âLing Yue! Ling Yue!â
The number of zombies on the streets continued to increase, and they started to gather together. I heard the red uniform army yelling out to me from behind. They  decided to descend the walls and join the fray. The zombie-looking things scared the soldiers, though.
The loud gunshots behind me were a big help in grabbing the zombiesâ attention. Though the humans were transformed into the zombie state due to elven mana, the mana didnât bolster their combat abilities as it did for elves. Despite not being genuine elven mana, the mana had one consistent factor, which was that humanity still couldnât make use of it. All it did was transform them into zombies that randomly attacked others.
Everyone in front of them was a delicacy. When I was in the forest, the wolves viewed Mommy Vyvyan and me as prey. Not only were wild beasts that hunt for mana able to smell out the nature of other creatures but were also able to sense their mana. Given my huge mana capacity, the zombies wanted to chomp me up.
Ling Yue and Liu Yue, who were in the imperial palace, were in the same boat as me. They were a species that possessed mana. If this entire city was infected, there was no way the imperial palace escaped the same fate. Furthermore, there was no escape path in the palace. It certainly was big. Maids and guards were ubiquitous in there. How would Ling Yue and Liu Yue escape from the interior? Even Ying, who was an entity of anti-mana, couldnât cut open a path for the two of them on her own. Moreover, even if they did leave the imperial palace, it was zombie galore on the streets.
Even if three platoons from the red uniform army were to come in, theyâd still only number half of the zombies. I couldnât even guarantee that they could wipe them out in the open wild. Should they open the city doors, the red uniform army would be opening the doors to a floodgates of zombies that were probably already on the doors. The red uniform army didnât have war chariots or turrets. The moment the zombies were in their faces, the army, which was collected together, would be met with devastation. Moreover, if the zombies escaped outside, I couldnât imagine what theyâd do, especially given the fact that humanity was a dense population.
If the zombies roamed to humanityâs cities and towns, humanity would face extinction. I couldnât let them reach humanityâs lands. The best solution was to destroy the city. Troy City was my momsâ gift to me, though. It was also where our alliance started. Without the place, our alliance between our three races wouldnât have a location to convene, and there wouldnât be any place that our powers didnât influence anymore and was close to all three of our territories. Â What would happen after? What would happen to humanity and elves? Plus, there were envoys from the elves and humans. The elves mustâve turned into an old dinner.
I didnât want to destroy Troy City. I had my memories with my moms in the city. It was where I first found people who trusted me. I didnât want to lose the city Freya and I worked so hard to build, but I there was no other choice. I handpicked the maids. They were misled and no longer trusted me. Still, I didnât want to just kill them. If they resisted, I wouldnât show mercy, but if they welcomed me, Iâd still consider them my people. Alas⌠they had to die.
I didnât dare to harbour any wishful thoughts. The monstrosities created under my nose had to be wiped out. I could do it; or rather, Mommy Vyvyanâs shadow could use my body to do it.
Current time at Troy Cityâs entrance.
âThe doors have been broken down!! Aim inside and fire at all those who charge out! Fire!!â
The red uniform army didnât show any qualms as they fired on the people. Technically, the death throes from their comrades on the wall were a sign that they werenât facing commoners. The cannons finally blew open Troy Cityâs doors. The people inside were already at their limit; they eagerly charge out. The city was overrun long ago. The people who had been infected with mana wanted to leave the place in search for their prey. Their prey had appeared. Said prey was the red uniform army.
The red uniform army was used to barbaric charges, so they wouldnât wet their pants over a group of teeth-baring-hand-dancing zombies. They orderly raised their rifles and adopted a three line formation. They opened fire on the crazed crowd charging toward them. Smoke and bullets danced in the air as rows of blood sprayed into the air. As soon as the forefront row of zombies fell, another row of guns fired. The red uniform army that finally had repeated firing rifles could maintain attack status for longer. However, the dark cluster in front of them was akin to a wave washing up zombies. If you were to look down from above at the scene, you would see a ginormous black wave rushing toward a thin and pitiful red dam.
The cannons on the mountain fired, and the ammunition exploded in the ground, littering the sky with fragments of human flesh. The stench of blood dispersed. Elizabethâs order was simple: âFire as you please. Donât worry about ammunition. Do your best to thin the enemyâs numbers.â
Elizabeth did take the possibility of resistance into consideration, but she never expected that scale of resistance. Her three armies were more than enough to take down little Troy City; but nonetheless, it was evident that their firepower was insufficient in the face of thirty thousand maniacs lacking a concept of fear and recklessly charging them. In good news, Troy Cityâs doors werenât too big; otherwise, thirty thousand people would break down their formations.
Elizabethâs soldiers could still hold the lines. In saying that, it wasnât something they could overcome with a few rows of guns. Once the enemy came into close range, they had no time to reload. Normally, in a fight with blades, youâd quickly see who fear overwhelmed and backs down first; however, the zombies didnât show any hints of intention to retreat.
âValkyries, prepare yourselves!â commanded Elizabeth, turning around to her Valkyries. âFour of you protect Daisy. The others are to mount your horses, and follow me in the charge. Weâll enter the battlefield from the rear. We canât kill everyone, but we need to, at least, disperse them. Artillerymen, continue to fire. Youâre not to stop until theyâre all dead. Infantry, you must hold on. Bring out all the infantry in the camp. Behind you is the entire empire. Daisy is behind you. Donât let these people come close to Daisy. Everyone hold the lines!!â
Despite the rain of bullets, the messengers still ran over to deliver their Empressâ command to every corner. Not a single soldier was intimidated. They knew that their Empress was by their side, and their future was behind them. Thus, retreat was never going to cross their minds.