Chapter 10
"Fascinating."
Kotaro was thoroughly engulfed in his reading. The history of the elves was expansive, as it also chronicled some history of what the elves dubbed was the Age of Dragons. Based on what he had read, it seemed that YGGDRASIL player activity must have started at least 500 years ago, when the world's magic suddenly changed from Soul Magic that only dragons can wield, to YGGDRASIL's tiered magic system that every race in the world was capable of utilizing, and this coincided with the arrival of the Eight Beings of Power. If something as fundamental as the laws of magic can suddenly be changed, that implied the use of World Class Items. To Kotaro's knowledge, the only likely candidates to permanently change the world at this scale were the Ouroboros and the Five Elements Overcoming. Kotaro had heard rumors that, in the beginning years of YGGDRASIL, the Five Elements Overcoming was once used to remove mana potions from the game to nerf the strength of magic casters, though he was never able to verify this story. In all likelihood, that was probably just a myth, as magic casters with World Class Items should've been able to use or craft mana potions regardless of if the Five Elements Overcoming forbade it. As far as Kotaro knew, spell casters in YGGDRASIL also had very high mana regeneration, either through their job classes, racial skills, and/or equipment, which further casted doubt on the veracity of those rumors. Still, it served as an example of the far-reaching powers that World Class Items were believed to possess.
Kotaro absentmindedly stroked his earrings. While he found all of that fascinating, he still wasn't able to find much information on overlords or other powerful undead. There were mentions of some powerful undead appearing around 600 years ago, but information on it was sparse and conflicting. This was quite frustrating. While back in YGGDRASIL, Kotaro knew that information was either untrustworthy, or came with a price, or even both, he had a lot of money to throw around. He was used to having the best, premium, and most trustworthy information at his fingertips, even if it was on the most fundamental aspects of the game. This was most crucial for Kotaro, as he had already forgotten most of what he used to know about YGGDRASIL, even on the most basic mobs. His Player's Encyclopedia had sparse information in it as well, as he had deleted most of its contents, believing he wouldn't need it anymore. Using the Encyclopedia also reminded Kotaro of all the good and bad times he spent with this brothers playing the game, and it made him miss both of his brothers even more.
While going through the archives, Kotaro found some interesting tidbits about the history of the elves that he couldn't help but notice. It seemed that general invasion efforts significantly slowed from both sides around two centuries ago. The last great invasion launched by the Nutanae was around a century and a half ago, and there was no great battle, just a bloody brawl between both sides' Yára Ohtatyaro which ultimately ended in a draw. This was despite both sides amassing the largest armies ever recorded, with a total of approximately two thousand elves on both sides. There were conflicting reports from both the Nutanae and Ambaron archives, on which either side declared a victory over the other, which made Kotaro come to the conclusion that it was a draw. Since then, all that occurred were vicious saber-rattling from both sides, with the only major battles being two enemy patrols crossing paths with each other.
Prior to this, all invasion efforts were bloody and costly, with the deaths of hundreds of elves being very common. To the outside world, even to Kotaro's old world, the deaths of one or two hundred soldiers wasn't very devastating. The Arcology Wars in Kotaro's old world were extremely bloody wars, with the deaths of thousands of soldiers being a common daily tally. Given how these soldiers were men and women from the lowest echelon of society, no one really batted an eye. The only gripes commanders had were the lost equipment when soldiers died. Indeed, to the military officers of the Arcologies, human lives were less valuable than the equipment they used. However, to the elves, a couple of hundred deaths is a significant portion of their total standing army population. It was already difficult for elves to maintain a stable population, given how it took centuries for children to mature, and the fact that most elves just aren't very interested in having romantic affairs, which was why mandatory population growth initiatives had to be in place by both nations.
Kotaro found it curious that some semblance of peace only started when Tyelca Macil came of age to become Queen of the Ambaron, prior to which the land was ruled by the Council of Elders similar to the ones in the Nutanae. With her coronation, the Nutanae suddenly became less aggressive in their invasion efforts. With this strange coincidence, and the interaction between King Manye and Queen Macil when he first met them, Kotaro suspected that King Manye might be a puppet of Queen Macil, enthralled at some point in the various battles that they've had with each other in the past. While Kotaro wasn't very well-versed in YGGDRASIL's Magic system due to the sheer volume of spells available to learn in the game, he was confident that some form of charm spell existed. However, Kotaro also noticed how there was a severe lack of magic casters in Ambaron lands when compared to the Nutanae, such that the only mages in this nation were druids, who were employed to handle the nation's food supply, and alchemists, who were employed to create healing potions to limit the amount of casualties the Ambaron suffered, as well as other potions to enhance the performance of soldiers in battle. King Manye was also a notable magic caster, which meant he should, in theory, have high magical resistance from his job classes, which further confused Kotaro. The Queen herself also seemed to be unable to cast spells, despite being vastly more knowledgeable in the field of magic than Kotaro. None of the evidence presented indicated that the Ambaron Queen held any magical influence over King Manye, which lead Kotaro to the conclusion that perhaps she had blackmail material over the King to halt future invasion efforts.
Kotaro flipped another page. He decided not to delve any further into issues that were none of his business. He had obtained what he had wanted from the elves, and there was no reason he should sour his relationship with them, for fear of angering Rinciquilde. After flipping through another few pages, Kotaro closed the book, and took off his glasses. He then placed his mask back on, and turned to the librarian watching him. He handed his book to her, who blushed when she took the book.
"Did you enjoy what you have read?"
"Yes, thank you."
"Would you like another recommendation?"
The elf smiled bashfully at him. Kotaro's transformed elven face frowned. This was vaguely similar to his experience throughout his educational career, though his elf face not his own, rather, it was one of the many default elf faces given to Ninjas in YGGDRASIL. Back in the Neo-Kyoto Arcology, almost everyone Kotaro knew were built and bred to be both physically attractive and mentally sharp, although the degree to which generally depended on one's influence and wealth. His own older brother was the product of the latest prototype genetic designer baby technology, taking the best genes from both his father and mother, and altering them to create a baby that is physically and mentally perfect in every form. It was also incredibly expensive, which was why Kotaro and his little brother were not designer babies similar to their older brother, at least, not to the same degree. Since his family was still a part of one of the ruling families of the Arcology, despite being a mere branch, they could afford the best that medical science could achieve. As a result, Kotaro and his brothers were born to be the perfect human, though results still varied. In school, many girls would fawn over Kotaro's older brother, who enjoyed the attention he received. Kotaro was not as gifted as his elder brother with handling attention or affection, so he chose to isolate himself from them. For some unfathomable reason, this only made Kotaro even more desirable to them. Sometimes, they gave him too much attention, which creeped out Kotaro. This was why Kotaro did not necessarily enjoy having the attention of a woman, even if they have the physical, exotic attractiveness of an elf. What was wonderful about being an undead was that his emotions were so easy to control, it felt almost natural to feel neutral about anything. His frown disappeared, and was replaced with a flat expression, though the librarian couldn't see it through his mask.
