At the same time as Brad defeated the skeleton knight, two figures were alerted.
"Did one just die?"
"I believe so my liege."
The undead lord, in a loose red robe that gave him the illusion of having a big body spoke with a dirty yellow-robed lich. Though no moonlight reached where they were, the green flames that served as their eyes provided the faintest of lights, not that they needed it.
"Do you think it was the same group?" asked the undead lord.
"Likely. Only they should have enough power to defeat one of our knights."
The undead lord nodded at the lich's answer without any aggravation. At this point a few unexpected variables wouldn't be able to do much.
"We're about to reach the forest. Prepare a force to find and crush them before we invade to the centre."
"Yes, my liege."
A few moons after Brad defeated the skeleton knight, the three familiars quietly trained in the forest. Ein was practicing his sword swings, Brad was doing pushups with his index fingers and Jeanne was meditating as red, black, dark purple and white balls of light floated around her.
They would always put aside time for personal training and this was even more frequent now that undead warriors could no longer provide anything but information after being absorbed. Brad was lucky that he got to fight that skeleton knight because no other opponent of that level crossed their path.
They normally passed this time in peace before going back to fight undead, but this time a voice reached their ears as if it had been carried by the wind.
"Please offer your help on your master's behalf."
It was a sudden request from an entity they couldn't see, but all three of them wore tense expressions because they recognized the voice.
"How can we help?" Jeanne asked.
"Your master should be ready in a few more days. Until then, I need you to make sure that the undead army doesn't reach us."
"Understood. How far away is the core of the army?"
"They should arrive in about two days if nothing is done. I'll send a child to lead you."
"I see. Thank you for informing us."
"No, this is all because of me after all."
The voice then faded away, leaving the familiars exhausted but also worried.
"It's finally time, huh?"
Brad spoke the words the rest were thinking. They were prepared for a battle like this, but it still didn't feel real. None of them felt any loyalty towards the sacred beast, but they acknowledged that helping her was in line with their master's wishes so they would answer to her request.
Jeanne turned to Brad for suggestions.
"What do you think we should do, Brad?"
"Hmm, based on the memories of that skeleton knight we're no match for the main force. And there's no place or enough time to make decent traps so we should probably try slowing them down as much as possible."
"Hit and run tactics, huh?" Ein added.
Jeanne glanced at Ein for a moment, but she didn't make a comment so he brought it up instead. He might have been starting to like it but that was unknown.
"You're not gonna diss me or something?"
"Do you want me to?"
"Uh, no, I was just..."
Jeanne sighed as Ein got all nervous and then answered,
"I only scold you because I have a reason to."
'Really?'
Ein didn't believe what Jeanne just said but she didn't plan on humouring him any further.
"We'll go with that. But since they're undead the only thing we can do to slow them down is attack the stronger ones that can't be replenished easily. Any potential targets?"
"The skeleton knights and scavengers should do," Brad replied.
"Good. Those kinds of undead should be hard to summon and nurture."
"Won't targeting them be too dangerous though?" asked Ein.
As half-spiritual beings, it wasn't as if they no longer feared death, but that wasn't the reason why Ein spoke out. As familiars, they were only prepared to lay down their lives if the undead army got too close to their master.
"This level of danger can't be helped. We'll just have to use Spirit Form to escape if necessary."
Brad and Ein nodded at Jeanne's idea so the topic ended there.
'It would be easier if I knew Holy Magic though.'
Even though Jeanne had Imbue Holy, holy magic wasn't easy to get, especially since it required a strong faith to a being superior to mortals. The kind of faith that Jeanne lacked both in this life and in her past one.
Her mind did drift to the priest that was once with them, but only for a moment. In that moment she thought it was a pity that her master wasn't able to use Assimilation on her.
*Neigh*
Interrupting her thoughts was the sound of an incoming dyriadbeast in the form of a horse.
"Looks like our guide is here. Let's go."
With Jeanne taking the lead they went to the dyriadbeast and followed it outside the forest.
...
Boom!
From within a large carriage, it heard the explosion. The undead lord had no eyebrows but if it did this would certainly be the time to furrow them.
"Again?"
"I'm afraid so, my liege," replied the lich who sat opposite to it.
"What are our losses, Clavis?"
"Around 40 skeleton knights and 23 scavengers have been destroyed along with a large number of undead warriors who got caught up in their attack. After replenishing our forces as much as we could, we are still lacking 28 skeleton knights and 13 scavengers."
Both the undead lord and the lich had the Summon Undead skill which was taken from Necromancy, but without the right materials on hand there was only so much they could do. After the first force of ten skeleton knights and five scavengers went out to take care of these attackers, both of them thought the problem would be solved since the scavengers were zombified creatures with a very strong sense of smell. However, not only was this first force defeated, the enemy went on to attack the main force, resulting in terrible damages.
The intensity of the undead lord's eyeball flames increased as it thought of it. The only emotions that remained for normal undead were anger and hatred and the enemy was definitely inciting them. Unwilling to face any more losses before they entered the forest, the undead lord made a decision.
"Clavis, I want you to gather a force that can subdue them. When you're done, meet me at the forest."
"...Yes, my liege."
The lich wanted to object since it was reluctant to leave its master's side, but it had no better plan so it could only submit. As a lich it retained some of its human emotions, but its mind was dominated by logic.
Away from the matching army of undead, Jeanne, Ein and Brad watched. The three had had to use Spirit Form to escape many times so the danger they faced was no joke as can be seen from the Sense Danger skill that they now had.
By absorbing at least one enemy a day they could maintain a good idea of the army's formation, but with an army that big it was hard to guarantee a perfect attack. Even so, they continued to take the risk.
"So, should we go again?" asked Ein after they had a short break.
Usually Jeanne would quickly respond with a nod and they would sneak up to the hundred thousand+ army, but this time she hesitated. There was a feeling at the back of her head that told her to be careful, so she shook her head.
"No, let me check their reaction first."
"Okay," Ein replied.
Neither he nor Brad chose to object since Jeanne was the first to unlock the Danger Sense skill despite being the rear-guard.
Since their next move was decided, Jeanne took out the staff that was strapped to her back. It was the same staff that was used by the lich Shui defeated, but the green pearl was now light blue. She then aimed it at the army that only looked like a gathering of dots.
"Burn. Light all things aflame in an instant. Turn the world before me to ash,"
Jeanne began the full incantation for the white blaze spell. While she didn't need the incantation to use it, the incantation plus the magic staff she held would massively boost the power of the spell.
"May all eyes be blinded before this light. Ast Liea Rou!"
Completely unlike the normal white fireball, this white blaze was bigger than the three familiars and was already emitting a heat that scorched the ground around Jeanne. Brad and Ein had long evacuated and stood behind to see this spell attack. It flew like a sharp arrow cutting through the air, but before it could collide with the army, it knocked into what seemed to be empty space. However, Jeanne identified what was behind that empty space the moment she saw it.
"Guys! Get ready!"
By the time Jeanne spoke, there was no need for explanation because behind the 'empty' space, was a legion of skeleton knights and scavengers along with a lich with a wooden staff.
Jeanne knew that the lich could only stop her full-powered spell because it already had a barrier up, but just the fact that it could block it was heart-wrenching.
'Should we try to escape...? No, with a force like that it'll be hard to shake them off. And if we can hold our ground the enemy will lack the forces to invade.'
Steadying her resolve, Jeanne tightly gripped her staff as she watched the incoming force.