"Hold your weapons steady! Long as they cannot pass us, we will win this war." Mel, the man I gave the command of our infantryman, is doing his best to keep morale up.

 

But even though he tries his best to do that, the truth is simple. We stepped into a trap. A trap that feels so random, yet so spot-on, a trap no one will wait to happen.

 

We cannot simply retreat right now because the enemy already circled us from every direction, and another large group of infantry is coming for their aid.

 

The best we can do, or at least hope to do, is fend them off while our support handles them with rockets and bolts.

 

But our enemy is smart enough to hold their cavalry from attacking us. And at the same time, their infantry slowly advances from the backline, and I assume, when their infantry arrives, they will charge and hunt anyone who got out from the formation.

 

"And I didn't want to use these, well, even after our brave breakthrough and surprise attacks, they somehow saw our moves."

 

Wait? Why did they even hide their cavalry and archers in the first place? Why not use your might to scare us and use your archers to suppress our support fire.

 

I don't think of a single rational way for the enemy commander to guess my plan. Maybe he can see the future, there is magic in this world, or I am getting stabbed from the back. Again!

 

For the victory, I need to do something. "Everyone, stand your ground." Let's change the tides with something they do not expect.

 

I wanted to keep my most powerful machines of war away from this battle. Hollows, the abominations of the deep, but I could not see a single way of escaping from our current situation.

 

Even a single Hollow could destroy the enemy by itself right now, but I and the whole fortress will turn into a much more serious threat if they see Hollow fighting on our lines, and that could mean drawing too much attention to ourselves.

 

But for now, I must sacrifice the future.

 

I raise my hand to the air. "Control Undead. I call my faithful servant into the battle."

 

I can sense its response. Yes, my lord, it says, and I can feel it slowly moving away from the construction job given to it. It runs towards us at a speed that matched nothing I had ever seen with four legs.

 

"Monster! Run for your lives." An enemy soldier began screaming as the footsteps of a giant shook the earth.

 

Then it leaped out from the gates connecting the surface to depths that no man saw.

 

"From the deepest part of the hell, I brought one of my loyal followers. The abomination of the Empire, go out and feast!" I pointed my sword toward the enemy.

 

So the giant beast, made out of flesh and semi-living human corpses infused into its body, charged to the enemy lines, devouring what it catches and flattening what it smashes.

 

Earth shakes as it steps, and a sound that suppresses thunders makes screams of help from the enemy worthless as they only blend with the sound.

 

Sadly, both cavalry and archers escaped from the battlefield as Hollow stepped outside. Their escape will most likely cause more problems in the future.

 

I moved towards an undevoured corpse and lifted it from the ground to see what equipment our enemy gave to their soldiers.

 

Do they have steel armor and weapons like us, or is it different than ours, maybe cheaper, maybe better? I want to know, and I will right now.

 

"Cheapest armor you could find with a weapon that wouldn't even take weapons smith five minutes to make. I don't know who, but someone sent all these men to die."

 

I dropped the corpse, and it hit the ground and lifted some dust when it touched the ground.

 

"Well, what do you expect, they didn't train these men to be soldiers, but rather volunteers collected from villages." Mel's sudden appearance scared me a little, but not that much.

 

"Just how many populations every village posses, throwing thousands of man like nothing is not every kingdom could afford." Ancient and medieval Asian armies possessed great numbers, but these numbers are too much even for modern standards.

 

"No, maybe not every kingdom, especially with all the small ones ruled by smaller royalties, but these numbers are relatively low considering how much is probably fighting on the main field right now."

 

I turn towards Mel with a surprised face. "But why? Why so many people are getting sacrificed?"

 

Mel raised his hands. "Hey, I am also against countless deaths, but when every household gives at least twelve to thirteen children, and these grow into adults fifteen years later, you need a way to control the population. Even though it is too cruel."

 

"Understandable." I suppose magic decreases the number of child deaths and increases food production while increasing the speed of growth, but people of this world steel breeds like crazy.

