Maria and the scout team arrived at the dominion of the former Mercenary City of Melu’er and saw the dark city from afar. Just from looking at the menacing aura that the city exuded and the ominous changes that were visible from afar, the Scout Team’s Captain, Richard, decided that the team shouldn’t move any closer. He only had a gut feeling that the distance they were at right now was the safest and he was right about that.
If they had moved any closer, the zombie mobs that weren’t in Lifestealer Calen’s control would emerge from underneath the ground and start attacking them en masse. For the Scout Team, whose average level was only 65 to 70, they wouldn’t be able to survive the undead onslaught.
Richard had the team set up camp on a hill that was overlooking the city from a safe distance and Maria was setting up her own tent at the moment. Thankfully, the scout team had brought a few spares just in case, so it wasn’t too difficult for them to lend her one.
Naturally, none of them knew that Maria was actually a woman, so this was good for her. She didn’t want to sleep in the same tents as all the other men nor did she want to just sleep outside, which she thought would most likely happen.
When Maria had first tried pitching her tent during the team’s first night on the road, she failed miserably because she had never set up a tent before, so she didn’t know what she was doing. She had to observe the others setting up their tents before she tried it out herself, but it was still difficult. Out of sympathy, a few of the team members helped her out. They sort of understood where Rio was coming from, especially after they heard the tragic backstory Maria had concocted for him.
They felt sympathetic, but at the same time, admired his resolve to seek vengeance even when he had to travel back to the place where he, unfortunately, lost his parents. He wasn’t just staying at the refugee camp and lamenting about his misfortune like most of the others there, but he was actively trying to make an effort to seek his revenge, yet he was still a young kid. It was a vain hope to consider that this young boy would even be able to enact his revenge, but it was still pretty admirable.
Some of the others on the team thought that Rio was still too young and naïve to even consider revenge, but it couldn’t be helped, since he was just a kid after all. Once everyone finished setting up the camp, the scout team’s vice-captain came over to Richard and asked, “Captain, we’ve set up the camp. Should we move in and do some reconnaissance?”
“No, we should rest a bit first. We took a few days to get here and I’m sure everyone is still exhausted. Set up a perimeter and start allocating the watch shifts. I’ll take up the first shift along with the kid,” Richard said as he walked over to Rio.
Maria had just finished setting up her tent when she noticed that Richard was now looming over her. She turned around and greeted him, “Hello, Captain. Do you need something, sir?”
Her mannerism had completely changed and she was acting cold and detached, which was befitting of Rio’s character.
“We’re taking the first shift, so get ready.”
“Yes, sir.”
After having her helmet taken off the first time when she was captured, Maria never took it off after that because she wanted to continue recording, but Rio had explained that he wouldn’t take his helmet off until he got his revenge. Richard and Rio were taking the first watch shift while the others were resting when something unexpected happened.
The gates to the Dark Citadel had opened and a large army of shadows and undead began pouring out of them. This immediately attracted the attention of Richard, who was observing the city from afar, and the other members of the scout team. The loud sounds of the gates opening and the marching that came after were just too noticeable for anyone to miss. When the scout team saw the massive army of shadows and undead, their faces visibly paled in fright.
“My god…is this the dark army that took over the city?”
“This is crazy! Do you see the size of that army?”
“...Who cares about the size? The most important question is where is it going?”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Richard didn’t even need to do any further reconnaissance or investigation because what was happening in front of him was all the proof he needed to give to Dor’ian’s City Lord that would confirm the information the survivors of Melu’er had given to them.
“We’re leaving. Now!” Richard ordered.
They had only set up camp but they needed to leave everything behind and go back. It was urgent that they return right away to confirm the information that the city lord received as well as give him new information about the dark army’s movements.
Maria had already given Morte and Calen the order to start mobilizing their armies to attack the city that she was previously staying at earlier, Dor’ian. So Maria didn’t show any surprise, but what happened next did surprise her, however.
“C-Captain! There’s something wrong!” The vice-captain yelled as the ground beneath them began to shake.
The dark army wasn’t headed their way, so the shaking was extremely abnormal. Everyone in the party pulled out their weapons and grouped together into formation as they waited to see what was happening. Maria did the same, readying her shield and sword, but instead of looking around like the others did, she turned her attention to the oddly shaking earth and smirked.
