Sword of Salvation-Chapter 107: - Chains of Hell

After spending several minutes slaughtering the undead, Stewart realized that the situation was entirely unfavorable for his troops.

The undead kept coming back to life, even after he destroyed their bones. He had wiped out several of them up to four times, yet they all rose again.

Stewart reached a conclusion: as long as he couldn’t destroy the source of their resurrection, he would only be wasting time, energy, and prana. Alternatively, he had to find the one who was reviving and controlling them—and eliminate that person.

The prince had no choice but to order his troops to retreat. They protested, but an order was an order. As his soldiers withdrew to their previous camp, Stewart himself stood as a shield, preventing the enemy forces and undead from pursuing them.

Beyond ensuring his soldiers weren’t chased, Stewart also acted as a shield to buy time for General Rutherdof and his troops. He couldn’t leave and let the general think he had been defeated and captured along with the remaining soldiers—that would only lead to their massacre. Stewart led his men to victory, not annihilation.

General Rutherdof appeared nearly an hour after the soldiers had retreated. And the troops following behind him... were less than half of their original number.

Ignoring the swarming undead and enemy soldiers attacking, Stewart surged forward in his lightning armor, dashing toward the troops led by Rutherdof.

His eyes briefly glanced at Viertino—or rather, his undead form—who had remained still the entire time. Stewart wondered if he would attempt to stop him. However, the undead didn’t move an inch—he only followed Stewart with his gaze.

The prince quickly turned his attention forward again.

"Your Highness!" the general called out as soon as Stewart halted before him. "What happened?"

"We’re retreating, General!" Stewart declared firmly. "You must have noticed some of the enemy soldiers behaving strangely. I’ll explain the details later. For now, we need to fall back. The others have already started retreating."

Rutherdof nodded without questioning further and immediately ordered the soldiers to withdraw.

The undead and enemy soldiers, of course, did not allow it. However, Stewart once again became the barrier that held them back. This time, General Rutherdof assisted him. With their combined efforts, the soldiers of Denland Kingdom managed to retreat without further interference.

Stewart and Rutherdof also withdrew minutes later, leaping backward while launching attacks at the pursuing enemies. Meanwhile, Viertino’s undead form remained motionless, silently watching Stewart and Rutherdof’s departure.

"Can Prime Minister Viertino create and control the undead?" Rutherdof asked once the enemy forces stopped their pursuit.

"No. Viertino himself is an undead. He died at some unknown time. The one we’re fighting is someone else."

"I’ve never heard of Emperor Zalestino having the ability to raise the dead. Nor have I heard of anyone in Moskvallha possessing such a power."

"I never thought it was Zalestino from the start," Stewart replied. "We’re facing an unknown enemy. I made a mistake by not considering this possibility. With these undead around, we can’t fight a normal battle. We need to change our approach. More importantly, we need to find the one controlling them."

"Are we going to infiltrate the city?"

Stewart nodded at the question. "We won’t launch a large-scale attack," he continued. "From now on, I and a few of our strongest soldiers will sneak into the city. My focus will be finding and eliminating the person controlling Viertino’s undead form.

"At the same time, I need you to continue attacking, General. Not full-scale—just take a hundred or two hundred of our best soldiers. Lure a part of the enemy into chasing you, then eliminate them. But make sure to completely destroy their bodies so they can’t be turned into undead."

"Reducing their numbers little by little... That doesn’t sound like a bad idea. But, Your Highness, this will take time. If it lasts more than two days, we’ll need additional supplies."

"We’ll continue until I find the one raising and controlling the undead."

"I understand. In that case, I’ll send some soldiers back to request more supplies."

Stewart nodded. "How did we end up losing more than half the troops you led, General?" he asked, shifting the topic.

--------[ ooOoo ]--------

Six days after the former crown prince and his forces departed, news of the fall of Elmoza—the easternmost city of Moskvallha—reached the capital.

That wasn’t the worst part. Along with that report, another rumor spread, claiming that the former crown prince had perished along with his troops. They had fallen while trying to stop the enemy forces advancing toward Bluemoza. This meant that, by now, Bluemoza had likely fallen into enemy’s hands.

The news sent the entire capital into panic and unrest, especially among the families of the fallen soldiers. Their complaints echoed across the city. Supporters of the crown prince also voiced their concerns. By midday, tens of thousands of citizens had gathered at the palace gates, demanding the emperor take action.

Predictably, the merchant community responded in their own way. Those selling goods from outside the city immediately hiked their prices several times over. Even locally produced goods saw a surge in cost. The merchants sought to exploit the crisis for profit before things got even worse.

Their actions triggered outrage among the lower-class citizens, especially those already struggling to make enough money for survival. Meanwhile, the wealthy had already hoarded food supplies in the preceding days. The common folk stormed the marketplaces, threatening the merchants to lower their prices—but their pleas fell on deaf ears.

Conflicts erupted throughout the city, overwhelming the soldiers trying to maintain order.

Inside the palace, in the throne room, Emperor Zalestino sat on his throne, listening to reports from his ministers. Not a single high-ranking official was absent. Each reported on the situation within their jurisdiction.

Among them, none were in a more difficult position than the ministers of defense, economy, and trade. They stood on the far left, as their reports were bound to be longer than the others.

For the first time in a long while, the empire found itself in dire straits. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"...Additionally, a faction of citizens has begun calling for Your Majesty’s abdication," the defense minister continued, shifting from external threats to internal turmoil. "Most of them come from the lower class, but some wealthy merchants have also joined. They demand that Your Majesty surrender the throne to Princess Athenia."

Upon hearing the last part of the minister’s report, Zalestino began to realize that Viertino’s words had some truth. Although a faction of demons had been actively attacking lately, Zalestino now leaned more toward the prime minister’s assumption—everything that had happened was part of Mariel Allvar’s plan to place Athenia on the throne.

Vincent’s exposure. The plan to conquer Denland without military force. Julia’s abduction. The sudden invasion by Mangolla Kingdom. And now, the manipulation of the populace to pressure him into abdicating.

Zalestino could no longer dismiss these events as unrelated. And Athenia could not have devised and executed such a complex scheme alone. Mariel Allvar was behind it all. The real question was—what had Athenia promised him in return?

Zalestino refused to believe Mariel had done all this without expecting compensation. Because, if he truly sought nothing in return...

’...Then I would be forced to conclude that he intends to make Athenia a puppet ruler.’

That would be a nightmare for his legacy. Zalestino could not allow it to happen. Even if he eventually chose Athenia as his successor, he had to ensure that no other voice influenced her. And for that reason, Mariel Allvar had to be eliminated. There was no other conclusion.

"How dire is the situation?" Zalestino asked after a brief silence.