The Song of the Crouched Flame regarded Prince Leo and said,
"Are you the prince?"
Prince Leo nodded in response to the dignified tone of the Song of the Crouched Flame.
"Yes. But why are the Zoin Tribe...?"
"It was at Zeke Draker's request."
Prince Leo's eyes widened at the Song of the Crouched Flame's mention of Zeke Draker's request.
'Zeke Draker sent reinforcements in the form of the Zoin Tribe?'
He could understand why Zeke Draker, who had supported the reclamation of the Rom Empire and put him and Carus at the forefront, would send reinforcements.
However, it was hard to easily accept that the empire had sent the Zoin Tribe, who harbored grudges against it, as reinforcements.
The Song of the Crouched Flame also seemed uninterested in chatting long with the prince. He quickly donned his helmet again and turned toward the ramparts.
Kugugugu!
Blue flames erupted from the back of the armor worn by the Song of the Crouched Flame, propelling him into the sky.
He hurled explosive javelins toward the advancing monsters alongside the other Zoin Tribe warriors.
Kwakwakwang!
Explosions from the Zoin Tribe warriors' javelins echoed everywhere.
The armor they wore was an ancient relic of the Skyfolk that Zeke had excavated, and the spears were newly developed modifications of the Dark Elves' weapons he had retrieved from the Inverted Tower.
The combination of the Skyfolk powered suit and the Dark Elf spears doubled their power, allowing a small number of them to halt the monster horde's advance.
As he watched the Zoin Tribe warriors take to the skies once more to block the monster horde, Leo finally regained his composure.
He stood from his seat and shouted to the knights and soldiers who stared in stunned silence.
"While the reinforcements hold them off, reorganize the unit!"
Hearing Leo's voice, Daria Calvi snapped out of her daze as well.
Following his orders, she began issuing commands to her subordinates.
"Teams 1 and 2, secure the ramparts! Team 3, evacuate the wounded inside the fortress! Team 4, retrieve supplies!"
The reinforcements injected much-needed vitality into Thermo Fortress.
The relief that they hadn't been abandoned, and the hope that they might survive and return home, spurred them back into action.
But the monster legion soon adapted to the Zoin Tribe warriors' explosive javelins, splitting into smaller groups for their advance.
This allowed those behind to dodge the blasts and continue forward even if the front lines were caught in explosions.
Watching this from the air, the Song of the Crouched Flame fired a signal flare.
Paaaang!
Smoke rose into the sky.
Immediately, something charged in from the flank.
Dudududu!
Hundreds of ironclad centaur warriors rushed toward the monsters.
"Sweep them away!"
With thunderous roars, the centaur warriors raised their colossal cleavers and mowed down the monsters.
Pukeok!
The massive cleavers cleaved the monsters in two with a single stroke.
The monster legion, struck from the side, began to crumble rapidly.
Splitting up to avoid the javelins had backfired against the centaur warriors' assault.
Kwaddud!
The centaurs freely swung their colossal cleavers and fired arrows, ravaging the monster legion.
In response, the Dark Mages controlling the monsters from the rear panicked and tried to regroup them.
At that moment, the airborne Zoin Tribe unit seized the opportunity and unleashed another volley of javelins.
Kwakwakwang!
The monsters caught in the explosions shattered into pieces without even a scream.
As the monsters fell into chaos, the Song of the Crouched Flame fired another signal into the sky.
This time, it was for the centaurs and Crostel's beastmen: do not pursue the enemy and return.
It was crucial to prevent the hot-blooded races from getting carried away in excitement.
Fortunately, they heeded the signal and turned back toward the fortress.
Thanks to their aid, the crisis had been averted for now.
With the battlefield in a temporary lull, Leo and Daria focused on treating the wounded knights and soldiers and allowing them to rest.
The reinforcements Zeke had sent brought not only troops but also ample supplies, including antibiotics from Feynen Pharmaceuticals and nagaze potions.
Infection was what claimed the most lives on the battlefield.
The antibiotics from Feynen Pharmaceuticals could dramatically increase survival rates for the injured, making them a welcome addition.
As he oversaw the treatment of the wounded, Leo finally caught his breath.
But the real problem loomed with the approaching night.
'How do we handle the army of death led by the undead...?'
What worried him were the corpses of the monsters slain in today's battle.
They were just lifeless bodies now, but when the army of death arrived at night, they too would rise as undead to assault the fortress.
At that moment, the Song of the Crouched Flame approached Leo, accompanied by other Western Allied Forces members.
As commander, Leo bowed deeply to the Western Allied Forces who had come to their aid.
"Without you, this fortress would have fallen today, and all these soldiers would have perished. As your commander, I offer my deepest gratitude."
The Song of the Crouched Flame did not soften his stern expression at the prince's thanks.
