About the same time. There was a minor disturbance at the temple in the city.

　The cathedral, a sacred and tranquil place of prayer, now resembled a field hospital.
　Blankets had been pulled out at random, and injured knights were lying side by side on them. Speaking of sacred magic, it is recovery magic. It was not uncommon for temples to be used as first aid stations during times of battle.

　Whether or not temples would be used as a public authority in times of battle or war depended on the occasion. In the past, temples were neutral to politics. From that point of view, this battle is not a problem because it is against monsters.
　The temple started rescue operations before the government asked for it. Since it was impossible to disobey an order anyway, the temple claimed that it was a voluntary humanitarian aid by starting its own action and asserted its independence.

　The area was filled with the painful voices of the wounded, not the prayers of the scripture readers. They were treated with a "regeneration" spell. A spell that immediately closes wounds consumes a lot of magic power, and should not be used if you are treating a large number of injured people in the safe rear.

　In the cathedral, there was a man who was shouting at the head of the temple.

You don't know what you're talking about!　Just use the resurrection spell!
That's not enough catalyst for warding!　I'm scouring the city for catalysts that can be used for sacred magic!　We may be able to gather enough catalysts to create the wards once again!
You want me to wait until then?　That's impossible!　We must use the remaining catalyst to cast a revival spell immediately!
We can't ignore our own exhaustion!
Don't be so naive!

　"Don't be so naive!" A man of about thirty years of age wearing a gorgeous costume.
　His name is Theo Colin Edfelt. He is the third son of the Marquis of Edfelt.

　What Theo is pointing at is a corpse that was brought into the temple.
　It is Evan Jordus Reisen, an aerial cavalryman who was sent by Noa Curio as a reinforcement force, and who was kicked to death by the Rose Princess of Hell.
　Theo has requested that the Temple Chief revive Evan.

　As the third son, he would not normally be able to inherit a territory and would have to take care of himself. Theo has always wanted to be a government official, but has never been able to accept it.
　However, his life has recently changed. Theo's life was recently changed by a coup d'etat by his brother Hilbert.
　The Marquesses of Edfelt were quick to follow Hilbert's lead. Therefore, Theo also had the opportunity to sell his face to Hilbert.
　Fortunately, many of the officials at the court who were considered to be pro-king were beheaded (some of them were physically beheaded, of course). Theo was recruited as a government official, and his experience studying in Noachurio led him to become involved in diplomacy.

　Noachurio was quick to offer gifts (unnecessarily expensive) to the new diplomat, as well as opportunities for exchange of ideas (a noble gathering of beautiful women to discuss international affairs over a sumptuous meal).
　Exasperated by the sincerity of the people of Noachurio, Theo is intent on establishing and stabilizing good relations between the newly established government and Noachurio.
　Whether or not Theo is capable of doing so is another story.

　Many of the officials who had been working on the front lines had been fired, and the number of people who didn't know their jobs or weren't capable of doing them had increased.
　It would be some time before national political problems erupted from this, but Theo's presence was already a major problem in this temple.

"He is the commander of the reinforcements who gave his life for our country!　If we don't do our utmost to revive him, what do you think will happen to relations between our two countries?
What do you think will happen to relations between our two countries if we don't make every effort to revive her?

　The Temple Chief's reluctance to revive her has its own side of the story.
　The reanimation spell consumes a lot of magic power, and the success rate must be increased with a catalyst for sacred magic.
　But both of these are necessary to re-establish the wards. It is doubtful that we can afford to spend a huge amount of magic power to revive one person and use a catalyst right now.

Warding is of no use whatsoever!
It's .......

　The head of the temple was at a loss for words.
　The next time we put up wards, it's unknown if they'll do any good.
　I was told by an adventurer who knows a lot about this kind of magic that if I cast the wards just as the undead army was being brought into the city, I might be able to do some serious damage, but I don't know if that would really work, and the adventurer wasn't sure either.
　After all, they were dealing with a monster that could wipe out a ward of about 30 people by itself.

　Theo sniffed triumphantly at the Temple Chief, who couldn't say another word.

"Hmm, you finally get it. The Knights are fighting hard, so leave it to them!　But more importantly, revive them!
"I understand, I understand!

