171 Needs extreme measures (1/2)
Approaching the battlefield, she finally witnessed the undead of this plane for the first time. They were mainly reanimated corpses, as most skeletons still had some rotten flesh on them if they were not categorized as zombies altogether. Because of this, they were getting completely annihilated by the very strong demons. If in reality, an angry orc could already pummel a human easily, what to say when it was even more unfair.
Wondering if this was a joke, as it was hardly a challenge, she saw the living creatures beginning to methodically tear apart the fallen corpses on the ground. Not even a single finger was spared, all smashed into dust by heavy hammers. In short, the hundreds of undead did not even make a victim before disappearing from this plane.
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But the expected faces of relief or even satisfaction could hardly be seen, as everyone that survived was worried. Looking at the thousands of demons dispersed in small groups under her, she found it weird to attack these massive forces with just those undead. After clearing the place of all the undead bodies, the army began to march once more.
Feeling a bit curious, she followed it, before noticing more and more of those groups on the horizon. Some were fighting the living dead while others were not impeded by anything. With just a glance, she could see it was in a scale close to a complete war, as the number of demons was easily bigger than the one inside any of the fortified position she saw previously.
”FASTER! FASTER! WE NEED TO GET THERE FASTER!” Here and there, she could hear the loud shouts of the officers, pressing the troops to accelerate. However, the farther they went, the more present some random undead were. Sometimes it was a small group of ten, sometimes it was the same size as the first batch she saw.
But every time they appeared, the progression of the demons were delayed, as they couldn't let any of them still moving. And even if they were strong, the demons did not possess infinite stamina and she could see some fighters already beginning to breathe heavily. This kept going for nearly an hour, before they all reached a small hill, with many fortifications on them.
The moments the earliest group saw this and the warriors within began to smile, their hope was completely crushed. ”They are not here. They are all gone.” One of those ratmen informed the officer in charge, that immediately threw his helmet to the ground, in a fit of rage. Picking it up afterward and cleaning up the dirt on it, he looked toward his target, only to see smoke leaking from it.
”Look at the smoke, they were here not long ago. We can still catch them, I don't believe they will escape us forever.” Questioned like that, the scout could only sigh before telling them the hard truth. ”It had been already 20 minutes since the last human escaped. We can't catch them.”
”THE UNDEAD! IT'S THAT UNDEAD AGAIN! ARGH!” Seeing their commandant cursing again, they could only dodge quickly when he suddenly kicked a stone on the ground. By sheer luck, it had a perfect angle as it hit one of the undead standing between them and the hidden town. Even after seeing the destroyed skull of the skeleton, the demon did not feel joy but only even more hatred.
”Retreat. Once more, we are retreating. Yeah, yeah, I know. I remember what happened last time when we chased them. Count everyone and if we are lucky, maybe no one died in those last three days.” Dejected, the commandant seemed to be lifeless as he walked back without any vigor. As for the ones surrounding him, they were not feeling any better, just that they didn't show it as obviously as their superior.
The good news for that was still the fact that they hadn't lost anyone. There were many injuries, but none of them were lethal. However, just to prove that they hadn't come here for anything, everyone was free to enter that village and tear it apart as they wished. It led to a complete mess, but at least it uplifted the mood of the army. And that position will be useless for an unknown period of time, seeing it so devasted.
Compared to the joyful manifestation of the anger of the orcs, Leilade was more interested in the sneaky ratman that were moving in the shadows. Even in such a desolate place, with hardly anywhere to hide, they were capable with their small size and discreet outfit to walk unnoticed. And thanks to their difference with the regular ratman, they were able to speak properly.
”Why so many undead were present? The other human towns were supposed to be under pressure those last weeks. We were an hour away from it when we were spotted.” The two scouts that were talking had no idea that someone was listening right above them. Even when they looked around them, all they could see was some dumb skeletons far far away.
”It had already been years since we employed this tactic, of course, they will adapt. The problem is those undead, without them, we could crush the humans and finally have peace. No outbreaks in the capital, no resistance in the farms.”
”Everyone knows that. But now, we are beginning to be more and more useless. Our kin is the first one to fall, just to bring reliable information. But we don't have the same recognition as they do.” Hearing that, the other scout immediately watched around him, as those words were extremely grave. Even if he also felt resentment, it was not time to distrust their allies.
”Stop thinking that. The Demon Emperor himself regard us highly, even after our recent failure.” But even as he was saying that he did not seem completely convinced by his own words.
”Do you think he will change his mind? Knowing that even they failed?”
”I don't know. But that's not our job. We need to contact the ones that followed the humans to know where they are going. Maybe they will finally lead us to the One Reborn.” The two of them knew it would not happen. Not anymore. Seeing the two rodents running fast toward the humans, she accompanied them for a while. During that, she noticed their efforts to never be discovered by the roaming undead.