Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

Even the recorder must have felt reassured by the dependable sight of the knights, because the footage, which had been shaking frantically until then, began to steady.

“W-what…? If this is the case, then there is no need to panic, is there? It doesn’t even look like reinforcements are necessary.”
“…What flashed on screen just now was the Black Rock, wasn’t it?”
“That’s right. It matches the position they said was thirty-five thousand away… and the planned campsite as well.”
“Undead appeared near Black Rock? And in these numbers? Ridiculous! Impossible!!”
“…No, wait! What is that?!”

Though Fourier grimaced at the grotesque horror of the undead, something he was seeing for the first time, he had begun to feel relief at the knights’ performance and wondered if everyone was being overly cautious. But August, Alphonse, and Silense had all clearly sensed that something was wrong.

From the rear of the screen, through a gap in the trees, August and Alphonse had caught a glimpse of something like a small black hill and judged the location to be near Black Rock. Silense raised his voice, insisting that undead should never appear there.

If it had been an old battlefield, that would be another matter, but this was Iroshio. Even if undead were to arise here, it would only be a few at most. For undead to appear in large numbers, dense Mana and the stagnant residue of immense human emotions were necessary. Iroshio was certainly a land rich in Mana, but near Black Rock, the magical currents flowed too quickly. It was not a place where great pools of stagnant Mana could easily form. Yet the undead on screen appeared, at a glance, to number well into the hundreds. There was no way for that many undead to be born there.

While Fourier tried to cling to optimistic hope, the three men, their brows deeply furrowed, widened their eyes even further in the next instant.

High above, beyond the branches of the trees in the back of the screen, from behind conifers over twenty meters tall, something emerged. It was something large, white, and rounded. Then, peering past the trees with dark, hollow eye sockets, it became clear. It was a gigantic skull. A skeleton with a skull the size of a human body stood there and took a step forward on its enormous legs.

Then it began swinging its massive arms, mowing down the knights around it.

“W-what?! What is this?! What is that monster?!”
“A Great Skull?!”
“A high-ranking undead?! Impossible!!”
“It has a Threat Level of 70! It’s not something that should appear in a place like this!!”

Fourier screamed at the giant figure and staggered backward. August and Silense identified it as the high-ranking undead known as a Great Skull. Facing such an enemy, Alphonse judged that a single knight would stand little chance.

An ordinary knight’s Power Level was around twenty, equivalent to the upper tier of a Fourth in the Village Guard. A squad leader ranked around thirty, on par with a Fifth.
To maintain a safe margin, it would take at least four ordinary knights, or two to three squad leaders.

But even that only meant something if they could maintain a proper one-against-four formation. In the chaos of a melee like this, it was foolish to assume that balance could be preserved. Those on the front lines had to be considered as bearing five or six times the usual burden.

August and the other two sank into grim silence, unable to speak.

“Huh? What now?! W-what happened to the image?!”

Fourier cried out anxiously as the footage suddenly became violent and distorted.

The cameraman must have discovered something. The screen jerked left and right, indicating that whoever was operating the magical device was running about in confusion. Then it suddenly stopped and slowly pulled backward, as if retreating step by step.

But then it lurched forward, as though stumbling, and the image jolted hard. A shadow fell over the cameraman.

The next moment, the viewpoint shot high into the air, and the image began spinning vertically. The recording device must have been sent flying, spinning through the air. Sky, forest canopy, ground, the writhing undead below, and the knights cutting through them, all flashed across the screen in fragments. At last, the device struck the ground, bounced slightly, and came to rest. Then something huge and white rushed toward it, and the image cut out.

“…That last thing… what was it?”
“Something enormous… the Great Skull?”
“No! That wasn’t humanoid!”

August, Alphonse, and Silense studied the final image. At that scale, it was certainly another large undead. But the white blur that had crossed the screen at the end, the thing that had likely attacked the cameraman, did not look human at all.

“It has been reported that, besides the Great Skull, other large undead confirmed include Skull Centipedes and Old Scale Dinosaurs.”
“””…What?!!”””

The three men were struck speechless by Trevor’s report.

