[Fanfiction] Volume 14: The City-State
Two issues for the price of one ! \(^▽^)/
As per usual, I want to thank nobetteridea, for proofreading the chapter, improving it by a mile !
Chapter 1 — Falling legends
Part 4
"Erk !"
"What is it, Aura-sama ?" said Cocytus.
The dark elf retook a neutral stance, although a bit of anger remained in her voice.
"Nothing !~~ I sensed the killing intent of one of these monkeys, and it made me shiver of disgust."
"...Well. I think we have seen enough, don't you think ?"
"I'm with you on this one ! I can't let Ainz-sama's creation get killed without reacting — let's end this."
There was palpable wrath in her talk — as if losing the two creature entrusted to her by Ainz was an inexcusable failure. However, after the lessons he had learned, Cocytus understood why they had to form an army from the lowest servants in the Great Tomb of Nazarick and silently observe without interfering.
"Do not get carried away. It was Ainz-sama's will to sacrifice these two. They should have faced that hero together for us to determine his strength so we could—"
"I know I know… They had spells on them to make them stronger. But look, even split apart they barely took down their strongest fighters… Fuuu~ It's just pathetic. I got a bit excited by the first spell, but it looks like it was all they got..."
Which meant the humans were utterly weak, compared to the both of them, and that they could kill them as instructed. Yet, Cocytus knew that he should not just follow orders blindly, but carefully watch and make adjustments on the fly to reflect the true intentions of his master.
"If you think so, then we can proceed. But remember what Ainz-sama said about their potential items. We must be quick."
"Aye ! I will just kill them from up here and leave no possibility for them to use any semblance of a World-Item — they don't even know we're here anyway… They're just dumbly staring at the two decoys on the wall."
Aura got right to the point. It should prove to be an efficient method to take care of this task without risking anything — therefore, Cocytus could only approve of her plan.
"Good idea. I'll take the lead of the army as you will be occupied. Do you approve ?"
"No problem~~. The goal was to teach me how to lead, and we're about to end the battle. So I can leave the rest to you, right ?"
"Then. Let's carry out Ainz-sama's order and put an end to it all."
Their course of action decided, Aura started moving to a better position and grabbed her bow with both hands. She could sneak and rain arrows down on the humans with no difficulty, but she had to be careful of the Magic Casters, who could reveal her position.
**Pheew~~. Mare would definitely be better for this kind of job. He would just use one spell, and it would all be over...**
Instead of adopting a mass killing strategy, Aura began transmuting air molecules in her lungs to prepare a single target ability. The newly recombined breath was not a natural substance, and it leaked from between her pink lips.
**First, let's kill this disappointing 'Miracle Knight'.**
The dark elf first activated a mind-affecting skill, aimed to tamper with the brain of her enemy. It was little, but she wanted to tease the human before killing him. Aura was still angry that the latter had slain Ainz's Death Knight, and she wouldn't let him have a quiet death. Done with that part, she nocked an arrow on the bowstring while casting various silent spells — two strengthening abilities and an active ability which made smoke emerge from the head. Even for a commoner, the terrific power that now rose from the handle was enough to trigger an insatiable desire of burying themselves up to hide from the danger. It truly felt like a masterpiece of destructive power.
"[Galactic Shot]."
With an elegant movement, the shot was released into the air at an incredible speed, flying toward its motionless target, which met its death like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
—
"...What the hell is this ?"
Mirkah was confused about what just happened. All of a sudden, his whole vision had turned dark, and his senses had started failing to feed him information.
"It's your world. Or mine now that you're dead~~"
His eyes turned to the figure that appeared from the shadows.
"The dark elf ?! ... And it seems like you teleported me somewhere else. So you were a magic caster after all."
"Mhh. Not really~~ I'm feeding illusions directly into your mind, my lil' Miracle Knight. It's not a spell. More like an inner instinct that weaklings like you carry with them."
**The Miracle Knight ?! They still don't know about Halona ? My stupid idea worked after all. Thank the god that no one knows her face.**
Mirkah laughed. The dark elf was probably telling the truth, but it didn't matter. If they killed him and left, he would have won this battle.
"Ah ah ! You think yourself to be above us ? Let me tell you one thing: you're going to be disappointed if you kill me."
