The Sequel to the Romance Fantasy Was a Zombie Apocalypse – Chapter 116

Yuria was floating in the air with a bewildered expression.

“Indeed. Renit’s guess was spot on.”

In contrast, Lopez, looking up at her, remained completely unfazed.

“Ho ho ho! That’s quite an interesting expression, Yuria.”

Esmela, with a rare high-pitched cackle, showcased her villainous noble lady mockery.

“…Hey, I don’t think it’s necessary to provoke her that much.”

Iiergo glanced at the two with a sidelong look before adjusting his grip on his sword and getting into a combat stance.

“…Where did Prince Robertze go?”

Yuria clenched her teeth. Dion answered her thrown question.

“Well, he probably ran off somewhere to escape the psycho stalker pursuing him.”

Crack.

Yuria’s jaw clenched audibly.

“…”

Suppressing her rising anger, Yuria began scanning her surroundings near Lopez slowly.

Aside from what appeared to be Prince Robertze’s doppelgänger, who was dyed silver and dressed in his clothes, there was also Esmela’s personal butler’s doppelgänger standing next to him.

“Such nonsense…”

No, this isn’t right.

Even amidst all this, Yuria tried to regain her composure.

Where could Prince Robertze have gone? He wouldn’t be the type to abandon his friends and run away.

He must have a purpose for deceiving my eyes and breaking formation. So where to…?

“…!”

Calmly speculating about Robertze’s movements, Yuria’s eyes widened as if she had realized something.

“Ah! Of course. When I think about it rationally, there’s only one place Robertze could be trying to go while deceiving my eyes!”

Recognizing Robertze’s destination, Yuria no longer felt flustered.

With a confident glint in her eyes, she looked down on her former friends and then swiftly turned her head, as if they were no longer worth her time.

“Make sure to play along.”

She casually threw that remark to the horde of zombies at her feet before zooming back in the direction she had come.

“…”

Even after Yuria disappeared from view, her companions remained tense for several seconds without a sound—

“Haah.”

With Lopez finally letting out a long sigh, their atmosphere relaxed.

“Fortunately, things are going according to plan.”

-Grrr…

Now, the remaining eyes were on the horde of zombies Yuria had left behind.

“Dealing with these guys won’t be easy, though.”

“The fiercer the battle, the stronger the will burns,” Dion remarked, stepping out in front of the zombies, serving as a solid barrier.

In the meantime, Esmela was gazing toward the royal palace, where Lanit had departed.

-Graaah!!!

“Prepare for battle! They’re on the move!”

With the roar of the zombies signaling the start of hostilities, she gathered herself and began chanting spells to confront the approaching undead.

—

Time rewinds, just before they left the mansion.

“A flanking operation?”

Everyone looked at Renit with questions written across their faces after that word slipped from his mouth.

“…Explain. But make it quick since we’re short on time. Just the key points.”

As Esmela said this, her gaze frequently returned to the horde of zombies advancing from afar towards the mansion.

“Yes. While talking about an experience he had escaping the royal palace, His Highness mentioned that the princess used the phrase ‘together as three.’ That’s likely referring to the woman trapped in the cage he witnessed, someone very important to the princess, I suspect.”

Renit quickly continued, succinctly and clearly as much as possible.

“Given the current situation, we cannot guarantee victory in a direct confrontation with the princess, as we have no idea of the strength of the zombie army she commands. Therefore, we need to conduct a flanking operation.”

“What’s the outline of the operation?”

“We split into two groups. While I and His Highness move toward the royal palace, you all should lead the soldiers and pretend to leave the mansion to lure the princess, buying us as much time as possible.”

“Why you two specifically?”

“Lopez. You mentioned that the princess has frequently appeared on the battlefield to shift the tide of battle.”

“Ah? Right. That’s true.”

“If we think about it the other way around, one could argue that she has limitations in controlling zombies from afar. Meaning she would have to enhance the zombies circling her directly. Additionally, I suspect her information-gathering capacity may be more limited than we think.”

