—a War Near its End—
Under the heat of the burning sun, Cerabrate, Esdev, Akela, and Laguas were pushing their way as they met an exodus of thousands of citizens from the city of Lufhsem. It was a thick march of homeless people, young and old and rich and poor. Altogether abandoning their lives, culture, and pride, leaving the destiny of their city in the hands of the Draconic Army and the invading beastmen.
Finally breaking out from the flooding crowd, they proceeded towards the abandoned city with the lone sound of their galloping horses, keeping out the entire world from an awkward silence. The green grassy fields surrounding the city of Lufhsem was no more. It became a lifeless wildland, walked by people, wheeled by wagons, and stomped by animals all in great retreat. The marks never intimated the legendary Crystal Tear, the members were more intimidated by their leader who was ready to kill on the spot of disobedience.
After the restless three hours of running their horses for a couple of miles, the adamantite adventurer group of Crystal Tear arrived at the northern gates of the city of Lufhsem. However, Akela was not with them, he had already dashed on his way in search of the Draconic queen.
As the group entered the northern gates of the city, every corner of any building or street was cleaned empty. No hero's welcome, no loud cheers, no fragrant flowers on the air, no praises, souvenirs, or gifts. There was nothing left except for the eerie feeling of a haunted city. The houses were ransacked, most brought their belongings as much as they could with their expedition. However, other houses were barred, evidence of the people who remained inside. Either they love their city and chose to die on the soils of their birthplace and be eaten by the beasts or they just chose to die because they have nowhere to go.
As for Cerabrate, neither of the people nor their reason was a concern.
It was a cruel day for Lufhsem. Most of the people had gone their ways as long as they would die from hunger and thirst and not on a banquet table, being served as a meal paired with a bottle of wine for the vile beasts to enjoy.
Reaching the center of the city, Cerabrate straight away saw Akela approaching.
As he arrived, paces away from his friends, Akela wasted no time and spit the information from his mouth. "I know where the queen is! An evacuating man said the queen is on her way towards the eastern wall together with her army. The citizens of the city were mostly gone and an army of beastmen was only a kilometer away from the wall."
"Then let's go! My cute little queen might need my help!"
Cerabrate replied as he heard the words he badly needed. He immediately pulled the reins, pivoting the body of his horse, and with his gentle kick, the horse ran towards the direction of the eastern wall.
With their leader on the run, the members of Crystal Tear followed the trail.
x x x
A slender figure on top of a white warhorse, wearing pure white armor with golden embroideries arrived at the eastern wall of Lufhsem together with an army. The guards manning the wall were startled at the sudden arrival of the mysterious figure together with General Walder Pelcos, the remaining general of the Draconic army. The mysterious entity was a matured woman, her skin glittered with dark purple scales. Soon enough, the guards eventually noticed a waving flag, flying the banner of the Draconic queen.
As if in a swift blow of the whistling winds in the grassy plains, the dots were connected. Every soldier knew very well who she was. Despite her supposedly childish form, rumors were everywhere. The queen was, in fact, using her magic to suppress her body from growing old or it should be from looking old. Either of the two had always been a possibility.
Draudillon Oriculus, the Draconic queen together with General Walder Pelcos approached the silent soldiers manning the wall. They were against a silent beastmen army that was unbelievably halted from their invasion march.
Together with the Draconic army, Draudillon and Walder passed through the gate and proceeded outside the grounds of the eastern wall. What welcomed them was quite unexpected.
"Who is in charge here? Report immediately!"
General Walder commanded, not wasting his time for formalities and pleasantries. He was in desperate need of information. The beastman army was only a kilometer away from the city. The war would erupt anytime soon.
"Sir!"
Not long after, a proud soldier broke from the ranks of the stationed wall guards. He approached his superior in response to the command. As the man in charge of the wall, he snappily gave a brief salute which the general acknowledged in turn. The soldier rolled his eyes, as he noticed a woman in white armor, riding a white warhorse beside the general.
"Y-Your Majesty!"
The soldier exclaimed, stuttering from nervousness. He quickly knelt in front of his queen. Some of the soldiers around the wall swiftly turned upon hearing the words of their captain. They were all caught up with the tension, facing hundreds of thousands of beastmen. With their predators only a breath of air away from their fences, they mindlessly failed to compose themselves to give a proper welcome worthy of royalty.
