The Land Of Death

The Land of Death is basically vast. If it weren’t wide, it wouldn’t have been called a great expanse.

If you were someone who didn’t know the destination, its vastness would be enough to overwhelm you. If you came in like us, with no set destination, you might wander around inside and wear yourself out.

“Companion.”

Hazel comes forward as the group’s representative.

And I already know why Hazel is coming on behalf of the members who are only watching from afar.

“Why? Because the undead aren’t showing up?”

“…Huh? Right.”

It was hard to hear Hazel sounding flustered. Hazel, who was composed in any situation, answered with a reddened face, clearly flustered.

I could understand the unease felt by Hazel and the other members.

A vast black expanse where even the wind barely blew. That strange hush and stillness would be more unsettling than the undead charging in with killing intent.

“Too early to relax. And soon, the typhoon will come crashing down…….”

“Hm?”

“Go tell Lee Hyo-ju. Tell her to move at a fast pace for about an hour, then rest. Rest comfortably, but stay prepared to join battle at any time.”

“…Got it.”

You probably have a lot of questions, but I can’t tell you everything. If I were going to tell you everything, it would be easier for me to step in and sort it all out myself.

I don’t know how things will proceed from here, but I may need to focus on Manus. Or on things Manus has arranged, or on someone crazy like the lunatic who showed up this time.

If that happens, then the representatives and other ordinary situations will have to be handled by the members. This is training for that moment.

Cultivating active crisis-response ability. That is what I want from the members here in the Land of Death. In other words, battle experience.

‘Besides, that tyrant bastard is as sneaky as they come.’

He’ll be a good match for Lee Hyo-ju. Not only in military strategy, but because he’s the kind of guy who makes a habit of all manner of underhanded tricks.

After hearing Hazel out, Lee Hyo-ju glanced at me and quickly moved the group at a fast pace.

During the roughly hour-long march, an odd atmosphere formed in which neither the members nor I spoke to one another.

To be exact, it felt as though an unprecedented curtain had fallen between me and the women led by Hazel and Lee Hyo-ju.

That might have been because they felt slighted, or because they were being careful due to the heavy atmosphere around me.

In any case, from my perspective it was welcome. I had things to think about, and I also needed to keep checking on the matters involving Violentia and Benialis, who had recently become much busier.

“Um… Captain.”

I had known who the person fidgeting beside me for a while was, but I had things to think about, so I didn’t bother showing it.

“Yeah, Kitas.”

“I need to ask a question… no, I need advice.”

“Hm?”

Kitas had been bright and adapting well to the legion. But advice out of nowhere? If my mood were nice enough to give friendly counsel, I wouldn’t say anything, but…….

“W-well… it’s because of my fighting style.”

“Ah…….”

Only then did I think I understood what Kitas was trying to say.

Swift Poison Fang. As her epithet in her previous life suggested, she definitely had poor compatibility with the undead.

‘You’ve grown a lot.’

“S-so… it seems my fighting style is poison to the undead.”

Kitas started speaking in a mumble, and by the end she finished with a face scrunched up like she was pouting. Her appearance suddenly seemed to overlap with an old scene from the past.

“Haha.”

“Captain?”

“Ah, sorry. I have something to talk about, so let’s move over there.”

The members who had been resting however they liked naturally turned their eyes toward us when I approached with Kitas.

But seeing the layered senses the members had laid out beneath my feet, I couldn’t help but smile with satisfaction.

“It was only about five days, but you did a splendid job.”

“Aw~! Not at all.”

After telling the brazen Arun, ‘Everyone except you,’ I ignored Arun’s despair and briefly explained the schedule ahead.

“For now, we’re heading straight toward the ruined kingdom’s royal palace that Silesin personally found out about. You may already know this, but the royal castle of the ruined kingdom is, quite literally, where the ‘king’ of these undead is staying. So the farther we go in that direction, the fiercer the undead’s resistance will become.”

“It’s quiet today, though?”

“Right. Now that I’ve said this much, think carefully for yourselves about why. And there will be people like Kitas who have poor compatibility with the undead. On the other hand, there will also be people who find it much easier to deal with the undead.”

A few nodded. And among the members who didn’t show agreement, attention focused on several of them. On Schumix, Naruan, and others.

“But that doesn’t happen only with the undead. Going forward, in the Battlefield of the Gods, when you act as a representative and take the life of an opposing representative, or as you grow stronger through expeditions, compatibility will inevitably come into play. There may be representatives who can chew through compatibility from time to time, but that’s the exception……”

“Like you, Captain?”

