Chapter 18

A few days after the battle between Re-Estize and Nazarick, word had already begun spreading to the neighboring countries. Through the use of doppelgangers acting as deserting Re-Estize soldiers and some knowledgeable merchants, the might of Nazarick was announced to the world.

Leaders of every nation were in a state of worry. A new figure just appeared on the board of politics, a figure they knew very little about. Spies and informants were dispatched in numbers greater than ever before. And so the men and women, sent to gather information and to compile reports of the events that would soon transpire, all gathered around the Katze Plains.

Some infiltrated the Re Estize armies while the others observed from afar. It was a dangerous area crawling with undead. Many had died in countless battles and their corpses still littered the plains; many were decomposed, but given enough time, negative energies would cling to their remains and the bones that were left would rise as undead.

Yet now, no undead were in sight. A pressure could be felt rising in the air and even the miasma of the compiled negative energies seemed to be swept away. Across the dried up earth of the Katze Plains, beings of great might walked. Their auras of power were so great that if a mere mortal were to stumble into them, they would think that the mighty beings were gods, or at least their messengers.

The synchronized, crisp sound of armored feet marching forth filled the otherwise eerily silent surroundings. The otherwise monotone landscape was filled with movement as dust rose into the air from all the stomping feet against the dry, barren ground. The troops carefully fell into formation in front of a decently sized wooden fort. The large, wooden gate opened and out of it walked a large insectoid with a blue carapace.

He was followed by three out of the four Imperial Knights. Leinas, Baziwood and Nimble walked alongside the Vermin Lord. The armies just got into formations and Cocytus halted for a moment, admiring the disciplined warriors. The imperial legions of Baharuth and the armies of Naharick both showcased their discipline.

'Lord Warrior Takemikazuchi, would you be proud to see me leading an army like this? I know you have given me little to no knowledge on how to be a good general, but, by Lord Anzio's command, I shall strive to surpass your expectations, so when you manage to reach this world, I shall present my achievements to you with pride.' Cocytus was snapped out of his thoughts by Nimble.

"Sir Cocytus, a dust cloud seems to be forming on the horizon. The Re-Estize armies are closing in." He reported the news with no hint of worry in his voice.

Cocytus acknowledged the bit of information with a nod. "The battle that will display the greatness of the Supreme Being to the world is near. No illusions shall be cast this time. My Lord wishes to give that foolish king a chance to surrender."

Nimble and Baziwood looked at one another and then back at Cocytus, drops of sweat forming on their foreheads. "An army of two hundred thousand truly stands no chance, does it?" Their voices quivered.

Cocytus let out a waft of steam before answering. "The Supreme Beings of Ainz Ooal Gown are undefeated. Their numbers are irrelevant. Even if there were a million of them, I am certain they would still stand no chance."

The Vermin Lord spoke with absolute conviction and the Imperial Knights could not find themselves doubting his words. They gulped and forced themselves to calm down; they knew they were on the winning side.

Ninya and the rest of the Swords of Darkness gathered on the grassy plains near Nazarick. They were given orders to be battle ready and prepare to form up into legions. They were given only the rudimentary information but they knew they were about to fight their former Kingdom.

Ninya felt no pity for them. It was a kingdom that had failed her. A kingdom that was utterly flawed. A kingdom that allowed her sister to be taken away and used as a plaything. Besides, even if she did care for Re-Estize, she would still follow the orders of her Lord without hesitation.

He was the one that saved her and her sister. He was the one that brought those closest to her back to life. He was a being she would spend an eternity serving without complaint.

She noticed the Thrones and Demons began gathering, they were organized in formations by the Cherubs, Seraphs, Archdemons and Archdevils. The Nephalem formed up on their own. It was a sight to see. The former workers arrived on time as well. Ninya had gotten to know some and even learned to call a few of them her friends.

The groups of Foresight, Dragonhunt and Heavy Masher all gathered. Arche approached her with a smile and greeted her. The two magic casters got along pretty well and, following many hours of studying under Fluder and the Sages, they became good friends.

