Dragon's Wrath: The Cursed Returnee

While Ethan was thinking as to how to solve that situation as fast as possible, Hannah decided to cast a spell that would make him recover his stamina. Things could have been solved a lot faster if she could touch him, but since that wasn't possible, the effectiveness of her spells decreased a lot.

Hannah spent the whole time frowning while healing Ethan's legs. Putting aside the smell of sweat, she could smell a lot of blood coming from the lower part of her little brother's clothes. As if that wasn't enough, steam was coming from it. She never tried to force Ethan to show how his legs looked in that state, but Hannah could easily imagine. Ethan wasn't strong enough to run ten times faster than a horse for three days straight and still fight monsters now and then. He only succeeded in doing so because of his sheer determination. Thanks to his power as a hero, he could recover relatively fast. Still, only that wasn't enough to make the pain in Hannah's chest disappear. He did it for her, but only that wasn't causing that pain. Just imagining the kind of environment Ethan had to survive in order to become mentally strong enough to pull that off was enough to make Hannah's eyes be filled with tears. Still, she couldn't let them fall. Hannah couldn't show pity or feel sad over that. Ethan himself wasn't complaining about anything, so she didn't have the right to make things awkward. Ethan noticed that but decided to stay quiet about it.

"It looks like the horde of monsters doesn't attack at night," Ethan said while looking at the shadows in the distance. "Is it because they are fully under the control of the necromancer?"

"That is right," Hannah nodded. "That piece of… that criminal divided the monsters in several groups, and he can effectively use all of them at the same time as if they were in a chessboard. That being said, he still is just a necromancer. He needs to rest pretty frequently. Although he attacked us sometimes at night, he likes to only do so when we least expect it. Attacking right before sunrise is one of the things he likes to do a lot."

"Well, those are simple warfare tactics," Ethan shrugged. "Since he can control all the monsters at once, leaving the capital isn't a good idea. Besides, the people here have these walls. That being said, the attacking side, most of the time, has the power to decide when a battle will start or finish. Alongside that, the necromancer can use such tactics to wear down the nerves of the people here… still, something seems off."

Despite everything, Hannah wasn't surprised that Ethan managed to smell something weird. Not even his unexpected knowledge of tactics surprised her. Even though Ethan seemed the type who just overpowered his foes with sheer brute strength.

"I wouldn't be surprised if this necromancer has enough patience to keep this situation as it is for months, if not years," Ethan said. "That way, he will not only decrease the morale of the army stationed here but will also wear down the food resources and make the population revolt. Even if that doesn't happen, everyone will starve to death, and that will give the necromancer a chance to create the biggest army in this world… this is quite the scenario, but aside from his revenge, do you think this is his end goal?"

"I'm not sure… I didn't meet this guy. He disappeared soon after the hero saved the world," Hannah said. "Those who were close to him were put under surveillance, but I don't think that will help us in any way. It is clear that they are as surprised as us. Everything the necromancer planned is something he came up with after the world was saved, so no one can be tall what is his end goal is."

Ethan hoped that he would obtain a clue by learning as much as possible about the necromancer, but it looked like that had been a waste of time. As usual, he would have to solve things in a direct manner. Actually, Ethan more or less had a plan as to how to find the necromancer. Knowing if it would succeed was another matter altogether, but he had a plan. However, before putting that into practice…

"All right, I'm fine now," Ethan said after getting up and jumping a little. "Thanks for the help, Hannah, but if we want to solve this mess as soon as possible, I will need your help for a little longer."

"What are you planning?" Hannah asked. "Let me say this straight, I won't agree with any imprudent plan."

"You can relax if I do say so myself. This is plan is pretty good… even though I'm not a tactical genius," Ethan frowned. "Anyway, before putting it into action, I need you to find whoever is available right now that can use spells that recover mana and stamina."

"I can do that, and I'm confident in my mana pool, so…" Hannah said before being interrupted.

"I know, but you will do something else," Ethan said. "You will teleport me to where the army is, and I will cause as much as damage as possible, and then you will bring me back here. Those people I mentioned that can restore mana and stamina will help us because I plan to do that until morning."

"… It looks like you forgot the definition of imprudence," Hannah sighed. "Even if I agree with this plan, which I don't plan to, it is a waste of time. The monsters will get up as if nothing had happened, even if you crush them into bits."

"I know that fighting a zombie army is stupid, but this isn't my goal," Ethan said. "My goal is to keep the necromancer awake the whole night and then attack the bastard after sunrise. The monsters can't revive themselves, right? So, the necromancer will have to do it throughout the whole night if he wants to keep his forces ready for tomorrow."

It was a pretty a good idea, actually, to use the tactic that the necromancer did to harass the guards of the imperial capital. That being said, Hannah couldn't imagine how Ethan planned to attack the necromancer the next morning when nobody had any idea where he was in the first place.

"Don't worry about it," Ethan said. "You didn't find the necromancer's position because you fought here in the walls. As long as someone with the right skills fights the monsters up close. Finding that asshole will be a piece of cake."