Re-Estize Kingdom, Capital North East
.
.
Clank! Both the sword and axe collided with each other to create a metallic sound that bristled through the entire street. Gargan was struggling to hold back Asher as he was pushing down on her axe. Her muscles tensed as she groaned pushing Asher back. Asher countered with an effortless swing.
"Your quite tough for a demi-human" She grunted while struggling to counteract his attacks. Asher ignored her as he continued to relentlessly swing at her again and again. Each swing created a shockwave that fluttered blood from the bodies of humans on the streets.
The hell is wrong with this person, I can barely block his attacks, She thought as she lunged back three meters away from Asher.
"What's wrong? Too scared to fight?" Asher spat,
Gargan sensed hints of arrogance in those words, but right now she could not afford to get angry - All she could do is wait for Tina and Tia to come as reinforcements.
"No, it is called a tactical retreat." She replied she could not make the same mistakes she made while fighting the demon maid and Jaldaboath.
"Very well then," Asher said as he leapt from where he was standing, he landed right behind her creating a small crater from where he jumped and landed. And before he could take a swing at her she blocked it and they exchanged blows between each other each and every one of them blocked by Asher.
Right now Asher was not even using a fraction of his power. He was told by Demiurge to not completely defeat them but only measure their strength and slightly one up on them in a fight. Asher sighed as he remembered this because fighting this gorilla looking human was very monotonous and boring.
"What are you here for?" She shouted at Asher. He did not reply he once again charged at Gargan and they began to struggle with each other until they crashed into a building.
Before anything else could happen Asher got a [Message] from Demiurge.
{It is time to retreat}
{Understood} Asher replied,
"Woman, it has pleased me that I have fought with you but my apologies, it is time for me to withdraw." Asher stated mockingly as he slightly bowed with his right hand on his stomach showing what would be called 'respect' but in actuality, it was just a hint of mock and tease.
Before she could refute his absurd statement he cast.
[-Blinding Smite]! He shouted, a bright light suddenly appeared from him, Gargan put both of her hands on her eyes in pain as she dropped her great axe and fell on her knees. Right before Asher left he casts [Lightning Strike], Gargan was still on the ground and suddenly a huge lightning bolt appears and strikes her back first causing her to pass out.
.
.
Streets of the Re-Estize Capital South
.
.
"Do not pull back, charge!" A man on a horse shouted, he was the general of the army assigned for protection at the gates. In front of him was a horde of a thousand demi-humans, his men only numbered less than a thousand.
The men groaned in pain as they were cut and slashed with blood spurting out. Many of his men were dead and were lying around in the street corners while the demi-humans ravaged further and further pushing them back.
"Dammit!" He slammed his fist on his metal plate thigh. "Where are the adventurers! Should they not be coming over here now?" He screamed a man next to him that looked like a squire of some sort replied.
"Sir, they should be here in a few seconds, we have to hold the beasts off!"
"Prepare the defence!" He shouted, men with huge shields the size of a human at the back ran up to the front lines, they slammed the shields on the ground in unison next to each other creating a huge line from building to building leaving only tiny gaps in between for any swords or spears to pinch through.
The group of priests who were kept on reserve in case of an emergency were finally called up to attack.
The priests shouted, beginning to cast divine spells.
While this was happening the swordsman ran to the back knowing that they were not needed anymore. Spearmen ran up behind the shield men and pinched the demi-humans through the gaps.
This proved very effective, while no demi-humans could pass through the shield wall, it was not gonna hold for long as they could always jump off of the dead bodies and over.
"Hold the line! Do not let any through!" The general shouted.
After minutes of piercing and screaming they finally breached, demi-humans were jumping off of other's dead bodies trying to pass the defence.
But before they could set foot on the other side, a sword rushed flashing in and punctured one of the demi-humans on the chest. Lakuyas was finally here along with Tina and Tia.
She flew and landed softly next to the general on the horse and said, "Well done on holding that horde of demi-humans for that long" The general showed a look of relief, he thought that they were going to be slaughtered - but that all changed once Lakyus arrived.
She then cast [Fly] again and flew over the soldiers to look at the view from a bird's eye view, only see bodies upon the bodies of both human and demi-humans lying around everywhere, there was not a place in the street that could be considered 'spotless'. She almost vomited at the sight of this monstrosity.
