NOVEL NEXT Chapter 61: Overrunning the Imperial Capital
===A Certain Undead With Communication Disorder===
I ran at full speed toward the castle which stood in the middle of the imperial capital.
I didn't see anyone on the street. Were they evacuated?
「!!」
At that moment, numerous shadows popped out from the roofs of the houses on both sides of the street.
They were holding a mysterious weapon―though I heard from the conversation of the soldiers in the gate a while ago that it was apparently called 〝Gun〟―that could fire a lump of metal in their hand.
「STOP HIM! FIRE FIRE FIREEEEE!!」
Those lumps of metal that raining incessantly couldn't do sh*it to me.
「I-IT DOESN'T WORK! THE BULLETS CAN'T SCRATCH HIM…!」
「CAN WE REALLY NOT STOP HIM?!」
I ran past them when they were still in shock upon seeing that their gun didn't work on me.
Upon advancing further, now I saw a cavalry unit blocking the road in front of me.
「SPOTTED! NO LIFE KING APPROACHING AT A TERRIFYING SPEED!」
「DO NOT FALTER! SHOW THAT UNDEAD THAT HE CAN'T DO ANYTHING HE WANTS IN OUR CAPITAL! SHOW HIM THE PRIDE OF THE SOLDIERS OF THE EMPIRE, AND STOP HIM!!」
「「「OOOOOOOOOOOH!」」」
Although they raised a spirited warcry as they lifted their spears, it was not like I needed to deal with every single one of them.
So I kicked the ground and jumped over their heads.
「What the…?」
「H-H-HE JUMPEEEEEEED?!」
…And I continued running toward the castle as soon as I landed, leaving them behind in their own shock.
And then, I arrived right in front of the castle.
And yet, what was waiting for me was an extremely spacious garden, filled with thousands of troops on standby, ready to intercept me.
Lining up in front of that army was a mysterious weapon.
Judging form its shape, it seemed to be similar weapon with the one called 〝Gun〟.
But it was many times bigger than 〝Gun〟, so big that it needed few people to carry it.
「WE'RE THE LAST LINE OF DEFENSE, DON'T LET THIS FILTHY MONSTER GO INSIDE THE HOLY PALACE OF OUR HOLY EMPRESS! WE MUST STOP HIM AT ALL COSTS!」
「G-GENERAL… YOU SAW WITH YOUR OWN EYES HOW HE SURVIVED THE FULL POWERED BLAST FROM MAGIC CANON! Do you really think that some mere cannon… is enough to stop him?」
「DO NOT FALTER! FAILURE IS WITHIN CONSIDERATION WHEN WE TEST FIRED THE MAGIC CANNON! IT WAS JUST THE MISTAKE OF THE ONE WHO TOOK AIM WHICH RESULTING IN MISFIRE!」
「I see…」
「WE'RE THE ONES WHO WILL TAKE DOWN THE NO LIFE KING―! ALL HANDS, FIREEEEEEEEEEEE!」
The moment after the man who looked like the commander of the army shouted…
Lumps of metal around twenty centimeters in size were fired in my direction.
DODODODODODODO!!
Those big lumps of metal hit me from the front.
「「「Did we beat him?!」」」
Nope, you failed, you know?
And those lumps of iron were far from enough to injure me.
Although the impact was more than what I expected, I braced my leg and only pushed back a little.
Well, it wasn't a big deal compared with the giant beam of light from before.
「T-The cannon is…」
「Just now, he definitely… got hit by the cannon bullet, right?」
「L-LOAD THE NEXT BULLET―」
「WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME! SEND THAT UNIT!!」
ZUNZUNZUNZUN!
Just when I wondered what they were going to do next, I felt a small tremor along with that heavy sound on the ground. And then, the army was split to the sides.
「What's that?」
The thing that appeared from behind the army was a giant, human-shaped lump of metal over three meters tall.
The thing held in its two hands was a giant sword which looked like it could easily bisect a horse.
Was that a… golem?
Or… living armor?
