I Reincarnated as a Villainous Noble, Nothing More Than the Hero’s Foil: Since the Hero Can Only Bring Misery to My Favorite Heroine, I’ll Use My Game Knowledge and Over-the-Top Effort to Rewrite the Scenario and Make Her Happy. - Chapter 27

Two days later, at midday—

Near the forest’s exit, I had positioned 90 members of the Schwarz Battalion in formation.

“Everyone, keep going! We’re almost at our goal!”

“Yes, Lady Selvia!”

“Mmm, the scent of fresh herbs is nice.”

We weren’t just idly waiting.

Using Selvia’s Blessing of the World Tree, we had summoned medicinal herbs and were busy crafting Healing Potions together.

All of us had learned the Apothecary Level 1 skill under the guidance of Lil and Ash, our expert alchemists.

After working tirelessly since yesterday, we had amassed a mountain of potion bottles.

“Cain, we’ve reached the goal of 6,000 bottles, but… even if we share some with my father’s army, isn’t this too much?”

“Huh? These are for attacking, actually. Healing Potions are the best way to kill the undead.”

Selvia tilted her head in confusion, and I was slightly taken aback.

“Healing Potions? As an offensive weapon? What do you mean?”

“Huh? Isn’t that common knowledge? Healing Potions are lethal to the undead.”

“…This is the first time I’ve heard that!”

Everyone stared at me as if I had just spoken nonsense.

Wait a minute…

In games, it was common knowledge that Healing Potions dealt damage to the undead. But in this world, was that not the case?

While this method wouldn’t work against undead ranked A and above, it was highly effective against D-rank or lower, which included our current enemies—skeletons and zombies.

It was far more reliable than cutting them down with swords.

I wanted to explain further, but there was no time—our operation was about to begin.

A massive dust cloud on the plains signaled the approach of an overwhelming army of undead.

“No choice. When I give the signal, throw the Healing Potions at the undead! It will definitely take them down!”

“Understood! If you say so, Lord Cain!”

The undead horde had wiped out an entire town ahead and turned it into their base.

According to our scouts, their numbers exceeded 15,000—a nightmarish situation.

To lure them out, I had Gordon fire multiple Fireball spells into the ruined city, attracting their attention.

It was a classic baiting strategy, one I had often used in games.

If things got dangerous, we could retreat to the Great Tree Fortress that Selvia had created in the forest.

Viscount Fernando’s army was already stationed there as a fallback force in case we needed to withdraw.

“Aaagh! Why do I always get stuck with these jobs!?”

“Lord Cain! We have successfully lured them!”

Lancelot, leading his cavalry, was galloping back at full speed from the ruined city.

It worked better than expected…

A quick estimate showed at least 10,000 undead were pursuing them.

Seeing our small group emerging from the forest, the enemy commander must have viewed this as an opportunity.

As expected, they weren’t holding back and were relying on sheer numbers to crush us.

“Well done, Lancelot!”

“It was nothing! Anything for you, Lord Cain!”

“I can’t take this anymore! I wanna go home!”

While the undead were slow, cavalry had no trouble outrunning them. That said, being chased by a horde of undead was still a terrifying experience.

“T-This is insane… That’s a ridiculous number of enemies.”

My subordinates swallowed hard in fear.

It was natural—undead creatures invoked primal fear, and we were facing an army over a hundred times our size.

But there was no need to panic.

We had prepared the perfect counter-strategy.

“Selvia, now! Lancelot and the others have made it out!”

“Understood! [Albidus Fire]!”

Selvia unleashed a fire spell toward the undead horde.

The flames ignited a massive layer of dried grass soaked in oil that we had spread across the ground earlier.

The explosion of flames surged forward, consuming the advancing undead.

The undead were weak to fire.

Their agonized screams filled the air as they were engulfed by the blaze.

A grand cremation.

However, the mindless undead refused to retreat and instead forced their way through the inferno, relying on sheer numbers.

“Alright! Throw the Healing Potions at them!”

“Yes, sir!”

