Chapter 62

The building where the undead horde appeared was the headquarters of the large adventurer guild, "The Army of Oni Ants."

"The Army of Oni Ants" is one of the influential adventurer guilds in the city of Baraira.

Its advantage over other guilds is its overwhelming number of affiliated adventurers.

While not every individual is of high quality, a large-scale guild consisting of eighty members is rare even when looking across the entire Regius Kingdom.

Therefore, it boasted considerable influence in the city of Baraira.

The adventurers of "The Army of Oni Ants" had been deprived of their lives and were now being controlled by necromancy, turning them into undead.

One after another, the adventurers emerged, weapons in hand, and attacked passersby.

The street, which had been peaceful, was plunged into chaos.

"What... why...!"

"Run! They don't look sane at all!"

Those who were caught were grabbed and surrounded by the undead adventurers, then stabbed and killed with blades.

Some, lacking reason, even bit their victims.

Lambert's attention had already shifted from Robin Hood to the undead former members of "The Army of Oni Ants," heading straight for the guild's headquarters.

"It's me! Edgar, come back to your senses!"

A female adventurer was desperately pleading with a man, surrounded by the undead.

She held her sword with trembling hands, but when she saw the man swaying as he approached, she dropped it to the ground.

The man, with bloodshot eyes, held two knives in his hands and advanced more quickly.

The female adventurer closed her eyes, resigned to her fate, when Lambert intervened, deflecting the man's knives with his gauntlet and sending him flying.

The man's body flew, taking other undead adventurers with it, and rolled on the ground.

"Ah..."

The female adventurer, who had collapsed on the spot, weakly lowered her gaze to the fallen man and then looked at Lambert with a slightly accusatory expression.

"He was already dead. There's no saving him. You should run. I don't have the luxury to ensure an escape route for everyone."

His words were cold, but they were also reasonable.

The one who caused this chaos was likely not far away.

If he tried to save everyone, it would result in even more deaths.

Suddenly, arrows were aimed from above.

The arrows precisely shot through the knee joints of three undead, destroying their function and causing them to fall.

On the roof, the figure of the orange-haired young man, Robin Hood, drawing his bow, was visible.

"What a dirty trick."

He muttered disinterestedly and quickly nocked the next arrow.

Three arrows, released almost simultaneously, shot through the legs of three more undead.

The conditions for stopping the undead, controlled by necromancy, vary greatly depending on the method of magic.

Sometimes, crushing the head is enough, while other times, they can still crawl around even with one leg.

The most reliable way to render them powerless is to take away their legs.

However, targeting the joints of moving undead from a high angle is only possible with his level of skill.

For a moment, Lambert and Robin Hood's eyes met.

Lambert nodded slightly and immediately focused his attention on the undead adventurers.

It was a moment when a truce was tacitly agreed upon.

From Lambert's perspective, Robin Hood's standards were inconsistent.

The day before, he had encountered Robin Hood attacking innocent adventurers for no reason.

Bringing a horde of orcs into the city, being sentenced to death, and harboring a grudge against the lord—Robin Hood's behavior was absurd.

However, this time, the scale was different.

The number of undead adventurers exceeded fifty, far surpassing the damage caused by Robin Hood.

It was not the time to engage in unnecessary conflicts.

—For now, let him go.

That was Lambert's conclusion.

Robin Hood seemed to be prioritizing the immobilization of the undead who were attacking others from a high vantage point.

This was helpful to Lambert, allowing him to search for the mastermind behind the undead outbreak without any reservations.

If he acted rashly, it would increase the casualties.

For now, he would let it be and search for Robin Hood again after the chaos subsided.

"Haah!"

A blade was swung with great force, cleaving an undead in two.

There was no hesitation in the movement.

Whether they were once human or not, they were now just undead.

Sentimentality has no place on the battlefield. Necromancers who used corpses to fight were common even during the Eight Nations Unification War.

Hesitation creates openings.

Lambert had also decapitated subordinates before.

"Ah! Help! Help me!"

An elderly man was seen running, rolling on the ground.

He was carrying something in his arms.

Lambert bent his legs and leaped in front of the man, then swung his greatsword in a diagonal upward slash.

"Aaah! Why..."

The man's body split in two and fell to the ground.

A black crystal, broken, fell to the ground. As if in response, the surrounding undead vomited a mixture of green and red liquid and collapsed.

The broken black crystal evaporated and disappeared.

The Death Black Crystal... a crystal that has the power to control undead in groups.

Most of its components are the mana of the caster, who uses it to manage the undead.

Lambert's sense of smell as an undead can distinguish between the living and the dead.

It detects the fundamental energy, mana, present in all living beings and determines whether the target is living or not.

Since becoming an undead, Lambert has been able to detect mana.

He noticed the suspicious behavior of the fleeing man because of this.

The man was pretending to be a victim and running within the effective range of the Death Black Crystal.

"..."

However, it was strange.

Lambert found it hard to believe that this man alone could have wiped out "The Army of Oni Ants."

If he was part of a group that attacked and was only responsible for managing the Death Black Crystal, it would make sense.

This was supported by the cries of distress coming from multiple directions in the city of Baraira, not just one.

An arrow was embedded in one of the road intersections.

"I'm going that way. You go the opposite direction. What do you think? It's not a bad deal, I think."

Robin Hood's voice came from above.

Indeed, given the wide area, the damage could be reduced if the skilled individuals split up.

For Robin Hood, splitting up also meant a lower risk of being disposed of on the spot once his task was complete, allowing him to escape easily.

"..."

Lambert ran in the opposite direction from Robin Hood.

By the time Robin Hood landed on the ground, Lambert was already gone.

"Taking advantage of the chaos to quickly achieve his goal... but, that wouldn't make them happy, would it?"

Robin Hood turned his face in the direction Lambert had gone and whispered.

Robin Hood whistled, and his blue steed, Seraph, galloped through the empty street and appeared.

Robin Hood mounted the horse and rode in the direction opposite to Lambert.