Tia and Tina jumped from the building and started to slay some demi-humans, blood squirted all over as they slashed and stabbed them - They were duel wielding two identical blades, but one of them was a vampire blade which sucked up blood and on the other hand was a normal assassin blade.
Tia and Tina did not have a problem slaying demi-humans but after a while, sweat could be seen falling from their foreheads as they puffed in and out.
"Tia, Tina!" She shouted, "Are you doing fine?" She said as she looked at them from above, they responded with a quick thumbs up and one of them screamed: "Cast some support magic!"
Lakyus flew down and sliced up many demi-humans easing the pressure off the soldiers defending as she cast a group support spell.
By the gods, why did something like this have to happen again? Was the demonic invasion not enough. Why must the people of the kingdom suffer? She thought frustratedly, she shook her head and put her hand on her forehead before casting another spell.
After the arrival of most of the blue rose, the demi-humans gradually began to lose morale as their numbered decreased slowly, giving the advantage to the humans.
They all screamed and shouted as they were stabbed and pierced by the Kilineiram the demonic sword. Five of the pieces of weapons floating beside her shoulder shot out at her mental command being fast enough to split air into two.
The swords slashed through over fifty demi-humans instantaneously killing them. Unlike last time in the demonic invasion, they were not surrounded mostly thanks to the efforts the army put in - in creating a huge line of shields and a countermeasure to counteract any attacks.
"[Lesser healing]" She shouted, any soldier within a ten-meter radius were healed slightly with stab wounds slowly healing back, but fatal wounds like a loss of a limb were impossible to heal with [Lesser healing].
"[Dark blade mega impact]" She shouted, in a wondering horizontal slash, black power flowed out slashing countless demi-humans killing them in an instant. But that was not enough to take them all.
.
"This is bad" Lakyus quitely stated as the bloody floating swords came rushing back to her shoulders forming a wing. The priests used up all their mana, Tia and Tina are exhausted. There is no way they can hold off the demi-humans for much longer,
"Everyone fall ba-" Before she could finish her sentence she noticed the demi-humans were retreating, they were running overstepping on the dead bodies of their own and other humans.
"They are running..." Lakuyas whispered.
"They're gone..." A soldier whispered, and suddenly a thunderous roar of cheers came from the soldiers. The priests sighed in relief and began praying to thank the gods.
Why did they just leave like that? They could have won this battle at the cost of more of their own. Lakyus thought, Well it doesn't matter as long as they are gone, the victory goes to us.
.
.
The main square rally, Re-Estize Capital
.
.
Demiurge's called Asher and the demi-humans to evacuate, using up all the demi-humans in the Re Estize capital was not good for future invasions, he needed to preserve as much of them as he can. Right now he was prepared to retreat as well but he needed to deal with Momon and put up a good act to show how much of a danger he is to the humans.
"Hmph, don't get too cocky Momon of darkness," Herematic shouted
"[Call of tempest]" He shouted, a roar of thunderous clouds appeared overshadowing the sky as acid rain rained down, the demi-humans retreated in look for cover, of course, Demiurge did not aim for them. Right now he needed to flee, he's done enough for today. This halted Momon's approach.
A mysterious voice called out from an alleyway, [Shield] - A translucent barrier appeared above Momon protecting him from the acidic rain.
"Momon!" It was the voice of a child a little girl. Her head was held down as she swiftly ran towards Momon with her own cover and said, "Are you okay Momon-san"
"Ah yes, I'm fine - Thank you for the cover"
"No problem Momon-san!" She said while jumping resisting the urge to huge Momon.
"Who is that man?" She said while putting her hand over her head to look closer at him. "A demi-human?"
"That's correct, a pretty strong one too - He is stronger than you by a land fold even more than Jaldaboath"
"Huh!" Evileye jumped in disbelief, "W-What?! That man is stronger than 'him'?!" As an undead she would not necessarily feel 'feelings' but right now her dead nerves were tingling, the eyes behind the mask were wide open as she gasps. Then suddenly.
Momon puts his hand on her shoulder.
"Do not be scared, I am here?" He says in a noble tone.
M-m-momon-san... just eeeeeek he just touched me and said that! Evileye squealed in her mind as she struggled to stay calm - The fear from before vanished right after that.
