Chapter 103: A King and his General (16)

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It was a wordless requiem.

The earth trembled slightly each time Barbatos took a light step on the grass. 5,000 monsters had intentionally matched their footsteps with Barbatos’ perfectly. Despite being unable to let out a loud roar because they were going for a surprise attack, they were declaring to their lord that they were going to win by matching their footsteps with hers.

Barbatos smiled.

“My lovely kids.”

She wasn’t originally a necromancer. She was a warrior. She relied on her weapon as she dove into the fray. She was strong. She survived until the very end as her comrades and subordinates died around her. Before long, all of her comrades that had sworn to fight with her forever had died and she was the last one left standing.

At that point, Barbatos struggled desperately to bring back her comrades.

She interacted with magic for the first time in her life. She had no talent, so she experienced failure after failure. Additionally, necromancy is an incredibly complicated form of magic and is rare in both the demon and human worlds. Despite this, Barbatos didn’t give up. She didn’t give up because she believed it was worth it for her comrades to continue living. They were too blinding, powerful, and beautiful to die for some pitiful reason―like getting hit by a stray arrow on the battlefield, sacrificing themselves for their comrades, and dying due to a foolish order.

Thus, she decided to make them breathe forever herself.

Barbatos threw away her sword for their sake. Without even the slightest bit of hesitation. She chose her comrades that would be with her forever over her weapon that had supported her all her life. One by one, she resurrected her soldiers into undying monsters. Even the weakest of zombies among the monsters walking through the fog of Austerlitz now were created by her hands. There wasn’t a single undead monster that hadn’t fought together with her on an honorable battlefield before.

For how long did they walk through the sea of fog?

A breeze started to blow from a certain direction as the fog gradually faded. The sun had risen.

At that moment, Crown Prince Rudolf von Habsburg, Margrave Fritz von Rosenberg, and Mercenary Captain Ferdinand von Wallenstein were receiving reports at the top of the hill. A liaison officer was out of breath as he ran into the tent. He forgot to even salute.

“Y-Your Excellency!”

“How impudent. Since when has our army’s discipline become so lax?”

The liaison officer quickly raised his arm up in a salute. He had most likely run a long distance as his chest was still heaving. The liaison officer spoke before he could completely catch his breath.

“The enemy……Enemy forces have appeared at our frontline!”

“Enemy forces have appeared?”

The crown prince furrowed his brows. He got upset as he wondered who promoted this idiot to be a liaison officer.

“Get a hold of yourself! You should be telling us where they appeared from and how many there are!”

“Outside……go outside……quickly!”

The crown prince clicked his tongue. The man in front of him wasn’t in a state that allowed him to talk properly. The crown prince adjusted his mantle as he exited the tent. Margrave Rosenberg and Mercenary Captain Wallenstein followed after him. They went to the end of the hill and looked down.

“What are we supposed to be looking at…….”

They were surrounded by fog on all four sides. The fog slowly dissipated. Once the sunlight started to shine down on Austerlitz, the black foot of a monster stepped out from the fog. It was a hideous foot with exposed flesh. One foot soon became two feet and it didn’t take long before the number increased from a hundred to a thousand.

Thud, the earth trembled.

Eventually, the monsters completely stepped out from the fog. Numerous banners fluttered in the wind. The insignia that represented the Rank 8th Demon Lord was displayed on a large banner at the front. A single line was written in the ancient imperial language on a banner that had a crown of death drawn on it. Valkyries, march eternally―.

Eleven other banners fluttered behind it. They weren’t the banners of other Demon Lords. These flags represented the various groups of royal knights that once existed throughout the human nations. The Blue Horse Knights, the Red Eagle Knights, the Templars, the Golden Magi  Knights, the Silver Lily Knights, the Blood and Iron Knights, the Rhine Alliance Knights, the Freedom Alliance Knights, the Green Deer Knights, and the Helvetica Lion Knights. The insignias of these now fallen royal knight groups that once served the empire and the kingdom―were fluttering in the air.

These banners were the pride of Rank 8 Demon Lord Barbatos’ army.

They’ve always stood at the frontlines in every Crescent Alliance and went face to face against the strongest knights throughout the nation. Among the knights they had fought, they wiped out 11 groups and secured their banners. They even had the flag of an empire that had fallen 1,600 years ago. In other words, 2,000 years’ worth of history between the Demon Lord army and the human army was fluttering energetically in the fog.

A single zombie growled.

Here stands the invincible and immortal army.

A skeleton soldier responded with a wave of mana.

Here stand the Valkyries that march eternally.

5,000 undead monsters started to sing an anthem in an incredibly low tone like that of a pipe organ. It was a tone that dug deep into one’s skull. They have gone through 700 large and small battles, made 11 nations fall into ruin, and were seeking to increase that number from 11 to 12.

Here we stand with no way to die because we are dead. We do not know of retreat as we are undying.

Oh Lord, please give us your grace. Valhalla is here on the surface―.

“W-What is this!?”

Crown Prince Rudolf gasped. 5,000 monsters were climbing up the hill incredibly solemnly.

At first, the crown prince thought he was seeing things. The monsters managed to get really close to them without them noticing. How could something like this be possible? The foggy climate of Austerlitz causes a geographical problem of being unable to see the lowlands from the hills since they’re shrouded by the fog. Furthermore, the undead don’t make any noise apart from their footsteps. Therefore, by putting all of these factors together, the imperial army failed to notice the Demon Lord army’s approach until they were practically right under their noses.