Most of them, however, those who already noticed but failed to act were simply surprised by the fact that their queen was a woman, after all, hiding in the guise of a cute little girl. The soldiers around the queen felt a stab of shame. They realized their queen's reason for stooping so low as to utilize her wild magic for deception. It was all for the kingdom, for the people of the Draconic Kingdom, because of the inability of the kingdom's soldiers. Despite their brave and patriotic hearts, the beastmen were unquestionably strong for them to fight fairly in defense and win, leaving no choice for their queen but to sacrifice herself and rely on other nations and adventurers of the kingdom who had merely taken advantage of the kingdom's wretched situation.
"Rise and be at ease my soldiers, but don't take any chances!"
Draudillon said in a regal voice, reminding her soldier not to let their guards down. She understood their hesitation and surprise. She has already planned to give all the time the people wanted after the war just to explain what had happened. That was if ever they could successfully defend and fend off hundreds of thousands of their current invaders.
In response, the soldiers stood up and turned their backs. They have focused their view towards the beastmen army, not at ease in the least.
The proud soldier in front of the queen stood up in attention. Preparing his words for the report, he tried all his best not to falter against the commanding gazes of his superiors.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." The soldier deeply bowed. "I'm Captain Degor Salva, in charge of the guards in Lufhsem's eastern wall. As for what's happening out there—" He raised his right hand and casually stuck out his thumb towards his back pointing at the beastmen army and continued. "—they were just in a stalemate for four hours after those beastmen together with the strange toadman had... laughed so hard. It was horrifying if I must describe."
"They laughed... together? Don't tell me he was an ally of the beastmen army?!" The general was the first to ask as he tilted his head, furrowing his brows in suspicion as beads of sweat started to escape from his face.
"Yes General Walder and no, at first we assumed it was a new way for the beastmen to scout us because the toadman was flying above the city, but after what it did, we have concluded they are not allies. If ever he is a beastman, then we are doomed if I must say."
Degor instantly stated as he saw the reddened face of his general from the sudden alarm and worry. After his words, he heard the sighs of relief from the general and the queen as they gave their nods, prompting him to continue.
"At first, we found it weird since the toadman's laughter was louder than any laughing sound coming from those beastmen. Then the toadman shouted the word 'silence', we even heard it from this far and his voice was so loud and clear despite the distance and the blowing winds. It's amazing, if I must describe." Degor said with a hint of awe in his voice.
Draudillon narrowed her eyes, staring at the astonished soldier paces away from her. "He must be using some kind of spell or magic item, but it was a common one since it merely enhances your voice. But still, it doesn't explain the four hours of stalemate, Captain Degor Salva." The Draconic queen surmised, looking at the captain of the city guards with her left brow raised.
"Y-Yes your Majesty—" The captain stuttered as he noticed the impatience in the voice of his queen, purposely mentioning his name. "—after the toadman shouted the word 'silence', we found it impossible to believe at first but... moments past we can't still hear any sound from the beastmen though we have seen them jumping, waving their weapons, like in panic or anger for what was happening. It's terrorizing, if I must describe."
The captain said nervously, sliding his quivering hands into the hilt of his sword that was sheathed in the right side of his waist. After gripping tightly and absorbing a sense of courage, he forcefully calmed himself and let go of the hilt of his sword. He was still frightened, remembering the view of the beastmen army, approaching the walls of his city.
"Then a battle horn was blown and every beastman raised their weapons but not even a faint battle cry from hundreds of thousands of beastmen was heard. It's unusual, if I must describe."
The captain said as beads of sweat started to escape from his disturbed face. In response, both the queen and the general narrowed their eyes towards the soldier and simultaneously, they looked at each other with their faces painted with confusion.
The captain did not mind his superiors and continued to shed them some light. He needed to spit every piece of information in his mind before he could get a sudden heart attack from all the unwelcome events happening on his watch.
"The beastmen started running."
The captain continued, repeatedly darting his gaze left and right towards the general and his queen, gulping loudly as he remembered the scene of absolute fear as he anticipated what would have happened if the beastmen army had reached their city.
