Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons
The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown
Book : Skelkor War
Chapter 3: The Liberation Begins
Beta:
Almost two weeks after their emergence from the Underdark and days of marching later, Neia stood atop the corpse of an Adult Red Dragon that had been felled by the railguns of their Sigurd anti-aircraft combat vehicles and addressed a large crowd of faithful gathered before her.
"Praise to Lord Ainz Ooal Gown!" The god's Paladin said with the full breadth of her skill as an Evangelist.
"Praise be to Ainz Ooal Gown!" The crowd replied respectfully.
"Praise to the brave men and women who carried out his will and slew this beast upon which I stand." Neia continued once the crowd quieted once more. "Soon all of you will have the chance to be the instruments of his will, for within a day, two at most, we will be at the walls of Daerr. And there we will teach the tyrants of Skelkor, of Laerakond, of all Toril, everywhere, to fear the name of Ainz Ooal Gown and all those who serve his divine will!"
"Ainz Ooal Gown!" The crowd roared in ecstatic unison.
Neia let them cheer for a long moment but she did not wait for them to quiet on their own this time, instead she raised her hands to signal for them to do so instead. It took a minute or two, but she waited patiently for silence before she continued speaking.
"But that is for the morrow. For now we must mourn and honor the losses of the brave men and women that died to the enemy's raids today and over the past few days. For that I ask all of you to join me in prayer."
A solemn silence came over the crowd at the reminder of all those killed by the probing raids the Dragons had sent against them.
"Let us pray." Neia said into the respectful quiet. "O great Father on Felmid-"
Some distance away, Drau stood with Yorha, Kuro draped around her neck as always, as they watched Neia's service from a window of the command tent.
"Neia seems to be gathering more and more people with each service." Yorha observed.
Drau nodded in agreement. "The number of true believers have grown faster than even Neia had thought possible."
"True believers?" Yorha questioned.
"All of our soldiers at least nominally believe in Lord Ainz's divinity." Drau explained. "But not all of them see him as their god. Neia's efforts is making that number grow by leaps and bounds."
Yorha and Kuro both nodded in understanding and the sight caused Drau to recalls that yes, the Slime was sapient now.
And hadn't that revelation been a memorable experience
Twas the night before they were all about to split up and the whole party had gathered to have the evening meal together. They usually did, even as they were busy with managing their army, but this time Drau had insisted. And it was a good idea it seemed as Taana had turned up looking looking like she was having an anxiety attack over her upcoming mission.
"You'll do fine, Taana." Neia said, employing a handful of her Evangelist skills to help relax the young Shadar-kai as she took first crack at reassuring their sister. "I have faith in you. We all do."
"You're capable." Gaul chimed in. "You'll manage this."
"Taana, they're right." Drau told the Wizard, offering her a comforting smile. "I wouldn't ask you to do anything I didn't think you could manage, would I?"
"No, you wouldn't." Taana admitted. "Yeah. I guess, you're all right. I'll manage just fine."
"You'll be awesome." An unfamiliar voice added suddenly.
Acting with the finely honed instincts of seasoned adventurers, they all turn towards the source of the voice, their hands on their weapons. Only to find a purple skinned Human levitating next to Yorha.
"Kuro!" Yorha cried out, smacking the Human lightly. "You startled everyone! You promised you wouldn't."
"Kuro!? He can talk now?" Neia said, voicing everyone's thoughts on the matter.
"Yes." The levitating Human, Kuro?, said with a nod. "It is a pleasure to finally be able to properly converse with my family."
"Why does he sound like some uppity noble?" Taana asked, with her face scrunched up in distaste.
That's not the issue here! Drau wanted to scream but only managed to turn to look at the Shadar-kai incredulously.
"Probably because his intelligence is derived mainly from assimilating the minds of Illithids and Drow?" Gaul suggested, rubbing his chin curiously. "Their arrogance had to manifest somehow."
Gaul! Not you too!
