Ch.106106. Salvation

I still don’t think we’ll die.

This was the nonchalant conclusion reached by Yuni, the former Hero’s party magician, as she observed the swarming undead legion.

Her hobby was watching and critiquing.

To be honest, she rather enjoyed secretly watching others fail. She didn’t even think it was particularly wrong.

After all, it wasn’t like she was plotting conspiracies to trap people, nor was she striking people from behind to profit from their downfall. She was just secretly mocking them a little—was that really such a terrible thing?

…Of course, she had given up that hobby after Gwon Heejin’s downfall.

Her hobby was only possible when her own safety was guaranteed. But at some point, that safety was no longer assured. She was too busy being cursed by the entire world to have the luxury of watching and judging others.

“You pathetic woman. Taking this long to cast a simple fire barrier? I could brush my teeth and wash my hair in the time it takes you to complete one spell…!”

“I’ll smack the back of your head every time you glance away while casting. Remember that.”

The humiliation and trials she endured while being trained by veterans of the Court Magicians before being assigned to the border fortress.

The training was so harsh that when it ended and she arrived at the border, she actually felt relieved.

But now, with battle imminent, Yuni had unconsciously reverted to her old habits.

She was currently serving as the fortress’s turret. Despite her slow casting speed, she was the one with guaranteed firepower.

Watching the undead legion that had been waiting without attacking for a full day, she had simply reached her own conclusion.

‘This is impenetrable.’

At the very least, she didn’t think she needed to worry about dying. The Empire would surely send reinforcements, so they just needed to hold out for a few days.

Until then, she could safely remain in this tower. She’d just need to cast spells occasionally.

As she was secretly feeling relieved, the elderly magician beside her looked at her with disdain and chided her.

“Yuni. What are you thinking about?”

“Huh? Well, I…”

“You’re a member of this fortress now. Not a spectator.”

The elder who reprimanded Yuni was a retired veteran from over 20 years ago. He was so elderly that rumors of his death had once circulated.

He was one of those involved in proxy trading and had been brought here to take responsibility. Despite his advanced age, he couldn’t escape punishment due to the enormous sums involved in the proxy trading.

And for some reason, he had taken it upon himself to be Yuni’s mentor here. Yuni had no choice but to call him master.

“But Master, no matter how I look at it, I don’t see how we could lose.”

“Why?”

“First, the walls are… not only sturdy, but they also have two types of anti-demon barriers installed. The height is too much for undead with poor mobility to climb. And besides the fortress’s defenses, our forces alone are…”

As Yuni said, formidable forces had gathered at this fortress.

The elderly magician before her, the former Hero’s party, the penal unit knights who enjoyed dice gambling.

Additionally, troops sent from the border lord’s main castle had arrived long ago. Knights, magicians, and even clergy. Among the clergy was even the former Saintess.

The former Saintess, whose holy power rivaled that of a Master Knight or an Arch Mage.

Though she had been confined to take responsibility for ruining the country and had come to the border in her old age, her holy power was said to remain as strong as ever.

“And our opponent is undead. The matchup alone is in our favor.”

“Yes. You would know better than anyone. You’ve benefited greatly from holy knights.”

“……”

Yuni momentarily felt indignant and wanted to retort, “Master, you were involved in proxy trading,” but she wasn’t given the chance.

– Keeeeek!

A bizarre cry echoed from the distance.

Yuni turned her head toward the sound with a start.

She hoped it wasn’t what she feared, but that hope was shattered shortly after. Dozens of black dots appeared in the distant sky.

“Huh…?”

They were wyverns. No, not just wyverns—there seemed to be cockatrices too, which were rarely seen.

And they were all in an undead state.

Being undead made them seem somewhat sluggish, but they were flying nonetheless. And in great numbers. It felt like every wyvern and cockatrice that had died in the Demonic Land over the past few months had been turned into undead.

Who could do such a tremendous thing?

Yuni gulped.

“…That number, unless it’s someone of the Tetrad level…”

It was strange. They had definitely killed the Lich King who controlled the undead forces. Not like with the Beast King where they had been tricked—they had truly erased his existence. Although most of the fighting was done by the Holy Knights and Gwon Heejin just finished him off with the holy sword, he was definitely dead.

‘The Tetrad has been replenished…? That’s unprecedented.’

While Yuni stood dumbfounded, the elder slowly moved to take his position.

“…Cough, haah. I don’t know either, but the Demon Lord wouldn’t have remained idle. Anyway, Yuni. Where’s the time to worry about that now?”

If you don’t want to die, move.

