Thump!
“Just a little longer! The sun is almost up!”
Thump!
“Don’t give up now! We’re almost there!”
Thump!
One by one, soldiers dropped down to the ground due to exhaustion.
“Keep going! Just a little longer!”
The captain’s voice continued to echo throughout. He appeared to be the most tired of them all, but by sheer willpower, he kept himself standing as he continued to bark orders.
Clank—! Clank—!
The knights below were also on their last legs, struggling to contain the zombies.
“Akh…!”
And so were the cadets who, despite their strength, were also struggling.
It made sense when considering the fact that the zombies were immortal.
It also made one wonder how this town had managed to stay afloat with just one tier 3 knight.
It was most probably their ballistae and organization.
“One more minute!”
I also helped out here and there. Using the threads, I contained and pushed many zombies back.
I thought about keeping them separate, but the mana exertion was too much. In the end, the only thing I could do was push them back.
‘….If only I wasn’t injured.’
I felt a stinging pain each time that I used my mana. While I didn’t mind the pain, I could notice it sharpening with each minute that I circulated my mana.
That wasn’t good.
‘I’m at risk of worsening my injuries.’
It was for that reason that I paced myself, unlike the others.
SHIIIING—!
Especially Leon and Aoife, who were practically drenched in their own sweat.
“Haaa… haaa…”
Standing beside me, I could hear just how labored Aoife’s breath was as she utilized her powers to create an invisible wall, blocking the zombies from advancing.
It had to be said. Just the two alone were of great help.
On the other hand…
Woooom—!
“Fuck!!! Why is my fire not doing anything!!?”
Keira’s performance was not great. It wasn’t because she wasn’t trying or anything like that.
But it mostly came down to the fact that the zombies were fire-resistant. Whenever the flames swept, nothing would happen.
Kracka! Kracka!
Evelyn on the other hand was faring much better. Using her skills, she was able to contain quite a few zombies.
“Haaa… haaa… D-do something…”
“Hm?”
Turning my head, I locked eyes with Aofie. Breathing laboriously, she tiredly nudged at the zombies with her chin.
“Y-you can do more than this… D-”
“There’s no need.”
I cut her off.
“It’s time.”
“…U-h?”
Staring at the horizon, the plain began to be shrouded in a veil of orange, blanketing over the region and the horde of zombies.
The sun had started to set.
And following its appearance the zombies’s movements started to slow down.
“It’s over!”
It was one of the soldiers who shouted that. And as if his words had an effect, all the zombies magically stopped moving.
“It’s over…?”
“Haaa… haaaa…. We can finally rest now?”
Everyone was exhausted. Be it the cadets, and the knights. Nobody could hardly lift up a finger.
Even Leon, who usually seemed expressionless, showed a reaction as he stared at the frozen zombies.
Wiping the sweat from the side of his face, he walked closer to one of the zombies to get a closer look.
But just as he took a step, something happened.
“Look—!”
All of a sudden, as a cadet pointed toward the zombies, I watched stupefied as a purple glow enveloped the zombies completely. I felt a familiar sense of oppression coming from the purple veil as it covered the zombies.
Before anyone could say or do a thing, the zombies faded.
“What…!”
“Did they just vanish?”
Unsurprisingly, the cadets were astonished by the development.
The same couldn’t be said for the soldiers who slumped down on the walls tired.
“Treat the injured!”
“Count the casualties!”
The only one who didn’t rest was the captain, who hurriedly moved around to check on every single person on the wall.
I stopped for a moment to stare at him.
The image of his younger self overlapped with his current image.
‘He’s no different than he is in my memories.’
Always prioritizes others over himself.
…But for him to have been at this for so long.
Just where did he get the willpower from?
‘Is it from the constant deaths of his comrades? Or his drive to keep the people of this town safe?’
The more I looked at him, the more curious I became.
‘Should I use my ability on him?’
My thoughts were stopped by the sudden appearance of the professors in the distance.
“Hmm.”
They had unusually serious expressions.
‘Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen them the entire time.’
Where exactly had they gone?
I didn’t need to wait for long to know the answer. Stopping before the Knight’s captain, Professor Hollowe was the first one to speak.
“…We weren’t able to fully trace the mana surrounding the undead. We managed to get a wisp of it, but as of yet, we still haven’t locked onto it yet. We will need a few more days to fully lock into them.”
“Ah, I see.”
The captain nodded his head in understanding.
“…..You can take your time. We’ve managed to hold on for so long. We have enough patience.”
Realization dawned on me as I overheard their conversation.
‘So they were tracking the necromancer.’
Indeed, all subjugation squads had died before returning to the town.
They still didn’t know the location of it. But the same couldn’t be said for me.
‘I know where it is.’
I had seen it in my memories. In fact, I could even go right now.
But…
‘No, not yet.’
I looked at my hands. They were shaking slightly. It was obvious that my body was still suffering from the after-effects of the drug.
I would be of no use if I were to go there. In fact, I’d be putting myself in danger.
