Chapter 100 – Retreat (1)

Undead crawled out of the river one after another.

Though most were zombies and wouldn’t be a problem to handle at other times, now the number of zombies crawling out was the problem.

Not just a few or hundreds, but zombies pouring out from the river were literally covering the riverbank.

Thanks to Zahina the helicopter avoided crashing, but with the engine and rotor gone it was impossible to take off again.

Perhaps knowing that, people jumped out of the helicopter.

Party members except Yerim came out first, followed by soldiers, and David who claimed to be from the State Department came out through the broken helicopter door pressing his bleeding forehead.

“Where’s Yerim?”

“She’s treating the pilots.”

“No time. Tell her to hurry.”

“Yes.”

Hoffman ran to the front of the helicopter.

There was no time to spare.

The zombie army was climbing up the riverbank.

Though they stopped at the riverbank getting tangled with each other due to sheer numbers, those zombies would soon rush here.

I looked at David leaning against the helicopter pressing his forehead.

Seeing me, he immediately apologized.

“I’m sorry. We made a mistake. We thought it would be fine without the skeleton mage, but zombie pigeons remained.”

He seemed to think I would protest.

I shook my head at his words.

“Too many numbers. Our party can’t hold them back. We need to retreat quickly.”

Even alone I could only run away at best.

With party members and US military together, if we got surrounded most except our party would have to die.

Moreover, it wasn’t just US military here.

On the opposite bank were Korean soldiers looking at me with dumb faces.

The soldiers blankly staring at me came to their senses at one soldier’s shout and started yelling at each other.

“Damn, they’re coming!”

“Should have just left!”

“Should have just shot him in the back.”

“How could I have known this would happen!”

“Finally I’ll meet my parents. No, if there are living people in the north maybe my parents are alive too? Then I shouldn’t die? What should I do?”

A private shouting at the sergeant and a sergeant saying he should have killed the officer. Hearing that the officer was just making excuses, and one soldier was spouting nonsense.

They were absurd soldiers.

I had even admired them running to save us, but never thought they would be soldiers with such chaotic discipline.

Still despite messy discipline, they were soldiers who knew how to fight.

Seeing approaching zombies, the soldiers aimed their guns.

Stable postures and unwavering muzzles.

“Retreat to the bunker! Continuous fire, absolutely only destroy leading legs. Slow the horde’s speed by taking down the front!”

Even the officer being threatened by the sergeant gave surprisingly excellent orders.

At that level they were forces that could be somewhat helpful.

Plus forces that came out here must surely have transportation.

I shouted toward the US military.

“Anyone who can’t move?”

Everyone shook their heads at my words.

Even David with blood streaming down his forehead shook his head.

As expected, he couldn’t be an ordinary civil servant.

“If none, you all retreat with those Korean soldiers over there. I’ll take the rearmost position, and party members will support, so you prioritize running.”

“But…”

“Understood.”

Some soldiers tried to say something at my words, but David stepped forward and stopped their mouths before that.

He seemed to have properly seen us fighting.

At David’s direction the US soldiers started running toward the opposite bank taking the pilots who had just come out of the helicopter.

Seeing the US soldiers running, I gave orders to party members.

“Yerim spread holy power as much as possible while following behind people from now!”

“Y-Yes! Understood!”

Yerim who came out after treating the pilots was startled at my words then saluted me.

It was a really random salute, but if she just did her job properly I wouldn’t say anything even if she did tap dance while standing on her hands.

Seeing Yerim run off I said to Hoffman.

“Guard Yerim’s side while binding approaching ones’ legs. You know the rest right? Don’t disappoint this time.”

“Don’t worry. If the situation gets bad, I’ll carry Cleric Yerim and run full speed.”

Hoffman put his hand on his chest then followed behind Yerim.

“Zahina…”

“I’ll make a path.”

The Mother Tree’s daughter cast out from her race moved her ability before I could speak.

The surrounding ground started writhing.

Her expression wasn’t bad despite being shunned by her race.

Zahina moved the ground and wind while running following the group.

Death energy approaching with zombies was pushed back, and the ground in front of charging zombies turned to mud.

I didn’t need to say anything separately.

She was doing well what she needed to do.

After everyone left I checked armor and sword first.

They were armor and sword received when departing today.

As the commander said they were the best armor and sword among military supplies.

“Still hard to endure long.”