Only then did Yuni snap to attention and hurriedly concentrated her magical power. She needed to shoot them down before they reached the fortress.

She instinctively realized that if she didn’t, something terrible would happen.

‘Quickly, quickly.’

Shortly after, powerful firepower lit up the sky.

Ballista projectiles blessed by clergy,

Silvina’s rapid fire with a bow of such tension that ordinary people couldn’t even draw it,

And area-effect spells cast by magicians with desperate resolve.

“Kill them! Don’t leave a single one!”

In response to this command, dozens of undead were torn apart unceremoniously.

However, a few that managed to avoid being hit arrived wobbling above the fortress and ultimately carried out their assigned mission.

Several wyverns and cockatrices rapidly descended into the fortress.

“Aaaah! They’re falling!”

Screams erupted from all directions.

The undead wyverns’ physical charges were threatening enough, but another problem was the skeleton warriors hanging from their bodies.

Those that infiltrated the fortress immediately began slashing. Though few in number, they were more than enough to turn the fortress interior into chaos.

Meanwhile, the undead army outside the fortress also began their attack.

“Hold your positions! Don’t break formation!”

“What are the magicians doing?!”

Yuni’s eyes widened.

It was a moment when she felt a crisis greater than the battle with the Beast King.

All she could do now was chant spells. No matter how miserable her situation had become, she didn’t want to die like this.

***

“Aaagh!”

……

‘Where did it all go wrong?’

This was what the former Saintess Nicolao muttered to herself while treating a screaming soldier.

It had been three days, no, perhaps four days since the Demon Lord’s army began their attack. In any case, she had cast hundreds of holy spells during that period.

In truth, she rarely had to use her holy power during her tenure.

No one dared ask someone as revered as she was—comparable to the Emperor of the Empire—to perform healing miracles. She had only occasionally healed the severely injured for show in front of believers.

After Gwon Heejin’s execution, she had come to the border fortress to make money… no, to serve, but even then she hadn’t been overworked. Despite having stepped down, she was still treated relatively well as the former Saintess.

But now she was casting holy spells without rest.

“Your Eminence! Please bless my arrows!”

“Ugh. I’m covered in those disgusting creatures’ fluids…”

“Heal me! Heal me! I’m dying!”

She blessed the arrows of the archer who desperately pleaded, cast purification spells on the soldier who was going berserk after being exposed to miasma. Healing was a given.

There were other priests, but in terms of contribution, her share was overwhelming.

‘This is maddening.’

She felt like collapsing right then and there.

But the battle against a legion that knew neither pain nor fatigue allowed no rest.

Undead giant beasts forcibly dug their claws into the crevices of the slippery walls as they climbed, while hideous rag golems rammed into the walls, regardless of damage to their own bodies.

They had managed to hold out so far, but…

Hundreds of casualties had already occurred.

Common soldiers who died crushed under creatures that fell from the sky or were killed by blades, soldiers who died defending the walls from the magic fired by liches.

To be honest, the situation was precarious even now. They were barely hanging on.

‘But we can’t hold out like this forever.’

The Saintess had already exceeded her limits.

Her frail, elderly body ached from overexertion, and one eye had become particularly cloudy. On top of that, she felt dizzy to the point of nausea.

She knew better than anyone that these symptoms weren’t simply due to overwork. She had seen priests of similar age complain of similar symptoms before suddenly passing away.

“…Haa.”

She finally let her arms drop.

She felt her face growing colder. It seemed impossible now to respond to anyone begging for healing.

The day she decided to purchase 150 Cordana from Matthias flashed through her mind, as did the faces of the clergy who wailed after the crash began. She thought she had paid enough for her sins, but also felt wronged.

After being dazed for a while, she heard someone say, “Reinforcements seem to have arrived,” like a ringing in her ears.

The former Saintess vaguely lifted her head.

At first, she looked in the wrong direction, but soon she could identify the reinforcements. They had made quite a dramatic entrance.

The undead army still swarmed like a black mass. A small special forces team was striking at them.

More precisely, the “Hero” at the forefront was single-handedly sweeping through the battlefield.

With one slash, he dismantled more than a dozen skeletons, and by hurling his aura-infused warhammer, he obliterated a massive undead beast. He even crushed undead hounds with his bare hands when they lunged for his neck, as if they were merely annoying.

The Hero Erick Wellesley, who had charged into enemy lines, was pulverizing everything in sight, scattering flesh and bone fragments everywhere.

“The Hero can do that too…?”

Someone muttered in a daze. The former Saintess tried to respond unconsciously but collapsed weakly instead.