736. [STAGE 45] Zombie Defense
Dawn.
I woke up to an urgent call from Diarmudin, who had returned from the abandoned cathedral, and hurried down to the living room.
“The abandoned cathedral has fallen.”
Diarmudin was covered in blood, but thankfully it wasn’t his. It seemed like other people’s blood had been splattered during the battle.
“And Cromwell… appears to have recovered some of his intellect.”
“…!”
Diarmudin told me in detail what happened at the abandoned cathedral to my astonished self.
After hearing the full story of the situation, I rested my chin and was lost in thought.
‘Let’s sum up the situation.’
The forward base that had been prepared inside the dungeon to act as a buffer had fallen.
All the monsters filling up the entire area 10 have become zombies and are pouring out at once in this defense battle.
Cromwell, the commander of the zombies, was a bit scared, but he had regained his senses.
He seems to be able to handle the zombie monsters under his command as if he were using them hand and foot.
‘It’s a pain in the ass…’
If it had just been a large group of zombies, I would have been able to fight them off without causing much damage, even though it was a bit tiring.
It was obvious that Cromwell, who had the authority to rule, would become a variable in some form as long as he regained his intelligence.
‘I don’t know if it was the usual Cromwell.’
I can’t guess Cromwell’s current thinking pattern. After listening to Diarmudine’s report, it seems like the taste has really gone away.
‘Currently, the tactics against the basic zombie army of monsters are ready, but…’
How will the zombie army led by Cromwell actually move?
There is no information and no guesses. This is the point where my headache hurts.
It was then.
“Your Majesty, here’s a report!”
The door to the living room opened and a soldier rushed in, panting. Everyone has been through a lot since dawn.
“What’s going on?”
“An army of monsters has appeared across the surface of the Black Lake!”
Everyone in the room trembled, and Diarmudin quietly chewed his lips.
I raised one corner of my mouth and clenched my molars.
“It came out right away…?”
“It’s literally crawling out endlessly! Moreover, just as Your Majesty warned us in advance, they are monsters that are almost like corpses… Strangely enough, they are moving in unison with the five!”
After hearing the rest of the soldier’s report, I shouted.
“Get the airship La Mancha ready!”
What is the safest and most powerful type of soldier when dealing with zombies?
Needless to say, it is the Air Force.
An air force that crushes zombies with overwhelming firepower from the safe sky, out of reach of their jaws and arms!
“We will break the brunt of these guys.”
As well as checking their current status…!
***
As Stage 45 approached, the airship La Mancha had completed maintenance and was on standby.
It was a natural procedure since it was virtually the only air force that our World Defense Front had.
‘I can feel the exhaustion from the previous battle once again.’
The spacious hangar, which once housed more than ten aircraft, was empty, and it was an odd feeling to watch La Mancha slowly come out alone.
Fighting against the Lord of the Flies and the Black Dragon, dozens of airships, which can be considered humanity’s strongest weapon, were destroyed.
The walls collapsed twice. So much equipment and artifacts were broken that it was difficult to even count them.
And tens of thousands of people…
countless lives trying to protect the front line were lost.
‘Is it fortunate that the recovery of the war dead was completed on time?’
The bodies of the 30,000 troops annihilated by the Night Bringer have all been recovered. I can’t tell you how fortunate I am that I was able to take care of things before the zombies attacked. Currently, all of them have been laid to rest in the grave site.
Anyway, back to the main point… the damage suffered in the last two boss stages was so great that recovery is still far away.
Castle walls, equipment, artifacts, and troops. Everything is ruined.
This is the difficult part of this battle.
It is true that Cromwell and the Demon Guardians are inferior to Lord of the Flies or Night Bringer in terms of objective strength.
The situation of our World Defense Front is also clearly worse than then.
With damage accumulated from repeated fierce battles, how little damage can you endure through the remaining stages and how much power can you maintain until the final stage?
