Humans generally tend to think of “night” as the time for monsters, especially the undead.
Many knights probably thought it was fortunate that the undead army didn’t come during the night.
But when they saw the ominous army marching under the morning sun, they began to question whether it was better to see them or not.
Corpses marching in step. Skeletons clad in armor. Dismembered ridden beasts. The initial report of approximately 4,000 was almost accurate. Several tattered flags bearing the crest of the Blood-soaked Rose thrust into the sky and fluttered.
The grotesque army approached with unwavering movements. A young knight, who was watching this through a magical telescope on the city wall, panicked and jumped to his death.
The undead army, arriving from the east, positioned its main force to blockade the eastern road. Then, detachments circled the Royal Capital, occupying all the western, southern, and northern roads. With this, any knightly orders from the various lords arriving later would first have to break through hundreds of undead just to enter the Royal Capital.
As an aside, Renée used magic to collapse a cliffside path along the eastern road.
Few soldiers arrived in the Royal Capital during the night. Only a small number of knights and peasant soldiers dispatched in advance from nearby territories managed to arrive in time. On the human side, the Royal Family’s direct First and Second Knight Orders were almost the only fighting force.
The Royal Palace Knight Order, composed of combat specialists, greatly surpassed the feudal lords’ forces, which included peasant soldiers, in terms of individual ability. However, against a vast undead army of 4,000, the impression of being outnumbered was undeniable.
They also hired adventurers and mercenaries who were in the Royal Capital by “beating them with bags of gold coins,” but for some reason, many adventurers were out of town, making it difficult to gather them. Furthermore, about 30% of them fled upon seeing the large undead army that had appeared. …Although, among those who didn’t flee, there were probably some who were simply slow to react and were surrounded, unable to escape even if they wanted to.
The city gates were firmly closed, and geometric lines of blue magical light ran along the city walls. The Royal Capital’s walls were equipped with mechanisms for defense against magical attacks.
Magic items that use magic stones and the land’s magical power as fuel to create a defensive barrier… No, magic structures. To break through this defense head-on, the attacking side would also need a vast amount of magical power.
There are no living humans outside the walls.
Only farmland buried in snow.
Driven away, perhaps by the pervasive evil presence, neither beasts nor birds show themselves now.
As soon as the army’s deployment was complete, the anomaly occurred.
“«Amplification Speaker» x-cross «Mirror Image Creation» x-cross «Refraction Manipulation» x-cross «Dark Sky». Assembled Spell… «Propaganda Vision»”
The sky darkened.
A cloudless, d-a-r-k b-l-u-e s-k-y. The area became dark, as if in the midst of a storm.
And then, screams rose from within the city.
A semi-transparent giant illusion was projected in the sky.
The grotesque figure of a skeleton of a girl wearing a dress, a giant towering over the people, looked down upon them.
It spoke with a voice like echoing thunder.
The innocent voice of a young girl was heard with a terrifying reverberation.
『People of the Royal Capital. And disloyal knights who serve the false king. Hear me. I am a descendant of the blood of Ciel-Terra’s rightful king, Elbert “Sage” Elk Ciel-Terra. Renée “Rosy as a Rose” Luvia Ciel-Terra. I have risen from the depths of death to judge your sins for killing King Elbert, his consort Rosalia, and myself. Celebrate my resurrection, prostrate yourselves before my glory. And after due time, atone for your sins with blood.』
Many people cowered, muttering words of prayer.
They were not begging Renée for forgiveness, but asking God for salvation. As if mocking the flustered state of these people, the giant illusion continued.
『However, I will give you an opportunity to repent. Pull the false king from his blood-stained throne and put him and his followers on the guillotine. If you do so, I will generously forgive you. The time remaining is not long. Do not think that I will wait forever.』
The voice then stopped, the illusion disappeared, and the sky began to return to its original brightness. But the voice continued to echo in the people’s ears.
“That’s good. Now we just wait about an hour before starting the attack. It’s just the right amount of time to wait for my magical power to recover.”
Under the tent set up at the main camp.
Renée was reveling in the feeling of terror rising from within the city, which was just barely within the range of her emotion sensing.