“…Arun, shut up for a bit. Anyway, that’s why you need comrades. Compatibility exists everywhere, not just with the undead. You can’t change your fighting style every time that happens. A comrade with good compatibility buying you time to show your ability, drawing attention, or helping from the side is also an important part of battle.”

While Arun was looking glum, the members who understood my words fell into thought. Most of all, the faces of the agility-type warriors, including Kitas, brightened.

“And if you think about it differently, haven’t you gotten yourself a reliable punching bag? One with good durability. Isn’t it not bad to try out the things you’ve wanted to do?”

At the joke-like remark, a few gazes gleamed coldly.

With that, I let the group rest a little longer and stepped back away again.

Was it because they knew the plan? Or had they picked up some hint from my words? Lee Hyo-ju, Hazel, and Merus gathered together and continued their heated discussion while drawing something on the ground.

The remaining members were resting with bright expressions. Some were lying spread-eagle on the ground like Arun, but every one of them had a weapon resting in their hand or on their knee.

“Looks like they’re already swarming in.”

Far away, a faint killing intent, barely perceptible even to me, was rapidly approaching.

As time passed, the concentration of that killing intent grew exponentially denser.

Unexpectedly, the first to notice the enemy’s approach was Naruan.

Naruan had certainly become a completely different representative after absorbing the soul stone. In terms of battle, she now possessed talent on par with Proy.

“They’re coming!”

A cute, dainty voice spread widely in a high pitch. At the same time, Naruan rose to her feet and hunched herself up while looking somewhere.

“Naruan, if that was a joke, you failed… damn! What is this?”

Arun, who had been teasing Naruan, also sprang up and looked in the same direction Naruan was looking.

Even so, blue mana flickered around Arun’s body, as if he were circulating mana.

One by one, they jumped up in alarm and began preparing for battle.

As time passed, the smiles vanished completely from the faces of the group.

The killing intent and hostility grew denser and denser.

But the amount was beyond expectation. I never thought that tyrant would come at us with full force this early.

At last, the undead legion revealed its true form. A legion. A tremendous number with no end in sight.

Until now, including the high zombies, the undead had never appeared in numbers exceeding a thousand, but even a rough count put them at well over ten thousand.

I could even feel the tension from Lee Hyo-ju and Hazel, who were only visible from behind.

“Need help?”

I infused a little divine power into my voice and asked the group, as if waking a student dozing off in class.

Lee Hyo-ju, the first to come to her senses, slowly turned around and met my eyes.

“No.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, we’ll handle it.”

“All right.”

Lee Hyo-ju glared for a long time at the things that had revealed themselves and looked similar to a human army forming ranks. In that state, Lee Hyo-ju’s authority was unleashed.

‘How many times is she doing this, for heaven’s sake?’

In a brief instant, Time Regression had already gone past ten uses. If she had thirty years in her previous life, that would be one thing, but Lee Hyo-ju was only at five years now. She was clearly overdoing it.

Time Regression surpassed twenty uses, and Lee Hyo-ju’s legs lost their strength as she staggered.

Hazel, apparently having heard enough to understand the rough situation, supported Lee Hyo-ju with a worried face and glanced at me.

But Lee Hyo-ju, worried that I might step in, immediately straightened up, poured a potion into her mouth, and activated Time Regression again.

Messages kept appearing after that, without end. And with the 38th message exactly, no more messages appeared.

After finishing the final Time Regression, Lee Hyo-ju collapsed to the ground and panted for breath.

“…The formation is the modified Tortoise Shell and Dragon Fang. The members assigned to the fang are Proy, Naruan, Inex, Meo, Micel, Kitas, and Joel. Plus Apher as the priest. The other warriors will stay inside the Tortoise Shell while protecting the mages and priest. Inside the Tortoise Shell: Hugo, Nana, and Hazel. Make all magic the same attribute. The targets are the lich and specters positioned in the rear. Mages strike first, and at the same time the Dragon Fang unit charges. That is all…….”

The members listened with such focus that they seemed afraid of missing even one word of Lee Hyo-ju’s breathless explanation.

After the long explanation ended and each squad leader was appointed, Lee Hyo-ju fainted.

“Huh? The Cold-Blooded Witch?”

The members were so flustered that even Arun was surprised, and Hazel looked at Lee Hyo-ju with pity before picking her up, walking silently over to me, laying her down beside me, and preparing for battle.

Merus took charge of the overall on-site coordination, and Hazel even drew her weapon, declaring her intent to fight with everything she had.

Naruan and Proy twitched as if they were about to burst out immediately, and the spell chants of those led by Arun were rumbling low.

The signal flare announcing the battle between the army of ten thousand and the seventy-odd members of Rebound was about to go off.