“That’s right, I thought the enemy would charge at us at one go…”
“Fight with zombie, smooth.”
There were only 45 hunters fighting the zombies. Using hit and run tactics by throwing rocks at them, the hunters were luring the zombies slowly away from the skeletons. The female lizardmen moved slowly to the flank of the skeletons.
“Aren’t their movements rather queer?”
“… Indeed.”
Instead of being lured, the zombies were focusing completely on the hunters. Was the commander agreeing with this? No, there was no way any commander would accept this, but in actual fact, that was how the zombies were moving. Then, what is the objective of the enemy? Everyone present were baffled by this.
“I don’t understand why they are moving this way.”
“Yes, I agree with Shasuryu.”
No matter how they thought about it, there doesn’t seem to be any purpose in the zombies’ action.
Zaryusu thought about it for a moment and shared his thoughts with the others.
“Maybe there is no commander?”
“No commander…? Ah, you mean the undead are just following the very first instruction they received?”
“Yes, correct.”
Among the undead, the lowest tier comprising of skeletons and zombies lack intelligence, so giving timely orders would be the most efficient way to utilize them. But the enemies this time felt as if the only order they received was to eliminate any lizardmen near them. That’s what Zaryusu meant.
“That is to say our foes thought they could win against us if they have the numbers… No, could this battle be just an experiment to see how well the undead fight without a commander?”
“That may be so.”
“Damn it! What kind of joke is this?”
The one lashing out in anger wasn’t Zenberu, but Shasuryu. Even Shasuryu couldn’t take it anymore, the lizardmen were betting their lives on this war.
“Calm down Shasuryu, it might not be so simple.”
“Ah, my apologies… It is a good thing that we have the upper hand.”
"You are right older brother, we have to use this chance to diminish the enemy's’ numbers.”
The fatigue from battle was heavy, the mental strain would be enormous in a chaotic fight. Without knowing if the enemy would come from the front, back, left or right, just swinging your weapon under such conditions a few times would be much more tiring than normal.
But the undead wouldn’t get fatigue and would fight without rest.
The difference between the living and the undead would become more prominent with the passage of time.
Time was the enemy for the lizardmen.
“Tch, I want to take the field too.”
“Endure, Zenberu.”
If the skilled Zenberu was to join the fray, they could level the skeletons in no time. But that would mean revealing their own trump cards. Zaryusu and the other five were the ace in the hole. They had to show their ace if the situation called for it, but before the strongest foe shows itself, they must not show their hand.
“But wouldn’t it play right into our hand if the enemy doesn’t advance?” Zaryusu said to the others. The others agreed with him, and Zaryusu asked Crusch who was beside him: “How are things on your end?”
“... Yes, the ritual is going as planned.”
Crusch answered as she looked inside the village behind them. The group of druids were performing a ritual inside the village that could become another ace for the lizardmen. It usually took a lot of time, but with all the druids of all five tribes gathered here, the progress was sped up and it could be used in this battle.
“... Teamwork, what an amazing thing.”
“Yeah… That’s true, we did share some information after that war… But there are so many more things I want to do after the war now.”
The other tribal chiefs strongly agreed with Zaryusu’s view. They shared their knowledge because of this war, and witnessed first-hand the importance of developing together as a community. There were alliances in the past, but the three chiefs who didn’t exchange views in the past were doing so more freely now.
Zaryusu smiled as he looked at the five of them.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing, it is just that despite being in such a situation, I still feel really glad.”
Crusch understood Zaryusu’s thoughts immediately.
“— Me too, Zaryusu.”
Seeing Crusch smiling brilliantly, Zaryusu squinted his eyes as if he was looking at something bright. Both of their eyes were filled with admiration and love for each other.
They didn’t touch each other physically. That was obvious. After all, there were lizardmen dying out there even at this very moment. They couldn’t do as they please despite knowing that. But their tails were like independent creatures, squirming around and tangling together sometimes.
“Muu…”
“As the older brother, how does it feel?”
“They are in their own world.”
“How passionate.”
“In conclusion… It’s good to be young. Their future is bright.”
The four older lizardmen nodded in unison as they watched their cute juniors.
It was impossible for Zaryusu and Crusch to miss that. Although their tails were twitching about, they still kept their poker faces.
“Elder brother, the enemy is moving.”
Shasuryu and the others smiled wryly as Zaryusu shifted gears so suddenly. They looked towards the enemy formation and saw the skeleton riders flank the battle in front of them before advancing.
“Hey hey, are they charging for us?”
“With skeleton riders? Are they planning to bring down our morale by striking at us?”
“No, they are probably flanking to the rear of the warriors and male lizardmen to surround them.”
Not good.
Everyone came to the same conclusion that the mobility of the skeleton riders was a threat.
If the skeleton riders were deployed at the start of the fight, the lizardmen could exterminate them first. Right now, the warriors and male lizardmen were in a chaotic fight, the hunters were luring the zombies and the female lizardmen were throwing rocks from the flank of the skeletons, there were no available forces to stop the skeleton riders.