"Y-your right Momon-san.." She stutters out.
The acid rain stops,
Momon gets out of the cover and glances at the spot where 'Herematic' was, but he was long gone along with the demi-human horde.
.
.
Ninth Floor, Ainz's bedroom
.
.
"-Calm yourself!", Ainz said as he stood in front of a mirror while waving his hand. "-Is that how you should speak to a king?" Right now Ainz was practising his acting skills, he was doing this for a few hours but because he was an undead his perception of time was lost - So what he thought to be an hour turned out to be five hours.
"Ahh," Ainz sighed as he fell back leaning on his bed. "I wonder how Demiurge is doing, I hope the ones who brainwashed Shaltear aren't there." As thought as he jumped out from his bed.
A knock on the door was heard.
"Come in," Ainz said as he stood up.
Albedo walked in along with the maid for 'security' reasons, while it would be a jest for a mere maid to stop Albedo she would only be there as a messenger to call Cocytus or anyone strong enough to pull her out. Normally the maid would be in Ainz's room but he ordered her to leave along with the Eight Edged assassins, they too crawled in the room for the same reason.
"Greetings, Ainz-sama - I have come to explain a report from the shadow demon"
"Ahem" Ainz put his fist on his mouth and pretended to cough. This place was not a suitable place to talk about business, Ainz sensed that Albedo could get out of control at any time so he quickly spoke, "Albedo, my room is not an appropriate place to speak business - Go to my office.
"At once Ainz-sama."
They both teleported out of the room and to his office.
.
.
Ninth Floor, Ainz's Office
.
.
He sat down as Albedo teleported in front of the desk,
"So Albedo, go on," Ainz said as he laced his fingers together putting his elbows on the desk. "Speak."
"Yes Ainz-sama, it seems that the invasion of the kingdom has been a success - the goals have been reached and right now Asher is heading back to Nazarick, the continuation of the plan will start in a few weeks or if you will it, right now."
"Ah no Albedo, I wish for things to be slow and decisive, there is no advantage in rushing things" He paused for a while. "When will Asher come back?" He asked as he leans back on his regal chair, he unlaces his fingers putting them on his bony thighs.
"Ainz-sama, Asher should be here in a few minutes - He just left the kingdom a while ago."
"Good, good" Ainz said, "What about Demiurge? Where is he now?" He asks.
"I believe he is creating a new home base to prepare for an attack on the Slane theocracy, I would expect him to use them all of them tactically and deploy the evil lords in order to achieve the maximum potential of the Slane theocracy to turn to Asher for help," She stated.
"Ah alright, thank you Albedo" Ainz replied.
There was a knock on the door, the maid rushed towards it, Ainz nodded telling her to let him in.
Asher walked in and kneeled and spoke,
"Ainz-sama, I have returned from the kingdom and present myself to you"
"Asher, you've done a great job, now rise." He replied.
"Ainz-sama such praise is not worthy of this servant," He said as he rose.
"Then... right, I will be putting you under the Pleiades supervision again and send you to Carne village with Lupusregina until the plan is set for you to go to the Slane theocracy for 'that' stage of the plan. But for now, you will be assisting Nferia in his potion making in the meantime.
If you do not know what 'that' stage of the plan is, Read chapter 1 and 2 for more information.
"With L-lupusregina?" He said, his skin crawled, countless nerve cells jumped - Tiny hairs stuck up and his mouth slightly opened. The last time he saw Lupu was when she tortured him mentally as a joke
"Is there something wrong?" Ainz asked sceptically.
"Y-y- N-N-o Ainz-sama" Asher struggled.
He was afraid of Lupusregina, but if under orders he would not hesitate to kill her nor will he let his fears overcome him in a crucial moment.
"If there is anything wrong, you should tell me," Ainz said in a kingly tone, he had practised this for hours.
"No, nothing is wrong Ainz-sama, I will go immediately.
"Alright then, have Yuri escort you to Carne village."
.
.
Throne room, Re Estize Kingdom
.
.
Right after the invasion was over the King woke up from his sickly slumber, Climb informed him of what happened. A king sat on the throne in front of countless people. One side of the room stood nobles, Climb stood next to Renner.
