Swordmaster of the Great Wall

Erich led his party back to the front lines.

In the meantime, Grant, whom he had entrusted as acting commander, had certainly performed admirably.

He had established a front line with the enemy, set up some kind of vigilance line, and engaged in small-scale skirmishes to gauge the enemy's condition, fully carrying out his assigned duties.

However, the situation at the front was not very good, which was because the enemies were stronger than both Grant and Erich had anticipated.

They had succeeded in identifying the strength of the legions led by the Death Fear, and recognized their existence—but merely knowing this did nothing to weaken the enemy.

Nevertheless, even so, Erich considered the current frontline not a bad position.

After all, the original purpose Erich had ordered—to "prevent them from absorbing the dragon's power"—had been achieved.

Right before Erich's eyes now was a massive magic circle. That was clear evidence of this success.

Mages and shamans gathered in a circle, lending their power, and at the very center, Ceres maintained the magic circle, emitting a distinct blue aura.

"I'm not sure how much longer we can maintain it."

According to Ceres's calculations, this method would delay the absorption of the dragon by a month. Thus, within that month, Erich had to devise a way to take the dragon from the Lord of the Dead.

While Erich was deep in thought, someone's voice suddenly reached him.

"... Something has changed, hasn't it?"

It was Mikhail, eyeing him with suspicion. He immediately detected a subtle change in Erich's power.

"You'd fool a ghost, wouldn't you?"

"So, you say you went to get rid of Albrecht, and it seems there was a harvest, hm. Tsk tsk."

Erich thought it only natural that Mikhail picked up on it.

After all, Erich himself sensed that something about him had indeed changed.

'The flow of my aura has shifted.'

He didn't know why. The aura that used to flow calmly inside his body was now surging like waves.

Of course, it was already an unusual occurrence when Erich, using a new technique, had connected his aura with his life force.

However, he never expected that it would completely change the flow of his aura.

'Fortunately, my life force isn't continuously being drained...'

If this state continued and his life force kept being consumed, that would be dangerous in its own right.

But for now, Erich sensed none of that.

If he were to speculate, perhaps it was simply that the flow of aura, which had once become stronger after being connected to his life force, was now sustaining itself.

Since it was all for the good, Erich decided to think positively.

Getting stronger was never a bad thing, no matter in what direction.

"By mimicking Albrecht's usage, I was able to approach the source of aura."

"What was that, precisely?"

"Life force."

"... You're insane."

That's what Mikhail said, but he then added with a smirk.

"Maybe I'll end up living longer than you. Well, that aside, the magic circle worked out according to your plan."

"But from what I hear, the course of the battle isn't great..."

"Right. The dead's counterattacks are so fierce that it's hard to even maintain the front lines."

Erich slowly glanced at Mikhail's scabbard.

Blue blood of the dead had soaked so thoroughly into the brown sheath that it almost looked green.

Considering Mikhail's character, he was always immaculate; this was something unthinkable for him under normal circumstances.

Yet, looking at Mikhail's current state, it was clear the situation was grim.

Though Mikhail sounded indifferent, even he was forced to rush to the front lines and fight desperately, meaning the enemy's assault was intense.

Erich spoke.

"Even putting aside maintaining the front line, the magic circle is only a stopgap. In the end, we must reach the dragon and take it away from him."

"I don't think Grant overlooked that, but it's not an easy task. The Empire's lords and the barbarians you brought are all out on the front lines as well."

"... Hmm, isn't there some way to pull back some troops?"

"It's not impossible to pull away a few at a time, but it will become a race against the clock. Will the front break first, or will we recover the dragon first?"

Erich nodded. Mikhail had made a sharp assessment of the battlefield. And, knowing Mikhail usually didn't bother much with such things...

'That must be Grant's thinking.'

Erich slowly smiled. It meant that Grant was handling the very tasks Erich himself should have been dealing with.

Put another way, Grant had anticipated this scenario, already preparing for the situation of gradually pulling back troops.

If so, things would not be too difficult. Grant had already resolved in advance the reorganization of troops that would have taken days otherwise.

However, not all his worries were assuaged.

"Not only is whether we can recover the dragon an issue..."

"That'll work out, one way or another."

According to Erich's estimate, the place with the toughest enemy defenses would surely be where the dragon was kept.

Barbarians had tried approaching that area before, but not even close enough.

Above all, the Lord of the Dead must know by now that the dragon's location was discovered.

Thus, the defenses must have gotten even stronger.

Erich made a swift decision. The recipient of his order was Frederick, standing nearby.

"Frederick, organize a recon unit to assess the enemy's defenses and numbers."

