Chapter Nine

Otto rendezvoused with Eiota’s troops before advancing toward Nazrac’s stronghold.

“Greetings, my lord.” Camille kneeled before him, following the customary gesture of a knight before his lord, to affirm his loyalty to Otto in front of Eiota’s soldiers.

“You’ve done well, Camille.” Otto grabbed the knight’s arms and helped him to his feet.

“So it must be true!”

“I still can’t believe that piece of work somehow got his hands on that valuable intel.”

“This is as absurd as the sun rising in the west.”

The scene before them shocked the soldiers of Eiota. The way Otto was acting was completely at odds with their previous understanding of their lord.

I’m in the middle of a battlefield, aren’t I? Man, this sucks.

Meanwhile, Otto was stewing inside with anxiety. His knees were quivering on their own, and his heart was pounding as if it would burst at any moment. He moaned miserably inside his head. Kim Dojin was nothing more than an avid player of Territory Wars. Now, finding himself in the midst of a real war, it was no surprise that he fell into panic.

I’ve got to keep my wits about me. Despite his fears, he made the decision to join the battle, motivated by the necessity to increase his points in Public Sentiment.

Currently, the soldiers of Eiota had a severe lack of devotion for Otto. They simply couldn’t trust him with their lives. However, he believed that by participating in the battle and fighting alongside his troops, he could change their perception.

Standing side by side with his men amidst the intensity of the battle, he was confident that he could instill a sense of camaraderie in them and ultimately gain their trust, which would, in turn, lead to their loyalty. For these reasons, Otto mustered the courage to enter the fray himself.

“Are you all right, my liege?” Camille whispered into Otto’s right ear. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but this is your first real battle.”

“I’m q-q-quite fine, thank you.”

The knight gave his lord a worried look. “You’re stammering, my lord.”

“O-oh, am I? Haha!”

“If it’s too much, you can stay back and take command of your troops from the safety of the rear. There’s no need for you to join the fray. Your presence alone is enough to—”

Otto cut him off. “Father fought alongside his soldiers.”

“Yes, that’s true, but...”

“So I, too, must show these men that I am with them. They’ll learn to trust me through this act.” With determination, Otto unsheathed the sword he had never wielded before. Raising it high into the sky, he shouted at the top of his lungs, “For Eiota!”

Much to his dismay, the reception of his battle cry was rather... disappointing.

“...”

“...”

Not a single soldier repeated his battle cry. Uncertain of how to respond to Otto’s unexpected action, they stood there, blinking in confusion, waiting to see what would happen next.

“Damn it, all of you! Answer my call! For... Eiotaaaaa!” Otto roared with all of his might. This time, it wasn’t silence that greeted him.

“E-Eiota!” A knight answered Otto’s battle cry in a moment of confusion.

“Eiota!”

“For Eiota!”

“For Eiota!”

One after another, the war cries of Eiota’s soldiers swelled into a resounding roar, piercing the sky and the fields.

“Eiota’s brave soldiers, go forth and purge the evil undead from these lands!” Otto’s voice boomed as he issued his command. Afterward, he charged at the citadel ahead of his troops. However, his enthusiasm got the better of him. As Otto dashed forward, he tripped over a rocky outcrop and plummeted face-first to the ground.

“...”

“...”

The soldiers of Eiota were at a loss for words upon witnessing Otto’s embarrassing tumble.

“Everyone... Charge.” Camille winced and gave the order with his eyes closed.

The ground shook as the soldiers let out their thunderous battle cries, charging toward Nazrac’s ominous citadel. Though it started with a hiccup, the battle finally began. As for their lord...

“Don’t step over me! Ow! O-ouch! As your lord, I command you to stop, you assholes!”

Otto spent the next few minutes rolling and dodging in the mud to avoid being trampled by his own allies.

* * *

It was the definition of taking advantage of an empty nest. With Nazrac’s main forces engaged in a battle against the Ortian army, there were just a handful of undead monsters defending the citadel. Thus, the battle unfolded in favor of Eiota’s forces. Of course, this didn’t mean the fight would be a walk in the park.

“Ahhh!”

“S-save me, please! Ow! L-look over here! I need your—”

“Graah!”

Bloodcurdling cries resounded through the mold-ridden walls of Nazrac’s citadel as soldiers began to fall.

