Chapter 74: Bernard’s mission
Bernard clenched his teeth. He was certain. This had been the right decision. He had seen how Alicia and Elidranthia had kept the fortress afloat. Without them, the fortress would have taken more casualties.
He wrote his will and then put it in an envelope. Afterward, he gathered his suicide squad. They were planning to slip past the horde. While the liches and the undead were focusing on the impregnable fortress, they were tasked with slipping away and riding to the western front. Attacking the heart of enemy’s territory.
“Shit! The undead are going to lose early at this rate.” Bernard cursed as meteors rained upon the helpless group of liches and archers in the distance. Bernard had never thought Honey could activate both the fire wall and the Meteor Shower at once.
She had repeatedly claimed it was impossible unless she had over a thousand mages. And of course, the empire couldn’t provide a thousand mages, nor could the tower hold a thousand mages. Yet now she was actually doing it. It proved how crucial Alicia was as her mana battery.
“Let’s go. We ride fast.” Not even an hour into the barren wasteland, he had found several groups of liches dragging their skeleton soldiers. Bernard raced his horse, trying to outrun them. He thanked the gods above that these undead had no cavalry.
But to his dismay, the undead didn’t even glance his way. The skeletons might be mindless monsters, but he knew liches could see, and he was sure that the liches had seen him. Yet, for some reason, the liches had ignored him, looking for superior targets, like ants attracted to sugar.
“Damn. The commander was right. I guess he has the right to wear that badge now.” Bernard couldn’t believe the diversion tactic worked. He always thought monsters single-mindedly went for humans like moths to a flame. Some were smarter than others, but he always thought monsters would never ignore humans within their reach. Yet the monsters here were beelining toward the fortress.
Then, he marched toward the farthest frontier. The scouts sighted that this random prairie was where the undead came from. Bernard and twelve members of his suicide squad dismounted and began their search.
Bernard thought it would be simple. A prairie was essentially grassland, and nothing there obstructed his view.
“Boss. I think it’s there.” One recruit pointed toward an abandoned village at the corner of the prairie. Bernard squinted his eyes and, true to his man’s words, he found a lich.
“... That can’t be. Arcane Initiators weren’t supposed to spawn in human settlements,” Bernard said.
“But those liches came from there. Look, they are beelining to our castle and to the western side.”
It was at this moment that he found a squad prowling in the prairie. He glanced at them, his thoughts coming to a halt when he saw their uniform. They came from the western kingdom. Those barbarians. The barbarians happened to see them as well.
“We’ve got company.” Bernard unsheathed his sword at the approaching scouts, ready for any incoming conflict. Their kingdoms were officially at war. He swept his gaze across the prairie. They numbered fewer than his squad. If it came down to a brawl, they might win.
“We are not here to ambush you. Please stay calm,” the scout said. “I am Heracles. We have been scouting near this prairie for a week and found out that the source of the undead is in this village.”
“What do you want, barbarians?” Bernard stayed on his toes.
“Just like you, we came here to end this plague. Since we have a common enemy here, what say we work together, just for this once?” Heracles said.
“I see. You also got the short end of the stick, huh?” Bernard said. His arm loosened. A brief relief and camaraderie washed over his squad. A truce had been made. No matter how temporary it was, Bernard was glad he could gain allies against this foe.
“I volunteered,” Heracles said. “Someone had to do this.”
“Damn. What a hero.” Bernard nodded. His evaluation of Heracles rose. “So, how did you find this place out? Are you sure this was the source?”
“It was from before the undead arrived. A refugee from this village said that the liches came here with a big crystal ball on top of a cart. Our scholars said that the ball is a spawner and this undead horde will be over if we can destroy or grab the ball.”
“I see. I was told the same.” Bernard nodded. That matched with his intelligence, although his intelligence was a bit more lacking. The scout only pinpointed this prairie, but they had made no mention about villages. He had to grill that scout later. How could he have missed such a thing?
