A flash of crimson-black light swept across the top of the city walls.
“…No way.”
The archer, his hair ruffled by the passing flash, looked nervously to his side… and saw what only seconds ago had been people, now scattered as corpses.
A ballista, glowing red-hot and spouting black flames. Ashes that were once bows. Bizarre, desiccated, and charred remains.
The pure, radiant barrier of protection had vanished in an instant.
The barrier that was supposed to ward off all evil had been shattered by evil magic. And by a single Named Monster, at that.
“This… this can’t be! That was…! The priests of the temple and the adventurers, they worked together to erect it…!!”
So much power. A crystallization of prayers. Unity. Justice.
All broken by a single spell.
A sound like the buzzing of insect wings could be heard, zaa, zaa.
Upon closer inspection, it was the sound of footsteps. Footsteps that were far too synchronized.
The undead were advancing in formation. Even while running, the timing of their steps was identical, a sickly synchronization as the army rushed forward.
They carried crude ladders made of assembled wood. And a battering ram, carried by several individuals, made of a huge log with an iron cap on its tip.
For a moment, the knights could do nothing but stare in stunned silence.
“F-Fire! Fire, fire, fire!!”
Whether it was a captain of some unit, or just a rank-and-file knight, it was no longer clear, but someone’s shout finally jolted everyone into a jerky start.
With a roar, the ballistae fired. Ten or so skeletons were blown apart, scattering into fragments of bone. But the others did not slow down. The black wave-like rush continued.
Arrows soaked in holy water rained down. The undead unlucky enough to be directly hit were purified, becoming mere corpses that would never rise again. But the others did not slow down. The black wave-like rush continued.
Soon, arrows began to fly up at the city walls.
The skeleton archers on the ground had begun to fire in an arc. Their perfectly coordinated volleys formed a single line of arrows that rained down. Knights who failed to take cover behind their pavises fell.
The entire city wall shook with a thud. The battering ram had struck the city gate.
The sturdy gate, designed to be dropped into a groove, was only slightly dented. But if this continued, it would be broken.
A concentrated attack began from the top of the city wall onto the undead holding the battering ram. Arrows were showered down, but skeletons holding large shields formed a roof to protect the ram’s operators.
Stones, pots filled with dirt, and anything else that could serve as a bludgeon were thrown down. Skeletons that were directly hit were shattered.
“Hey, who brought the boiling oil?! That won’t do anything to the undead!”
“No, wait! If that’s the case, pour it and set it on fire!”
Oil jars, and then ignited magical lighters, were thrown down, and several undead in front of the gate burst into flames.
A zombie, engulfed in flames, moved slowly, as if dancing, and released the battering ram. But another zombie immediately filled the gap.
Almost simultaneously with the battering ram’s second strike, several ladders were placed against the city walls. The moat around the outer wall was completely useless, as a path had been created by the lich’s ice magic.
Zombies and skeletons climbed the ladders. The knights drew their swords, knocking down those who climbed up while trying to topple the ladders.
But the undead were not fazed by a mere fall from a ladder. They immediately stood up and placed the ladders again.
“«Fireball!»”
“«Water Shot!»”
“«Holy Arrow!»”
Attack magic rained down, crushing the undead it hit. But there were simply too many.
“Mages, hold back on the attacks! Conserve your mana for healing and buffs!”
Close combat had already begun in various places on the city walls.
“Magnificent work, Princess.”
“It was nothing.”
Praised by Alistair, Renée stretched a little on her palanquin.
“It was their mistake to try and compete with me in terms of magical power.”
“Indeed.”
Renée’s magic had considerable output, but more than that, she was characterized by her vast amount of MP.
She was exceptionally strong in endurance battles, where both sides cast magic until one ran out of mana.
No matter how sacred a barrier was, it was simply a matter of breaking it by pouring in magic of the opposite attribute until the barrier used up all its energy.
“Well, for a while, we’ll leave it to the soldiers. …Ah, something’s burning in front of the gate.”
“It seems they’ve been doused in oil and set on fire.”
“Fire is a bit troublesome.”
