Chapter 58: Undead army

"So, Ara, what can you tell me about the gray demon tribe?"

"You don't know about them? They are one of the more numerous and well-known tribes in the demon wasteland."

"I have heard a few things about them, but if we're going to get into a fight with them, I would like to have some more detailed information."

To be honest, the only reason I've even heard about them is that they get mentioned from time to time in books about necromancy. I always thought that I would never leave that one city I had been living in my whole life, so I was never interested in learning about the rest of the world. If I had known that one day I would go on a trip, running into trouble everywhere I go, I might have been a bit more interested in this stuff.

"And why do you think that I have that 'detailed information' you want?"

"You don't?"

"Of course I do! Who do you think I am?"

"..."

"The gray demons live in the southern region of the demon wasteland. Their territory borders the beastkin country, and they have been enemies for a long time since the main area where the gray demons are usually born is inside the forest that the beastkin consider their home."

Is that so... now that I think about it, that one gray demon I met before had used the spell 'zombify' on a beastkin, which means that she had killed him. I wonder if that was part of some battle that they had...

"For the most part, their warriors use dark magic and specialize in necromancy. Because of that, they invented a procedure to imprint a magic circuit into their bodies making them easier for their descendants to control after they die. All gray demons willingly perform the necessary rituals over the course of their life, and then their corpses are used for battle as well as manual labor."

"Oh! So they put effort to prepare themselves and then offer their bodies? And all of that knowing that they won't be alive to reap the benefits... that's very selfless of them."

"Yes, unlike most other races, they consider a person's body to be nothing more than a tool, a tool that they no longer have any use for after they die, so they don't care about what happens to it afterward. Thanks to that, they have access to an undead army that requires very little mana and effort to control. The best necromancer among them is called the 'high necromancer' and is in charge of controlling that army, the magic circuits on those bodies are attuned to the mana of that individual, allowing them to control thousands of soldiers at once with the use of 'corpse puppet'."

"I see, I heard the demons say that the current high necromancer could control ten thousand at once. That said... I've never tried controlling a large number of bodies at once, but is it really necessary to go to so much trouble with the magic circuits? Just controlling a few thousand the normal way does not seem all that difficult."

"It IS difficult. For people who are not you, it's probably impossible."

"Is that so?"

I know that I have been told many times that I need to lower my standards when it comes to other mages, but just how low do they need to be?

That said, I'm very interested in seeing those mana circuits Arana mentioned. After all, we're talking about the creation of a culture centered around necromancy, and necromancy is not something I could learn much about from books. I'm sure that I can improve my skills at least a little by learning from them.

"And how long do you think we have before she comes here?"

"If I have to guess, I'd say that two days. But don't worry, I'm sure that you can handle it easily by yourself, all of our lives are in your hands."

"It's not that I don't think I can do it, but I would prefer if you didn't pressure me like that..."

Just as Arana predicted, after two days the fairies that were on guard duty noticed the approach of a large army.

"We saw them approach from the southwest, there's so many of them that they cannot all come at once so they are divided into two groups."

"Alright, just leave this to me, I'll be back soon."

"Teacher! Are you sure that you don't need help?"

"Don't worry, I can deal with them alone. If you come with me all you'll do is put yourselves in danger for no reason."

"Even if you say that, I really don't want to miss this so I'm going with you. Don't worry, I'll make sure to watch from a safe distance."

So Arana is coming with me... well, if it's her I don't think that I need to worry, she can take care of herself.

...

From the top of a hill, I can see the enemy army.

'Mana sense'

As expected, they're all dead bodies animated with 'corpse puppet', but I had never seen that spell used at such a large scale, there's a group of around 5000 not far away and I can see another 5000 in the distance.

There's a female gray demon at the front that seems to be the only one alive among them, that must be the high necromancer controlling this army. I have to question the strategic decision of placing herself in front of her soldiers, considering that if she's defeated the entire army will fall apart... but maybe she just wants to be the center of attention.

