episode_0212

“Kruk!”

The knight, who was unable to block the Skeleton Knight’s attack, fell down with a death cry. No, it wasn’t even a death sentence. He just coughed up a handful of blood and made a sound like boiling phlegm.

This happened because the armor, which was very crude, could even be called crude, could not block the erythronium arming sword. The erythronium arming sword pierced the exact center of the chest, causing blood to flow back up the esophagus.

Because he had so much faith in Seongsu, he died in vain.

However, the Skeleton Knight, who caused the death of one knight, immediately began targeting other knights, as if he had no interest in the person who was already dead.

In order to thoroughly crush the knights’ power and reduce the power of the Marquis of Kurid, only the knights were ordered to be killed quickly.

And, in addition to the Skeleton Knights, about 300 Skeleton Knights attacked the knights with great enthusiasm.

Of course, there was a movement to somehow preserve the knight’s strength by deploying ordinary soldiers, but with over seven hundred ordinary skeletons running rampant, that was not easy.

Rather, not only the strength of the knights but also the strength of the general soldiers collapsed. The soldiers who were sent to protect the knights were dying, and the soldiers who were supposed to be their shields were dying, so the knights had no choice but to face death in the end.

Of course, that didn’t mean there was no damage to me.

“Ah, another one has been smashed. Too bad… … .”

Starting from ordinary objects, there were cases where Skeleton Knights were destroyed and disappeared, although in very small numbers.

While the soldiers were stuck to the skeletons to the point where they were completely unable to move, the knights forcibly removed their armor and then destroyed them.

It was inevitable that there would be a huge loss of troops, but it was the only way to effectively deal with the undead wearing armor.

“Hey, Andrew?”

“Why?”

“Isn’t something a little strange?”

However, as I was looking at the skeletons pushing away the enemy while taking a little damage, Amy looked at me as if she were puzzled.

“What’s strange?”

“No, that’s… … . Aren’t the soldiers so brave? My colleagues are dying next to me, and even the knights are dying. Yet, the soldiers are holding on to the skeletons as if nothing is wrong.”

Amy seemed to have no understanding and pointed at the soldiers hanging out holding the skeletons.

“I would never do that. Anyone can see that it’s a good thing to die for, right? Even though they say they have to follow orders because they are soldiers, it is not normal for them to follow orders this well. There aren’t even any soldiers deserting right now. Even in ordinary battlefields, deserters appear consistently, but isn’t it strange that there are no deserters in a war with the undead?”

“Now that I think about it… … .”

I nodded at Amy’s words. I didn’t realize it because I was so used to the undead, but Viscount Tar was so brave right now. So much so that you can’t even think that you’re dealing with the undead.

All humans have a natural fear of death, but it was a situation where soldiers and knights alike rushed at him as if they were unaware of such fear.

It was something that could never be said to be normal.

But I soon found out why. As I was closely observing the soldiers and knights through the moving skeletons on the battlefield, I was able to understand why they had become so fearless.

“These guys are really crazy. I’m going to win somehow… … .”

“Why? How did you find out what happened?”

“The crazy people fed the soldiers and knights with madness weed to prevent them from deserting out of fear.”

Periodically, soldiers and knights were seen chewing and swallowing pieces of grass, which turned out to be chewing and swallowing wild grass.

As the name suggests, frenzyweed was an item that made people run wild. It was a herb that made you forget about fear, feel high and excited, and turn you into a madman who even hallucinates and runs wild.

Of course, there were side effects. The moment the effect ended, people felt extreme exhaustion, and in some cases, they even died from heart attacks. Moreover, since it is addictive, it is not enough to make a person a bad person.

Of course, it wasn’t that I didn’t understand. Since we are going to wage a territory war against a warlock who runs the undead, we need to prepare for fear.

If a warlock was officially targeted for subjugation, clerics would provide support, but if holy water was all they had, they had no choice but to use something like this. If there is a war and all the troops to carry out the war run away, there is no way there will be a war.

But just because I understood that I was using frenzy grass, it didn’t mean I would look at it favorably. It was impossible to look at him positively because I could feel his will to put me down at any cost.

In the end, I decided not to care about the damage I would take and to completely push back Viscount Tarr’s army.