"That will not be necessary. I don't wish to waste any more of your time watching over me."
The elf raised her hands, and shook them.
"No, no! I enjoy watching you read! Please, stay as long as you can! Ah! I mean, I do not mean to sound creepy... I... ah..."
Watching the elf stumble with her words with a cold, clinical gaze, Kotaro again pondered the words he heard from Rinciquilde some time ago, that elves usually do not feel strong emotions. From what he had observed, this was mostly true for elves, but there were the few exceptions to that rule. He recalled how Yanna looked at Rinciquilde, and felt something like a swell of pride brimming underneath his chest. This librarian was probably also one of the few elves who found it difficult to keep their emotions in check.
"I... I just look forward to seeing you every day."
"I understand what you mean. Nevertheless, I must go."
The librarian pouted, before bowing.
"You are always welcome to come back, Carnantaquën."
The elf raised her head, and beamed at Kotaro. The name that the librarian referred to him as was roughly translated as "Red Face One", but the auto-translation the world had seemed to regard that as a name this time, so it remained as how the elves say it rather than directly translating into Japanese. Kotaro gave a small bow back, before using his [Shadow Slide] skill to teleport to another shadow. To the outside world, it looked like Kotaro simply melted into the shadows, but to Kotaro, it simply felt like the world changed around him. He had teleported to the entrance of the tree where the Ambaron's main library was held.
The sky was bright with the moon's light, though it's light was somewhat blocked by the leaves and branches of the gigantic trees covering the sky. The streets were completely devoid of life, as every elf were in their own treehouse, sleeping. Kotaro headed towards the main entrances of Ambar, the Ambaron's capital city, with the goal of heading towards Perforo from there. Unlike the ancient stone walls that surround Numina, Ambar was protected by huge trees planted around the circumference of the city, taller than even the skyscrapers of Neo-Kyoto, and densely packed together. These guardian trees were planted at the inception of the city by the late Queen Raena Vasi Macil, and served as guard posts for a portion of the Ambaron's military forces, who were kept here in case the goblins to the east penetrated this far into Ambaron lands.
Since he was unable to find reliable information about the overlord, he would have to conduct field observations and scouting by himself. He was no stranger to this: most of his hours spent in YGGDRASIL was dedicated to spying on various mobs of dungeons or even enemy guilds. While he had no real experience with PvP, PK, or PKK tactics, over the years, he learned to look for the most important information that was useful for such situations. Usually, however, it was his elder brother who formulated plans of attack, and the rest of the guild would execute it based on Kotaro's information. This meant that while Kotaro knew, or at least used to know, what information was the most important to note, he did not know the reason why, and what practical purpose they held in the context of PvP. His first goal was to revisit the mage's quarters that he had encountered almost a year ago to sniff out any clues on the whereabouts of the overlord. Kotaro surmised that the mage's quarters in Perforo was actually the former dwellings of the overlord, given how he had to bypass several unusually aggressive undead in the front, disable some laughably simple magic traps, and the fact that the stolen Spell-Sealing Crystal was originally from that house. That crystal was now resting in Kotaro's inventory, and he planned to test if spells casted from the Mimisbrunnr could be imbued into it.
The manor should hopefully contain some information about where Kotaro should look next. If, by happy coincidence, Kotaro encountered the overlord within that dwelling, he knew that information gathering was more important than the first strike. He would need to observe what it plans to do, what spells it can cast, and look for any secret scrolls or magical items it could potentially keep as trump cards in an event of an emergency. Perhaps he should also use a shadow clone to test out the capabilities of the overlord? Kotaro shook his head. 1v1 in YGGDRASIL was very complex. It required deep knowledge of in-game mechanics, information about the opponent's strengths and weaknesses, some controlled misinformation, a lot of mental games, and a little bit of luck. All of which Kotaro lacked, given his singular focus on avoiding fights rather than confronting other players. His mind wandered back to the infamous Ainz Ooal Gown guild. He remembered that their guildmaster, Momonga, once had his private build leaked online. Despite this, that individual managed to maintain his impressive win rate in 1v1 combat. Kotaro wished he had the same killer instinct and skill as that monster of a player, but alas, he was stuck with what he had.
Still, he should use this time wisely to catch up on old, forgotten habits.
—
Rinciquilde, Sehaila, and their squads had set up a smokeless camp near the northwestern gates, behind a giant mound of sand. It was suspiciously long and curved, as if some giant beast was buried underneath, and the passage of time slowly caused sand to build up over the centuries. This was of no concern to the elves, however. It was simply a conveniently placed hill for them to scout out what the Death Lord was sending out of the city.
Rinciquilde had gone there first to scout out the hill, and checked to see if it was an ambush site set up by the undead, given how conveniently placed the sand hill was. He discovered a desiccated outpost sitting at the top there, eroded away by time. There were curiously no undead within it, and it offered an unparalleled view of the surrounding lands, with barely any blind spots in the mostly barren and flat land. From there, he could see ancient pathways that somehow still persisted that snaked away from the city, likely to kingdoms and nations that were now long-lost and gone. Similar pathways snaked away from the southern and eastern gates, although Rinciquilde and his squad had only found the southern path by luck, and the eastern path lead into the cave mines. After checking the surrounding lands, he couldn't find any place where the undead could feasibly pop up without proper forewarning from the outpost. He considered that the undead could be buried underneath all the sand surrounding them, but it was a risk he was willing to take to gather more information on undead activities.
They settled there for a while, taking turns keeping watch in the outpost. They had stayed there keeping watch of the city for a few days, before the elves in the guard tower jumped down from their posts in a rush.
