Groooowl…

The corpses that rose from the graves through Nicker’s black magic shambled forward in droves.

“The door! Block the door first!”

“Captain! They’re coming through the windows too!”

Undead were entering through multiple windows on both walls.

“D*mn it all! Retreat to the hall!”

Following Luke’s command, the resistance fighters relocated. The hall, which had been used for meetings and banquets, had no windows and plenty of scattered furniture, making it advantageous for building barricades.

But it wasn’t enough. As soon as they built defensive walls, the undead broke through the doors and flooded into the hall.

Strangely, some of them were heading in a different direction rather than toward the resistance fighters.

When Luke looked that way, his heart sank.

“Young Master!”

Young Master Dietrich was there with those three arrogant individuals.

Luke gritted his teeth and tried to rescue them. Though he didn’t like the three organization members, they had still saved his comrades. He couldn’t leave them to die.

Luke raised his foot to climb over the barricade and shouted.

“Just wait a moment… huh?”

“W-what’s happening right now?”

Not just Luke, but all the resistance fighters were momentarily dumbfounded.

The undead horde, without intelligence or reason, only driven by hunger for living humans, suddenly made a U-turn while charging toward the “family” members.

The reason was the little boss.

“Nnngh.”

The child was holding orbs of white light in both hands.

There was only one type of light that undead despised. Luke shouted in surprise.

“Could that be… holy power?!”

Thanks to Saint Allen’s guidance, Noah had manifested holy power from his very first lesson.

Though he could only create this light so far, its effect was clear. The undead were being repelled like mosquitoes avoiding repellent.

‘Did Young Master Dietrich plan to stick with them from the beginning?!’

Dietrich, who had been crouching at Noah’s feet and staying as close as possible, subtly avoided Luke’s gaze.

“…!”

As expected of the young master. His ability to read the situation was remarkable!

‘No, this isn’t the time!’

“They’re coming! Block them! Prioritize shooting the ones climbing over the barricade from a distance!”

“Aaaah!”

The resistance fighters desperately held back the oncoming undead.

However, most of their weap*ns were daggers, poisons, or slingshots, prioritizing mobility over destructive power.

Meanwhile, the undead were enemies that kept attacking unless their heads were destroyed.

They were barely holding on now, but defeat was only a matter of time.

Only Calliphe’s group stood calmly, looking like they were from another world.

‘Our lives are at stake here…!’

One of the resistance fighters glared at them. He couldn’t stand seeing them standing safely apart from everyone else.

“See how you like it!”

He impulsively threw a dagger. His target was the child manifesting holy power.

“…?!”

Clang!

Lynen, who was nearby, quickly blocked the dagger, but Noah’s concentration was disrupted by the shock. The light of holy power disappeared.

Groooowl!

The undead immediately swarmed over them, like they had been waiting for this moment.

Luke, horrified, ran forward.

“What has this idiot done?! No, Young Master!”

That’s when it happened.

Blue streaks of light leaked through the mass of zombies, then a whirlwind erupted, blowing the zombies away.

Not just the ones clustered together, but even those swarming like ants in front of the barricade.

Whoosh!

Aura carrying the north wind swept through like an avalanche, engulfing the undead.

The closest ones were shattered to pieces, while even those further away had their bodies severed.

But that wasn’t all. The aura broke through the opposite wall and sliced through the undead outside as well.

In an instant, the interior was cleared.

“……”

Lynen quietly sheathed his sword.

The four people who had been surrounded by the undead didn’t have a single scratch.

This was in stark contrast to the resistance fighters, who were injured and exhausted despite outnumbering them several dozen times.

“W-who are you people……”

To Luke, who was muttering in a daze, Calliphe gestured toward the doorway.

New undead were entering.

“This seems endless. I think we need to eliminate the black magic source.”

“Y-you’re right.”

“So what are you waiting for? Guide us. Is there only one more person here who can use black magic?”

“What? …No way!”

That informant they had thrown in a room?

“Follow me!”

Luke guided Calliphe’s group to the second floor where they had confined the informant, through a side door in the hall. Several of his subordinates followed.

Indeed, inside the room, a magic circle emitting an ominous light was active.

“D*mn it all!”

Luke and his subordinates tried to erase the magic circle by rubbing it with their feet, but it was useless.

“It won’t erase!”

“Keheheh, it’s useless! My magic will continue until all the undead in the vicinity are destroyed! Even if you kill me, it won’t matter!”

Luke’s face contorted.

If the fight dragged on, there would certainly be casualties. That meant their dead comrades would also be reanimated as undead.

‘This is my mistake. I underestimated this man!’

Who would have thought it couldn’t be erased once activated? Were they forced to just watch?

“Step aside.”

Just then, Calliphe stepped forward and extended her hand over the black magic circle. Luke sighed.

“No matter how much you try with your hands, it won’t erase. You saw earlier, didn’t you?”

He didn’t say it out loud, but he found her actions pathetic. Instead of wasting time like this, it seemed better to beat and interrogate that black mage informant.

But then.

Thump! Thump!

Like hitting a jar lid, Calliphe struck the purple magic circle with her fist.

The light of the magic circle extinguished instantly, like a candle being blown out.

The array of corrupted magical energy that the black magic circle had been continuously weaving was broken.

Naturally, the black magic was nullified.

Thud, thud.

Hearing dull sounds from all directions, Luke approached the window to check outside. His eyes widened.

“The undead have returned to ordinary corpses…!”

The black magic had truly been stopped.

Luke exchanged glances with his astonished subordinates. A silent agreement was quickly forming.

Meanwhile, the informant and black mage Nicker was devastated.

“I-impossible!”

He hadn’t expected that woman to neutralize not only barriers but even magic circles. And with what appeared to be an ordinary fist!

“What trick did you use? It can’t be magic. I’ve never heard of magic activated in such a way. Is it some special ability then?”

“……”

“Answer me now, woman!!”

“You b*stard!”

Wham!

Before Lynen and Noah could step forward, Luke flew at Nicker with lightning speed and smashed his jaw.

“How dare you! What insolence toward our precious mercenary!”

Thud! Thud!

His subordinates joined in beating Nicker.

Calliphe asked indifferently.

“Mercenary? When did we make such a contract?”

“Hahaha… well… we had some minor differences of opinion earlier, but let’s let bygones be bygones, shall we?”

“So you want to hire us?”

“Of course! Please help us rescue our leader and punish that traitor!”

“We’ll treat you with the utmost respect!”

“And we’ll certainly agree to your conditions!”

The subordinates backed up Luke.

The moment they realized the power difference, they finished their calculations and adjusted their attitude. Moreover, while bowing and scraping, they didn’t lose sight of the fact that they were still the employers.

Their shrewdness was truly befitting Dietrich’s subordinates.

‘Good. We’ve secured multiple collaborators.’

Thanks to this, the plan to approach Yulid was now perfect.

Calliphe glanced at Nicker, who seemed to have aged twenty years in a short time.

‘I was worried about the possibility of failure since we needed to use him… but looking at his current state, that won’t be a concern.’

Let’s discuss the plan first.

Calliphe moved to another location with Lynen, Noah, and Luke.

Calliphe, who sat down first, immediately got to the point.

“I’ll join Yulid’s side.”

Clatter!

Lynen slipped while trying to sit down.