Chapter 1156: Battle for Fort Elent

Now that I’ve healed Dore with purification magic, the Red Knights could no longer afford to engage her carelessly. Not that they were afraid of death, but because they will be dying in vain.

Moreover, I also tried purifying the Red Knights as well, and it resulted in them getting slower. Erasing the mist infused into their bodies seems to have weakened them.

This only boosted Dore’s momentum.

The Madder Rain Captain targeted Fran with even more intensity, but his arrows were not enough to break our defenses. It may have looked like we were dodging them casually, but we didn’t let our guard down at all.

『Once he realizes normal attacks won’t work, he might go for the last resort.』

（Nn.）

If he’s capable of something like Carmine Flame’s Divine Flame Excitation, we might find the tables turned sooner than we think.

However, the first anomaly happened in Fort Elent, behind Kranzel’s lines.

I sensed the signs of countless undead popping up within our fort.

I don’t know if they used the same mass summon as before or some other trick, but a horde containing hundreds of undead spawned out of nowhere.

Jean should be able to handle undead, but…

Considering the undead in the fort and the ghosts from earlier, the Raydoss side must have some powerful necromancers. Are the Black Skeletons Corps here too?

I can understand if Wickerman is still in the area, but what about Nameless?

As I considered the possibility, a huge explosion from Fort Elent interrupted my thoughts.

The bang came from Fort Elent’s top floor, and smoke poured out the floor’s windows.

The sounds of a violent battle came from the command room where Jean had been giving orders.

As a sign of the battle’s intensity, the fort’s walls began cracking open.

Is Jean safe? He still had his bodyguard, Cysanth the Tempest Spear, but it seems we’ve been infiltrated by someone they needed to get serious against.

Finally, the walls of Fort Elent blew open, revealing one of the assailants responsible.

（That’s…!）

『Nameless!』

The demi-lich who leads the Black Skeleton Corps, Nameless. A powerful undead who looks exactly like the lich we once fought on the floating island so long ago.

So Nameless had infiltrated our fort. He was engaged in a fierce battle with Jean, taking visible injuries.

The lich’s left arm was missing, and half of his skill had been cracked off. Thanks to his opponent Jean, no doubt.

The two leaped out of the fort and took their battle into the air. Not with aerial hop, but actual flight.

Nameless began radiating a black aura from his entire body, creating ghastly skulls floating around him. That’s the physical manifestation of his grudges, a phenomenon we saw back in the floating island as well.

Then, his body underwent a transformation. Not only did he regenerate all the damage, but he also grew several additional arms. His legs also split into multiple tentacle-like appendages.

A few seconds later, he had turned into an abhorrent skeleton with too many limbs to count. Is that his true form?

Jean also seemed different from normal. He was equipped with Mark, the undead armor that he showed us before, and looked like the splitting image of a warrior.

Mark consisted of white bones protecting Jean’s body and four long arms sprouting from his back. Each arm held a sword, which was swung with precision to counter Nameless’s hits.

Moreover, Jean could focus on his spells by leaving the melee combat to Mark. It seems he was attempting to use his spell for dominating and controlling undead on Nameless.

Dominating such a powerful undead is practically impossible, but it worked well enough to slow Nameless down and disrupt his concentration.

As a result, Jean gained the advantage over Nameless despite fighting on his opponent’s playing field. Moreover, Jean was not alone.

A small, fair-skinned child supported Jean by striking Nameless from behind. This was Stephen, the undead who should have vanished on the floating island.

It seems he was actually alive the entire time. Well, maybe it’s more correct to say he was re-summoned somehow, considering how he’s undead.

Stephen is a Death Eater, a type of undead specialized against other undead. Not even the powerful Nameless could ignore the threat he posed.

Nameless was clearly wary of Stephan.

From my point of view, Stephen’s aura seemed a bit different from before. The last time we saw him, his mana definitely had an aura of hostility and violence. Even if his base personality was different, the grudges powering him must have been overflowing.

But now he was different. I got the feeling of enveloping confidence from his aura. Perhaps he wasn’t completely the same as the Stephan from before?

「Fuhahaha! Behold the strength of my new servant, Mark!」

「Curse you! That armor is…!」

「These are the bones of the Legendary Skeleton from the floating island! You have inherited that lich’s memories, yes? I suppose that skeleton can be considered your former servant.」

「Grgh! How dare you…!」

Whether intentional or not, Jean seemed to have a knack for provoking Nameless.

The two continued their battle in the skies, while another battle raged on inside the fort. I sensed a fierce clash of mana from both locations.

Though we can’t see him, Cysanth must be holding off Nameless’s companions. That said, we’re not in any condition to back him up.

The red arrows were one thing, but now a red mist began pouring on the battlefield.

Behind the Red Knights stood a slender, mature woman with brown hair tied into a bun at the back of her head.

The woman standing in our path appeared to be a kind, elegant madam.

Yet her red dress armor gave the exact opposite impression. It was about 80% red, with the sleeves and neck part accented with a toxic-looking purple color.

It really looked like a proper dress since the skirt portion was long and the sleeves were all puffed up.

A red veil covered the upper half of her face, as well as her determination-filled eyes. She was staring at us, but without any malice or hostility.

However, I felt an intense killing intent.

『That woman must be the captain of the Blood Maiden Knights! I’m sure of it』

「Nn!」

「Ohohoho! I hope you’ll join me for tea time.」

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