"The undead moved," informed Zela, making me stop and sigh.

My whole body is sweaty. I am so tired that I could barely walk. I shouldn't have pushed myself too hard, but I needed to.

I had just finished my second spar with Bell less than a minute ago, fourth, if I count the spars with others.

I had pushed myself so much that I couldn't even walk last night. I could afford to do that last night because I could sleep to recover, but I cannot today.

Even if I want to, I need to conserve my strength for the battle.

The undead that had gathered at the boundary had finally moved. The Marquess is still in the region; it will take him another hour before he leaves its boundary.

"They are asserting themselves," Jon commented.

They had waited for nearly two months; what's a few more minutes, but they didn't wait.

It's their way to assert themselves, and I don't think Marquess Gats would turn back to deal with them. No matter how much I wish for that to happen.

"Inform me of any new progress immediately. Especially anything from Eli and others," I ordered and began walking.

The merchant state used to provide us with vast intelligence on the undead. Now we are nearly blind, our scouts are there, but none were able to get close.

They are getting attacked with their beasts being shot down.

The intelligence from the merchants stated that there would be three and a half to four million undead in the horde, but that intelligence was weeks old.

I need fresh intelligence, not only on the size of the horde, but also on the kind of undead present in the horde and the powerhouses.

We were overly dependent on the merchants for intelligence. If I survive this, I will invest a substantial amount of money to develop an intelligence network and the assets.

Soon, I reached the elevator and stepped into it. A few seconds later, it reached the top floor of the tower, and I walked out.

The legacy is filled with people.

I had planned to keep it open today, but with fewer numbers. The forged seed and essence it had consumed changed the plan.

That's why we haven't even closed it at night.

It had gathered quite a lot of emotions through the night, more than we had expected, but we need more.

For the spells and artifacts, we will use them in the battle. It's why we had deposited the emotional essence we had stored in the vials.

An hour later, I was riding toward the city hall, with weakness receding fast.

I recover fast in legacy and its domain, but I also had Caena's recovery charm active on me. I need to be at my best when the undead come.

I rode faster than usual, so it took me less than five minutes to reach the city hall.

"There is a message from Eli," Zela said as I stepped into the city hall. "What is the number?" he wouldn't have contacted if he didn't have the number.

It is intelligence we desperately need.

"It's a Great Horde!" she replied sombrely. I nearly stumbled upon hearing that. "Four and a half million undead," she clarified.

She didn't have to; the great horde says it all.

I was hoping for the lower end of what the merchant state had informed us, but here, there are a million more undead than I expected.

I wanted to stop and sit down, but I kept walking.

Three and a half million we were already expecting was already a very high number, but now there is a million more.

It won't be just the undead, but also the increase in powerhouses. It had just shrunk our chances of victory even further.

It made me angry and scared, so I wanted to hit something, but I didn't. I bottled those emotions to use them in battle later.

"They are waiting in your office," Jill informed as I reached my office. I nodded and walked inside.

Four people were already sitting there. Stone, Cardin, Azalia, and Hiren. Looking at their sombre faces, I didn't have to ask them whether they had received any information.

"A great horde," I said. "Yes," Stone replied simply while I sat on my chair.

"Great or grand, it didn't change things much. We were prepared to fight the enemy with numbers tens of times greater than ours."

"These are just slightly grander numbers than we have expected," said General Azalia, breaking the silence.

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"You are absolutely right, General!" I replied with a smile on my face.

There was a silence for a moment before I turned to Stone.

"Is everything ready?" I asked. "Yes, every man is ready to fight for you and the dominion," he replied. I smiled at that. We are going to need every man, seeing the numbers coming toward us.

…

Deerpond

"A Grand Horde!" I repeated what my mage had said. Feeling such fear, I had never felt before.

"It must be a lie. A ploy of Silver," accused Ronda. He may be saying it's a lie, but I feel the clear tremor of fear in his voice.

The message had come from Silver. It surprised me, seeing the enmity he has toward me. Also, there was no agreement on intelligence sharing between us.

We had sent our people to gather the intelligence on the undead, but those who got too close were killed.

Even the monsters were sniped. It made me wonder how Silver had gotten the information. It may be a ploy from him.

"What do you think?" I asked my General. "It's likely the truth. There is no reason for Silver to lie," he replied.

"Keep the forces ready. We will move the moment Greltheaven falls," I ordered.

I don't want to leave Deerpond, but the undead had left us with no choice. There is no help from the damn empire, and Silver won't be able to stop them for more than a few minutes.

There is only one person in the region who can go against the undead, and I will be merging my forces with him.

It's not something I wanted to do, but it is the only choice I could see. I could take my forces to the empire, but people there are fighting for little scraps.

The wasteland is much better than that hellhole.

…

Dustorn Fortress

"He declined," informed Mirdo.

"Silver is such an idiot. If he could merge his forces with us, we would have a true chance of victory against the undead," said Imerla, my general.