As is often said, the undead are weak to fire. They take a fair amount of damage even from ordinary fire, not even magic. It would be a little troublesome if they continued to burn like this…
“I’ve got a great idea. …«Fly»”
“Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh….”
“Uwaaaaaaah!”
“Run awaaaaaaay!”
Suddenly, several burning zombies flew up to the top of the gate, and the area became a hellish scene of pandemonium.
The zombies flailed their arms randomly and charged towards the oil jars that had not yet been thrown.
“D-danger! Get away!”
It was unclear whether someone’s shout came first or not. Several oil jars exploded in a chain reaction.
“Oh, it’s burning, it’s burning. Ten servings of grilled zombies, coming right up. They’re very hot, so please let them cool before eating… Just kidding.”
Even from the distant palanquin, the pillar of fire was clearly visible.
Several knights, engulfed in flames, tumbled from the gate and were swarmed by zombies on the ground, their flesh devoured.
“Since we’re at it, let’s give it a little more push. For now, we need to get inside the city.
«Fly», «Fly», «Fly»… There.”
Undead were lifted by Renée’s magic and transported to the top of the castle walls.
Normally, «Fly» could only be used on oneself or someone nearby, but with Renée’s sheer magical power, anything was possible. Renée was casting magic on the undead in front of the castle walls from her palanquin at the very rear.
The force on the castle walls was further increased, and it seemed as though they would be overwhelmed in one fell swoop.
However, a gigantic shadow emerged from within the castle walls and swept away the undead on the castle walls as if brushing away dust.
“Oh?”
Massive wings beat powerfully.
White, fluffy feathers, sharp eyes and beak. The lower body of a horse covered in downy brown fur.
It was a hippogriff. And the rider on it was flying across the top of the city walls, swinging a lance.
More hippogriff riders appeared one after another.
“The knight order’s aerial cavalry has arrived.
…Alistair. Show them my aerial cavalry.”
“As you wish. …Skeleton Riders, sortie!”
The wind picked up, and the curtains of Renée’s palanquin were violently whipped about.
Four zombie hippogriffs, which had been waiting near the main camp, flapped their wings and soared.
Each was carrying three skeletons.
Three were from Duke Gerard’s territory, and one was forcibly requisitioned from a certain wealthy individual in Wesala.
The four hippogriffs left behind swirling winds instead of footprints, and flew off as if competing with each other.
The aerial cavalry, who had been showing off their unrivaled combat prowess against the undead on the castle walls, gained altitude and took a defensive posture.
Combat at low altitude is determined by the density of anti-air attacks. They were avoiding the attacks of the skeleton archers.
A dogfight, like raptors fighting over territory, began. Flying bodies crossed irregularly, soaring over the royal capital.
However, it was not hawks or falcons doing this, but huge hippogriffs. The weapons were not talons, but lances wielded by the riders.
There is a form of jousting where two knights on horseback circle a track and thrust at each other with lances, but in combat between aerial cavalry, something similar is done in actual battle. After all, hippogriffs are huge, and with ordinary swords, their own mount’s wings would get in the way and prevent them from reaching the enemy.
The side that loses this air superiority battle will be at a considerable disadvantage in the battle on the wall.
Castle walls are effective in combat because flight is a precious resource.
The most obvious means of flight is the «Fly» spell, but to transport someone other than oneself, one must (normally) get quite close to the castle walls. This means the defenders can simply shoot down the mage from the top of the walls. It is more effective to have the valuable mages provide magical bombardment and support the soldiers climbing the walls.
Next, there is the aerial cavalry, which goes above without question. Valuable and high-cost, they are a very powerful attack method in anti-wall and siege warfare. However, if they climb to an altitude where anti-air attacks cannot reach them, their attacks become limited to something as frustrating as throwing spears from above. If mages are properly positioned to provide anti-air defense, the damage is limited.
For the attacking side, the problem is how to break that stalemate.
Feathers flew about from the impact of the crossing.
A clash of lances is unlikely to decide the outcome. But a follow-up arrow strikes, and the knight order’s hippogriff lets out a shriek.
