Reincarnated as an Energy with a System

The scout was a man named Rob who had come here three days ago. After talking with Matthew, he had finally realized that the ones who had come up the mountains were his own people, which was when he finally conceded.

By the time Ning had left him out of his clutches, the man was gasping for breath.

"You nearly killed me," the man grunted as he massaged his neck.

"Not any more than what you did," Ning said, reaching for his back. It was going to get sore, sadly.

"Hey, it's not my fault I'm doing my job. How am I supposed to know you were not an enemy?" the scout said, turning toward Matthew. "Commander Matthew, you should be aware that everyone is restricted from going through these woods. Only us scouts are allowed here."

"I am aware," Matthew said. "We would not have come this way had it not been an emergency."

The scout looked surprised. "Emergency?" he asked. "Did you come to deliver that message, Commander? That doesn't sound right."

"No, that's not it," Matthew said and then explained what was going on.

Rob seemed to have been completely unaware that anything was going on in the first place. It was understandable that he didn't know about Matthew's loss and him getting captured. The army was large enough that Rob couldn't have possibly met all the high-ranking officers.

Still, the news of their loss lay heavy on the man. The shock was one thing, but the sadness that so many of the people in the army, people he likely knew, had died seemed to sadden him.

"I knew we were losing, but to think we would've lost this soon—I never imagined it."

Matthew sighed. He understood the man's sentiments. "The only reason we lasted this long is because of the strife between the three enemy armies. They could never act together, and we were able to exploit them. However, someone killed their people and made them work together in the end. The battle was barely won with them all working together."

Rob shook his head. "So our own assassination attempts backfired on us, huh?" he asked.

Matthew snorted. "We don't know if it was ours. To kill a person is to do something big and terrible. And the ones who do that usually have something to gain from it. We never had anything to gain from this since we knew this wouldn't be a deterrent."

Ning nodded. "It's likely someone from their army did this."

Rob thought for a bit and nodded. He supposed that made sense. "So, what is happening? What do we do? I will need to head back to camp and verify this news as well."

"Right, my army is coming this way. Could you guide us to the direct path to the capital?" Matthew asked.

"I'm not sure, Commander. I do not have the authority to make any such decisions. You will have to ask our commander."

"Alright. Where is the commander?"

"Two mountains over. I can show you the way, but it will take time," Rob answered.

"We should go then, before my army arrives. I don't want them mistaking my people for the enemy and attacking them."

Rob nodded. He squeezed two of his fingers into his mouth and whistled. The sound of the whistle, while loud, was not very sharp. It had a faded tone to it, which the young man began adding elements to with his breathing.

Matthew turned toward Ning. "Communication."

"Ah!" Ning realized. The young man was calling for the other scouts. Very soon, dozens of people made their way toward where Ning and Matthew were, all of them surprised to see outsiders there.

Rob very quickly explained the situation. "I will need to go report this to the commander. I will also be taking Commander Matthew with me. Please manage things here."

Many people nodded.

"What should I do?" Ning asked now that he was likely going to be left alone. His undead had run off somewhere, and in this mountain, it was hard to tell where that would be. He wasn't going to find that thing now.

"You stay here with them, and when the army arrives, have one of them show you the way toward the pass," Matthew said.

"We aren't certain that we will get permission for you to go through there, Commander," Rob said quickly to manage the man's expectations. He wouldn't want to be the man who disappointed a commander.

"Don't worry," Matthew said. "I will make that happen."

Ning smiled and nodded. "I'll meet you on the path then."

"By the way," Rob spoke up quickly. "Is that your army by any chance?"

Everyone gathered there soon turned their heads to look at what Rob was pointing at. He was gesturing to the other mountain where a dust storm appeared at its peak, slowly descending downward.

"Dear god!" someone exclaimed. "How many people is that?"

"How are they descending that quickly?" someone else asked.

"That's about 25 people," Matthew said.

Everyone's heads turned, unable to believe what they were hearing. "25? No way that can be just 25 people, Commander. They could never cause such a phenomenon."

Matthew smiled.

"25 people, and nearly 8,000 undead."

That finally answered the question everyone was thinking of, and somehow they were still shocked by it.

"Nearly… 8,000 undead?" someone asked.

Matthew nodded. "That's why we're in a hurry to get to the capital. With this many people, we will be able to negotiate a little better against our new masters if we have something backing us as well."

The scouts nodded fervently at that thought.

"Alright, I'll leave," Matthew said and had Rob get on top of the undead he was previously riding.

Rob sat on its shoulder, surprised. "Where are you going to sit, Commander?" he asked.

"I'm going to run," Matthew said. "It will be faster that way."

"Won't you get left behind?" Rob asked.

Matthew grinned. "Don't worry. I can keep up."