"I knew they had moved from their place, everybody who was depending on this wall saw it. But at that same moment, the toadman shouted the word 'stop' and all the beastmen... hundreds of thousands of them stopped, not even taking more than a step! It's... it's unbelievable, if I must describe!"
The captain exclaimed in disbelief as he trembled and sighed in relief, internally praising the weird toadman with sincere gratitude from the bottom of his heart.
"T-Then I revoke what I had claimed earlier. If what you've told is true, even only half of it, then what he had done was never common. Being able to charm someone could be considered an impressive feat, how much more if you could dominate hundreds of thousands of beastmen against their will by the magic in your voice? He might be a God or close enough to be considered as one. With all the years of my life, I have never seen such might displayed in front of me."
Draudillon concluded in frustration of being powerless, failing to suppress the tone of awe in her voice.
"I can't argue with you on that, your Majesty." The captain said in a neutral voice.
The general took out his escopio. A long hollow tube made out of wood with a small, clear crystal ball inside, it was used for long-distance scouting and can be zoomed in and out using a knob connected to the crystal ball. This knob was placed outside at the bottom end of the wooden tube.
"Captain Salva, what is that? There is something beneath the toadman, on the ground but… is it a beastman?!"
General Walder exclaimed more than asked, pointing his left hand in the direction of the grassland beneath the hovering toadman. The general eagerly turned the knob of the escopio, zooming more into the lying beastman to quench his thirst of curiosity.
"As you can see, that beastman was the only one who was not affected by the toadman's voice among the beastmen army. It was the only one who approached and confronted the toadman. It must be their commander, general or—"
"Their king! The bullman king!"
Degor stumbled. His explanation was cut off by the impatient and surprised general.
"It was wearing a crown. That is a very luxurious crown and it is lightly glowing. Yes, it must be the king but it has... no hands at all!" General Walder blurted his conclusion and curiosity.
Captain Degor sighed internally and continued his report, ignoring the sudden outburst of his general. "The beastman— I mean the bullman king was dragged by the toadman from the beastmen's ranks and carried it away from the army. When the toadman reached his previous position, he slammed the bullman king to the ground. It tried to attack the toadman."
Degor gulped silently, he was having difficulty on how to explain what had happened. He already concluded the event must be so fast for his eyes to even see.
The captain gathered his thoughts and continued. "The toadman did something, and all of a sudden, in the blink of my eyes, the beastman's legs and arms were detached from his body. I have seen it. It's... It's satisfying, if I must describe." He said, trying to explain as best as he could.
The queen and the general gulped. Hearing someone doing things only a God could do was unbelievable. However, personally witnessing the events of godly feats was unexpected and unimaginable. Draudillon could only assume, like the stories of legends from centuries ago. The time for the coming of mighty beings has dawned upon the world again or everything was simply another beginning— as if a new age of legendary heroes and powerful Gods.
Everyone was lost in their thoughts, taking in all the events that had transpired.
"But it should have died from blood loss!" The general blurted, breaking the silence.
"Yes, it should have if that's the case." Degor swiftly agreed and disagreed.
General Walder looked at the captain and narrowed his eyes. But as he failed to get an explanation, he decided to take out his escopio and scanned the beastman's collapsed body.
"Wait!" Walder yelped. His eyes widened as he felt a chilling cold, embracing the layers of his skin, reaching the depths of his bones up to his soul.
"T-There is no blood at all!"
The general realized, failing to retain the calmness of his nerves. What he saw was magic unheard of. Not even known wild magic or tier magic or even a martial art could possibly achieve that level of power.
Hearing her general in panic, Draudillon had conflicted feelings. Unsure of what would happen in the future of her kingdom, she could only hope for the best and promised to herself to do everything for the peace and betterment of her failing reign.
She averted her gaze from her general and peered into the distance where the toadman was and briefly scanned the beastmen army. She sighed as if a loud snort of a stressed and hopeless dragon, garnering the attention of her vassals around the wall.
"I don't know if I should be happy or not. It feels like an evil god is toying with me." Draudillon thought to herself, unknowingly muttering the words with a discernable voice.
