Chapter 84
Some time earlier.
It was around the time the detachment Leo had sent plunged into the skeleton army and Leo and the others began charging toward Bassau.
At long last, Liese and the others had Bassau in sight in the distance.
"Monsters as far as the eye can see."
"But there are people making their way through them."
They could not tell from that distance.
Even so, Liese was certain: Leo was there.
As she rode, Liese closed her eyes.
Her younger brother, who had once gritted his teeth and held himself back, was true to what he believed. Even now, he was probably gritting his teeth and trying to do what was right.
Then there was only one thing she could do as his sister.
"We're going in too!"
"Yes!"
As Liese accelerated, a thousand horsemen followed.
They were neither adventurers nor knights. They were an elite cavalry regiment that had fought under Liese for many years.
There was no need for a speech to raise their morale now.
Every one of them was a soldier who had given his life to Liese; if she told them to go and die, they would.
"Regimental commander! We'll use it!"
"Understood!"
The regimental commander swiftly raised his right hand.
At that signal, a hundred men who had been in the rear came forward.
They held crossbows in their hands. However, these were no ordinary crossbows.
A circular cylinder was attached to the underside of each crossbow, with a small gem embedded in its center.
"The 'Prototype Rotary Magic Repeating Crossbows' are ready!"
"Good. Destroy those obstacles in front of me."
"Understood! Aim at the monsters straight ahead! You don't need to aim carefully! There are enemies everywhere! You'll hit something if you fire! Ready! Fire!"
At the regimental commander's order, the hundred soldiers pulled the triggers of their repeating crossbows.
The magic stored in the gems caused arrows to fire continuously as long as the triggers were held down.
The circular cylinders attached underneath rotated as they supplied arrows, enabling rapid fire.
Fired at an impossible speed, the arrows struck skeletons one after another, shattering their bodies.
Liese charged into the openings created by the attack.
"It's a fine weapon, but what happens after it fires all its bolts is a problem."
"That's the developers' job. All we can do is make requests."
Once the magic in the gem was depleted, the prototype rotary magic repeating crossbow could no longer be fired by hand and could only be used as a blunt weapon.
Liese had been conducting evaluation drills for the weapon in the rear alongside training the new recruits.
However, an unexpected opportunity to test it in actual combat had arisen.
"We'll report this and request that the cylinders be made replaceable. A disposable weapon is far too limited in its applications."
"Yes. And let's order weapons designed for fighting monsters as well."
"Excellent idea."
As they discussed this, Liese and the regimental commander each took up their weapons and carved a path forward.
The repeating crossbow had been designed for use against humans, so it was not especially effective against skeletons. Even when pierced, skeletons continued moving without feeling pain until their cores were destroyed, making them a poor match for the weapon.
"Hah... It's been a while."
Leading a small force of allies, she charged into the enemy.
She had done so countless times in the past, but now she hardly ever did. There were no suitable opponents, nor was she in a position to do so.
However, Liese felt fulfilled by the situation.
Feeling the enemy's hostility up close, she nevertheless pressed forward. She followed a narrow path to victory where even a momentary lapse in concentration was forbidden.
That's right, Liese said.
"This is the battlefield...!"
As she said this, Liese cut through the enemy horde with a smile that left a vivid impression.
To the regimental commander, who had served Liese for many years, the Liese before him now overlapped with the Liese of old—the woman who had rampaged across battlefields throughout the land and was feared by other nations as the Princess General.
She was no longer the Liese who, after the Crown Prince's death, had lost her vitality and focused solely on guarding the border.
This was the Liese of old, who shone on the battlefield.
"What are you doing, Commander? You're falling behind!"
"Yes! Right away!"
Called out by Liese, the regimental commander immediately followed her.
Then Liese and the others caught sight of Leo and his group.
■■■
"Sister...?!"
Seeing Leo's surprise, Liese gave a small smile.
She had thought Al had grown into an adult.
However, the Leo before her now was something more.
Leading an army from the front while fighting, he was truly a general, radiating a charisma that made those behind him want to fight for his sake.
His appearance resembled the young Crown Prince whom Liese had once sworn to support as a general.
"So it wasn't entirely empty boasting..."
We can surpass even our eldest brother if we're together.
Al had certainly said that. Looking at Leo now, it was clear that those words had not been mere bravado.
With flexible Al supporting straightforward Leo, she could almost believe it might be possible.