Renner was right next to the King. On the other side of the room stood Generals who have all seen combat on the frontlines of the invasion. One of the men from a division who was completely wiped out stood at the back with his back straight, his fists clenched as he grit his lips trying not to cry, constant shivers ran down his spine. This feeling is mutual with the rest of the generals on that side of the room.
Other than the past battle traumas the soldiers were facing, everyone in this room was waiting for the king to speak.
The king rested his body on the right side of his armchair, before a cough he finally spoke.
"What's our casualty report? How many men did we lose?" A man with noble attire walked up from the noble side of the room bowed his head down and spoke.
"Your majesty, I regret to inform you that we have lost nearly half of our army, right now we can only use a percentage of our remaining army nearly all of them were severely wounded during the invasion."
"What about our citizens, how much did we lose?" The king replied.
"Your majesty, we lost nearly fifty thousand, a thousand are still missing."
Rampassa's face went red as he clenched his fist with the handkerchief, he frowned immediately after hearing those words, but after a few moments he gently breathed in and out, taking a posture befitting of a king, he then spoke.
"Minister of Finance, will our coin be affected by this incident? Will our kingdom fall into deficit?"
A man again from the noble faction, stepped up he adjusted his glasses his fat body made every step echo in the room, he bowed down and replied in a nerdy tone.
"Your Majesty, while I do believe our coin will be greatly affected by this incident we will most definitely fall into debt and deficit if we do not take appropriate measures"
"Oh? What can those measures be?" The king said leaning forward on his throne.
"I recommend increasing the taxing of the villagers, seeing as though we have lost most of our citizens in our capital, a forced migration might be necessary to keep business intact."
The king almost groaned as he raised an eyebrow, he laid his back on the throne and replied,
"We will do no such thing, the poor shall not be taxed more than what they already have, but," The king paused, "I am sure the nobles are more than happy to help out their kingdom by accepting a higher tax rate."
The noble side of the room sent vibes of hatred and disbelief as most of them tightened their grip on their skirts or pants, they were trying not to frown but ended up smiling bitterly. Climb looked in awe at the king, the mercy he granted to the peasants who could barely afford a copper coin was benevolent,
This was a true king, a king that puts his people before the country, putting the country before himself. Climb thought.
"Of course your majesty," They all replied holding back an angry tone. The king was not oblivious to this but he ignored it, they had no choice.
.
.
Sorcerous Kingdom, Carne village
.
.
A man wakes up from his slumber, his bowl cut bangs were moved to see beautiful eyes, they were as blue as the bristling sea, any woman would be swayed just by a glance. Right next to him was the village chief Enri Emmot also his wife, he stretched out his arms tensing his feet muscles as he rubbed his eyes. He used to work for the Re-Estize kingdom until he was swayed by the Sorcerer Kingdom who he was now creating potions for.
Tiredly, his legs rolled out of bed hanging down making it look like he was sitting up, his back was slouched, he scratched his eyes again and looked in a mirror just across the room. He saw black circles under his eyes.
The weak wooden floor creaked as he walked towards the kitchen, it was nine o'clock in the morning and he saw children playing outside from the kitchen window and goblin army grunting as they were creating buildings and fortifications, a few undead and an elder lich were planning the structure of the statue of Ainz Ooal Gown.
The tower that was burnt down by the Re-Estize army was rebuilt into a stone and metal tower along with most of the walls, with only a few logs of wood still remaining. He glanced at an egg and before grabbing it he hears the sound of a woman from the other window.
"Heeyy!"
"W-waah!" Nfirea jumps hitting his head on a nearby stack of spoons, the red-haired woman ignoring this went on to say.
"Did you do it yet~su? Did you do it? Haah?" She was grinning ear to ear as she put both her hands on the window edges attempting to get in.
"W-w-w-wh-" Nfirea tried to speak but was stuttering as a bright red blush appeared on his cheeks, he played with his fingers and looked down to the ground. "W-w-well" And before he could actually answer this mysterious question he heard a shout coming from behind Lupusregina.
"Oi! What are you doing there, get away from there!" The goblin shouted while chasing after her, his sword still attached to his belt swaying side to side.
"Muahahaha!" Lupusregina jokingly laughs, "You'll never catch me!" She bolted out and started running in the other direction.
Nfirea sighs as he grabs his work attire and puts it on, Enri was still sound asleep after all that noise. He walks out of the house and to his laboratory.
