Chapter 74

A Banquet for the Spirits of the Departed — Part 2

"Keep the formation intact!" Gamdia Roston roared an order to his subordinates as he kept his eye on the situation . "Don't let a single one of the undead slip by!!"

"Sir! Yes sir!" The men that served under him reciprocated with equally vigorous shouts of their own . Each voice contained such a strong force of will that, combined, they almost came off as indomitable .

The soldiers-cum-guards were gathered in front of the governor's manor and positioned such that their ranks came together to form a phalanx . Every last man and boy bore a greatshield with which they weathered the relentless undead assault . They remained almost entirely on the defensive, but their actions weren't in vain . Their allies, the town's mages and adventurers, worked to suppress the undead by rendering them incapable of any further movement as the guards continued to hold the line .

Adventurers and guards often failed to see eye to eye . The former group was a lot rougher around the edges, and thus, they were often apprehended and remonstrated by the city's soldiers . Yet, they stood united and fought as one . Together, those with power worked to protect the evacuees that lacked it . Because they knew . They knew that there was little point to the strength that they worked so hard to obtain should they not use it to protect the city they called home . And thus, they endeavoured to eliminate the undead threat .

In command of the united forces was none other than Gamdia himself . Gamdia was a new face; he had only recently come to Alfyro . Many possessed far more knowledge of the city and its problems, but it was he that was appointed captain of the city's guards . Many of his newfound subordinates began to doubt the city's management, which had always been known for its love of meritocracy . However, he soon won them over by proving that he was not only honest and straightforward, but also skilled enough to justify his rank . His instructions were precise and the man himself was more than just a force to be reckoned with . In fact, he found himself acknowledged by not only the guards, but the rest of Alfyro's citizens as well .

While Gamdia drew a lot of attention, he wasn't the only notable fighter than had joined the fray . The city's governor, Raylow Lurubia, had done exactly the same . His subordinates had desperately pleaded for him to retreat, but Raylow had ignored them and joined the ranks of the adventurers and soldiers fighting off the zombie hoard . He too was a part of the task force defending the shelter to which the citizens evacuated: his manor .

"Master Gamdia, how are we faring?" Raylow turned towards the commander as he felled yet another zombie .

"The undead offensive is gradually growing weaker . We should soon regain full control of the area . "

"Great . We should head towards the center of the city as the evacuation comes to a close . It looks to be in trouble . "

"…Are you sure you wish to join us?"

"Of course . I'm no stranger to the battlefield . I may no longer be much more than an ancient sack of bones, but even so, I can still wield a blade if my citizens' lives are on the line," said Raylow . "Besides…"

"Besides?"

"The whole scenario has me seething in anger, and I've a need to vent it . "

Raylow's remark caused Gamdia to grin . But as he had duties to attend to, the captain had no more time to converse . He bowed to excuse himself and immediately got back to issuing orders .

Likewise, the governor returned to aiding in the evacuation as he worked his mind and considered the scenario at hand . While the undead often sought out and attacked the living, they didn't tend to spawn in large numbers in areas that humans inhabited . The amount of positive life force in the aforementioned areas was far too strong for them to naturally rise en masse . It was far more likely than not that the scenario at hand was artificial, that it had arisen from some sort of sinister plot or conspiracy .

And it was probably one thought up by an individual affiliated with the kingdom .

One key piece of information that Raylow had withheld from the young hero that had visited his manor was that Alfyro was a city that was well detested by its peers . Many of the nobles with longer lines labeled Raylow, who'd earned his nobility through his performance on the battlefield, as an upstart . They were quick to criticize him and often ostracized him from their circles .

The city's success only made matters worse . Alfyro lay far from the capital, so far that many thought of it as a hicktown in the borderlands . All sorts of creatures nested near its boundaries, many of which were extremely powerful . The constant, looming threat led to a natural increase in the quality of Alfyro's combatants . Both its adventurers and soldiers grew more powerful than those that resided in other lands . Dispatching these high quality troops in times of need had brought Raylow countless achievements, achievements that left his peers green with envy . Yet, this was only another layer in the cake .

The icing was the incident . The expedition . Unlike many of the other nobles, Raylow had been opposed to it from the start . Those that disagreed with him had sent their troops to the Wicked Forest, only to have every last bit of their investment completely obliterated while Alfyro's forces remained perfectly intact .

Whoever organised the attack had all the potential motives in the world .

Of course, the other nobles weren't the only threats . The demon lord was present as well, but the governor highly doubted that the undead had risen due to his actions . He wasn't the type to bother conspiring in such a roundabout manner . Raylow imagined that, if the demon lord were to strike, then he would employ nothing but sheer violence . All he needed to do to burn Alfyro to the ground, should he desire it, was to go on a rampage .

Moreover, the incidents that plagued the city had began prior to the demon lord's arrival . While he had no proof, Raylow was almost certain that the many mysterious cases were somehow connected to the undead assault .