This is... what a real battle looks like. Having witnessed the horrors of war firsthand, Otto found himself frozen in place. The sight of limbs and heads being hewn before his eyes left his limbs paralyzed. It was an inevitable reality. With no prior battle experience and with his character’s abysmal stats, the act of standing in the middle of a battlefield was an achievement in and of itself.

However, the enemy never showed any mercy toward their foes. A skeleton warrior locked its gaze on Otto and lunged forth, its sword slashing through the air. The rattling and clattering of the monster’s bones sent shivers down Otto’s spine.

“Be careful!” Camille intervened just in time, delivering a powerful shout as he cleaved the skeleton warrior in half at the waist. “You must stay sharp today, my lord! This is not a place to lower your guard! You must overcome your fears—you must!”

Otto clenched his trembling fist. “I... I know that!”

“Our father has taught you the way of the sword. Recall them from the depths of your memories, my lord. Your hands will remember the weight and touch of the blade!”

“A-all right!” Otto gritted his teeth and bit down on his lip.

This is not the world I remember. In this place, death and conflict are commonplace. The passing of life holds no significance, and the sights and sounds of violence are unremarkable. If I can’t even maintain my composure in such a small battle, I won’t survive long.

As warmth flooded back into his limbs, Otto sensed a tingling sensation. His heartbeat steadied, bringing renewed strength to his once-limp arms. His grip on the weapon’s handle tightened with every squeeze.

Grrrr...

Another skeleton warrior charged at Otto.

To hell with it! He swung his sword with all his might at the approaching skeleton.

Thwack!

With a dull thud, the skeleton’s spine was cut in half.

[Notification: You have gained 1 experience point!]

Gaining a single experience point was nothing to write home about. What good were experience points to a character at level -99?

I did it! I got the bastard! Otto was more proud of the fact that he took down a monster by himself. The realization that he could handle a mere skeleton warrior filled him with empowerment.

Yes! I can do this! The small victory drove back Otto’s fears, and it felt as if a thick fog had lifted from his vision.

A skeleton warrior? That’s no problem for Otto de Scuderia! Emboldened by his latest feat, Otto set his sights on another nearby skeleton warrior, bringing his sword down upon its head.

Tink!

[Notification: Miss!]

Due to the character’s abysmal chance of hitting, Otto’s attack missed the target.

“Uhh...”

Immediately, panic crept back within him. The skeleton warrior’s neck creaked as it turned to face his horrified expression. A chill of dread swept over him. It was as if a thousand needles were pricking him. When his eyes met the warrior’s ghoulish orbs, the pricking sensation suddenly felt like stabs.

Whoosh!

The monster’s halberd descended, narrowly missing Otto’s nose guard by a hair’s breadth.

Clang!

Otto instinctively raised his sword to deflect the attack, but he was powerless against the subsequent strikes from the skeleton.

Snap!

To make matters worse, his sword shattered in the exchange.

Plonk!

Once again, Otto found himself sprawled on the ground.

“Treacherous mongrel...” A familiar voice emanated from the mouth of the skeleton warrior. It was the voice of Nazrac’s soul, possessing the undead monster, that communicated with Otto. “You betrayed me... and led an army into my domain.”

Otto gasped at the voice.

“Even if I perish today, I shall take you with me to the black flames of hell!”

At that moment, Otto felt something had gone awry.

I am... totally screwed. He felt it in his bones that he was in deep, deep trouble. The swishing of blades, halberds, and flails abruptly ceased.

In an instant, all the nearby undead monsters turned their attention to Otto, glaring at him with their hideous faces.

[Notification: WARNING, WARNING!]

[Notification: Nazrac is focusing on you!]

[Notification: Nazrac’s minions are targeting only you!]

[Notification: Flee the battlefield!]

[Notification: The monsters will not stop until you are dead!]

Otto had aggro-ed the entire citadel. Almost every undead monster nearby charged toward him in unison, leaving him no option but to flee. So he did.

* * *

“Hear me, my minions! He is the one you must capture and kill! Spill his blood on these grounds today at all costs!”

Hundreds of undead monsters lurched and rushed through the citadel’s courtyard and gates, seeking Otto’s head.

“Ahhhhhh!” Otto dodged and evaded attacks coming from all directions as he fled.

“Our lord is in danger!” shouted a nearby soldier.

“Protect the lord, soldiers of Eiota!”

The shout was enough to rally enough men around Otto, and they took down any monster that got too near him.

