The two vanguard members, Gams and Hunter, lead the way and step out of the tunnel, the rest of the group follows them.
The abandoned village was full of crumbling buildings with pillars and beams turned to charcoal, and not a single structure was intact. The roofs had been burned off, so it was impossible for anyone to live inside.
"Doesn't that mean there are beings living in hiding?"
Since this is as far as I can see, and I can't look deep into the abandoned village, there may actually be buildings left that could be inhabited. That's why there are hidden basements where demon summoning rituals are performed....I'm too paranoid.
The sky is overcast and the area is dimly lit, a perfect setting for a horror story. I'm not sure if it's better to make the sky clear by a miracle. I wonder if there are any disadvantages to the undead, such as the fact that they can't move well when it's sunny. I'll have to wait and see. If this team can handle it without any problems, I can just watch and wait. It's not as if the gods should have their hands in everything.
"It's got a certain vibe to it."
If you just look at this place, it's a complete horror game. The black charred pillars and beams and the collapsed exterior walls. There is not even a hint of life, let alone people.
Judging from what I can see, the scale of the abandoned village seems to be larger than not only the Village of Destiny but also the Village of Dark Elves. The houses are still intact, but even a cursory count shows that there are more than fifty of them. And that's just at the entrance of the village. I had taken the liberty of interpreting it as a village, but maybe it's a small town, this place. Well, it's only going to get more complicated, so let's just call it an abandoned village.
While the villagers and hunters were looking around curiously, Niles' voice sounded quietly but clearly warning them to be on guard. In the blink of an eye, the people who understood what it meant readied their weapons.
As if on cue, the ground of the abandoned village began to rise one after another. Stretching out through the ground was a human arm. The arm was covered in dirt and blood, and the skin and flesh had been scraped off in places, leaving the bone exposed. Yet, not a drop of blood was spilled. The arms extended from the ground to surround the villagers, followed by the head and upper body. The lifeless eyes and skin color, and the missing parts made it easy to recognize the body at a glance.
"I guess zombies in horror movies were better than that...."
Realistic images of dead bodies crawling around cannot be compared to the scary effects in horror movies. It's not a fake, it's real fear. Even through the screen, I could clearly feel the horror. Watching them furrow their eyebrows and cover their noses with their arms, I could almost smell the stench of the scene and frowned.
There were twenty-three moving corpses that looked like zombies and we were 11. There was more than double the difference in numbers, but looking at their slow and somewhat distorted movements, I had a feeling that we could overpower them. We should be careful, though.
I wonder if there is such a thing as a zombie movie where you get infected if you get bitten. If so, that's a different story.
"From the looks of it, it's just dead bodies. Their movements are slow, but their power is stronger than before they died. Please try to avoid being bitten. If you are bitten, our magic can prevent infection, so don't forget to report any injuries to us."
Niles' advice dispelled all my worries. Hearing this, the villagers nodded vigorously. I could see the relief on their faces. After all, they were afraid that they would become infected and become zombies, or dead bodies in this world. It seems that they were afraid of becoming zombies.
"If we don't have to worry about infection, it's easy! Let's make some money, boys!"
"Oh!"
The group of hunters raised their weapons, and without hesitation, plunged into the monsters. Gams and Niles followed suit. Chem closed her eyes in a prayer-like pose, muttered a small "Power to shatter the impure," and held her hand up to her brother's back. Then, the two swords in Gams' hands glowed faintly white.
"Thank God."
Chem smiled back at Gams, who turned and thanked her. It looks like that was support magic that gave his swords a holy attribute.
The dark elf and elf duo of Sudhir and Murus, who are good with bows, competed with each other, shooting dead bodies one after another. However, the opponent is only a corpse and continues to move without fear even when the arrows stick.
"That's why I don't like dead bodies."
"Huh. It's because you're only aiming at the biggest part of the target. If you shoot them in the joints, you can prevent them from moving."
As Sudhir complains, Murus makes good on her word and shoots the dead body in the knee joint, causing the opponent to fall forward to his knees. She glances at Sudhir and makes a smug face.
Sudhir bites her lip and shoots the arrow without even trying to hide her annoyed attitude. The arrow pierced the dead body's elbow joint, and the arm fell off. The two of them still don't get along, but their shooting accuracy has improved. The elves and dark elves abhor each other, but they seem to recognize each other as rivals and extremely hate to lose.
I know that both of them are honing their archery skills so that the other doesn't find out, so I try not to say anything about these skirmishes. I'm hoping that they will...…..get along a little better, though.
While I was paying attention to them, the dead bodies were being eliminated one by one. It seems that the six hunters are not lying when they say that they are good at what they do, and they handle the dead bodies without any trouble.
As usual, Gams was at ease in the fight. He didn't let the enemy get close to him at all, and without even giving him a chance to counterattack, he chopped off his head with a single blow. The leader of the hunters, who was observing his movements from the side, couldn't help but let out an exclamation of admiration, saying, "Wow, that young man is really good."