"I think you might be correct." Kuro agreed. "Though I wonder if there's any way to be certain?"
"That can wait!" Neia said as she walked over to the Slime and spread her arms. "Welcome to the family!"
Neia!? I thought you were on my side of this!
"Uh, Neia, I'm still super corrosive." Kuro said looking at the Paladin with confusion. "I can't hug you."
"Nonsense! Just don't touch me. If you can figure out using levitation to avoid burning the ground, you can manage a hug without touching me."
Kuro looked towards Yorha for guidance, but the swordswoman just gave a shrug whilst sporting an amused grin. Thus without direction, he sighed and gave Neia the awkward hug she was looking for.
"Is no one else freaked out by this development?" Drau asked, unable to hold in her consternation any longer.
"Not really." Gaul said with a chuckle. "I hypothesized this would happen eventually."
"Yeah, I figured it would happen sooner or later too." Taana added. "He does eat minds after all. It was only a matter of time he developed a thinking mind of his own."
"I'm just happy to have a new member of the family." Neia confessed, before swiftly turning to Kuro and correcting herself. "Not that you weren't a member before, but-"
"I get it." Kuro assured her with a smile.
"If it's any consolation Drau, I was surprised when he told me." Yorha told her with a grin. "Though I don't think I was quite as shocked as you are."
"You weren't." Kuro assured her.
Drau just looked at the assembled members of her family and their totally nonchalant reaction to this revelation and couldn't help but feel flabbergasted.
My family is insane!
"So what's the plan for our attack on the city?" Kuro asked from Yorha's shoulder, pulling Drau out of her thoughts.
"Right." She said as she shook her head to clear her thoughts and walked over to a nearby holographic display projecting the image of the walled city and its surroundings.
"So here's the plan-"
A day later, Drau stood in the command tent and watched the tactical display before her as it showed their army arranging themselves in positions around Daerr in preparation to besiege the city.
"I'm surprised the Dragons in the city haven't sortied out to try and stop us from entrenching ourselves." Drau commented to her adjutant Fluder without taking her eyes off the display.
"Perhaps after their recent losses, they have chosen to be more cautious?"
"I'm hoping they're being not too cautious." Drau said with a frown. "Our plan hinges on them still having some of their innate aggression."
Her hopes were answered when a number of hostile markers rose into the air from the city and quickly resolved into Dragons. Dozens of them.
"It seems that you needn't have worried, my Lady, they still have some fight in them."
"Indeed." Drau said with a grin. "Are our AA (anti-aircraft) in position?"
"Yes, my Lady. They were deployed ahead of time and are hidden under invisibility spells just as you requested." Fluder told her with a hungry gleam to his eyes. "They are ready."
"Then give the order."
"With pleasure." The elderly looking Momon said before turning towards the Human woman manning the comms and had her relaying orders to the AA units to open fire at will.
They responded almost immediately and Drau watched the tactical display with pleasure as the Dragons who had foolishly sortied out in a bid to disrupt their siegework construction were massacred by volleys of David missiles and streams of supersonic projectiles fired from the railguns of their Sigurd anti-aircraft combat vehicles. Many of the enemy had shrouded themselves in various protective auras and spells and that helped. Against the first few dozen or so hits that is, but there were thousands of anti-air rounds and hundreds of missiles being shot at them. Faced with such ferocity, all but the most powerful spells soon failed and those they protected were torn apart.
Some however either by virtue of possessing stronger protective spells or being closer to the city when the killing started or just dumb luck made it back to the relative safety of the ground beyond Daerr's walls. Most though, more than three dozen at least, died. Their carcasses falling from the sky in full view of the city's population
Just as planned.
While Drau commanded the operation from the command tent, Kuro and Yorha had opted to take a more direct role in the liberation of the city. Thus Kuro was in his massive sized slug form with Yorha riding atop his head as they stood among the ranks of the infantry tasked with being the first wave to storm the city when the time came.
