Travis’s messenger came with word that they had encountered an army of ghouls flying imperial banners. Cornelius did not stop to question the truth of the report. He sent a unit to aid them, then, without hesitating, he gave the order for all forces to retreat, and for a defensive formation to be assumed with all haste against the ghouls attacking from the east, centered around Lieutenant General Hermann, who excelled at defense. Cornelius made his announcement with speed and precision. But they were all but powerless against the ghouls that welled up like water released from beneath the earth. Their strength to resist was whittled away with every passing moment.
The First Allied Legion, Lambert’s Camp
The battlefield around him stank of blood and decay. Lambert swung his sword with everything he had, but there was no end in sight. As his unit fell back again and again, they were being driven into a corner.
“If it weren’t for the Lord Marshal’s quick judgment, I don’t doubt we’d have passed through the gate to the land of the dead long ago,” Grell said. Lambert agreed with every word. If Cornelius had ordered them to fight back to the last against the ghouls that had come out of nowhere, the best they could have hoped for was losing half their unit—at worst, it could have meant total annihilation. What little preparation they had managed was all that had prevented a bloodbath. And yet—
“Still,” Lambert muttered to himself, “it may only be a matter of time.”
“Now that won’t do,” came Grell’s rebuke from behind him. “Faintheartedness from our commander? I’ll have no more thoughtless comments from you.” Grell whacked his small shield into a ghoul that ran at him from the left, then drove his long spear deep into another that came at him from the front. This didn’t seem to bother the ghoul, however. Still impaled by the spear, it pressed forward, its vicious mouth gaping open. Lambert swung around to the ghoul’s right, then mustered every last drop of his strength as he brought his sword down on it.
“You mustn’t be too reckless,” he told Grell.
At length, the older man said, “This is a terrifying foe.” Lambert was taken aback. It was true that the ghouls who seemed to feel no pain as they attacked were terrifying creatures. But he had never thought the day would come when he heard those words come out of Grell’s mouth. Without thinking, he told him as much. Grell’s brow furrowed.
“Not because of how they look, or how they don’t care when they’re attacked. Battle is a noble thing, where you pit your body and mind against your opponent. I taught you that, my lord, long ago. But these things don’t have that. There’s nothing inside them at all. That is what terrifies me.”
Lambert nodded gravely. “In any case, running away is the only option we’ve got.”
The plains that stretched out around them without anything to obstruct his line of sight were not suited to defense. But if they could keep retreating east, they would reach a ravine known as one of the most perilous passes in Fernest. From how the ghouls had moved so far, Lambert didn’t think they were capable of fine-tuning their movements like a human could. He could only marvel at how Cornelius had immediately settled on east as the direction of their retreat.
Do these things never get tired?! No matter how much time went by, the ghouls’ ferocity never ebbed. Lambert’s unit was falling into the depths of exhaustion and despair. The only reason they were able to keep up some semblance of an organized retreat was thanks to nothing other than Lambert’s masterful command. And yet—
“Graaauuugh...” The crushing weight of numbers was beyond what they could make up for with skill. A ghoul dragged itself over the ground to rip with its teeth into Lambert’s thigh. With his mobility, his one advantage over the creatures, taken away, all that was left to him was the implacable call of death.
I always hoped to die on the battlefield. It seems my wish will be granted, though I wouldn’t have chosen ghouls for my final foe, Lambert thought. Even the gods enjoy their cruel jokes.
He let out a breath as deep as the deepest places in the earth, then raised his sword high above his head. In the same moment, someone behind him grabbed his shoulder hard. Lambert spun around and found himself staring into Grell’s exasperated eyes.
“What the hell?!”
“None of that. I never taught you to die without carrying out your duty.”
“I can’t run anywhere on these legs. I’ve decided to die here, so leave me be.” Lambert turned his back on Grell, then raised his sword again.
“That’s nonsense. If your legs fail you, you crawl out of here.”
“I am a general! As if I’d disgrace myself like that! Grell, you get out of here!”
Grell was quiet for a moment. “You will not run, ser?”
“How many times do I have to say it?!”
“Then this is how it must be.” At the same time as he took in these final words from Grell, a sharp pain shot through Lambert’s neck.
“...Grell, you...bastard...” As his vision faded to white, the last thing Lambert saw was Grell’s face, set hard as iron.
“A student’s got no right to die before his master,” Grell muttered. He called over a few soldiers who stood nearby and ordered them to take Lambert and flee. Then, he turned to the ghouls, longspear in hand. To the soldiers behind him, he shouted, “From here on, it’s a one-way trip to the land of the dead. Are all your affairs in order?”
“Like you need to ask,” grinned an old soldier. “I’ve long since sorted that out.”
“I’ve been waiting for this day,” said another, twirling the blade that had carried him across the continent with the dexterity of an acrobat. “Now, at last, I can share a cup with our comrades who went on before us.”
By some miracle, the soldiers Grell had brought to battle with him were all there, with not one face missing.
Grell looked at them with a fearless grin. “Come, then. To the ends of life itself.”