The leader of the undead army, Lich, could not believe what he was seeing.
　He led an army of a hundred men and marched to the royal city of Astaroth.
　Only a few guards were waiting for him at the gates, as he had confirmed in his reconnaissance.

　Could it be that the Orb of Light had already been moved elsewhere?　But the reaction to the treasure was definitely coming from inside the capital.
　Could it be that the humans had realized that they had no chance and had given up early?

　Either way, this battle was already won. They would break through the front gate guarded by guards, and attack the capital with a hundred troops.
　--That was the plan.

　However, more than an hour has passed since the start of the battle, and there is no sign of an attack at all. They still could not break through the gate.
　On the contrary, the soldiers were being beaten back one by one.

　--Nonsense! A hundred troops were defeated in the blink of an eye! What are you struggling against with just a few guards?

　They were strong.

　The blonde woman - I heard her friends call her Spinoza - wielded a huge mallet as tall as a man and kicked the undead army in all directions. The skeletal swordsmen were crushed to pieces beyond regeneration.

"Keep coming at me!　I'll blow you all away!

　She was like a fierce beast as she screamed.
　And the woman in the strange, revealing armor - Seira, it seemed - was slaying the undead soldiers one by one with her lean, refined sword.
　She's quite a skilled swordswoman.

　However, with that equipment, a single blow would be fatal.
　When dealing with a large number of undead soldiers, there will always be an opening.
　And that gap was just about to be created.

"Hahaha!　I got it!　--Aah!

　An arrow pierced the brain of the undead soldier who was trying to kill Seira. The undead soldier's brain, his weak point, was crushed, and he collapsed to his knees and became motionless.



　--Where did they start shooting at us!

　I thought there were only three guards, but apparently there's another one.
　They were firing arrows at us from a distance we couldn't see, as if they were following the guards.
　In addition to the distance between them, all of them were moving around rapidly during the battle. To be able to kill them all with a single shot is a formidable marksmanship.

　Most of all--that man.
　A strong, stout man called Zeke was standing in the line of fire and taking the attacks of our soldiers more than anyone else.
　Normally, he should have been dead by now.
　And yet, he didn't seem to have taken any damage at all.
　Isn't he invincible by any chance?　His physical strength and defensive capabilities were so extraordinary that I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread.
　Rich shouted instructions to the undead soldiers.

Don't all go after that guy!　That man is unusually strong!　He's unusually tough! Kill the other guards first!
I can't do that!　You can't go after the other guards, but when you do, you'll find yourself focused on that guy. ......!
It's as if I'm being forced to target him.
What the heck ......?

　I'm sure you'll be able to understand why.
　If he's being forced to target them, he's probably using his skills to get the undead soldiers to hate him.

　That's not all.
　All the attacks you fire at the other guards will be absorbed by him.
　Swords, magic.
　He's not responding to the attacks of a hundred armies at once.
　There's nothing you can do if he stops all your attacks.
　He'll just be overrun by the fierce attacks of the other guards.

　It wasn't supposed to be like this.
　The undead army led by Rich should have been able to overwhelm the humans still reeling from the wounds of past battles. 　

　And yet...
　Only one.


　A single guard has ruined everything.

　...... Zeke. He's a monster, no doubt about it. An invincible shield.

　Maybe he can stop even the Demon Lord's attack that can easily destroy a whole country.
　In the meantime, the undead army had been destroyed.
　The only person left standing on the battlefield without running out of steam was himself.
　The man called Zeke walked up to Rich.

"Don't come!　Don't come!

　Rich fired off a flurry of high-level magic.
　He fired off a series of high-level spells, all of which struck him directly in the body, but he didn't stop.
　When he was right in front of him, Rich knew he was defeated and fell to his knees. Standing amidst the countless corpses of undead soldiers, he sank to his knees.
　The man called Zeke looked down at him coldly.

"d*mn it ....... I'm not sure what to make of this.
As long as I'm the gatekeeper, no one gets through here.

　The man called Zeke swung his sword and hit Lich in the neck. At this moment the army of a hundred undead was completely obliterated.