Volume 4: Re-estize, Chapter 7.1 (Zanac Special and Story update)
5 Late Fire Moon (September) 4:05 AM
Outside the Walls of Re-Estize
Prince Zanac clad in well polished full plate rode atop his white horse. A gallant sight to behold to be sure if one didn't hear the panting breath of the prince. It was hot and keeping himself balanced on his majestic steed was not helped by the weight of his armor. He had been in it for hours patrolling and escorting groups of commoners to the camp outside the city walls.
Still the young prince couldn't allow others to see his discomfort. He waved to the commoners and did his best to fulfill his duty to reassure them they were safe. And it wasn't a lie they were far from the fighting in the warehouse district and most of Marquis Raeven's house troops were there with him.
Not that they could patrol the massive camp of civilians seeking refuge outside the city by themselves. Copper plates and city guardsmen were also with them. After all it was the Adventurers guild who had organized setting up the camp providing many of the tents used on short notice through their various contacts. Bon fires could be seen with people huddled around them for warmth. While it was late many reasonably had trouble sleeping with an army of demons in the city.
There was one tent unlike the others he was heading towards. His tent. The tents for him and the house troops were separated from the commoners as was proper. While they were large they were hardly lavish after all they didn't need them for long. Used mostly for their men to rest between patrols.
He led his horse near the tent and dismounted. A camp servant took the reins of his steed to care for it while Prince Zanac walked inside his royal tent. Once inside he immediately took off his knight helmet and went to the water basin to splash it on his face. It was refreshingly cool as he washed away sweat on his face.
Just as he was sitting down to rest someone came into his tent in a rush to see him. It was Boris Axelson, one of Marquis Raeven's adventurer retainers.
"Prince Zanac! We need to leave now."
"What are you on about?"
"Your highness. A host of demons and undead have been spotted approaching the camp. We need to get you to safety."
"So you suggest we leave? Now?! I just promised these people I would protect them!" If he managed to flee, his detractors in the royal court would brand him a craven coward for the rest of his life. Everything Prince Zanac worked for tonight was in jeopardy.
"Just how many are there?"
"It's difficult to tell sire. Nearly a hundred by the looks of it." Boris paused for a moment considering what to say next. "My orders from the Marquise are to keep you safe, Prince Zanac…Leave the fighting to the guards and my team. You should lead the people to safety."
Boris's plan was foolhardy. Most guardsmen joined the guard to avoid fighting in the army. Prince Zanc doubted they had the stomach to seriously fight demons. They would likely break and run at the earliest opportunity and let the demons quickly overwhelm the ex-adventurers.
Unless they believed they could win. And there'd be no chance at that if they saw him running away on his horse with the women and children.
"Dam it all. The camp was supposed to be far from the frontlines."
"No. I'm staying" If he stayed and fought even if he had to flee during the battle Zanac could salvage this. As long as he had his horse he could feasibly outrun the demons.
"But Prince Zanac-"
"You have your orders, I have my duty. Gather anyone with a weapon willing to fight. Everyone else will flee to the city gates."
"Yes, your highness." The old adventurer respected the Prince's decision to stay even if it was against what he thought Marquis Raeven would have preferred.
It showed great courage, which was something the adventurer was well aware of. "I'll put out the word, once everyone's ready we'll move out.",
"You're dismissed." Zanac dismissed him with a wave of his hand. The old adventurer turned to leave.
When Boris left Prince Zanac let out a deep sigh when he was certain he was out of earshot. "I can't believe this. Why did the demons have to attack here?! Ugg... nothing to do now but fight If I want to become King. There's too much at stake to give up now."
Prince Zanac wanted to become the next King of Re-Estize. Not out of any sense of greed or ambition but out of a desire to keep someone like his older brother Barbo off it. His older brother was a vain, vindictive and impulsive man completely unfit in his mind to be King of Re-Estize. Such a man would lead the already fragile kingdom into disaster and ruin. For this reason as the second son he had been set to succeed his older brother.
Leaving the Royal Tent the prince put on his helmet and got ready to get on his horse. A lot of people were scurrying about to get ready for the battle ahead. The prince mounted his horse so everyone in camp could see him.
