Chapter 16: Cleanup
"Weilin! Fall back and gather a group of spearmen. Form ranks behind the main gate and prepare to support Calon!" Yara shouted at her foolish brother.
"I'm the head of the family now, don't order me around!" Weilin retorted angrily, but his body instinctively followed Yara's command.
Soon, Weilin had assembled eight robust family guards, each wielding a spear.
They stood in two rows of four, with Weilin at the front, holding a sword and shield.
Yara observed Weilin's actions with a hint of satisfaction before turning her gaze outside the gate.
"Pour this entire barrel of fire oil out there and burn those corpses to ashes!" Yara commanded, assisting those beside her in dousing the fire oil.
Suddenly, Yara spotted a familiar figure.
It was her father.
He had held the main gate to ensure her return to the manor, fighting until his death.
Now, he had become a manipulated corpse, charging at the main gate.
After a brief hesitation, she resolutely grabbed a torch and threw it down.
'Boom!'
A wave of heat surged as the fire oil ignited instantly, rapidly spreading and engulfing the area within five meters outside the main gate.
'Creaaak, bang!'
By the firelight, they could see the platform's barrier on the mill being lowered, crashing heavily to the ground.
"Wrrrrrrrrr!" Calon's roar echoed, and then the well-equipped warriors charged down, the sounds of flesh colliding audible.
"Prepare yourselves!" Yara watched as Calon and his men charged from the mill, their speed visibly decreasing.
They were still not knights.
Yara sighed inwardly.
If they were knights, accompanied by two squires and seven or eight elites, a few charges would suffice to clear these corpses.
"Open the gate!" As Calon and his men approached, Yara shouted.
'Creak' The main gate was pulled open, and burning corpses surged in.
"Haah! I'm the head of the Daniels family!" Weilin roared, raising his shield and advancing, with the spearmen closely following.
"Fool! Don't rush out!" Yara scolded.
"Don't order me!" he retorted, but halted his steps.
Under the spearmen's cover, he continuously swung his sword, slicing through the corpses.
Soon, Calon and his men, exhausted from their charge, burst through the flames and entered.
With attacks from both sides, they quickly dismembered the dozen or so manipulated corpses that had entered.
"Calon, report the casualties." After the gate was closed again, Yara looked at Calon, who was extinguishing the flames on his body.
"Two dead, the rest are injured. Moreover, the wounds are unusually cold, which might affect combat. This could be the necromancer's corruption," Calon reported grimly.
"Weilin, you fool, how are you?" Yara asked.
"I'm fine, can still chop ten more!" Weilin replied boastfully, though he was panting heavily.
Iron swords were regulated, and the Daniels family's swords were the guards' 'discarded' ones. Weilin had some brute strength, but hacking through flesh was still strenuous.
"..."
This fool.
Yara rolled her eyes and then looked worriedly beyond the wall.
Calon's charge had indeed cleared some corpses, but they were quickly replaced by others, and overall, the pressure hadn't lessened.
Unless they could clear them like this two more times, but with the current casualties, organizing a second charge was impossible.
Moreover, the side effect of using fire oil was that the wooden wall had caught fire.
Although made of sturdy wood and treated, it was still wood and would eventually burn through.
Looking up at the sky, the white star hung overhead, stars twinkling; the night was only halfway through.
Yara felt a bit lost.
Would the five generations of the Daniels family's legacy perish in a single night?
"Yara, I'm recovered and ready to fight again!" Weilin shouted.
"..."
Yara couldn't help but glance at her foolish brother, adjusting his armor and picking up a spear.
Sometimes, she really wanted to ask her father why he made her a woman. If she had her foolish brother's physique...
"Since you're recovered, get up there quickly. And don't use that spear anymore; use Calon's. His spear has a modified blade that can cut through them."
"Don't order me; I'm the head now!" Weilin shouted, then exchanged spears with Calon.
"Be careful, don't get pulled down."
"Don't order me; I'm the head!"
"..."
Once again, she worried about her foolish brother's brain.
However, seeing him focused on the battle without concern for the future, Yara forced a smile.
Father, why did you make me so weak?
Yara gripped her longsword tightly.
"Tha... that's!"
Suddenly, someone exclaimed in shock.
Huh? Yara looked over and her pupils contracted sharply.
A somewhat familiar figure charged straight into the manipulated corpses, swinging his spear in a wide arc, slicing the surrounding corpses in half like harvesting wheat.
It was George, the man she had hastily recruited.
She had thought he was just an elite, but he turned out to be such a powerful individual?!
Even knights couldn't easily cleave these corpses, yet he was using an unmodified oak spear!
"Yara! Look, am I under a mage's illusion?" Weilin stared at George, dumbfounded.
Though also shocked, seeing her foolish brother like this, Yara couldn't help but scold, "Fool, hurry and give him your spear."
"I told you, I'm the head now, don't order me!" Saying that, Weilin threw the spear.
George caught the modified spear mid-swing, narrowed his eyes, then turned and threw the spear back.
"What does he mean by that?" Weilin looked puzzled at the spear thrown back into the wall, even though it was better.
"Fool, he's telling you to go out and deal with those corpses too," Yara scolded, ignoring Weilin's 'Don't order me; I'm the head,' and looked at Calon climbing the platform.
"Can you still fight?" Yara asked.
"If it's just following this gentleman, no problem," Calon said, eyes filled with admiration.
"Then organize the team, gather those who can still fight, and help George clear out these corpses."
"Yes!"
However, by the time they assembled and charged out, George had already finished.
Only Weilin, who had jumped over the wall, managed to deal with two corpses.
"Whew..." George exhaled, his hands slightly sore from clearing the corpses.
"May I ask, sir, which knightly order are you from?" Weilin approached enthusiastically.
"I'm not a knight; I'm a monk from the Flower Church," George replied.
"Flower Church? What's that place? And what's a monk? Is it more powerful than a knight?" Weilin bombarded him with questions.
George was about to answer when Yara arrived.
"Fool, are there any other churches in York?" Yara whispered, making Weilin's face flush red. But with outsiders present, he could only mutter a rebuttal.
In such diplomatic situations, Yara always took the lead, and the family members had to indicate to outsiders that Yara was the spokesperson.
"Thank you for your help, George. Without you, we might all have died here," Yara said, bowing slightly.
She had just hastily cleaned the dirt off her face.
"No need to thank me. Clearing this evil is my duty as a servant of the Lord," George said, reaching for the cross on his neck.
This time, Yara didn't ignore the small cross.
"But you also saved the Daniels family. I will later offer a fortune to the Flower Church as our gratitude."
"Of course, George, you have also earned the eternal friendship of the Daniels family. Whenever you need, the Daniels family will unconditionally assist you," Yara solemnly promised.
George hesitated.
His faith urged him to refuse wealth, but thinking of the church's state, he said,
"You can give the wealth to Priest Corleon. However, if possible, I hope you can dispatch guards to protect the villagers."
George noticed that among those gathering behind Yara, a few wore guard uniforms.
"I've already cleared the corpses in the village, and there are no more corpses nearby."
The blue glow in other parts of the village had extinguished, leaving only the slowly fading blue glow emanating from the pile of dismembered corpses beneath their feet.