A skeleton archer riding behind the skeleton rider had fired an arrow.
The zombie hippogriff’s movements were nimble. After all, the rider was just bones.
The air superiority battle was almost even. The outnumbered zombie hippogriffs and skeleton riders, with the advantage of being undead, were fighting evenly against more than twice their number of aerial cavalry. Both sides were too busy dealing with enemies in the air to bother with the ground.
Meanwhile, the top of the city walls had already become a hellish scene of pandemonium.
This was because Renée was sending undead to the top of the walls one after another, casting «Fly» from her palanquin at the rear.
The knight order was in no position to provide aerial support, but because the battle had shifted to the skies above the city, it was also difficult for the skeleton archers outside the walls to provide supporting fire.
――If this stalemate in the air continues, I think we can win on the ground…
As Renée continued her undead delivery like an assembly line while watching the battle, one of the callers Alistair had lined up suddenly started blaring.
“From the east-southeast, a flying object resembling aerial cavalry is approaching. A stylized sun emblem on the side of the riding beast.”
“Eh?”
Renée leaned out of her throne and looked back to her left.
A tiny black shadow floated in the blue sky.
She picked up the nearby magic telescope and looked. In the lead was a wyvern adorned with tassels and armor. It was followed by several hippogriffs and some other large, unidentified birds (apparently a monster called a Vithofnir), each carrying one or two riders.
“The emblem of light representing life and prosperity… Is it Noacurio’s aerial cavalry?”
Alistair muttered.
Of the four major powers that backed the king’s younger brother and instigated the coup d’état, the closest to Ciel-Terra was the neighboring Kingdom of Noacurio.
Even if Noacurio were to send reinforcements, it would take several days for the ground forces to reach the royal capital.
But if they dispatched a small, specialized force… say, just an aerial cavalry unit… that would be a different story.
The silhouette, which had been the size of a sesame seed, grew rapidly, and soon the sharp, angular head of the wyvern was visible to the naked eye.
“They’re coming!”
“Skeleton archers, prepare to fire!”
A scorching wind blew through.
It happened in an instant, but to explain it step by step, a wyvern dove down at low altitude towards Renée’s main camp, and the skeleton archers fired arrows to intercept it, but they were shot down by a wind shield surrounding the wyvern. The wyvern strafed the ground with a flamethrower as it flew past, and then headed towards the skies above the royal capital.
Renée had erected a magical defense, but the wyvern cavalry, perhaps wary, avoided attacking the palanquin.
After it flew away, all that remained were the undead knocked down by the windstorm caused by the wyvern’s flight, and the burning zombies.
“A tandem with a mage, plus a flamethrower! They’re good.”
Renée healed the undead, who had rolled around on the snow to extinguish the flames, with her «Repair Corpse» spell.
That was probably just a greeting in passing. They prioritized joining the air superiority battle and did a hit-and-run.
“I wonder if that’s all the reinforcements?”
“I believe a unit based near the border rushed here. Depending on the situation, a second wave of aerial cavalry may arrive within a few hours, and ground forces within a few days.”
“…I’d like to settle this before the second wave arrives.”
She was planning to finish it today anyway, so the ground forces were fine, but it was worrisome that the enemy’s aerial cavalry might increase if they were slow.
Even without that, if Noacurio’s aerial cavalry joined, the air superiority battle would be pushed back in one fell swoop.
The targeted zombie hippogriff barely dodged the charge of the leading wyvern, but was hit directly by the flamethrower and engulfed in flames. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before it was shot down.
“I want that.”
Renée said, watching the wyvern cavalry rampage with a three-pronged attack of the rider’s spear, flamethrower, and the tandem mage’s magic.
“Shall I make arrangements to acquire it?”
“No.”
Stopping Alistair, Renée stood up from her throne.
She grabbed her hair and pulled off her head, and at the same time, her entire body regained the weight of flesh, and the red magic staff transformed into a cursed red blade.
It was her Dullahan form.
“I’ll go. You continue to command the invasion as planned and proceed with the operation.”
“As you wish. Good luck in battle.”