Episode 216
The city was filled with the pungent scent of blood.
The rotten smell from the corpses left there mixed together to create a strange stench.
“Woof, woof!”
“Kaaaak-!”
Wild dogs, rats, and crows roamed the alleys, disposing of the corpses.
New corpses were piling up even faster.
It’s been a week since the crackdown on heresy began.
Death was rampant in Scolborne.
As many as five thousand people were killed.
They were all innocent citizens living ordinary lives.
“It’s going smoothly.”
“Yes.”
The mastermind behind the horrific massacre.
Three cardinals were having a leisurely tea time and chatting in the temple of the Deusis cult.
“By the way, it’s surprising. King Abelson is neglecting the situation. At first glance, it seemed like it wouldn’t be strange for the military to be mobilized.”
Cardinal Fidenzio said.
Cardinal Benigno then responded.
“He may be young, but he is wise. He knows that if he stops us, the future of the kingdom will be over.” “It’s a shame. I wish he had done it when he was young…”
Cardinal Fidenzio whetted his appetite.
When Abelson mobilized his army, he was determined to brand the royal family as heretics and swallow up the entire kingdom.
She moved less easily than expected.
“Don’t worry about it. It will be more than enough to expand our influence in the Mariott Kingdom.” “That’s right. Now that they realize what happens if they don’t follow Deusis, the people here will prioritize and follow the religion over the royal family.” “In the end, it’s just a matter of time. The Mariott Kingdom will be in our hands.”
Fidenzio nodded to the other cardinals’ words.
“I was short-sighted. I should let go of my impatience and wait comfortably.” “Impatience is poison no matter what!” “That’s right. Hahaha!”
After that, the cardinals continued to talk about various things.
What was so funny, when they were laughing and chatting amongst themselves?
bang-!
Suddenly the door to the chapel opened and a priest rushed in.
“What is this? Disturbing the sacred time of worship!”
Cardinal Fidenzio shouted with a rather stern expression.
The priest, who had come running out of breath, knelt down and bowed his head.
“I’m sorry! It’s such an urgent matter…!” “Uh, go ahead and speak.”
When permission was granted, the priest rose from his seat and shouted:
“It’s undead!”
“yes?”
“A large undead mass has gathered near Scolborne!”
***
The capital city of Scolborne, which was already in an uproar over the crackdown on heresy, was turned upside down once again.
“Have you heard the news? They say that undead have appeared in the Detron Forest right next door. They say their numbers are in the tens of thousands…” “Tens of thousands!? Where on earth did all those undead come from!?” “Calm down, everyone. There’s the Deusis Church in the capital anyway. There are three cardinals there, so what’s the point of worrying about undead?” “Well, that’s true.” “Don’t worry about anything and just get to work.”
The advance of the undead army.
In a normal city, this would be a disaster, but Scolborne was different.
Currently, a large army of the Deusis Cult has been dispatched to Scorpon.
The vast majority thought that if the undead moved around in the church, they wouldn’t even be worth a punch.
This was not a wrong idea.
Magi were weak to divine power, and the undead were especially weak to it.
Meanwhile, the Deusis Church has proven this relationship to be true by subduing the undead on the continent.
So there is absolutely no need to be afraid if an army of undead gathers near the city.
“Hmm, this is getting annoying.”
Cardinal Fidenzio frowned.
“They say the number of undead is over ten thousand.” “Ten thousand? When on earth did that number gather?” “I don’t know. In any case, the important thing now is that we have to take on the undead.”
You must deal with the undead in the Church of Deusis.
The situation was already set that way.
What if I run away without killing the undead here?
It was obvious that the image that had been built up in the Mariott Kingdom would collapse in an instant.
“Let’s talk to the king first.” “That’s right. The defense of the capital is something that the kingdom should take responsibility for. There’s no reason for the church to protect them.”
The cardinals went straight to the palace.
It was rude to go to the king without prior arrangement, but no one cared.
Fortunately, King Abelson Marriott readily accepted the meeting and greeted them with a smiling face.
“What’s going on?”
“Your Majesty. I have news that the evil demon tribe’s minions are gathering.” “Ah, you mean the undead.”
Abelson nodded as if he had already heard the news of the gathering of the undead.
“Yes! Undead! We must eliminate them immediately.” “The Undead will grow in size and quality as time passes. There are already over ten thousand troops gathered. If we don’t move now, it will be too late!” “If we leave right now, we will be able to subdue them without much difficulty!”
The cardinals took turns giving impassioned speeches.
In simple terms, it meant to quickly send troops to subdue the undead.
Why don’t they come forward and try to move Abelson?
The reason was simple.
‘There’s no point in hunting the undead.’
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The work of taking over the Mariott Kingdom is progressing smoothly.
Hunting the undead here would certainly make people more excited, but even if you don’t hunt them, your plans will still go through the roof.
In other words, I don’t want to suffer unnecessary damage.
‘At the very least, the King’s army must move as well.’
However, we cannot just leave the undead alone.
So the best way is to put the kingdom’s army at the forefront.
The teaching is to block the undead without taking any damage.
“The Kingdom of Mariott cannot afford that.” “I think that was a wise decision… , yes?”
Cardinal Fidenzio, who had naturally assumed that Abelson would send troops, glared.
“What do you mean? The kingdom has no resources!?” “I mean it. The kingdom of Mariott does not have the resources to send an army to subdue the undead. We will fight the undead from the high ground here at Scolborn, with the walls.” “W-what the heck…!”
Cardinal Fidenzio, who was about to shout, “What a stupid remark,” desperately swallowed his words.
No matter what, this is a royal palace.
It is not good to be so rude to the King in front of everyone.