.
.
10 minutes later
BOOM, an explosion of green gas filled the entire room, Nfirea flinched a bit but his face did not change.
"Haahh, Ainz Ooal Gown-sama just how do you do it." He sighed quietly as he turned his head to glance at the sets of failures, the potions looked pink but still had the same properties and effects as the purple potion he had created. He fell down into his seat and relaxed his muscles, he bent his head back staring at the ceiling light, from there he grabbed a red potion and put it above his head shining it in between the light.
The blood of god huh? I'm am so close to making this potion - I just need one more ingredient He mused as he put back the potion and sat back up properly,
I'll have to go farm some herbs I guess…
Smack
Someone hit Nfirea's head moderately hard, his head swayed for less than a second before he jumped out of his seat to grab a knife.
"Whos there! Show yourself!" He shouted waving the knife around as he backed up to the entrance of the laboratory. A voice of a woman called out.
"Woah Woah calm down" It was Lupusregina, her hands were in front of her waving at Nfirea. She smiled as she put her hands down.
"Oh, it's just you" Nfirea untensed his muscles and slid the knife back on the table. The knife he was holding was not a weapon but a special tool used to carefully cut herbs.
"What are you here for?" Nfirea asked, normally Lupusregina would not disturb him during potion making but the fact that she did was extremely suspicious to him, he put his hand on his chin and tweaked his head to the side.
"Oh about that, Ainz-sama has sent someone over to temporarily help you in creating potions~su" She replied.
"A-Ainz Ooal Gown-sama sent someone to help me?" He said.
"That's right~su"
"Where is he now?"
"He should be arriving soon, a few seconds or something." She replied.
.
.
A three-meter-wide portal appeared in the middle of Carne village, the kids dropped their sticks and ran to the trees or anywhere with cover to look at who was going to walk out. The goblins ignored this because ever since the appearance of an Elder lich that was sent to create the statue of Ainz Ooal Gown, portals kept opening to send material from Nazarick. The adults were not surprised but went to look on.
"Hey! Elder lich-san, don't you have enough materials already? Why more?" A man shouted,
The Elder lich emotionlessly turned its head and replied, "I do not recall having called for more materials." Normally the goblins would have prepared for battle but they knew that such portals could only be created by Nazarick, so it was safe but still suspicious.
Two beings walked out of the void, Yuri assistant leader of the Pleiades her glasses glinted as she adjusted it, she looked onwards trying to spot out an individual.
In turn, the person next to her looked like a man who wore a black suit befitting of a lean businessman, the black hair glistened in the sun as it was gelled to the side he fixed up his tie before tugging onto his blazer.
The children assuming that they were here for business picked up the sticks and continued playing. The adults looked at them for a while before turning away. The goblins, on the other hand, did not let them leave their sight.
"There," The woman said "I believe Lupusregia is in there along with Nfirea," She said as she was pointing her finger towards the laboratory.
"Ah, thank you Yuri-san I'll head there now."
"Goodbye Asher-sama." She said as she bowed. Yuri walked back to the portal to return to Nazarick.
So where do I g- Ah right, right there. Asher clapped his hands and dusted the dirt off his thighs before beginning to walk. In this form he had to look proper and tidy like Sebas, he was wearing a set of one of Sebas's clothing after all.
Knock
Knock
The door slowly creaked open, what was in front of him was a dimly lit room just barely able to see anything. A man with long bangs and a bowl cut stood before him.
"Hello Nfirea-san, I have been sent by Ainz Ooal Gown to aid you in your research," Asher says in a light seething tone.
"U-uh yes, I have heard about you from an f-friend," He replies, "C-come on in."
Well, he seems nervous, it's to be expected. Asher thought as he mentally shrugged keeping a nice smile on his face.
"Wait, you said you heard from a friend? By chance could that frie-" Before he could finish talking he hears a sudden voice.
"Waah!" Lupusregina from the side of the room jumped at Asher causing him to almost scream. His whole expression changed from serious to scared. He recognized that voice, it was from Lupusregina.
"Wahaha!" She laughed hysterically as she saw Asher cover himself with both of his arms. After realizing what he just did he stands up straight and adjusts his tie, and says.
"Do not do that ever again Lupus, or I will have you reported to Ainz-sama." In a serious tone.
