Warlord

Oneshot

I own nothing

Nox felt the man's neck snap under his skeletal hands, giving the undead both mana and the deceased human's memories through the spells 'Mana Leech' and 'Mind Leech'.

He released his hold on the corpse and allowed it to fall down on the ground. Normally he only paralyzed his opponents with the spell 'Psychic Blast' and left them to retreat on their own, but the agents of the Slane Theocracy didn't understand the concept of 'bugger off'.

It was strange to kill another human, he assumed that it would take more willpower to take that step, but whatever dropped him into this world in the body of his Warlords Battlecry 3 Undead Shaman apparently made him rather apathetic to such things.

Still, killing sapient creatures was in poor taste and he took that step only when the enemy proved to be highly unreasonable.

Having nothing better to do he started to loot the bodies of this band of agents.

Thanks to the drained memories he knew which items were worthless and which were not. Another bonus from his 'Mind Leech' spell was that he instantly learned not only general knowledge but also martial arts and spells of the people he killed. As if he wasn't already overpowered enough through his 'Increase Casting' and 'Morph Speed/Combat/Health/Damage/' spells. He probably overused the Chaos Magic to the breaking point by pushing all magic schools to level hundred and morphing his physical attributes to ridiculous levels, but then again he had nothing better to do then to improve the character...or was it himself now?

He ignored the pouch of gold coins at the agents belt, he could easily transmute rocks into metals or crystals, and instead took the enchanted dagger the man had used. While the 'Create Item' spell created a random item or artifact in the game, in this world a few spells changed in their use. For example, 'Create Item' now allowed him to customize the abilities of the items he could create and not only conjure up a random item from a limited list.

Most of his time was spend experimenting with the new abilities he encountered in this world, from creating magic items and potions to researching new spells.

Satisfied with the loot, Nox was about to leave when he sensed someone approach his position.

Probably more adventurers...who else would come to this backwoods mused Nox as he pulled his hood deeper and concealed his Dark Mithril armor with the cloak.

To be on the safe side the skeleton quickly used the spells 'Extend', 'Empower', 'Enervate', 'Command', 'Life Ward', 'Mana Leech', 'Mind Leech', 'Resist Magic', 'Vampirism', 'Shadowform' and 'Spellforge' in that order on himself. If it came to blows he was prepared, and if those were not enough he will simply teleport back to his base.

Three pairs of clawed feet marched through the swamp, their tails going back and forth. The forest was blocking out most of the sunlight, shrouding the area in shadows, allowing them to progress relatively swiftly.

"How much further to this acquaintance of yours?" inquired Crush Lulu as she followed behind Zaryusu "we still need to contact the other villages and this side-trip is costing us time."

"Patience" answered the large lizardman "it's very important we see him."

"Who is he? Another traveler like us two?" asked Zaryusu, he had nothing against visiting this friend of Zenberu's but time was running short.

The large lizardman growled "...in a way. It happened two years ago, I had a rather unpleasant encounter with a few humans from the Slane Theocracy, though I won the battle one of them managed to poison me with a potent concoction. I would have perished then and there if by chance the noise of the battle didn't lure out something else."

Something else?.. "This Nox person?" inquire Crush "I assumed it's another lizardman."

Zenberu chuckled "Far from it, though it probably was a human once."

Zaryusu felt a sinking feeling in his gut Was?... "So this Nox found and healed you?"

The larger lizardman nodded "Yes", in that moment the trio spotted a small clearing ahead of them. On a large boulder sat a hooded person, a thick book in its skeletal hands.

"Undead..." gasped Crush as she froze in place. Zenberu didn't seem to be bothered by the monster and continued towards it.

As soon as the large lizardman entered the clearing the undead turned its head and looked at the chieftain of the Dragon Tusk tribe, the thing's empty eye sockets staring at them.

"Greetings Zenberu, what can I do for you today?" inquired the undead as it closed the book and jumped down from the boulder. The thing was much shorter than Zenberu, dressed in a black armor partially concealed by the wide cloak.

"And greetings to you Nox" said the Dragon Tusk chieftain before he glanced at the corpses under his feet "The Theocracy again?"

The undead shrugged "Apparently the first bunch carried a powerful artifact and now they're desperate to get it back." The skeleton then shifted his gaze from the chieftain to the other two lizardmen hidden in the swamp "you usually don't bring company, did something happen?"

Zenberu grunted "A few days ago undead messengers appeared in the lizarmen villages announcing that we should prepare for an attack by someone called the 'Supreme One', I'm wondering if you know anything about it."

The skeleton shook his head "If you think that it was my doing, I have to disappoint you, it wasn't me. If you're wondering if I know something about this Supreme One I'm afraid I must disappoint you again, I do not."

The two stared at each other for a minute, then the lizardman relented with a sigh "So it was pointless coming here.."

"Not necessarily" said the skeleton "perhaps I can provide some assistance, though I would need to hear more about your predicament."

Zenberu nodded and turned to Zaryusu and Crush "Come on out you two, I need someone to explain things to this bag of bones."

