The Death Mage that doesn't want a fourth time

63 Ah, the sound of revenge is so sweet.

The stronghold, where General Langil Mauvid, Chezare Legston and several hundred defensive troops remained, was in a state of chaos.

This had been caused by Isla and her subordinates ceasing to hide their true identities.

"General! What is the meaning of this?!"

"Isn't it obvious! They're Magic Items that allow the use of Flight!"

"Then why are those mercenaries being burned by the sunlight?!"

"You're mistaken! That's because of the poison that the Dhampir released!"

"Why were those mercenaries disguised in the first place?!"

"Th-that's... How should I know!"

For Chezare and the rest of the people present, Vampires were evil monsters. They found it difficult to accept that such monsters had been moving in and out of the stronghold as if they owned the place. And those Vampires had been disguised as a mercenary band specially hired by General Mauvid. He had even listened to several of her opinions.

"I-I'm sure that the Vampires replaced the real mercenaries somewhere! I have nothing to do with them!" Mauvid insisted.

But with this many suspicious circumstances, there was no way that his words could be believed.

"You bastard, the Vampires are your accomplices!"

"Your objective is for all of us to be annihilated, isn't it! That's why the mercenaries said that the whole army should advance earlier!"

"You insolent fools, know your place! You dare defy Earl Mauvid, a general of the Empire?!"

"Shut up, shut up! That means you're a traitor who's with the Vampires as well!"

The stronghold was no longer that of an expedition army. There were two groups in chaos, Mauvid with the protégé subordinates he had brought with him from the Empire, and Chezare with the soldiers from the Mirg shield-nation.

Th-those damned Vampires! Were they planning to betray me and throw me away? But it won't work, I'm not a man who will meet his end here!

And so Mauvid prioritized his own survival and tried to find a way out of this place, but...

"Damn it! Who cares about the general now! Retreat! Start the retreat! Organize the rear troops and slow the enemy down! We're all going to be killed at this rate!" Chezare was leaving Mauvid aside and ordering the expedition army to retreat.

While they were having this unproductive argument, the enemy was harvesting the lives of their soldiers like wheat.

High Priest Gordan and Riley were still holding out, but at this rate, annihilation was inevitable.

"Have the stronghold's men go around the back!" Chezare ordered.

"What?! Chezare, what are you saying, you bastard! If you do that, what troops will there be left to protect us?!" Mauvid demanded.

"General, what are you saying at a time like this –"

"Silence! Not a single one of my men will move!"

Chezare made a noise of frustration.

If the argument continued, a deadly battle between the Mirg shield-nation's troops and Mauvid's protégé knights and soldiers could break out in the stronghold. In terms of numbers, the Mirg shield-nation's side would likely win, but this wasn't the time to do this.

Now that things had come to this, Chezare wanted to organize a rear guard with at least the Mirg shield-nation's troops, but though they were soldiers, they were still humans in the end. There would be an outburst of dissatisfaction at the order to march towards death while the Empire's men remained in the stronghold.