They thus had the pleasure of having a nice view of the massacre of the Dragons that Drau's trap had reaped. The whole lot of them watching with grim satisfaction as the arrogant Dragon tyrants were shot out of the sky like little more than flies by their AA.
"Now for the next act." Yorha said, her voice tinged with anticipation.
They didn't have to wait long before the roar of their artillery sounded. Well out of any ranges that Daerr's defenders or most on Toril would have expected or believed possible, Jericho missile artillery and Panzerhaubitze self-propelled howitzers began unloading their payload.
The walls of Daerr were twenty feet thick on average and made of solid stone. They were even magically reinforced in points of key importance or weakness. They were made to withstand the attack of the most powerful monsters and the mightiest of invading armies. They were not however designed to withstand bunker-busting artillery shells and deep penetration explosives. Thus as these rained down on the walls, they crumbled like a sand castle before a wave.
"Casters, open the Gates." Yorha shouted down at the various Wizards mixed into their formation, even as the artillery barrage petered out. The two of them weren't exactly part of the chain of command of the units they stood among, but everyone in their army deferred to them nonetheless as Chosen of Ainz Ooal Gown.
Thus her shouted command served to snap the Wizards out of their awed stupor at the sight of Daerr's collapsing walls and they began hastily casting their spells. Within seconds, dozens of large portals stood in front of their troops and Yorha raised her sword in the air.
Pointing it at the swirling oval of darkness in front of them, she gave the order they'd all been waiting for. "Charge!"
As one hundreds of men and machines poured through the portals and exited directly pass the ruins of Daerr's walls. A feat possible thanks to the line of sight provided to their Wizards due to the destruction of the obscuring walls.
Caught completely off guard by the series of unexpected events, Daerr's defenders could barely mount anything resembling a credible resistance. They were thus largely helpless as they were mowed down by fireteams of plasma and laser gun wielding soldiers, run over by railgun equipped Hippo armored personnel carriers or shot to pieces by the guns of the Scorpion light tanks.
In the midst of this bloodbath, Kuro slithered his way through the streets of the city turned battleground. His pseudopods lashing out at anything that looked remotely hostile, leaving the fortunate with debilitatingly painful acid burns while the unlucky were pulled into his main body to be consumed.
"Kuro, over there." Yorha said pointing to a plaza nearby where a trio of Wyrmling Green Dragons were fighting back to back and using their corrosive breath weapon to hold back their troops.
"I see it," the Blacklight Slime told her and changed direction.
"I'll go ahead." Yorha said as she crouched down. "Catch up as soon as you can."
"Will do."
He doubted she heard his reply, the android had leapt off his head and activated her Sword Blitz skill as soon as she finished her sentence. The skill usually allowed her to shoot through a throng of enemies at high speed whilst cutting down foes all along her path. Here however she was using it to shoot herself through the empty air towards the plaza like a bullet.
The perfectly timed skill cut off just over a particularly tall building around the plaza where the Dragons were and she fell the few feet to its roof in a graceful crouch. One of the Wyrmlings noticed her and turned to breath its breath at her. Kuro wasn't worried. If she was immune to his corrosiveness then what was a Green Dragon's breath? Not that it mattered since she leapt from the crumbling building before the stream of chlorine gas that the Wyrmling breathed out got anywhere close to her.
"Beast Cutter." Kuro heard her whisper as she swung her sword at her attacker, unleashing an energy wave that vertically bisected the Dragon.
The two remaining Wyrmlings responded to this with alarm and recoiled from her. With all their attention on Yorha, they completely failed to notice as Kuro whipped a dozen long pseudopods at the closest Dragon.
His opponent struggled to get free but it was hopeless. Kuro had many times its biomass to play with and had made the pseudopods that now bound it more than strong enough to keep it restrained. Thus its thrashing were futile as the Blacklight Slime smothered the Wyrmling with its body and began digesting its latest meal.