"Excited ? This will be our first battle under Lord Anzio." Arche spoke with a smile. The young girl that never smiled up until a few months ago had started smiling more and more often. She was weighed down by the threat of her sisters being sold away to pay a debt, but now she knew they were safe and it felt as if a massive burden had been lifted from her chest.

Ninya nodded with a smile of her own. "With this we can finally show gratitude to Lord Anzio for all he has done for us !" Ninya beamed and Arche agreed. They noticed their other party members were exchanging greetings and smalltalk as well, and they felt gratitude and happiness wash over them. They were surrounded with people they cared for and were given the chance to grow stronger, so that they could live lives without worry that those closest to them would be taken away.

Both Ninya and Arche had reached the fourth tier and Arche was already nearing the fifth. It was a grand achievement for the two teenage girls but, compared to the denizens of Nazarick, they still found themselves lacking. They were determined to work harder.

On the other side of the field, Brain waited patiently. He was given a chance to grow stronger and venture further along the way of the sword. He was in better gear than most nations had as national treasures. Unlike the adventurers and worker groups, he wasn't as sociable and didn't chat much with them. He had a few acquaintances that sparred with him, but he desired no friends. The path of the sword was all he needed, so that one day he could beat Gazef Stronoff. He knew that this world was filled with monsters that he could never defeat, but he grew content with the small amount of progress he made.

He was lost in thought once again until a familiar voice snapped him out of his daydreaming. "Brain Unglaus, is that you ?" Gazef asked and Brain whipped around.

"Gazef, what are you doing here ?" Brain asked in surprise. He was close to drawing his sword but stopped himself.

"I am a guest of Anzio-dono, he is helping us reclaim the throne and return King Ramposa to it." Gazef informed and Brain nodded.

"But how did you end up here?" Gazef asked with a raised brow.

"After you beat me in that duel… I went through a rough time, I became a bandit and did some… unsavory things. One of Lord Anzio's servants caught me and brought me here. I ended up as a servant here to repent for all my mistakes." Brain admitted in shame.

Gazef nodded. If Anzio-dono had decided that Brain was to be spared to repent, it would have been wrong to question it. "I see you have some better equipment." Gazef decided to change the subject.

"Yes, these are all gifts from Lord Anzio." Brain showed off. "They don't seem too shabby when compared to the national treasures, eh?" He teased him

Gazef puffed out his chest. "As you can see, along with the treasures, I also bear some gifts from Anzio-dono." He showcased new bits of equipment that increased his strength, endurance and speed. "I am thankful that Anzio-dono managed to retrieve the treasures after we escaped. Those traitorous bastards under Barbro do not deserve to use them." He said angrily.

Brain patted his shoulder. "No worries, we'll beat that idiot of a crown prince in no time." He reassured Gazef as the sound of a horn notified all of them to fall into formation.

Anzio sighed. The Nephalem was in his office, observing all the plans Demiurge and Albedo had compiled. 'Why did you two make those two so evil ?! Tabula-san, Ulbert-san, after I summon you here, we'll need to have a talk.' Anzio promised to himself and noticed Tsuare was shivering behind him.

Sebas, who stood stoically by his side, noticed this but had not yet dared to move. One side of him assured him that his kind Lord would forgive such a transgression, but the other was still hesitant.

Anzio decided to address the problem. "Tsuare, what's wrong ?" He smiled kindly at the former peasant girl.

Tsuare shivered but gathered her courage. "Forgive me for my insolence, but I wish to make a request." Her voice shivered and Anzio noticed it was a pitch higher than usual as she prostrated herself before him.

Sebas was about to reprimand her but Anzio warned him not to with a wave of his hand. "Please rise, Tsuare, and state your request." The Nephalem spoke politely and she slowly obeyed his command but dared not to raise her head and look him in the eye.

"M…my Lord I know that the army here is led by someone who has displeased you greatly… but… but most of the soldiers are peasants. I know you must kill some to send a message; I am but a maid but I know that much… but I beg of you, do not kill so many husbands, fathers and sons." She managed to voice her request and she began weeping slowly.

