Chapter 100. Attack from Underground (4)

The physical space in a game is often called a ‘map.’

Although its dictionary definition means a chart, for some reason, regardless of the game's genre or the language used, map has been used as a synonym for space.

It is also true that it is hard to find a more appropriate term, as a virtual space is embroidered with vibrant colors on the black blank space of a monitor using the monotonous paints of 0s and 1s.

I don't know who first came up with this word, but they might have been a person of considerable literary talent.

Anyway, in the strategy game called Warlord Conquest, the ‘map’ is divided into two.

One is the strategy screen, or strategy map.

The other is the battle screen, also called the battlefield or battle map.

Among these, the strategy screen reflects the situation of territories, nations, and the continent with the feeling of looking down at a real map.

Usually, about half of the gameplay time is spent here.

The player develops territories or raises troops, agonizing over a few choices in the various event windows that constantly pop up, and often ends up surrendering to that unknown being called the god of probability.

After spending time befitting the nickname ‘civil servant game,’ such as dealing with the demands of residents and factional fights in politics, it switches to the battle screen when a battle breaks out.

On the other hand, the battle screen does not contain all spaces.

Although decent villages, citadels, cities, forests, deserts, and other wilderness areas are implemented, places where army-unit battles are difficult to occur are not separately implemented.

For example, production facilities like mines.

Or event-specific places like the /ruins/ I am in now.

Therefore, information about such places is considerably restricted compared to other ‘maps.’

The only knowledge I have is what I've read in text from linked event windows or setting books.

One such piece of knowledge is the way the Lumer Legion awakens.

The ruins of the Lumer Legion do not awaken all at once.

Just as frozen meat slowly thaws and returns to its original softness, the forces of this huge tomb also take a considerable amount of time to awaken sequentially.

Naturally, I know the total number of the Lumer Legion buried here.

And I also know how long of a thawing period they go through to awaken.

Pwoooooo-

The sound of a horn echoes.

One long blast.

It's the attack command.

Grrr! Snort!

Gwo-oh-oh-oh-oh!

[The Minotaur Warrior unit deploys [Beast's Charge].]

[The Horned One Elite Brawler unit deploys [Beast's Charge].]

[The Unhorned One Archer unit deploys [Instinctive Shot]….]

[…….]

Nearly two hundred beastmen ran, letting out rough snorts.

Commanding beastmen is quite different from general combat command.

This half-man, half-beast race, regardless of the size of their horns or their build, and even their subspecies, almost all have the [Primitive Fury] trait.

The main effect of the trait is a slight increase in all physical abilities such as strength, endurance, and reaction speed upon entering combat.

Of course, there is a penalty of that much.

That is, detailed commands become impossible after entering combat.

In fact, I see this as the main effect.

Their already low intelligence limits the strategies they can use, and once they enter combat, the commands they can be given are extremely restricted.

So, [Primitive Fury] is a penalty trait.

The enraged beastmen understand only two horn commands.

Attack.

And retreat.

Keo-eok!

Gwo-eok!

The tide of battle is slowly being pushed back.

The enemies, who had recovered from the shock of the Minotaur charge, began to launch an organized counterattack.

Their tactic is simple.

Block with a shield and stab with a spear.

It's an extremely simple action, but due to the nature of the legionnaires, where a whole centuria moves as if it were a single organism, it exhibits a very outstanding effect.

There are as many as three such organism-like masses.

Three hundred in number.

The number of enemies is increasing.

At first, there was only one centuria, but now three centuriae have swarmed at once.

For reference, this is the seventh battle.

A centaur fell, screaming a final cry.

Geooooh-

“Tsk.”

I clicked my tongue and gestured with my hand.

A Horned One, who had been snorting and pawing the ground next to me, raised its horn.

Two short blasts.

Retreat.

[The Minotaur Warrior unit deploys [Withdraw].]

[The Horned One Warrior unit deploys [Withdraw].]

