Movements of the Empire
Serea had fallen into a deep slumber, and during her sleep, a series of unpredictable changes occurred in the outside world.
On the outskirts of the Corrupted Jungle, a wooden camp had suddenly been constructed within two days. On the watchtowers stood archers clad in black leather armor, while below, rows of shield warriors in black scale-armor steadfastly held their posts, constantly guarding against a mass outbreak of zombies.
This outpost had been built under the orders of Lord Feros of the Yeton Territory, and stationed here were 300 of the Empire's vanguard troops tasked with combating the zombies. There were also adventurers frequently coming to the camp for supplies.
To counter the undead outbreak, even Annika Vilary, the trusted disciple of the Imperial Great Mage "Desertwind," had been sent. As the commander, annika mobilized both the military strength of Yeton Territory and civilian resources, determined to eradicate the source of the deathly power completely!
Thus, starting from yesterday, when the camp was officially completed, annika dispatched a large number of troops into the Corrupted Jungle to search for the "source" of the undead outbreak.
"Cliff" was one of the vanguard officers responsible for entering the jungle to seek out this "source".
He led fifty fully armed Imperial soldiers and accompanying medical staff. Faced with such low-level undead as zombies, they paid them no heed and directly ventured deep into the jungle.
There were three other search squads like his. Upon entering the jungle, they advanced in different directions to probe the situation around them, hoping to quickly find the "source" of the outbreak of deathly power if possible.
But the deeper they went into the jungle, the more they realized things were not as simple as they had imagined...
"Ahhhh!"
More than a dozen zombies, attracted by the scent of the living, rushed toward them. Lacking any intelligence, the zombies did not consider the strength of their enemies; since they still could not generate deathly power on their own, they had to find fresh meat to fill their bellies.
Humans were meat!
"Commander Cliff, zombies ahead."
One deputy pointed at the approaching zombies and shouted. Hearing this, cliff frowned slightly and gave an order.
"Cover the archers. Try not to engage in melee. If we get infected with the plague, it'll be troublesome."
"Yes, sir!"
Upon receiving the order, ten shield warriors moved up to the front, while ten spearmen crouched behind the shield wall to form a spear formation. Ten swordsmen and heavy warriors guarded the flanks, and ten archers drew their bows, arrows trained on the zombies.
The zombies charged, the gap between the two sides narrowing to twenty meters.
In jungle combat, such a distance did affect the archers' accuracy, but with arrows nocked, there was no turning back.
"Fire!"
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!
A volley of arrows was released. The archers just kept shooting, nocking and firing without worrying too much about accuracy—this was, after all, suppressive fire.
This method was effective against humans or other races, but against the undead...
Thud, thud, thud!
Arrows buried themselves in bodies. Some zombies were struck down; others staggered back a few steps. Only a few zombies were actually killed by a headshot.
The rest, undeterred by their wounds, stood back up and continued their charge at the humans.
"They're undead, aim for the head!"
Cliff said with exasperation. He had reminded them many times, but these green archers didn't seem to have much experience fighting undead, so the zombies still reached the shield wall.
"Shield warriors, knock them down! Spearmen, finish them off!"
With the enemy at close quarters, cliff had no choice but to issue new orders. The shield warriors gripped their greatshields tightly, ready for the zombies to come near.
"Ahhhh!"
The zombies charged like rabid dogs, clawing at the greatshields and gnawing at the scale-armor, but the shield wall did not budge.
Bang, Bang, Bang!
The shield wall pressed forward, knocking down the zombies, then the spearmen seized the opportunity—one precise thrust, stabbing through the head.
Soon, all the zombies were dealt with and Cliff's squad secured a quick victory.
But while they had won, there were still some losses.
One shield warrior was clutching his hand, his companion wrapping the wound for him. Besides bandaging, they also had to take special and precious potions to guard against plague infection.
Along the way, they had gone through many such battles. Most soldiers were somewhat wounded, and as for the antidote potions...
"Commander Cliff, we're down to only twenty bottles of antidote. For those who've already taken it, the effects are wearing off. What should we do..."
"..."
Cliff fell silent, gazing into the depths of the jungle. He heaved a long sigh.
"Keep moving forward. Once the potions run out, we'll return."
"But..."
"Advance!"
Ignoring the deputy's protests, cliff gave the order to move on after a brief regroup. The deputy had no option but to follow, only praying there would be fewer battles ahead.
However, things rarely go as one wishes. The deeper they went, the more frequent the zombie encounters became, hampering their progress at every step.
But their journey was not without rewards...
"Commander Cliff, we've found a camp ahead."
"A camp? Are you sure there's no mistake?"
"Yes, sir."
Hearing the scout's report, cliff felt something was wrong. Who would set up a camp in such a forsaken place? Could it be a vanguard unit under Lord Annika?
With this suspicion, cliff decided to investigate. If possible, resupplying at the camp would be helpful, as they couldn't return without any accomplishments.
With this in mind, cliff gave the order to head for the camp.
As the team pressed on, they did indeed see a camp fortified with wooden walls and surrounded by giant trees—an odd sight.
"This is the camp you mentioned?"
"Yes, commander Cliff."
After confirming, cliff studied the camp from the outside. The wooden walls looked very new, clearly just built. He could faintly see several figures in leather armor atop the palisade.
As he spotted them, those inside the camp noticed the approaching Imperial soldiers.
"Let's go, get closer."
Cliff led the team forward, drawing nearer to the camp.
Learning there were human troops outside, Doluka—the one responsible for guarding the elf village—quickly climbed onto the fence. She also hid the two Skeleton Warriors tasked with communicating with the queen.
Indeed, the camp Cliff had discovered was the Darkmoon clan's elven village. Knowing that the approaching soldiers were humans, Doluka felt the situation was troublesome.
"Hide your ears."
Doluka ordered, and the elf guards all pulled the hoods of their leather cloaks over their heads, trying to conceal the ears that signified their identity. Comparing forces, Doluka believed it best not to start a conflict.
"You inside, who are you?"
After determining the other party showed no hostility, cliff, shielded by his soldiers, stepped onto the clearing outside the camp.
Doluka thought for a moment, then replied, "Who are you then?"
Seeing her respond with another question, cliff saw no reason to hide.
"We are the Empire's troops of Yeton under Ailera, here to deal with the undead outbreak."
As Cliff spoke, Doluka pondered, attempting to contact the queen through the Skeleton Warriors. However, there had been no response from the queen since the day before, so for now the decision was left to them alone.
(To be continued...)