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706  Against The Tireless Army

"What are they trying to do? Gather more forces?" This was the only explanation Daniel could think of. Thalassar likely felt unprepared to attack Camelot directly and had instead decided to target the neighboring domains first. By doing so, he could gather more corpses to bolster his army, using them as cannon fodder for an eventual assault on Camelot.

The lord of the targeted domain quickly drafted their people to defend against the undead. At the same time, they sent a horse messenger to Camelot to request Arthur's help, offering to become his vassal in return.

However, it took two days for the horse messenger to reach Camelot Castle and another three days for Arthur to gather his knights and march to aid the besieged domain—time the people of that domain couldn't afford to wait.

Morgan le Fay also volunteered to accompany Arthur to help fight off the undead and protect the king.

During the march, Arthur glanced at the witch. His eyes glinted with a strange emotion as he gazed at the bare-white expanse of her back, exposed by her dress. This inexplicable feeling, buried deep within his heart for years, began to surface. Though... not enough to cloud his judgment, it was enough for him to register it as an ugly feeling he didn't want to acknowledge.

Arthur's hidden desire, something he dared not reveal to anyone, remained locked away in his heart. He vowed to keep it there, taking it to his grave.

As a war orphan who had once had nothing, he felt immense gratitude toward Morgan and Merlin for everything they bestowed upon him and allowed him to achieve what he has today.

Morgan le Fay, sensing Arthur's gaze, turned to face him. "What's the matter? Is there something you need?" she asked.

Arthur snapped out of his thoughts. Looking at the goddess-like features of his so-called sister, he quickly suppressed his rising emotions.

"Ah… I'm sorry, Sister. I was just… thinking about something," Arthur said.

"What are you thinking about? Is it about the Archlich Thalassar? If so, you don't need to worry. I'm sure Merlin has a way to deal with him, no matter how powerful he is," Morgan said confidently.

Her words and unwavering confidence felt like a dagger piercing Arthur's heart, deepening sharp pain, and his breath stuck, unable to breathe freely. The more she trusted Merlin, his teacher, the more pain he felt. A long-buried sense of inferiority began to resurface, though it remained hidden beneath his facade as a benevolent king.

"No, Sister," Arthur said with a smile. "I was thinking… when will you marry him?"

The question made Morgan's face flush red. She acted like a lovestruck girl but quickly tried to hide it. "What… What are you talking about? I mean, who's 'him'?"

Seeing her reaction, Arthur chuckled. "Oh, Sister, you know who I mean. Should I spell out the name?" he teased.

That's right. Arthur believed this dark feeling within him would fade over time if Merlin and Morgan were to marry. He also realized he needed to find someone to marry himself; otherwise, he might never be able to forget her.

— Battlefield —

At the keep of the targeted lord. This domain belonged to Ealdorman Thunor, an old Ealdorman who served the king without grand ambitions. He was only interested in making ends meet and managing his territory without unnecessary problems arising.

Though he didn't realize it himself, his mindset of simply doing his job and not overreaching beyond his capabilities was something his people deeply appreciated. It meant Lord Thunor avoided causing unnecessary trouble and wouldn't drag his subjects into unprovoked wars fueled by the overreaching ambitions that many Ealdormen tended to have.

With this crisis approaching his domain, his subjects obediently followed his orders and evacuated into the keep. Fortunately, his domain wasn't large, so the keep and its ample food storage were sufficient to withstand a siege for several months.

Outside the keep, the undead army gathered. They trampled over villages and fields, dragging the corpses of those who hadn't evacuated in time or the brave souls who had volunteered to stall the undead, buying time for their families and loved ones to retreat to the keep.

For the defenders of the keep, these past few days felt like years. The undead attacked day and night without pause, giving the defenders no chance to rest. The relentless assault wore down their stamina, and casualties began to mount as morale dwindled.

Ealdorman Thunor had lost sleep for more than two days. He commanded his soldiers and put on a strong front, showing confidence despite being on the verge of collapse from exhaustion.

One of Ealdorman Thunor's warriors, dragging his injured body, reported to his lord. "My Lord… I'm afraid we might not be able to hold on much longer. The undead leave us no room to rest—they attack us day and night. They don't need food or sleep like we do," the warrior said, his voice heavy with fatigue.

"Endure a little longer. I've sent word to Camelot, asking King Arthur for help," the Ealdorman replied, hiding his own uncertainty deep within his mind.

"Will Camelot come to our aid, my lord?" the warrior asked, searching his lord's eyes for any sign of doubt.

"He will come… He will surely come," the Ealdorman said with confidence. His confidence wasn't based solely on Arthur's benevolent reputation or character. It was also because his realm shared a border with Camelot.

Arthur would likely be the next target if his domain fell to the undead. From a ruler's perspective, it made more sense for Arthur to aid his domain rather than let the undead ravage Camelot. Better yet, Arthur might decide to end the threat by using his domain as a base to launch an attack against the undead.

Thunor knew Arthur wasn't a naive king. If he were in Arthur's position, he would rather use another lord's domain as a battlefield than let the devastation of war ravage his own land.

The undead's relentless assault continued until the morning of the fourth day. During this time, everyone—whether warrior or peasant united to defend the keep, preventing the undead from pouring in.

The door had been breached, and peasants and warriors worked side by side to barricade it with wood and whatever materials they could find. Meanwhile, the warriors on the walls and the archers in the towers resisted the attack with all their might despite their growing fatigue, which led to more mistakes.

After four grueling days of defense, with mounting casualties among both warriors and peasants and after many had lost loved ones, the knights of King Arthur finally arrived at dawn on the fourth day.

With the knights' roar and the thunderous sound of hooves, the scene seemed hopeless at first. The small number of knights appeared dwarfed by the vast undead army that could easily swallow them whole.

But the sight of the undead surrounding the knights never came to pass. Arthur himself led the charge, and with a single swipe of his sword, a ray of light purified a large swath of undead in front of him. @@novelbin@@

"Is that… the power of Excalibur?" Ealdorman Thunor, witnessing the scene from the battlement, uttered in awe.

Moreover, the witch Morgan le Fay stood behind Arthur, protected by a group of knights. She called forth a thunderstorm from her position on a hill, striking down the undead army with lightning bolts. The lightning struck down as if heaven were punishing the undead, and the defining sound of lighting awed the witnesses of the battlement.

The sight of the thunderstorm decimating the undead army was awe-inspiring. It reignited the defenders' morale inside the keep, who fought like lions protecting their territory. Their nearly depleted stamina miraculously returned, and their fierceness was restored.

The men roar, and the undead scream under the merciless blade of the knight and the unstoppable hooves of the cavalry. However, despite the knights' bravery and unmatched skill, the sheer number of undead overwhelms them. Those undead are unafraid of death; they use their bodies to tire out the knights.

If ten undead weren't enough to exhaust a knight, then a hundred surely would be. The undead gladly sacrificed hundreds of their own to kill just one of Camelot's knights.

After half an hour of fighting, Camelot's knights began to suffer casualties. Though spared from fatigue and exhaustion thanks to Excalibur, Arthur grew visibly concerned for his men. His knights, despite their skill and bravery, were still mortal. They could tire, and they could fall under the sheer number of the undeath.

The undead continued to use their own lives to even the odds of the skill between the knights and them.... the knight started to falter.

But at that moment, something extraordinary happened. All the knights suddenly felt their strength surge. Their fatigue vanished, replaced by an unbridled power coursing through their bodies. This phenomenon also spread to the defenders within the keep, who felt as though they could crush stone with their bare hands.