While this happened, Kuro had noticed a nearby boom and had wondered what it was but had been too busy dealing with his newest victim to really see what it was. Now with the Wyrmling Green Dragon being consumed, he turned towards the source of the noise to see the smoking barrel of a Scorpion light tank.
Glancing at the last of the juvenile Dragons, Kuro was pleased to note that its neck had been severed by the aforementioned tank's mass driver main gun.
"Good shot!" Kuro complimented the tank crew, whilst he formed an oversized humanoid fist out of a pseudopod and gave them a thumbs up.
"Kuro, let's go. There are plenty more fights for us." Yorha said as she jumped on his back and made her way back up to his head.
"Right." The Blacklight Slime told her as he surveyed their surroundings for another skirmish that needed their intervention.
"Go further into the city." Yorha advised. "We'll shadow our troops' advance, surely we'll find somewhere to offer help doing that."
"Gotcha." Kuro said as he turned towards the city center and began moving towards it and the fighting ahead.
"Rise up! Rise up against your oppressors!" Neia shouted, putting all her charisma as an Evangelist into her words alongside the various skills she was using in rotation to boost it further. Cool down being a pain and not allowing her to use them all at once.
"People of Daerr! Be slaves no more! Rise up and join us! Together let us overthrow the Dragons!" The Paladin of Ainz Ooal Gown said with full conviction into the microphone in front of her as she rode atop a specially modified Hippo armored personnel carrier as it and its escorting column of various armored vehicles drove down the city's streets.
In a normal city mainly populated by humanoids on Toril like Daerr was this would've been impossible without wrecking buildings on either side of the road. The streets would simply be too narrow. However, Daerr's Draconic overlords had made it possible with their insistence on roads large enough to accommodate their large bodies.
"You have seen them fall dead from the sky yourselves," Neia continued speaking as the armored column advanced deeper and deeper into the comparatively cluttered slave residential district. Where the main streets were wide to allow Dragons comfortable passage, the houses of their slaves were crammed together into clusters that maximized occupancy and minimized land use, but completely ignored privacy or sanitation.
"Do not be afraid! The Dragons are about to fall! Rise up and join us in taking them down!" Neia urged the teeming masses of slaves that were increasingly pouring out of the pathetic tenements that they were forced to call home.
"The only one about to fall here is you!" An Adult Red Dragon roared as it flew towards them. "Di-!"
It had been preparing to unleash its deadly fiery breath weapon at them and the various armored vehicles in Neia's column had been turning their weapons to take it out before it could, but she had beaten them all to the kill.
Moving with a speed that only a veteran adventurer could manage, she'd pulled Ultimate Shooting Star Super off her back, nocked an arrow, activated Dragon Slaying Arrow and loosed. Thus before the Dragon could even finish its sentence a golden streak had slammed into its snout and detonated. The force of the blast easily decapitated the huge monster and its corpse fell out of the air to crash into the street it had been flying low over.
The crowd of slaves which had cowered, with some even fleeing, at the sight of the incoming Dragon were stunned into silence for a moment. This didn't last. As the realization of what they had just seen settled into their minds, a massive cheer went up among them.
"See the power of Ainz Ooal Gown!" Neia said, only the speakers of the sound system that had been installed onto her Hippo allowing her to be heard over the rapturous crowds. "See our power! Rise up! Join us!"
This time her call which until now had only drawn a quiet, curious interest from the slaves was met with an enthusiastic response.
"Rise up! Rise up!" The crowds cheered in chorus as weapons of all kinds from proper swords to improvised ones like kitchen knives and clubs were quickly spread among its masses and it transformed from a group of passive onlookers into a revolutionary mob.
With the chant of "Rise up! Rise up!" spreading out from her advancing column to slowly but surely be picked up by the majority of the slaves of Daerr, Neia led them unerringly towards the city center and the ostentatious palace from which its governor ruled.
