Azalea’s perspective

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The little girl’s silhouette stands in the midst of the dense fog, holding the head of one of our men with her large deformed arm.
The man uttered no sound.
It was an instant death.
He died before he even realized it.

That misshapen human body, and this miasmatic fog.
It’s unmistakably an undead.
What terrible timing.
Right when we were about to depart, to think we would be ambushed by a monster while carrying the hostages, and Lord Tallmann is still injured.

It was trying to target Grodell and his men whose horses were caught by the spider web.
It’s true that immobilizing the horses is a smart method to reduce mobility.
I didn’t want to think of it, but it seems like it even possesses intelligence.
What if the Lithuvar Tribe performed a special ritual and this undead is the result of that?

“Wha, what in the…… what……”

Lord Tallmann has finally realized how serious the tragedy that’s befallen us today.
He lets go of his sword and it makes a clanging sound as it hits the ground.

Right now, ensuring Lord Tallmann’s safety and securing the Lithuvar children are top priority.
If we lose the hostages, then all is lost.

“It’s an undead! I apologize for not figuring it out sooner. Grodell! Take Lord Tallmann and ride the wyvern back to the 4th division! The rest of you abandon your horses, take the captured children, get out of this fog, and follow after Lord Tallmann!”

Grodell is fearless and has a twisted nature, but he becomes timid during sudden and unexpected crisis situations such as now.
I know it requires a certain level of trust to entrust someone with Lord Tallmann’s life, but I’m not giving him this mission because he’s trustworthy, but because our options are limited now with all these unprecedented occurrences happening.

I’ll be fine on my own.
I shall keep her occupied to let them escape no matter what happens.
And, if it ever turns south for us, I’ll take full responsibility for my subordinates and leave the area.

The truth is, I didn’t want to continue this losing battle, but I also don’t want to disappoint Lord Tallmann any further.
That’s why I was in a hurry to escape from the village.

Grodell’s flaw isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
It’s also useful to further entice Lord Tallmann that we really are fighting a losing battle.

However, I fear for the day that flaw of his is bound to cause an irreversible mistake in the future.
At the very least, he’s not the first person I’d want to entrust Lord Tallmann to.
It would’ve been better if we included him in the frontlines.
I don’t like the idea of leaving His Excellency to him, but…… I can’t afford to be stubborn about it now.

“Don’t let those children out of your grasp! Keep in mind what will happen to you if you return empty-handed!”

The number of Lithuvar children captured is ten, and Grodell has ten subordinates left because one was killed just now.
Although we have the exact amount of men to carry the children, I’d like to leave behind a few of Grodell’s men with me.
But, that means the number of men to carry the children will decrease.

I don’t want to lose any hostages, but we can’t risk it when we still don’t know what we’re up against.
With this level of threat, some of us will be too scared to fight.
That leaves me with…… only two men to fight with me.

“Hans and Jade, both of you stay with me and we’ll fend off the undead and the spider! I’ll tell you this in advance, but I won’t be able to use magic until later! We’ll be fighting under those conditions, so brace yourselves and get in position! If our battle ends up taking too long, then once you regroup with the 4th division, tell them to bring us reinforcements!”

I absolutely cannot waste any magic right now.
I’m sure that two Flare magic will be enough against this undead…… but, I still have to do something about that blue dragon.
At most, it’s rank B or B+…… worse case, it’s rank A.
And, if it’s a self-sufficient type, then we don’t have many options to finish it off.
I don’t like using it much, but I’ll have to use Drago Flare for this one.
The more MP I save for later, the higher the success rate for the plan to work.

Still, fighting under the conditions of no magic and bad vision due to fog, we’ll have to rely on direct confrontation.
The spider monster might also be hiding somewhere in this fog.
This battle will be cutting it close. I didn’t want to waste more men…… but, it would help if reinforcements would come sooner.

The only decent fighter I can think of who’s standing by in the 4th division is Nell.
With Nell’s speed, he can get here faster than our cavalrymen riding on their fastest horses.
Nell hardly uses any magic, so he’s perfect for this battle, and I’ll get to save my magic for later.
He’ll surely be a match for this type of opponent.

After a delay, Grodell finally moves.
He must’ve felt relieved when I didn’t call his name earlier to join me in this battle. What an easy to read fellow.

