Then, dawn broke.
As Sylpha was helping me get ready, the tent flap opened and Albert appeared.
"Hey, Lloyd, are you awake?"
"Good morning, Albert-niisan. Is it time to head out already? It seems a bit early..."
"There's a meeting starting now. Originally, it was only supposed to be me, but I was told to bring you along as well, Lloyd."
"Me? Hmm, I wonder why...?"
"Well now, I wonder why indeed?"
Albert looked at me with a smirk. It was clear he had an idea, but I had no clue what it could be.
"You seriously don't know, Master Lloyd...?" Grimo muttered.
"It likely means you are being held in high esteem. It is a joyful thing," Sylpha added.
I didn't think I had done anything particularly worthy of praise. In any case, since I had been summoned, I couldn't exactly refuse. I followed Albert toward the tent where Shneider was waiting.
Among the many canopies lined up, we stepped into one that was exceptionally large.
"Albert, reporting in. Lloyd is with me as well."
"Excuse me," I said, following him.
As I entered behind Albert, I found several generals gathered around Shneider. They all turned to stare intently at us. The atmosphere was heavy, and the feeling of being out of place was overwhelming.
"Yo, you two did well to come!"
In the midst of the tension, Cruse was the only one who ignored the stifling air and called out to us. She was as much a person who went at her own pace as ever.
"Why is Master Lloyd here...?"
"Even though we are about to have an important meeting..."
The other generals stirred and murmured upon seeing me.
"You lot, be quiet for a moment," Cruse rebuked them. They all hurriedly shut their mouths.
Once it was quiet, Shneider spread a map out on the table.
"I will now announce the positions."
He began placing pieces on the map one after another. The Second Squad, led by Cruse, was positioned at the front of the gate. The First Squad, led by Shneider, was atop the gate. The Third and Fourth Squads were on either side of the gate. And in the rear, the Fifth Squad, led by Albert, was placed as the reserve.
"The monsters are heading straight for the Continental Gate. While the Second Squad maintains the front line, the First Squad will strike with long-range support. The Third and Fourth Squads will provide support while maintaining their strength."
"...Are you saying we are to stand by?"
"Our opponents are monsters; they will likely charge in without thinking. I don't see the point in remaining on standby..."
The captains of the Third and Fourth Squads protested, but Shneider continued without pause.
"I had scouts investigate, and the monsters are moving strangely. Clashing head-on carries a high risk."
"But I don't believe the Second Squad alone can hold back those numbers!"
"That's right! And since we have a gate, we should make more effective use of it!"
The two who had started to protest were silenced by Shneider's glare, unable to argue further.
"Kakkakka! Cautious as always, I see. Well, this Stampede is of a different scale. Even if we hunker down behind the gate, those things might use their comrades' corpses as stairs to climb over. ...Very well, let our Second Squad deal a massive preemptive blow to the monsters!"
"I'm counting on you," Shneider said with a small nod.
Though the two had entirely different personalities, I could feel a certain sense of trust between them.
"Big brother Shneider, what should we do?" Albert asked.
"The Fifth Squad will act as skirmishers. For convenience, you are on standby in the rear, but I will issue instructions as needed if anything happens. Lloyd, especially you—be prepared."
"I see, so that's why you called Lloyd."
"Umu."
The two of them seemed to have reached some sort of understanding, but I had no idea what was so "I see" about it. I wanted to be free to move as I liked, but it felt like I was going to be worked to the bone.
As I was thinking that, a panicked soldier came rushing in.
"L-Lord Shneider, this is terrible! The monster horde is...!"
"They're here," Shneider muttered shortly and stood up. "Let's go. The future of Saloom rests on our shoulders."
"OOOOOOOH!!"
Everyone stood up in response, letting out a spirited shout that filled the tent.
The battle began just as everyone finished moving into their positions.
"Whoa, that's an incredible number."
I let out a voice of admiration as I looked at the combat footage projected onto the magic plate. This was a magic tool jointly developed by Zerof and Dian that could project distant scenes. Since it could also be used for communication, many of them had been brought to this battlefield.