"Your Majesty?" Both the general and the captain caught the words of their queen and asked simultaneously with concern.
"Pay it no mind. We'll see what will happen."
The Draconic queen said with a weak smile, dismissing her vassals' concern. She silently prayed to her non-existent Gods, offering her fealty and promising her life and soul in exchange for the safety of her kingdom and her people.
Draudillon pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes, intently staring at the emissary of the undead king from afar.
'I have a bad feeling about this toadman, he seemed more of a demon in a demihuman form... Ainz Ooal Gown... what do you have in store for my kingdom?'
x x x
No longer than half an hour of treading on the forsaken city, the group could now see the eastern gate. Through the open gate, beyond the lines of the human soldiers, was an army, greeting Crystal Tear with a terrifying view.
"Wait!" Esdev yelped before he could go outside and pass the eastern gate but his leader did not mind the concern in his voice, halting only the two of his friends. As Laguas and Akela responded with his call, gradually stopping their horses from their momentum, Esdev continued. "The beastmen army! That's at least a hundred thousand of them!"
"No!" Akela flatly disagreed, his eyes were the keenest among his friends. He could even pass with a top tier mark as an excellent scout.
Esdev's face gradually paled. However, Akela was still not contented with the information he blurted. He took a small wooden tube out of the small pouch in his waist. It was only an average finger's length. As Akela averted his eyes from Esdev and gazed towards the beasts from afar, he quickly pulled the other end of the small wooden tube. It was a modified escopio with a telescopic feature. It was a good pocket-size equipment but with it was also a couple of downsides like a limited zoom and long-distance hazy clarity.
Failing to get a good estimate from his position, Akela gently kicked his horse and stepped out of the open gates giving him the clear view of the beasts stretching wide and beyond the horizon as if a mad illusion of cruel intimidation. Akela positioned the escopio in his right eye and scanned the beastman army. He zoomed in using the crystal knob and swept left to right and right to left. Assuming he already got the numbers right, he started the count.
"One, two, three, f-four—" As Akela finished his count, he released the escopio from its job, compressing it again into a smaller tube. As he squeezed it tightly with his trembling hands, Akela continued.. "—there are at least four hundred thousand of them!"
Esdev could simply gasp as he raised the palm of his right hand, covering his gaping mouth. "By the Gods! W-What should we do? I… I don't want to die from this!"
"Me either! Let's go and ask our leader, I don't want to die just for his big little girl."
Laguas finally spoke. He was calm contrary to his panicked friends. The kingdom was nothing for him in the first place, what matters to him was the group and his friends. But he would never risk his life as it matters the most, he would never give his everything to defend the kingdom from the beastman invasion even faced against the wrath of his friend, the leader of Crystal Tear.
The group proceeded, treading on the grassy plains that would soon become a gory battlefield. They reached the front of the soldier and the guards, seeing the queen in her new woman form on top of her warhorse beside her loyal general. Two-column ranks of the Draconic Army flanked them side by side.
As they arrived, only paces away from the queen and Cerabrate, everyone from Crystal Tear silently snorted in despise. Being deceived by simple wild magic was one thing. However, seeing their leader, a step away from the hooves of the warhorse of the Draconic queen, begging and kneeling to such a deceiver was unbearable. The act was a boggling insult and heartache for Cerabrate's friends.
"My queen, please let me take all those beastmen. I will kill them together with Crystal Tear and fulfill my part of our deal!"
Cerabrate pleaded with all his soul. He wanted the cute little girl back, the girl he loved the most, even forsaking Crystal Tear and his friends just to fulfill the desires of his heart.
Draudillon looked at the kneeling holy knight through the cold gaze of her eyes. "Do your allies share your sentiments?" The queen wondered, gesturing her left hand towards the members of Crystal Tear.
Cerabrate glanced with glimmers in his eyes at his friends who could only nod in submission to their leader. The holy knight averted his gaze, rolling his eyes back to the queen.
"Yes, your Majesty! This is our kingdom and we are the heroes that must protect it, including our queen and her citizens."
Cerabrate emotionally declared and the Draconic queen must have fallen on the trap if not for the lecherous eyes on the beautiful face of the holy knight which Draudillon had always seen even in the deep of her sleep.
