Chapter 39
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"Lhorne. Any warning?" Lily asked Lhorne as we rode across the field with Joseph leading the way.
Unlike the march toward the undeath, the field was green as we rode across the beautiful savanna. My tail was waving in the air as the wind blew gently on it. The breeze caressed my fur with its gentle touch.
"There is nothing of note regarding the humans. The fortress is there. We just needed to see it and then went back. We must warn the command if the fort seems to have more soldiers than expected." Joseph added in.
"Whoa, you guys can speak like that? As expected, a tailfolk leader is better!" Jona smiled. "That's the human fortress! Let's watch it a bit, then go back!"
Jona was amused that Joseph interrupted Lhorne and me, but he received no reprimand from Lily. I guess only the long-lived elves had a stuck-up way of living with their OCD decorations and rigid structure.
"What the heck." Jona and Joseph muttered. The sky was dark above the fortress. Numerous skeletons were seen on the battlefield.
"I see. This explained why there was no follow-up attack the day before." Joseph smiled
"Joseph, what do you mean?"
"It means the undead switched its target to this fort instead."
"Can they summon these armies at will? We killed more than a thousand yesterday!" Lhorne shouted
"Yes. I think so. They can summon these kinds of armies every day for two weeks straight before going into a lull for a month or more. That's why we summoned Saint Edelweiss here, as there was an accident that led to many injuries several days ago." Jona answered.
"Vargmuth, I presumed?" Joseph asked
"Yup. Those vargmuth variants could climb walls as if it was stairs. If there were none of them, we could just pepper the undead with burning oil and fire magic." Jona said.
"I wonder if that fortress could hold…." Lily wondered.
"Good thing if they don't! ah, now that we were here, how about if we attack the fort with the undeath?" Joseph asked while laughing.
"Good idea!" Horn answered.
"We should wait after the undeath was defeated! If we don't, they will attack us instead, dummy!" Sisca shouted at Horn.
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"I am merely speaking in jest, gentlemen. There is no way those brainless skeletons would consider us allies, and besides, those apes seem like they will lose soon enough without our help."
"So, what are we going to do, Lord Lily?" Lhorne asked while Lily just watched the fortress.
The fort was in bad shape, the walls were almost empty, and many skeletons were climbing the ladders they brought and climbing the walls. Some Vargmuth was seen rampaging on top of the walls. I felt pity as I saw humans were devoured and killed by the skeletons and vargmuth. But I knew these humans deserved it.
Lily just stared at it as if contemplating something. A mix of emotions raced through me, indicating she was fighting some mental trauma despite her calm demeanor. She finally raised her hands and shouted to her scouting party.
"Let's help them!" Lily shout. "I will cast a wide area of magic and kill those zombies. Meanwhile, watch out for ambushes from any archers or undeath knights!"
"Wait? Help humans?!" Joseph shouted." That's treason!!"
"Why? Are you mad?" The rest of the party shouted in denial. They obviously didn't want to help our enemies. While I felt a pang of guilt when looking at the humans, I have to agree with our party here.
"Lily, why?"
"There might be tailfolk slaves there. We will save them!" Lily shouted. She was answering both the group and me. The group was reluctant, but they still followed Lily regardless.
"Shiro. Cast a spell!" Lily ordered.
"Are we really doing this?" I asked her while pondering. She must have realized my distaste for helping the enemy.
"Yes. We will save the tailfolk there!" Lily shouted.
"Okay!" As her tail, I will support her. This will clear up the pang of guilt in my heart, and if they betray us again, we can still blaze out from here. They shouldn't be in any shape to battle.
"Firestorm!" I didn't cast the fire dragon but gathered countless fireballs and rained upon the battlefield, setting them ablaze. The low-level skeletons went up in smoke quickly as the fire consumed them.
Mana: 50%
It consumed less mana than I initially thought. Now that the field was clear, Lhorne sniped the Vargmuth that was rampaging on the wall. We ran to the ladder the skeletons had put up to climb the walls. I watched as we went up and fired fireballs at anything approaching us. Some of the Vargmuth raced to us at the top, but Joseph and Jona kicked its butt, and the fort was safe.
"We are safe!" Soldiers cheered on top of the walls. I watched several dead tailfolk before us. Their fate was clear. They were used as meat shields for these humans. Lily could only nod down in sadness as tears went down her cheeks.
"I am so grateful! I thought we would be dead there. May I know your lord? Are you guys a hidden slave of Lord Neger?" A knight went to us, and before he started talking any further, Lily trusted her sword beside his neck.
"Do you have other slaves in this fort?" She asked coldly. Regret for not being able to save her kin permeated me.
"Huh? Wait, no collar?" The captain now knew his life hung in the balance, shouted, and ran, but Lhorne tripped him while Joseph drew his sword and tried to behead the knight.
"Stop! Let him answer first. What is your name? If you want to live, answer me!" Lily shouted in rage. This is the first time I see hatred in her eyes. Her hands trembled as she held herself back from decapitating the man herself.
"T-There are five serfs, two more beasts, and two elves! M-my name is Isaac." The knights stuttered as he answered.
"Lily, let me…." I tried to ease her pain by killing the man myself, but she shook her head.
"No, we will honor our promise. Bring us to the elves and the tailfolk. Call them tailfolk from now on unless you want your tongue decapitated!" Lily shouted.
We were then brought inside the fort by the knight.