Though could have used them for a while before, now mass-produced sword and armor had trouble handling my speed and strength.

Same for my broken weapons and armor.

“Need to get new ones made… That’s all money too…”

Thought I’d become quite rich coming to this world, but there were more places needing money than expected.

“Need to earn more.”

To make good sword and armor, really needed to earn a lot.

“For that, need to succeed in this reconnaissance too.”

Actually since the helicopter crashed the reconnaissance was already ruined, but we saw undead gathering too, and now if we saved everyone and brought them back that would be success.

Thinking that way, these being supply items rather pleased me.

“Being supplies, doesn’t matter if they break.”

I turned after seeing undead approaching through the mud and ran full speed.

The undead legion following behind, US military and our party running.

Korean soldier troops preparing to fight opened their eyes wide seeing us running.

Following at the very back I shouted loudly toward them.

My voice filled with mana carried sufficiently to the Korean soldiers.

“Officer there! You wouldn’t have walked here when deployed, what did you ride?”

At the sudden question pointing to him, the officer answered without thinking.

“We did hide an army truck behind the hill with the bunker but…”

Though not a loud voice, it was enough to hear with ears filled with mana.

“Perfect. Let’s go there right away!”

He was startled when I answered his quiet words.

Looking at me with surprised face he turned serious looking at the river again.

The zombie legion escaping the mud was running here.

By now the neck-cut corpse golem was invisible covered by zombies, and even the helicopter’s upper body was covered by zombies.

Seeing that sight the officer shook his head.

“But retreating there would be hard…”

I answered without listening to all his words.

“My party and I will hold them back.”

At my words he looked at me running once more then nodded.

“…Understood.”

He shouted to the soldiers in circular formation.

“Not the bunker, to the truck!”

At the officer’s words the sergeant shouted loudly.

“Move quickly! They said they’ll hold them back so we just run full speed!”

The soldiers immediately turned and started running.

Unlike before, they showed proper soldier-like appearance immediately moving at the officer’s orders, but their mouths hadn’t changed from before.

“What if they can’t hold them?”

When one soldier asked while running, the sergeant shouted at him.

“Why worry when they’ll die first if they can’t hold them! Worry after they all die!”

Though not wrong, it was certainly words earning a beating.

I kept those words in my mind.

Shortly after, the US military attached behind Korean soldiers, and Yerim and Hoffman joined them too.

Zahina was also running beside them.

As Yerim’s holy power spread out, earthen walls rose on both sides of them running.

They were earthen walls made by Zahina.

Though not high or sturdy earthen walls, they hid the group’s appearance from zombies running from the sides.

Zahina did much better than I thought.

Now my turn. I turned around.

By now the zombie horde had come right up close.

The leading zombies were about to grab my clothes.

But there was no way ordinary zombies could catch me.

While casually dodging I gauged distance with the group.

The distance was gradually getting closer. As expected, at civilian pace they would inevitably be caught by the zombie horde.

Undead filled before my eyes.

It felt like that zombie tsunami I saw in movies in my previous life was rushing at me.

“They didn’t gather like this in our world… This world really has more people.”

Even I would get buried in that zombie horde if I retreated while catching them one by one.

I had no intention of that happening.

I grabbed my sword with both hands while jumping back.

“Shall we try?”

I started pushing mana into the sword.

A technique I never thought possible before.

A technique I didn’t think possible even after coming to this world.

After training all night with the Sword Master and recalling swordsmanship, only then did I realize I could do it too.

Honestly didn’t think the sword would endure but didn’t matter.

This sword was supplies after all.

There was one more supply sword in my pouch.

Of course the soldier handing over the sword asked me to use it carefully saying it was expensive, but whatever.

This was all because the count wouldn’t give me leave.

I threw away the continuing stray thoughts and focused on the sword.

Filled the sword with mana and kept circulating that mana.

And imagined.

Like imagining the sword was my body when first pushing mana into a sword.

This time imagined like there was a sword outside my body too.

And breathed mana into there.

Mana wasn’t just in my body.

Though this world had no mana before, now this world was full of mana more than death energy flowing.

I flowed my mana into that mana-filled space.

And imagined again.

Imagined the sword lengthening.

Mana started bursting out from the sword.

Soft light started rising above the sword.

The sword gradually lengthened.

At some point a limit came, and I swung the sword.

Whoosh.

Light split the world.

The sword energy swept away dozens of zombies charging at the front.