Chapter 99. Attack from Underground (3)

A lesser vampire necromancer.

A fellow who is close to the most senior line among my bound forces.

She had died to me in the labyrinth created by Calvenia's unique spell.

As she was the first bound troop with sentience, I had tested her abilities by trying out various things as soon as I summoned her.

Since then, we have been through several battles.

The bound forces suffered more damage than my mercenary band.

Especially in the Siege of Berenburg, the final battle of the civil war, they played the role of bait in a diversionary tactic to draw the attention of the defending forces, and as it was a dangerous role, many of them were killed.

Therefore, while most of the troops obtained in the early stages were lost in battle, this necromancer fellow tenaciously survived and is still with me today.

If she were in the Viscount's army, wouldn't she be at least a company commander?

The disappointing part about bound forces is that each individual unit no longer grows.

Of course, since she is a necromancer, there is a solution.

I just need to bind more powerful undead to her necromancy.

“…Where is this place?”

The vampire asked, looking around.

Come to think of it, it's been a while since I summoned this one.

“A mine.”

“Pardon?”

“I developed an iron mine in the territory.”

“A territory with a mine. You have succeeded, my lord. But no matter how I look at it, it doesn't seem like a mine……”

“To be precise, it's an underground valley that has fallen from the mine. Anyway, do you know how to handle a Vampiric Bat?”

“Yes, it's a basic skill.”

That's a relief.

I pointed to the Vampiric Bat summoned along with her.

She took off her leather gloves, made a cut on her finger, and then extended her hand, with a drop of blood on it, towards the Vampiric Bat's mouth.

Kiiiii…?

The bat, the size of an adult man's torso, seemed to be wary for a moment and glanced at me, but when I nodded, it quietly accepted her touch.

After licking the drop of blood from her hand, the bat's eyes soon glittered red.

It was connected to the vampire.

Looking at her, I pointed towards the entrance on the valley wall.

“You see that over there? We're going to send the Vampiric Bat that way.”

“Reconnaissance, I see. But why is there an entrance to a temple-like building on the wall of a valley?”

“From now on, you will find that out.”

“Understood.”

She nodded and whispered something into the bat's characteristically pointed ears.

Soon, the Vampiric Bat flapped its wings and took flight.

While the vampire, her eyes glittering red, was conducting drone reconnaissance, I decided to examine the corpse lying in front of the entrance.

There are clues to be salvaged even from a bloated corpse.

First, the wounds.

There is a stab wound on the back from a bladed weapon.

Looking at the shape, it's a spear.

I wanted to see if the wound was clean or messy, but it was difficult to distinguish that much.

Next, the marks of being eaten.

One of the two candidates I had in mind is the Ratmen.

Most of them are stupid rats, but some of the smarter ones have the technology to collapse an entire cliff.

If they are the culprits, there would at least be traces of being /gnawed on/.

Although there were no such traces on the bodies found so far, it's hard to understand why they wouldn't take a bite to replenish their energy even after diving from hundreds of meters above.

‘Master, did you just say ‘take a bite’ in reference to a human corpse? As expected of the ruthless butcher of the battlefield….’

Let's ignore the nonsense of the Outer God that distracts my concentration.

Anyway, he's just sulking because I took some of his cookies.

In any case, after a thorough examination, including the internal organs, there are no gnawed wounds.

With this, the scales have tipped completely towards the other possibility.

However, I can't be 100 percent sure.

The cunning rats are skilled at making it seem like another force committed the crime they perpetrated.

“Ah!”

It was around that time that our bat-drone pilot, the vampire, let out a cry of surprise.

***

“What do you see?”

“Undead. But… they're a bit different.”

“What do they look like?”

The vampire frowned.

As if she was looking closely at something far away.

This is why I entrusted the Vampiric Bat to her.

In fact, it is possible to send the Vampiric Bat for reconnaissance with just [Warrior's Binding].

This cheat-like trait allows communication with bound troops regardless of language and race.

However, there is one restriction.

To receive the reconnaissance report, it must return safely.

Come to think of it, it might be an obvious statement, but….

At this point, with only one Vampiric Bat left, it's as good as saying I only have one chance.

‘Vampires are different.’

Vampires tame beasts with their own abilities.

Most of them possess a trait called [Blood Communion].

Using this, it's possible to share the senses of a beast tamed by feeding it blood in real time.

It's similar to being able to view a drone's screen remotely.

A long time ago, Tribus had observed my mercenary band from his lair using this ability.

It's just a shame that since it's a trait, there's no way to obtain it separately unless you get it from the probability lottery by achieving an accomplishment.

By the way, come to think of it, this game.

It seems like everything that's useful is a trait.

“Their hands, feet, and face are wrapped in bandages. Their attire is, um, armor? They are wearing old armor.”

The vampire, with a red glow emanating from her eyes, began her explanation with fumbling gestures.

“Iron and iron are overlapped like fish scales… the name of that armor style is….”

“Scale armor?”

“That's right! And a square shield about this big, and the helmet has a plume…”

I don't need to hear any more to be sure.

They are Lumer's Legionnaires.

And fully armed at that.

I asked for the number.

“Twenty, fifty, a hundred… I see about a hundred? They are moving in groups of twelve.”

“I see. Start bringing the Vampiric Bat back.”

“Yes, I underst— Ah!”