But upon closer inspection, I saw that there was a human boarded inside that lump of metal.
「MAGUS SOLDIER UNIT, CHARGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!」
Thirty human-shaped lumps of metal charged toward me at breakneck speed.
「Out… of my way!」
I ran straight toward them.
And crashed agaisnt one right from the front.
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!!
「「「THE MAGUS SOLDIERS WERE BLOWN AWAAAAAAAAAAAY?!」」」
The giant was blown away, fluttering in the air for a while and crash-landing amidst its own.
Moreover, another one got sent flying when I crashed to it… and then the next one… and the next one.
「「「HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII?!」」」
When I came to my senses again, I saw that the army had already lost their fighting spirit, falling on their knees as I passed them.
After I passed through the path that was opened by the giant, human-shaped lumps of metal that I sent flying a while ago, I finally arrived in front of a giant door.
But then, I crashed into something when I ran toward the door.
「…?」
Although I couldn't see what kind of thing crashed against me just now, it might be positioned in a way that prevented me from seeing it.
It might be some sort of barrier.
「T-THAT BARRIER WON'T BE DESTROYED THAT EASILY! YOU WILL NEVER STEP FOOT INTO THE HOLY CASTLE!! ALL UNITS FIREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!」
「「「OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!」」」
The commander yelled desperately to regain the morale of his army.
His figure remind me of an ogre who was prepared to do their last suicide attack.
「ORAAAA!」
CRAAAAAAAAACK!
The barrier cracked way too easily with a single punch of mine.
「「「WUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT?!」」」
I sent a glance over my shoulder toward the army. They looked at me with eyes wide and jaws hanging loose as if they were about to fall on the ground. I kicked the door open.
Thus, I entered the castle without a hitch.
◇◇◇
===???===
「The castle gate had already breached!」
「WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!」
The Empress shouted repeatedly upon hearing the latest report from the messenger.
But one might say that this was the beginning of another nightmare.
Bad news was coming one after another.
「H-He broke through the first barrier! He's heading straight toward this castle!」
「No Life King is currently passing through Almei Street!」
「The second army has failed to stop him!」
「He's passing through Medelier Streeeeeeeeeeet!」
「T-The third army… has failed!」
「AAAAAAAAAAH! WHY CAN'T YOU GUYS STOP A MERE UNDEAD?! HE'S JUST BY HIMSELF RIGHT?!」
As expected, even the elegant Empress finally snapped after hearing successive bad news like that.
「H-He entered the garden of the royal castle!」
Before they realized it, the great disaster was already right in front of their door.
「M-MAGUS SOLDIER UNIT! DEPLOY ALL OF THEEEEEEEEEEEEM!」
As if clinging to the last beacon of hope, she ordered the deployment of the Empire's prided magus soldiers.
Magus soldiers were human-shaped weapons which allowed a human to go inside to control it from the inside. Along with the magic cannon, it was the Empire's trump card.
One of those magus soldiers had combat power comparable to that of a dragon.
Although their numbers were limited since they were still in the testing phase, there was a plan to mass-produce them in the future.
「Y-Yes, we'll prepare it immediately!」
And then, another messenger came in.
「T-The magus soldier unit was… annihilated! Moreover… the barrier that protected the castle got destroyed too! The target already infiltrated the castle!!!!!!!!!!!」
The Empress staggered back upon hearing the nightmarish news, collapsing right on her throne.
「L-Lies… a mere undead… did this… to our empire…」
The Empress started muttering something like a broken doll with quivered lips.
But she snapped out of it immediately.
「I-If I escape now… I-I might be able to make it out alive… and as long as I'm alive… the Empire… the Empire… won't fall…」
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
「~??!」
With a thunderous sound, the floor of the throne room suddenly exploded .
And then, a white-haired, red-eyed young man appeared from the scattered debris.
「HIIIII…」
His features were exactly the same as the report.
The great disaster-class undead appeared right in front of the Empress.
「N-N-N-N-NO LIFE KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING?!」
The Empress' scream resounded in the throne room.