Ch.283283. Southern Desert (1)

In the southeastern part of the Western Continent, there exists a vast desert region connecting the Western and Southern Continents.

Violent wild undead and dangerous native creatures, combined with the insane environmental conditions, have turned this desert into an almost perfect uninhabited zone.

Without any special resources or rare ruins, the barren desert boasted an environment so hostile that it was utterly uninhabitable.

However, there is a folk legend that this desert environment was actually created by the curse of an ancient god.

According to the legend, this desert region was once called Euphtes, and thanks to its incredible abundance, it was where human civilization first emerged and began to flourish.

The ancient rulers who governed this region made contact with the gods, offering faith and tributes in exchange for even greater prosperity…

But there were also greedy rulers who were not satisfied with such prosperity and wanted more.

One such ruler, unable to contain his endless greed, eventually attacked neighboring civilizations. Being capable despite his flawed character, he integrated all nearby civilizations and established a massive empire.

The gods viewed the ruler’s actions with displeasure, but they overlooked it since the tributes and faith offerings had increased.

However, humans are inherently insatiable creatures, and when surrounded by people who only speak flattering words, one’s sense of reality gradually blurs.

Moreover, as the ruler was approaching 130 years of age, he feared death more than anyone else.

Therefore, the ruler ultimately used his exceptional magical abilities to postpone his death.

He transformed himself into the first undead—a Lich Lord.

As a result, the boundary between life and death was disturbed, and undead beings came into existence in this world for the first time.

Of course, this act was perceived as a challenge by the gods who guide the dead, and simultaneously as an intolerable action where a human dared to meddle with the balance of life and death.

Thus, the enraged gods completely devastated Euphtes, turning it into a desert. Even then, the ruler, still blinded by arrogance, turned his people into undead as well, only to be crushed by the divine army.

And so, the Lich Lord and his subordinates all died and were buried deep in the desert, and the undead that appear in that desert are said to be influenced by the Lich Lord’s corpse.

This strangely detailed yet credible legend was now—

—CRACK!

—about to reveal its truth to the world once again.

※ ※ ※

On a slightly cloudy day in late summer.

“Yaaawn…”

At an outpost of the Dawn Empire located at the boundary of the great desert connecting the Western and Southern Continents, in the southeastern part of the Dawn Empire.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“…What else? Is there anything to do here besides weapon maintenance?”

At the outpost established to repel low-level undead infiltrating from the desert, two Black Sun Legion soldiers were chatting idly.

Only two Black Sun Legion soldiers are assigned to duty at a time, with a rotation system of 7 days on duty followed by 21 days off.

To prevent conflicts, those stationed together at the outpost are at least friends, so these two enlistment buddies and friends were maintaining their weapons while bickering.

Of course, weapon maintenance wasn’t the only thing they could do here.

The basement of the outpost was stocked with various entertainment options, and if they got really bored, they could go out and hunt nearby undead to earn money.

The desert boundary outpost not only offered a high salary but also substantial additional allowances depending on the strength of the undead hunted.

Anyway, as the two were sitting and chatting.

“Hey, remember that succubus—”

[—EEEEEEEEEE!!]

Cutting off the soldier who was about to share a steamy story about the succubus brothel operator, the magical alarm installed in the outpost suddenly began to blare.

“”……..!!””

The fact that the alarm, which wouldn’t sound even if dozens of mediocre skeletons approached, was now ringing was proof that unusual enemies were approaching.

“…Let’s go to the third floor.”

“Okay.”

So when the two moved to the third floor where the firearms were installed and looked beyond—

“”—?!!””

What entered their sight was an army of countless skeletons beginning to surge from the distance.

An army of skeletons wearing rags and carrying spears with curved or crescent-shaped blades, clearly being controlled by someone as they advanced in formation.

The observation outpost was equipped with gunpowder cannons to hunt approaching undead, but…

The sheer number of the approaching army, which appeared to exceed 2,000 at minimum, made the two soldiers regain their senses, as they couldn’t be confident of victory even with the cannons.

