Cocytus arrived at the lizardmen village with a series of carriages behind him which were dragged by untiring hundead horses.

The humanoid reptiles who were near the entrance saw him and were initially afraid, however when they shifted their gaze to what laid beyond the Guardian they could not believe it: it was a convoy filled with a massive amount of fishes, such an aboundance that not even the combined hunter squads could get in one go.

They warned the rest of the village and soon the whole population was surrounding Cocytus, yet the latter's intimidating looks prevented them from reaching the food in front of them.

Noticing their hesitation Cocytus decided to reassure them:

"This. Is. A. Small. Gift. From. The. Tomb. Of. Nazarick. As. Long. As. You. Submit. To. Our. Master. Ainz. Ooal. Gown-sama's. Will. You. Shall. Never. Again. Have. To. Feel. Hunger!".

He then gestured as if to showcase the bounty he just brought.

After hearing his words the lizardmen abandoned any hesitation and ran to the carriages, eating as much as they could and improvising a party on the spot.

Among them one decided to approach the one who made all of that possible: Crusch Lulu approached Cocytus with a dubious look on her eyes.

"Can it really be so easy to get this many fishes? Or is there a hidden price to pay?"

"This. Food. Was. Made. With. My. Master's. Powers. After. He. Heard. Of. His. Subjects'. Need. For. It"

Crusch was astonished by that.

"S-so not only can he resurrect from the dead and bow the forces of Nature to his will, can he create from nothingness too?".

It was too much: this mysterious individual who recently barged in the lizardmen's lives, this Supreme Beings might...

Was it bottomless?

Were there any limits to what he could do?

Why did he make the lizardmen fight his army if one of his spells could change the laws of the world themselves?

She had no answers to her numerous questions, so all she could do was hope that this God would find her species worthy of being kept alive...

While she was sulking in her thoughts Cocytus was looking around, however despite being tall enough to look around the crowd he could not find someone, so he decided to ask to the female lizardmen in front of him:

"I. Can't. See. Zaryusu. Is. He. Still. Weakened. From. The. Resurrection. Aftereffects?"

Crusch jumped like a spring at the name of her beloved one: did Cocytus want to do something to him?

"A-ah, no... He's better today, however he went to tend to his fish farm... May I ask why you want to see him?"

The Guardian was relieved that the condition of one of his outstanding subordinates has improved, yet he was confused by one fact: 'Did she just say Fish fan?'.

Cocytus was enraged and disappointed at Zaryusu's apparent lack of concern for managing his people's food, but decided to check for himself why he decided to make such an useless tool.

"I. Wanted. To. Borrow. His. Wisdom. In. Order. To. Discuss. The. Plans. For. The. Lizardmen's. Future. His. Experience. Would. Surely. Come. In. Handy. For. That."

"Oooh, now I understand... In that case allow me to show you the way."


Zaryusu was tending to the fishes in front of him when he sensed something really dangerous behind him, so he quickly turned his head towards the threat while moving his arm towards his lance Frost Pain, then he recognized who was standing near him.

Still, it was quite rare for one to be able to meet again their own murderer, but there was the same Cocytus who slayed him a few days before.

Zaryusu was honestly confused at how to deal with that situation: his warrior instincts screamed for him to try to avenge his previous loss.

That would also help freeing his people from their new rulers.

And yet those same ones dear to him were the reason why he could not lay a hand on the Guardian of Nazarick: he was still too weak for that, so he had to train in order to be able to protect what he held dear.

In that world the weak obeyed the strong, so until he became one of the latter his only choice was to endure.

Cocytus looked at the lizardman, then nodded:

"It. Seems. That. You've. Recovered. Well. From. Your. Resurrection."

After a moment of hesitation Zaryusu accepted the words of concern spoken to him:

"Yes, many thanks. However I'm not used to stand still for long so I decided to make myself useful by tending for my fish farm..."

With a surprised look the insectile Guardian saw what was beyond the lizardman.