"Any idea of how strong the beastmen army is?"
Draudillon quizzed, raising the left of her brows. The beautiful words of the holy knight were enticing but not enough for her to falter and give in.
In response to the question of her queen, Cerabrate swiftly swung his head and narrowed his eyes, glancing at the beasts. After a moment of frantic estimation, he shifted back his head and looked at the eyes of the Draconic queen.
"They are at least a hundred thousand strong, your Majesty. It's not a problem for Crystal Tear! We are strong and I'm sure we can fend them off this time."
Cerabrate assured with determination on his face. He grabbed the hilt of his sword as if ready for the moment of the queen's command. However, to his disappointment, his excitement had quickly died as if diving down from a cliff and hitting the bottom rocks, breaking the skull of his head as he heard the queen's loud and irritated sighed, weakly shaking her head.
"No, they're at least three times more than that." Draudillon corrected.
Hearing the outrageous numbers of the beastmen army, the holy knight could only mumble 'what?' in his thoughts. He forcefully bent his pretty lips with a fake smile and a broken dull chuckle escape his mouth.
"Impossible! Your Majesty must be jesting. They don't even need two hundred thousand to topple this—" Cerabrate almost scoffed but he quickly stumbled. Reaffirming the phrase with the proper words, he continued. "I mean our kingdom. Four hundred thousand of them will be nothing but useless and overkill!" Cerabrate debated against the unbelievable information of his queen.
"No Cerebrate, Akela confirmed their numbers."
Laguas calmly objected, hearing the back and forth of the queen and his stubborn friend.
"Laguas?" Cerabrate said perplexed, turning his head, he glared towards his cold-hearted friend.
"I have also confirmed it myself." Laguas reiterated.
Akela, without any words from his mouth, tossed the portable escopio for his leader to properly count the beasts.
Cerabrate stood from his knees and caught the item from his friend. With only a breath wasted, he pulled out each end of the wooden tube and instantly raised his hands, positioning the escopio through the right sight of his eyes. There he swept the horizon and started the count of approximation in his mind.
As he finished the count, Cerabrate let his hands dropped to his side and stared at his friend with questioning eyes. Beads of sweat started to escape from the flawless skin of his face.
"I've told you already, I have confirmed it myself. The beastmen army is four hundred thousand strong, it's not an illusion or magic of that sort. But if ever it was, then it's an art of deception I do not know of. Like wild magic perhaps."
Laguas confirmed, understanding the look of disbelief from his friend. Finishing his explanation with a hint of hate for what the queen had done.
Cerabrate hanged his head over his shoulders in defeat, blankly staring down at the ground. Even with the strong salty winds in the field, bringing the warmth of the nearby sea. Even with the sun on its peak, shining brilliantly with scorching heat. Even with all the soldiers and the queen in the front and the beastman army in his back. Cerabrate felt alone, miserably struggling to pursue the desires of his will.
Cerabrate dismissed his thoughts and lifted his head, he looked at Draudillon with pleading eyes.
"Your Majesty! I will kill them all for our kingdom… for you… Four hundred thousand, four million, even four hundred million of them will not be enough to kill me, I will never give anyone the chance to touch you!"
Cerabrate appealed with boastful phrases to emphasize his unyielding loyalty. He would never allow the beastman army to take his queen alive or even dead.
Draudillon exhaled an exasperated sigh. "No. You are gravely mistaken. That army must be here to intimidate the Draconic Kingdom, to intimidate me and seek my surrender. That army need not fight a war they have already won. A war they have easily."
Draudillon enlightened the holy knight but stubbornness was strongly rooted within Cerabrate.
"Your Majesty, let me take them all myself! If I could kill at least fifty thousand— no, at least a hundred thousand of them or some of their generals, they might retreat and we don't need to give the surrender they are seeking! After that, we can wait for the reinforcements from the Slane Theocracy as we have already planned and take back the captured cities."
Cerabrate insisted. He was confident with his martial art skills and his silver shining sword. A mere beastman could only win against him if he was deprived of the mountain of stamina, surging the entirety of his body from his restless training and past experiences. His prowess had always been uncontested.