“Let’s prepare to retreat. I’ll get ready to blow this place up.”

“…Got it, then I’ll prepare the Sand Beetle.”

In other words, instead of fighting recklessly, they chose to follow protocol by blowing up the outpost and retreating.

While one soldier went down to the first floor to prepare the riding creature they had found and tamed in the desert by putting on a saddle.

The other soldier alerted the control center about the emergency situation and prepared for self-destruction by stacking shells filled with gunpowder throughout the outpost.

“Let’s go. Are you ready?”

“Of course I am. We need to get out of here quickly.”

And so, having completed all preparations in just 5 minutes, they mounted the Sand Beetle—a giant insect that inhabits the desert—and began their escape.

Despite its name suggesting a beetle, the Sand Beetle had long legs like a hunchback.

Despite its slightly repulsive appearance, when well-tamed, it was strong and could run well even in the desert, making it a substitute for war horses in units stationed near the desert.

KWAAAAAAANG—!!!!

Thus, the two soldiers rode the Sand Beetle for quite a distance, and were about to continue forward with smirks on their faces as a tremendous explosion and heat wave came from behind them, but…

Clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack—

Startled by the sudden sound of bones clashing and hoofbeats from behind, they turned their heads to see skeletal cavalry pursuing their Sand Beetle at an incredible speed.

The appearance of the cavalry, with nothing left but bones, looked too light, but perhaps because of that, the impression of their terrifying speed took root strongly.

“—Damn it!!”

“Just get the weapons out!”

So they made a decision, untied the sawed-off double-barrel shotguns from the saddle, aimed them at the pursuers—

FWOOOOOOOSH—!!!!

And pulled the triggers forcefully, spewing flames from the alchemical incendiary rounds inside, burning several skeleton cavalrymen.

“Out of the way!!”

Around that time, Blood Wolf Riders who had arrived from the garrison instantly shot and shattered the pursuing skeletons.

The red armor and large build visible from afar would normally have evoked a strange sense of rivalry, but…

Now, those sturdy backs just looked magnificent.

※ ※ ※

An army of undead had emerged from the southern desert.

With an estimated number of about 600,000.

This army, composed mostly of skeleton-type undead, advanced rapidly toward the flank of the Dawn Empire, and the observation outposts deployed near the desert noticed the anomaly and immediately responded.

Thus, they gave up some territory at the border—empty land—and then holed up in a fortress near the southeastern mountains to implement a defensive strategy.

Of course, the undead army was by no means an easy opponent.

Not only was their number staggering at 600,000, but the forces composing them weren’t just relying on quantity alone.

Among the cavalry riding various undead-skeleton beasts, there were naturally aerial cavalry as well, and the high-level undead commanding these undead forces retained their intelligence as if it were natural.

Additionally, there were undead mages capable of various spells and giant monster undead threatening the fortress—

“Reinforce the troops! Gather the reserves!”

“The Imperial Guard is being dispatched too!!”

The Imperial Regent, Lisa Raeldotir, frantically scraped together forces to reinforce the troops while simultaneously dispatching available reserves to the defensive line against the enemy’s offensive.

And decisively—

[Dear citizens of the Empire. Yesterday, the Empire was attacked.]

Lisa used amplification devices prepared for this moment to spread propaganda extensively.

[The Empire has been wounded by their attack, but still, we, the Empire, will fight to the end.]

[We shall fight to the end. We shall fight in the desert. We shall fight in the fortresses. We shall fight with borrowed valor in the skies. We shall defend the Empire at any cost. We shall fight in their hearts. We shall fight everywhere. We shall fight in cities and streets. We shall fight in the mountains. We shall never surrender, nor shall we be defeated!]

[Therefore, I declare! From this moment on, the Great Patriotic War to defend the Empire has begun!]

With Lisa’s declaration of the Great Patriotic War before the public, the Dawn Empire now entered a full-fledged wartime system.

It was the moment when the sleeping vampire emerged from its coffin.