"It's a folly of someone who knows he is safe," stated Dasir. "The undead will not dare to kill him, even after he named his whore, the heir." He added.

I didn't say anything, but I am irritated by Silver, as once more he declined my offer.

Deerpond is joining me, against the undead. So, is Port Midlet. They will wait till Greltheaven falls, but they will join without a doubt.

They have no options other than me.

If Silver had joined, then I would have had a decent force that would have given me a good chance to defeat the undead.

Now, when I meet the undead, I will have to be really quick in neutralizing their powerhouses, or the horde will swallow me and my forces up.

I wish this were the only thing I needed to be worried about.

"I say, there are a hundred thousand of them," said Imerla, looking through the binoculars toward the fort far ahead, where a large force is practicing.

"Let's hope what Marquess has said is true," added Dasir, and I nodded.

Tabes will want to test me, but people on the other side told Gats they won't attack me while I am dealing with the undead.

The undead had stated that they want the whole wasteland of Renwell, which means they will want the parts held by Tabes as well as Inam, which is in a wasteland.

The Empire hadn't conquered the whole region. Tabes still has around 15% to 20% of it.

So, if we could deal with the undead, they would be more than happy. They will leave us alone until they deal with the mainland of the empire before attacking us.

I do not fully believe them, but I hope what they say is true, because I will need all my forces and the forces of my allies to deal with the undead.

"Contact the Baronies and Mirador Hold. Ask them to make the decision quickly!" I ordered Mirdo.

Those two are still sitting on the fence. I know, they will join me once Greltheaven falls, but I need the answer before that. I want to have the whole force gathered before I face the undead.

…

Owlspring

"He should have at least sent his siblings away," I said. I had offered it to him.

This will give the undead leverage. They won't be able to move Silver and her out of the city, but they could move the children.

Silver is so smart, but this was an idiotic decision.

"You had offered, my lord. There is nothing you could do," replied Nathil.

"Say, Nathil, do you think he has any chance?" I asked, and the old man just looked at me. It was an idiotic question; in front of a Grand horde, there is no chance.

…

Eli Gest

"They are avoiding, Panar," said Cas, the fellow beast scout, and I nodded.

It is something that made me relieved. If they attacked the city, thousands of people would be slaughtered and turned into undead.

I pushed those thoughts and focused on my monster.

I could see the black dot from Charlie's eyes through Share View. I wanted a closer look, but Mishka was barely able to survive the attack earlier.

"Is your bird going there once more?" he asked, and I nodded.

Earlier, I had taken the massive risk and sent Alba. She is the best of the three Sky Whisperers, the smallest of three cloud-surfing sparrow species.

They are short-range, but I am sending her on a medium-range mission.

Two other Sky Whisperers are not capable of this, but she is. She is also the most intelligent one.

I have given her command and deactivated every skill on her aside from Shroud of Limitless Sky, my inheritance skill, which enhances her stealth.

And my newest skill, Memory Snap, which lets her take pictures.

Earlier, I used the same way, and she was able to take the picture, which helped me determine the numbers the horde has.

I don't have the skill to count enemies, but it's something I've learned during the war.

"Fuck!" Cas cursed suddenly. "Is your beast safe?" I asked, turning to Cast, It's the only reason he would curse.

"Barely," he replied.

Those bastards are sniping at everything that comes within their range, and their range is high. They are archers and mages, with the most dangerous of them being the leader.

I had fought in the battle, he had led on the island, and he is a terror.

All my experience is telling me to run away; there is no way they are going to win against such a force.

That had crushed the armies much bigger than Greltheaven, with many Lv. 40s, but my friends aren't leaving and are even saying there is a chance.

Stone had said that to me personally, and he would never lie about such things.

These past few weeks have been very stressful for me. I have taken more risks in the past few weeks than I ever have since I came here.

With intelligence cut off, it had fallen on us to track the movements of the undead.

They may have been stressful, but I had levelled up as well. Three times, actually! Reaching Lv. 29 from Lv. 26, which took me months to achieve.

Minutes passed and I waited with bated breath. With nearly all my skills cut off, I can't sense her location or state. I don't know whether Alba is alive or dead.

All I could do was believe in her and the training I gave her.

Time passed, and we maintained our pace. Always keeping a safe distance from the horde.

They are moving quite fast and would reach Greltheaven by mid-afternoon. I plan to join the battle. I didn't have to; I am a scout, but I will do it.

They need every man possible in their fight against the undead.

I was in my thoughts when I heard a familiar chirp, and a few seconds later, I saw the tiny six-inch-long bird come flying toward me.

"Good girl!" I petted her as she landed on my hand.

She is clearly tired, and looking at the singed feathers, she was under attack.

I fed her treats, coated with healing potion, before retrieving the pictures. They are clearer; she had gone quite close this time.

When I looked at them, my expression turned sour. They are not going to like this.

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