This is the key. Suddenly, all the monsters turned into zombies and came out together, and it was hard to tell what state Cromwell was in after he came back from the dead.
‘It’s embarrassing…’
Both Lord of the Flies and Night Bringer were unexpected enemies that crushed the game experience.
The current zombie-Cromwell is similar in some ways. I can’t gauge the exact combat power.
“Preparations for departure are complete, Your Majesty!”
Macmillan, the non-performance leader, shouted. I nodded and went up to La Mancha.
Since it was early morning and there was no intention of engaging in a full-blown battle, no other heroes were summoned.
However, the heroes who came to know about it and insisted on following us from dawn simply left behind in the city.
“You need to quickly finish the equipment being manufactured in Kelly Bay. Where are you going out? Lucas Evangeline: Finish the maintenance of your respective units. Junior, you too must lead the magician unit. “Has Damian’s sniper team training been completed?”
There’s no reason to take busy people with you if you’re not going to engage in hand-to-hand combat anyway.
When I pointed them out one by one, they all pursed their lips, but they calmly walked out of the empty space.
So, they left everyone in the city and took only Diarmudin with them and sent out La Mancha.
Going to school-!
As the magic engine started, the empty ship floated in the air and was soon launched towards the south.
The heroes remaining in the hangar were looking up at the back of the aircraft leaving with concern.
I clicked my tongue. I’ll be back soon, so mind your own business!
***
Inside La Mancha flying towards the Black Lake.
“It is all part of a reconnaissance operation. “It’s loaded with gunpowder, so we’re going to bomb it a bit.”
“….”
In the seat in front of me, looking out the window and muttering, Diarmudin continued to remain silent with a heavy expression on his face.
I asked, getting worried.
“Are you okay, Diarmuddin? “You must have been tired from the previous operation, so let’s get some rest…”
“No, I’m fine.”
Diarmudin smiled, raising his beard, and let out a sigh of relief.
“It’s just that people’s hearts are so treacherous.”
“You mean treacherous?”
“The survivors of the demon species that were wiped out in the abandoned cathedral. “In the beginning, they were all going to be enemies anyway, weren’t they?”
I nodded. Diarmudin let out a long breath.
“A member of the invader army anyway. We only formed a brief united front because we had a brief understanding. I know it well. But…”
“You’re in a bad mood.”
“…exactly.”
Diarmudin still looked at the blood stains on the hem of his robe.
“Just because I only spent a few days with them, I feel pity for their deaths… and pain for not being able to save them. “They too are just monsters.”
“….”
I, who had been silent, shrugged my shoulders and said.
“Isn’t that what is meant by human nature?”
“As expected… Haha. “Is this normal?”
In front of Diermudin, who clicked his tongue and was lost in thought, I also became lost in thought. It was a problem I had always worried about.
What is the standard that separates people from monsters?
What is the line that distinguishes people from people and monsters from monsters?
‘We are now on the same front, but humans were originally at war with other races.’
Fairies, dwarves, beastmen, mermaids… and many other races in addition to the four major races.
At that time, to humans, this race would have been monsters. Because they only communicated language, they hated each other like crazy and killed each other.
Also, humans have also waged wars among themselves. Without going too far, there was a recent war between the Everblack Empire and the Principality of Bringer, and if you go a little further into the past, there was a war between the Everblack Empire and the Kingdom of Camilla.
At that time, even if the species was the same, would it be possible to regard the person across the border as the same person?
no.
They must have been monsters that had to be stabbed to death.
‘The ending I want to reach is…’
I repeated to myself as I stared at Diarmudin, who was deep in thought.
‘The conclusion I want to come to at the end of this three-year journey is…’
That was then.
“Your Majesty, I can see the Black Lake!”
McMillan shouted from near the cockpit.
“And… I can also see a line of monsters below! “That’s a huge number!”
“…!”