Anzio slowly stood up and walked up to her. Sebas flinched as worry grew in his heart. Would his Lord claim her life for such an impudent request? Anzio smiled and raised his hand only to place it on her shoulder in a gesture of comfort.

"You really are one of the kindest people I have ever met. Rest assured. I will never kill more than necessary. I could never look my friends in the eye if I did something like that." He smiled, squeezing her shoulder gently in an attempt to reassure her.

"T…thank you, you truly are the kindest Lord one could have." Tsuare wept but stopped herself from dirtying Anzio's robes with her tears. Anzio smiled, "Sebas, how about you and Tsuare have some time to rest and relax. I'll be going to the Katze Plains soon, so I will have no need for a maid there." He smiled and Sebas obeyed, promising to himself that he would work even harder, to be worthy to serve such a merciful lord.

Anzio smiled as he walked along Nazarick's halls, all the good memories he had formed in this place together with his friends. He recalled them all, it was a bittersweet moment. He knew he was about to kill a lot of people, but it was all to bring him one step closer to summoning the 40 people he called friends. And Anzio knew that he would do whatever it took to rescue them all from that living hell.

He passed through the gate he had opened for himself and allowed a proud smile to form on his face. He shook away all the bittersweet memories and decided to admire the grand sight before him. All the armies were in formation. They had been gated to the Katze Plains as well. Cocytus gave his final orders and everyone fell into position.

A few more gates opened and Anzio noticed the Re-Estize royal family and the Blue Roses who stepped through them. The Nephalem observed the adamantite adventuring group and noticed they all stuck closer to one another. Evileye probably revealed she was a vampire to the twins and Gagaran. Anzio was glad they accepted her, but his angelic traits did pick up on quite a bit of turmoil going on inside Lakyus' mind.

Ramposa looked at the massive army his foolish son had assembled and shook his head, disappointed. Barbro had failed to learn from his mistakes. He was stubborn, and now many of the citizens that a king should protect would die and suffer in a battle where the outcome had already been decided.

Anzio noticed the saddened look on the king's face. The soldiers they would be fighting were the citizens of his kingdom after all. "I am sending an envoy to Barbro, he is being given a chance to avoid bloodshed." Anzio spoke, but both he and everyone else gathered here knew that the foolishness of Barbro knew no bounds.

"I hope your envoy is not harmed by my son or the incompetents he has surrounded himself with." Ramposa sighed.

Anzio chuckled. "I sent a servant that cannot be harmed by someone as weak as them."

Ramposa nodded grimly. The fact that this king had so much power and hadn't yet utilized it to conquer the entirety of his nation puzzled him to no avail.

Anzio hummed a song he heard a long time ago and waited for Namiel to return. As expected, she returned soon enough with a slightly displeased expression on her face.

"After several insults to you, my liege, they refused and stated they would crush us." Namiel reported with a hint of frustration and anger.

Anzio sighed and nodded, it was foolish to hope for a different outcome. He took a deep breath and decided to address the armies gathered before him. With a simple spell he made sure his speech would be heard by the armies of Nazarick, the empire and maybe even the Re-Estize.

"My faithful soldiers, good warriors and magic casters of Baharuth, loyal warriors of king Ramposa ! Today, a battle shall be fought and won by you. A battle for the future of a kingdom! A battle in which a traitor and false ruler will be removed from the seat upon the throne that he stole. This will be a battle that will announce the Kingdom of Nazarick to the world ! The names of Nazarick and Ainz Ooal Gown will once again be known to every living being. And the name of Ainz Ooal Gown shall never be sullied by defeat !"

Anzio gave a speech he thought of in the heat of the moment. He had prepared a different speech but decided to scrap it. He hoped this short but emotional speech would be enough for the armies gathered here. And his hopes came true. The soldiers cheered and let their war cries be heard across the plains.

Barbro scoffed. That lowly magic caster dared call himself a king, and claimed victory before the battle even began. He noticed Blumrush and Boullope approach him.