 

That's enough knowledge. I have much more significant problems than the vast population of this world. I showed my enemy that I possess a much grander threat than they think I do, and now the next army waiting at our gates will be a stronger one.

 

But look to the bright side. There are thousands of corpses lying around, ready to reinforce both our armed forces and workforce after their short process of revival, only if I can stop my Hollow from eating all of them.

 

"You! Stop, you ate enough already." I began shouting to stop Hollow, but the abomination devoured two more corpses before stopping.

 

"Well, you kind of deserved that." Now, the corpses are safe. It is time to see the situation of my soldiers.

 

I turned to my back and saw my troops cheering around Hollow. Abomination killed hundreds of seconds before, but now it is standing steel like a statue.

 

"Mel, go join them and drink something. I will raise the dead enemies meanwhile." As in the town, I started gathering corpses in a single place.

 

Mel grabbed a corpse and began dragging it with me. "Well, I can help too. You will gain extra time with that."

 

I stopped dragging and touched Mel on the shoulder. "Thank you, friend, but I have a much more important task to give you, go jump on that Wyvern and search the enemy siege camp. They might have left their supplies and plans there."

 

"That will be even better. On it, you can trust me." Mel hastily left my side and began running towards the Wyvern.

 

But Fionnlagh was stubborn and didn't allow Mel to ride him, so I needed to intervene.

 

"Listen to this man's order, for now, my flying friend." I grabbed Fionnlaghs head. "Okay, buddy?"

 

Wyvern nodded and allowed Mel to climb on his back, then flew away towards the enemy siege camp.

 

"Now, I can deal with those." I returned to gathering corpses in one place.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"General Leonard." A soldier suddenly entered a large room.

 

Inside, several men, who are supporters of General Leonard and some of the influential people in the North, and on a corner, a woman watches everything with a sinister smile.

 

"Sorry, gentleman, I might need to hear that, but let me have that moment." General Leonard pulled out his favorite pipe and began smoking it. "Go on, give me the results."

 

Poor soldier, shocked by the General's relaxed attitude, started speaking. "Sir, I couldn't find any words to describe it, but we lost."

 

"What!" General threw his pipe away. "How! I want every detail."

 

The soldier began sweating, his face lost colors because of fear, but he still talked. "I don't have many details, sir, but it appears that necromancer is a bigger threat than we thought he is."

 

Leonard roared. "I am capable of understanding that, you moron! Details, give me the details. Don't we already have a man inside? Don't you guys ambush his troops? Did an army twenty times larger than they lost the battle?"

 

"Sir, it appears that our necromancer can control some creatures that far surpass our expectations, and the prisoners call him The Lich King instead."

 

Leonard stumbled and barely managed to sit on a chair. "From all of that timing, why does that need to appear. Couldn't gods wait for five more years? But no, that's only part of their divine plan. I will overcome that too."

 

A man, wearing a four-piece suit, grabbed the poor soldier from the shoulders. "Well, boy, tell me what valuable assets I lost or what our enemy did lose?"

 

"I am dead." Poor soldier accidentally said his thoughts aloud.

 

"Don't worry about death, boy, it won't be you but that useless lord leading the armies, now details! Chop chop, be fast."

 

The soldier took a deep breath. "The one who calls himself the Lich King slaughtered all of our mages alone and, also almost no infantry managed to escape from the battlefield, but our archers and cavalry escaped without casualties."

 

Everyone inside the room stopped talking, except the poor soldier.

 

"It also seems that our enemy can control Hollows, Wyverns, Mud Walkers, and an unknown giant entity that possesses an inhumane strength also helps him. Our scouts also spotted an ally knight giving training to our enemies, and reports also say that every enemy soldier is equipped with steel armor from toe to head."

 

A chubby man with a top hat collapsed, and every man inside began thinking of a solution to their problem.

 

Then the woman watching everything from a corner stepped in. "My man did their job well, but you still failed. How cute, my dear. Now open your purses, and Lady will handle everything for you."