Both Zaryusu and Crush didn't like going anywhere near the undead but they had little choice. They entered the clearing, though Crush had to use her bush disguise to shield her sensitive scales from the sunlight.

Seeing the confused look the skeleton was giving to the walking bush, Zaryusu decided to explain "Crush Lulu, the druid and chief of the red Eye tribe, is weak to sunlight."

"I see, well there's a way around that" mused Nox as he cast the spell 'Darkstorm' and a thick cloud cover appeared over the region.

"T-this is impossible?!" gasped Crush Lulu as watched the spell turn a sunny day into night.

"What is?" asked the confused Zaryusu as he watched Crush gaze into the sky.

She then looked quickly from the sky to Nox and then to Zaryusu "He just used the 6th level spell 'Weather Control!"

Nox remained quiet at her outburst, it is far easier to play along than to explain his origins and how his original magic differed from the magic used here. Though, thanks to the Theocracie's agents send after him he had all their knowledge to work with, including their spells and martial arts.

Nox decided to cut their awe short and went back to the main issue "So, about that attack? Could someone elaborate?"

The albino female was the first one to regain her wits "Ah, yes..."

The skeleton listened as the druid explained the situation in detail. After she told her part a silence descended upon the clearing as Nox contemplated the information. This would be a good test to see how my experiments work, hopefully the enemy is as powerful as the trio claimed.

"Interesting, fortunately for you I can indeed help in your cause" finally said the skeleton "I can supply you with magic items, undead troops, increase your own strength or turn you into something stronger completely." One of the more broken aspects of Chaos Magic are definitely the Morph spells, considering they permanently increase either speed, toughness or power...and the effects stack...it would be child's play to make even a toddler capable of wrestling dragons and outpacing lightning bolts...

The lizardmen looked at each other in confusion "And you would do this for us?" asked Zenberu.

Nox shrugged "Why not? Besides, I get to test some of my newest creations. So, what's it gonna be?"

"We don't know who our enemy is or what force he commands, so we would like to fight the enemy on our own. But if the enemy is too much to handle, could we count on you to protect the tribe?"

Nox nodded "No problem, if it seems the enemy will win I will intervene. Is that acceptable?"

The lizardmen nodded.

"Then that's that." And with those words the undead disappeared.

The Shaman appeared inside a dark underground cavern, his empty eye sockets gazing down upon his necropolis. The center of the city was his level five Deathkeep, and beside a few core buildings like the Black Library everything else was basically one big graveyard.

Unlike in the game, in this world he had no population or resource limit. That made it possible to have a city with half a million residents...all undead. The liches were entrusted to expand his underground realm, increasing the number of skeletons that could be morphed into stronger undead and researching this world's strange magic. Zombies were the labourforce, building and mining without the need to rest. And lastly, the Doom Knights as his 'peace' keepers.

Of course he couldn't be called a power gamer if he didn't go a step further. So he made the liches ride dragonliches, summoned Doom Knights that knew this world's martial arts and even gave them items to increase their effectiveness.

All that before using his Chaos Magic to make them all much faster, tougher and stronger.

As he approached the Black Library one of his liches came towards him "What is your wish master?"

"The time of harvest has arrived..." said the Shaman enthusiastically "gather the troops, it's time for war."

"Interesting..." mused Nox as he watched the enemy troops assembled against the lizardmen. Unlike the previous battle, this time the enemy was showing off. Thousands of skeletons with magic equipment and monsters who were apparently the leaders. The lich siting on the throne was apparently the leader of this army, and the creatures around him his lieutenants. He already attempted a 'Banish' spell but none of the things were summons apparently.

It was obvious that the lizardmen were ill equipped to fight such a foe.

Better give them a hand then...chuckled the shaman as he directed his forces against the enemy.

Five hundred from the two thousand improved Doom Knights he created yesterday burst through the frozen vegetation and charged with superhuman speed at the enemy.

The undead were only as strong as Death Knights in this world, but thanks to his Chaos Magic their power was now hundred times higher. They crashed into the assembled enemy and cleaved through skeletons and Death Knights with one or two attacks. He decided to keep the rest of his army in the reserve, including the two hundred dragonlich mounted liches. The faces of the leaders distorted into ones of fury as they themselves jumped into combat. But they greatly underestimated the extend he modified the Doom Knights. The first one to fall was a large, four armed insectoid creature, quickly followed by two dark elf twins.

On the other hand he was also taking substantial loses, mainly from the lolita brat that replaced her outfit with a blood red armor.

Then suddenly Nox blacked out...

A split second later he saw a battlefield that was very different from the one he was watching before. His entire army was destroyed and even the land itself was turned into dust.

Seems I was killed mused Nox as his gaze drifted over the now destroyed lizardmen village. The Shaman clicked his teeth in frustration...he promised to protect the village, and he failed...he hated failure.

Quickly casting another 'Life Ward' on himself Nox rose from the sand that was once a comfortable tree stump. As soon as the enemy spotted him, they rushed to finish off the lone strangler.