"Do not worry. my king. The enemy is numerous, but we still outnumber them and no manner of creatures and imperial soldiers will be able to stand against you." Blumrush complemented with a bow.

Boullope smiled. "Do not worry, my son in law, we will crush them here, and then we can even march to Arwintar and finally defeat the Empire !" The Marquis said, ambition burning brightly in his chest.

Barbro smirked. "Yes, we will do exactly that. Now let's crush that filthy bug ! Every moment he remains alive is an insult to my rule." He ordered pompously, and the nobles went to their assigned regiments.

And so the nobles rode away on their horses, and after each of them gave a pitiful speech of encouragement to their soldiers, the sound of a horn being blown announced the start of a battle that would be remembered as a massacre.

The armies of Nazarick and the Empire were ready to greet the charging army of Re-Estize. This time, the orders given to them by their Lord was to utilize their powers to their fullest extent, but to accept any and all surrenders.

And so the unexpecting peasants and nobles which dreamt of glory in war were met with swift ends of their lives. Blades cut through them like hot knives through butter, spells which they formerly believed only Gods could cast were now raining down upon them.

Thousands died in the first minute. Then stepped in the Sages. The ones whose only wish was to further pursue the path of magic were now given the chance to test the spells their Lord designed.

The first spell of the day was cast. An AOE spell of the 10th tier. Runes and magic circles swirled around the high tier angelic and demonic summons as they cast the spell.

[Tempest's Currents]

Stormy clouds formed above the Re-Estize army, wind blew and heavy rain fell upon the plains. But the water was different. None of it seeped into the dry unliving soil, instead it pooled around the soldiers' feet. It didn't smell like regular rain water either, the distinct smell of salt filling the nostrils of every soldier. And after enough water fell, streaks of lightning struck in quick succession. Each strike was as powerful as the one of a [Call Greater Thunder].Thousands of soldiers were electrocuted to death, thousands of more were knocked out or paralyzed by the high voltage.

And soon after, other spells followed, each varying in the elements used, but what all of the spells had in common was their efficiency at taking lives.

Anzio suppressed a shiver as he came to realize the spells he had spent days and nights designing were now being utilized in a war to take lives, and they did so as efficiently as possible.

After the Sages and other magic casters finished their barrage of spells, over sixty thousand soldiers of Re-Estize lay dead upon the Katze plains. The legions of Baharuth and the warrior band led by Gazef were frozen in shock. They weren't needed, they had as much use as water to a drowning man.

The army of Nazarick showcased its superiority to the world, but the stubbornness of Barbro was not such an easy thing to shatter. Many soldiers attempted to flee, only to be pushed back into the fight by nobles or officers.

Anzio sighed. He did not wish for it to come to this, but he would need to kill more people to finally prove to Barbro this battle was a lost endeavor.

Anzio stepped forward as he walked along the battlefield. The corpses of the Re-Estize soldiers beneath his feet were a grim sight to the 16 year old human that dwelled inside the Nephalem, but he did not feel as much guilt as he thought he should. He shifted his gaze forward as his troops stepped aside so that they would not disrupt their Lord.

Even the fighting halted as the noble and peasant soldiers felt the presence of a being many would describe as a God. Anzio's aura was leaking out and the weakest of the nobility and the army were having trouble keeping their knees from shaking.

Anzio's heterochromatic eyes flared with power as he prepared to cast a super tier spell. His body moved on instinct, the sequences fell into place as if they were part of a program. The perfect dome-like structure of magic runes and circles lit up the plains beneath the cloudy skies.

Fluder, who was observing the battle, fell to his knees in admiration, the madman cackled as tears fell down his aged face. He was about to witness the pinnacle of magical might, the power one acquires when they reach the deepest depth of the abyss. Many others gazed at the magical construct with pride or awe. Ninya and Arche had the same reaction, as the massive dome could be seen from across the battlefield.

Anzio took a deep breath as he felt that the ambient mana collection sequence had just ended. The spinning circles came to a halt and the dome expanded outward with a bright flash of light.