“I don’t think so!” Camille, too, joined the fray, striking down a skeleton warrior mere feet from Otto.

“Camille!” Otto called, urgency coloring his tone. “Go! Now!”

Camille shook his head. “What do you mean by that?”

“There’s a portrait somewhere in the heart of the citadel! The necro-lord’s soul is bound to it! Now, go! Go and tear it apart!”

“But...” The knight stopped speaking to slay another skeleton advancing toward Otto.

“I’ll find a way to survive. Don’t worry about me, and just go! Hurry!” Otto’s urgent command stemmed from the fact that destroying Nazrac’s soul was the only way to overcome this crisis.

As long as Nazrac’s soul remained intact, the undead mobs would keep respawning endlessly. It went without saying that the endless waves of undead would target Otto. Therefore, the top priority was to eliminate Nazrac and to do so, Camille had to step up to the plate.

He was the only character capable of slaying the elite monsters guarding Nazrac’s portrait. Camille answered grimly, “As you command, my liege. May luck be with you.”

In the end, instead of staying to protect his lord, Camille decided to venture deeper into the castle to destroy the Nazrac’s portrait, which was concealed within its rugged halls.

Ding!

A quest window suddenly appeared before Otto.

[Notification: A new quest has been triggered!]

The quest’s specifications unfolded as follows:

[Survive the fight, Otto de Scuderia!]

Objective: Stay alive until Camille destroys Nazrac’s portrait.

Type: Timed survival quest

Progress: 0% (0/1)

Rewards: Orb of Destruction

Duration: 600 seconds

All that’s left is to survive, and then everything will end! Gritting his teeth, Otto dashed through the citadel. He had done this quest countless times while playing Territory Wars. So there was no need to panic.

It’s just the same old quest I’ve done before. No biggie. Otto recalled the details of the quest and used his knowledge of the terrain to his advantage, dodging and slipping past the monsters skillfully. His lithe movements proved to be a great help to Eiota’s soldiers.

“Stop the monsters!”

“Where do you think you’re going, you ugly son of a b*tch? We will protect our lord!”

Thanks to Otto’s adept maneuvering, his soldiers managed to repel the monster hordes effortlessly. Moreover, with the aggro focused on him, the soldiers remained unharmed, much like how the damage dealers would attack monsters while the tank held their attention.

The glaring problem in this fight was that Otto was not a tank.

“Ahhhhh!” Otto screamed as he exerted every ounce of his strength to escape, doing whatever he could to avoid getting hit even once. He ran, rolled, and dodged with all of his might, but then his efforts reached a breaking point.

Huff! Huff! Huff!

His body reached its limit, incapable of taking another step forward. The character, Otto, had surrounded himself with bottles and cigarettes and hadn’t exercised in years. This lifestyle had left him with feeble stamina, making even running for his life a daunting task.

“I c-can’t... I... can’t run anymore... I don’t...”

He held back the urge to vomit. The tang of the bile stung his throat as he pushed himself to take another step forward.

“And where do you think you’re going?” This time, Nazrac confronted Otto through a possessed skeleton knight. Otto flinched backward with a shriek.

“You, I shall take with me... You and no one else, Otto of Eiota...

“N-now, now, let’s talk this through! Maybe we can come to an agreement—”

“Die! Die, you wretched boot-licking worm!”

Just then, two knights and three men-at-arms of Eiota appeared and engaged Nazrac’s avatar.

“You’re not going anywhere near him!”

“Die, you unholy filth!”

Their promising entrance quickly ended in dismay for Otto.

“Begone, you flies!”

Regrettably, the group of courageous soldiers proved no match for Nazrac. Being possessed by the necro-lord made the skeletal knight even more formidable than usual.

“Gah!”

“Gurk!”

The group of men guarding Otto fell like leaves in the wind.

“There is no one to protect you now, you petty lord. The only thing that awaits treacherous rats like you... is ruthless retribution!”

“Waaah!” Otto’s scream echoed as he tumbled between his fallen defenders. He then crawled into the pile of rubble that was once part of the citadel wall.

“Truly, you are a vermin most foul, Otto. Yet now, you’re nothing but a rat trapped in a cage.” Nazrac thrust his sword through the gap in the rubble.

“H-holy... crap...” Otto panted like a madman, croaking as he tried to take panicked breaths.

Before him was the pointed end of Nazrac’s blade, and it was mere inches away from his nose.