"Aw, your no fun," She replies in an obviously fake sad tone.
"Well have 'fun' both of you, hahaha" She walked out and closed the door slowly while peeping in until it was shut. It took moments before both of them realised what she meant by 'fun'.
Nfirea begins sweating as he glances over to the shocked man and stutteringly asks,
"Y-you are into that?"
"No, of course not!" Asher shouts,
"Ah, of course not, haha…"
The room was silent from the awkwardness caused by Lupusregina, Asher claps his hands twice and says,
"Anyway, let's begin shall we?" Asher said as he glanced towards the red potions.
.
.
Slane Theocracy, Meeting Area
.
.
"How goes the infiltration of the empire?" Berenice, the Cardinal of Fire asks, just adjacent from where she was sitting was a messenger who replied. She leaned forward in her chair with her hands laced together with a poker face.
"Ma'am, I believe from the reports it stated that they have successfully infiltrated in as civilians but find it difficult to go up the ranks," He paused before speaking again, "But more importantly, there is something that I urge needs to be said." He said with sweat rolling down his forehead.
The rest of the Cardinals lean forward on their chairs placing their arms on the table, sensing something bad they frown lightly and squeeze their hands.
"Go on," Raymond said. "Speak"
"S-sir, i-in the K-kingdom there is said to have been an invasion by demi-humans, they have amassed an army and destroyed the kin-" Before he could speak a Cardinal spoke out.
"Impossible, there were no signs of a demi-human army ever since Jaldabaoth died if there were, we would have been informed this by now you foolish messenger - Are you sure this isn't just false information?" Yvon, the Cardinal of Light angrily retorted.
"No, sir! Even some of our spies who were acting as civilians were killed by the demi-humans. Only 2 fled safety but with serious injuries."
Raymond's eyebrows raised, he tensed his muscles before scarcely saying "Go on."
"The invasion devastated the kingdom and reports suggest that there was someone who could best Momon in a fight, and on another ground, an adamantite warrior by the name of 'Gargan' was heavily injured by somebody completely different.
The whole room gasped, Raymond's jaw bolted down leaving his mouth wide open while the other Cardinals just looked in disgust with white skin. And before anyone else could speak a man's voice could be heard.
"Dammit!" Dominic shouted, "How did we not know about this beforehand! And someone who could best Momon in a fight? That is ridiculous!" He slammed his fist on the table gritting his teeth. The Cardinals already made their mind that Momon was a strongly awakened godkin so when hearing the news that someone other than Jaldabaoth could test him in a fight made their skin crawl and spine tremble.
"Messenger! Is this true?" Raymond asked,
"Yes, sir! It is true."
Raymond sighed as he chugged a cup of water, "This could very well be the next Jaldabaoth we are dealing with here."
The Cardinals froze, if this truly was a being as strong as Jaldabaoth then almost all the scriptures would be deployed to destroy the being right away.
"Don't even jest about something like that." Maximilian refuted,
"No," Raymond replied, "If this really is true then it would be no surprise that it would be able to take on our Elite force."
"Messenger!" Dominic shouted, "What did it call itself?"
"Sir, it called itself 'Heremetic'"
"The other one?"
"That is unknown, we do not have information on the one who defeated the adamantite adventurer."
"Dammit, why do things have to get worse." Raymond loudly whispered.
"Captain! Send orders to the General of the Army to fortify the towns on the border." Raymond shouted,
"Yes, sir." The Captain replied as he rushed out of the room.
"Is there anything else that you need to tell us?" Yvon asked,
"No, sir"
"Good, leave the room."
The messenger left the room, the Cardinals had their hands on their heads as they tried to think of something that could possibly help the country.
Raymond stood up and slowly walked in front of the room, creating sounds of footsteps on the rich wooden floor. He began to speak,
"Sending the Windflower scripture to find and access information about this new foe is essential, I would hope that no one would object to this being implemented, yes?" Raymond stroked his beard and put his hands behind his back and rubbed it in nervousness, while he looked calm on the outside in actuality he was screaming and shouting at himself, it was not every day that he would send an entire scripture for one man. The last time that happened, they were all wiped out.
They all shook their heads and agreed with Raymond's suggestion.
"Good."
.
.
Thank you for reading this,
Leave a review, thanks!