Lake Kingdom, District 10. Abandoned Cathedral.
Built by the indigenous faith of this nation, which perished 500 years ago, the site was vast but not occupied by any monster army.
This was because the place exuded an eerie aura that repelled monsters. Thus, while various monsters occupied different parts of the Lake Kingdom over the years, this place remained in ruins.
However, the demon survivors had no choice but to flee here now.
A zombie plague had spread among the monsters, and the infected monsters killed each other, further spreading the plague.
Normally, infighting among monsters was common, something to ignore regardless of whether they killed each other...
But with the Demon Guard Legion annihilated and even leading the zombie outbreak, it couldn’t be ignored.
The zombified Demon Guard Legion couldn’t recognize their kin and attacked the demon colonies, causing devastating damage in the first assault.
The few survivors managed to flee here, to the abandoned cathedral, now sensing their imminent end.
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Bang! Crash! Creak!The barricade, reinforced with magic, bent and broke like straw.
The stained glass windows of the cathedral shattered as zombie monsters’ arms reached inside.
Grrrr...
Grrrrrr!
The zombies’ jaws snapped at the air, ready to bite anything alive, regardless if it was a monster. Thick saliva dripped onto the floor.
"Aah...!"
"It's over, we're finished...!"
The demon children huddled in the center of the cathedral, trembling and hugging each other.
The demon elders, who stood around them, shuddered as they prepared to sacrifice themselves.
When the last barricade broke and the zombie monsters rushed in, they would throw their lives to protect the children.
"Where is Lord Cromwell?!"
"Who caused this plague in the first place...?!"
"Why isn't the Demon King saving us?! We are his direct subordinates!"
Listening to the terrified screams of his kin, the oldest demon among the survivors, called the 'Elder' within the legion, kept silent.
They all knew Cromwell was dead, that the Demon King had turned her into a zombie to raise her from death, and that to the Demon King, they were mere pawns to be used and discarded.
'Is this the end?'
Zombies were squeezing through the gap in the completely collapsed entrance barricade.
Sensing the end, the Elder slowly lowered his arms and let out a long breath.
It had been a long time since he followed Legion Commander Cromwell out of their homeland to this place.
And during that long time...
'What have I done?'
He couldn’t tell what he had accomplished.
Was this the meaningless end of a tenaciously continued life?
'If my life was to disappear so futilely, then rather...'
Rather...?
Rather, what?
As he wondered at his own thoughts and blinked,
"Huh?"
He saw something falling through the broken ceiling of the cathedral.
At first, he thought it was a zombie monster breaking in through the roof, but no.
It was a much more dangerous presence.
Flapping a banner made of magic, the top commander of the human side—the most dangerous enemy among the monsters, Ash 'Born Hater' Everblack, lightly descended and landed.
"...!"
Seeing Ash right in front of him, the Elder stiffened in shock and surprise.
And the other demons, not fully understanding who this was, shouted.
"What is it, a human?!"
"How did they get here...!"
"They’re here to kill us!"
The demons were flustered, seeing the human suddenly appear in their midst.
Moreover, the human wasn’t alone.
Thud! Thud!
A blonde male knight, a platinum blonde female knight, a green-haired assassin, and a white-haired mage followed, surrounding Ash.
Zombies outside. Humans inside.
The demon survivors, besieged on both sides, panicked.
Seeing the terrified demons, a long smile formed on Ash's lips.
"Greetings, invader candidates and retired invaders."
Seeing that smile, the Elder thought,
"Do you want to live?"
For some reason, this human's smile seemed...
"If you say yes, I'll help you."
...more ruthless than themselves.
"Come on, say it!"
Spreading his arms wide, his golden eyes gleaming—
The unexpected savior from the sky said this,
"Say you want to live!"
***
Observing the panicked demons, I smiled broadly.
The monsters covering this Lake Kingdom were mostly shadows extracted from nightmares by the Demon King.
But these red-skinned demons were different.
As previously explained, they are invaders from another dimension, attacking this world to make it their own... In rough terms, they’re an alien race.
'So they can reproduce, unlike the monsters revived from nightmares.'
So, in other words...
They don’t have the instinctive and blind hatred toward humans that the revived nightmare monsters do.
In short, there’s room for negotiation.
'Better to show than tell a hundred times.'
I lightly tapped the floor with the flagpole. Then,
Whoosh!
A wall of magic rose, quickly encircling the abandoned cathedral.
Over the barely intact main barricade, over the shattered stained glass windows...
Gray magic formed a wall, instantly fortifying the abandoned cathedral.
"This should buy us some time for now."
The deafening roars of the zombie monsters outside fell silent.
"Not to brag, but my walls are pretty sturdy... Actually, that is bragging."
"..."
The demon survivors didn’t know whether to be happy about the immediate safety from the zombie threat or wary of the humans in front of them.