"This palace is ridiculously over the top." Drau said with a shake of her head as she looked at the towers and pavilions of gleaming marble, black and white in a checkerboard design, that was the governor's palace at the heart of Dearr. All around the buildings were perfectly tended plants in such number that calling it a garden would be underselling it. It was a forest. Fitting considering the Ancient Green Dragon that laired there.
"Indeed, my Lady." Fluder said from where he stood next to her in the command tent that had been relocated to a square midway between the governor's palace and the city's ruined walls.
"He's still not willing to negotiate?" Drau asked her adjutant, looking away from the palace.
"No, my Lady." Fluder told her with a shake of his head. "He's killed the last two sets of envoys we sent to get him to talk."
"The bastard." Drau cursed. "If he didn't have hostages-"
But he did. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of them. When the walls had fallen, Cethakus, Dragon Governor of Daerr had not bothered to organize a defense. Instead, he'd spent all his effort rounding up as many slaves and herding them into his palace to serve as living shields instead.
"We could send a team in to-"
"The only team that would stand a chance going in there would be my party." Drau said cutting the Momon off. "And I'd only take us in if we were all here."
"But you alone can-"
"Only by taking one of my Draconic forms." Drau said with a frown. "And that would almost certainly create a panic among the freed slaves of Daerr. We'd go from liberators to just another Draconic oppressor. I don't want to waste time dealing with that."
"I'm sure we can handle it fairly quickly. Especially if we have Lady Neia's help." Fluder argued.
"It would still take too long." Drau insisted. "We need to reinforce Taana ASAP."
"We could split off a contingent of our troops now and send them to her."
"Without first giving them a victory?" Drau asked with a raised eyebrow. "And risk the hit to their morale?"
"It's not that great a risk."
"Maybe not." Drau allowed. "But one I'm not willing to take."
"Then what shall we do?" Fluder asked, looking at a loss.
In lieu of a direct answer, Drau turned to the comms operator.
"Contact the artillery units."
"You can't intend to-" Fluder said, looking shocked.
"I am."
"But what of the hostages?" The elderly looking undead creature asked, more curious than anything else.
"Will be considered collateral damage. They are inevitable in war, the people of Daerr will more easily stomach that than seeing me transform into a Dragon and fighting Cethakus."
"I suppose." Fluder said, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "But if they find out later?"
"Then we'll handle it then." Drau said dismissively before addressing the comms operator. "The artillery?"
"They await your orders, ma'am." The woman said, her professionalism largely hid her thoughts on Drau's chosen course of action but there was a definite air of approval radiating from her.
The command tent was permeated by it. Drau was not surprised. Like the gods of Nazarick they all followed, they might have benevolent intentions but they would not avoid resorting to evil actions if necessary or even if it was convenient. Such was the mindset fostered by her Father.
"Tell them to fire on the governor's palace. Bring it down on top of the idiot governor's head."
"Yes ma'am!" The Human replied with enthusiasm as she began relaying her order.
Drau meanwhile returned to the tent window that gave her a view of the governor's palace and watched with satisfaction as missiles and artillery shells rained down upon it. A gargantuan mass of green scaled flesh tried to rise from under the barrage and the crumbling ruins of the once luxurious palace but Cethakus' efforts just made him a target.
He shielded himself as best he could with his magic. He had what looked like a dozen different spells enshrouding his form. But it wasn't enough and they soon shattered, leaving his body subject to the fury of the massed artillery under which even the legendary durability of a Dragon failed.
He unleashed his deadly corrosive chlorine gas breath weapon with abandon hoping to take some of them with him but the forces surrounding his palace had prepared for it and hundreds of magical barriers went up, preventing the gas from spreading even as a host of air spells channeled the gas skywards and away from the city. He probably would have easily countered it with his own formidable magic. Unfortunately, he was being torn to pieces by artillery fire and was in no position to muster the concentration to do such a thing.
He tried to fly away but his wings failed him. Being one of the first targets of the precise artillery, his vast membranous wings were long since torn to shreds and under the barrage he lacked the focus needed to use magic to achieve flight.
