Chapter 67
“Squeak, squeak!”
“They’re climbing the walls! Don’t let them get over!”
“Mages, keep pouring in the firepower! Priests, deploy your barriers—don’t let the plague spread!”
On the massive fortress walls, bathed in the fading light of the setting sun beyond the horizon, the northern warriors held their ground.
As waves of rodents surged forward, the warriors gripped their weapons and stood fast against the horde scrambling up the walls.
Vwoom—
Squeak! Squeak squeak squeak!
“These damned rats—no matter how many we kill, more keep coming!”
“First line, hold them off! Second line, light it up! Use torches or anything—make sure we don’t lose sight in the dark!”
Even as they hacked and crushed, the rats just kept coming, filling the gaps left by their fallen.
In the darkness, the flickering torchlight barely illuminated the night, but the soldiers fought desperately, swinging their weapons without pause.
‘Everyone’s already losing their minds, and it’s only just begun.’
It hadn’t even been five minutes since the rats arrived, and already frantic shouts were echoing from all sides.
That was always the nature of battle—but especially when facing the armies of the Rat King, things always seemed to spiral fast.
Individually, these creatures were weak—far weaker than the other Demon Lords’ armies, even weaker than wild beasts.
But in sheer numbers? They outmatched even the combined forces of the other eleven Demon Lords.
Even when Lillian’s spell turned thousands of them to ash in one strike, the gaps immediately filled again with fresh waves of squeaking bodies.
Only the Rat King’s army could wage war like this—an overwhelming flood of small, weak creatures that exploited even the smallest lapse in focus.
‘Even in the game, this was the most annoying part.’
At a glance, they might seem like ordinary mice—but those under the Rat King’s control were anything but.
They had survived the harsh northern wilderness, even beyond the borderlands, adapting to filth and disease.
They’d escaped predators by rolling in refuse and feeding on corpses, their teeth saturated with venom and plague.
‘Even if we have superior numbers, we can’t get careless. Not a single one of them must make it inside before sunrise.’
In the war against the Rat King, victory hinged entirely on how long they could keep the swarm from breaching the walls.
If even one rat made it inside and began spreading disease among the priests and mages stationed in the rear, the situation would spiral beyond control.
Zzzzt! Squeak!
Thud!
“Huff… huff…”
Eric didn’t know how long he had been slashing at the endless tide of rats swarming over the wall.
Then—
Thoom—
A heavy, thunderous sound echoed from afar.
He turned and saw massive slabs of flesh emerging one by one over the distant hill.
He swallowed hard.
Thoom! Thud!
“W-What’s that?”
“Ogres—ogres! They’re going for the gate!”
“Mages!”
Ogres.
Low intelligence, but brute strength so overwhelming that they could toss away armored knights with a single hand.
ROOOOAAAAAR!!
The soldiers tried to hold them off, firing arrows and casting spells—but the beasts charged through it all, shrugging off the blows, and rammed their massive bodies into the gates.
CRAAAASH!
The impact shook the fortress, sounding as if the walls themselves were collapsing.
“Damn! The gate?”
“It’s fine! Still holding!”
The ogres kept pounding on the gate, while smaller rats clung to the walls to block the archers’ sight, intercepting arrows and spells with their bodies.
Targeting the ogres became nearly impossible.
BANG! THUD!
“My lord Duke, what should we do?”
“At this rate, the gate won’t last long!”
“Should we open it and push them back?”
“You fool! Do that, and it’s over! We can’t hold them with shields—these rats will crawl through every crack and hole!”
The gate trembled violently, and panic filled the air as everyone searched for a solution.
If the gate fell, they’d have to fight a losing battle against millions of rats while trying to protect the priests and mages.
“Ulfric.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Take the knights and guard the mages and priests. Just in case.”
“Understood.”
Watching quietly from the center, the Duke—Austin—drew his sword, gathered several knights, and leapt down to the gate himself.
“Sir, shouldn’t we go down too?”
Leona asked urgently, watching as knights poured out to defend the gate.
“No need to rush. The battle hasn’t even begun yet.”
Eric looked toward the gate—and saw the ogre already lying dead at the Duke’s feet.
He shook his head.
There was no need to join the fray. The Duke had secured the gate; the real danger lay with the rats scaling the walls.
Leona’s ambition for recognition was clearly getting the better of her.
She was desperate to make her mark before the battle ended without her name being remembered.
“Killing small fry means nothing. If you want real credit, go after something worth talking about.”
Eric himself didn’t plan to fade quietly into the background either.
Though he’d earned plenty of merit serving as the Church’s hero, the House of Ather was still responsible for defending the entire North.
