The Necromancer Who Was Despised - The Necromancer Who Was Despised chapter 268

I warned the two that there was no need to overexert themselves, but they had done so anyway, and they nodded in agreement.

Artina briefly explained that they had used an unexpected tactic, and since it was clear that they were targeting me, they had to return as quickly as possible.

“…We managed to block it in the end, though.”

I wasn’t saying that they didn’t need to overexert themselves in that situation.

Unlike the Dark Elves, who had separate guards and some undead, it was a situation where they could afford to use all their strength without worrying about the consequences.

After warning the two, I gave the order to clean up the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Entin’s unit, which had been deployed in the rear, approached us, accompanied by numerous corpses and supply-laden undead.

“The supply unit army.”

It seemed that Entin’s unit had clashed with them, and they had been heading towards us without rest, day and night.

However, it seemed that there were no strong opponents on the other side, as Entin’s unit had reportedly overwhelmed them with ease.

I had tracked down the last survivor and killed them.

I gathered all the plundered supplies, which made my already abundant resources even more plentiful.

I had received support from the start, and I had also plundered a significant amount from the neutral zone.

Since it was the Empire’s resources, I took them without hesitation.

I had accumulated so many resources that I could give some to the interspecies union as a gift later.

“It’s a frustrating situation for the Empire.”

The Empire hated the interspecies union the most.

If I were to supply the union with the Empire’s resources…

“I wonder if they wouldn’t turn against us.”

I thought about this as I finished cleaning up the battlefield and returned to the fortress.

In reality, since Rinin, who had been managing the area, had died, the neutral zone would be paralyzed for a while.

However, to prepare for any unexpected situations, I sent out Entin’s knights to scout and gather information.

Meanwhile, Tinus returned.

It had been four days since the battle ended.

“I thought you’d be back sooner.”

“There was something I had to check.”

“What was it?”

“That’s right.”

Honestly, I thought the Empire was in a dire situation, so I expected Tinus to return earlier.

That’s why I thought he’d be back in a day or two, and I was worried about what might have happened because he was late.

But it seemed there was no need to worry.

In fact, he brought good news.

The place he had checked separately was none other than the port.

“The soldiers are stationed there, it seems.”

It’s within the Empire’s territory, but not too far from the neutral zone. In fact, it’s right next door.

He was going to take care of it himself, but he came back to request support to clean it up more perfectly.

After all, the port isn’t going anywhere. There’s no need to reveal our true intentions.

“Then, do as you please.”

I readily handed over the undead stationed outside to Tinus, and he led them to the port, destroying it.

Even though there were soldiers stationed, it was my undead who had destroyed Rinin’s main force.

There was no reason they couldn’t take it down just because there were some soldiers.

Moreover, with my strongest warrior, Tinus, joining the battle, the outcome was already decided.

“With this, the front line is isolated.”

The Empire may have multiple ports, but the closest one is probably that one.

Since we can’t use the sea properly, the port itself is an enemy, and now it’s too late to try to supply them by sea.

All that’s left is to wait.

“I’d like to attack from behind, but…”

I had fought Rinin and suffered more damage than expected.

The final self-destructive attack had been quite large.

Because of that, I decided to focus on blocking the supply and retreat routes according to my original plan, instead of providing support.

Honestly, I didn’t expect it to be this easy. It’s unbelievable that they can’t even take this much.

Of course, they’re having a hard time, but it’s not like they’re not doing anything.

With the fortress as the center, I cleaned up the neutral zone and replaced the lost forces with other undead.

We had enough resources.

Most of them were imperial corpses, but it didn’t matter since we were going to use high-ranking undead anyway.

My role was to capture the messengers sent from the front lines where supplies were cut off.

Through them, I could gather some information about the current situation and easily find out that the empire’s situation was not good.

About two weeks.

It was the time it took for Rinne to die and the front lines to collapse.

Honestly, I thought it would take longer, but it’s clear that the interspecies alliance is strong.

The imperial forces stationed at the front lines were undoubtedly elite, but so was the interspecies alliance army.

The interspecies alliance, which had again set foot in the neutral zone, had nothing to fear.

They divided their troops and started to retake the lost neutral zone.

Since the front lines had collapsed, the rest were just remnants.

So, I made the bold decision to divide my troops, and some of them were assigned to work on restoring the supply routes.

The source was, of course, Liscios.

After the front lines collapsed, he began to contact the main army steadily, like a fish that had found water, and thanks to that, I also heard the news that Governor Adias was coming this way.

As the governor and an old acquaintance, I decided to specially greet him.

It was also a gesture of respect for an important ally.

When I met Adias again, his face was unusually serious.

It was impossible to say that it was the face of someone who had grabbed the opportunity to reclaim the neutral zone and even threaten the empire’s throat.

Thanks to that, our meeting was heavier than expected.

“Long time no see.”

I briefly nodded in agreement and exchanged simple greetings with the governor.

And then, without delay, Adias brought up an important topic.

“I’d like to share some gratitude and celebrate our reunion, but the situation is not good.”

“What do you mean the situation is not good?”

“The empire has abandoned the neutral zone.”

“What?”

Adias’ words were shocking.

From noble mtl dot net

The defeat of the 6 Kingdoms Alliance.

While we were reclaiming the neutral zone and killing Rinne and Master-grade Paladin Rierd, the empire’s main forces, along with the 2 Kingdoms Alliance, launched a surprise attack on the 6 Kingdoms Alliance, which was the worst news.

◈ Neutral Zone

The empire’s counterattack.

I thought I had dealt a significant blow to the empire’s rear, but they weren’t going to take it lying down either.

I thought they would try to disrupt the rear of the 6 Kingdoms, but I didn’t think they would choose a frontal breakthrough.