[The Unhorned One Archer unit….]

There's no need for the archers to retreat as well, but that would be an unreasonable demand for the bull-heads.

Anyway, up to two centuriae were sufficiently dealt with by the beastmen's charge alone, but from three onwards, it seems that this side is also forced to take damage.

I have to fight at least ten more battles.

I have no intention of accepting losses in my forces.

I moved on to the next phase of the pre-planned operation.

As soon as the beastmen, who had retreated with beast-like speed, moved out of the line of fire, the Imperial soldiers, who were waiting in a three-rank line, opened volley fire.

[The Imperial Rifle Squad deploys [Volley].]

[The Imperial Archer Squad deploys [Volley].]

[The Imperial Crossbow Squad deploys [Volley].]

Tadadadang!

Bullets and arrows pour down on the heads of the enemies who have not yet reorganized their front line.

“The enemy is undead! Aim for the head!”

However, the enemies are also legionnaires who once commanded the entire continent.

“Anaxa! Tum!”

Thud! Thunk!

Before taking more than a few hits, they orderly raise their huge shields, pull the wounded to the rear, and reform their ranks.

If the number of our ranged troops had been larger, we could have inflicted great damage with just one or two strikes.

However, due to the absolute lack of numbers, the number of fallen enemies is not large.

“Twenty-two.”

I quickly scanned the number of incapacitated enemies on the minimap in my head.

Even counting those crushed by the beastmen's charge, the number of enemies has only been reduced by barely half.

Before long, the gaps of the casualties were filled, and a smaller, but more solid Testudo formation was completed.

“Lumer! Haku!”

“Lumer! Haku!”

They start to advance slowly, shouting an incomprehensible ancient language.

It's a moment when I miss Indika's elephant cavalry.

The only one I had was consumed during the Siege of Berenburg.

Of course, there is an alternative.

The reloading was completed while continuous fire was poured over their shields.

However, I wait a little longer.

For the moment their carelessness ripens.

The undead legionnaires have no self-awareness other than their trained combat skills, but the command units, the centurions, are different.

They have been given the privilege of judgment for command and control.

And carelessness is a luxury that only those with judgment and logic can afford.

I continued to pour fire from our ranged weapons.

Until I was sure that simple lead bullets could not penetrate their magically enchanted shields.

Two volleys passed.

And.

“Lumer! Kasum-!”

Three centurions shouted in unison.

It's an unknown language, but it probably means charge.

Simultaneously with that command, one hundred and fifty legionnaires began to run, shouting a war cry.

It's admirable that they maintain a perfect Testudo formation even while running.

However, now that they've picked up speed, changing direction would be difficult.

As I split the firing line to the left and right, I revealed the weapons hidden behind them.

“Fire!”

[The Imperial Organ Gun deploys [Sequential Fire].]

[The Imperial Great Beast Cannon deploys [Suppressive Fire].]

Kwa-kwang! Kwang!

Tudadadang!

The formation that had been lightly blocking even bullets shatters into pieces.

Pwoooooo-

I once again charge the beastmen towards the collapsed enemy formation.

At the same time, I sent the undead and the Imperial army to each flank to surround them on three sides.

I too jumped into the fray.

Shouts and screams ring in my ears.

Pieces of bandages, blood, and flesh fly in all directions and are trampled underfoot.

My target is the centurion.

He is the only command unit in the Lumer Legion at the centuria level.

If one should aim for the necromancer as the main target when facing a general undead army, when facing the Lumer Legion, command units like centurions or commanders of a thousand take that place.

Of course, their own martial prowess and armament are strong to match.

[Deploying [Imperial Green Flowing Sword].]

Nevertheless, it would be a little insufficient to withstand the swordsmanship passed down as a secret art in the imperial family.

“Latuga!”

He shouted.

With his face tightly wrapped in bandages.

I thrust the sword, burning with green aura, in front of him.

He raised his shield.