Looking around, and seeing the exhausted looks on the cadets and the soldiers, I kept my mouth sealed.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to tell them where it was. Not that such an option was possible since I couldn’t just go up to them and say, ‘Oh, I know where it is. Follow me.’
I’d have to explain myself.
….And there was a real possibility of my ability getting exposed.
I didn’t want that to happen.
Not when the situation was still in control.
Since that was the case, I planned on letting things flow for as long as possible.
“Right, for at least until I can heal up.”
*
I remained faithful to my words. For the next several days, I remained quiet and let the professors figure out the location of the necromancer.
Every sunset, at the same time, zombies would appear from the horizon.
Grooowlll—!
And every sunset, the knights, alongside the cadets, battled against the horde of incoming zombies.
“Fire!”
Xiu! Xiu!
“Open the gates! Cadets!”
Clank, Clank—
The scene from the first day repeated. It would first start with the rain of arrows from the ballistae. Then, when the zombies reached a certain distance, the cadets and knights would charge forward to repel their attacks.
This went on for several days, and by the time it was the fourth day, finally, the Professor managed to trace the mana locked onto the zombies.
“I’ve gotten a trace!”
A meeting took place shortly after that.
The meeting took place in the knight’s headquarters. In a fairly large space, the knights and cadets gathered around a large dimly lit wooden table.
“…..The location is quite far from here.”
Professor Hollowe was the one to speak. With his usual laidback expression, he unfurled a map and placed it on the desk.
“The journey will probably take one or two days. Even now, I am unsure of how the necromancer is capable of controlling so many undead from such a distance. We will only find out once we get there,”
Professor Hollowe explained. Taking out a pen, he circled a large area over the map.
“My detection skills tell me that the necromancer is over around this area.”
“Uh…?”
Coming closer, the Knight’s Captain frowned.
“That’s quite a large area. Not just two days, it might take you more. If you’re planning on going on an expedition and taking the cadets with you, then I’m not sure if we’ll be able to last much longer. The reason we’ve asked for reinforcements is because we can no longer hold on.”
“There’s no need to worry about that.”
Professor Hollowe reassured as he looked towards Professor Bridgette.
“She, alongside several other cadets will remain here. On the other hand, I will go and check out the area alongside a few elite cadets.”
“That’s…”
Before the Captain could say a thing, Professor Hollowe placed his palm over the map.
“I’ve already made my decision. With Professor Bridgette here, you won’t have to worry about anything bad happening to the town.”
He wasn’t wrong there.
Professor Bridgette was a Tier 4 mage. Besides Professor Hollowe, whose strength I didn’t know, she was by far the strongest.
In fact, she alone could handle a large portion of the incoming zombies.
The reason why she and the Professor hadn’t intervened over the past few days was probably because they were trying to provide us with some real-life experience.
At least, that was my guess.
It became apparent to me when the two would intervene when certain cadets were placed in difficult spots. It made sense when one thought about it. We were the elites of the Empire. The loss of a single cadet was big.
Other than that, the two were also busy tracking down the necromancer.
“Now then. Regarding the teams. I’ve already made up a list of the cadets that I will bring with me.”
The air around the room changed as the Professor’s gaze swept the room. For a brief moment, his gaze paused on me.
‘This is the second time.’
I knew it from before, but he wanted something from me.
What exactly…?
“Julien Dacre Evenus.”
My name was called up expectantly.
“Leon Ellert.”
And so were the rest of the members.
“Aoife K. Megrail.”
It was the strongest cadets of the year. Or those that performed the best during the past few days.
“Kiera Mylne.”
Even Kiera was called up. However, when thinking about it, she was of no use staying back and she probably knew it as she clicked her tongue.
“Tsk.”
Clap, Clap— Clapping twice, the Professor gathered our attention.
“…..Those whose names I’ve called please get ready. We will be departing in an hour Please get ready..”
“An hour?!”
Kiera stood up in shock. Her face was still somewhat pale from the last wave.
“We still haven’t slept. How is this-”
“The time for sleep will come later. For now, get ready. It is currently daytime. We can’t leave when the undead will come back.”
“But—”
“That’s it. Meeting dismissed. If there is anything else we can talk about it later.”
Standing up, Professor Hollowe proceeded to leave the meeting room.
“No, wait! I—”
Tracing his back with my eyes, I leaned back on my chair.
“Haa…”
Though I looked tired on the outside, my mind and body were fresh.
Unlike the other cadets, I didn’t go all out. I rested my body and interfered occasionally. Just enough to make it seem like I was doing something.
I knew that something like this was going to happen.
“Good thing I did.”
Lifting my head to stare at the ceiling of the room, memories flashed in my mind. There were several. About nine.
They were memories of nine different people who took the same journey.
Sorting them out, I frowned.
‘Something doesn’t make sense.’
There was something about them that bothered me. However, I couldn’t quite find the reason for this.
The memories…
They always ended right as they attacked the necromancer. But there was something about the necromancer that didn’t make sense.
But what exactly was it?
I silently clenched and unclenched my fist.
“…..I guess I’ll find out.”