“Who are they? I’ve never seen those faces before!”
“I don’t know.”
In a shabby restaurant of a rural village.
When farmers stopped by for lunch and asked the owner, he shook his head and replied.
In one corner of the restaurant, a man wrapped in a rag was gobbling down soup and bread, while a girl nibbled on his arm.
“Where are you folks from?”
“……”
After locking eyes for a moment, the man fixed his gaze back on the food.
His eyes showed no willingness to answer.
Just as the farmers were about to approach angrily, the owner held them back.
“Forget it. No matter how much you ask, he won’t answer. Let’s just leave him alone since he isn’t causing trouble.”
“Does he even have money to pay for the food?”
“Who knows?”
“Then why did he get fed?”
“Can’t you see the sword sheath at his waist? The cost of food can’t be more than the price on my life.”
“……”
He guessed just by looking.
That guy was someone who had nothing left to lose.
There’s no one more dangerous than someone who’s got nothing to lose.
It’s best to just serve him the food and send him on his way quietly.
The farmers agreed to the owner’s words and sat down.
‘What kind of people are they?’
As he kept an eye on the man and girl, the farmer felt his questions growing.
This area was crawling with the undead legions.
It was land that had repeatedly been taken and lost to the undead.
Of course, for the past year, a solid siege had not been broken, and it remained under the control of the alliance.
But it wouldn’t be strange for the undead to reclaim it again at any moment.
For foreigners to come to such a place was truly rare.
‘Does that mean it’s safer now?’
Recently, it had been said that the gates were opened and the river swelled, making the defensive lines even stronger.
Could that be why people were migrating here?
Just as that thought crossed his mind…
“We have urgent news! Everyone gather in the plaza!”
“……?”
Bang!
The door burst open violently, and a helmeted guard shouted.
The farmers set down their spoons mid-meal and blankly stared at the guard.
Seeing that not a single one looked like they were going to stand up, the guard became flustered.
“W-What are you doing?! Didn’t you hear me?!”
“Newbie? Why are you being so rude to the good farmers?”
“Why is the guard being so aggressive towards harmless farmers?”
“If you’re calling us together, at least give us a reason.”
The guard’s face turned red at the farmers’ indifferent attitude.
After hesitating for a moment, the guard began to speak with a trembling voice.
“The undead legions have crossed the river…”
At his words, the farmers’ expressions hardened.
Then, without the slightest hesitation or doubt.
They quickly gathered their farming tools and jumped to their feet.
“The enemy is advancing after crossing the river. They are expected to reach the nearest village in about 6 hours.”
“6 hours…”
Jill bit her nails and slammed her hand on the map.
Six hours.
That was far too little time.
As soon as she learned that the enemy had crossed the river, the Frost Duchess had deployed, but it would take more than 12 hours for her to arrive.
By the time she got there, the villages in the front would have been completely annihilated, and perhaps even the second defensive line would have been breached.
If the second defensive line were lost…
‘A great calamity!’
The disaster Luna had foreseen.
A future where the entire world is overrun by the undead could unfold.
Though the first fleet had been dispatched, the slow airships would take their time to join the battle.
Eventually, it would be solely up to the ground troops and the Frost Duchess…
They might even have to abandon the second defensive line and set up a third one.
Jill marked a likely riverbank for the third defensive line and gritted her teeth.
“No…!”
It was a line that would forsake more than half of the Southern Continent.
At this rate, the old capital of the Holy Kingdom, Cologne, along with Basel and the old Elvenguard territory, would all fall into enemy hands, and Petenburg would be besieged.
The alliance would be shattered in a chaotic, disorganized blow.
Somehow, they had to hold back at the second defensive line.
But even so.
It remained an option that would leave tens of thousands of residents living between the first and second defensive lines to die.
Even while knowing that this was the best option, Jill’s heart was ablaze with anguish.
“Priestess! The farmers say they want to volunteer to defend!”
“Wha-? Evacuate them immediately! The enemy will swallow them up, infect them, and seize their weapons to grow even stronger!”
“They understand everything, and they say they’ll resist with nothing but pitchforks and tools without risk of being captured. They only wish to buy time for their families to escape…”
“……!”
Jill’s eyes widened at the unexpected news.
Knowing they would die.
Knowing they wouldn’t be able to rest in peace even in death.
And yet, even so, they would fight with inadequate armaments so the enemy’s strength wouldn’t grow…
“How can they…?”
Jill couldn’t finish her sentence as she swallowed it down.
How could they make such a decision?
The answer was simple.
It was all for their families.
They were doing it to buy time until their loved ones could flee to safety.
As she witnessed those who had made that decision in such a short time, Jill felt an infinite respect rising within her.