I couldn't help but feel my cheeks relax when I heard those words. The reason why villagers feel proud when they are praised is not from the perspective of the gods, but because they unilaterally believe that they are a big family. Everyone is happy when their relatives are praised.
Well, the one who has achieved so much in battle that even the activities of such Gums are blurred is Niles. A dead body that has been struck in the brain with a huge mace has been forcibly compressed to half its height. With each swing, a dead corpse is destroyed. Approaching enemies are pushed back with the huge shield in his left hand and blown away.
"It's so amazing, it's overwhelming."
It's a little scary that...Niles' face is always smiling, though.
Within a matter of minutes, the group had annihilated the enemy. It was such an overwhelming victory that the word "struggle" didn't even appear. Just to be sure, Chem, who was worried about infection, checked everyone's wounds, but they seemed to be unharmed.
"It was easier than I thought it would be, but does this mean I've conquered the designated points?"
There are three points that need to be conquered in order to turn the Forbidden Forest into a territory. This is one of them, but there's nothing special about it. I checked the map, but the point was still marked. Maybe there will be some kind of indication after I capture this place.
"Conquering the base means either annihilating the enemy or defeating the boss-like entity, right?"
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When we raided Mr. Yamamoto's base before, we eradicated the monsters and killed a single-eyed red demon that seemed to be the boss. I should assume that there are such beings here as well.
"I wonder what kind of undead bosses are out there, famous ones like Dullahan or maybe the necromancers who control the spirits of the dead."
It's just that the standard for enemy strength is unknown, in this world. I thought about alerting them with an oracle that there might still be enemies lurking around, but needless to say, not all of them had let their guard down. None of them put down their weapons and carefully searched the area.
As I scanned the map, I spotted a graveyard in the direction of the villagers. The fact that I was able to spot it meant that I was in sight of the villagers. The cemetery was filled with gravestones evenly spaced, and there were over a hundred of them. The graveyard was deserted, but the gravestones were still unburned, making it the most pristine place in the village. It looks as if something might be there.
"There's a cemetery up ahead."
Gams, who was standing at the front, stopped and stared at the front. With this horror story unfolding in the cemetery, it would be a lie if nothing happened. Without betraying my expectations, the gravestones in the graveyard began to shake and fall. After shoveling through the dirt, countless dead bodies and moving bones, or skeletons, appeared.
When I clicked on a moving bone, it showed up as a [skeleton]. It didn't look very strong since it was just a bone. The dead bodies were also on the weak side in terms of strength. But this number was absurd. The difference in strength is about ten times.
"Should I tell them to withdraw with the oracle?"
If this were just a game, I could press the pause button to stop time while I'm lost, but the war in this world is real time, so I can't wait. The hunters and villagers are not intimidated by the violence of overwhelming numbers, and they face each other. Although they are superior in terms of their individual combat power, they may not be able to resist this number. Such anxiety fills my heart. If the God Statue was here, I could just use Golem Manipulation to destroy them.
"O ye poor departed! Let me lead you to a place of peace."
This voice that speaks softly to the undead is Niles? He steps forward, leaving the villagers and hunters behind, places his mace and shield on the ground, thrusts his arms out in front of him, and takes a deep breath.
"May you rest in peace. [Tranquility]."
As he raised his outstretched arms to the sky, a gentle milky white light flooded out from the ground of the cemetery. The color gradually fades from the feet of the undead who are touched by the light, and it spreads to their entire bodies. The individuals whose entire bodies were covered by the light lost their color completely and collapsed one by one. When Niles lowered his arm, 70% of the undead that had been there had disappeared.
"I never thought I'd be able to see that [Tranquility] with my own eyes!"
Chem is on both knees on the ground, expressing her excitement with her body. The others look dumbfounded, alternating between the faces of the vanished undead and Niles.
"This reaction. It looks like that was some pretty rare grand magic."
"Gentlemen, wait until later to be surprised. There are still some lost souls left."
They regained their composure at Niles' words and began to sweep away the monsters. Once this happens, it's as if victory is already assured.
All the monsters were easily defeated. Even though we didn't have a hard time, we were still drained of energy. I would have liked to take a breather, but we were in the middle of enemy territory. We can't just take a break.
"I know you're tired, but I need you to hang in there."
The words were coming from a safe distance, but I still wanted to express my gratitude. The villagers were exploring a graveyard, and one of the hunters was crouched in front of a gravestone, eagerly examining something.
The hunter was an explorer, an unfamiliar job, not a fighter, but he mainly worked behind the scenes, finding traps, making maps, and transporting goods. It seems to be an indispensable job in a large party.
"Hey, come here for a second."
The explorer gathered all of them together and was talking about something.
"Only this tombstone seems to be less dirty. It also shows signs of having been touched and moved by someone."
When I took a close-up of the headstone that was pointed out after being told that, it certainly looks less dirty and newer than the other headstones. There are definitely marks on the ground as if the headstone had been dragged. If it hadn't been for this hunter, I would have missed it for sure.
As the hunters worked together to move the tombstone, a void of darkness appeared in the ground. It was so dark and deep that we couldn't see what was inside. There seemed to be a staircase leading downward.