Grove Compton was the captain of the Silver Eagle Duchy's border garrison in the North, in charge of guarding the borders around Sotimi with more than ten border guards under his command.
In fact, he graduated from the Valla National Knight Academy, and his father was a baron.
Even if Grove could not inherit his father's title, he could at least become a minor officer in the White Feather Guards, slowly accumulating his contributions until he became a noble.
But not long after Grove graduated as an apprentice knight, his family stood on the wrong side in the Empire's political strife. Their political enemies retaliated after their patron lost power, causing their entire family to plummet and suffer a great blow to their vitality.
Grove was naturally one of the targets of retaliation. Not only was he stripped of his White Feather Imperial Guard position that he had originally reserved, he was even kicked out of the royal army and relegated to the remote and desolate north.
If Duke Horan, the Uncrowned King of the North, had not pulled him up out of consideration for old times and made him a border garrison captain, he would have been at the bottom rung of the military, wasting away his youth.
And it was precisely this gratitude towards Duke Horan that made Grove one of the few border garrison captains in Sotimi who was not frightened out of his wits by the zombie rampage and led his men to retreat.
Even if the outpost had been destroyed by the zombies, he still led his men to repel the zombies' assault, doing his best to keep the main force of the zombies in this area and prevent them from reaching Tunaya.
In truth, the zombie rampage in Sotimi did not attract much attention at first. After all, the Valley of the Tragic Dead that was famous across the entire continent existed in the North, and could be considered the place with the most undead in the Valla Empire.
Even if Sotimi was quite far from the Valley of the Tragic Dead, it was not impossible for a group of zombies from the Valley of the Tragic Dead to travel over the mountains for no apparent reason.
After all, the undead did not need to eat or have self-awareness, and lesser undead often moved in groups based on their instincts. It was normal for them to arrive at Sotimi by chance.
The border garrison captains did not think much of them at all, and simply sent a few squads to clear them out.
In the end, the squads that were sent to destroy the undead were gone for good.
Realizing that something wasn't right, the border garrison quickly sent men to inform Tunaya while doing their best to fend off the zombies that were growing in numbers.
After fighting the zombies, the border guards realized that their enemies this time were different from the weak undead in the past. They had greater strength and tough bodies, and it was difficult to stop them unless they were beheaded or had their heads blown off.
Once one was killed or injured by them, even one's best comrade would turn into one of those monsters, stand up and attack one.
In a situation where firearms were not widely used and there were no mages accompanying the army, the warriors could only go forward and fight the enemy in close combat. The restriction of not being injured obviously made them feel restricted, and they were not able to display the advantages that warriors should have.
Even when the sacred army of the Brilliant White Church arrived, they couldn't turn the tide.
As more soldiers died and the number of enemies swelled, many of the border guard captains finally wavered and began to attempt to retreat.
It was a pity that the zombies were adept at swarming forward and killing prey that had lost the will to fight. In fact, many of the border garrison captains who retreated died even faster than those who didn't …
At first, Grove had thought that he would end up like his subordinates, torn apart and devoured by the zombies without leaving a complete corpse.
And yet, things had unexpectedly turned for the better yesterday.
At the time, Grove was completely out of food and ammunition, surrounded by zombies that were more savage than hungry wolves. He was basically in a desperate situation.
And yet, when the zombies found his trail and were about to kill him, a group of weird people suddenly appeared.
They were wearing gaudy equipment that had no practical value no matter how you looked at it — some of the women's equipment even revealed a lot of skin and looked as defenseless as a swimsuit. They were carrying all sorts of weapons, some of which left Grove surprised. Why would anyone carry a big salted fish? Why was it so tough that it could blow up a zombie dog's head?
Alright, while these people seemed strange to the point that Grove thought they were idiots, he realized that they were surprisingly reliable after interacting with them for a while.
They were efficiently wiping out the zombies that were swarming towards them from every direction, and weren't discouraged even when they were temporarily outmatched. In fact, they even seemed a little happy.
After Grove was rescued, he was brought to the temporary encampment, where he ran into many other border garrison captains who had been rescued.
The people who called themselves' Players' had also brought along quite a lot of supplies. Not only were there potions that could rapidly heal wounds like holy water, but there were also potions that could lift one's spirits like refreshing herbs, and even potions that could cure zombie infections!
And they were all delicious!
It was thanks to these 'Players' that so many of the border garrison survived.
Apart from the battle, the 'Players' could even say things like 'Tsk, why is there a System Set Meal in the RPS prize pool' or 'The System Restaurant definitely couldn't compete with the Iron Cauldron Bar, so they're clearing out their stocks', bringing out all sorts of food from out of nowhere.
Although they all seemed to dislike the food, Grove and the other border guards ate very happily. It was already a luxury to be able to eat their fill in such an intense battle, not to mention that the food looked, smelled, and tasted so good that it was comparable to the dishes made by a chef.
Grove knew very well that it was thanks to these 'Players' that the frontline could hold out until now.
But even so, as long as they were humans, there was a limit to their mental strength. After a day and night of almost non-stop battle, the 'Players' were visibly fatigued.
On the other hand, the revenants had no such concerns.
This won't do. Grove was well aware of the urgency of the situation, but there was nothing he could do.
It was then that the surprised cries of the other border garrison captains came from behind. "Reinforcements! We have reinforcements! They look like 'Players' as well! "
Grove couldn't help but feel delighted when he heard that.
He was just about to share his relief with the 'Player' who had taken good care of him when he noticed that the Player's brows were tightly furrowed, his expression one of fear and disbelief.
Before Grove could ask him what was going on, the player had already started yelling.
"F * ck, they're here to steal our kills after beating the dragon —!"
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Chapter 238:
The Battle at Sotimi
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