A boy who still looked quite young openly criticized them, causing the soldiers to fume.
"You little brat!"
With the Holy Knight Zebeck standing in front of them, they couldn't pounce on him, but they were already men who had been plundering civilians. Their eyes, having tasted blood, were bloodshot and gleamed ominously. If Zebeck weren't there, they would have already lunged at Ishmael.
Ishmael sneered at their attitude and swung the sword strapped to his waist. He was so fast that, even while the soldiers were glaring at him with anger, they could only watch in a daze as he slashed at their lower abdomens.
From their lower abdomens, instead of blood and entrails, necklaces, rings, and silverware spilled onto the ground.
"...."
"You sure are carrying a lot of baggage while running for your lives."
Zebeck sneered as well.
"A-Ah, this is…"
"If we just left them, they'd turn to stone, wouldn't they? Precious treasures buried in ruins would just become lumps of rock, so we merely intended to make proper use of these objects…"
Men who had no real education somehow became eloquent speakers when trying to justify themselves. Zebeck held back a chuckle.
"Let's return to our camp for now and discuss this. Bring the fish, too."
***
"Our garrison was attacked by the undead?"
"See? I was right. It's because the light of the King's Virtue is weakening."
Brand puffed up with self-importance after hearing the news.
"No, there must be a specific mage behind this."
Zebeck disagreed with Brand's opinion.
"Unless a dark mage is deliberately creating and directing these undead, they wouldn't be able to move in such an organized manner."
"But that's giving too much credit to black magic. Normally, necromancers can control, at most, a handful of undead. Yet, you're saying someone created a horde of them and managed to annihilate an army? That was impossible when the light of the King's Virtue was strong."
"…Fine. Let's assume that the light of the King's Virtue is indeed weakening."
When Zebeck conceded to Brand's stubbornness, the listening soldiers gasped. A Holy Knight had just admitted that the light of the King's Virtue was fading!
"By the way, what should we do about these soldiers? They're disgusting looters."
Ishmael asked Azadin, who was tearing into a fish. Azadin chewed through the fish, bones and all, and looked at Ishmael.
"Do you want to kill them?"
"What?!"
"You bastard! Who do you think we are?!"
One of the furious knights reached for his sword, but Midiam acted first. She kicked the knight in the stomach before he could draw his blade, and in the same motion, she unsheathed his sword herself and pointed the tip at his throat.
Before the other soldiers could even react, Ishmael's curved sword and arrows were already aimed at their necks. The arrowheads brushed against their skin, drawing beads of blood.
"Stop. Don't kill them."
"...."
Watching this unfold, Shati clicked her tongue.
'Good grief. As expected of the Herald Clan, their reputation isn't just for show. Even the brats are this ruthless… Escaping from them is out of the question. Stealing that copy of the Book of the Divine King from this guy? Not even a dream.'
"You lot killed the residents of Salasma and looted their belongings, didn't you?"
"N-No, we didn't kill or steal—"
"We just picked up what others had already killed and stolen."
"Think about the effort miners and artisans put into creating these treasures. We couldn't bear to let their hard work go to waste…"
"Just like how each grain of wheat carries the devotion of a farmer, every single piece of gold and silver carries the dedication of miners and smiths."
'If only they'd just shut up, they wouldn't be as detestable. These bastards are definitely illiterate, but why do they suddenly speak so well when making excuses?'
Azadin sighed and passed his judgment.
"You, take us to the bridgehead."
"W-What? N-No way!"
"That's suicide!"
Azadin snorted.
"The undead are swarming behind us, too. Even if you run the other way, you'll die."
"What are you talking about?"
"Last night, Count Lantarik's army was attacked by the undead and was defeated. We barely escaped from there."
"...!?"
Zebeck clicked his tongue as Azadin effortlessly spewed lies as easily as breathing. The problem was that it wasn't entirely false. He mixed just enough truth with the deception to break the soldiers' will to resist.
"Mm."
"Your army has already laid waste to the area around Salasma, right? There isn't a single intact village nearby. And if there were? Count Salasma's troops would be there, and do you think they'd let you live? So just do as I say."
"A-All right. We'll guide you to the bridgehead."
"Good."
"But, if I may ask… who exactly are you people?"
"Do you know Doneor?"
"Doneor…?"
"You mean the former captain of Lantarik's guard?"
"I heard he's been doing… some questionable work lately."
Judging by their reaction, these men not only knew who Doneor was but also understood that he was a spy who handled all sorts of dirty work for the count.
