Temporary respite

The Knights of Alcove were able to deal with a first wave with only one of their companions turning.

They only have a few moments of respite and now another wave is coming their way.

Aliester wheezed while glaring at the upcoming onslaught.

Based on the map, the undead were about a few yards away from the gate.

'It may take a while for this horde to invade the mansion.' he thought. 'But Sir Mephisto is right. We might not make it in time to escape. Especially if we are dealing with a huge number.'

Aliester could not do the exact head count. The ones shown on the map were limited to more than thirty red dots. The ones that may be hiding inside the forest were not yet counted and shown.

'Zarame, are there still others?' he asked.

[Answer: I could widen the search. But with your abnormal status, it may take a toll on your body.]

Aliester knew that this is not a time for him to be weakened. He shouldn't take the risk. 'if that is the case, can you give me a rough estimate?'

[Answer: They are more or less a hundred, master.]

Aliester almost fainted at the number.

Taking a calming breath, Aliester looked at his companions. 'We are greatly outnumbered.'

Since fragments of the original had been given to him, he had recalled several information.

They had been on the run for more than eighteen months already. His father had given him several of their trusted knights so that he could escape.

When they flee, they were more than fifty knight escorts. But only eighteen months have gone by and they are down to fifteen.

"If this keeps up, I do not think we can survive…" he mumbled. "Good thing they are slow… these are only walkers…"

Since the enemies were not yet able to reach the gate, the knights made another makeshift barricade to deter the attack.

Terrano, one of the younger knights of whom Aliester had gotten acquainted with, erected an earth wall to serve as barrier.

"This will only be temporary." Terrano said while color drained from his face. "It will not last until the next day."

"Stop pushing your self." Aliester said as he motioned to Euclide to support Terrano.

"Most of us could not use any of our affinity due to the Queen's curse." Euclide said while leading the younger knight to a chair. "We have to preserve whatever energy we have left and rely only on our swordsmanship and combat skills."

After blocking the doors and windows in the first floor, they moved upstairs to regroup and plan out.

"Why is there such a huge horde?" Mephisto asked.

"I think there is a swamp nearby and a mass graveyard. Most of the corpse must have come from there." Ertz answered.

Aliester had interjected out of turn. "But aren't the bodies supposed to have decomposed by then especially if they had been dead for years?"

The knights just looked like Aliester as if he was odd.

As a shut in, he felt very uncomfortable to be the center of attention.

Nevertheless, Aliester realized that he had thought of it on the scientific way. And it was confirmed when Zarame explained.

[Information: Regardless of the state of the cadaver if they are being called by a lich or any dark caster, they will turn into an undead. Even skeletons can be summoned if the lich or caster wishes it.]

Ertz further informed.

"The curse did not only affect the Capital. It had gradually spread to these parts. A year ago, several townspeople had started disappearing until the number of people had dwindled over time."

"It was reported that a good part of the population had died from the dark curse and turned." Euclide shared.

"Which meant that there would be a huge horde of undead in these parts." Mephisto concluded.

"But why would they attack now? We have been here for more than two weeks." one of the knights asked.

"A pursuer must have discovered our whereabouts and used a dark caster instead of the usual mercenaries." another answered.

Aliester zoned out of their conversation and decided to confront the system.

'Zarame, isn't this quest counted as a tutorial?'

[Answer: Yes.]

'Aren't we supposed to deal with only a handful of undead? But why do we need to confront such a huge horde?'

[Answer: the number of enemies is beyond my control. Especially if a lich or a necromancer is involved. They have a mind of their own, except for a few who are under the Queen's command.] Zarame answered.

Before Aliester could open his mouth, Zarame added.

[Regarding the tutorial... it is a means for you to hone your skills. It did not say that you only get to deal with just a number of enemies.]

'What the?! This is truly a scam! The undead is certainly low leveled… but the numbers are outrageous! Is this tutorial on hard mode? If the game is like this, no one will buy it!' he complained.

[Reminders: master, in case you have forgotten it, this isn't a game this is real life.]

Aliester cursed. But he forced himself to calm down.

'If my companions die they will turn into undead, so I need to figure out a way to ensure that all of us will survive.' He mused.

The young man recalled game information from his past life and shared it with Zarame.

'If these zombies are made through viral infection, they could be easily killed by an anti-virus or by simply destroying their brains…'

[Master, these undead are products of dark magic. There is definitely a source and that must be killed.] came Zarames's response.

'That's true. We could have targeted the lich or necromancer, but we do not know where it is.' Aliester said. 'Besides, we could not waltz outside and look for that caster with all the undead being spread in the vicinity.'

[I can search for it but it will take a toll on you.]

'I got a feeling that we don't need to search. If this enemy's target is me. It will be the one to come and find me.' Came Aliester's conclusion.

'My concern centers on that horde. Magical attack may not work with most magically revived undead. Severing the heads with their blades worked well.'

'However, we could not keep up all night.' Aliester sighed with frustration. 'If the horde will keep coming then all of us will give in to exhaustion… and die.'

The knights were still trying to come up with their plans but Aliester was stuck in his own world.

'I have lightning affinity.' Aliester recalled the character sheet. 'I can fry their brains, but I don't know if the current will be enough to take down corpse that got animated through magic.'

He dejectedly thought. 'Besides, I am cursed and still suffering from that abnormal status like the others.'

"I don't think any of the knights can use holy magic." Aliester was surprised when his companions looked at him.

"Unfortunately, none of us can us holy affinity, young master." Mephisto said. "We are knights, not priests."

Ertz chimed in. "Although, I am a healer, I could only use healing but not holy magic. You are thinking of purification, aren't you?"

Aliester nodded.

The others also knew that if they have someone who could counter that dark arts by using the light magic or the holy attribute, they would be able to get out of this ordeal unscathed.

Aliester gave up on the plan of purifying the undead. So, he focused on the ones they could use to assault.

"We do have others who could use other elements but due to the curse we have limited usage." Ertz provided.

Aliester sighed. 'I can think of ways to kill the horde without risking the lives of the knights in close combat but we don't have guns. Bullets laced with holy power may work but then I would still need a gun.'

Zarame cut in. [Information: Guns are yet to be made in this realm but if you are thinking about bullets, then there is…]

'Huh?!!!' Aliester was a bit surprised at the information.

[Mana bullet… and you can make it despite having that abnormal status that you have.]

'What?!' Aliester inwardly exclaimed. 'You should have told me earlier!'