"There's no need."

But it was Mikhail who answered. He continued quickly.

"Grant already sent out a recon unit and found out."

"He's always helpful."

"If it weren't for you, he would've made a fine commander."

Even Erich had to agree.

If not for the current situation, Grant would have performed the commander's role better than anyone.

Moreover, Grant harbored not the slightest grudge over losing out on the commander position because of Erich.

His character was above reproach.

But his relief was fleeting. Frederick, on Mikhail's order, brought the recon report, and when Erich checked it, his expression hardened.

"... This is..."

"Too many. Even I didn't think they'd set up such defenses.

There are dead swarming the front line, but to arrange this many around the dragon..."

The recon report was in the form of a kind of map. To anyone else, the thick red lines might have looked like scribbles.

But every line and dot represented the deployment of the dead's troops.

Lines meant enemy formations. Dots marked noteworthy officer-class individuals among the enemies.

Even a quick look made it clear the numbers were staggering.

"Even if they were lining up with their necks stretched out waiting to be cut, clearing them all would take days."

"That's the problem. With a small strike force, we might break through at a point, but how do we actually bring the dragon out?"

"Hmm..."

Erich bit his lip. Never since returning had he faced such a vexing enemy.

No matter how powerful an enemy was, proper tactics and strategy usually revealed a weakness.

Before overwhelming numbers and raw power, tactics and strategy became almost useless; there was simply no room to exploit.

If there was any weak spot, perhaps it was the fact that the area right where the dragon was kept was virtually empty.

But at that moment, something flashed across Erich's mind.

Maybe... the one and only way to overcome this situation.

***

That evening, Erich summoned the leaders of the allied army to one place.

Though most of them were in command positions, they did not look in good shape.

Several high-ranking officers were bloodied or injured.

Erich also noticed that one person was missing from the northern lords' seat.

"I understand Sir Sven was the representative of the North...?"

"Sir Sven fell in battle yesterday. As his replacement, Lord Gethryde has brought the Grand Duke's command."

"I see."

Erich nodded. He had already factored in such losses.

It was not surprising for even high-ranking officers to be swept up and killed in these front lines—it was, after all, humanity's final all-out battle.

Apart from that, not many seats had changed.

Abe was still the representative of the Central region, with Ungrim sitting inexplicably at his side.

Naturally, Abe wore a displeased expression, as if his superior had taken the seat next to him.

At least, it was a comfort to Erich that the commanders he had built relationships with thus far were still alive.

Especially Hrung-ga, who looked quite lively.

After the tribes had united, many warriors had been placed under Hrung-ga's command, and he seemed rather pleased with the current course of the battle.

Continuous fighting was what they wanted, after all.

So Hrung-ga listened to the others' words without complaint, munching on an apple as he did.

There, Erich told them about what had happened a few days ago: he had pursued Albrecht, eliminated him, and, despite sending shadows against possible deception, had found no trace.

Some lords were relieved at his words—the death of the enemy leader who might have become the greatest support to the Lord of the Dead.

However, others' faces remained grim. And some, as if seeing through Erich's mind, spoke up.

"... So how do you plan to recover the dragon, commander?"

"I plan to draft warriors from each lord, fortress, and barbarian tribe to form a sort of death squad."

"Drafting, when the front lines are already pushed back?"

"We all know simply holding the line means our defeat, don't we?"

"We could fall back to the barrier wall we built. Reinforcements from the Empire are filling in there."

"We must use them as our reserves. They are not a card to be played immediately."

A few lords made displeased expressions.

They seemed to think all troops should be committed right now in an all-out assault.

But Erich had also left forces in the rear as part of his plan.

For the climax of this war, they would be vital and had to remain held back for now.

'Just taking the dragon won't be the end. They misunderstand.'

Taking the dragon was merely to weaken the Lord of the Dead. Even weakened, he would still be formidable.

That was the point to consider an all-out effort, not now, at the weakening stage.

"Then what do you propose? I saw Fortress commander Grant's report. The enemy's defenses are solid. Even gathering every soldier in the Empire, it's doubtful we'd break through."

"You're right. Breaking through the enemy head-on looks virtually impossible."

"So you mean there's no way. Unless we fly through the sky, or something—"

"That's right."

"...?"

The lords' gazes turned to Erich.

Even those who had been muttering among themselves fixated their attention on him, as if checking whether they'd heard correctly.

"... What did you just say?"

"We simply need to fly through the sky."

–Thud.

Hrung-ga dropped the apple he'd been eating.

Yet Erich wore a subtle smile. Flying through the sky. That was the only method Erich had conjured.