Aura's smile grew wider as she watched her prey struggle to intimidate her.
"Don't look down on me, human. I know what you're thinking. That's why we won't let anyone get away, and particularly not this woman who killed one of Ainz-sama's creation."
Mirkah let a slight movement reveal his anxiety about the statement. He instantly reverted himself to the defensive, trying to regain the upper hand.
"You're underestimating the City-States, little girl. We may not be as strong as the Holy Kingdom or the Baharut Empire, but our history taught us to deal with your kind."
"Then show me. I'm curious."
Getting angry about the arrogance of his opponent, the general tried to grab a trinket from his belt, but his hand traversed the air without touching anything; realizing that his equipment had disappeared.
"Wh— What the ?!"
The dark elf laughed as Mirkah slowly realized that he couldn't use martial arts, nor magic.
"Remember that you're under my control, human. You can't do any harm while in this state. Plus, didn't I already tell you ? I know everything. We have intel about your special ability, and I know that I can't let you use it."
Mirkah's face changed to an expression of frustration as he understood the vast power of his enemy. It felt like the dark elf controlled everything in this world, and that he would only end up as a victim if things kept this way. His eyes faced the ground for a second — thinking. If he couldn't harm his enemy, there was still one thing he could control. One way for him to retaliate.
"...So, that's how it is. Then— I have nothing more to tell you. Go to hell, demon. I won't let you have my life."
The general turned his back on his enemy and grabbed his swords to dig it deep into his heart — but without success. It wasn't because he had hesitated. No. His body wasn't responding to his will anymore, and the sword had pierced him without causing any damage.
"Oh oh ! A coward~~ You didn't think that I would let you die without playing a little ?"
"*ksk* You— What is this ?!"
A demonic smile appeared on Aura's cute face.
"You already know what's happening. Since you're already dead. Only a part of your spirit remains, causing the body's natural instincts to keep your brain alive. If I am correct, you have up to ten minutes before your neural activity stops completely. During this time, you can count on me to make every second a nightmare."
An expression of panic dawned on Mirkah's face. If a little girl was that strong in the Sorcerer Kingdom, did it mean they had held back their assault on the field ?
"If you're thinking about winning time for your friends to leave, it's useless. Most of them are already dead by now."
He understood now. What a stupid idea it had been to confront the dark elf... And how naive he had been to think that he could have won.
Piece by piece, his determination had been crushed by his opponent. A feeling of emptiness so intense that depression could not qualify for it. For the proud general to have his strength utterly denied and sent to oblivion, was a frustrating trial which destroyed his mind. Usually, he would always have a backup plan to retaliate, but at this very moment, he had none. The very essence of his free will had just been sapped from his soul and fed to the dogs, forcing him to endure the torments before his death. He had lost control over his own mind, the most precious treasure for a man of his stature, and he could not even save a single life. Mirkah couldn't say that it was unfair, nor could he say that he could have won. He simply had lost utterly and completely.
And for the first time in his life, he was feeling terror.
Not because of what he would have to endure next — but because he didn't have a single idea on how the humans should face such an opponent. It was impossible.
—
"AAAHAAAHAAHrghhh—"
"Oyy ! What the hell ?! The Miracle Knight laughed, and then he suddenly fell ?"
There was confusion about what had just happened. The soldiers had been fighting some Blood Meat Hulks when their commander had suddenly stopped moving before laughing maniacally — looking much like he had been mind-controlled.
"*gasp* No way ! He got shot— it's probably poison which made him go crazy ! Someone go check him !"
A bunch of soldiers rushed to help their general and quickly removed his helmet to let him breathe — allowing a gasp of astonishment to escape their mouths as they recognized the face.
"Hey ! This is not the Miracle Knight. It's just General Mirkah in the armor !"
"WHAT ?!"
The shocked noise spoke for everyone.
"...Why would he do that ? It makes no sense..."
They stopped — letting their companions handle the enemy's frontline — and silently observed the panicked medic trying to make sense of the wound. The soldiers knew it had a meaning which was way beyond a simple disguise, and they needed time ponder the thought. Why would their beloved officer do such things ? According to current information, Mirkah had been killed on the wall by that giant stone golem — he wasn't even supposed to be alive. But knowing him, there had to be a deeper meaning to this deceit. Since he had been shot, did it mean he had failed ? Or was it another trap, to confuse his enemy ?