"…Fine . " Alfyro's lord muttered under his breath . "I too am a noble, albeit one of little importance . If you wish to challenge me, then I will not refuse . "

After confirming his resolve, Raylow took a deep breath and began to speak .

"Listen up, men! This is only one of the many crises that this city of ours has faced . " Raylow spoke in a loud voice that stemmed from deep within his core . It was heard not only by the soldiers and adventurers engaged in battle, but also the evacuees in the midst of seeking refuge . "We've been plagued with infamous bandits and attacked by armies of monsters! Yet, Alfyro has never once fallen! We have always succeeded in driving off those that wish to destroy us . And today is no different! Alfyro, our city, our home, shall not fall! Let us ready our arms, raise our voices, and purge our homes of the dead!"

Morale rose . Alfyro's warriors cheered the moment the governor's speech came to an end . Together, their voices formed a thunderous roar so loud that it shook the earth beneath them .

Seeing the way his city's bravest reacted caused a slight but undeniably proud smile to form on Raylow's face .

***

"Wow… This is looking preeeeetty bad . " I frowned as I looked down on the city from the sky above it .

It had pretty much descended into a state of utter chaos . Zombies like the one that Lefi and I had run into were appearing all over the town and attacking any humans unfortunate enough to cross their paths .

So many things were ablaze that the scene was almost as bright as it would be in the day .

The city was in the midst of a veritable zombie outbreak . Back on Earth, I had quite the liking for zombie movies . But the only reason I had been able to enjoy them was because they were works of fiction . Stories . False realities . Seeing the real thing didn't invoke the excitement or interest that movies endeavoured to inspire in their viewers . Rather, the only emotion I felt was pure revulsion . Ew . That guy's got his guts hanging out . That's super gross . Please, stop .

Of course, it went without saying that the humans resisted . They didn't just sit around and let themselves get wiped off the map . Armed groups that I assumed to be parties of adventurers fought back against the undead plague . My birds eye view led me to realize that the combatants were in fact quite numerous .

More importantly, they seemed to know what to do . Their actions were planned and methodical . They disabled them by cutting off their limbs before making them drink some sort of liquid . The strange fluid caused the undead to spasm as it entered them before eventually rendering them still . Yeah, I figured adventurers would probably be good at stuff like this .

Given the speed at which the undead were being exterminated, it seemed that the situation would soon resolve itself . And that was exactly what left me so confused . I don't get it . Why would the wire-puller do something like this? What's their goal?

According to Lefi, the disaster at hand was man-made, something caused by a necromancer . In other words, someone had intentionally attacked the city . But the way they did it could only be described as half assed .

The zombies seemed more like a distraction than anything . As an avid consumer of real time strategy games, I felt as if the current scenario was somewhat familiar . It's almost like he's setting up for a second wave, like he only sent this first wave to paralyze the chain of command so he could expose an opening and use it to take control of the city . But that can't be right . This would be the perfect time for him to send in his second wave . But it's not coming . I can't see anything nearby, even from all the way up here .

Though he had caused the city to descend into a state of anarchy, the man responsible for this incident simply wasn't following up . Does that mean that this is all just so he can buy time? But what for? What kind of crazy bullshit would need this large a distraction?

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't get a clear picture of the whole story . I knew that I would be able to end the incident with ease if I managed to find the son of a bitch responsible for it, but he wasn't showing up on my map . I couldn't detect him with my Enemy Search skill either . Wait a second . Why the hell am I being so narrow minded?

I had assumed that the person responsible would be within the city . After all, it was only human nature to be curious about the results of one's actions . However, further thought and observation led me to realize that the man wasn't giving the zombies direct orders; he hadn't assumed full manual control . Moreover, the fact that he didn't plan on following up his initial attack with a second wave meant that he didn't have to be lurking within the city's bounds—he didn't have to open any gates while someone wasn't watching . Given the lack of constraints, it made much more sense for the perpetrator to be somewhere outside the city, somewhere he could overlook the chaos while staying out of danger .

Realizing that, I directed my gaze outside the city's walls and began to scan for him . There's the little snake!

My eyesight, which was top tier given the fact that my body was a demon lord's, allowed me to spot the man not too far outside the city . He was situated atop a random nearby hill . To any other onlooker, the hill would've seemed like exactly that . The man was using a skill or spell similar to Stealth .

However, I was different . My Magic Eye allowed me to spot a human-shaped form with mana flowing through it; I could see right through his petty little trick with minimal effort .

I was by no means obligated to help the city or its residents .

But I was pissed .

The bastard had ruined my vacation . He'd taken the time that I was supposed to enjoy with Lefi and totally fucked it up . And there was no way I was letting him get away without a little "reimbursement . "

My reasons were nothing short of selfish, but that was just what it meant to be a demon lord . You brought this upon yourself you son of a bitch . You really should've waited until I was gone before you put your retarded little conspiracy into action .

I poised