“Both of those have Threat Levels over 100! The knights alone cannot fight enemies like that without preparation!”
“No, but if Boff and old Conrad are there!”

A Threat Level over one hundred. You could not simply say that such a creature was equal to five people with a Power Level of twenty. They already existed on an entirely different level. An Eighth Higher Rank member had a Power Level of 60. Even a Tenth only reached 90. To fight them on equal footing alone required someone whose Power Level also exceeded one hundred. In other words, only those known as Grade Holders, Grade A or above.

Grade A began at a Power Level of 110. Howard and Conrad, though retired from the front lines, were provisionally considered Grade A even now. But in their prime, both had been Exceed Class fighters above AAA. Their Power Levels had once surpassed two hundred.

Now, equipped with gear adjusted by Marsh Causburt’s own hands, they were said to have regained strength close to their active days. If those two stood together, even enemies over Threat Level 100 would be nothing to fear.

But…

“It is said multiple large undead have been confirmed. Casey reported seeing at least five of each…”
“””……!!!”””

For the third time, the three men stared in shock, robbed of words.

The hand Sonia had been clenching tightened until her knuckles turned white.
Seeing this, Susie gently placed her own hand over Sonia’s.

Multiple creatures over Threat Level 100. There might be more than ten in total.
In a one-on-one fight, those two men would never lose.
But against ten or more at once, that was another matter entirely. The difficulty was on a completely different scale. And even if the lesser undead were fodder, their vast hordes still had to be fought at the same time. Even if they joined forces with the knights, the difference in numbers was overwhelming.

“Furthermore, we received reports that they were moving in an organized formation. Which means…”
“They have a commander?! An undead army?!”
“Yes. We have confirmed up to two thousand, but the true number is likely several times higher… Casey said he heard someone cry that sixty percent of the land was covered in white… and that it was advancing this way!”
“My God…”

August blurted out without thinking. Even without that, it was already an immense horde of undead that included multiple giant monsters. And now it might not be a mere horde at all, but an army marching with intent. Where in the world had such a force been hiding until now?

“August, this is the cause of the Overflow.”
“…Yes. Almost certainly. It is trying to spill out of the forest now.”

August and Alphonse concluded that this undead army was the source of the Overflow devastating the villages. As the undead swelled in number, Demonic Beasts had been pushed outward, causing the Overflow.

And now, from the depths of the forest, that army had begun to move.

“Damn it! I’m going out there. August! Gather everyone immediately!”
“Wait, Silense!”
“There’s no time! We’ll talk later!”

“W-wait! What is happening here?!”

Cameron Fourier, unable to hide his anxiety, demanded an explanation from the suddenly active Silense.

“Can’t you understand?! It’s already been over fifteen hours since the knights made contact with them! Those things move fast and never need rest! There’s no way they’d be slower than a messenger! The messenger returned this morning! And yet they still haven’t reached here! Do you get it?! Someone is holding them back!”

Silense snapped at him in irritation. The undead horde should already have come crashing into the village by now. But deep in the forest, the expedition was still somehow holding them at bay.

Realizing that an immortal army could appear at any moment, all color visibly drained from Fourier’s face.

“W-wait! Then those monsters could come flooding in here at any time?!”
“That’s what I’ve been saying! Move, Alphonse! We go with every soldier we have!”
“Representative Fourier! Permit us to sortie as well! We cannot abandon our comrades like this!”

As if there was not a second to spare, Silense declared that reinforcements would head into the forest. Trevor, unwilling to be left behind, stepped forward and demanded permission to deploy as well.

“N-no! Idiots! Sortie? What are you saying?! Such a thing… I cannot permit it! Defense! Strengthen the defenses! You as well! I forbid the Amukham Village Guard from deploying! Every force we have, all of it, will be used for defense!!”

(Damn it! How could this happen? No one told me about this!)

Fourier cursed inwardly.

He had been told this journey would be perfectly safe, and he had believed it himself. No one had told him there was even a possibility that monsters like these might advance on them! His Highness hadn’t said a word. Neither had His Eminence the Patriarch! If he had known, he would never have come all the way to a place like this!