The soldiers did not know.
And a flock of arrows released by their enemy made any further thought on the matter impossible.
"Augh—"
"SHIELDS !"
The front-line mechanically walked two steps backward and raised their shields to form a turtle formation. Little did they know that the arrows held an unexpected power which pierced their defense as if they were made of fabric.
"Argh— !"
"What is this magic ?! We need to bring General Mirkah to a safe place ! R—Retreat ! It's urghh—"
A rock had pierced the throat of the officer. It was the doing of the stone golem who threw big chunks of stones toward the battlefield — caring neither for his allies, nor for his enemies. Panic and confusion started reigning in the big cloud of dust caused by the impact. The chain of command had been broken in an instant, and the soldiers ended up dispersed and disorganized in their confusion.
"*cough cough* W—What's happening ?!"
A question lost among the mess. Arrows, projectiles, humans corpses or even explosions... The human soldiers were suddenly assaulted with all sorts of terrible dangers coming from everywhere. An enemy counterattack ? They knew from experience that it was a deadly situation, which gave but one choice — to retreat as soon as they could and bring their general along.
Therefore they fled — trying to avoid the death which waited around every corner and running for their lives as chaos spread everywhere.
It was too difficult to make sense of what was happening. The battle had turned into genocidal slaughter too quickly, becoming a massacre that no one would ever have considered. If this was the end game of their enemies, they had hidden their trump card well — mocking the human's army by letting them fight until they unleashed this anarchy upon them. However, they would never know the truth...
After a good minute of chaos and death, a group of surviving soldiers stopped to catch their breath in a relatively safe place.
"*pant* *pant* We're carrying him… B—but, is General Mirkah alive ?"
One of the men who carried the body, out of doubt, stopped to put two fingers on the neck of the latter.
"...He has no pulse. He must have died in the heat of the moment."
The atmosphere became even darker. Mirkah's men admired him like no other officer for his fantastic decision-making and the love he gave to his soldiers. Believing he was dead had put weight on their hearts before engaging the battle — but it was nothing compared to attending to it in person.
"He probably had a good reason for the disguise, let's just keep that for us. We shall honor his death with our silence."
However, there was someone among the soldiers who had been even more phased by the revelation, and he could not contain his sentiment anymore.
"B—But the Miracle Knight is here ! She saved me from the giant stone monster on the wall !"
"She ? Are you drunk or something ? The wall is a mile away. I don't see how you could have passed an entire army of fucking undead after facing this outrageous monster... We should focus on our survival instead of pursuing your chimeras."
There was no way he could retaliate after this. At the time, he had been knocked unconscious — so it wasn't as if he could talk about it without people laughing at him. Wherever she was now, he could just pray that he had not hallucinated it...
"Humph… Why would people think I'm a man ?! For god's sake, I'm a girl. Can't you see ! *sigh*"
The soldiers turned to the new figure in bewilderment who stabbed a finger at her chest.
"Uhhh— Forget about that. Where's the general ? I've come to ask him where I should go next. The first challenge he gave me was quite exciting, but it made me incredibly mad about the whole hating the living thing of these guys. I just want him to take the lead so he can turn the tides. He always has a good idea to use my power."
The heads were facing earth, not willing to answer the question. She certainly had a will of iron to be able to fight in such situation — but she was probably talking about Mirkah in her plan. They couldn't just answer her. It would be similar to telling the truth about the general's identity — and an insult to his will, if they broke the promise they had just made.
So they stayed silent.
Except for—
"He died. We are carrying his corpse" one of the soldier said shamelessly.
It resulted in the closest comrade to violently punching the shoulder of the offender, resulting in a *what?* escaping from his mouth.
Maybe he deserved it — witnessing the face of the woman who opened her mouth in dismay. She had shifted her attention toward the corpse of her friend and began shakily walking toward him, silently realizing the truth.
"Uhh ?"
Her eyes went blank with distress as she saw Mirkah's face.