"Activity to our west! Skeletal horses and numerous zombies!"
It was daytime, and the elves were finishing off their rations for the day. Curiously enough, the Ambaron had perfected a bitter fruit that was both easy to pack, stayed fresh for a long time, and dense in calories, such that one could last an entire day with one piece. The Nutanae had something similar, but was more bulky, was quicker to spoil, and was even less appetizing. If soldiers were forced to choose between subsisting on this kind of fruit, or a good meal, one hundred out of one hundred elves would instantly pick the latter option. For morale reasons, both sides choose to send proper meals to the frontlines rather than have the soldiers eat bitter fruit that left a terrible aftertaste. However, they were good for the isolated Place of Respite that was difficult to move supplies into, or patrol paths that would take a few harrowing days to get back to base. Between this fruit and the risk of death by starvation and dehydration, the same one hundred elves would pick the fruit.
Rinciquilde looked at Sehaila.
"What's our plan of attack?"
Sehaila let out a wolfish grin.
"Attack. Ambaron!"
Her squad instantly stood at attention, while Rinciquilde's eyes widened in alarm. His own squad readied their weapons in response, suspicious of what the Ambaron soldiers were going to do next.
"Wait! Do you really think it's a good idea?!"
Sehaila let out a fake yawn.
"And here I thought the Nutanae were not cowards. Perhaps you are cowards only in the face of death?"
Rinciquilde glared at her.
"I know you're trying to goad me into attacking with you. What you're doing is reckless, Sehaila. The undead could be stronger than what we have!"
Sehaila scoffed.
"They're only zombies and skeletal creatures. The Death Lord would not be expecting an attack on one of its convoys, and we would have information on what they were transporting in to and out of the city."
She sighed.
"Surely you know the dangers of escorting a convoy in unknown roads? Bandits could be prowling about."
Sehaila nodded at her squad, and they swiftly ran out of their camp. Rinciquilde shook his head, and motioned for his own squad to follow him. They ran to the edge of the sandy hill, just high enough to cover their bodies. Sehaila motioned for her rangers to ready their bows. Rinciquilde did the same for his rangers. Before long, they heard the shambling footsteps of the undead, along with muffled hooves stomping on the sandy path. Sehaila held her arm up, telling her rangers to hold their fire. She peeked up over the hill, and scowled. Rinciquilde did the same, and did a double take.
There must have been at least fifty to a hundred zombies guarding a single large cart filled with wooden crates. Some of the zombies appeared to have battle wounds, indicating that the convoy must have encountered some resistance. However, the sheer volume of undead here indicated that the Death Lord was not confident in the strength of the individual zombie. To the veteran soldiers of the Bloodied Zone, this many zombies were nothing to them. Both Sehaila and Rinciquilde knew this. Sehaila nodded to Rinciquilde.
"DRAMMHAE!"
Rinciquilde pointed at the undead.
"Senlerya pilin!"
Arrows filled the air, and each one found their mark, embedded in a zombie's skull, extinguishing most if not all of the unlife they held. The Ambaron responded with their own volley of arrows, upon which more undead fell. The undead, unable to feel confusion and feeling no remorse for their fallen comrades, instantly locked on target to them, and shambled their way to the attacking elves. Rinciquilde whispered a prayer to the Dragon god, before unsheathing his daggers.
"By the name of Aur, and your loyal Divine Pantheon, give us the strength to vanquish the unclean."
His goal was to target the cargo before the skeletal horses could escape. He was not confident that his daggers could even hurt the skeletal horses, which was why he had to cut their harnesses free rather than kill them.
The elves had managed to launch several volleys before the undead could reach them, resulting in the deaths of dozens of zombies. Meanwhile, Rinciquilde expertly dodged, weaved and hacked his way through the zombie horde, taking advantage of their slow, lumbering movement and predictable attacks to reach the skeletal horses. They were unable to bolt away at the first sign of trouble, as the zombies' slow movement hindered their ability to escape, given how they were in the middle of the horde. Rinciquilde easily slipped through the grasp of a zombie, and cut the harness of the horses, freeing them from their cargo. They bolted away, running towards Perforo while mowing down any zombies in their way. Rinciquilde suddenly found himself in the middle of the horde bearing down on him. Rinciquilde nervously gulped down saliva. Like Sehaila said, these zombies were weak, especially when compared to the undead within the Bloodied Zone. However, they surrounded him, so densely packed that there was no way Rinciquilde could get out the way he came in.
He turned to where the skeletal horses trampled several zombies in their rout. The pathway left by the horses quickly closed itself as the zombies got back up, evidently unhurt.
"Tch."
Rinciquilde grit his teeth, and gripped his daggers tightly. He had no choice but to fight his way out. Again, his thoughts turned to Kotaro's daggers. He had remembered to ask Kotaro about them, but Kotaro only gave him a vague answer. "Something like that" was his reply.
A single zombie lurched forward, mouth open and claw-like fingers outstretched, in an attempt to bite him. It received a stab to the face in response, which instantly ended its unlife. This caused the zombies to all attack at once, tangling themselves in the process trying to reach for Rinciquilde. He jumped towards where the driver of the cart should've been, and swiveled around, trying to catch any zombie who came too close to him. He could see his comrades not very far away, putting down zombies in a frenzied pace, trying to reach him in time.
By now, a substantial number of zombies had their negative energies extinguished by the elves. It did not take long before his squad caught up to Rinciquilde, who had already left a pile of undead corpses around him. They finished off the few remaining zombies, and turned to the cargo sitting in the middle of the road. Sehaila rubbed her hands together, face full of glee.
"Now, I wonder what could be inside?"
She reached out to grab one of the crates, and pried the lid open. The elves then gathered around to look inside the crate. Inside the box, it was filled to the brim with iron-forged swords, freshly crafted and ready for use. They then tore open the rest of the contents. Armor, shields, bows, arrows, and different types of melee weapons filled each box. The elves looked at each other, baffled. Who was willing to trade with the undead? Were the convoys heading out of Perforo gold shipment to pay for all of these supplies? How was it that the Death Lord, and perhaps by extension, the Death Lich, capable of the notion of trade? Still, even with all of these unanswered questions, this was valuable intelligence. Furthermore, this allowed the elves an opportunity to set up supply line disruptions, further bleeding the amount of manpower the undead army had, even if it was a couple of hundred zombies at a time.
