Ouroboros Record ~Circus of Oubeniel~

"So you’re saying, now that we have stepped into enemy territories, you don’t want to get tripped over by a brat forced onto us by the Federation?"

He affirmed with a bitter smile as the staff officer said sarcastically.

"I'm fine with that understanding."

The effectiveness of the new weapon the academy had brought in was highly questionable. Not something to have high hopes of. The priority was to retreat and let the soldiers rest.

What's more, they have almost completely destroyed the enemy's forces in today's battle. They could surely defeat the enemy army by tomorrow. It would be troublesome if the enemy were to get away and retreat back into Volden city, but in that case, they could take over other bases in the west and finish their re-supply before surrounding the capital city. If they continue fighting today, their losses would be greater than their gains. The other side was the party that wanted to have a decisive battle here. Bauer had no issues with traversing to the other side of the basin to the western part of the province to secure more food supplies. Hence, it was best to only let those who wanted to fight, fight while conserving the remaining troops for future battles.

Convincing himself of such logic, Bauer was about to give the go-ahead of the plan.

"Soon, the thing will be used! The rest of the troops will retreat while the enemies are confused—"

That's when it happened.

—Plop.

Bauer's body fell from his horse after being struck on the chest from behind.

The man who had not given in to the cold in the mountains, nor to hunger, fell to the ground with a thud.

"General!"

His staff dismounted immediately to help the general up.

Simultaneously, panic erupted among them.

"Guh, ugh...... what is this.....?"

Every time Bauer opened and closed his mouth in the arms of his men, blood bubbled to the edges of his lips.

From his chest, a single arrowhead extended. The arrowhead glowed ominously in the moonlight.

He was shot from behind with a bow.

"Enemy, important person, strike! I, bow, strike!"

At the sound of the girl's voice, which was so weird and unintelligent, the officers in the general's entourage stared in repulsion.

"W-Who are you?"

"Who the hell are you?"

A scene from nightmares appeared before them.

Standing on top of a small hill on the east side of the basin was an odd-looking girl with a large bow and tattoos all over her body. The person who shot General Bauer had a big smile plastered on her face.

Surrounding her was an army of the unholy.

A soldier whose entire body has been turned white.

A decomposing corpse walking around, dripping in filth.

Mummies with red light in their eye sockets with dried out flesh.

Black wolves. Giant bats. Centipedes larger than a man. And other horrible animals.

All sorts of undead and monsters were emerging from the rear of the St. Gallen army as night fell.

The girl with a strange appearance being served by an army of the dead chanted.

"Flames! Flares! Rise! —Ignis Fatas!"

Instantly, evil flames swallowed a dozen or more soldiers near the main camp.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

"Pain! Cold! Even though they’re flames......?"

"......enemy attack! Monsters have appeared!"

"Not the time for war! Intercept them!"

"Get the priest! Heal the general!"

The battlefield was suddenly thrown into chaos. General Bauer, who could have prevented the chaos from deepening, had been shot through by a sharpshooter, leaving him in a helpless position.

The St. Gallen army had expected the battle to pause at night. However, they were now forced to fight against a new enemy that appeared at nightfall.

The enemies they faced were monsters. An irreconcilable enemy common to all human species.

Of course, the monsters weren't only targeting the St. Gallen army.

"Hahahahahahahaha! Lots! Many! Corpses, lots and lots! All, become, comrades! ...... Necromancy Contract!"

The corpses of the dead of both armies were laid on the battlefield. The girl licked her chops at the sight and activated unholy magic. The tattoos all over her body glowed brightly.

The dark magic released from her body turned into a beam of dark purple light that diffused into multiple threads. It attached itself to the corpses, into the flesh of the dead, and forced them into blasphemous contracts.

The result being.

"AAAAAAHHHH......""

"UGRRRRRRRR......""

Countless corpses, regardless of them being from Arquell or St. Gallen, rose up as zombies.