The concept of permanent death was not familiar to Halona because she knew that she could always revive someone if she wanted. However, the reek of an anti-resurrection debuff made the situation quite clear — her friend was gone forever and would never come back. She could understand what happened just by sight, though it was too much to take in. So she repeated the words in her mind, as if to console herself.
— It's a mistake. He is alive. I can just call his name, and he will answer me.
"M—Mirkah ?"
The gentle, dulcet voice resounded into nothing, and it made the truth even more unbearable. Ironically, Halona had never actually lost anyone close to her since ever she was born — or at least she was too young to remember. It was the first time it ever happened, and it had a strange, destructive effect on her. Should she feel sorrow ? Or maybe pain ? Or should she be angry ?
How should she know, all of it was so confusing.
The only one truth was her friend lying cold in the grass and her helplessness at his side. She knew what his death meant — he must have planned this all along, to forbid her from taking risks because he must have known about the abilities of their opponents — but her spirit wouldn't let her acknowledge reality. It would cause too much damage to her mind.
So Halona just stood there — standing up without blinking.
Out of respect for her pain, the men gathered around stayed silent, even though they were confused. They could see the roller coaster of emotions she was going through — and it was all that mattered. How could they dare interrupt the woman and ask questions ? It was clear that she was in pain, so they could only mourn the loss alongside her. Rude would not be a word powerful enough to qualify the person who would break this sacred silence.
Nevertheless— the sound of the enemy interrupted the silence.
"Ahh~~ ! So this is where you are! You've got to excuse me, but I have to make sure my mission is complete — so you'll all have to die."
The closest soldiers prepared their swords to defend themselves against the sudden appearance of the dark elf — but too late. A single slash of her whip was enough to decapitate them, letting a swear of rage emerge from one of the others.
"You motherfucker ! Where are the others ?!"
"All dead~~ You should know it since you were hiding."
"Liar !"
But it was all the humans could do against their opponent — their strength was too far from equalling that of the girl. They could only face her and die helplessly one by one — yelling in frustration at the absurd force which slaughtered their brothers. One after the other, the soldiers fell at the hand of the dark elf who couldn't be stopped by anyone.
A pool of blood was already rising from the ground, and the painful sight confused Halona even further, but she did not retaliate.
Her mind was too focused on fighting against the unbearable sentiment, which inhibited her true power, and she could not pay attention to anything else. Terror quickly seized the remaining humans, and among the guards, the only one who knew about the Miracle Knight tried to turn to her for help.
"H—Hey, you ! You're strong right ? T—This surely isn't the first time you've lost someone, no ?! So get up, we need you right now !"
It was the tower guard she had met on the wall — but so to speak, his words had fallen on deaf ears. There was nothing to snap her out of her pain. She was entangled in her internal struggle, and the chaos reigned in her mind — like a storm of emotions, that prevented her from thinking. Only a greater stimulus, like the dark elf who beheaded the tower guard, managed to trigger a semblance of a reaction.
"...Hun ?"
The sound made Aura realize her presence, and she instantly recognized Halona from the earlier fight.
"Oh ! You're that human scrub who managed to kill one of Ainz-sama's Death Knight ! And there is the corpse of our target too ! Perfect~~ I had a moment of doubt that my arrow wouldn't have killed him."
She killed the two remainings soldiers with a whip slash and went back to Halona.
"Haaa~ Now, there's no one to bother us. You seem pretty strong, so I want to be sure that no one will interfere."
Halona shifted her attention to the dark elf — but without a great reaction.
She could see that the eyes of the child reflected the profound disinterest in fighting her, but at the same time it was clear that she would value the opportunity for a good fight. That was to say, Aura had no idea of the real strength of the woman in front of her. The slight growl beneath her was proof of her caution — coming from a giant black wolf with bright fur and crimson eyes.
**S-So strong... Did Mirkah face her ?**
"So, are you willing to fight or not ?"
The dark elf was being cautious — but it happened to be useless.
Aura had let her killing intent explode through the roof, and it sucked the last bit of resistance Halona had in her spirit. If she had been in a healthy state, she would have fought the dark elf without fail, but the loss of her friend had weakened her mental and body way more than expected.