Originally, I was thinking about minimizing damage and destroying the opponent, but now I was thinking about completely pushing him away no matter how many hits he received.

“Gather together all the skeleton mages within the city, and all regular skeletons except those responsible for maintaining public order within the city. The zombie wyvern is also back.”

After making that decision, I immediately began recruiting troops.

I was concerned that the Marquis of Kurid’s troops would run away if they showed too much overwhelming power, but seeing them even use the Frenzy Chorus, it seemed unlikely that the Marquis of Kurid’s troops would run away. For troops that have consumed Frenzy Herb, retreat is impossible, whether operational or not.

And, having gathered a large number of Skeleton Mages and regular Skeletons, I immediately began moving my troops.

To be precise, regular skeletons were thrown into the middle of enemy lines using zombie wyverns. Regular skeletons that had been shrunk to the size of a finger were dropped as is to where the Tar Viscount Army was.

Naturally, the skeletons that fell to where Viscount Tar’s army was located quickly regained their original size and slaughtered the surrounding soldiers.

The Viscount Tar army looked taken aback by the sudden attack, but perhaps because of the frenzy, they quickly went berserk and rushed towards the skeletons.

Thanks to this, the number of regular soldiers dealing with the Skeleton Knights decreased, and the Skeleton Knights had more freedom to move.

But I had no intention of ending with just scattering the skeletons. After scattering all the skeletons through zombie wyverns, the skeleton mages were immediately moved.

Skeleton mages rode zombie wyverns to the battlefield and dug into the space created by the skeletons.

And, the Skeleton Mages who had taken up positions among the enemy lines immediately began coloring the surrounding land black.

“Andrew, is that what skeleton mages are doing now?”

“That’s right. It’s staining the land with a curse. Just by being there, you will be cursed, and the power of the sacred power created using holy water will be weakened.”

The Skeleton Mages dyed the land to make the surrounding area a more favorable environment for the Warlock.

It could also be said to be an area curse that causes the ground to contain various curses and causes enemies who step on the land to receive the effects of those curses. Additionally, even though it was not possible to touch the sacred power that each priest possessed, it was possible to erase the sacred power contained in the holy water.

Although it had the disadvantage of not being able to use the land for quite a long time after that, it was perfect for pushing back the Tar Viscounts more reliably.

In fact, from the areas where the land was stained black with a curse, the damage caused by the holy water gradually began to decrease. Even though ordinary skeletons were cut by a knight’s sword treated with holy water, the damage was reduced to the point where their arms fell off rather than disappearing.

And, unlike me, whose damage began to decrease, the damage suffered by Viscount Tar’s army increased enormously.

As more and more people fall due to the effects of the curse imbued on the ground, the power of the holy water weakens and skeletons become able to fight against the knights even without armor, the soldiers who are supposed to support disappear, the burden on the knights increases and mistakes are made one after another. The damage to the back increased.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

Naturally, the Viscount Tarr army, faced with such a situation, appeared to immediately retreat.

If things continued like this, not only the soldiers but also the knights would be slaughtered by countless skeletons, so it was a natural choice.

However, as I said a moment ago, there was no way the troops who had consumed the Frenzy Herb would have listened to that command. They were already going crazy in the battle situation, so the order to retreat had no effect at all.

Some knights and soldiers who had not consumed frenzyweed appeared to be trying to follow the retreat order, but when they were pinpointed and attacked by zombie wyverns, there were no troops following the retreat order.

As a result, the Viscount Tar army quickly decreased, and the land that became the battlefield was not simply polluted by the curse, but was further polluted by the blood of countless humans and the energy of death they created.

And, when the land was so polluted that it could not be used for at least ten years, the number of troops in Viscount Tarr’s army capable of continuing the battle was reduced to less than 10% of the original number.

Moreover, less than 10% of the troops were not intact. He was injured in an attack by skeletons, it was not surprising that he collapsed immediately due to a curse, and he was suffering from the side effects of the frenzy. Otherwise, if we were to find only healthy people, it would not even be 1% of the existing number.

“Okay then, shall we go now?”

Since it was judged that Viscount Tar’s army had reached a point where it could no longer proceed with the territory war, it immediately stood up.

Now it was time to make Viscount Tar, who trusted only the Marquis of Kurid and waged a war for territory against me, pay the price.