Humans generally tend to think of ânightâ as the time of the undead and monsters.
Many knights may be glad that the army of the undead didnât come in the night.
However, when they saw the army of disasters marching in the morning sun, they wondered whether it would be better to be able to see them or not.
Corpses advancing in step. Skeletons in armor. A cavalry beast with its belly ripped open. The first report of about 4,000 was almost correct. Several tattered banners imprinted with a rose of fresh blood fluttered through the sky.
The deformed army approached with unrestrained movements. A young knight who was watching from the top of the city wall through a magic telescope panicked and leapt to his death from the city wall.
The undead army came from the east, and the main force was positioned to block the eastern road. Next, a detachment was set up around the royal capital and took up positions on all of the western, southern, and northern roads. As it was, the coming knights of each lord would have to first break through hundreds of undead to even enter the capital.
Few troops arrived at the capital during the night. The few knights and farmers who could be dispatched ahead of the others from neighboring territories barely made it in time. On the human side, the First and Second Orders of Knights under the direct control of the royal family were almost the only force available.
The royal knights, composed of combat specialists, were far superior in terms of their individual abilities compared to the peasants of the lords, but they were undeniably a small force against the vast 4,000-strong undead army.
The rest hired adventurers and mercenaries who were in the royal capital, âhitting them with sacks of goldâ, but for some reason, many adventurers were out of town and did not gather together, and about 30% of them fled when they saw the large army of undead that had appeared. Some of those who did not flee⊠may have simply made a poor decision and were surrounded, unable to escape even if they had wanted to.
The city gates were tightly closed, and even the city walls were covered with blue geometric lines of magical light. The city walls of the royal capital were equipped with anti-magic defense mechanisms.
A magic item that fueled by magic stones and the magic power of the land to put up a defense ⊠No, a Magic Structure. If they wanted to break through this defense head-on, the attackers would need an enormous amount of magic power.
There were no living human beings outside the walls.
There were only farmlands buried in the snow.
No beasts or birds were to be seen now, as though they had been forced to flee by the evil presence that filled the air.
As soon as the army was fully formed, something unusual happened.
ââȘSpeakerâ« x âȘMirror Imageâ« x âȘRefraction Manipulationâ« x âȘDark Skyâ«.
Assembled SpellâŠâŠâȘPropaganda Visionâ«â
The sky darkened.
A dark blue sky without a single cloud. The area became dark like in the midst of a storm.
Then, screams rose from all over the city.
A huge, translucent image was projected in the sky.
The skeleton of a girl in a dress, which was almost too eerie, was looking down on the people with its huge body piercing the sky.
It spoke in a voice like echoing thunder.
The innocent sound of the girlâs voice came with a fear-inducing reverberation.
As if to ridicule their dismay, the giant apparition continued.
âBut I will give you an opportunity to repent. Remove the false king from his bloody throne and put him to the guillotine, along with all of his servants. Then I will forgive you graciously. You do not much time left. Do not think that I can wait forever.â
The voice died away, the illusion faded away, and the sky returned to its original brightness.
But the voice still echoed in the ears of the people.
*
âThatâs it. Weâll wait about an hour before we start attacking. It will be just enough time to wait for my magic power to recover.â
However, it was important to make many think that âthere might have been a possibility of peaceâ when the time came to attack.
In extreme situations, people become aware of the possibility of saving themselves. If these feelings were stirred up, they would lead to the next step.
Do not let them unite. If they betray their neighbors, if they betray their friends, if they betray their king, ⊠they will think that ⊠they alone can be saved.
âThank you for your majestic words.â
The open tent, with only a windbreak and a few curtain walls, was set up as a command post.
Next to her, Alastair was writing endlessly at a desk lined with maps and call marks.
As in the battle for the destruction of Wesala, Alastair would be in the rear, in command of the whole operation once the battle began. But until then, he had another job.
Within a few days, his intelligence and memory would deteriorate without a shadow of a doubt. He needed to have his memories of his lifetime exported by then.
For now, the priority was on attacking the capital, but no one involved was going to get away without a fight. For this reason, they needed to know what the situation was like, who was moving and what they were thinking, and other relevant data.
Incidentally, the speech shown above was written and prepared by him as a speechwriter during the march.
âAlastair. I have a lot of doubts about the number of documents you have. What is this manuscript B?â
âThe theme was âThe Innocence and Cruelty of Childrenâ.â
âMaybe this way of speaking is more typical âŠ, but I still think itâs a bit too staged. I think it was a bit overdramatic.â
âIâm very sorry.â
Although she was a bit concerned about the overproduction of the script, which was full of âââ marks, she felt that this was closer to her true self.
The noble behavior that she displayed was something she had acquired during her month-long undercover work.
If she was not careful, she would start to speak in the same flabby tone she used to use when she was just a commoner, but she tried her best to suppress it. After all, being feared is what she wanted, and self-branding was important.
âEven so. Iâm a little sad to lose Alastairâs brains. I didnât have particularly high hopes for him because he seemed like just a jittery, pathetic old man, but heâs quite capable as a military strategist. If he becomes a ghoul, most of his memories and personality will be lost, but I wonder if he would become a smart ghoul if he were to be rebuilt as one now.
He showed mysterious competence as a speechwriter, but he was also excellent as a commander and military strategist.
âI couldnât have done this attack by myself. âŠI need servants. I need servants who are capable and who will not oppose me. Even the demon king uses his minions to fight the heroes and ruin countries. The undead are useful but also troublesome in many ways⊠I would like to increase the number of non-undead comrades ⊠This Ciel-Terra is not the end of the story.â
ââWell, itâs going to be tough to find someone who knows what Iâm trying to do and is still willing to help me, I guess. Hmmm⊠Evil God-sama was talking about something like âDemon Kingâs Army in shamblesâ, so maybe I could pull some out of the Demon Kingâs ArmyâŠ