out the second shot, the Undead Dragon started moving. Its movements were anything but nimble. In addition to being caught in a dense building, the surviving officers and soldiers were also desperately trying to counterattack to disrupt its movements.
Walm understood what they were trying to do. If the Undead Dragon was released outside the city, it would be untouchable due to its huge body and breath attack.
The Undead Dragon was distracted by a human attacking it nearby and changed its course. Although the unit managed to attract its attention, the price was too high. The large claw that swung down crushed the unit along with the building.
Sticky red liquid was dripping from the black claw of the Undead Dragon that was lifted up.
Next to take their duty was the unit directly under Edoardo, with whom Walm was working. It was no coincidence or luck that they had reached the attack area. It was all due to the dedication of their predecessors.
Walm stopped the 1000-man Commander who was about to give an order.
“Oi, wait! I’ll burn the Undead Dragon, and buy some time.”
“What? Are you stupid――”
Edoardo said with a look as if he was looking at a madman. The soldiers accompanying him also became furious, saying not to interfere.
“My 《Demon Fire》 brings blue flames and hot air to a wide area. In fact, I burned the same thing once at the bottom of the labyrinth.”
“The bottom of the labyrinth… A mercenary hired by the Trimagitack, huh? Keep talking.”
Edoardo realized what Walm was saying and urged him to continue.
“The same one at the bottom was only half-body, but still, I couldn’t burn it to death. When it comes to a full-body Undead Dragon… a minute, no, a minute and a half, I’m sure I can buy that much time.”
“Commander, he’s not even a regular adventurer of the guild. How far can you believe him?”
Saying this, one of the accompanying soldiers gave Walm a skeptical look.