To be the Duke’s heir, he needed to prove himself on the battlefield as well.
“…You’re more of an opportunist than I thought.”
“Strategist sounds better, don’t you think?”
Gregorius gave him a baffled look mid-blessing, but Eric answered coolly.
‘Looks like the gate’s safe, and the wall defenses aren’t doing too bad either.’
After swinging his sword nonstop, Eric finally stepped back, his arms trembling.
For a brief moment, he allowed himself to think things were going smoothly.
‘…Wait. Too smoothly.’
Something felt off.
And as that uneasy thought crossed his mind, he called out—
“Miss Malefica.”
“Yes, my lord?”
Even in the game, when facing the Rat King’s forces, this happened often.
A fight that seemed strangely easy at first—almost too easy.
Against other Demon Lords, that meant a clear advantage.
But against these vermin, that kind of calm was a trap.
Many players had lost entire battles because a handful of rats had somehow sneaked past and infected the rear lines.
Step… step…
Eric scanned the surroundings, his eyes narrowing.
He noticed how the enemy seemed oddly concentrated at the front gate.
Then he moved toward the outer wall.
“Light this area up for me, would you?”
“…Here? Not over there?”
She tilted her head but obeyed, raising her hand and sending a sphere of holy light down toward where he pointed.
The glow spread across the ground below the wall—
Fwoosh—
Squeak?
“My lord! Under the wall—rats!”
‘Knew it.’
As expected.
Beneath the wall, hidden behind the corpses of their own kind, rats were burrowing tunnels into the fortress foundations.
Eric’s voice rang out across the battlefield.
“They’re digging tunnels! Check the outer walls!”
“Tunnels?!”
“He’s right! Damn it—block them before they break through!”
Soldiers and knights hurried to inspect the walls, finding more rats tunneling underground.
They quickly split into teams, leaving only a small force to guard the walls while the rest charged outside.
“Well then. Time for us to move too. Miss Malefica, stay and assist Lady Lillian.”
“…Will you be alright? The rats are spreading plague everywhere.”
“What’s there to worry about? We’ve got a cardinal right here.”
Eric flexed his sore arm and gathered his companions.
The tide of battle hadn’t changed yet—but since their tunneling trick had been exposed, the Rat King wouldn’t sit idly by.
The real fight was about to begin.
“Hmph. I didn’t even lead from the front in my younger days. You really do work an old man to death.”
“You call this weak? You looked plenty lively back at the old parish.”
“…You never let me win a word, do you.”
Leaving Malefica behind, Eric descended the wall with Leona and Gregorius.
Through the slightly opened gate—cleared of rats by the Duke’s charge—they stepped outside.
Squeak?
Kiiiik…
They advanced along the cleared line, and within minutes reached the true frontlines swarming with monsters.
Not just rats now, but ratmen—taller, stronger, and unmistakably monstrous.
Eric drew his sword.
“Huff… huff… damn these rats, when will it—”
Screech!
“Ah! Too late—!”
Thud!
A Rat Warrior lunged at a soldier whose guard had faltered.
But before it could strike, a sword pierced its brow cleanly.
“Be careful. If you’re exhausted, step back. No one will blame you for that.”
“Th-thank you—wait, you’re that troublemaker—ah!”
The soldier stumbled backward in shock as Eric calmly pulled his blade free and stepped forward again.
“My lord! Are you unharmed?”
“Perfectly fine. Didn’t even get scratched.”
Leona joined him at his side, fending off attacks from the front while Eric intercepted Ratmen slipping through the flanks.
“These monsters are weaker than I thought. At this rate, we’ll—”
But before Gregorius could finish,
“Aaaargh!”
“R-run! Run away!”
Heh heh… toys! So many toys! I’m so excited!
Thoom! Thud!
The thunderous footsteps and terrified screams from not far away made Eric glance toward the old priest.
“…Don’t look at me like that! I didn’t summon it!” Gregorius muttered awkwardly.
Eric said nothing, tightening his grip on his sword as the footsteps grew louder.
“My lord…”
“I know.”
THOOM—THUD—
“New toy… already broken…”
Through the stampede of their own kind, something enormous approached—dragging along a limp knight like a child’s doll.
‘So it finally shows itself.’
A hulking mutant, far larger than any Ratman before it.
[Savage Rat, Squalor]
Level: 42
Strength: 200
Agility: 20
Vitality: 205
Mana: 5
Traits: Filthy Blood, Pain Immunity
A Named Monster.
Even bigger than the ogre that had crushed the gate—
it now stood before Eric.