But thanks to his increased abilities and the usual spells he cast on himself even before the battle began, he was able to keep up with their speed. He then used the spells 'Drain Mana', 'Disjunction' and 'Armageddon' in quick succession. The world was suddenly drowned into flames when from the heavens an ever expanding inferno descended on the land.

Thanks to his absurdly large command radius, he not only killed the enemy but also scorched the whole area all the way down to Carne village.

The Shaman stood still as he gained mana and experience from the kills Ainz Ooal Gown ...Nazarick...interesting...thought the skeleton as he went over the new gained knowledge. He then dodged a lance from the back.

"I-impossible! How could you!" screamed the enraged brat in the red armor "My beloved Ainz! I will never forgive you!"

If Nox still had eyes he would roll them at the drama, he then forced her on the defensive with a flurry of strikes from his sword and dagger.

"Who are you?!" growled the brat as she evaded his 'Purify' spell.

"Rejoice Shalltear Bloodfallen! For bad things are about to happen!" said the hooded skeleton as he teleported in front of her. He parried her lance with his longsword and then stabbed her in the eye with his Assassin's Dagger. The weapon's property took effect, and killed her instantly, but this time for good.

With the enemy defeated Nox turned to the ravaged landscape. With a sigh he went to the village. Thanks to his large mana pool and very fast mana regeneration he could easily spend the whole day resurrecting the lizardmen. As for restoring the environment, Ainz Ooal Gown's spell 'Wish' will now come in handy.

On the bright side of things he now knew about World Items, and why the Slane Theocracy was so persistent in getting back that item he looted from their agents. Perhaps it would be wise to visit Nazarick as well mused Nox, can't leave the enemy base standing after all. That would be in poor taste for a level two thousand shaman, too bad for Ainz that his game had a level limit...

THE END

AN:

Just finished the Overlord novel, and Ainz's behavior rubbed me the wrong way a bit. I feel bad for the lizards and the kingdom's army (peasants) on the Katze plains, so this is me channeling my misgivings into a short story.

Warrlords Battlecry 3: is a RTS with RPG elements. The game also has no level limit, and I can wholeheartedly recommend it. It has sixteen factions, and no balancing, in fact the faction balance is how easy it is to break the game, the easiest being a Merchant/Bard (generate gold) leading the Empire (can instantly train mercenaries for gold).

Of course I didn't actually train the character to that level...I cheated by using a trainer to see what class is the most OP, then again it's not so different from Ainz's cash items, which I consider a very big deal for a MMO game since it really takes the fun out.

Spells:

Healing Magic:

White Ward – grants immunity to mental effects.

Life Ward – auto-revives the hero if killed.

Resurrection – resurrects units.

Purify – shoots holy lightning at evil creatures.

Major Healing – heals and cures units.

Necromancy:

Darkstorm – spell turns day into night.

Raise Skeleton – creates skeletons, one per level, plus it gets 5XP per hero level.

Dark Portal – increases the potency of necromancy spells.

Raise Zombie – creates zombies, one per level, plus it gets 5XP per hero level.

Raise Champion – creates a vampire/shadow/lich/doom knight, plus 20XP per hero level.

Vampirism – stealing life with attacks, +1HP per hero level.

Chaos Magic:

Morph speed – randomly increases/decreases speed (permanent/stackable) of friend and foe.

Morph damage – randomly increases/decreases damage (permanent/stackable) etc...

Morph health – same as above just for HP.

Morph Combat - same as above just for a combat skill.

Morph resources – transmutes gold/crystal/stone/metal.

Drain Mana – drains the mana of every magic using opponent in the command radius.

Increase Casting – the spell allows you to learn other random spells/or make the ones you know more powerful, permanently.

Divination Magic:

Banish – destroys enemy summoned creatures.

Mind Leech – units under this spell can steal all the XP from a unit they have killed.

Call Sage – summons a white/red/black mage, plus 20XP per level.

Alchemy:

Create Item – creates a random magic item.

Brew potion – creates health potions.

Disjunction – renders magic items useless for enemies.

Spellforge – doubles the power of the caster's items for a time.

Arcane Magic:

Command – the area of effect increases by 25% per hero level.

Enervate – 50% faster mana regeneration per hero level.

Extend – double duration for hero's spells.

Dispel – dispels all enemy spells.

Mana Leech – caster drains one mana per level on a kill.

Empower – spells have 25% per level greater effect.

Illusion Magic:

Shadowform – increases the caster's +1speed/+5armor and +5resistance per level.

Invisibility – turns the hero invisible.

Mutate – turns enemy units into harmless animals.

Transform – turns creatures into something stronger.

Pyromancy:

Soul Flame – increases XP of friendly units by 5XP per hero level.

Firebreath – gives units a dragons fire-breath attack, 5 damage per level.

Armageddon – 100 fire damage per level.

Rune Magic:

Resist Magic – 25% magic resistance per level.

Summoning Magic:

Blink – teleport.

Home Portal – teleport back to your base.