The monsters remained solemn as if they were carrying out a funeral. The feeling of death seeped out from the corpses and reached all the way to the top of the hill. Who was this funeral procession for? Who are they holding this mass for?

“Now then, my dear morticians.”

Barbatos spread her arms out.

“Let us hold the Habsburg Empire’s funeral.”

The monsters let out a roar before they broke out into a sprint. They didn’t have to be silent anymore. Their surprise attack was a success as the human army was trembling in fear only 600 meters from them. It wasn’t only the normal soldiers that were panicking. Noncommissioned officers, commanders, generals, and even the crown prince, they were all in an uncontrollable state of panic.

“―The Undying Barbatos!”

Only Margrave Fritz von Rosenberg had the wits to grit his teeth and shout.

He immediately figured out Barbatos’ intentions. If they retreat here, then there was the risk of the entire imperial army being divided and conquered. The margrave turned to face the crown prince. He then shook his head. The crown prince was standing with his mouth slightly agape as if his soul had left his body. There was no way he could command the troops properly while in that state. The margrave had to step forward here.

“Realign the catapults and attack! Hurry!”

“H-Huh?”

The commanding officers standing around the margrave gave a dazed response. Margrave Rosenberg went against his usual behavior and used violence. He kicked an officer in the shin. The officer let out a cry as he fell over.

“Have your wits about you! The enemy is here, so we must defeat them. Did you not become soldiers of the Habsburg Empire for this purpose!? Answer me!”

“Y-Yes!”

“Captain Wallenstein!”

The margrave called out to the mercenary captain. Mercenary Captain Ferdinand von Wallenstein, who had been staring at the fog while in a daze, finally came back to his senses.

“Yes, Your Excellency Margrave. Did you call for me?”

“Currently, your troop of 20,000 mercenaries are the only soldiers of the main army that are present here. Do not let those monsters get through you. Do you understand? Defend our position with your lives.”

Mercenary Captain Wallenstein gave a salute. They were Habsburg’s greatest mercenaries that were hired specifically for a situation like this. Although the mercenary captain mainly followed his employer, the crown prince, he gladly received the margrave’s orders since he acknowledged the margrave’s skill.

“I will show you the greatness of Landsknecht. Your Excellency, we are the greatest on the continent.”

“You must endure for as long as possible. This will be the deciding factor for the battle! 10,000 of our troops were dispatched to breach the enemy’s right wing. The empire will be victorious if they manage to get through their right wing.”

“Understood.”

The mercenary captain couldn’t help but be in awe. He wasn’t being ordered to simply become a meat shield. He was given a proper strategic goal.

If they manage to defend this position long enough for their dispatched troops to penetrate the enemy’s right wing, then they will win. If their defenses collapse before the dispatched troops can penetrate the enemy’s right wing, then they will lose. Simply having a goal is more than enough to change the demeanor of commanding officers and soldiers.

“If necessary, my royal cavalry will assist you. Do you understand? We still have some reserved troops left. Focus purely on defending.”

“As you command!”

The mercenary captain responded strongly. 

The margrave wasn’t talking to the mercenary captain alone. There were other commanding officers around the two generals who were very obviously listening in on their conversation. He was talking to them as well. He assured everyone that they only had to endure for a certain amount of time. He assured them that this wasn’t a hopeless situation and that they could win if they play their cards right.

The commanding officers of the Habsburg Empire quickly shook away their panic. They ran off to their respective units and shouted the same words that Margrave Rosenberg had told them. The message went from commanding officers to noncommissioned officers to normal soldiers. 

“Fuck it! We can only die once!”

“Try coming at us, you bag of bones!”

The mercenaries gripped their spears and shouted. They weren’t just random mercenaries you could find in any town, they were elite fighters who had gone through countless battles under Wallenstein’s command. Their loyalty to their country simply changed to loyalty to their employer. No, to be more exact, it’s changed to loyalty to money.

The mercenary captain appropriately announced that ‘If we manage to successfully defend against the enemy’s attack, every soldier will be given 100 gold!’. It was a spontaneous announcement, but it worked. Different from other mercenary leaders, Ferdinand von Wallenstein has never failed to pay his men. If he promises to give 100 gold, then he’ll really give 100 gold. The mercenaries’ morale increased tenfold as they began to chant their anthem.

“Your Excellency! We apologize, but we cannot use the catapults.”

“Are you unable to get the right angle?”

The corners of the margrave’s mouth twisted. The enemy soldiers were too close. They couldn’t use the catapults at this range. Not unless they intend to squash their allies along with the enemies.

“We can still hold them off. Ready the royal cavalry at the rear.”

“Yes, Your Excellency!”

The liaison officer went around to report the situation to every unit.

The actually important news from the 10,000 imperial soldiers that went towards the Demon Lord army’s right wing hadn’t arrived yet. They were most likely engaged in battle now. If the margrave were to make a guess, the Demon Lord army’s right wing most likely has a military might of 20,000. Their allies have to hurry……. Margrave Rosenberg clenched his fists as he glared at the battlefront.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. I guess this would be the part where Barbatos kills Georg in the LN and captures the prince, but it’s really hard to tell with how different the stories are now. In any case, Merry Christmas everyone. I’m going to take Christmas off to rest, but I’ll try to get the next chapter out soon since it’s basically the finale of this long arc.

I’ll see you guys after Christmas.