Thus it was that Cethakus, Governor Dragon of Daerr, died whilst being utterly unable to properly defend himself, retaliate or even flee. He died a humiliating death. The only kind of death befitting a slaver.
Seeing this beautiful sight, Drau smiled.
"And so with this moment of silence and our heartfelt prayers we honor all those, willing and unwilling, friend and enemy, that died to make our victory possible." Neia said as she bowed her head and the assembled thousands maintained a respectful moment of silence.
Even from where she was in the command tent for their army and watching the service in the ruins of the governor's palace via audiovisual feed, silence reigned. It was a sincere mark of respect after all and one Yorha too adhered to.
"And now-" Neia said as she broke the silence and Yorha turned from the holographic display broadcasting the service to look if Drau would see her now.
The aforementioned Dragon was finishing up a discussion with her adjutant, the Momon named Fluder Paradyne, and gestured to Yorha to wait a moment longer.
"Wonder what they're talking about." Kuro said curiously from her shoulder where he rested in his favored tiny slug like form.
"They're discussing the logistics of splitting our army up so we can move on separate targets." Yorha told him, gesturing to the rectangular computer the Momon was using to show Drau something as they talked. "Fluder has the relevant data pulled up on his tablet."
"Oh," Kuro said sounding disappointed, probably hoping that the topic of discussion was something more exciting. Sadly, contrary to popular belief, much of what was involved in running a military campaign was hardly exciting at all.
Drau and Fluder finished up a few moments later and Drau walked over.
"Was it necessary?" Yorha asked without preamble once her leader came within the polite distance for a conversation. They all knew what she was talking about.
"Completely? No. We had other options."
"Then why?" Yorha asked heatedly. "Thousands of hostages died, Drau. Thousands!"
"It was expedient." Drau admitted with a shrug.
Yorha stilled and ran through all she knew of the situation again. She weighed the pros and cons like she knew Drau would have. And… She was sad to say she came up with the same outcome. She'd have made the same call.
"Dammit." Yorha hissed in frustration.
"It's alright Yorha." Kuro said, rubbing his body against her neck comfortingly. "We aren't here to be saints. We're fighting a war. People will die as collateral damage."
"I know, but it's just-"
"Yorha," Drau said taking one of the android's hands and squeezing gently. "I won't promise that I won't do the same sort of thing again. But I will promise to try not to."
Yorha offered the Dragon a nod and squeezed her hand back. "Please do."
"So we all good again?" Kuro asked cautiously and both women let go of each other's hands, before offering him nods.
The Slime sighed in relief and Yorha couldn't help the amused smile at his oh so Humanesque behavior.
"Why don't you two go have a rest?" Drau suggested. "You deserve it."
"Alright." Yorha said as she turned to leave. "Don't commit any more war crimes while I'm gone."
She honestly didn't know if she was being serious or just joking like her tone implied. Maybe both? Either way, it was a peace offering and one Drau readily accepted.
"I won't." The Dragon said with a slight giggle.
Smiling at that, Yorha left with Kuro in tow. It had been a long day and she really wanted a rest right now. By her Slime friend's silence, he agreed.
Done!
Hoped you gives liked the chapter.
So I think there's some things I need to address here.
Firstly, the one sided victory for the party and their army. In regards to that, keep in mind that this is an Overlord crossover and a key theme of Overlord is the overpowered nature of Nazarick's forces. I've had to buff them a little to allow them to maintain that level of OPness but it's a theme I want to keep so this is just par for the course.
Secondly, were Drau's decisions militarily sound? I'm not a military strategist so I can't fully say. I think they mostly are except maybe the decision surrounding reinforcing Taana and thus the related one to bombard the governor's palace. Why did I include a decision that even I find doubtful? Simple. Drau is not exactly created or trained to be a general, she's winging it. If even career generals can make mistakes, we can't expect someone like Drau to be perfect.
That's all for this chapter. La revedere!