The woman just fell — not having the strength to transform into her true self — and provoking an expression of disgust in the eyes of her opponents.
"Eww~ You won't fight back ? — Then, just die."
Aura recited a silent spell before cracking her whip a single time — slamming her opponent into the ground. It was a direct blow from one of the strongest close-range ability of the dark elf — causing a gaping hole to appear on the left side of her target. Blood began spurting out at an alarming pace, and Halona quickly lost her consciousness, choking for air.
The sight of the dark elf was the only thing she had for her last moment.
Halona had let despair settle in her mind, a confusion which nullified the benediction protecting her — and a misstep which caused her death. Of course, she could never have foretold such thing. It was an aberration to even think that an opponent of this power would exist. But now it was too late to consider this. The darkness already enveloped her, and soon, nothing else mattered.
— She was dying.
The dark elf had won this battle, and it was clear that her army would leave no survivors behind — finalizing a harsh blow to the City-States Alliance. In fact, if the fortifications of the frontier were of lower importance, the losses of an essential commander of the Second State alongside the champion of the newest were no matter of laughing. It was inevitable that these actions would have an impact on the Alliance. The Mayors and the Senate would definitively react and take measures against the enemy who had turned his eyes upon them. Would they fight or would they bend the knee ?
It was already decided for them.
From the beginning, their strings had been pulled from behind the scenes by the Sorcerer King who had everything in the palm of his hand.
Eventually, the Karnassus City-States Alliance would fall like the Holy Kingdom and the Empire before them. It was inevitable. However — it was without counting on the name of the Miracle Knight. A name, which was not given to the first commoner. Within herself, Halona held a power which went against common sense. Used correctly, it could make any dreams come true and surpass any odds, even allowing the impossible to become possible. The girl just had to see the possibility, and she could make it true. Which is why her power had been seen as a threat to Nazarick — and which is why the Sorcerer Kingdom had been so careful in dealing with the Alliance.
Soon, the news of her survival would spread throughout the whole kingdom, and a giant wave of complexification would make the Karnassus City-State Alliance tremble. She had made an enemy of the Sorcerer Kingdom, and the Sorcerer Kingdom had made an enemy of her. There was no way she could win, but she was still willing to fight. And for this reason, she had to encounter the wrath of Nazarick.
Because Halona wasn't a godlike being, yet she was still a formidable threat.
Author's words
This mark the end of the first chapter.
I felt it was necessary to encapsulate all of these things — let's just hope it isn't too dense and too confusing since it's the introduction. I'm giving you a first view of the Sorcerer Kingdom — one which makes you feel almost nothing for the death of a character — only to develop everything later. This way, I want to show the implications which pertain from all the political intrigues played by Nazarick and make you slowly understand what it all meant. Think of it like this: out of the various conquests of the Sorcerer Kingdom — this one is by far the least death-induced of them all, yet, it will have a deeper impact than the others. That is why I believe it will be entertaining — because, this time, it is the after work that will have the most impact, as opposed to the other conquest where it was the political intrigue which had importance. (Don't misunderstand my words, there is still a lot of politics going on, you will have the first glance on Chapter 3)
Next issue will be slower-paced than this one and will present the things that are important to the story (I already introduced the main protagonist, guess who it is). I promise it will be better than this chapter and will put in place the setup of the fanfiction (shit, maybe I should have done this earlier?).
Also, if you would like to proofread my work, please let me know by PM — as I have difficulty to detect the mistakes in my sentence and I never know if a paragraph is too long or too difficult to understand (you may have seen my various mistakes, which is why I reaaaally need an outside glance who tells me what's wrong).
Once again, thank for you reading and for considering following my work — I will try to keep you entertained for as long as you wish.
— Sasugasm
Ps: Please forgive me for any inconsistency with the story. I may have read all the books and make an effort to keep consistency with Maruyama's work — yet I'm not omnipotent. I only read the books and didn't follow the drama CDs. So, it is more than likely that some minor details will trigger you, and it would be kind if you could tell me what mistakes I have made (so I could correct them). Furthermore, this draft has been written months before the release of the 12th book. I tried to make up for it, and add references afterward — but it's far from what I would have done should I have known the story earlier. Please, don't hold it against me :/