"So. that's. the. fish. fan!"

Cocytus could not believe he doubted the sanity of his subordinate.

At the same time an idea struck his head like a lightning: he had not thought about it before, but if his problem was the fish being limited then all he had to do was to increase the amount of existing fishes instead of creating new ones out of thin air.

And the lizardman in front of him had not only been able to come up with that solution before him, but had already researched a method to make that idea come true.

Cocytus finally realized why his Master was so interested in gathering talented individuals and make them grow under his protection: a man with a talent for swordplay might change the course of a battle, but a man with a sharp mind might as well change an entire Nation.

Still, after getting the input from the talented Zaryusu it was the job of the resourceful Cocytus to increase the results with all the knowledge and skills in the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

He felt a slight guilt about asking for more help from his master, but that was the best way to get results and it also meant that the strain to the resources of Nazarick would lessen so it was like killing two birds with a stone.

After saying goodbye to Zaryusu Cocytus activated his personal teleporting skill to reach the entrance of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

Since he still did not have a Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown who granted freedom of teleportation anywhere in the Tomb with few exceptions he had to wait for the Guardian of the Cherry Blossom Sanctuary to identify him and allow him to proceed.

The fact that he did not feel to be worthy enough of such a mighty ring reignited his desire to prove himself in the eyes of his master.

However once he reached the Throne Room the last of the 41 Supreme Beings was not there: according to the maid who was cleaning up the place he just left to complete a mission while posing as the adventurer Momon along with the battle maid Narberal.

Just as Cocytus was wondering what to do he saw his fellow Guardian Demiurge arrive from the entrance.

As always the demon had a very confident and dignified way to walk, but despite not having proper eyes behind his glasses his eyebrows betrayed his surprise in seeing the insectoid in front of him.

"Cocytus, I did not expect your comeback from the lizardmen village to happen so soon"

at which point Demiurge assumed a worried look as he continued.

"Did a problem arise in taking control of those tribes?"

Cocytus had initially thought of seeking advice from his Master's wisdom for the improvement of the fish farm, however this was an unexpected strike of luck: Demiurge was the most intelligent being in all of Nazarick along with the Guardian Overseer Albedo, so Cocytus could ask to him in order to not bother the Supreme Being with such a menial problem.

"To. Tell. The. Truth. The. Lizardmen's. Food. Is. Insufficient. For. The. United. Tribes. Needs..."

Cocytus then explained to Demiurge his latest encounters with his new subjects and the initial answer given to him by Ainz.

As he was listening the worried look on Demiurge's face was replaced by a more relaxed one.

"I see. The denizens of Nazarick have been created so that they would not require external nourishment from what the Supreme Beings have already allocated for them.

However the same is not true for this world, bound to more material needs.

Still, this concern was an expected one, ever since we gathered information about the lizardmen traditions when we fought them so Ainz-sama should already know his solution was ineffective..."

Demiurge paused for a couple of seconds thinking about it, then he realized something. He raised an index in direction of Cocytus, then continued with confidence.

"I believe this has all been a part of Ainz-sama's way to incite your growth: his way of giving you the answer who fits best with your current train of thought helps you ponder about ways to improve your conclusions rather than simply give you the correct solution from the beginning".

Cocytus was amazed at his master's cunning, who in a short amount of time was able to think of such an effective way to make his subordinate improve while still offering his full support.

"As. Expected. Of. Ainz-sama. The. One. That. Even. The. 41. Supreme. Beings. Consider. Their. Leader!".

When Demiurge heard that a proud smile surfaced in his face for having the blessing of being one of the direct servants of such an outstanding master.

"Indeed, no one could have been more suited for that than him...

About the fish farms, do you mind to accompany me to that location? I wish to inspect it by myself..."

Once the two Guradians returned to where Cocytus left Zaryusu, Demiurge caught a fish with a casual movement of his hand, then while eyed by the distrustful lizardman he started inspecting it.