The Coalition could gather, on theory, a total of approximately six thousand elves to the frontlines to fight. In terms of elven history, this was the largest fighting force ever conceived since the inception of both the Nutanae and Ambaron kingdoms. However, this still pales in comparison to the numbers they would need. There is no indication of how many zombies and other types of undead were in Perforo, but by Kotaro's rough estimate, there should be at least 60,000 to 100,000 zombies within the city, not counting any other types of undead he missed. Even in the lower end of the estimate, Perforo held more than ten times their own number, which meant that the elves would have no chance in an open-field battle. Therefore, any chance they could have to reduce the number of enemy combatants, no matter how weak the enemy, was vital.
Both sides had ample experience in invasion efforts, however, it was in a completely different setting, and they had never sieged a fortified town before whilst heavily outnumbered. The Coalition's generals knew that it was a lost cause to try and siege the town, since they would need a military force at least seven times the fighting power of the defenders. Perhaps that many elves existed during the Age of Dragons, where they used to live within the pearled gates of Malsesilonhofkiin, but there is no way they could muster the number to breach enemy fortifications now, even if they called every able-bodied elf to the frontlines. Rinciquilde did not envy the decisions his generals have to make for this war.
Sehaila turned to Rinciquilde, holding a piece of armor.
"How troublesome. I never considered the undead would even go through the trouble of arming themselves."
Rinciquilde frowned.
"With so many undead... What if they're trying to launch an invasion into our lands?"
Sehaila paused.
"Then that means time is of the essence. We need to return to HQ right away."
"There is one thing I don't understand. This proves that the undead are making themselves known to the outside world. Why is there no military response from them?"
Sehaila shrugged.
"Who's to say they haven't fallen already?"
—
Kotaro silently stalked the halls of the magic caster's manor again, wary for any magic traps that could catch him by surprise. Given the brutal nature of traps set up by both players and the developers of YGGDRASIL, caution was a habit that could not easily be forgotten by Kotaro. He had died many times due to being too careless in the game, and learned from those mistakes. He did not know if his resurrection ring would activate, or if the respawning mechanics of YGGDRASIL would even apply to this world, and so he had to be extra cautious. His attitude did not change from when he first stalked these halls, and he knew that a second time venturing into familiar, but hostile, territory is even more dangerous than the first time. This was because, if the enemy was competent, they would review how their security was defeated the first time, and adjust their defenses to better counter whatever came their way again. Of course, there were exceptions to this rule. This assumed that an area could be infiltrated by stealth in the first place. Some locations could not be penetrated by stealth, only pure force, and others are impenetrable from the start, no matter how mighty or sizable a group is. The developers of YGGDRASIL also introduced traps that were either extremely difficult to disable, or completely unavoidable. One such trap was the introduction of teleportation traps, which allowed guild-controlled territories the ability to teleport and split up any invading raid party, since the traps do not necessarily count as an attack.
Fortunately for Kotaro, and to his utter surprise, the manor was completely undefended, save for the replacement of the guard with elder liches and relatively low-level skeletal undead like bone claws that regularly patrolled its halls. Kotaro scratched his head, as his trap detection skills failed to pick up any magic traps, even the ones he had disabled a while ago. Was the overlord really that arrogant to believe that no one would return? Or were there traps in this world that could evade even his potent trap detection senses? Was the overlord merely luring him into a false sense of security by creating simple traps that could be disabled in the first place? If so, that would beg the additional question of why it would be so convoluted?
Completely suspicious of how easy and lax this was, Kotaro instinctively formed a hand sign to perform a ninja technique. Back in YGGDRASIL, Kotaro's character automatically formed the hand sign required to perform ninjutsu, but in this world, it just naturally and inexplicably came to Kotaro, as if he had always known how to perform ninjutsu.
"[Kage Bunshin]."
Four clones split from his shadow, and appeared behind Kotaro, as if the shadows spontaneously gave birth to four copies of the original. They possessed only about 40% of the original's stats, and are unable to use any active skills and many passive skills. However, even high level illusion detection magic and skills would be unable to detect the real one from the fake ones, and they serve as proper cannon fodder if Kotaro was in a pinch, due to his clones' unique ability to automatically switch places with him and negate damage if he was hit. They also have the same copy of equipment as the original. What really amazed Kotaro when he first used this skill, however, was the difference between how the game handled the clones, and how this world handled clones. In-game, ninja clones were essentially given a basic set of AI routines and subroutines that a player must set in advance, since mid-fight, it would be difficult to adjust the attitude of the AI unless using macro shortcut programs. However, in this world, these truly were Kotaro, in both mind and body, except, it appeared, their self-preservation was replaced with an unwavering loyalty to the original body. This essentially meant that the clones automatically knew what Kotaro planned upon creation.
According to Chiyome, the elder kunoichi of the Ijaniya that he had accidentally stumbled upon while traveling to find Fluder, ninja clones were simply supposed to be mere summons, with no will of their own other than to fight their original body's perceived enemies. However, Kotaro's own clones are capable of their own independent thought and action. The level of difference in quality between Kotaro's clones and the ninjas of this world both baffled and fascinated Kotaro. It was almost like the ninjas of this world had skills that were watered-down versions of YGGDRASIL's counterparts.
Because the clones were of one mind with Kotaro, they nodded at him, silently indicating their knowledge of his plan. They silently moved forward, taking care to spread out evenly in case of an area-of-effect trap being set off. Since they disabled their stealth passives, they would theoretically set off any traps that were laid within the manor, which should give Kotaro an opening before the trap would reset itself. At least, that was how Kotaro remembered YGGDRASIL traps functioned.
However, nothing happened as his clones walked the entire route to the magic caster's hidden quarters, occasionally avoiding the patrolling undead. Kotaro paused, his mind racing at a million kilometers per hour. He desperately tried to recall if there was a single instance where his trap detection skills failed, and his clones didn't trigger a trap. Was this overlord more powerful than he had imagined? Was this world's undead far more powerful than their YGGDRASIL counterparts? Could this world possess a way to detect ninja clones, thereby bypassing their ability to trigger traps? Kotaro would press his lips tightly, if he had lips to press together. Instead, he grinded his teeth, scolding himself for being so arrogant. He knew better than to bite off more than he could chew. Still, a contract was a contract. Even in the unforgiving, cutthroat corporate climate of the Arcology, a contract was the most sacred document a company could sign, and to go back on your word would result in severe consequences. If something did not immediately happen to you, it will happen later down the road. Japanese businessmen do not forget, and they certainly will not forgive. Therefore, Kotaro will complete his contract, one way or another.
