I became a legion lich

132 Formation of the army

The kingdom’s army was already much closer than Emilia had expected. They were currently 6 days away from the fortress. His formation was a bit scattered for anyone with the slightest bit of military tactics, but there was nothing that could be done.

Colonel Orus Mifar was the officer in charge of this mission. He was Astrus’ younger brother and was determined to avenge his fallen brother. The fall of the Platinum Fist Stronghold shook House Mifar’s position in the realm and Orus intended to use this quest as a form of redemption.

Orus was not in the throne room while the battle was broadcast, but he received the news of his brother’s shameful death a few minutes later. He ran to the capital as fast as he could and bowed before the king, going so far as to touch his forehead to the ground and begged to be put in charge of the attack force he was sure was being formed.

Orus went so far as to evoke an ancient tradition of the Mirkor realm, the bloodline vow, shocking the king and all the nobles present. The bloodline vow was like a request for atonement for a noble, which would wash away any transgression a family member had caused if they succeeded in a mission given directly by the king, but would extinguish a noble house if they failed.

It was something rarely used, as it put the whole family at risk. It is far better to use just one family member as a scapegoat than to risk everything. The king had no choice but to agree to the colonel’s request after such a declaration and he was named the commander of this mission, but the other organizations did not take this well.

Frictions and small arguments ensued as they gathered at the golden arch fortress, so the organizations tacitly decided to ignore each other during the march to avoid conflict.

The church took the forefront of the army, while the kingdom army occupied the center and the left and right wings of the army. The adventurers followed close behind them, covering the rear of the army.

The church sent a total of 5000 crusaders, 250 paladins and 250 priests, with a bishop as the leader for the operation. The church seemed determined to purge the undead from the face of Elbon and they marched hastily, more than once pulling away from the rest of the expedition and the bishop needing to order them to slow down.

Unlike the kingdom’s army, where the vast majority of soldiers were just normal people and only elites were mana users, all crusaders were able to use mana so their marching speed was naturally higher.

.....

His morals were at their peak, as it was the first crusade against evil in years. Avenging his fallen comrades only increased his fury.

The kingdom’s army was the most numerous, numbering 20,000 soldiers in total. They were divided into 4000 light infantry, 3000 heavy infantry, 3000 spearmen, 3000 archers, 2000 knights, 1000 elite infantry, 1000 elite knights, 500 siege weapons, 300 tamers, 200 court mages and 2000 mercenaries, in addition to the commander of the mission and leaders of each unit.

Light infantry were fast-attacking units, focused on hit and run and used only swords or scimitars with leather-reinforced armor. Heavy infantry were armed with plate armor and heavy shields, using maces or axes as weapons.

The elite infantry were the mana users in the army and their equipment was naturally superior, their high quality weapons setting them apart from the rest of the army.

The elite cavalry were the same, but they were mounted on horse-type monsters called horse of fear. They were completely black horses and red eyes, their eyes released a glow that caused fear and panic in the enemy’s minds. It wasn’t effective on undead, but they were durable as monsters and wouldn’t cower in mid-combat.

Siege weapons were divided into 200 catapults, 200 fire trebuchets, 50 explosive ballistae and 50 enchanted battering rams. Trebuchets were just regular trebuchets, but they had alchemical ammunition that ignited on impact.

Explosive ballistae were the same, while battering rams were enchanted items that lessened their own weight for easier transport and released high-frequency vibrations that hit, causing internal and external damage at the same time.

Tamers were a new unit in the army, specializing in fighting alongside familiars. Their strength was the most varied, as their prowess in battle depended more on the type of familiar they possessed than their own power. They only knew simple spells and their skills were focused on supporting their familiars.

The mercenaries were an independent unit made up mostly of front-line fighters and a few archers.

The adventurers were the most misshapen unit and looked more like a rich armed militia than a royal army. Their numbers amounted to nearly 600, mostly D or C rank, with a few B rank adventurers. The adventurers split into their respective groups or those who already knew each other, so mages, fighters, and rogues were scattered randomly.

A few groups had split up and advanced ahead to act as scouts, but most were present.

The order had not sent any support and only transported the fighters to the golden arch fortress. Many criticized the order for not sending any reinforcements to the army, but little did they know that the dark elder had sent 5 teams of mage assassins surreptitiously after the army.

Their mission was solely to assassinate the hidden leader of the undead and retrieve his corpse. It was okay to be discovered after the corpse was secured, but they couldn’t be discovered until then.

The elder intended to justify his actions as emergency reinforcements or prevention against information leakage since the undead could turn anyone into other undead and get all the information they wanted.

The army stopped to make camp just before dark, much to the chagrin of the church which had more than enough strength to continue the march. Communication between soldiers, adventurers and crusaders was minimal, as any interaction resulted in conflict.

The fervent belief of the crusaders who wanted to keep advancing without caring about anything else, the soldiers who were unable to keep up with them and were too worried about whether they would be able to survive the next fight, and the greedy adventurers who came only for the cash reward generated fights and forced their leaders to camp separately.

The fights only got worse the moment they started preparing meals. The soldiers just made a communal soup, but the adventurers had a big barbecue while drinking beer, as if they were just having fun. They had packed large amounts of food for the trip, as it was the adventurers’ motto to enjoy each day as if it were their last, no matter where they were.

They would have been a little more reserved with their food reserves if it had been a long expedition, but at a distance of just 10 days between the strongholds there was no reason to hold back. Most adventurers had brought at least one pack animal with enough food for a month, in addition to the provisions they carried themselves.

The leaders of each group met whenever they stopped to camp in the colonel’s military tent, mainly to familiarize themselves with each other’s thinking. These troops were hastily gathered from several different places, so it was necessary to gather.

The colonel was inside the military tent, scowling at the representatives of the adventurers and the church. The bishop had barely said a word since he arrived, only responding when the colonel asks the state of the crusaders and ignoring any attempt at conversation.

The adventurers’ representative was even worse. He was holding a chicken leg in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other, ignoring the disapproving looks of the bishop and colonel. He was the leader of the B rank shark blue adventurer team and the strongest adventurer in this mission, his strength was on par with an A rank. Only his arrogant and unpretentious attitude kept him from increasing in rank.

Colonel Orus surreptitiously used mana vision to assess his guests, discovering that the strongest in the room was the adventurer, being in the sixth tier while the other two were in the fifth. That explained his arrogant attitude, he considered himself superior to the other two men.

The colonel felt he couldn’t let things go on as they were and gave a fake cough before saying in a confident tone. “Blue fang, behave properly and share with us the current state of adventurers.”

“Blurp...Okay.” The blue fang, as he was better known, swallowed the chicken and drank all the beer, belching loudly before wiping his hands on his shirt and answering in the affirmative. “The adventurers’ morale is high and their forces excellent. As you can hear from here, everyone is having a good time and calming their nerves, ensuring they are at their peak for the day of battle.”

The colonel wanted to ask how burning his food stores without worrying about possible eventualities was excellent, but arguing would be pointless. The blue fang had already stopped paying attention to him and picked up another chicken leg from God only knows where and went back to eating, as if all his work was done.

“What about the church forces?” The colonel turned to the bishop and asked, tired of the blue fang idiocy.

“Our brave soldiers are in perfect condition, everyone is committed to making this crusade a success.” The bishop spoke with a fanaticism that made the colonel sick, but at least he was willing to cooperate.