CH 50

Fly Zombie Fly

After casting «Fly» on herself, René became a silver meteor and charged, attacking the battlefield above the royal capital.

Chasing after Vidofnir cavalrymen, who were in the rear of the battlefield, she swung her sword at them before they could even turn around.

The sword stopped on the feathers with a hard thud.

“Wha!?”

Two of the protective charms on the Vidofnir’s saddle exploded at the same time. The rider shouted in surprise.

–I thought that would be the case, but they even let the cavalrymen carry protective charms. … The cost of one of these is equivalent to one month’s salary for an average worker, right?

Since the airborne cavalry itself was high cost, it was natural that they wanted to protect it even if they had to carry expensive items.

Rene’s red blade was a magical attack. It was a poor match against defenses that blocked out magic.

However, these protective charms only strengthen the defense against anti-airborne fire. They weren’t so scary if the rider was slashed directly.

While the rider was trying to fight back by pulling out his sword, René slashed twice more, burning through all of Vidofnir’s protective charms and cutting it in half.

“Aaaaahhhh…………”

The bisected Vidofnir and rider, who had lost his mount, were entangled in the chains of gravity and fell.

The rider was still unharmed, but a fall from higher than the spire of the royal castle would almost certainly result in a crushed tomato.

–First, one cavalryman…!

At that point, the cavalrymen who had heard the screams noticed something was wrong.

“Undead!”

“That’s the one!”

Among the reinforcements were two hippogriffs, a tandem of cavalrymen and priests.

When the priests saw René, they immediately began chanting.

“≪Holy Ray≫!”

First, one of them exerted magic.

A white, shining flash of light shot out and was irradiated like a wave of light.

René turned, adjusted her altitude, and dodged the ray of light.

Then, the next magic attack approached.

“≪Shooting Nova≫!”

A magic bullet the size of what can only be described as a cannonball flew by, trailing the afterglow of the white brilliance.

It followed in a gentle arc. René, while brushing past it with a sudden braking maneuver, cut through the magic bullet itself with the red blade, offsetting and dissipating its magic power.

However, another Vidofnir cavalryman was approaching in between those spells.

The Vidofnir was a relatively lightweight airborne beast. They flew easily without tandems, and their riders were equipped with slender lances.

René and the Vidofnir cavalryman crossed paths several times as they flew with their feints. René’s red blade burnt through several protective charms, but the damage was well dispersed by the protective charms equipped by the rider and the cavalry beast, respectively, and the damage could not pass through to the actual body.

The flanks were hot. The lance was tearing at René’s dress. The lance also seemed to have been subjected to «Concecration».

–You’re in my way…

As expected of the soldiers of Noacurio, one of the five great powers.

The types and number of cavalry, their skill level, the level and power of the magic they used, and the quality of their equipment all gave the impression of being top-notch.

“You are the ‘Rose Princess of Hellrage’!”

A wyvern cavalryman stayed a little distance in front of René, and the man who was his rider shouted at her.

He was a knight in excessively decorated armor, painted in some places in primary colors. The full-body armor made it difficult to tell what kind of person was inside, but the sound of his voice gave the impression of a “hot and bothered middle-aged man”.

From the decorations of the cavalryman to the pattern of his cloak, he looked more distinguished than other airborne cavalrymen, and one could tell that he was their commander just by looking at him. Or perhaps that was why he had different decorations.

The magician riding behind the captain (temporary) activated the ≪Speaker≫. The captain’s (temporary) voice echoed through the skies of the royal capital.

“I am Evan Jordas Raizen, second son of Duke Raizen and captain of the third squadron of the Airborne Cavalry of Kingdoms of Noacurio! I am here to protect the people of the Kingdom of Ciel-Terra from the tyranny of monsters!!”

It was an imposing name.

This was the etiquette of the battlefield, or so to speak. Although he was not a Japanese Warlord, it was natural for aristocrats, mercenaries, and adventurers to advertise themselves in some way during a battle.

This pompous old man, Evan, was broadcasting to the people of Ciel-Terra to convey Noacurio’s favor to them, and above all, to make a name for himself and bring back credit to his country.

She could have said her name back, but René did not.

The reason was that the other priest had started chanting magic. He probably thought that courtesy was unnecessary against a monster.

There was no need to give them time when they were ready for battle, and she had no desire to be polite to such an insolent person.

René manipulated her flight and lunged head-on at Evan.

Naturally, the Wyvern opened its mouth.

René, who had avoided the breath with a slightly exaggerated trajectory, simultaneously decapitated a Vidofnir, who had rushed forward. There was already no protection left for the cavalryman. Its body and rider fell, whirling and spinning.

“[Performance Deviation: Spread] «Holy Arrow»!”

“≪Holy Ray≫!”

Holy magic was once again unleashed.

Countless splintered arrows of light flew in a geometrical intertwining pattern. At the same time, beam-like flashes of light were released from a different angle.

Having reduced the power and increased the number of arrows, the «Holy Arrow» did not pose much of a threat. While allowing herself to be hit several times, René raised her altitude to escape from the two magic spells.

Then, she released «Fly».

“≪Countermagic Field≫”

Protective magic enveloped René.

«Holy Arrow» chased after her.

«Holy Ray» was slowly heading toward René.

The magician fired a ≪Fire Ball≫.

All of them failed to reach René and bounced off.

“What!?”

Evan was astonished.

It was not that the magic was blocked, but the fact that she used «Countermagic Field».

The momentum of «Fly» was so strong that René’s body, which was thrown in a parabolic trrajectory, began to fall according to gravity.