[The Judgment of the Final Arbiter]

The super-tier spell was cast. It engulfed the entirety of the Re-Estize army and judgement was proclaimed upon every soldier. Every man, noble or peasant, besides those Anzio elected to spare, were judged by the Arbiter. Every man guilty or innocent felt an innate fear, it felt as if they were moments away from death. A scale upon which a heart and feather balanced, and where the heart proved to be heavier than the feather, death was the only sentence. Those found guilty by the Final Arbiter's scale dissipated into ash and were carried away by the wind while the ones found innocent remained in the realm of the living. Yet even those that lived felt fear overtake their bodies, they all felt as if they were moments away from death and only by the will of a God were they spared.

Fifty thousand soldiers vanished into ashes. Anzio shook his head in disappointment. He hoped that the spell would kill only a fraction of that number, but he underestimated the amount of evil humans of this world were capable of. Every soldier that was affected by that spell had a negative karma rating lower than -100. How could so many people commit so many evil deeds ? Anzio could not find the answer to such a question. Out of the two hundred and fifty thousand men that were alive at the start of the battle. The Re-Estize army had lost a hundred and ten thousand.

Collective and continuous clanking of metal could be heard across the plains as the surviving soldiers dropped their swords and armor and began running away. The few surviving nobles lost all courage, none dared to command the soldiers to keep fighting and they themselves decided running away was the best option.

Barbro screamed at the nobles and cowardly soldiers, but he himself knew he should run. He got on top of his horse and began running away, looking back to see if they would give chase, but while he was looking behind him, a [Gate] opened in front of him, the horse attempted to stop but could not and both Barbro and his horse fell through the warped hole in reality.

The foolish king looked around in confusion. He looked up and came face to face with the man that had erased fifty thousand of his soldiers from existence. First fear set in, then anger, he drew his sword to strike at the magic caster only to see his blade shatter. Anzio flicked it with the tip of his finger and the pathetic decorative sword broke as if it was made from glass.

"You disappointing thing of a man. You truly are as pathetic as they get, aren't you?" Anzio spat. His auras ran rampant and Barbro cowered in fear.

Anzio walked away. "You are his father and king, you decide his punishment. I'll see you in E-Rantel." The Nephalem player walked away and passed through a gate as the battle had ended. Out of the 250 thousand, 140 thousand survived and ran away.

Anzio stepped into a corridor. He noticed Tsuare was doing some cleaning nearby. He walked up to her in silence. "Out of two hundred and fifty thousand, I only managed to spare a hundred and forty thousand,. I'm sorry." He reported and before Tsuare could even bow or acknowledge what she just heard, he already walked away.

A single tear slid down Anzio's eye before he could compose himself. "Just how much of my humanity will I have to sacrifice to get you all here?" He asked the empty room he just walked into. "I don't care how much of it is sacrificed, as long as I get to see you again." He steeled his resolve and turned around to join his Guardians in celebration of their victory.

And so, while the denizens and the ruler of Nazarick celebrated, unease and fear grew in the hearts of many. Every spy and informant returned to their countries without issue and every single one of them gave the exact same report of the events of the battle, no, of the massacre. Beings that rivaled the old Gods in power punished those that stood against them and a single man killed tens of thousands with a single spell. If that was not the power of a God, what was ? Many had wondered, some denied such blasphemous thoughts, while others hoped that such a mighty being may be a blessing, while others prayed it was not a curse that would darken the world.

AN: Hello dear readers from near and far, sorry been a bit busy, but the new chapter is here, I hope you will enjoy it and leave some juicy reviews ! Now, I know some of you are wondering, what made me so busy, well, it was co-authoring a crossover story with my good friend EdgyTheWriter, with his outstanding writing skills, and some help from my humble self we managed to create a story that has reached 400 followers in less than 10 days time ! The Re:Zero x Overlod crossover "Re: He Who Is Beyond Sin'' has been posted by EdgyTheWriter, go check it out along with his other work "Drowned Madness Walks The Land'' I hope you enjoy the crossover, Edgy and I put in a lot of work in it, and it is always a pleasure to work with such a good co-author and friend as him.