"Well, that is an option but be at ease Cerabrate." Draudillon reassured.
"Your Majesty?" Cerabrate wondered.
"An emissary from the Sorcerer Kingdom came this morning and long story short, he might take good care of those beastmen and the Beastman Country for us."
Draudillon spilled the words and upon hearing the hopeful voice of his queen, Cerabrate felt insulted as if his beautiful face was plunged into a bucket of dirt. His queen, relying on others was anything but unacceptable.
Cerabrate turned his head and narrowed his eyes. He glared as he saw what he assumed to be the emissary from afar. He had noted a while ago, with the use of the escopio, the entity was wearing a foreign cloth popular in the south. He instantly wondered why a winged demihuman became an emissary of the rumored undead king?
Cerabrate dismissed the useless thought, nothing really mattered for him but the cute little girl of his dreams. He turned back his head and faced the queen.
"Your Majesty, I mean no disrespect but… you mean the ugly creature facing the beastmen army is our reinforcement?! Where is his army?!" Cerabrate spluttered.
"Now that we are in the same mindset, wondering what will that winged toadman do, why don't you just calm down?" Draudillon advised in an annoyed tone in her voice.
"B-But—"
"Go to your team and wait!"
Draudillon snapped as the continuous pestering of the holy knight finally penetrated her nerves, absorbing the calm she patiently maintained.
General Walder rolled his eyes together with Captain Degor Salva on his side. They were silently listening with the meaningless debate of their queen and the notorious Cerabrate, a known hero and a disgusting pedophile. Despite the urge to shoo the knight away, they still kept their thoughts on their own. They were in anticipation of the war and more concerned with the beastmen army in front of them. However, they were most concerned with the winged toadman, a third party who might be a friend to lift the kingdom from falling into destruction or a foe to crush and topple it to the ground.
"A-Alright... as you wish your Majesty."
Cerabrate obeyed. He bowed his head in defeat and disappointment and walked towards his warhorse to line up with friends. He raised his hands and gently compresses the portable escopio in between his palms. Cerebrate lifted his head and swung his hand in contempt, tossing back the portable escopio to his friend with enough force as if to make the item suspended, floating for a brief second in the air.
Akela raised his head in response to surely catch the item from a high projectile. With the escopio back, instead of a sigh of relief, his hands only trembled, seeing a hair-raising spectacle appearing out of nothing above the atmosphere.
"W-What… what in the is… that?!" Akela quivered as he managed to mutter the mystifying words.
Everyone, altogether took a curious peek, turning their heads towards the source of the mumbling voice. However, confused about why the legendary thief of Crystal Tear kept on staring at the blinding sun, everyone swiftly turned their heads as if in a practice manner, casting their attention towards the skies.
At that moment, loud gasps reverberated through the air of the grassy plains as they witnessed above their heads a big swirling vortex of complete darkness.
"I can feel magic. Maybe it's a portal... or something?" Laguas was the first to react and unsurely responded.
The army, the queen, the general, the legendary Crystal Clear, everyone sighed in relief. The swirling black hole seized its wild expansion to devour the world.
But little did they know, for a certain purpose, the oval-shaped vortex was big enough for an entity from the other side of the world to pass through and fulfill its mighty goal.
A huge silhouette gradually appeared, darkening the skies. And not long after, covered in golden scales, a magnificent figure came to everyone's view.
"Roarggghhh!"
"Woahh!"
Everyone wowed in awe, desperately controlling the ranks of the cavalry as the horses tried to flee away from the dominating roar.
"D-Dragooon!" Esdev shrieked, screaming the obvious. In response, Cerabrate was quick to move and immediately ran back in the direction of the queen.
"Your Majesty!"
Cerabrate whooped and swung his silver shining sword from the sheath on his waist. He licked his lips in anticipation. It was his moment to protect his queen but to his, no— to everyone's surprise, the dragon continued to fly away, heading towards the accursed beastmen army.
The unexplainable event simply meant one thing. The bringer of death for the upcoming massacre had finally come.
A/N: Some OCs from the Draconic Kingdom: Akela/Thief, Esdev/Fighter, Laguas/Sorcerer, General Walder Pelcos, Captain Degor Salva.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Overlord Universe.