Aimed at the Wyvern, Evan’s mount.

If it had been an arrow flying in a parabolic line, Evan would have reflexively avoided it, and in fact, the Wyvern might have avoided it on its own.

However, Evan’s reaction to the incomprehensible “headless girl in a dress flying in a parabolic line” was a little delayed.

“Biggy!!”

René landed on the shoulders of the magician who was riding behind Evan.

“You!”

Evan did not draw his sword at this point, but instead spurred the Wyvern into a sudden braking maneuver.

The Wyvern swayed up and down and side to side like a rodeo. It was to shake René off.

But René, in Dullahan form, was quite strong despite appearances. She put her legs around the magician’s neck and forcibly clung to him. And then.

“Bye-bye.”

“Eh…”

René kicked Evan off. Not with a magic attack or a slash with the red blade, but just kicked him down, cutting the reins of his harness and sweeping him off with one foot.

She didn’t know how many protective charms he had, so she chose the quickest way to kill him.

Gravity is equal and merciless to all.

With a look of uncertainty on his face, Evan drifted away, not knowing what had happened.

The Wyvern was still struggling, but René stabbed it with the red blade, piercing the saddle under which Evan had sat, that was, the Wyvern’s torso.

The wyvern’s protective charms popped off one after another. Finally, for the fourth time, Rene’s sword pierced the Wyvern’s heart.

“Gyoaaaaaaaaahh!!”

With a cry of pain, the Wyvern lost its balance. But it was not dead yet. It seemed to live for at least a few seconds before reaching the ground.

Separately, René could still escape, but that would mess up the Wyvern’s corpse.

“≪Pain Whip≫!”

The Wyvern finally seemed to run out of steam as the cursed whip struck it, and the it fell limp. The magician, still harnessed to the Wyvern, and René, who clung to the magician, were also with it.

“≪Create Undead≫!”

As soon as René used magic, the fall stopped.

A strong gravitational pull was generated, and then the Wyvern emerged. The Wyvern began to flap its wings powerfully despite the blood pouring from its chest and mouth.

The Wyvern Zombie was complete. It was now René’s faithful servant.

When René reached out, the Wyvern Zombie bent its long, serpentine neck and lovingly rubbed its head against René’s hand.

“So. Let’s see…”

René flopped down on the saddle and looked at the magician in the back seat, to whom she had been clinging with her legs a moment ago.

He smiled a drawn-out grimace and raised his hands.

“I surrender… I will…”

René smiled at that.

“Very well. Serve me with only your bones and soul. Be a Lich.”

“Gyaaaa!”

Rene delivered three slashes in quick succession, burning through the magician’s charms and finally slaying him.

“Once again, ≪Create Undead≫!”

The dead magician’s body was stripped of its flesh as if it were dust.

The magician’s empty eye sockets, now nothing but bones, were ablaze with an eerie red light.

*

Meanwhile, on the ground, Lawrence was furious.

“I…! If only I had wings!!”

One of the towers in the castle was used as an operations command post, and Lawrence, Hilbert, and several other leaders of the Order were packed in there. As long as the king was on the battlefield, the commander was the king.

The battle above could be observed from the slit windows of the room. He could see the captain of the reinforcement force, that had finally arrived, was easily killed.

Lawrence was without question the strongest warrior in the country.

If he went to the front, he would be able to defeat hundreds of undead by himself and boost morale. The reason he did not do so was because he was wary of the “Rose Princess of Hellrage”. If the castle was ambushed while Lawrence was away, there would be nothing he could do.

In this battle, Lawrence was only a pawn to strike the “Rose Princess of Hellrage”.

Well, he was frustrated because he couldn’t fight.

“Lawrence. You are doing your part by being here. Now leave it to your men.”

“Understood…”

Lawrence clenched his fists as Hilbert cautioned him.

“Is that the speed of «Fly»? I can’t keep up with that flying with «Air Step».”

“Perhaps it is. She manipulates magic.”

«Air Step» was an elemental magic of the wind that enabled a person to walk on air.

It was a useful spell that allowed the flying person themselves to move as they wished in the air without being a magician, but the speed was too different between ‘walking’ and ‘flying’.

“≪Fly≫, she is slashing and tying while controlling it at her own will…”

Hilbert growled.

A person who can use both weapons and magic to some extent was called a “Magic Warrior” or a “Magic Swordsman”, but such an unorthodox fighting style was not common.

“The airborne cavalry with holy magic users seems to be having some effect. We’ll push them with this for the time being.”

“Yes. Even if she has the ability to fly, the sky is still the cavalry’s battlefield. Let’s knock her down.”

*

“Oops.”

Suddenly, a holy magic beam of light flew up from below, causing René to change the flight trajectory of the wyvern zombie and dodge.

Looking at it, even the Hippogriffs of the Ciel-Terra Royal Guard were tandeming with priests. It seemed that once they saw how the reinforcements were fighting, they went down to the ground and equipped themselves with additional human turrets.

“… Would this be bad for our chances?”

René muttered to herself as she looked at the enemy’s formation.

All of René’s forces were undead. The more holy magic in the sky, the harder it would be to get through.

Soon after, René decided to retreat.

There was no need to fight any more there and then.

“I’ll take it like this for the first time. Let’s go back… Let’s go, Schadenfreude.”

René turned around and ordered the hippogriff zombies to return as well.

The cavalrymen were taken aback by the sudden and graceful departure. After a short pause, they came to their senses, or perhaps they came back to their own self, and launched a pursuit attack with magic, but it was blocked by René’s defense and did not inflict any damage.