My soldiers hurled bottles of Healing Potion one after another.

As soon as the undead were doused, they melted away as if their bodies were being corroded by acid.

“It’s working! They’re falling apart!”

Everyone’s eyes widened in shock at the sight.

“Undead are the opposite of humans. Healing Potions are lethal to them—it’s like poison!”

“We’ve got this! We can win!”

My soldiers enthusiastically continued throwing potions, sending the undead back to the afterlife.

Meanwhile, Selvia kept casting [Albidus Fire], preventing them from overwhelming us.

“Cain! My body feels really hot… Oh! It looks like I’ve gained the skill [Flame Wielder]!”

“Yes! It worked!”

I couldn’t help but shout in triumph.

By defeating a massive number of undead with fire, Selvia had gained enough proficiency to acquire the Flame Wielder skill.

That was also part of my plan.

“[Flame Wielder] is an ultra-rare skill that increases fire-attribute attack power by 30%! You did it, Selvia!”

“Y-Yes!”

The skill [Flame Wielder] was a hidden skill that could only be acquired by consistently using fire-based attacks.

If a mage used another elemental attack, the hidden proficiency parameter for [Flame Wielder] would reset—a truly punishing system.

Because of this, I had instructed Selvia to use only fire magic.

Thanks to her diligence in following that order, she had now reached the pinnacle of a firepower-specialized build at this crucial moment.

“I’ll act as the decoy and draw their attention! Keep casting [Albidus Fire]!”

I rushed forward, slicing through the skeletons with my sword, shattering their brittle bodies.

As expected, the enemy charged at me, targeting the commander.

Determined not to let a single one of them reach Selvia, I swung my sword relentlessly, cutting them down before they could get close.

After the brutal battle two days ago, my swordsmanship had advanced to a whole new level.

I could now read enemy movements far better than before.

Swiftly maneuvering through their ranks, I cut down each foe before they had a chance to surround me.

“Understood, Cain! I’ll support you!”

Selvia unleashed another [Albidus Fire], sending massive pillars of flame roaring through the undead horde, incinerating them completely.

“Whoa! That attack just now—was that Lady Selvia!? That was incredible!”

Lancelot cheered as he and his decoy squad rejoined the main battle.

With his knight’s sword, he cut down waves of zombies, while Gordon, despite crying, continued launching his magic attacks.

The undead, having fallen right into our trap, were being massacred effortlessly.

I had been on high alert for the appearance of S-rank monsters, but none had shown up.

I also suspected that the enemy commander might be holding back their strongest forces to strike when we were exhausted, yet there was no sign of that either.

…What’s going on?

Could it be that commanding multiple S-rank monsters was simply beyond their capability?

It felt suspicious, but either way, this was an excellent opportunity for us to level up.

By the end of this battle, every member of the Schwarz Battalion would likely gain at least five levels.

“Unbelievable! I never imagined we could completely wipe out a massive undead army like this!”

“With Lord Cain leading us, we’re invincible!”

“Glory to Lord Cain!”

My soldiers erupted into cheers.

It had become a one-sided slaughter, and in the end, we successfully exterminated all 10,000 undead.

Then, a system voice rang out, announcing the acquisition of a new skill.

With this, my victory was all but assured.

“Congratulations! You have defeated an S-rank undead monster and successfully slain over 3,000 undead single-handedly.

You have acquired the skill [Undead Buster]!

[Undead Buster]: Nullifies all undead resistances and skills.”

Cain Schwarz

Level 40 (UP!)

Unique Skill

[Black Moon Sword] – Grants dark attribute power to sword techniques.

Skills

[Swordsmanship Lv.4] – Increases accuracy and attack power with swords by 40%.

[Projectile Deflection] – Increases the success rate of deflecting projectiles by 50%.

[Giant Killer] – When fighting an enemy of a higher level, if HP drops below 50%, attack power and agility increase by 100%.

[Apothecary Lv.1] – Enables potion crafting.

[Undead Buster] (NEW!) – Nullifies all undead resistances and skills.