“Hm?” Bernard had a suspicion. There is no way a scout could be here alone. That would be against military order. “Did the general buy his intel from the Reapers?”
It was more like a conviction than mere suspicion now. Only the Reapers could have this information, and only they were stealthy enough to scout these lands unimpeded. Bernard shook his head. The general could just be making a guess based on the undead attack. There was no proof that he used the Reapers for this.
“Alright. I am in. Do you have any plan?” Bernard said to Heracles.
“We have been pondering about it for a week now. The village had weak fences, but it only has two exits. If we try to climb those fences, the undead would spot us instantly. They had also posted guards on the exits. I have lost four men trying to assault it.” Heracles said as he explained how the weak village had turned into an impregnable fortress under undead control.
Not really. If Bernard had at least a hundred men and five mages, he believed he could break through. But he didn’t have that. All he had were a measly twelve soldiers and five barbarians from the western kingdom.
“...” Bernard turned to his men, and they nodded.
“What if we distract them? Will that give you a window to destroy the arcane initiator?”
“...” They turned to him, agape. “... Why are you volunteering?”
“We have weapons. About thirty fire bombs.” Bernard opened his luggage. Every team member had at least two fire bombs. Fire was the deadliest element against undead, and Bernard was going to make full use of that.
“I see. Won’t it be better if you were the one who assaulted the village then?” Heracles said.
“I assume you don’t want to be told to be bait by foreign soldiers. So instead, how about if I give you each a fire bomb? If you can use it near the shrine, the first should blast it to smithereens and the second should smash the arcane initiator inside.” Bernard smirked. They had just met, but he already felt they were comrades who had fought beside him for years.
“You know, I also came from Althemer. I trust you. Please stay safe.” Heracles received five fire bombs from him. “The undead will be severely weakened once we destroy the spawner, but they won’t disappear. So, try to hide.”
“I won’t. We will kill them all and claim this land for our own.”
“Hahaha. Alright. Do as you wish.” Heracles shook his hand. “We will attack from the northern exit. You will attack from the south tomorrow. The day is late. We should sleep for the night. The undead are stronger at night.”
“Alright.”
And so, they camped together. They weren’t so foolish as to light a fire behind enemy lines. Thankfully, it was a full moon tonight. Despite the silent camp, Bernard slept peacefully, trusting his back to a random stranger he had just met a few hours ago.
He woke up when Heracles kicked him. The sun already cast an orange hue over the horizon.
“You slept too loudly.”
Bernard feared the worst, but Heracles merely said that they were going to execute the plan after breakfast. Bernard almost slapped himself in the face for how careless he had been. How could they all sleep on the ground without a night watch?
Was it because they were on a suicide squad that they had lowered their guard? Was it because they trusted Heracles and unconsciously treated him like a squad mate despite their different origins? Such absurdities.
Alas, Heracles had proved that he could be trusted. He didn’t attack nor rob him, and the plan was proceeding as planned. Bernard had newfound admiration for Heracles’ honest attitude. Maybe, just maybe, the barbarian country wasn’t so bad after all.
The plan was a complete success. Bernard and his squad charged in with their swords while throwing fire bombs right at the unsuspecting skeleton archers.
The village was thrown into chaos. Almost all the troops were lured away by Bernard’s assault, leaving the village completely exposed. Then, Heracles snuck in from the rear toward the wight that guarded the shrine and threw his fire bomb there. After the first explosion, his men threw another grenade in, destroying the spawner in a matter of seconds. Unfortunately, the wight still lived, and they had to fight it. Heracles lost another man there.
Bernard lost three men when the liches and their army chased him. It was only thanks to his fire bombs that he survived. With the spawner destroyed, the liches and their army were greatly weakened. The skeletons were slower, their arrows less accurate, and the liches’ magic ran out quicker.
Afterward, Bernard went back home bringing the news. This was the beginning of the friendship between Heracles and Bernard.