“Hey. Enough with the preamble. What’s the bottom line?”

Robertze interjected, irritated by Renit’s long explanation.

However, Renit merely continued calmly.

“Prince Robertze, can you handle illusion magic?”

“Illusion?”

“Yes. As in creating an illusionary duplicate of yourself. If the princess relies on her sight for gathering information, just moving that duplicate with the bait should catch her attention.”

“…It’s difficult at the moment. I’d need time to prepare that advanced illusion spell.”

“Hmm…”

Renit fell into contemplation for a moment until Iiergo joined the conversation.

“We don’t necessarily have to go that route; we could just have a soldier of similar build wear your clothes. A slight magical change in hair color could easily trick the enemy from a distance. You can do that, can’t you, Robertze?”

“I can. But there’s only one outfit…”

“Perfect. The princess will probably only be focused on His Highness, but just in case, let’s swap my butler uniform with a soldier’s to set up a decoy.”

“…So we lure Yuria to the opposite side of the palace while we infiltrate the palace in the meantime. What’s the goal?”

“Firstly, to secure that mysterious woman as a hostage, and then liberate the King and Queen. Additionally, if possible, we should gather any information or weaknesses regarding the dark magic she wields, which would greatly help us in confronting her.”

“Hmmm…”

After hearing the outline of the operation, Robertze let out a low grunt.

“If that’s the plan, shouldn’t I go too?”

Just then, Dion suddenly proposed.

“Certainly, it would be reassuring to have you, Dion, but… no. It’d be hard to find a similar-sized decoy, and it would weaken our overall strength too much.”

“Is that so…”

Dion accepted the reasoning, though he wore a dissatisfied expression as he stepped back.

“That’s the entirety of my conceived operation. Any questions?”

“If the operation goes as planned, Yuria will surely notice Robertze’s disappearance after contacting us and immediately head out to search for him. So, do we just need to impede Yuria from returning to the palace?”

“No, you simply need to buy time and then let her go.”

At Arit’s question, Renit shook his head.

“Wouldn’t it be more beneficial for you to maximize the time you could operate within the palace?”

“That’s true for us, but…”

Renit was watching a soldier who’d rushed in to report, standing next to Lopez.

The soldier’s eyes swirled with confusion, as he moved around aimlessly, clearly lost.

“If the princess engages in battle while joined with the zombies, there will inevitably be casualties due to the enhanced zombies. If we just keep a distance from her for a bit, we can focus on dealing with the remaining zombies and identifying any allies mixed in.”

Once Renit finished his response, he scanned the room again.

“…It seems there are no further questions. What does everyone think of my proposal?”

“…”

Esmela and Lopez silently nodded, while the other three signaled their agreement with a silence of their own.

And finally, one person remained.

“Your Highness. Now only your choice remains.”

“…I—”

Hwoooo—

Dark energy enveloped the royal palace’s vicinity as two figures soared through the air.

Renit, in his dragon transformation, and Robertze, using his levitation magic, flew at full speed toward their destination.

With Arit’s buff included, their speed was so great they were almost impossible to track with the eyes.

Despite barely being able to open his eyes, Robertze kept pace, flying alongside Renit.

“Your Highness!”

At that moment, Renit called out, his voice raspy, sounding like a dragon’s roar due to the transformation.

“What is it?”

“From the expressions I’ve seen on the prince over the past few days, this is the most lively I’ve seen you.”

“…Is that so.”

He offered a faint smile.

“I’m planning not to hesitate any longer. While it’s not that I don’t trust Yuria, turning away from reality won’t change anything; I need to do something. As her fiancé and also as the prince.”

With those words, the confident look on his face finally restored the dignity of royalty.

“Look! The royal palace is in sight!”

Then, Robertze pointed straight ahead.

Following his finger, Renit finally spotted the magnificent silver palace coming into view.