“We must do our best to rescue those moving to the second defensive line. After that… I will find and honor everyone who fought on the battlefield.”
Thanks to them, time was bought.
What could have spread into millions of danger could now be held back by thousands.
Jill began to feel that hope.
…
…
…
“……”
The carriage heading toward the battlefield.
Inside it was shrouded in a chilling silence.
Farmers clutching the farming tools and hastily made pitchforks they had brought with them.
On one side, someone was writing letters for families left behind, helping those who couldn’t read.
On the other side, letters were being collected.
Each face reflected grim determination.
“But what about them?”
“I don’t know…”
“Why is a foreigner here…?”
In that carriage sat a man and a girl.
The farmers glanced at them, tilting their heads.
While they were sacrificing their lives to protect their families, what were these two doing?
Despite being repeatedly warned that they were heading to their deaths, they forced their way to come along, which they couldn’t comprehend at all.
Shouldn’t at least the girl be evacuated?
The farmers thought such things for a moment.
But seeing the girl clinging to the man’s arm like glue, they couldn’t muster the courage to do so.
They even contemplated forcibly pulling her away and sending her back, but every time they got close, they felt an odd sense of dread from the girl’s red eye light.
An instinctive fear.
Though they couldn’t identify her true nature, it was clear that she was a nemesis of the human race.
“We’ve arrived! Everyone, get off!”
Eventually, the carriage came to a stop.
The cargo door opened, and the farmers’ booted feet stepped into the mud, splattering dirt everywhere.
Once outside, they found dozens of halted carriages, and farmers were each grabbing a weapon as they emerged.
They looked like they had just been working until moments ago.
Exchanging glances, they bit their lips and moved forward.
What lay before them was a muddy field, presumably due to the rain, where their feet sank in.
It was the worst to work in, but it was the best place to hold back the enemy.
“Reinforcements?!”
Up ahead, the workers, who had arrived earlier, were already digging trenches and waiting.
The farmers rushed over to join them and shook hands.
“We were worried you weren’t coming! The enemy will arrive in less than an hour…”
“The traffic situation was bad, so we were a bit late. Is this… actually a defense line?”
“Yes. It’s shabby, but at least it’s something…”
“It’s better than nothing.”
It wasn’t shabby at all; they had built quite a bit.
Deep pits, barricades, and layers of trenches.
With this, they could likely hold for at least two hours.
Hope began to show in the farmers’ faces.
“The plan is simple. None of us illiterates know anything about strategies; we have to rely on those who can write letters to dictate orders. First, we burn in the front. Second, we fight with spears from the back. That’s it.”
The village chief, who took command, shouted in front of the lined-up farmers.
None of them had fought before, not even held weapons.
They didn’t know about tactics, and even if they learned, it wouldn’t make a difference in real combat.
So simplicity was key.
No complicated commands were to be expected.
As long as everyone didn’t panic and flee, they could successfully carry out the simple plan.
“Those who volunteered for the first trench, cover yourselves in mud! If you don’t want to burn to death!”
The first trench.
The trench before the deep pit was meant to hold back the enemy’s advance as much as possible.
It wouldn’t take long for the enemy to stumble into the pit and claw their way up.
But if they filled the inside of the pit with oil and set fire as the enemies climbed up, they could buy themselves some extra time.
While resisting by burning the enemy, if they managed to clear out the enemies coming over the pit, they would retreat.
“When you retreat to the second trench, hold firmly onto the barricades, and the others will stab and kill the enemies trying to break through!”
Then they would resist at the second trench filled with barricades.
If that too was breached, they would fight to the last at the third trench.
“In the last third trench… we’ll fight until we die! That’s all!”
There would be no next step.
They could only hope they had bought enough time to end up cut down and become part of the undead.
Having received the orders, the farmers began to move to their positions one by one.
Some sat in the trench, making the sign of the cross in prayer.
Some held hammers to pound the barricades deeper into the ground.
Others were covered in mud, holding torches and gazing ahead.
Among them, there were also guards who had stripped off their armor and expensive weapons to join in.
“What’s that sound?”
“……?”
Just then, someone cocked their head.
The village chief silenced everyone and put his ear to the ground.
“……!”
Thump thump thump thump.
The vibration rang out haphazardly, causing his expression to harden.
Soon, the tremor grew stronger.
It became so loud that there was no need to listen closely.
“They’re coming!”
At that cry, everyone stood up and turned their eyes forward.
A silhouette seemed to be moving from the forest.
Suddenly, grotesque forms emerged from the thicket.
“What the hell…?!”
Some had one lower body and two upper bodies.
Others had four arms, wielding four swords.
Some rushed headlessly with axes in hand.
Each was armed with heavy gauntlets and weapons, charging at a speed that no human could achieve.
