Ch.284284. Southern Desert (2)

At the same time.

“W-why are those things coming out already?!!”

I couldn’t hide my bewilderment at the sight of those damned undead forces suddenly emerging from the central desert, as I was preparing for the second demon invasion that was truly not far off.

Of course, I wasn’t surprised because unknown entities had suddenly appeared. Rather, I couldn’t help but be shocked precisely because I knew… exactly what those things were.

The Euphtes Skull Army, composed of undead from an ancient civilization buried beneath the Central Desert, also known as the Euphtes Desert.

Why were these things, which should only appear as a bonus event after the demon invasion when certain route conditions are met, suddenly emerging here to attack my Dawn Empire?

“What’s going on? What went wrong?! Was there some problem somewhere?”

Realizing that all my assumptions until now had gone awry somewhere, I quickly searched through the memories engraved in my soul, analyzing everything related to this—

“—Is this it?!”

Only then could I grasp the cause of this near-irregular situation.

In short, this incident appears to be a variable that occurred simply because I fought too well during the First Demon Invasion.

Even in the game, forces that survived the first demon invasion would, depending on how the random numbers were determined, face attacks from other hostile forces instigated by demons before the second invasion.

These Euphtes Skull Army bastards breaking out of their coffins was probably some scheme by the demons before their invasion.

“………….”

And the moment I realized this, I was so flustered that I lost my words in a different sense.

Now I couldn’t care less about what happened to mere skulls.

The problem, the real problem—was that such external force instigation had appeared at this pre-invasion strategic stage.

This meant that there were at most two years left until the demon invasion.

I had assessed that at least ten years remained and was planning to proceed somewhat leisurely, but…

If things were going to unfold like this, I had no choice.

‘…I must stop the invasion.’

I needed to quickly deal with the Euphtes Skull Army and hurriedly prepare to repel the demon invasion.

The second demon invasion… is not an enemy that can be handled half-heartedly.

※ ※ ※

Amidst the war between the Euphtes Skull Army and the Dawn Empire, at the frontline of that conflict.

[……Huhuhuhuhuhuh.]

In this eerie space filled with nothing but skulls and bones, the commander of the Euphtes First Invasion Force was laughing meaningfully, mocking the creatures before him.

These slaves of the gods, whom the Euphtes First Invasion Force was invading upon their return to the surface, were deploying their own powerful troops and operating large numbers of fire-spewing magical devices to attack them.

As a result, the offensive had stalled, and the number of destroyed undead was increasing as time passed, but…

[Fools! Killing those is completely useless!]

As the commander said, no matter how many undead died there, it posed no problem for Euphtes.

The undead bound to the Euphtes desert turn to sand and scatter into pieces the moment they die, and these undead that have turned to sand return to the desert.

And when a sorcerer casts a special spell on the remains of the undead that have returned as sand, the sand clumps together again and is reborn as undead, boasting a cyclical structure.

Moreover, the amount of magical power consumed in this process is extremely minimal, so in the commander’s mind, if it came down to a war of attrition, Euphtes would naturally be victorious.

It might sound like a delusion just hearing it, but if you compare the details, the commander’s words are true.

The Skeleton Legion of 9 million, created by grinding down Euphtes’ population of 9 million.

No one could win a war of attrition against this army that pressured the enemy while reviving infinitely no matter how many times they died.

Even if the new weapons currently being delivered were deployed on all fronts, the gunpowder, bullets, and durability of the magical rifles would be exhausted first.

Overwhelming quantity was Euphtes’ specialty from the beginning.

Therefore, the commander continued to wear a mocking smile as he watched those who were stupidly being pushed back, but…

[……..Hmm?]

Just then, his eyes caught something emerging as a door that looked like a hidden entrance opened in the distance.

What emerged from a side that gave the impression of being moderately wide, though not enormously large, was a moving mass of steel.

[Is that… a golem of this era?]

Covered entirely in what appeared to be thick steel plates, it was rolling forward on something that looked similar to wheels but wasn’t quite wheels (caterpillar tracks).

Psshhhhhhhh…!!!

The steel pipe-like structure protruding from the rear continuously emitted smoke presumed to be hot steam, and the front was equipped with something that looked like a ship’s ram, seemingly prepared for collision.

On top of it was a metal lid that looked like an upturned bowl, and attached to that lid was the same magical device that had been spewing fire from atop the castle walls.

[….Aha. I see, so it’s a moving fortress.]

Thus, the commander concluded that the identity of the massive metal object was something like a moving castle.

Apparently, it was a metal fortress covered in metal that could fire shots.

A moving fortress that focused on firepower and durability rather than speed.

[You lot! Deal with those things!!]

So the commander deployed all the forces that had been blankly observing the situation from the rear, numbering about 10,000 in total.

Though they looked strong, those mere 12 units wouldn’t last long if skeletons pounded them from all directions.

It was the limitation of the commander whose technological understanding was still stuck thousands of years in the past, treating anything remotely mysterious as magic.

And as the commander’s pathetic order was given, about 10,000 skeletons surrounded and charged at the metal mass from all directions.

Skeletons armed with just a sword and shield each, or a single spear, versus a moving fortress made of metal.

The distance between the two was closing, and the commander, assuming those things would be taken care of on their own, completely shifted his attention elsewhere.

As the distance between the two groups continued to narrow, and when the distance between the leading skeletons and the metal fortress became less than 20 meters—

—Psshhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

From the metal tubes fixed to turret-like structures on both sides of the metal fortress, hot steam of incomparably higher density than what had been coming from the rear of the vehicle earlier began to gush out.

The steam thoroughly cooked everything without exception.

The skeletons directly in front of where the steam was discharged collapsed without a trace, and the steam projected forward a full 20 meters, softening and crumbling skeletons with its scorching heat.

—Psshhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

Such steam vents were also present at the front of the tank; steam gushing out between the perforated ram either shattered the skeletons outright or softened them.

Crunch-crunch-crunch-crunch-crunch-crunch-crunch-crunch—

The massive metal mass, ramming into the softened formation, began to gradually increase its speed while emitting steam in all directions.

[What is that?! That, that thing…!!?]

The commander couldn’t hide his bewilderment at the emergence of a completely unexpected force, a being that defied common sense.

[Stop it! Guards! Elites! Stop those things!!]

Therefore, the commander urgently called forth the Euphtes Guards who had been protecting the only intelligence holder in the vicinity, to try to stop the moving metal fortress.

They numbered about 2,000. Armed with spears and large shields, they formed a dense formation and activated a secret technique to share strength with each other to block the attack—

“Fire!!”

—KWAAAAAANG!!!

Finding them conveniently gathered in a perfect firing position, the steel fortress—officially named the Steam-Rune Tank—shattered their formation with the Blood Cannon from its upper turret and then trampled right over them.

[Ah, ahhhhhhh…]

Having broken through the enemy lines and collapsed their formation in an instant, the Steam-Rune Tank approached the commander who was dumbfounded from TRS (Tank Reality Shock)…

—CRUNCH!!!

Before the commander, who was a mid-level mage in his own right, could even finish chanting a spell, his entire body was crushed and ground up by the tank’s continuous tracks.

And this became the trigger.

The skeletons, now without anyone to maintain and control them, suddenly turned to sand and scattered, with no exceptions.

It was the fate of these cursed beings who could not maintain their existence outside the Euphtes Desert.