He spoke slowly.
"Don't misunderstand. We didn't come to help the empire—we came to wipe out the
Narak bastards who captured our kin and subjected them to horrific experiments."
From the perspective of the Song of the Crouched Flame, who had long warred against the imperial forces over the Zoin Tribe ghetto issue, Prince Leo and the imperial troops at Thermo Fortress were far from welcome.
To them, Prince Leo and Castro Pollock were equally enemies of the empire.
However, bound by the Zoin Tribe's clear sense of obligation, they could not refuse Zeke's request, which was why they had joined the battle.
Moreover, Crostel's beastmen, a key pillar of the Western Allied Forces, could not defy Zeke's orders, bolstered by the enhanced influence of the Blood King's power.
Though not as ancient as the beast tribes, they inherited that lineage and thus could not fully escape the Blood King's dominion.
The prince flinched at the Western Allied Forces' lingering hostility, but for now, he was grateful even for this.
Casting aside his pride as prince, Leo addressed the Song of the Crouched Flame.
"We've somehow held off the monster horde with your help. But at night, the undead legion will return. With our current forces, it will be hard to stop the army of death."
The terror of the undead legion lay in how their numbers grew the longer the war dragged on.
Normally, forces dwindled in prolonged battles, but the undead legion was the opposite.
Whether allies or enemies fell, the undead soldiers never decreased in number.
At Leo's words, the Song of the Crouched Flame snapped his beak shut with a click.
Then, without a word, he turned away.
"Our role ends here."
With that, the Western Allied Forces returned to their camp.
Leo and Daria had nothing to say about their attitude.
It seemed the Western Allied Forces had no special counter for the undead legion either, so Leo and Daria focused on bolstering their defenses.
Even so, all they could do was temporarily patch the broken ramparts and prepare as many fire arrows and ignitable oil as possible for the undead.
And so, night fell once more.
Leo and Daria climbed the ramparts with tense expressions, gazing out from the fortress.
A chilling aura permeated the once-quiet battlefield.
Tsutsutsutsu—
Suddenly, the fallen corpses on the field began to rise one by one.
Grrraaaah—
Emitting eerie groans, the corpses shambled toward the fortress.
Gritting his teeth at the sight, Leo shouted to the soldiers.
"The undead are coming! Fire the fire arrows at them!"
Knights and soldiers alike, without distinction of archers, grabbed crudely made longbows, lit their arrows, and loosed them at the undead.
Pishushushuk!
Hundreds of fire arrows embedded in the approaching undead.
Grrraaaah!
The undead struck by the fire arrows continued toward the ramparts, flames and all.
Seeing this, Daria yelled to the soldiers.
"Pour the oil!"
The soldiers scooped oil from cauldrons with ladles and doused the flaming undead.
The oil ignited, engulfing the undead in flames.
Keeeeeek—
The fully incinerated undead could no longer move.
Under Leo and Daria's command, the knights and soldiers burned the approaching undead with fire, halting their advance.
They managed to hold out somewhat effectively, but then something emerged from the enemy lines.
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!
It wasn't just reanimated corpses—the true skeleton legion, clad in armor and wielding weapons, advanced.
Leo clenched his fist at the sight of thousands of skeletons.
"Damn it..."
A dullahan led the skeleton legion.
A lich hovered in the air and assisted the dullahan, commanding dozens of wraiths that swirled noisily around them.
The real undead legion, impervious to mere fire arrows and oil, had arrived.
Tsutsutsutsu—
As the army of death passed, the fallen corpses rose again as zombie soldiers, following in their wake.
The thousands-strong force had doubled by the time they neared the fortress.
The hovering lich raised bony fingers toward the fortress.
Kaaaaak—
With a deafening screech, the undead soldiers charged.
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!
The skeleton soldiers led the zombie troops in their assault on the fortress.
Leo signaled to prepare more fire arrows.
But then— Tsutsutsutsutsu—
A red energy settled over the skeletons and zombies, halting their advance abruptly.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
The skeletons rattled their jawbones noisily, shaking their bodies erratically.
Then, they suddenly turned and marched back toward their original position.
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!
As the skeletons and zombies moved away from the fortress, the lich screeched again.
But the skeletons ignored them, marching straight ahead.
When they encountered the army of death once more, their eyes gleamed red.
Kwadduduk!
The skeletons attacked the other skeletons with their bone swords.
Grrraaaah!
The zombies turned on the other undead, blocking their path to the fortress.
From the ramparts, Leo and Daria gaped at the unexpected turn.
"W-What in the world...?"
That's when Leo spotted something.
A captivating woman in a red dress floated in the air, raising her hands and pouring out red energy.
It was the blood magic of a royal vampire, a noble of the Demon Realm.
The Vampire Queen Carmilla had appeared on the battlefield.