Overwhelming Firepower

Roderick, seeing that he had lost control of the situation, gritted his teeth and gave a final command.

”Everyone who can still move, retreat toward the train! Take the wounded and the students with you! Alert the others of what has happened here!”

The people did not question the order and quickly moved. Roderick stood in front of the new wave of undead and raised his aura mantle to the maximum limit of what he could use.

He had made a mistake, as a warrior and a commander, he needed to atone for that mistake. The only thing he could do now was to stop the undead in front of him and allow the others to escape.

The senior Thornefang member stared at Roderick for a moment. ”Commander!”

Roderick looked over. The man kicked a Crimson Lord greatsword across the ground. The weapon had belonged to one of the soldiers killed by the explosion.

”That sword is better suited to destroying these undead.”

Roderick caught the weapon beneath his boot and lifted it with one hand.

It was heavier than the sword he normally used. A metal mechanism had been built near the guard, while several narrow openings ran along the thick blade. He had seen the members of Thornefang use this weapon and figured out how to use it.

Roderick pulled the activation lever. A small black powder charge ignited inside the weapon.

Heat spread along the blade until its edge began glowing red. Smoke escaped through the openings, and the air around the sword distorted.

Roderick’s lips curled a little upward. Roderick then looked toward the Thornefang member.

”Get them to the train.”

The Thornefang member nodded his head. ”I will... May we meet again in Varkun’s hall of heroes!”

He then turned away and ran toward the retreating group. Roderick watched him leave for only a moment before returning his attention to the battlefield.

Flames spread across the broken wagons, while smoke rose from the ammunition that had exploded. Between the burning wreckage, the newly risen dead stumbled toward him.

Many of them wore the emblem of House Draten; others were just commoners who wanted to help, and a few were from Thornefang who had noticed the abnormality earlier.

These people who were just alive moments ago turned into the undead; they, who were his allies, had become enemies. Roderick bit his lips in anger at the enemy who had done this and at himself for his arrogance.

”Forgive me! I vow that I will not allow you to harm anyone and bring you all to Velmira’s embrace!”

Despite knowing that it was an impossible task, Roderick needed to say it out loud. These were words he used not only to comfort the dead, but also himself.

He gritted his teeth and started attacking the undead before they got their bearings. He sliced one undead in half right down the middle.

He was going to attack the next one, but this time, the aura users that became undead had now activated their aura mantles.

Roderick was then surrounded and could do nothing but block the attacks coming from all directions. He then saw a few undead trying to leave and head towards the people who were now retreating.

Roderick burst out with a stronger force and dashed towards those undead and sliced them with the Crimson Lord greatsword.

It hadn’t even been a few minutes, but Roderick was already having difficulty breathing, and his sight was becoming blurry. He had only taken down three undead at most.

’Damn, is this all I can do?’

A blade descended toward Roderick’s head. He raised the Crimson Lord greatsword, but his exhausted arms barely moved. The two weapons collided, and the force drove him down to one knee.

Before the blade could descend, a spear struck the undead knight from the side. The steel point pierced through its neck and knocked it away from Roderick.

”Commander!”

Roderick looked toward the voice. Several knights of House Draten rushed through the burning wreckage.

Only a few had returned. Their armor was damaged, and blood covered their bodies. One limped badly, while another held his sword with his left hand because his right arm hung uselessly beside him.

It would seem that they were ambushed on the way back and had been in a hard fight against the undead.

The knight holding the spear pulled his weapon free from the undead aura user.

The corpse fell onto its side, but it immediately placed one hand against the ground and began pushing itself upright.

”Damn this undead. Why won’t they just gladly accept Velmira’s embrace?”

The knight understood that piercing doesn’t work on this undead. Either obliterating everything or burning their bodies would work.

”What are your orders, commander?!” The knight asked as they continued to hold back the undead.

”If you wish to retreat. You can do so now. This is all my fault, and I will be the one to bear the consequences. Do not allow the undead to gain even more of us to join their ranks.”