Leaving the Royal Tent the prince put on his helmet and got ready to get on his horse. A lot of people were scurrying about to get ready for the battle ahead. The prince mounted his horse so everyone in camp could see him.
As he made his presence known in camp a lot of people came to see what was going on. The prince had to raise his voice to be heard above the noise of the camp. "I'm staying to fight '', he announced.
Everyone quieted down. The prince continued, "I'll be fighting at the front lines. If anyone wants to join me, speak now!"
"I'm in!" a voice from the crowd of city guardsmen shouted.
Others began to shout and cheer while a small group of guardsmen looked on in apprehension. From their expressions it was clear they had been expecting him to flee.
"How wonderful! You saved me the trouble of chasing after you."
These expressions of apprehension turned to fear and the cheers died. Prince Zanac saw upon the ground a large all encompassing shadow. He turned to see what it was behind him. Zanac was rendered speechless.
The thing behind him that spoke, the one that casted that dreadful shadow was colossal. Some accursed magic had to be to blame for its presence in his camp. For the demon towered above the trees such was its height. Atop six chitinous legs lay a large bulbous form, rows of teeth appeared between its rolls of fat which he could see because the demon wore nothing above its waist besides gold gilded armbands on its wrists. It's neck was fat reminiscent of a frog the way that only the truly obese get, in fact it was difficult to tell the demon had a neck at all. The face that the demon had was truly frightening, for it had a row of shark-like teeth, its mouth glowing with hellish fire, to compliment its alien appearance it had four yellow eyes and upon its head a crown of horns. Prince Zanac had no doubt as he beheld the demon it was one of the Lords of Sin.
Prince Zanac could see the Lord of Sin looking at all of them. The demon lord no doubt was reveling in the shock and fear his sudden entrance brought them. Even the prince's own warhorse was quivering beneath him.
"Humans. If you wish to live. Do not fight. Do not run. For I am Lord Sloth, your captor. My magnificent minions, my precious peons, my slavish servants, are all around us." After the demon lord stated that flying demons could be seen in the night sky.
Prince Zanac then heard people start screaming. Zombies were rising from out of the ground all around the camp. It was horrible. The Demon Lord was right; they were surrounded from all sides. If they fought now… well the demon's minions would slaughter everyone.
They were at the demon's mercy.
Author's Note: Hey folks been forever right? I'm posting this little snibit of story since I been getting lot of people in the reviews commenting on how I've abandoned the story and wanting an update for a long long time many months. Last one got to me so wanted to do a general announcement and give you guys what little I got worked on for the next chapter. This fanfic hasn't been a priority for several months. There are a few reasons.
1. One of my old roleplay groups got back together so focusing writing with them. Taking lot of my free time.
2. Various games and media taking the rest of my time.
3. As my alt history story of Overlord continues to diverge it has necessitated more and more time to develop timeline and future plot requiring even more time and work just as my time becomes more limited.
4. Lack of editor has had me looking over what little work I do produce over and over again. Often times rewriting whole paragraphs delaying things.
5. Quality control/need for chronological order. I got like 5+ word documents of future chapters drafts but not what I wanted to be chapter 7 of this volume in particular done.
6. Fervor passion diminishing. I originally created this fanfiction as a outlet for my daydreaming of Overlord after I first got into the anime and then later the light novel. As time went on that has diminished. I also never planned an "ending" for the fanfiction theoretically it could have gone on forever. I mostly made it to explore and enjoy the world of overlord.
Regarding the last point I still daydream about Overlord like everyday. But I have lacked the passion I had at the beginning of this fanfiction. And I still plan on continuing working on this fanfiction since its basically the codification of my Overlord daydreams. But I think If I am going to continue updating either its gonna take forever due to lack of focus or I might have to focus on smaller chapter sizes. Writing 10k multiple scene chapters might not be on the cards anymore. But smaller individual scenes could probably still be done more reliably. My apologies for a lack of news for months but I had always intended to shift focus back to this but distractions always kept cropping up. Writing for the fanfic always being pushed down on the priorities. If any of you guys are still interested in this little story of mine story after such neglect I sincerely thank you for your interest.