Cardinal Fidenzio took a deep breath and continued.
“Your Majesty. The undead will grow stronger as time passes.” “I know that too.” “If you know that, why do you decide to hide? The enemy’s forces have already surpassed ten thousand. If time passes like this, the entire Mariott Kingdom may be in danger! Can’t your Majesty hear the voices of the people shaking in anxiety!?”
Cardinal Fidenzio shouted with a desperate expression.
How can a man who has massacred thousands of people talk about the people?
Abelson shook his head, suppressing a laugh that was mixed with disgust.
“I’ve told you many times, but we don’t have the resources to subdue over ten thousand undead. We’ll rely on the capital’s defense system, magic, and walls to defend here.” “No! If that’s the case, we’ll come out of the church, or at least some reinforcements…” “No. We’ll protect the capital. We won’t leave the capital even one step.”
Abelson was resolute.
The three cardinals trembled in frustration, but this was not something they could force.
Just as Abelson failed to stop their heresy investigation.
Because the defense of the capital was also Abelson’s unique domain.
“If you’re done with your business, would you mind leaving now? I have a lot to worry about regarding the defense of the capital.”
The three cardinals were left speechless by Abelson’s decree to leave the palace.
***
The three cardinals who left the palace were unable to contain their anger and grumbled.
“How can you be so stupid! How helpful is this city’s defense system!”
Cardinal Kaino shouted.
Cardinal Fidenzio nodded in agreement.
“That’s right. They must be doing that because they don’t know how much stronger the undead will become over time!”
The two cardinals said how incompetent and stupid Abelson was.
He went on and on about why the undead had to be dealt with quickly.
“I don’t know anything! I’m so ignorant!”
In fact, their judgment about the undead is not wrong.
Rather, it can be said to be very accurate.
The Holy Empire Gatren and the Deusis Cult have subjugated more undead than anyone else.
As a result, considerable know-how was accumulated.
Among those know-hows, there was one that was the most important.
The point is that you have to run to the undead and deal with them as soon as you discover them.
Then Cardinal Benigno said:
“It’s probably just showing guts. It’s clear that they know they have no choice but to come forward and hold on.”
He thought Abelson was more cunning than stupid.
It’s about recognizing that the current situation is to your advantage and taking advantage of it.
“They are using the country and its people as bait to threaten us.” “Isn’t that a bigger problem?” “There’s nothing we can do. They’re all going to end up in the Empire’s arms anyway. Dealing with those undead isn’t that hard.”
I heard that the undead army is mostly made up of low-level undead, although they are numerous.
In that case, there is no need to request support separately.
It was obvious that if we just moved the priests and paladins we had now, we would win overwhelmingly.
“Sir Kaino and I will move together. Sir Fidenzio, please stay in the capital and prepare for any unforeseen circumstances.” “Huh, I understand.”
Results of the short meeting.
Cardinal Benigso and Cardinal Kaino decided to go out to subdue the undead.
Paladin Lee Cheon, Priest Cheon.
A total of three thousand people will move together.
“We will leave at dawn tomorrow and finish the expedition by evening. We will return by the evening of the next day.”
The place where the undead gather is about 60km away.
For a normal soldier, it would take three days just to travel one way, but these guys are different.
It would have been possible to reach the destination in about a day.
“As soon as I get back, I must accelerate the process of rooting out heresy.” “That’s right. Maybe it’s a good thing. This will further enhance the standing of our religion.”
If you change your perspective, the current situation isn’t so bad.
Fortunately, the level of the undead is low, so it will be possible to defeat them without much damage.
After the expedition, the people of the Mariott Kingdom will lean even further towards the Deusis religion.
It is certain that even the voices that were opposed to the crackdown on heresy will completely disappear.
The night passed like that, and the next morning dawned.
As planned, an army of two cardinals and three thousand priests and knights left Scolborne.
The citizens of the capital hailed them as heroes, and behind the scenes, they denounced the irresponsibility of King Abelson Marriott, claiming that the Deusis cult was saving the capital that the king had abandoned.
“We’ll be there soon.” “You’re here earlier than scheduled. I think we can have dinner after hunting the undead.” “Yes, that’s right. Haha!”
About 12 hours after the army departed.
It was late afternoon, but the sun had not yet set.
Since we were going to face the undead army soon, it seemed best to fight straight away without resting.
“It’s more troublesome to fight them at night.” “Then let’s start the battle right away.”
The soldiers were a little tired, but not enough to hinder the battle.
This is thanks to the continuous replenishment of stamina through divine magic.
To begin with, these were elite troops who were accustomed to such forced marches.
One of the reasons why the march was so fast was that they didn’t have much luggage since they only had to carry three days’ worth of food from the beginning.
“We have arrived.”
A little more time passes.
Finally, the undead army began to appear in the distance.
“There are certainly a lot of them.”
Cardinal Kaino said.
Looking at the ones that filled the forest, I understood that there were indeed more than ten thousand of them.
“It’s okay. I see that most of them are skeletons. At this rate, we don’t even need to step forward and it will be over easily.”
The good news is that the quality of the undead is low, as reported.
I thought there would be high-ranking undead here and there, but that wasn’t the case.
Undead of this level can be dealt with in an instant.
“Then we’ll have dinner after we deal with the undead.”
Cardinal Kaino chuckled.
“Let us bring the hammer of God upon those wicked men.”
***
Same time.
A man watched from afar as the undead army clashed with the paladin.
“Good.”
The man raised his hand with a smirk.
Then, those who had been lying on the floor in disguise all stood up.
“Imperial Third Magical Magic Corps Anhilato.”
The man spoke in a rather pious voice.
“Make these arrogant fanatics realize the majesty of the Dracaen Empire.”