Kotaro manually activated his clones' ability to switch places with him once they reached the outside of the mage's quarters. The hidden door was resealed, and locked. Kotaro crouched low, and placed his hands on the door. He triggered his trap detection skill again, and this time, he picked something up on the opposite end of the door. It was a low-level seal magic, triggered upon opening the door. Kotaro's imaginary eyebrows rose. Overlords should be able to cast 10th tier spells. Why would this one settle for anything other than a Greater Magic Seal spell? This could mean several things, but the most likely reason was that, perhaps, the overlord had moved his items elsewhere, and the trap was merely laid cause an inconvenience. By now, the timer on his clones expired, and they faded back into Kotaro's shadow. Kotaro had a lengthy cooldown timer until he could use his clones again.
He slipped through the door, as if physically ignoring its presence, as to not trigger the trap placed on the door. His darkvision lit up the other side of the room, and he saw that it was... empty. The air smelled stale and awful, as if corpses had been rotting for weeks. Kotaro could recognize the smell. It was a low-level undead poison spell, designed to cause decay on any living tissue. It was easily cured by low-level divine magic spells, and most players already had some form of poison resistance or immunity effect from their gear or skills, and this wasn't a poison strong enough to bypass immunity. Undead healed from this poison, so it was a common poison to be present when exploring tombs in YGGDRASIL. To confirm this, Kotaro took out his daggers, and pierced his arm with it. He felt a tiny prick of damage as a piece of bone fell off... Only to disappear, and his arm regenerated the damage. Kotaro also felt a bit of poison damage as his daggers' poison ignored a portion of his natural undead immunity, but it quickly faded away as the undead poison out healed the damage.
Kotaro stalked the room, and found nothing. It was truly barren, except for other magic seals in the room that triggered undead summoning spells, designed to swamp the enemy with weak undead. Sighing, Kotaro left the room. He had no lead on the overlord, and scouring the city again would be mind-numbing. From the corner, he heard growling and the prodding of claws against wood, and silently blended into the shadows. He had expected this, and the undead always worked like clockwork. Around the corner, a bone claw stalked into the hall, sniffing the air for intruders. It walked past Kotaro, completely oblivious to his presence. It was a shame that the undead were immune to fear and were very pain resistant, as he was so tempted to snatch it, and interrogate it for information. There was no way he could control the undead, not with his current skill set. He watched the bone claw disappear around the corner as it completed another lap of its patrol. Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration.
Tendrils of smoke clouded his vision, until he could no longer see. The knowledge of countless spells from all branches of magic filled his mind, and he quickly filtered out the one he was looking for. Its effects were exactly as he had hoped. If he had a heart, it would be racing, as he pondered if it would even work. He had one cast per day, and he decided that this spell was the best use of it. His vision slowly returned to him, and he nodded to himself. Kotaro then slipped back into the shadows to abduct and restrain an Elder Lich.
—
Rinciquilde watched Lord Ciris's face slowly transform into a frown as the Supreme Commander read his report. Besides him was King Manye, who was trying not to look conspicuous while reading over his shoulder. Sehaila was standing in front of Queen Macil, who held a similar expression to Lord Ciris.
"Valdea, am I reading that correctly? The undead are somehow arming themselves?"
"Milord, we need to set up guerrilla forces to hinder further undead activity. Even if the undead are weak, they are numerous."
King Manye looked down at the map in front of him, now updated based on the observations of the scouting done by Rinciquilde and Sehaila.
"The question would be how? There is nothing but barren flatlands surrounding Perforo, and the purported supply lines to and from the city has no good place to station our troops until they reach territory that is outside our jurisdiction. We can also now assume that the place where Rinciquilde's troops ambushed the undead is now heavily guarded."
Queen Macil pointed to the cave outside Perforo.
"The city walls, for some reason, do not extend to the mines. Perhaps we should launch an attack on their mining operations?"
King Manye shook his head.
"Are you willing to risk prematurely provoking that Death Lich? Do you not remember Kotaro reporting that the caves is where the Death Lich resides?"
"I am not talking about a frontal assault. I am talking about long-distance bombardment. What is the maximum range of a Fireball spell again?"
King Manye thought for a moment.
"Not far enough to be safe. We also don't know what countermagic measures the Death Lich has. If I recall correctly, Valdea, the summoning crystal that Rinciquilde used to create an... Azata?"
Lord Ciris nodded.
"It could use some magic-negation spell, right?"
"According to the reports of all witnesses, yes milord."
"While we do not have evidence of it negating Fireball spells, if the Death Lich is capable of magic even I don't know of, it wouldn't be outlandish for us to assume that it can negate our spells."
"So we are dependent on Kotaro to keep it busy while we deal with the hundreds of thousands of undead."
King Manye smiled.
"Our warriors and mages are nothing short of the finest. Based on these reports, even if the undead do wear armor and wield weapons, this is nothing our arrows cannot pierce."
"Still..."
Queen Macil rubbed her head.
"We are hopelessly outnumbered. We cannot afford another blunder like the battle after the Death Lord's ambush."
Suddenly, a general wearing the colors of the Nutanae quickly walked up to Lord Ciris, and bowed.
"Urgent message for His Majesty."
King Manye nodded. The general stared at Queen Macil.
"It is best if you hear it yourself first, Your Majesty."
King Manye frowned.
"If this is important to our war effort, you can let the rest of us know."
The general glanced at Rinciquilde and Sehaila, before sighing.
"Demihuman envoys from the Zudvrii Empire wishes to speak with Your Majesty. They expect an immediate response."