Of course, if you think about it, they were going to do both.

Rinne didn’t take action, so in reality, they were opening a path to attack the rear.

It’s just that I didn’t think the main army would directly attack the 6 Kingdoms through the 2 Kingdoms.

If the 2 Kingdoms were being pushed back, that would be one thing, but in a situation where they were holding their ground, I didn’t think there was a need to support them.

“Looks like it’s been decided.”

Watching the 6 Kingdom Alliance, which couldn’t even properly pierce the 2 Kingdom Empire, I thought they might have underestimated us and attacked.

From the results alone, the Empire’s choice was correct.

In reality, they defeated the 6 Kingdom Alliance Army.

As soon as I entered the fortress with Adjutant Adias, I demanded more information, and he readily shared all the intel he knew.

“It wasn’t just a defeat, but a crushing one…”

The Alliance’s main force was mostly scattered, and the damage was severe.

“The fact that most of our troops were mercenaries made the damage even worse.”

Despite making up the majority of the Empire’s forces, the mercenaries were unable to exert their strength against the Empire’s elite.

Especially since they actively used temporary strongholds, pushing the front line and creating a stalemate before building temporary strongholds in the middle of the battlefield.

Some mercenaries even fled in desperation, accelerating the collapse of the front line.

“The regular army and knights tried to hold their ground, but that only led to further damage.”

Even the mercenaries who kept their faith suffered greatly.

Adias said it would have been better to retreat immediately.

To fill the gaps left by those who fled, others had to move more, and in the process, even solid ground suddenly crumbled, taking away the chance to retreat.

By the time they chose to retreat, it was already too late.

In reality, it was closer to a rout than a retreat, Adias said.

The biggest damage occurred during the retreat, and the Alliance Army was scattered in all directions, which was the last news.

“By now, one of the kingdoms might be under attack. Maybe not just one.”

“…….”

That’s true.

“It’s even more surprising that the Empire didn’t suffer much damage…”

The most terrifying thing was that the Alliance lost many Masters and Mages.

Currently, they were scattered all over the place, and it was impossible to know how much more damage they suffered.

If things continued like this, the entire 6 Kingdom Alliance might fall into the Empire’s hands.

Considering their goal, the 6 Kingdom Alliance couldn’t afford to suffer any more damage.

And if the 6 Kingdom Alliance were to collapse, I and the Demon Alliance would have to face the Empire and the 2 Kingdom Empire alone… Even if we did, it would be too difficult.

There were two options here.

Either we joined forces with the Demon Alliance to attack the Empire or retreated and helped the 6 Kingdom Alliance.

The problem was that neither option was easy.

Firstly, attacking the Empire directly was impossible.

There were still remnants of the Empire’s forces in the neutral zone, and we couldn’t attack the Empire with them at our backs.

The problem was that dealing with those remnants couldn’t be done in a short amount of time.

The terrain of the neutral zone was complex.

Even the relatively safe supply route was blocked by me, so it would take even more time.

Of course, if we hadn’t done that, we wouldn’t have been able to pierce the neutral zone so easily, so there was no regret, but in our current situation, it had become a stumbling block.

That wasn’t the only problem.

The Empire’s homeland was not a temporary stronghold but a fully fortified stronghold, which was another issue.

In reality, many places had become permanent strongholds, and those were not easily breached.

It wasn’t that we had to quickly retake the neutral zone without a reason. If the key points here were completely seized, we would have to suffer enormous losses to retake this place.

At least, since the empire’s main force has gone out, there’s a possibility… but as I said before, the neutral zone is the problem.

‘It’s not that we can’t get support from the 6 Kingdoms Alliance…’

It would take just as much time.

We’d have to go back the way we came, and in the meantime, the 6 Kingdoms Alliance would continue to suffer losses.

Even after arriving, we’d have to gather the scattered allied forces, and they might have already reached a point where they couldn’t resist the empire’s army.

‘Of course, they’d try to gather on their own, but…’

They’d know that if they were scattered and attacked individually, it would be dangerous.

The empire would also know this, and wouldn’t easily allow the remnants of the 6 Kingdoms Alliance to gather.

Moreover, what I’m most worried about is something else.

‘The main forces of the 6 Kingdoms Alliance are… a considerable number of mercenaries.’

If we’re not careful, they might surrender to the empire and turn their swords against us.

Of course, not all of them would do that, but I’ve heard that there are those who fled during the previous battle.

It’s not strange at all for mercenaries, who are supposed to be trustworthy, to betray us.

‘At least, many of them are those who fought against the Goddess Sect in the civil war…’

At the same time, the 6 Kingdoms Alliance has been in conflict with the empire and the 2 Kingdoms for a long time, causing big and small conflicts.

It’s natural that the empire or the 2 Kingdoms would dislike mercenaries from the 6 Kingdoms Alliance, and the empire might expel them.

Looking at the situation, the empire has an advantage.

So, if they come to us, we could just kill them.

But on the other hand, we could also accept them and have them fight at the forefront, so the choice is theirs.

The problem is that even if we go to support the 6 Kingdoms Alliance, it might be meaningless in the current situation.

My military power may be comparable to that of a single kingdom, but it’s impossible to confront the empire and the 2 Kingdoms head-on.

It seems like my military power is stronger than that of a single kingdom, but in the end, I’d have to gather people separately to even try to resist the empire.

I was deeply troubled, and the prime minister opened his mouth.

‘As you’ve already guessed, even if the empire’s military power has decreased significantly, our alliance can’t attack the empire first.’

I knew that. From the start, this was an opportunity for our alliance.

An opportunity to completely take control of the neutral zone without the empire’s interference.

If we can’t take control of the neutral zone, we can’t attack the empire in the first place.

If that happens, our alliance would suffer the same fate as the empire.