"It's not complicated."
I folded my arms and gestured outside with my chin.
"Those zombies are my enemies. And those zombies are also your enemies. This gives us a reason to cooperate."
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"...!"
"I'll help you until all those zombies are gone. I'll fortify this place so you can hold out safely and bring you any supplies you need. How about it?"
An elder demon, who seemed the oldest among the survivors, stepped forward.
He quieted his kin and bowed respectfully to me.
"Thank you for your offer... However, may we have a moment to discuss?"
"As you wish. Just not too long."
Accepting the proposal of someone who was an enemy just moments ago might be a bit much.
I nodded, and the surviving demons, now down to a few hundred individuals, began a heated discussion.
As I turned away, my subordinates, who had been waiting, urgently questioned me.
"Ash! Are you really going to help these monsters?"
Verdandi asked. I nodded.
"They’re a decent alliance to reduce the number of zombies."
"But...!"
"The benefits for us are considerable."
I spoke frankly.
"To put it bluntly, we can use them as disposable pawns to fight the zombies for us."
"...!"
"To put it more gently, we can say our interests align. They want to live, and we need to reduce the number of zombies."
If we have a force here in the origin of the zombie outbreak to draw in zombies and bear the brunt of their attacks, reducing their numbers...
It could greatly reduce the number of zombies pouring into the subsequent defense battles.
"In short, they’ll act as our forward base."
The forward base we originally used by the Black Lake was completely destroyed by Night Bringer, making it impossible to restore realistically by the final battle.
Time is too short. We can’t even think of restoring the south wall of Crossroad right now, so how could we restore the forward base?
In this situation, if we can deploy an allied force in District 10 of Lake Kingdom...
Not only in this stage but maybe even up to the final battle, it could be useful.
"And besides, we can gather intel on the demons’ weaknesses and on Cromwell."
"...!"
Though the zombie crisis complicates things, and the situation is chaotic,
Ultimately, the boss monster we have to deal with this time is the Demon Guard Legion Commander Cromwell.
These demons belonged to the same legion as Cromwell, so we can also gather information.
"And most importantly..."
I added.
"There’s something I personally need to test."
My words puzzled everyone.
"Test?"
"Yeah."
I smiled bitterly.
"A test necessary for me to achieve the ending I desire."
***
The demon survivors accepted my proposal.
They had no choice. Either they joined hands with me or became zombies here. It seemed they didn’t want to die.
"Great! So, who’s the leader here?"
An elder demon, the one who had talked to me before, stepped forward. He introduced himself.
"It's me. They call me 'Elder.'"
"Quick introductions, good. You’re perceptive, Elder."
I received the 'representative' position of these survivors from the Elder.
The Elder hesitated, but it was a situation where they were already riding a tiger. He meekly handed over the representative position as I requested.
"I delegate the representative authority of our Cromwell Legion survivors... to you, Ash."
"Great."
I nodded and adjusted the [Imperial Seal Ring].
[Imperial Seal Ring (EX)]
- Can gather the will of the organization's members you represent and manifest it as power.
This was why I asked for the representative position.
"I, as the temporary ally of the Cromwell Legion survivors, representing their will, wish for this."
The ring, which had no design before, now bore the symbol of red antlers. This seemed to be the emblem of the Cromwell Legion.
"That this abandoned cathedral will not fall to the monster horde...!"
Flash!
The [Imperial Seal Ring] activated, and red energy surged from the survivors’ chests, intertwining like long vines, encircling the cathedral.
"This embodies your will to survive."
This magical... no, it’s magic.
I explained to the astonished survivors.
"As long as your will remains strong, the zombies won’t easily enter this area. My wall will also hold for a while."
"..."
"But ultimately, surviving is up to you."
Two weeks remain until Stage 45 begins.
It can be an eternity or a moment, depending on how you view it.
Whether this cathedral will hold until then or fall to the zombies before that, I don’t know.
However, if they fight tenaciously to survive and it benefits my world...
I will continue to support them.
Such a simple alliance.
"We'll fortify and turn this cathedral into a forward base."
I told my subordinates.
"Bring in defensive equipment, and if supplies are needed, provide them."
"Are you really planning to build a small fortress inside the dungeon? Using monsters to fight other monsters...?"
"Consider it a special operation for a special situation. Now, conduct a supply check!"
My subordinates looked unhappy, but they still checked the supplies and equipment needed to fortify the cathedral.
"Hold on tight, Elder."
Still looking conflicted about joining hands with humans to survive, the Elder gave me a complicated expression. I grinned at him.
"I'll come to help again!"
Thus,
I established a forward base in the heart of enemy territory and gained a fighting force.
The results of this impulsive little investment will reveal themselves in time.
Whether it’s a colossal failure or...
'Who knows?'
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I might look back and call it a masterstroke.
--TL Notes--
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