Diarmudin and I stood up from our seats and went towards Macmillan. Macmillan gestured toward the magic panels deployed around the cockpit.
“Look!”
There was a huge black lake in the center of the wide field of view from the sky.
There was a truly endless procession of zombie monsters rising from the entrance of the lake.
It was a few hours ago when the observation team first reported their sortie, but they have been coming out continuously ever since.
‘How many monsters were camped out in District 10 alone?’
The number was much higher than I had guessed, so it was absurd.
I tried turning it on to see if the correct numbers would appear in the stage information window, but there was no correct display. It’s just a feast of question marks.
Ader started preparing for the final stage. Now, you shouldn’t expect much from the system for help.
“Instead, these monsters are slow.”
“It certainly is.”
As Macmillan said, it was slow.
The monsters that emerged one by one from the lake entrance were all slow and slow in their movements. This slow speed may have also contributed to the several hours it took to get out of the lake.
We were able to slowly orbit the sky and observe them closely.
I checked the face of the zombified monsters.
‘What is it, fire giant? It’s a monster army as strong as frost giants. Have they also become zombies?’
‘That’s the Hellhounds… Is it an army of hellhounds? I also see the corps commander Cerberus and his direct subordinate Olthros. ‘I never thought these guys would become zombies too.’
‘There’s also an army of crazy tentacle snails. Where did they get bitten to become zombies? ‘Is it possible to turn anyone into a zombie if they have even a little bit of flesh to bite?’
In addition, all kinds of named monster legions have been turned into zombies, forming a long line and slowly advancing north.
It can be said that it is truly an unprecedented, unprecedented monster coalition.
They all look like zombies.
‘Both Lord of the Flies and Night Bringer were outside the standards, but…’
I broke into a cold sweat.
‘They seem to be quite out of standard…?’
Boom…. Boom…. Boom….
A large army of zombie monsters, rotten and crushed, but never stopping and advancing north.
It was another crazy crisis in this defense game that had long since passed.
‘If these guys had come before the battle with Lord of the Flies or Nightbringer, it would have been quite worth it…’
I repeat, the World Defense Front is currently extremely exhausted due to the previous battle.
Just having such a huge horde of zombies coming in is dangerous.
“Let’s go a little closer and take a look. “Lower your altitude.”
I ordered Macmillan.
“I gave you some gifts as I was getting closer… Did you bring enough gunpowder?”
Macmillan grinned and nodded.
“Of course, Your Highness!”
Giiiiiiing!
La Mancha lowered its altitude and approached the group of zombies.
At the same time, the bottom of the airship was deployed, dozens of machine guns exposed their barrels, and fully loaded bombs were ready to be dropped for bombing.
“After the first bombing, we will carry out a second bombing and then approach with strafing guns. Hold on tight!”
La Mancha began carpet bombing, approaching the ground in an instant from the sky.
Zombies marching in a line were good prey to aim at. La Mancha passed honestly above them and rained down bombs.
Quagwang! Kugwagwagwagwang…!
The bombs that fell from the gift box fell one by one on the zombies’ heads, producing huge explosions and smoke.
“Hwiyu!”
I whistled without realizing it.
I felt refreshed. Long live the Air Force!
“We will then carry out a second bombing and lower the altitude using strafing!”
I nodded while listening to Macmillan’s report and looked at the ground.
“…?”
And I discovered something strange.
Not only zombies caught in the explosion. Even all the zombies far away from the explosion site.
The eyes of the zombies, who had been staring straight ahead just a moment ago…
were all lifted up into the sky and staring straight at us.
The feeling of tens of thousands of pairs of eyes radiating ominous green energy looking at me at the same time was not a pleasant experience, even as a joke.
“…I have a bad feeling about this.”
And judging from my experience over the past three years.
Bad premonitions are always right.
I shouted urgently.
“The second bombing is canceled! “Raise altitude!”
“yes?!”
“Don’t talk nonsense, comfort me! Right now!”
