Chapter 26.1 - Flames of War Rage Everywhere Around Steinbeck Fief (Part 1) (1/2)
Over one hundred years ago when the former Suzerain Duke Andrew had degenerated, many cities and towns that had originally belonged to Steinbeck Fief had become independent, and their city lords had declared themselves kings. Adrian Empire had considered the cost of sending armed forces to suppress them too great, and the sacrifice found to be too profitless; thus, they never dispatched troops. They simply unilaterally declared the rebels Barbarian Races and didn’t recognize the legitimacy of their regimes.
The city lords, however, completely ignored Adrian Empire. They had remained independent for over a hundred years now and never once encountered an army that challenged them. They truly believed that it would continue like this perpetually. Until today. Unfortunately, it was not Adrian Empire’s army that had come to suppress them but rather a large army of undead.
“My God, those are undead! Quick, close the city gate!”
Upon seeing the undead legion approaching, the soldiers defending the city were alarmed and quickly pulled up the city gate’s drawbridge, attempting to impede the progress of undead. At the same time as the city gate closed, the soldiers manning the walls used bows and arrows to shoot, planning to stop the undead offensive. In Human Race, Mages were a rare profession and few in number. These independent cities didn’t have any magicians; moreover, the price of hiring a mage was colossal; therefore, among the defenders, the majority were warriors or archers, with one or two assassins mixed in.
However, those arrows could not pierce through the undeads’ armors, they only left behind thin white scratches. The Corpse Generals withstood the hail of arrows while charging the city gate. After they neared the city wall, the Corpse Generals leaped over ten meters, directly crossing the city wall and landing inside the city. The Corpse Generals’ jumping power was astonishing. The over ten-meter tall city wall was nothing before their wrath.
“These undead are strange. Quickly evacuate!”
“Retreat towards the inner city! We can’t guard this place.”
The defending soldiers’ frontline fell into chaos. The Corpse Generals brandished their claws to strike and kill. Armor was useless. After the humans were killed, they directly fell to the ground where their corpses rigidly lay for a while. After a bit, they turned into footman undead and followed the Corpse Generals to pursue and attack their once-allied soldiers.
The independent city quickly turned into a purgatory in the human world. Seas of flames spread everywhere, and dark smoke billowed all around. No one knew whether the commanding officer of the other side had a pit in his brain, but he actually thought of igniting the buildings inside the city to use a sea of flames to obstruct the undead army’s advance. But, this move was useless because it could only deal with low-level undead. With Corpse Generals, these kinds of existences that had cultivated for over a hundred years, this move was useless. No matter how high the firewall rose, the Corpse Generals could easily surmount them.
“Lord Clyde, everything is going according to your plans. Don’t worry.”
“En, if this goes well, then there shouldn’t be any problems.”
As the manipulator behind the scenes, Clyde stood on a distant hill with Andrisno, quietly watching the independent city. Beside them, a dozen or so Corpse Kings and that Corpse Emperor awaited orders. In the current battle, the Corpse Generals alone were enough to defeat the opposite side. These higher-level existences didn’t need to make a move; therefore, they just stood there, waiting for Clyde’s next command.