　I understand, I understand!" The temple chief shouted as if in desperation.
　I know firsthand how troublesome it is to go against the current regime in the past month or so. A slight reluctance to cooperate was met with a severe reprimand, and then there was the mob of citizens who threw manure into the air and broke windows and assaulted priests, no matter what information had been spread.
　From the beginning, the temple chief was at an overwhelming disadvantage. If he could not be understood even after all this reasoning, he had no choice but to believe that it was the will of the king and obey.

　The priests gathered around the corpse, which was in an unbearable condition.
　Holding a tin staff in one hand and a spellbook in the other, the priests chanted. This is a "ritual" method of sharing the burden of magic power and further increasing the power of magic by joining forces.
　In this way, advanced magic, which cannot be used by a single practitioner, can be performed.
　In time with the chanting, the temple head sprinkles various herbs, unicorn horn powder, and other catalysts. They burned as white flames and drifted around like fireflies.

　As the chanting concluded, the head of the temple raised his magnificent golden tin staff high in the air.

"Raise the dead!

　At that moment, the inside of the cathedral became dimly dark. In the pale darkness, white, pure light poured down, gathered, and flowed into Evan's corpse.
　The soaring holy air formed a mass of light that could no longer tell what was there.

　And then.
　When the light gradually faded and finally disappeared, what was left was a pile of dark brown ashes equal to the volume of a human body. Evan's clothes and armor were buried in the pile of ashes.



"...... failed, sir. ......

　The temple chief nodded helplessly and squeezed out. Some of the priests fell to their knees, unable to bear the consumption of magic. They were already exhausted, both physically and magically, from treating the injured.

"You, you!

　Theo drew the sword that hung from his waist and suddenly slashed at the temple chief.

What?

　Theo was cut off at the shoulder.
　Theo stabbed his sword with bloodshot eyes at the fallen temple chief, who had been cut across the shoulder.

You cut me off, you bastard!　Are you trying to get at me?
"Hold on!　The success rate of resuscitation is not high to begin with!　Moreover, it depends on the amount of catalyst, the condition of the corpse, the amount of time that has passed since death, and the karma of the person to be resuscitated!
Shut up!
Shut up!

　Theo even cut down the priest who had come to punish him.
　The female priestess who was carrying a vat of water screamed and ran away.

This is a diplomatic issue!　You have stained the glorious friendship that is about to be established between Noa Curio and Ciel-Teira!
　It's your fault!　You cowards!　Country to country relations. ......

　Blood spurted out of Theo's mouth as he squirmed.

"...... What?

　Theo, who had a sword point growing out of his chest, slowly turned around.

　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're doing.

...... Ah, there's still that skeleton assassin from earlier, isn't there?
That's right. Well, that was a mistake. He must have been hiding somewhere.

　The warrior jokingly said in a white voice, and his fellow adventurers joined in.

"Oh, you ...... treason ...... international trouble ...... and death penalty ....... ......

　The sword was drawn, and Theo fell. The pool of blood on the stone floor grew larger and larger.
　Theo never moved again.

"Hello, adventurer. ......
"Do you want to survive or not, old man?

　The chief priest was being treated for his injuries by the priests' magic.
　Looking down at him, the fighter spat.

This is no time to waste magic.
You can't bring him back to life like that. ...... He's already got the beast, right?
He was easily defeated.

　The adventurers' way of thinking is dry and rational.
　Everything is based on life. If there is an obstacle to their survival, they will eliminate it, whether it is a demon or a troublesome noble. The first priority is to get out of this situation, regardless of the problems that may arise later because of it.
　He is fundamentally different from the temple chief, who is bound by his position, the people he is supposed to protect, and so on.

"At ......?　If anyone has a problem with what I've done, come and get me right now. Is anyone there?

　The fighter who killed Theo calls out.
　No one speaks up.
　Instead, there was a pause and a modest clap.
　The applause, which sounded like a small wave, soon became a chain of applause.

　The cathedral erupted in applause.
　To the priests, of course, and even to the knights who were being healed here, Theo's act of consuming the priests' magic was a hindrance.

That's right, old man.
"Ha, ha, .......