“Y-Yes, understood! Come, Lord Tallmann, let’s be on our way!”

Supporting Lord Tallmann’s shoulder, Grodell leaves us while staying vigilant to his surroundings.

“〖Gale〗!”

A little girl’s voice echoes in the fog.
Gale…… a magic that summons a powerful wind.
The voice is identical to that of a human, but it’s too fluent to be an undead.

A small yet powerful cyclone, strong enough to break the ground apart, opens a path in the fog and is aimed towards us.
If I evade this, Lord Tallmann will be hit behind me.

Its magic is stronger than I anticipated.
This undead, is not an ordinary undead.

“Ge,-ge ~eh!”

Grodell screams.
Someone like him should be able to dodge it with ease, but with Lord Tallmann on his shoulders, his movement is restricted.
I have no choice…… I’ll have to use magic.

I stand between the wind cyclone and Grodell.
I then point my sword at the approaching cyclone.

“〖Resist〗!”

The cyclone instantly scatters in the air.
〖Resist〗is a high-level magic that can cancel another magic.
Its success rate depends on the skill level of the user and the opponent.
It uses up a lot of magic, but I have no choice.

A gap is formed in the fog by the cyclone’s path.
The undead’s appearance becomes visible from the clearing.
Other than her unusually large arm, she looks like a completely ordinary little girl.

“Wha-……?!”

No, that can’t be a human.
No human can transform their body as smoothly as that.
It must be an undead from the Revana class, and with how its appearance looks no different from a human, it must be a low lich as well.

However, even if it’s a low lich, one shouldn’t just appear out of nowhere.
Research on liches are forbidden, but there have been many cases where researchers and wizards were conducting illegal experiments for the sake of immortality.
All of those cases ended with their lives lost or they turned into mindless undead themselves.

Even in Ardezia, the famous alchemist, Bermilen, wasted 50 years of research just to revive his deceased lover, but it only turned her into a deprived monster, or so the story goes.
Resurrection magic is not something that can be used lightheartedly.
It requires numerous trial and errors, not something that can be done on the first try.
It’s a story from a hundred years ago, and I heard that it caused a major problem for the country which took months to recover.

I can’t fathom how unbelievable it is, but it doesn’t seem to be illusion magic either.
It doesn’t feel like any peculiar magic is disturbing my senses to form such a vivid image.

For such a humanely undead to be created, as well as bestowing it with intelligence and vast magic power…… it’s not something an uncivilized tribe should be capable of.
Although, I know of a few monsters that could easily do that.

The undead king with many skulls, Skull Lord.
The guardian of the gates of the underworld, Greater Demon Saliel.
And, the one who governs life and death, the two-headed dragon, Ouroboros.

“That dragon, it can’t be……”

Those monsters are all under legendary class.
If that dragon is really the Ouroboros, then…… I can understand the strange happenings in this forest now.
With how legendary it is, it’s revered across the whole world, so what is it doing in an isolated village in the middle of an uncharted forest.

If we’re going up against such an abomination, then I really need to save as much magic as I can for later…… but then, I won’t be able to finish this battle quickly.

I still haven’t pinpointed the location of the spider monster.
We could easily get caught by its web in this thick fog.

But, if I try to get out of this fog, then there’s a high chance that they’ll ignore me and go after His Excellency.
The battlefield is not in my favor, and I can’t use magic.
Plus, my subordinates aren’t highly skilled…… regardless, I’ll make sure I overcome this seemingly impossible situation and return to His Eminence’s side.

“Keep an eye out for the monsters in hiding and surround the undead! But, don’t let down your guard! You’ll end up missing an opening and the enemy might use it against you!”

“Y-, Yes! Azalea-sama!”

“A-, Affirmative!”

Hans and Jade answer back.

I don’t really have high expectations for them.
With our vision hindered, I might accidentally slash them.
The situation isn’t really ideal for me to use my true power.
But, if we can just expose the ones in hiding, and give the undead more targets in different directions, it’s enough.

If I use Resist again, I can hold them off myself, but…… I’ll just have Hans and Jade make up for it without relying on Resist.
It would be great if I could save up enough magic for one more Resist……

I raise my sword and point it at the undead.

Undead or lich, it’ll be dead once its head or chest gets crushed.
I’ll get in close and execute a preemptive strike.