Episode 537

The Song of the Crouching Flame looked at Prince Leo and spoke with a voice full of authority.

“Are you truly the prince?”

Leo nodded in response to the commanding presence of the Song of the Crouching Flame.

“Indeed, I am. But why are the Joins here…?”

“There was a request from Zeke Draker.”

At the mention of Zeke Draker’s request, Prince Leo’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Zeke Draker sent the Joins as reinforcements?”

It made sense that Zeke Draker would send reinforcements to reclaim the Rom Empire and put Leo and Karus at the forefront. However, sending the Joins, who harbored deep resentment against the Empire, was hard to comprehend.

The Song of the Crouching Flame, seemingly uninterested in a lengthy conversation with the prince, donned his helmet again and turned towards the fortress wall.

With a roar, blue flames erupted from the back of his armor, propelling him into the sky. He joined other Join warriors, hurling explosive spears at the advancing monsters.

Explosions echoed all around as the Join warriors’ spears detonated. Their armor was an ancient relic of the Sky Tribe, unearthed by Zeke, and the spears were newly developed weapons, modified from the Dark Elves’ arsenal retrieved from the Inverted Tower.

The combination of the Sky Tribe’s enhanced armor and the Dark Elves’ spears doubled their power, allowing them to hold back the monstrous horde with relatively few numbers.

Watching the Join warriors take to the skies and fend off the monsters, Leo finally regained his composure. He stood up and shouted to the bewildered knights and soldiers.

“While the reinforcements hold them off, reorganize the troops!”

Hearing Leo’s command, Daria Calvi also snapped back to reality. She began issuing orders to her knights as instructed by Leo.

“Squads 1 and 2, defend the walls! Squad 3, bring the wounded inside the fortress! Squad 4, gather supplies!”

The reinforcements breathed new life into Thermo Fortress. The relief of not being abandoned and the hope of returning alive spurred them into action.

However, the monster army soon adapted to the Join warriors’ explosive spears, splitting into smaller groups to advance. This allowed those at the rear to continue their assault even if the front lines were caught in explosions.

Observing this from above, the Song of the Crouching Flame fired a signal flare into the sky.

Immediately, something charged in from the flanks.

The ground thundered as over a hundred armored centaur warriors galloped towards the monsters.

“Crush them!”

With a mighty roar, the centaur warriors raised their massive swords and swept through the monsters.

The enormous blades cleaved through the monsters’ bodies with ease, and the monster army, attacked from the side, began to crumble rapidly. Their division to avoid the spears worked against them in the face of the centaur assault.

The centaurs wielded their swords and shot arrows with precision, devastating the monster ranks. The black mages controlling the monsters from the rear panicked and regrouped their forces.

At that moment, the Join warriors hovering above resumed their spear attacks.

Caught in the explosions, the monsters were torn apart without a chance to scream.

As the monsters floundered, the Song of the Crouching Flame fired another signal into the sky.

This time, the beastmen of Crostel, who had been lying in wait, charged at the black mages controlling the monsters.

With a feral growl, the beastmen, possessing bodies as powerful as the monsters, were natural-born warriors, needing no training. They wore specially designed armor from the Southern Isles that allowed them to fight without hindering their wild instincts.

The beastmen’s teeth and claws shredded the monsters, and their animal instincts led them straight to the black mages, whom they swiftly dispatched.

The black mages, caught off guard by the sudden assault, screamed and fell under the beastmen’s attack.

With the black mages eliminated, the monsters, freed from control, began to act on their own, forming packs led by mutant leaders and engaging in brutal skirmishes with other monster tribes.

The chaos among the monsters disrupted their formation, and the apostle of the Abyss, who commanded the monster army, had no choice but to order a retreat.

The monsters, which had been advancing on Thermo Fortress, turned and began to withdraw.

Watching from above, the Song of the Crouching Flame sent another signal, instructing the centaurs and Crostel’s beastmen not to pursue but to return.

Given the wild nature of these races, it was crucial to prevent them from getting carried away in the heat of battle.

Fortunately, the centaurs and Crostel’s beastmen heeded the Song of the Crouching Flame’s signal and returned to the fortress.

Thanks to their assistance, the crisis was averted.

As the battlefield calmed, Leo and Daria focused on treating the wounded knights and soldiers, allowing them to rest.

The reinforcements sent by Zeke brought not only troops but also supplies, including antibiotics and potions from Fainan Pharmaceuticals.

Infections claimed the most lives on the battlefield, and Fainan’s antibiotics significantly increased the survival rate of the wounded, making them a welcome addition.

Surveying the injured receiving treatment, Leo finally allowed himself a moment of relief.

But the real challenge loomed with the coming night.

“How are we supposed to face the undead army that will march with the night…?”

His concern was the corpses of the monsters slain in today’s battle. They were just lifeless bodies now, but when night fell and the army of death arrived, they would rise as undead to attack the fortress.

At that moment, the Song of the Crouching Flame approached Leo with other members of the Western Alliance.