　The temple chief, unsure of how to react, laughed dryly, his eyes black and white.

But it's going to be a pain in the ass when the fight is over.
"Yeah. Let's get out of here as fast as we can.
...... I will defend you to the best of my ability in case of emergency.

　The head of the temple bowed.

　At that moment, there was a shaking of the earth, and the peaceful atmosphere froze.

This is ......
It looks like the attack has started again.

　The adventurers looked at each other and then looked towards the city gate.
　The adventurers look at each other and then at the city gate, where a hammer is being hammered.

"We'll defend this place. We'll take care of the magic.
"Yes, sir!

　The priests began to rush for the cure.

　"I knew it.

I expected this, but it's still funny when it's this blatant. ......

　I'm not sure what to make of that.

　The hammering to break the gate has now stopped.
　This is because the knights of the Second Order are lined up in front of the gate with their shields at the ready.


　Of course, an ordinary shield is useless against a hammer. The whole armor will be crushed to death.
　But if it's true that it won't hurt the Second Order, then this is the strongest defense. It's like a "human chain".

　The undead soldiers faithfully followed Rene's instructions and stopped their attacks so as not to harm the Second Order.
　The knights at the gate, who had initially been in a tragic mood, were now nodding their heads in relief that the undead had indeed stopped attacking.

　Rene watched the standoff from a distance, feeling somewhat out of sorts.

　He has four liches with him, and has them use magic to disappear and block out any sign of him. Rene himself did not do anything.
　He used four of his precious liches, but otherwise it would be impossible for Rene to use his own offensive magic while remaining stealthy.

Now, the top of the wall is ....... ≪Use fly.

　His companion, Rich, cast a spell and Rene floated up, along with his companion.

　There is also a battle going on on the wall.
　The knights of the Second Order were positioned throughout the entire area and were in the forefront. They pushed back when ladders were hung, and shielded the undead when they climbed.
　In the past, the first and second knights were placed in separate platoons, so they could shoot arrows only at the first knight's location, but with such a mixture of knights, they could not attack carelessly.

　Rene did not change his orders to the undead soldiers even though he saw this situation.
　The knights of the Second Order were precise in their interference, but they were not attacking the undead soldiers directly. So there was no way for us to break our promise.

　In any case, even in this situation, the human side was in a worse position than before.

What the hell are these people?　They're not as good as they were before!

　A pained cry went up.
　Among the undead fighting on the city walls, there were some elites. They nimbly evade the relentless and non-violent interference of the Second Order and attack the enemy with their expert swordsmanship.

"Duke Gerald's soldiers. ......!

　He was recognized by the breastplate on his armor.
　In the beginning, I had only sent in the lowlifes that I had conscripted in Wesara, but then I lifted the ban on the use of undead, ex-farmers and ex-knights.

　But that was not the only reason why the human side was outnumbered.

"Hey, scum!　There's not enough wall on this side!
Shut up, I'm busy!
Oh, hey!　Why don't you two go stop them?
We got another one down!
Don't make a hole!
Come on, you guys, we can't fight!

　The knights were shouting at each other, raising their voices to match the sound of the battle.
　The First Order and the Second Order were not working well together. It seems as if they are irritated with each other. If there is no trust, they will not get along.

　There is a history of this, and more than anything, the Second Order members are a bit distracted by the desperate First Order members. If they know that they are safe, no matter how much they warn themselves, they will relax.
　Such a difference in unconscious tension created a clear lag on the front lines of the battle.

　He might have been able to win the battle at this point, but Rene decided to go after them as planned.

　--The people of the Second Order aren't safe either, though.

　I promised not to attack the Second Order with undead soldiers, but I don't care about what I didn't promise.

　Maybe that was a blind spot.
　Perhaps Bertil didn't trust Rene that much, and even assumed the possibility of being deceived.
　However, he must not have been aware of how Rene, as the ruler of the undead, would deceive the human race.
　The current Knights, Lawrence, Bertil, and Hilbert have never had a proper war with the demons.

In the event that you have any questions regarding where by and how to use it, you can contact us at the following web site: .......
　Composite Alchemy Magic (Assembled Spell) ...... <>.