"I see" commented him while rotating the convulsing fish between his hands, then with one of his fingers he swiftly cut the fish's belly open, revealing the red insides.

"Hmm, this quite fascinating: this species appears to be bilogically similar to the Cyprinus carpio, or common carp.

That is a good choice since they have a good adaptability to the water's salinity"

after that he looked at the fish farm.

"You have dug a nice place for the fish to thrive through the link with the river, however they still have a way to escape.

In order to maximize the profits you must cut away all their chances for a different future...

Worry not, good servant of the Supreme Being, I will show you some good tricks to improve the fish farm you made..."

Under Demiurge's guidance an army of untiring golems was then deployed to quickly level the field around the initial farm, with the archdevil himself who did the more delicate parts which required some extra thinking like the test of the soil to ensure it's suitable for its purpose: he took a handful of soil, compacted it into a ball, then threw it in the air and cought it.

When questioned by Zaryusu the Guardian answered it was a test to see whether the ground was suitable, if the ball crumbled then he had to chose another spot.

He then made a series of holes as deep as the waist and filled them with water as a second test to see how much the soil was able to retain water.

The lizardman was surprised that there were so many preparations even before making a pond, but the changes from what he made did not end there.

While the soil was being prepared and the new fishes accomodated in their new lairs the golems started building a series of nets in the original fish farm in order to confine the animals in a limited space and ensure they could not escape.

Other golems were stationed on the borders of the farm and prevented the water from stagnating by using sticks to move the waters and swiftly eliminated the eventual insects and small animals who might prey on the fishes.

Cocytus was then left supervising the golem's work since the most delicate tasks were already made.

The way the constructs were steadily progressing in their work was similar to his own growth, since he also felt like he was gradually improving towards his desired result of becoming more useful for his master.

His satisfaction however was short-lived because a wraith suddenly appeared besides him saying

"I apologize for interrupting you, Cocytus-sama. However a huge army is directed towards the lizardmen village!"

"...What?!"


Greazht had spent the last few days ammassing the toadmen's forces: since they could control wild beasts through their hypnotic voices their strength increased exponentially when given enough time to gather more creatures under their control.

Obviously controlling such frenzied animals would be hard so the amount kept when not fighting was reduced to a minimum in order to reduce the chances of a mindless monster rampaging inside their villages, but if they only needed to keep them in control for a few days they could get several hundreds of them so this hypnotic ability was the most useful when the toadmen decided to move on the offense rather than for defense.

Thanks to the collective efforts of the various tribes they currently had 463 war beasts, with 1580 toadmen between the beast tamers, foot soldiers and mounted archers, for a complessive army of over 2000 units.

While this seemed an excessive force Greazht still had his grandfather's words to not to underestimate the lizardmen fresh in his mind: that's because despite being defeated by the toadmen's might in the past the humanoid reptiles had been very brave and powerful enemies who were able to survive their first war with the toadmen and in a few generations recover from their losses.

They were formidable enemies who had to be vanquished in that moment when they were most vulnerable after their battle with their mysterious enemies.

Once the lizardmen were gone the toadmen would completely control the lake which they could then use as their base for future expansions in search of more watery places to conquer.

If only the Toad King had not ruined everything by causing a revolution and focusing on repressing dissense rather than expanding their dominions they would have exterminated the lizardmen decades before, but in the end the wait has caused this unexpected chance to arise so it did not matter.

Still, when he thought about his ruler Greazht shuddered: he knew very well what end awaited anyone who displeased the tyrant so failure was not an option.

With renewed convinction the toadmen hopped to his mount, then turned himself to rally his subordinates:

"Brave soldiers! Today we will fight a battle that will mark our history!

Today is the day our old enemies, the lizardmen will finally be no more and the toadmen will control all the lake!

Let's march towards our glory!"

The soldiers and controlled beasts answered with a thunderous roar who shook the nearby forest as the unstoppable army moved on to crush their enemies.