‘Ah, so it’s the zombie mobs. I guess they were buried underneath this hill as well. Judging by all the shaking, there seems to be a lot of them too! Good job, Calen.’
She inwardly praised Calen for the meticulously hidden placement of the zombie mobs as she didn’t expect this to happen, but she was extremely cheerful because what was to happen next was definitely going to be good footage for her video. A rotten hand shot out from underneath the ground and latched onto one of the scout team members.
“What the–Ahh!”
Even though she didn’t want to, Maria quickly moved her body and slipped in between everyone else before swinging her sword down on the rotten hand. She severed the hand quite cleanly and helped the entangled scout team member.
“T-Thanks!”
Maria, or rather Rio, didn’t stop there. He raised his sword and plunged it deep into the ground. After he heard a muffled groan come from the ground and black ooze seeping out from the earth, he pulled his sword back out before getting back into a defensive stance as he paid careful attention to the ground.
Richard saw what Rio had done and immediately yelled, “Careful, they’re coming from underneath us! Be careful of where you’re standing!”
The captain nodded at Rio in acknowledgment, who completely ignored him and began looking for another target to swing his sword at. Richard didn’t take offense and only let out a smirk after seeing that Rio was true to his character and goal. He was really intrigued by Rio’s reaction and his technique from earlier.
The kid had noticed the zombie's arm latch onto someone’s leg even amidst all the shaking. Then there were his agile movements as he weaved through the crowd of people and then the sword swing that he performed right after. It was so precise that even Richard couldn’t believe it. If Rio was an amateur, swinging his sword in a crowd like that was extremely dangerous as he could accidentally hit one of his allies.
‘His parents are B-rank mercenaries, so I guess he should have some skill at least.’
That was the only justifiable reason that Richard could come up with after seeing all of that unfold. He couldn’t contemplate it any longer because the zombies underground began emerging from the soil and were now attacking his team members, so he had to rally and lead them out of this.
“Everyone, head to the horses! We have to get out of here right now!”
Richard made a sound judgment after seeing the situation they were currently in. If they continued to stay there to fight these zombies, they’d exhaust themselves and eventually be overwhelmed by the monsters whose numbers were continuously increasing as more and more emerged from underneath the earth.
“Captain, a few of the zombies got to them! There isn’t enough for everyone to ride!” the vice-captain yelled after seeing that a few of their horses had been killed by the zombies.
“A single horse should be able to carry at least two of us! Everyone, get on a horse and take someone with you! We have to break out of this!”
“Yes sir!”
Maria heard what Richard was saying but as her character, Rio, she couldn’t possibly listen to the captain when Rio’s enemies were right in front of him. She continued to run around the battlefield, hacking and slashing all of the zombies that appeared in a frenzy.
“Rio! Stop!”
She could hear Richard call out to her but she purposefully didn’t listen and continued to attack the zombies, killing them in a few furious hits. Even though she tried to make her attacks as amateurish as possible, it was still hard for her to let go of her habits.
Some of her attacks cleanly cleaved apart a zombie in two and this was done with a weapon of questionable quality. Of course, Maria’s stats largely contributed to her overwhelming might but from an outsider’s perspective, this was all done out of madness, so as impressive as it seemed, it still just looked like a kid throwing a tantrum and wielding his sword around.
Maria didn’t stop until Richard appeared next to her and tried to knock her out by hitting the back of her neck, but unfortunately, that part of herself was covered by her armor and even if he did hit her there, she’d hardly even feel it. Out of ‘madness’, Maria swung her blade back, thinking that it was a zombie that attacked her and allowed Richard to catch her arm.
“Kid, snap out of it! I know these are your parents’ enemies, but you have to stop fighting! We’re leaving right now or else we’ll all die!”
“!”
The expression on Richard’s angry face caught Maria off guard but she was delighted to see it. She made sure that all of it was captured on her recording before she allowed herself to be pulled away by the man. With Rio’s rampage, a lot of the zombies had been killed and a path through the zombie wave had been opened.
“Go!”
Richard hoisted Maria over his shoulder and jumped onto his horse. Maria was thrashing around not as Rio but as herself because this was the first time she had been manhandled like that. Her subsequent reactions were how she truly felt, though she didn’t try to hit Richard or else with her strength, she might knock him out or worse, topple him off of the horse.
“Let go! Let go!”
“Shut up kid! You need to calm down! Don’t lose your life here in vain!”
“Ahh!”