The knights looked at one another, but none of them moved to retreat. One of them, who had just pushed another undead, spoke.

”Commander. We are knights under your command. If we leave you here, then what kind of knights will we be?”

Roderick stared at the men surrounding him. There were only a few dozen left. Should he allow them to stay, despite knowing their inevitable end? If they became undead, they would become enemies of their allies and would make it difficult for the others.

However, the expressions on their faces told him that ordering them away would accomplish nothing.

They had already made their decision. Roderick tightened his grip around the Crimson Lord greatsword.

”This might be our final act, if you see your companion about to die, dismember them quickly before they become undead.”

”Yes, sir!”

”Today we die, and in the end we shall drink and dine in the Hall of Heroes!”

The knights answered with a roar.

”For House Draten!”

”For Norvaegard!”

Their voices spread across the ruined town, briefly rising above the crackling flames and the groans of the approaching dead. Their aura mantles of different colors shone brightly under the moonlight sky.

They confronted the enemy until every last person retreated to the train. Even after the train left, they continued their attack.

When one of them fell, the others quickly sliced every part so that even if they became undead, they wouldn’t be able to do much.

One after another, they fell. The undead horde that was so small in number in the beginning seems to be increasing over time.

The undead continued increasing even though there were no untouched corpses left around the town. More of them must have been waiting beyond the smoke, advancing only after the defenders began to weaken.

This just proved to Roderick that what he had done was truly foolish. He regretted his prideful actions, but there was nothing to be done anymore. All that was left was to continue onward until his last breath.

Roderick and his faithful knights continued to strike down the undead. The few dozen knights steadily dwindled. Before long, only eight remained. Eight became six, then three, until Roderick realized there was only one man still fighting beside him.

”My lord, I apologize, this is it for me. I will head out first....” The final knight that stood beside him was now dying as he closed his eyes. Roderick did not even have time to say words of comfort as he needed to quickly cut his loyal subordinate.

The Crimson Lord in his hand no longer burned as the black powder inside had been used up. His aura mantle no longer shone brightly as his broken body screamed in agony.

”Don’t worry, I will follow soon after,” Roderick mumbled to himself.

He raised the Crimson Lord greatsword once more. Without the heat running through its blade, it was now little more than a heavy piece of steel.

His exhausted arm trembled beneath its weight, while the aura surrounding his body flickered like a flame about to be extinguished.

The undead continued approaching. Roderick looked around. There was no one left standing beside him.

The bodies of his knights had been cut apart so completely that the Lich would gain little from raising them. They had carried out his final order until the end.

The others had long since escaped, and now only he was left. Even if he wanted to leave now, he could not.

An undead soldier lunged toward him. Roderick forced the Crimson Lord greatsword upward and struck the corpse across the chest.

The blade no longer possessed enough heat to burn through the body, but the aura surrounding it gave the heavy weapon enough force to shatter several ribs. The corpse fell backward.

It was at that moment that the undead swarmed towards him. Roderick gnashed his teeth as he knew that this was the end for him.

The undead crashed into him from every direction. Roderick swung until his arms could no longer obey him. The Crimson Lord greatsword fell from his fingers, and several rotten hands seized his armor.

Roderick gathered the last of his aura around his heart; this was to blow himself up. He would not allow the Lich to claim his body.

Roderick closed his eyes. ”May Varkun judge that I have atoned.”

He compressed his remaining aura into his heart. Cracks spread across his flesh as light escaped through them. Roderick released everything; his body burst with the power of his own aura.

His body exploded and destroyed a few undead surrounding him. That was the end of Roderick Haven.

***

In other towns and villages, where the commanders were from different noble houses, similar things were happening as they were slowly being overwhelmed by undead forces.

Several commanders had delayed reporting the attacks, hoping to claim the first victory for their own houses. In the end, they failed.

By the time the first warning finally reached Lucen, several defensive lines had already fallen. Worse, the Lich’s army was now larger than when the night began.