As the commander, Leo bowed deeply to express his gratitude to the Western Alliance for their assistance.

“Without your help, this fortress would have fallen today, and countless soldiers would have perished. As a commander, I am deeply grateful.”

Despite the prince’s gratitude, the Song of the Crouching Flame’s expression remained stern. He spoke slowly.

“Don’t be mistaken. We didn’t come to aid the Empire. We came to crush the Abyss, who conducted horrific experiments on our kin.”

The Song of the Crouching Flame, who had long fought against the Empire over the Join ghettos, was not particularly fond of Prince Leo or the Imperial forces at Thermo Fortress.

To them, Prince Leo and Castro Pollock were just different faces of the same enemy—the Empire.

However, the Joins, known for their clear sense of enmity and gratitude, could not refuse Zeke’s request, who had shown them kindness, and thus joined the battle.

Moreover, the beastmen of Crostel, a crucial part of the Western Alliance, could not defy Zeke’s orders, as his influence had grown with the power of the Blood King.

Though not as ancient as the Beast Tribe, the beastmen shared their lineage and could not completely escape the Blood King’s dominion.

Despite the Western Alliance’s hostility, Leo was grateful for their presence.

Setting aside his pride as a prince, Leo addressed the Song of the Crouching Flame.

“Thanks to your help, we’ve managed to fend off the monster horde. But when night falls, the undead army will return. With our current forces, it will be difficult to withstand the army of death.”

The terrifying aspect of the undead army was that their numbers only grew with continued warfare.

In a typical war, forces would dwindle, but the undead army was the opposite. Whether allies or enemies fell, the undead soldiers never decreased in number.

Hearing Leo’s concerns, the Song of the Crouching Flame snapped his beak shut and turned away without a word.

“Our role ends here.”

With that, the Western Alliance returned to their camp.

Leo and Daria could not fault the Western Alliance for their stance, as they too seemed to have no solution against the undead army. Instead, they focused on fortifying their defenses.

All they could do was patch up the damaged walls, prepare as many fire arrows and oil as possible to use against the undead.

And so, night fell once more.

Leo and Daria, tense and vigilant, climbed the fortress walls to survey the field.

A chilling aura settled over the once-quiet battlefield.

Then, one by one, the corpses littering the field began to rise.

With eerie moans, the undead shuffled towards the fortress.

Watching this, Leo clenched his jaw and shouted to his soldiers.

“Undead are approaching! Fire the flaming arrows at them!”

Without any distinction between archers and soldiers, everyone grabbed their makeshift longbows, lit their arrows, and shot at the oncoming undead.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Hundreds of flaming arrows embedded themselves into the bodies of the advancing undead.

Groooaaaar!

Even with arrows sticking out of them, the undead continued their relentless march toward the fortress walls.

Daria shouted to the soldiers, “Pour the oil!”

The soldiers scooped oil from cauldrons and doused the undead hit by the arrows.

The oil ignited, and soon the undead were engulfed in flames.

Screeeeech—

The undead, now completely ablaze, could no longer move.

Leo and Daria commanded the soldiers and knights, using fire to halt the undead’s advance toward the fortress.

Just as they were holding their ground effectively, something emerged from the enemy ranks.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

It wasn’t just reanimated corpses anymore; a true army of skeletons, clad in armor and wielding weapons, was advancing.

Leo clenched his fist as he saw the thousands of skeletons.

“Damn it…”

Leading the skeleton army was none other than a Dullahan.

Floating in the air, liches supported the Dullahan, accompanied by dozens of wraiths swirling noisily around them.

This was a real undead army, one that couldn’t be stopped with just flaming arrows and oil.

Rustle, rustle—

As the army of death passed, fallen bodies rose again, joining the ranks as soldiers.

By the time the army reached the fortress, their numbers had doubled.

The liches pointed their bony fingers at the fortress.

Screeeeech—

With a deafening shriek, the undead soldiers charged toward the fortress.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Skeleton soldiers led the zombie troops in a full-on assault.

Leo signaled to prepare the flaming arrows once more.

But then, something unexpected happened.

Rustle, rustle, rustle—

A red aura enveloped the approaching skeletons and zombies, and suddenly, they halted.

Clatter, clatter, clatter!

The skeletons chattered their jawbones noisily, shaking their bodies.

Then, they abruptly turned and began marching back to where they came from.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

As the skeletons and zombies moved away from the fortress, the liches shrieked again.

Yet the skeletons ignored them, continuing to march forward.

When they faced the army of death again, their eyes glowed red.

Crunch!

The skeletons began attacking each other with their bone swords.

Groooaaaar!

The zombies also turned on the other undead, preventing them from approaching the fortress.

Leo and Daria, watching from the wall, were stunned by the unexpected turn of events.

“What… what on earth is happening?”

Then Leo noticed something.

A mesmerizing woman in a red dress hovered in the air, her hands raised, emitting a crimson aura.

It was the blood magic of a Royal Vampire, a noble of the demon realm.

The Vampire Queen, Carmilla, had appeared on the battlefield.