That must have been why. Even with the enemy before her, Liese murmured happily.
"Have you grown taller?"
"Huh? Ah... yes, a little."
"I see. That's good. Grow even taller."
Until then, I will protect you.
With that, Liese fixed her gaze on Balam, whose left arm had been severed.
While Leo and Liese were talking, Balam tried to attack several times. However, Liese's right arm reacted each time, and he was ultimately unable to attack.
"For a demon, you're remarkably human."
Liese looked at the left hand that was not regenerating and the red blood flowing from the wound.
A monster of a reasonably high rank should have been able to regenerate from a wound like that, but the demon before her did not regenerate.
From that, Liese arrived at one conclusion.
"Are you using a human as a vessel?"
"Perceptive, aren't you...? But what will that accomplish?"
"It means it's not too late yet."
"Who can say? Now that reinforcements have arrived, our playtime is over."
With that, Balam raised his remaining right hand high.
The tip of that hand began to glow black.
Drawn by the light, high-ranking undead monsters emerged from Bassau, including enormous skeletons nearly three meters tall and dragon zombies with rotting bodies.
"You'd better run."
Saying this, Balam turned transparent and disappeared from the spot.
Left behind, Liese and Leo were forced to make a decision.
"The difference in strength is simply too great."
"But if we retreat here, who knows when we'll have another chance to get this close to Bassau?"
"...You look as though you've already decided."
"I never intended to retreat in the first place. If a demon needs a vessel, then we have to strike now, while we're here. If we leave it alone, it will infiltrate human society."
"Do you have any guarantee that we can defeat it?"
"No. But retreating would be no different. No matter how large an army we bring, our opponent will continue making monsters appear again and again, just as it is now. This is both a crisis and an opportunity."
Seeing Leo state this so clearly, Liese smiled again.
Then she cut the enormous skeleton that came charging straight toward them in half.
"Then shall we go? Don't fall behind."
"Of course."
"Charge! Our objective is Bassau!"
"Keep moving!!"
Thus, Leo and Liese charged into Bassau together.
■■■
Some time after Leo and the others began their charge,
Linfia and Abel's group were gradually catching up with the vanguard.
However, the closer they came to Bassau, the stronger and fiercer the enemy's resistance became.
"Tch?!"
The number of monsters that even Abel and Linfia struggled against began to increase, and their advance was clearly slowing.
At this rate...
Just as anxiety began to take root in Linfia's heart,
a fireball launched by a dragon zombie landed beside her.
The impact sent Linfia flying and knocked her out of the vanguard.
"Guh..."
Linfia endured the pain and rose to her feet, using her sword as a cane.
She found that she had been blown right into the middle of the skeleton army.
The skeletons began slowly approaching her.
She tried to move somehow, but her body would not respond as she wanted.
In the midst of this, a flute slipped from her pocket.
It was the flute made from a Spirit Tree that the dwarf elder had given her some time ago.
There was nothing wrong with relying on someone. The old man's words came back to her. She also felt that she could not blow it in a place of certain death like this and call her allies.
But the thought that she could not die before finding her sister was stronger.
"I'll borrow this...!"
Linfia seized the flute and blew into it.
However, no sound came out.
No matter how many times she blew, there was no sound.
Had that old man given her a defective item?
It seemed possible, Linfia thought, and she sighed as she gently put the flute back in her pocket.
Yet the sound of that flute had certainly reached its destination.
Far, far away, in the heart of the Empire.
All the way to the Imperial Capital.
Regaining her composure and changing her mindset, Linfia managed to ready her magic sword and prepare to face the approaching skeletons when—
the skeletons beside Linfia were blown away in an instant.
"What?! What was that...?"
Linfia tensed, thinking it was another fireball from the dragon zombie, but the tension left her when she heard a voice behind her.
"Are you all right, lady adventurer from before?"
"...Why are you here...?"
"I heard there was a raid quest. I brought the others too."
At that moment.
A huge teleportation gate opened behind Linfia, and adventurers from the Imperial Capital branch charged into the skeleton army with shouts.
Hundreds of adventurers appeared and began defeating the skeletons in the surrounding area.
At the center of those adventurers,
the greatest of her rescuers spoke.
"If you can stand, follow me. It's time to make some money."
"Yes... Silver...!"
With that, Linfia followed the masked adventurer.