Ch.216Vampire (3)

Adler von Valzehid, a mid-level vampire under the Vampire Lord, was leading his “soldiers.”

····Of course, these so-called soldiers were merely various corpses stained with blood and moving about, along with Lesser Vampires—discarded bodies with tattered minds and memories stitched together like rags.

As someone who was once a ■■ ■■, he didn’t want to treat these ugly and disgusting creatures as soldiers, but given the circumstances, Adler, a mere middle manager, had no choice in the matter.

If he were to recall the remnants of his time as a ■■ ■■, which he could no longer remember, he might easily become furious. But for some reason he couldn’t recall, Adler had voluntarily chosen this path and became a member of the Valzehid bloodline.

Just as he was lamenting the bitter reality flashing through his mind, news arrived from his familiars (vampire beasts) that he had dispatched for reconnaissance—they had discovered a human settlement.

Considering that this territory was a frontier region, the settlement was likely a pioneer village, which would actually make things proceed even faster.

Pioneer villages were mostly just illegal slash-and-burn farming communities, and even if they were officially established by the state, they would still be limited in size.

Therefore, Adler thought this target would be handled easily, just like always, and began to calmly move his forces forward….

But his assumptions vanished the moment he laid eyes on the so-called village.

‘….What is that?’

A “wall” standing about 3-4 meters tall, complete with a proper moat and watchtowers, despite being made of wood.

Faced with this unprecedented situation—something that shouldn’t exist in a mere pioneer village—Adler, who had expected nothing more than wooden palisades at best, felt his mind going blank.

Particularly alarming was the sight of soldiers (though they appeared to be militia-level) on the wall carrying shields and crossbows, and fixed large ballistas installed on the watchtowers and walls.

It was clearly a defensive capability equivalent to a wooden fortress, which was fatal enough, but it didn’t end there.

There were at least three mid-level presences emanating unusually strong auras at various points along the wall. The wall itself seemed to be consecrated, emitting an unpleasant aura (from an undead perspective).

Beyond the wall, there even appeared to be a giant made of metal. In such a maddening situation, if he could have kept his sanity, he might never have accepted “that offer” in the first place….

….Anyway, that’s how things had come to this point.

‘How could something like this….’

What he thought would be an easy situation had suddenly revealed a powerful force. From the perspective of someone aiming for long-term guerrilla warfare, it would be better to bypass this place without engaging.

But Adler von Valzehid couldn’t do that. Having received the “attack the village” order from his superior, which was engraved into his soul with absolute obedience, he could not refuse.

Honestly, throwing themselves at that place would lead to predictable results, but would his superiors, who lacked even the slightest flexibility, have considered that when issuing the order?

Thus, despite not wanting to in the slightest, he had to engage with that demonic fortress. Adler von Valzehid weakly gave the order for his “soldiers” to advance.

It was almost like an innovative form of suicide, a madman’s action. But when one has no authority to refuse, one also has no choice.

And so, not long after the order was given.

The vampire army began its march toward the wall, starting with the deployment of what could be called the “expendable” troops.

※ ※ ※

To be completely honest, I think letting those creatures get close to the wall is suicidal.

Close-quarters combat with an undead army that doesn’t flinch even when losing an arm or leg, and can only be killed by completely destroying their heads?

Rather than allowing a situation where people would indiscriminately die—which was almost certain—it would be wiser to prepare a separate countermeasure….

“Magni Bruns, I’m going!!!”

-Whirr, click!

That’s why we deployed the Golem Armor modified for mass infantry combat—the so-called “Firefox.”

In normal circumstances, I would have brought my specialized unit designed for suppression and gas warfare to indiscriminately subdue the army, but unfortunately, they were undead—lesser vampires with perfect immunity to such gases.

Especially since it was impossible to completely redesign my specialized unit in just two days, we instead modified an existing general-purpose unit to create this adapted form, the “Firefox.”

This machine, grandly named the “Medium-Range Mass Army Annihilator,” is a heavily armored unit equipped with magical flamethrowers, as the name “Firefox” suggests.

It was modified with red heat-resistant armor plating across its body to operate without issues even in flames. Both hands were replaced with magically-powered flamethrowers protected by shields.

The back and shoulders, where weapons would normally be mounted, were fitted with auxiliary fuel tanks for the flamethrowers, along with improved joints and additional thrusters to handle the increased weight.

The name “Firefox” came from the heat-resistant armor on the head section, which resembled a fox.

Designed to completely incinerate numerous enemies with flames spewing from both hands, this unit performed brilliantly in a battlefield that seemed tailor-made for it.

-Whoooooosh!!!

Red flames erupted from the two openings covered by shields. These flames, fueled by magical power that also powered the Golem Armor, swept through the enemy ranks, engulfing the blood-drained corpses that were inherently vulnerable to fire.

The reinforced armor and inherent durability were beyond what low-level infantry could handle, and the question was whether they could even survive the overwhelming flames in the first place.

Set up solely for mass slaughter, this unit could pour out that firepower within a 25-meter range for at least several dozen minutes until the fuel was depleted.

Of course, they weren’t fools either, and began to spread out to avoid the “Firefox” spewing flames from both arms.

However, this caused them to cluster together as they tried to maintain distance, and…

“Gretel, Lord Malakai. If you please.”

[Yes, yes…!!]

“With pleasure.”

Meanwhile, prepared spells were cast by two mid-level magic users from the rear.

Will-o’-the-wisp magic, amplified by the functions of Gretel’s “Magic User Specialized Unit,” exploded in midair, and metal fragments erupted like boiling water, scattering in all directions and producing dozens or hundreds more corpses.

This was the best method for dealing with numerous undead without friendly casualties—overwhelming them with firepower from the start.

Having been thoroughly prepared for this, the undead-vampires, who were being slaughtered by area attacks whenever they grouped up, now began charging in scattered formation.

By this point, I was wondering why they weren’t retreating or fleeing.

Even though undead are specialized for suicide charges, without some means of support they’re ultimately no better than pathetic mobs. Just charging recklessly like this… it’s as if they’re not allowed to retreat by something…?

‘…Is that it?’

Yes, that was it. Thinking about it carefully, it made sense.

They kept charging stupidly forward in situations where normal forces would retreat, and despite being scattered and shot down by crossbow fire, they refused to fall back.

They even tried to ram this well-constructed wall with a moat, despite not having a single siege weapon—behavior that defied common sense.

In other words, it was highly likely that some foolish higher-up had, for whatever reason, forbidden retreat. I now identified with my own eyes the vampire who was the main dish of this incident—the one I had confirmed beyond the battlefield.

A mid-level vampire mounted on a bat-like wyvern-based vampire, wearing full-body armor reminiscent of obsidian.

While inwardly wondering what kind of genetic material that one might provide, I briefly glanced at Droop and Hannah, who seemed to be itching for action—

“—Forward!”

As the two battle-hungry warriors charged toward the lesser vampires, I, mounted on Gus, stared directly at that vampire and warmed up my body.

It was time for a joyful, exhilarating battle.