Each undead was on par with a knight in power.
Yet the legion stretching across the horizon looked to be close to ten thousand.
“Ah…”
“Aren’t we going to be able to buy time…?”
The farmers were left in shock.
They couldn’t hold back that.
The deep pits they had dug would be easily jumped over, and the barricades would snap in one blow.
All they could foresee was a future where they would be slaughtered, with a few dozen of them being cut down in seconds.
“Don’t be scared! It’s too late to run anyway! Dying while fleeing would be a real disgrace, but if we hold them back for even a minute, it’s our victory! Didn’t you all come here prepared to die?!”
“……!”
The chief stepped forward, holding a torch.
Since the plan was simple, if the commander died, it wouldn’t cause much trouble in execution.
If they were going to fight, he would fight at the front, boosting his comrades’ courage even unto death.
“I will follow!”
“I’ll go to the first trench too!”
“No, don’t send too many, you fools…”
The chief gritted his teeth and moved forth, as the spirits of the farmers began to rise.
There is no disgrace in dying.
Everyone here would die meaningfully.
Though none had ever received military training, the farmers were soon forming orderly lines.
The vibrations reverberating as the enemies rushed across the plain intensified to the point of resembling an earthquake.
But no one trembled with fear or prepared to flee.
“……?”
As they clenched their weapons, biting their lips and awaited death…
Someone stood up and started walking forward.
It was the man and the girl.
They had been quiet all this time.
“The way a person is born follows the fate they are given, but how they die should be decided by themselves…”
“What?”
“I can acknowledge it. You are indeed ‘true humans.'”
“What does that even mean?”
The two continued forward, stepping through the mud.
In their eyes, there wasn’t an ounce of tension or fear to be found.
Yet in his eyes, not a determined will could be seen.
Only a mundane expression, suited to everyday life.
As for the girl, there was no hint of emotion on her face whatsoever.
They were clearly deranged.
That’s what everyone thought.
“H-Hey…!”
The man passed the first trench and stepped toward the deep pit ahead.
But instead of sinking down, he walked upon the air with the girl.
The farmers were left in a daze.
This was already beyond their comprehension.
An超人.
They were surely part of that class of beings known as超人.
“Hahaha…”
As thousands of undead drew within 200 meters, the man merely laughed.
He slowly drew a sword and raised it high.
The blade, from hilt to tip, was strangely black.
“What can you do alone?!”
Surely, it was said that a超人 like the Frost Duchess could match a legion of undead alone.
But that was only when fighting from a favorable terrain.
No matter how strong a超人 was, against thousands of undead on open ground, they would soon be surrounded and slaughtered.
Losing such a超人 would be a far greater loss than losing hundreds of farmers.
Everyone knew that.
Yet, oddly enough, they began to feel the heavy sense of responsibility and crisis inside their chests gradually dissipating.
From that one man holding a sword, they began to feel an inexplicable sense of relief.
“Dakia-style Secrets.”
The man slid his foot back, leaving a mark in the mud.
Then, he gripped the sword tightly with both hands and pulled it back, preparing to swing.
The girl, who had been beside him, had now drifted backward.
“Kreeeeek!!!”
The undead legion was now only 100 meters away!
So close they could count the dots on their faces.
In that moment, the man’s sword, filled with resolve, burst forth.
“Half Moon Slash!”
Ka-ka-ka-kkang!
A white sword aura spread silently like a crescent moon.
The sword aura instantly swept over the undead, cleanly cutting everything in its path.
What resonated was only the chilling sound of the undead horde being effortlessly sliced apart.
Though its sharpness had dulled by the time it reached the last few, where it had passed, gory halves of undead rolled about grotesquely.
Before the sight of a field strewn with dismembered corpses.
The farmers stood gaping, frozen in place.
“Kreeeeek!!!”
The twisted undead screamed as their separated halves reattached themselves and crawled back up.
Seeing this, the farmers’ faces drained of color again.
But the man seemed to have predicted it, nonchalantly sniffing before preparing to strike again.
“If they don’t die from one slash, I will keep cutting until they do. Dakia-style Secrets…”
The resurrected legion of thousands of undead was approaching once more, thundering with noise across the ground.
With a smirk, the man swung his sword again.
But this time, the farmers couldn’t discern what direction he had swung it in.
“Iron Blood Storm Slash!”
A white net of sword aura filled their vision.
Only then did the farmers realize.
He wasn’t swinging in ‘any direction’ at all.
He was swinging in ‘every direction’ all at once.
The net made of sword aura descended upon them.
The screams of the undead being shredded filled the air but gradually began to fade.
Dark energy emerging from the fallen undead formed into a thick black fog.