The shield, the size of a man's torso, approaches like a wall of steel.

A misstep.

[Imperial Green Flowing Sword] is a swordsmanship specialized in piercing defenses.

The green aura momentarily creates the illusion of bending and warping, and the sword strike, stabbed at an exquisite angle, knocked away his shield.

“Laka…!”

Even with the bandages, his surprised expression is clearly visible.

I parried the short sword he reflexively thrusted and cut off his arm with a fluid upward slash.

Before the severed arm could fall, I delivered two more sword strikes.

One to the left collarbone.

One to the right thigh.

Thump!

The fellow, with his arm cut off and his tendons severed, knelt down with his shield.

I struck down on his defenselessly exposed skull.

As soon as I split his skull, I turned and swung my staff.

Bone fragments formed a huge net, entangling the legionnaires who were aiming for my back.

[Deploying [Exploding Skull].]

Kwang!

Shaking them off, I rejoined my allies.

With the command unit down, the centuria collapsed.

Their organism-like movement was gone, and each unit just randomly thrust their shields and swung their swords and spears.

Although the skills of well-trained soldiers remain, as long as they are not in sync, they are nothing more than a mouthful of a snack for the physically superior beastmen.

Gu-oh-oh-oh-oh!

The commanders of the remaining two centuriae were dealt with by a Minotaur Elite Brawler and myself, respectively.

Before long, the head of the last legionnaire was smashed like a watermelon on the tip of a centaur's spear.

The end of the seventh battle.

“Ten-minute rest.”

I set up a few Unhorned One archers as lookouts and sat down on the bare ground.

It's a long battle.

Stamina is important.

I don't know how many more battles I have to fight.

However, the soldiers of this ruin are awakening one by one even at this moment.

I would like to rest completely and then move, but if I did that, the number of legionnaires I would have to face would more than double.

It's right to break through as quickly as possible.

The only obstacle is my stamina.

My subordinates are fine.

The stamina of the summoned minions recovers very quickly.

“My lord, we will stand guard now too.”

It hadn't even been a few minutes since the battle ended, but even the ordinary soldiers of the Imperial army had already regained their full strength.

“Let's go.”

Although there was still some rest time left, we set off again.

Following the main passage, we soon encountered the enemy.

The eighth battle.

A total of three hundred enemies.

Three Lumer centuriae.

“Lumer! Haku!”

I wiped them out with the same tactic as before.

The routine of the beastmen's charge and retreat, feinting with fire and bombardment, and then an all-out battle.

Gu-eok!

It's not that there were no losses on this side.

A Minotaur, pierced by six spears, screamed and fell.

I immediately released the summon.

I recently learned that summoned minions have extraordinary regenerative abilities in addition to their stamina.

When summoned, there is not much difference from the original, but when un-summoned, it's enough to be called super-regeneration.

As long as it wasn't a fatal wound close to instant death, it was possible to fully recover within a few days just by releasing the summon.

That's why, despite fighting nearly ten fierce battles today, the number of actual casualties was in the single digits.

“…Ten minutes, haah, rest.”

Another victory.

A short rest.

Move again and then battle.

In the midst of this continuous repetition, the limit of my stamina gradually approaches.

Nevertheless, I do not stop.

“Loyalty to His Majesty! The 19th Legion began preparations for deployment nine days ago.”

According to the centurion I had subdued with [Warrior's Binding], this tomb has now been awake for nine days.

For reference, the thawing period of this tomb is exactly 28 days.

From the moment the 10th day begins, the number of awakening troops increases exponentially.

The total strength of the fully awakened legion reaches 87,000.

It was a close call.

If a little more time had passed, it would have become a disaster that couldn't be stopped even by mobilizing my entire territory and the troops summoned with Warrior's Binding.

Originally, it should have been impossible for the ruins to awaken at this point, but in the face of death, ignorance would not be an excuse.

Fortunately, I can still stop it.

There is only one way.

I must strike their head.