Zuuuuum! A band of light raced across the monster horde, followed immediately by a massive explosion.
That was the bombardment from Diguardia, the large golem I had helped construct. Diguardia, swapped into its artillery-specialized equipment, had been placed at the very rear of the forces to provide support.
"Hmm, the power of the long-range magic cannon is quite satisfactory."
"It's quite heavy, so it can't even output twenty percent of its original mobility, and the next shot takes time to charge, but it's sufficient as a mobile turret," I observed.
Every time Diguardia fired, it blew away clusters of enemies, carving large holes in the enemy lines. The attacks from the Second Squad led by Cruse, who was fighting at the front, were also incredible; monsters were being sent flying with every charge.
That wasn't a metaphor; it was literally happening. It was like a rapid current—parrying the enemy's attacks, drawing them into the flow of her own army, and then biting through them with all the accumulated power. That was her style of combat.
"That army is terrifyingly strong-aru. Probably most of the soldiers can use Ki. Especially that general—that way of fighting, unifying everyone’s Ki into one and striking the enemy’s weak points, is something only the truly strong generals can do in my country-aru. To think someone like that is in this country too... the world is wide-aru."
Tao let out a groan of admiration as she watched Cruse's technique. Come to think of it, I heard that when Cruse was young, she traveled the world under the guise of warrior training and fought against many famous powerhouses. It wouldn't be strange if she had visited Tao's homeland to learn about Ki.
"Ooooh! Our army is pushing them back!"
"As expected of Lady Cruse!"
"Hey, it's only just begun," Albert cautioned the soldiers who were getting excited at the sight.
That said, a favorable situation was always better than the alternative. A look of ease and relief was visible on Albert's face as well.
"...Wait, isn't something weird-desu kai?" Grimo muttered, his eyes glued to the magic plate. "I've been feeling a sense of discomfort for a while now, but the corpses that should be there are disappearing. And in big chunks at a time, too."
"Hmm. If it's not our imagination... could it be cannibalism?"
"Nah, it doesn't look like that. Something's happening..."
Certainly, I had felt a vague sense of discomfort as well. Normally, a monster Stampede should consist mostly of highly aggressive large magical beasts or insect species, but this time, there were strangely many undead species. I wondered if it had something to do with what Grimo said.
As I watched carefully, a monster corpse that should have been dead suddenly moved. I felt a unique mana signature. It seemed they were being resurrected as undead.
"That's Necromancy Magic."
Necromancy Magic was a discipline that manipulated corpses or spirits. Strictly speaking, that wasn't all it was, but that was the fundamental concept. It was considered a taboo more because of moral issues than its effectiveness, so I hadn't dabbled in it much.
Grave robbing night after night was quite a hassle, and the risk of being found out was too great for me as the Seventh Prince. Besides, with that magic, the medium was often more important than the caster's ability, so there wasn't much for me to tinker with, making it somewhat lacking in interest. I had tried it a little while ago, but I hadn't touched it at all recently.
"I see, no wonder it's all undead. The dead monsters are resurrected and rejoin the Stampede just like that."
"My older brother seems to have noticed as well. They are shooting fire arrows to burn the corpses."
Shneider's judgment was correct. With Necromancy Magic, the worse the condition of the corpse, the higher the difficulty of resurrection. In particular, once it was reduced to bones, most of the motive power had to be supplemented with mana, which placed a heavy burden on the caster. But...
"The resurrection speed isn't dropping at all-desu na."
"In that case, we have no choice but to strike the caster directly. ...But they don't seem to be nearby."
I tried searching with Magic Detection, but I only felt a faint presence from far to the north. It was distant—quite a way from here. Since there was a caster, did that mean this Stampede was man-made? Even if that were the case, why target this country specifically? There were plenty of other nations nearby... well, I wouldn't know no matter how much I thought about it at this stage.
Besides, it probably had nothing to do with me. Yeah.