As the horrifying scene unfolded, the Kingdom of Arquell, which had been unable to comprehend the situation due to the distance and darkness, only came to realise the abnormality now.

"Haah haah, what's this...... am I dreaming......?"

The Arquellian soldier couldn't believe what he was witnessing and let out a dry laugh.

He was immediately made to accept the reality.

"AAARRRGGG.......!!!"

"Giiyaaaaahhhh!!!?"

The unmistakable pain caused by the bite of the zombie's teeth on his shoulder.

"Aaah! Aaaaahhh! Get off me, get off me!"

The soldier was lifted into the air solely by the force of the zombie's jaws. He resisted for a while, flapping his legs.

"Ahh! Ahhhhh ......AH......? ARRGG......?"

Eventually, his life expired, his face, and his skin, quickly became one of the rotting, moving corpses.

This was the reason why the undead are the most hated of all monsters. They spreaded and proliferated like a plague.

This was a battlefield, after all. While there were ten thousand living soldiers, there were another ten thousand corpses around. That was plenty of material for the undead.

※ ※ ※

"Tch! ......Hey, maid! Can you hear me, maid!"

Elisha was roaming around on the frontline with her favourite mount, stomping on the dead that were getting in the way while shouting to the device she was holding. It was connected to Uni who was stuck in the headquarters.

Soon after, Elisha received a response.

"I hear you, Miss Knight. Several lines have already reported the situation."

In the middle of the war, monsters appeared and converted the corpses into moving zombies. In spite of this, the emotionless maid responded flatly.

"Well, then we can make this quick. So, what does Sir Tullius plan to do now!"

She swung her sword at the undead that hobbled over as she said.

Although she felt somewhat spooked at the calmness of the other person on the line, she decided to first confirm the general’s intentions.

"Please wait a moment....... Yes, yes. ...... As you wish...... Okay, here are the instructions from master."

There was some exchange at the headquarters, and Uni resumed her conversation with Elisha after a short while.

"I would like to request that the Knights of the Imperial Guards continue working with Due Schwarzer to assist in the evacuation of the troops. After that, please prioritise defeating the monsters."

"I suppose. With this many monsters, we definitely cannot have a proper war....... Oh, damn it! Don’t cling to me, damn zombie!"

She clicked her tongue while kicking a zombie's head with her armoured leg.

"We have conveyed our wish to St. Gallen to have a ceasefire and focus on defeating the monsters. Then, we shall leave the frontlines to you……Over."

"I see. That is for the best…! What? …Over!"

She kicked a zombie that had tried to grab her arm while replying.

She was satisfied that Tullius did not have any delusions of continuing the war at this point. The monster they were facing could manipulate this many corpses and was causing chaos in the St. Gallen army. It would not be an easy opponent to deal with if they had to be cautious against St. Gallen at the same time. For the time being, she was grateful just to be able to reduce the enemies they had to face from two to one.

"Al! We'll support our allies in their retreat and fight against the monsters! Leave St. Gallen alone, we don't have time for them! Good? ...... Do you hear me?"

"Y-yes. Commander......!"

Her subordinate had been uncomfortably quiet since a while ago, but when she called out to him strongly, his voice came back in a whisper. It seemed he had not died in the chaotic melee. His delayed reaction might have been due to the continuous fighting or the unexpected surprise of monsters appearing.

The other knights were also doing their best to wield their weapons against the hordes of zombies. The enemy might be the lowest ranking undeads, but they were numerous. This was possible due to all the corpses on the battlefield. Considering their fatigue from battling St. Gallen, it was probably inevitable to have taken a toll on their spirits.

"......Where is Due Schwarzer—"

Elisha craned his neck to look for the man who she was to collaborate with.

Not long after, she found the person.

"Take that!!!!!!!!!!"

The two-handed swordsman still seemed to have the strength to swing his sword while shouting, even though he had fought as hard as they had. While feeling both relieved and somewhat apprehensive at the same time, she got to a distance where she could call out to him.