From the beginning, Renée didn’t expect the citizens, fearing her, to move to kill Hilbert.
It was important to make many people think, “There might have been a chance for reconciliation,” when they were actually attacked.
In extreme situations, people tend to think, “Can’t I save myself?” Stirring up such feelings leads to the next stage.
They must not be united. If they betray their neighbors, if they betray their comrades, if they betray the king… they might think that they alone can be saved.
“Those were magnificent words.”
The open tent, with only a windbreak-like wall, was prepared as a command post.
Next to it, Alistair was endlessly writing, using the empty space on a desk where a map and a caller were placed.
Just like in the Wesala annihilation battle, Alistair would be in the rear, commanding the entire operation once the battle began. But until then, he had another job.
Alistair is recording the movements of the prominent nobles in the coup d’état.
His intellect and memory are expected to deteriorate beyond recognition within a few days. He must output his memories from his lifetime before that happens.
Who was it that drove Renée to her death back then? …Alistair probably knows best.
For now, the Royal Capital is the priority attack target, but she has no intention of letting any of those involved get away unscathed. For that reason, she needs materials that tell her what the situation was like, who was thinking what, and what they were doing.
Incidentally, the speech earlier was prepared by him as a speechwriter while they were marching.
“Alistair. I have serious questions about the breadth of your talents. What is this draft B?”
Renée fluttered a rejected draft.
“The theme was ‘Innocence and Cruelty of a Child’,” Alistair replied. “Is this how I’m s-u-p-p-o-s-e-d to talk…? But I’m still rejecting it. Isn’t it over-the-top?” said Renée. “I apologize,” Alistair said.
Renée feels that draft B, which seems like it would have a lot of ‘☆’ flying around, is actually closer to her true self, even though she calls it over the top.
Renée was aware that she was playing the role of the “Vengeful Rose Princess.” The self as the princess who bears all the grudges of the country and the royal family. In reality, Renée’s revenge is personal, and she didn’t even know about her lineage until just before she was killed, but she thought that riding the narrative of the “Tragic Princess” would make her look better as an avenger.
The demeanor that exudes nobility was something she had acquired during her nearly month-long undercover investigation.
If she lets her guard down, her fluffy tone from when she lived as an ordinary commoner will come out, but she was trying to suppress it. After all, being feared is important, and self-branding is crucial.
—Even so. It’s a bit of a shame to lose Alistair’s brains. He seemed like just a scared, pathetic old man, so I didn’t expect much, but he’s quite capable as a military strategist. If I turn him into a ghoul, most of his memories and personality will disappear, but if I turn him into a ghoul now, will he become a smart ghoul?
He showed a mysterious level of competence as a speechwriter, but he was also excellent as a commander and military strategist.
The planning of this attack on the Royal Capital was about 3:7 between Renée and Alistair. Alistair fleshed out Renée’s general policy and corrected any flaws.
—I couldn’t have done this attack alone. …I need tools subordinates. Capable subordinates tools who won’t disobey me. Even the Demon Lord uses subordinates to fight heroes and destroy countries. The undead are convenient, but they also have a lot of troublesome aspects… I want to increase the number of my non-undead companions tools. This isn’t over with Ciel-Terra.
Renée’s revenge will not be limited to within Ciel-Terra.
She will also make the Four Great Nations, which caused the coup d’état in search of mineral resources, pay.
And ultimately, she wants to find and execute a way to defeat the so-called Great God.
She felt that it was impossible to do all of that alone. Even with the powerful cheat blessing given to her by the evil god.
Alistair, who is an ordinary person and trash (compared to Renée) in terms of combat power, is now a great help to Renée in her fight. He allowed Renée to reach places she couldn’t reach alone. There will surely be more of that in the future.
—Well, it seems like it will be difficult to find people who know my goals and still cooperate. Hmm… The evil god said something like “The Demon Lord’s army is in shambles,” so maybe I should poach some from the Demon Lord’s army…
Suddenly, Renée feels a chill rising from deep within her body, interrupting her future plans.
The Royal Capital was emitting a pale light. The light spread out radially, enveloping the entire Royal Capital like a dome and remaining in space.