The Zudvrii Empire was a Great Demihuman nation most immediate to the Elven forests where the Ambaron and the Nutanae call their home. It is situated just beyond the natural mountain barriers of Perforo, and is composed mainly of, according to the Demihuman merchants, great, empty, vast swaths of sand, with the occasional city oasis dotted across its yellow dunes. From what Rinciquilde knew, it was a nation of powerful Lizardmen, who believed themselves to be descendants of one of Aur's pantheon of gods, and as such, are a proud and haughty race. They worshipped the Bright Dragon, said to be the wisest of Aur's pantheon, and the name of their nation, in the ancient, lost tongue of the Dragons, refers to the seven colors that make up the scales of the Bright Dragon. Given how they worshipped a dragon god who was a part of their pantheon, there is a slightly better relationship between the Nutanae and the Zudvrii merchants, though this is tempered by the fact that the Bright Dragon may have been one of the Divine Traitors. Rinciquilde dreamed of visiting such a wondrous place one day.
King Manye slowly got up, and followed the general away. With the awkward silence that followed, Lord Ciris's eyes creased as he smiled gently at Queen Macil.
"I am afraid, Your Majesty, we must postpone this discussion until His Majesty can return."
He turned to Rinciquilde.
"You are dismissed."
Rinciquilde nodded, and turned to leave. Sehaila was similarly dismissed by Queen Macil, and she quickly caught up to Rinciquilde.
"You did not seem to be surprised by this strange new name. Who is Kotaro?"
Rinciquilde side-glanced at her before walking on.
"That is a name you will do well to forget."
She gasped.
"He is the Red-Faced Elf, is he not?!"
Rinciquilde sighed. How did she even come to that conclusion?
"I can't say anything about it."
Sehaila ignored Rinciquilde.
"I had a friend, back in Ambar! She is a librarian, and we regularly talk with her Message spell! She claims to have seen the Red Faced Elf! She says he frequents her library daily! I did not believe her at first, because it would take weeks to get to Ambar from here, but maybe he really can teleport!"
She grabbed Rinciquilde's arm with a level of strength that surprised him. She could probably rival Yanna in an arm-wrestling contest, and he didn't like the thought of that. He winced in pain, but Sehaila ignored that too.
"Tell me, Rinciquilde Naica, is he really as handsome as she says? Eyes that are large and purple and deep, face chiseled like the finest marble statue, hair as long and white as the mane of a pure silver unicorn, and body forged like the strongest mithril?"
"Well-"
Before Rinciquilde could respond, he heard noisy footsteps running up towards him. He turned just in time to see Yanna marching up to him with a very scary look in her eyes. She glared at Sehaila both eyes seemingly set aflame. Incidentally speaking, Kotaro had offered to fix Yanna's right eye for free, which she happily accepted. When Rinciquilde asked Kotaro why he offered to heal her eye for free, Kotaro simply replied, "It would be a shame for you to return to these lands in the future, and discover that she had died."
"Unhand him, roinya. Who even are you, Ambaron scum?"
At the sound of the insult, Sehaila's eyes also turned into a death stare. Without letting go of Rinciquilde's arm, her head slowly creaked towards Yanna's direction. Generally speaking, the elvish language had very few swear words, but they were know universally between the two nations. Since they are used rarely given how elves are not prone to emotional outbursts, such insults are not taken lightly. Sehaila showed off a toothy grin, with one of her eyes twitching.
"Roinya, you say? I will enjoy killing you, Nutanae filth."
She smiled sweetly at Rinciquilde.
"I do not mean you though."
Rinciquilde smiled weakly. He felt the blood circulation in his arm slowly cut off. The pain was unbearable, but he couldn't show weakness to Ambaron soldiers. Yanna's mood darkened as she watched Rinciquilde smile at a new pretty face. In a fit of jealous rage, she pried Sehaila's hands off Rinciquilde's arm, who let out a breath of sweet relief, and placed herself defiantly in between Sehaila and Rinciquilde before issuing her challenge.
"I dare you to try."
Utter poison oozed from her voice as she challenged her adversary. Usually, this was the part where Rinciquilde attempts to cool her hotheadedness, but this time, Rinciquilde was too busy massaging his bruised arm to care, trying to get blood flowing again, and was currently experiencing a sort of euphoria for being released from an excruciatingly painful experience. Sehaila took this as an opportunity to knock some teeth off an overconfident Nutanae soldier.
Her right arm darted forward with shocking speed to connect a punch on Yanna's right cheek. To her utter surprise, Yanna not only caught the punch, but was already counter punching, aimed directly at her stomach. She was hit square in the stomach, but she managed to prepare her stomach for the blow. Shaking off the punch, she backed off a couple of steps, before her right leg shot forward for a body blow. Yanna only barely managed to raise her arms to block the shot, and her body flew back a meter from the sheer force before crashing on the floor next to Rinciquilde.
Yanna was instantly back on her feet again, hardly fazed, and fists raised and ready. However, Rinciquilde, who had finally recovered with some magical help, held onto Yanna's arms, trying to restrain her.
"Yanna! Calm down!"
Sehaila took this opportunity to move forward to give Yanna one good punch. Rinciquilde, seeing this, quickly moved to use his body to protect Yanna from the punch. He braced his body for impact, and heard fist hitting flesh. However, he felt no pain. He turned around, and saw a tall figure holding an iron grip on Sehaila's fist. Lord Ciris had blocked the blow with nothing but the palm of his hand, and no matter how hard Sehaila pushed, she couldn't budge forward. Lord Ciris always looked like a puny old elf to her, so this display of strength surprised her. However, to Rinciquilde, this was as expected from the Supreme Commander. The kind, elderly elf was merely a front put up by Lord Ciris. Every Nutanae soldier is aware of how his might is rumored to match even the Yára Ohtatyaro.
"I heard a commotion outside. I am quite disappointed to see our soldiers bickering with each other."
He let go of Sehaila's fist, who quietly rubbed her hand.
"We must remain united for now. I shall let this go, but if I see both of you at each other's throats again, I will be forced to imprison the both of you. Next to each other."
Yanna glared at Sehaila, before bowing to Lord Ciris, with her hand over her chest.
"Understood, milord. My sincerest apologies."
Sehaila turned in a huff, and walked away without acknowledging Lord Ciris, who had by then walked back into the room with Queen Macil still inside. Yanna turned back to Rinciquilde.
"Who was she? Why was she holding onto you like that?"
Rinciquilde shrugged.
"She wanted to know who Kotaro was. But as you know... He made us swear secrecy, so I was quite relieved that you had found me... How did you find me?"
"Your comrades. I asked them."
"...Oh. Well, why did you need to look for me?"
Yanna beamed.
