Has this lord suddenly gone mad?
Brand pulled tight on the reins, making the horse turn. He looked at these anxious people and reassured them, "Don’t worry, I haven’t gone mad. Go quickly, if you want to survive, this is our only chance—"
Everyone looked at Brand, silently. But what else could they do but trust this lord? The nobles of Ridenburg had long abandoned them, only this kind and merciful Sir Knight stayed to share their hardships and lead them out of struggle again and again.
Besides, he was so wise and heroic. According to the mercenaries, this lord was like the war god Mars reincarnated, invincible on the battlefield. Though it sounded like a boast, the continuous victories and the steady supply of weapons sent back proved it true.
Remembering this, their previous doubts wavered again. But what exactly did this lord plan to do? Was it really as those Security Cavalry said, that his sword could guide a path to miracles?
Brand saw their silence and understood that his authority was subtly being established. Yet he felt a pity, knowing this authority was sustained only by the difficult situation at hand. Once the first Black Rose War ended, these honors would dissipate like smoke.
Thus he knew that only personal strength could be the benefit he gained from this war. He told himself to observe the course of history clearly and not be blinded by these illusions.
With this clarity, he turned the horse around and continued forward. Sensing the gradually intensifying atmosphere, the scattered mercenaries began to close in around their ’lord.’ The valley echoed with rumbling sounds, and everyone stopped to watch this scene—like a king summoning his knights.
Battle was about to start again, and everyone’s nerves were involuntarily tensing.
After all, despite the night seeming to be effortlessly managed, they were actually racing against time. Besides fighting, Brand was almost always holding Char’s silver pocket watch—the tension sometimes making his cold sweat soak through the watchcase.
How perilous had previous battles been? Sometimes they were just minutes away from encountering another undead scout—mere minutes being the difference between heaven and hell.
Brand finally reached the front of the team, where Frey and her self-defense corps had long been waiting. Besides her, Batom, Mano, Votarong, Reto, and Yulier were also present. They had all received Brand’s notice early on, but couldn’t comprehend the young man’s plan.
They had already circled behind the undead army, achieving half of their initial plan. But why did Brand now want them to return the same way?
Had Brand not firmly established himself as their leader, these seasoned mercenaries would likely be demanding explanations instead of waiting. Even the weakened Frey, sitting anxiously on her horse, looked at him several times about to speak, but hesitated.
Brand glanced at her.
In fact, he had received information that the undead were spreading out to both flanks, attempting to block the imagined refugee group. Additionally, three other divisions seemed to be sweeping back, leaving them with few options. Even those who had always followed him couldn’t help but wonder if they were to maneuver along the ’circle,’ racing against the ’dead maggots.’
It was only natural for people to want to avoid danger.
However, Madara had gathered two battle groups and seven divisions in this area. Even if these vast numbers of undead converged in one region, the area occupied was still enormous—refugees would need to detour nearly twenty miles to completely avoid contact.
So achieving such a feat wasn’t realistic, especially with the enemy also spreading to the flanks.
In reality, Brand’s plan was for these people to fight their way back along their original path, giving the Lord of Zombies an unexpected surprise.
Having defeated two of Madara’s squads, the collected weapons were redistributed, enough to arm a force of five to six hundred. After rallying everyone fit to be armed among the over two thousand refugees, regardless of gender, the self-defense corps had expanded to nearly five hundred members.