The vampire, who was communicating with the bat, let out a small scream.

“It's dead. It was hit by a javelin.”

She hung her head low.

“I'm sorry, my lord. It's my fault we were discovered, isn't it?”

“It doesn't matter.”

Because we have to fight to get out of here anyway.

Lumer's Legionnaires have awakened.

And not in the ambiguous mummy-like form I saw in Berenburg, but in a state of being perfectly armed.

Seeing them patrolling the area in centuria formations, it's as good as a confirmed fact that the entire ruin has awakened.

‘Originally, the probability of them awakening at this time is less than 1 percent, but….’

What's the use when they've already awakened?

It's not the first or second time I've been screwed over.

There must be a cause, but that's a problem I can think about later.

I've already thought of a countermeasure.

From the moment I thought of the possibility of ‘what if,’ my brain circuits, pickled in this game, were creating a strategy in a corner of my mind.

“You, prepare for battle too.”

I roused the semi-conscious vampire and checked my equipment.

The miner's body was likely to become a zombie if left as it was, so I cremated it.

After quickly checking my equipment, I habitually looked at my reflection in a puddle of water on the cave beach.

A necromancer wearing a pure white mask was looking at me from the other side.

“Keeheet.”

He laughed.

As if he was pleased with the new undead forces he would acquire.

***

The Lumer Legion.

A fallen ancient empire that ruled the vast desert south of Indika and the oasis region beyond it.

It seems the developers took Rome as a motif, and added a spoonful of the ‘mummy’ concept to it.

Should I say it's a hodgepodge nation that has mixed Rome, Egypt, Greece, and so on?

‘They were the ones who once conquered a territory amounting to two-thirds of the continent. They also engaged in a tense war of nerves with the Eastern Empire. And they managed to get their hands on a number of the sacred relics of me and my brothers.’

Kkumteuli added.

As he said, the power of their legion is still formidable despite its decline.

Even though it's just one ruin, the forces slumbering here are enough to lay waste to a decent territory and still have some left over.

If I had found out about this after they had all awakened, I might have had to fight a defensive battle with the fate of Wolfskrig on the line.

Rather, it's a relief that I discovered it early like this.

By the way, it's strange.

That they had a number of the church's sacred relics.

Did they have that kind of setting?

I'm pretty sure there were no Lumer-affiliated church heroes up until World Scenario 3.0.

‘The history of the organization called the church is not short. Compared to the history of us brothers and the sacred relics, it's as good as a newborn.’

‘Ah, really? I thought the church created you guys.’

‘What an absurd thing to say. How could those who can barely draw out the power of the sacred relics create a link with us?’

So that's how it is.

Adding a line to the setting book in my head, I turned my attention to the map.

The first battlefield is a vast hall connected to the ruin entrance.

[Battlefield-Overlooking Gaze] had already painted the entire picture of the hall in my mind.

Pwoooooo-

A quiet ruin.

The sound of a horn echoes.

The legionnaires, who had already gathered after detecting the intruder, quickly formed a formation.

“Lumer! Haku!”

“Lumer! Haku!”

With an incomprehensible war cry, they close the distance between each other in perfect order.

They build a wall of large square shields, and through the gaps, they point short spears forward.

It's the Testudo formation.

A versatile formation that can effectively block ranged attacks, as well as infantry and cavalry charges.

However, there is no tactic or formation without a weakness.

The same goes for the Testudo formation, which is said to be able to stop even cavalry.

The most representative weakness is that it is helpless against a mass impact that exceeds a certain threshold.

Naturally, I know that threshold mass precisely.

And I also know which of my forces I need to send to break through.

Kuo-oh-oh-oh!

“?!”

It seems the formation was not designed to withstand the mass charge of a unit of fourteen Minotaurs.

Thud! Crack!

“Lumech-!”

Watching the legionnaires fly like autumn leaves, I leisurely walked down the corridor.

If I just swung my staff around and cast a spell once in a while, I would have done my part.

I hadn't even taken a few steps when a notification window slowly appeared.

[Deploying [Warrior's Binding].]

[You have bound the defeated enemies.]

[Lumer's Legionnaire Centurion(1), Lumer's Legionnaire(3)]

Ah, this is auto-hunting.

***

[Deploying [Warrior's Binding].]

[Summoning bound enemies.]

[Summoned Forces: Minotaur Elite Brawler(2), Minotaur Warrior(14), Centaur Marauder(3), Centaur Javelin Thrower(13), Horned One Elite Brawler(21), Horned One Warrior(59), Unhorned One Archer(38), Unhorned One Infantry(49)]

[Summoned Forces: Lesser Vampire Necromancer(1), Grave Knight(1), Necro Ogre(2), Wight(1), Vampiric Bat(1), Skeleton Spearman(4), Skeleton Swordsman(4), Skeleton Archer(3), Zombie(3)]

[Summoned Forces: Imperial Great Beast Cannon(3), Imperial Organ Gun(1), Imperial Army High-Rank Knight(2), Imperial Army Mid-Rank Knight(3), Imperial Army Low-Rank Knight(6), Imperial Army Halberdier(7), Imperial Army Greatswordsman(6), Imperial Army Spearman(18), Imperial Army Swordsman(15), Imperial Army Crossbowman(13), Imperial Army Archer(9), Imperial Army Rifleman(11)]