"Because we're finally together again! It has been over two weeks since I last saw you!"
She gently embraced Rinciquilde, careful not to accidentally hurt him. She had more or less learned to control her monstrous strength. She then let go of Rinciquilde, and they slowly walked out of the tree where the various commanders of the Coalition's forces congregated. The Place of Respite was a sizable Ambaron base, but accommodations had to be fulfilled to house an upward of over five thousand soldiers in the near future. For now, a total of around a thousand or so troops were stationed in this base, half of which were Ambaron troops, and the other half were Nutanae soldiers. Incidentally speaking, this was the base where Cúnë was stationed after her original post was destroyed, who was still trying her best to ignore Rinciquilde's presence. For the sake of moral and orderliness, the camp was split into halves, with the Officer's Tree in the center, to avoid any confrontations between the two forces. Captains were given orders to enforce discipline between the two sides, which thus far had remained tense but manageable.
While walking back into the barracks, Yanna asked Rinciquilde all about Perforo, and the journey there. He did his best to answer her questions, although he had to omit a lot of information, since he wasn't allowed to talk about his scouting reports until it's been approved by Lord Ciris. So he talked about how wide and empty the outside world north of their forests were, and how it was a shame that they did not know what event transpired that caused such devastation so immediate to their forests. It felt quite comforting, to be able to relax for a while, and just talk about nonsense with a dear old friend. It almost felt like they were back in Amil, listening to birdsong and waiting for the next lesson to come from their Mothers. The only thing missing were their former comrades, in which Rinciquilde still harbored some feeling of guilt over their deaths. Still, having Yanna here meant everything to him, and it appeared that Rinciquilde was the only thing keeping Yanna sane. They would have to enjoy these last few moments together, before the war would take over their lives again, and Rinciquilde would be gone soon after this war with the undead, traveling with Kotaro into the outside world.
—
King Manye was back in Numina, sitting in one of the many luxurious rooms of the King's Crown. King Manye did not like the aesthetics of his home, as he preferred to live in modest, practical trees. However, his father and late eldest brother preferred to live large, and it was a good residence to impress the outsiders of the Nutanae's wealth and clout. It also served as the proper way to greet the emissaries from one of the most powerful nations in the world. With him was Hanuro, who was still serving as the Regent while he was away in the frontlines, and his Yára Ohtatyaro bodyguards. Opposite them were two large, imposing red-scaled lizardmen wielding large spears with blades long enough to be a sword in their own rights clutched in their hands. The amount of power the red lizardmen held seemed to rival the strength of the Viyn Maica. In between the two lizardmen was a blue-scaled lizardman, who was flipping through a book scrawled in lizardmen texts while drinking orva, a sweet and luxurious elvish drink. He seemed to savor every drop, as if thoroughly enjoying fine elvish cuisines. He looked up at King Manye with a strange expression on his face, which King Manye took as a smile. The lizardman spoke with a raspy tone.
"Your Esteemed Majesty, I am glad you came with utmost haste. I am High Councilor Xabhse Za-Sza, a representative of our Empress, Her Imperial Highness Iluminse Il=Abhur, and a member of the House of Law."
The lizardman rose to his full height of over three meters tall, and bowed low and elegant. The grace with which the lizardman bowed was quite astonishing, given the usually crude nature of the green-scaled lizardmen King Manye was used to seeing in the streets of Numina. King Manye straightened his back, and regally nodded, accepting the proper respect he was due. He hoped he was behaving like one would expect from a King, as his own education in the field of court and politics was sporadic at best. His own father was a councilor in Aur's court before the Divine Betrayal occurred, and taught his sons everything he knew about politics and courtly manner, though the eldest and middle son received the bulk of such education. King Manye was a young baby, not even of age to comprehend words when his older brothers were slain by the traitorous hands of then-councilor Raena Vasi Macil. By then, most of King Manye's training consisted of magical lessons and military tactics and strategies as he grew up. This was part of the reason why King Manye loved the frontlines, but hated the politics back at home.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of such venerated guests in my lands?"
The blue lizardman scoffed.
"I shall be blunt, Your Majesty, and skip the annoying theatrics of the court. I'm certain you feel the same way."
Xabhse smiled a toothy grin. At least, King Manye believed it was a smile. He, in turn, nodded.
"While we were aware of the undead city that is solidly lodged between our lands, it was not perceived as a threat. It has come to our attention in recent times that the undead within that city has finally mobilized and expanded their borders, overtaking some of the primitive tribal lands to our West. This has caused a bit of alarm for our merchants traveling to your lands to sample your fine elven crafts. Upon further investigation, we have discovered that the city has been implicitly responsible for the disappearances of several merchants and their bodyguards. As such, our Imperial Majesty has found it necessary to send armed forces to subdue this undead threat, and wishes to convey to Your Majesty, friend of our nation, that our troops are not mobilized to invade your lands."
King Manye's eyebrows raised.
"I am glad to have received your message. Very well, the Nutanae shall not engage with the armies of Zudvrii. However... What a coincidence. My own nation is conducting a military campaign against the undead as well."
"We are aware of your... Forest filled with the color of blood, and the undead it spawns. Rest assured, we will not touch your lands."
King Manye shook his head.
"We... have our ways to deal with the undead of the Bloodied Zone. I am talking about the undead of Perforo, the undead city you speak of. Our own intelligence indicates that the undead there have been mobilizing for war with us."
Xabhse's face contorted into an alien expression. By King Manye's best guess, it was probably of confusion.
"How does one maintain enough forces to defend from one's mortal living enemies, while also sending an army against the undead?"
King Manye smiled.
"A truce. A mutual enemy of overwhelming numbers has forced our hand. The elves of this forest stand united once again... For now."
"Ah..."
Another alien expression crossed the lizardman's face, one that King Manye could not decipher.
"What... wonderful news."
"When shall I expect your forces to march to Perforo?"
"Just to make sure... I presume the name of that undead city is Perforo."
King Manye nodded.
"You presume correctly."
"Unfortunately, I do not have the information you seek, for this is the jurisdiction of the House of War."
He gestured to the two imposing lizardmen standing next to him.
"These two are from the House of War. However, they do not know either, for they have been my protectors for the journey here while their House planned for this attack."
Xabhse raised a single, slender clawed finger.