"Right. You could say I'm even higher than him."
"...."
Watching the scene unfold, Zebeck couldn't help but be impressed. In a situation where bloodshed could break out at any moment, Azadin effortlessly lied without even batting an eye.
Of course, since they had already completely overwhelmed the soldiers with force, he could be bold about it. But the way he deceived them so smoothly was something else entirely.
'His mind works remarkably fast when it comes to lying. And yet, for some reason, he's utterly sincere when it comes to saving people.'
Once again, Zebeck found himself admiring Azadin.
"A-Alright."
"We'll guide you. But we're too exhausted. We need some rest."
"Fine."
Azadin granted the soldiers some time to rest, then turned to Brand.
"Then, let's cancel the river crossing. The undead must be swarming in the water too, so there's no way we can make it across on some makeshift raft."
Originally, Azadin's group had planned to take a break and gather some planks in the area to build a small raft. They intended to cross the river using horses and mountain goats as flotation aids. The Kora River was usually vast and deep, but due to the recent drought in Salasma, its water levels had dropped significantly, making a simple raft seem like a viable option.
However, if corpses thrown into the water turned into undead, they would walk along the riverbed and drag people down to their deaths. Using a flimsy raft would be a death sentence.
"The bridgehead should have proper boats, right? We'll secure one and cross the river. Otherwise, we might have to take down the one responsible for controlling the undead."
***
By the time the soldiers regained their strength, night had fallen.
"Y-You're saying we should go fight the undead at night? That's suicide."
The soldiers protested, but Azadin glanced behind them and furrowed his brows.
"There's no time. The undead behind us are closing the encirclement."
"W-What?"
"This is actually a better time. The enemy isn't just undead. It's a force made up of both living mages and undead. In that case, using the cover of night will help us disrupt their awareness."
Azadin had observed the strategic movements of the undead and concluded that they hadn't arisen naturally but were deliberately controlled by a mage.
At night, the undead became stronger, but their master's vision and ability to sense threats weakened. As a result, he judged that moving under the cover of darkness would be to their advantage. However, that assumption was immediately proven wrong.
"Azadin."
Midiam had sent out a scouting unit and clicked her tongue.
"There's a scouting spell similar to our own in effect."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. There are dead birds flying in the sky."
A dead crow was circling above, scanning the surroundings. Approaching carelessly would only result in immediate detection.
"Impressive. A powerful necromancer… Most likely an orc."
At the mention of an orc, the others shuddered.
"You mean those monstrous brutes with sharp minds?"
"...."
"Wait a minute, we can't just let that slide."
Shati puffed out her chest proudly.
"We're smarter than them."
She asserted that her people, the nagas, were more intelligent than orcs. Of course, since some of the soldiers were unaware of her true identity, she refrained from openly revealing that she was a naga.
"Oh, sure. If you say so."
Azadin ignored Shati's remark and nocked an arrow onto his bow.
"You're going to shoot? Hold on, you're trying to hit that bird flying way up there?"
The soldiers guiding them were dumbfounded. The moon was shining brightly, but that only made it harder to gauge distance. They were struggling to hit targets even on the ground—let alone a tiny crow flitting unpredictably through the air.
However, when Azadin loosed his arrow, the crow that had been soaring above was struck and plummeted from the sky.
"...?"
"W-What the hell?"
The soldiers were astounded by his precision in shooting down such a small crow. Azadin didn't stop there—he fired one arrow after another, swiftly taking down all the other birds in the sky.
"This is impossible."
"Only someone from the Herald Clan could pull off shooting like that, right?"
"...."
Zebeck smirked wryly.
"Alright, let's move out."
Azadin raised his hand and pointed the way forward.
"Midiam, Ishmael. Head north to the right and wait in the forest. If the dark mage comes here for direct observation, you'll be able to see him from there."
"Understood."
"Got it."
Ishmael and Midiam moved toward the ambush point Azadin had designated.
"What about us? What are we supposed to do?"
"You're going to be the bait."
"What?!"
"Let's take down some undead."
As Azadin spoke, sure enough, undead began to emerge from the bridgehead.
Not long ago, these were Count Lantarik's soldiers, their accompanying personnel, and even civilians in worse condition than them. Now, their corpses shambled forward, staggering like grotesque puppets.
Their numbers were overwhelming.
"They look like an army straight out of hell!"
Brand remarked, gripping his spear and stepping beside the soldiers.
"Are you sure you'll be alright, old man?"
"Don't worry about me. I have to do something."
Brand said this and stood his ground against the undead horde.