Ankoku Kishi Monogatari ~Yuusha wo Taosu Tameni Maou ni Shoukansaremashita~

Chapter 128.1: Shield of Cats

◆Nekomimi Medjed, Kuroki

There was a huge black cloud atop the black pyramid, blocking the sunlight and creating eternal night.

I—in Medjed form—accompanied by Totona, cast my gaze down to look at the undead army below. This army had more than 40,000 troops, all lined up in the desert. I had no idea where those troops came from.

I was curious… Was it a stock they had or something, of dried up undead that they’d just submerge in hot water to inflate? I mean, almost all of the soldiers were mummies. If that was really the case, then I’d really like to see it in real time.

… Damn, now I have too much free time on my hands to think about such idiotic things.

Let’s reflect a little bit on that matter.

The mummy soldiers were standing in line, armed with shields and spears.

Their armament was really of poor quality.

Weapons aside, none of those mummy soldiers wore armor on their body.

They only wore clothes and helmets with a striped pattern.

Well, the mummy king Nephthys did wear metal armor, but it looked more like a flashy decoration rather than real armor.

Maybe they felt no need to wear armor since mummies were the kind of undead that were strong against physical attacks.

They could withstand a physical blow that would kill a normal living being.

That might be the reason why they didn’t wear any armor.

「Something seems to be amiss here, don’t you think so, Harsesh-sama? I can’t see the figure of the Serpent Prince at all.」

Isdes, the God of War, spoke while looking at the enemy formation.

The army of the enemy was standing in line in front of the black pyramid.

They were using an undead army too; not mummies though. Most of them were skeleton soldiers whose overall abilities were much weaker than mummies. Despite having the same number as us, they didn’t have chariot units or a mummy infantry unit.

Instead, their side had spectral knights, wraiths, or ghosts on which the mummies’ physical attacks were ineffective.

Though there was a light priest among the mummies—the kind of undead that could use light magic despite being undead—who could overpower wraiths and ghosts, they were hardly a match against spectral knights.

But, our side had Reiji.

He could easily obliterate any number of spectral knights.

In short, our opponent’s army wouldn’t be a match against us without their serpent prince.

But it didn’t equal us having no problem.

「That’s simply because he happens to be absent right, Isdes? If that’s the case, it’ll become more convenient for us. Let’s crush em!!」

The moment Harsesh said those words.

Pale light appeared in the sky above the black pyramid.

The light above the black pyramid then changed its form to a humanoid form.

That person was a red-haired woman with abnormally white skin and…

We had met a long time ago in the past.

「That’s the beloved daughter of the Death God!! The Goddess of Plague and Decay, Zafrada!!」

Harsesh shouted.

Yes, she was the Goddess of Plague and decay, Zafrada.

AKA the Plague Goddess.

Different from my world, the spread of diseases in this world involved some sort of ritual and magical power. That’s why even if the name of a disease was the same as the one that I know, it was fundamentally a different kind of disease.

In addition, the matter of a witch spreading diseases in this world wasn’t a mere superstition, it was the truth.

In fact, many plagues ended once the witch who spread the said plague was killed. This kind of plague was created intentionally by someone’s will, and Zafrada was the one who created black death in this world.

The diseases and plagues that she unleashed into this world had killed many humans, the kin of the Elios’ Gods.

And the huge image of Zafrada was floating in the air.

The Zafrada in the image then bowed elegantly.

「Welcome, O foolish beings of Gypseal. And my deepest gratitude for creating this pyramid for my dear fa-」

「LIGHT CANNON OF HEAVENLY MIGHT!!」

Reiji fired his strongest magic before Zafrada got the chance to finish her words. The light torrent fired toward the black pyramid, blasting the black pyramid for a few seconds before vanishing.

And yet, it couldn’t even leave a crack on the surface of the black pyramid. Maybe the black pyramid’s magic resistance was really high.

「Wait right there Reiji-kun!!」

「What are you talking about, Chiyuki? No need to wait for her to finish her words, right?」

Chiyuki, who stood beside Reiji, snapped at him. Everyone in this place was as shocked as her, myself included.

“As expected of Reiji-sanya~” That was what I felt this time around.

「KUH!! IS THE HERO OF LIGHT BY ANY CHANCE SOMEONE INCAPABLE OF LISTENING TO OTHER PEOPLE?!!」

Zafrada, who received the attack before she finished her greeting, was equally surprised.

「Oh whatever!! But can you still attack after you see this, I wonder?!! Come, my new kin!!」

After Zafrada uttered those words, many small creatures came out from the black pyramid.

「Are those ratmen?」

Just as Chiyuki had said, they were ratmen.

But, these ratmen weren’t too powerful. They wouldn’t even be able to defeat the mummy army.

However, my face twitched the moment those ratmen raised their shields—many creatures were tied up onto those ratmen’s shields.

「THOSE ARE THE CATS WHO WE SENT AS SCOUTS!!!」

Nel shouted in exasperation.

The catsiths that were kidnapped were tied up onto the ratmen’s shields.

「Now stop where you are, Gypsealians. Or would you like to know what can happen to Princess Nelfriti’s important cats? Think carefully, those cats whose vitality has been absorbed are too weak to even raise a finger right now. Thus we’ve turned those useless cats into our shield.」

Zafrada’s image was laughing maniacally.

She even knew about Nel.

It seems the information about us had been leaked from somewhere.

「HUMPH!! DON’T THINK THAT SOMETHING LIKE THAT CAN STOP US!! CHARGE!」

「STOP RIGHT THERE MEOW!!」

Nel hurriedly stopped Harsesh who was about to charge forward without a care in the world.

「THE HELL YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT, NEL! THOSE CATS WERE PREPARED FOR THIS OUTCOME TOO!! NO NEED TO HEAR THE DEMANDS OF THAT FILTHY GODDESS!!」

But, Harsesh paid no mind to Nel.

「Wait right there, prince!! Are you going to abandon those cats?!!」

Reiji came forward to stop Harsesh too.

The two were glaring at each other.

「Humph!! Do you think you can save them, then feel free to do so, hero of light!!」

「Dammit!! That’s…」

Reiji was at a loss for words.

It seems Reiji also completely had no idea about how to save the cats from this situation.

「This makes it even more difficult for us to attack. But, why do I feel that they’re trying to buy themselves some time?」

Chiyuki tilted her head in puzzlement.

Surely, no matter how you look at it, they really did look like they were trying to stall us.

It was even more obvious since she told us to not move from where we are.

「YES!! IT JUST AS YOU SAY, BLACK HAIRED SAGE-DONO!! THEY MIGHT BE WAITING FOR THEIR REINFORCEMENT FROM THE LAND OF APOPHIS!! PRINCE, WE HAVE TO ATTACK THEM NOW!!」

Harsesh nodded hearing Isdes’ remark.

「There you go, Nel. Give it up, it’s too late for them.」

「NONYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!」

Nel shouted as she unfolded her claws.

Nel’s claws were equal to her natural weapon, each one of them was as long as a dagger.

At this rate, the party would split into two teams.

「Hey Reiji, can you do something about this situation?」

「I’ve been thinking about the best way to save them, Ishtar. Don’t be too hasty, prince.」

「Humph!! Sure!! I’ll be waiting for you!! There you go, Nel!! Now stop trying to shred me to pieces with your claws!!」

Harsesh agreed reluctantly as he tried to stop Nel from scratching his face with her claws.

Man, our team sure is solid.

Meanwhile, Zafrada’s image was laughing complacently seeing the discord in our team.

「Medjed…」

Totona pulled my sleeve.

Her eyes were begging me to do something about this situation.

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