"However, I can tell you to expect the retaliation force to be here by the winter time, when I have returned to my Empress. Is there a message you would like for me to pass on to the House of War?"
King Manye pressed his fingers together.
"First, tell me of how much territory the undead control outside of Perforo."
Xabhse scrolled through his book.
"Hmm... According to my observations, and based off initial intelligence, it appears that they have taken most of the tribal nations that fall in between our trade routes. Each seemed to have a lich to command the armies of the dead, and living slaves to work the crucibles and forges. They receive ores and raw, unprocessed materials from an unknown source, and export unknown goods, likely weapons and armor, to each other and likely to Perforo."
King Manye sighed.
"So they are mining raw materials from the mountain mines next to Perforo, and shipping them out to be processed... this is troubling indeed. Is it possible for your House of War to conduct raids and guerrilla warfare upon the undead?"
The blue lizardman turned to one of his bodyguards.
"What say you? Is that possible?"
The red scaled lizardman grumbled in a gravelly voice, before answering with a very deep tone.
"It is not in our culture to perform such cowardly acts. We proudly fight in open combat."
Xabhse interjected, fearing that what the red lizardman said might offend the king.
"What my bodyguard means to say is that it is simply not within the House of War to engage in guerrilla warfare, as it is a foreign concept for them. However, Your Majesty, we have some elven mercenaries under our employment who hailed from your lands. Would you like for me to request their help in aiding their old homelands?"
The elven mercenaries must be the Nutanae elves who left the comforts of their forests in search of adventure. To be able to do so, they must have completed their 50 years of military service and 10 years of Joining service. As such, many of these elves already possess the fighting capacity to fend for themselves, and the substantial savings every elf had after their military service finished was sufficient enough to purchase decent weapons, armor, and supplies for their adventures to come.
"Hmm... Since they are mercenaries, I assume that I would need to provide compensation."
The blue lizardman displayed his teeth again.
"Oh, we shall be glad to hire their services at no charge to you... Perhaps, in exchange, the reduction of tariffs placed on Zudvrii goods?"
He raised his glass of orva, and swished the amber liquid inside.
"This will certainly raise trade between our nations. It shall offset the reduction in tariff revenue for you."
King Manye glanced at Hanuro, who, with his eyes, passively signaled a strong refusal to the deal. King Manye did not quite understand why, but he trusted his old, loyal friend.
"Oh, I insist on footing the bill. Elven gold is nothing short of valuable for my former comrades."
King Manye gestured to Hanuro.
"My loyal servant and Regent of the Nutanae shall discuss the proper compensation with you. Now, are you able to give me a rough estimate of how many soldiers you plan to send to Perforo?"
Xabhse flipped through his book again.
"You are correct in that I can only give you a rough estimate. As you know, there are some... rumblings of war with our neighbors. Our nation has not been pulled into the conflict yet, but we must maintain a strong presence on our borders, which requires a lot of soldiers. As such, Her Imperial Majesty can only spare one... perhaps maybe two legions from the House of War, each led by a Dragon Knight. That shall be sufficient firepower to crush the opposition, and subdue whatever undead threat lurks behind those cursed walls."
The two red lizardmen gasped.
"Her Imperial Majesty is sending Dragon Knights?"
King Manye looked at both of them, confused. He has never heard of a Dragon Knight before.
"Who are the Dragon Knights? And how many soldiers comprise a single legion?"
Xabhse nodded at the Yára Ohtatyaro standing behind King Manye.
"Like your Yára Ohtatyaro, they are the personal guard of Her Majesty, who in this case will be leading a legion, which can field up to 20,000 soldiers."
He turned to his bodyguards, while King Manye quietly mouthed 20,000 in utter shock. That number alone was almost two-thirds of the total population of the Nutanae kingdom, and yet, the Zudvrii were able to field entire armies with multiples of that number.
"Indeed, the undead threat the House of Shadows reported indicate an individual undead capable of rivaling, or perhaps even surpassing, the combat prowess of a Dragon Knight. And there is evidence of an even more powerful undead, although we are unable to ascertain exactly what the other undead can do, or where it currently is."
Xabhse smacked a slender fist onto his open palm.
"The blatant and rapid expansion of undead territory that is stretching dangerously close to Her Majesty's lands is an offense, and thus, the hammer of swift retribution in her name must be carried out. We must prove to the world, once more, that our Empire is nothing to be trifled with."
The blue lizardman turned to King Manye.
"I assure you, Your Royal Highness, you merely have to hold out until our legions arrive. Her Majesty has a personal stake in this, as she has a very soft spot for elven craft."
King Manye nodded, and he rose up from his seat.
"I believe you have much to discuss with my Regent. I shall leave that matter to the both of you."
Hanuro bowed deeply, before sitting down to speak with Xabhse as King Manye left the room. He took a deep breath, before letting out a very long sigh. Behind him, his Yára Ohtatyaro shifted their weight uncomfortably. He turned to Lord Ataryo.
"I think that went well. Don't you?"
Ataryo stiffened up.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Ataryo knew that his King would not be satisfied with that answer, and so he continued.
"However, it appears that the Zudvrii already have a positive disposition towards us as a nation. This is merely the work of the Dragon god guiding good fortune to us. We cannot refuse such blessings."
King Manye nodded. He also knew that this was probably a means to an end. Since the Zudvrii Empire is one of the superpower countries of the world, this overwhelming show of force was most likely used to prove that their armed forces was ready for a swift military response to any provocation. However, King Manye couldn't help but feel that there was a missing piece of the puzzle. While he had known about the rise in conflicts between the six superpower nations in the center of the world, the devotion of even one legion to exterminate an undead threat, particularly if Dragon Knights are as powerful as his own Yára Ohtatyaro, was a complete overkill. By virtue of being a powerful demihuman, each individual Zudvrii soldier should also surpass the strength of his own troops. King Manye does not have a personal relationship with the Emperor or Empress of the Zudvrii Empire, since the lizardmen changed their Emperor more often than he cared to remember, and Empress Iluminse was a new name to him. Perhaps this use of force was also to demonstrate a unity in the people behind a new Empress?
"Indeed, Ataryo. I am no fool. I shall not look at a gift tree by the roots... We now have an answer for the undead. I shall head back to the Coalition's Place of Respite at once. Grab my cape, and prepare for teleportation."