We turned our attention to the young man, still gasping for air.
"What happened, and where are the others?" Korys asked.
"The horde, they're marching to the other cities!"
"How? Weren't they supposed to be in Barta?"
The young man, one of Korys' disciples, explained what had happened in Barta that caused the undead to leave for the other cities.
During their defense of Barta, the Lord Mayor, a noble from the Apton Empire, decided to lure the thousands of undead away from the city using his cavalry unit as bait. It was unnecessary, as they and the citizens of Barta were slowly diminishing the horde by the hundreds from inside the city walls. They urged the Lord Mayor to reconsider his plan, but he'd already decided. He wanted to impress the emperor and made it seem like he had thwarted the undead from his assigned city.
They pulled the horde from the city, but it prompted the undead to march to other cities.
"What is that Lord Mayor thinking?" Korys said.
"The horde was split into two, with one going into the city of Bybrook and the other half towards Sincaro." said the young man.
Korys' disciples, who numbered around a hundred, and several brave citizens split their forces and fought them on open ground to try to halt the horde's advance, but it was a bad idea. Without the cover of the city walls, they perished and turned into undead themselves.
The group that went to stop the undead's march southward asked this young man to rush to Brogue and inform Korys of the situation before they, too, met their demise.
"Sincaro? What happened to the city of Douro?"
Douro is a coastal city southwest of Sincaro.
The young man held his head down, "Douro is no more. It was overrun by the undead a week ago."
Korys flared up in anger and let out a murderous aura. The young man dropped to his knees and his head to the ground as if asking for forgiveness. I held Korys' shoulder and asked him to calm down.
"You did a good job surviving and letting your master know about this," I told the young man.
"I'm sorry for your loss, Korys, but we must do something against the horde."
He finally calmed down and looked at me with an expression that I hadn't seen his face make before. There was a hint of sadness and helplessness in his eyes.
"How long do we have before the horde reaches both cities?" Korys asked.
"Less than a day," his disciple replied.
"Egil, please. I need your help. I won't be able to stop two hordes simultaneously."
I nodded in agreement and called Ness and the others to prepare.
"I'll teleport you and your companions to Sincaro. I'll head to Bybrook with my disciple."
Once everyone was ready, Korys used his skill and sent us to the middle of Sincaro.
When we arrived, the city was silent. Most businesses had already closed for the night, and no one was nearby.
"We need to hurry and talk to the city's mayor," I said.
"I'll lead the way. I'm acquainted with the mayor here," said Arthur.
We rushed to the mayor's manor to inform him of the incoming undead horde.
We were stopped by the guards, who asked us to come tomorrow instead.
"Tell the mayor Commander Arthur is here with urgent news," Arthur said.
One of the guards left and ran inside the manor. After a minute, a tall, middle-aged man with a walrus mustache approached the gate. It was the mayor of Sincaro.
"Is it true, Commander Arthur?" the mayor asked.
"Yes. We need you to mobilize your soldiers immediately. Time is of the essence, mayor," said Arthur.
Suddenly, we were interrupted by the sound of bells ringing. It was an alarm from the city walls.
We hastily made our way to where the sound was coming from as we left the mayor to assemble his forces. Upon reaching the top of the wall where the bell was, we were stunned at what unfolded on the horizon.
The full moon illuminated the undead horde, which was making its way to the city by the thousands. Among the skeletons and zombies were three skeletal dragons hovering above them. Judging by speed, they would reach the walls in about an hour.
The soldiers hurriedly fortified the gates, and archers positioned themselves on the walls. Their faces were full of uneasiness as they watched the horde inching closer toward the city.
"Gale, you and Arthur go to the gate. I doubt those doors would last long."
"Understood."
Once the undead were in firing range, archers started their barrage of flaming arrows, which are known to be effective against them. The arrows also illuminated the area so that the horde could be seen better.
Bree and I shot down two of the incoming Skeletal Dragons, but the last one reached the walls and pushed the soldiers off the wall. Luckily, Ness quickly cast 'Barrier' on them before they hit the ground.
"Ness, take out my blades."
She then pulled out two weapons from her 'Storage.' They were a pair of shortswords that looked similar to 'kukris' but longer. The magistones embedded in them increased my physical and magical power, among other things.
I charged at the dragon and destroyed it in a single slash. The watching soldiers were bewildered about how I quickly took that thing down.
Below, the undead finally reached the gates and started to pound on the doors until they gave out. Skeletons and zombies began to flood the city's entrance, but Gale and Arthur held their ground and stopped the horde from advancing further in with the help of the soldiers.
An hour had passed, and the battle was still ongoing. We managed to drop their numbers to half, but the number of soldiers started to dwindle from sustaining injuries and fatigue. Even the veterans Gale and Arthur were beginning to tire out.
Bree had already succumbed to mana deficiency, so I asked Ness to take her to a safe location to rest.
I was still on top of the walls and continued to cast 'Magic Missiles' at the horde when Gale shouted to me:
"Egil, this is looking bad. We won't be able to hold on for much longer."
It seemed like I had no choice but to use Shadowdancer, but suddenly, I heard a voice behind me.
"Good job holding them down," Korys said. He was done with the crisis at Bybrook and teleported back here to help.
He fired several spears of light on the undead, the same ones he had used back on the island against me. His appearance also increased everyone's morale, and they began to push the undead outside the gates.
Korys and I threw our spells simultaneously, and bit by bit, we destroyed the horde until none was left.
The spells altered the landscape, but it was a small price to pay. When the horde was finally defeated, the city erupted in cheers. Korys and I sat on the cold floor of the wall, exhausted from casting all those spells.
"I saw my other disciples in Bybrook as undead, and I had to kill them," said Korys.
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"What you told me, I thought about, and you were right. Apton Empire and its nobles threaten this continent and should be dealt with swiftly."
"What are you planning to do?" I asked.
"As much as I want to seek revenge against that noble, I must replenish our numbers to fight against the 'drifters.' Please, avenge my disciples in my stead. In exchange, I'll give you this."
My shortswords started to glow as soon as he touched them.
"I imbued your weapons with my power; it will benefit you greatly on your travels."
"How am I supposed to refuse your request when you already gave me a gift?" I jokingly said.
He remained silent and looked at me with a serious face.
"I know. I'll deal with that Lord Mayor even if you didn't ask."
He then smiled and looked away.
"Let's head back to the temple to rest."
Without wasting another second, Korys teleported us back to the temple. We jumped on the beds without cleaning ourselves and fell asleep instantly.
I woke up the next day just before the sun rose. Everyone except for me was already prepared to depart, so I hurriedly bathed and got something to eat.
Korys and his only surviving disciple were waiting for us at the temple gates.
"If you have the chance, come by the temple anytime. You and your friends are always welcome," said Korys.
"Take the thing outside with you; I don't require it, so it's all yours," he added.
When we looked outside, a horse-drawn carriage was parked on the side of the road.
"Thank you for everything, Korys."
"Do not forget my request."
I nodded and smiled while we rode the carriage. Gale happily took the role of the coachman and asked: "Where to, Egil?"
"Barta."