That said, she feels familiar for some reason, but I cannot see her face from here.

"Li----- --u re---s, -ll o--y --ve y-- o-- ----ce t- su-----er."

When she sees the fairy village she begins to give them a speech, but she's too far away for anyone to hear her. I'm a lot closer and even I can't understand what she's saying... and I'm an elf, I'm supposed to have good hearing. I'll have to get closer to talk to her.

"Um, excuse me... wait, it's you!"

"What? Who is..."

She's the same one I met back then! I was not expecting this. From the impression that she gave me, she's not someone skilled enough to be considered a 'high necromancer' or anything similar.

It looks like she recognized me as well, she seemed so confident just a moment ago but now she's frozen in fear.

"It can't be... the queen of darkness!?"

"Oh! So you know who I am? My name is Luna, by the way, I didn't get your name last time."

"..."

"Hello? Could you tell me your name?"

"HAHAHA! I see! So that's why those fairies were able to defeat a demon lord and kidnap my little brother... it was all your doing! And since you defeated me once before, you think that it will be easy to do it again? But this time I have the invincible army of the gray demons with me! I will make you pay for the humiliation you put me through."

"Yeah, sure... I also wanted to ask you about the method used to create these soldiers."

"Fufufu, these are the result of the gray demons determination to stand above the other tribes. They all look down on us just because our average level is lower than..."

"No, I was only asking about..."

"...most demons, but our mastery of necromancy and willingness to offer our bodies after death has always allowed us to prove all of those foolish..."

Oh, no. She's going into a long speech just like last time, and since I'm the one who asked, interrupting her now would be far too rude...

"... that our ancestors had to endure for more than 300 years, but now I'll show to you and all the others that..."

"NOBODY CARES!!!"

"Eh?"

Arana just popped her head from behind a rock and yelled at her.

"Just shut up and start fighting already!"

Well, it's not that I don't care about the struggles of her tribe, but this girl has quite a talent to make anything she talks about sound excruciatingly boring.

Now I'm glad that Arana came along.

"Fine then! I'll grant you your wish! Now you'll see what it feels like to fight against overwhelming numbers."

As she says that, the undead army is already charging at me, then they all fall limply on the ground, just like regular corpses.

"... just... what?"

"Oh, I overrode your magic and released them from the control of corpse puppet."

"You... what?"

"You know, overriding magic, the thing that you can do against people with half or less of your rank in magic. This is the same thing I did the last time we met."

I don't know why she looks so surprised, this already happened once.

"But there were 5000 soldiers here! You knocked them all out in an instant!"

"Well, yeah, with a high enough rank, overriding magic does not take any effort at all, and 5000 times 0 is still 0."

That's the reason why mages with a rank of 5 or less are not considered good enough to take part in the battle, but to be fair, I was also not sure if I could get all of them until I did it.

Now she's looking really crestfallen.

"This can't be... the army of my tribe was..."

Uh... I feel sorry for her. After all the effort it must have taken to get that army ready and all the pride she felt, it was defeated in an instant. I also know what it's like to put a lot of effort into your work, so I can empathize with her.

"There was not even a fight..."

She looks rather pitiful. It would be one thing if the army had been defeated in battle, but to not even get the chance to fight makes it seems like it was all pointless. This almost feels like I'm bullying her.

"You know... I think that there's a limit to it, after all, I don't think that I'll be able to do the same to the other half of the army. I guess that I'll have to fight them normally."

"You... are you toying with me?"

"No! No! No! I'm telling the truth! It seems like you still have a chance to show me the might of the gray demons!"

To say that she has a complicated expression would be an understatement. Yeah... I know that my lie was not very good. Not to mention that even if it was true, I could just take her down right now since she's by herself and right in front of me.

The more she thinks about this, the worse she's going to feel. At times like these, it's better to do what I always do when everything is going wrong and just stop thinking.

forli