...Several miles outside the capitol of the Draconic Kingdom...
When the carriages were a few miles away from the capitol of the Draconic Kingdom, Ainz halted his own, and in short order this action was followed up by the carriage of the Bloody Emperor and Queen Calca.
Ainz stepped out of his own, and they removed themselves from theirs. They approached one another with serious faces until they were within arms reach of one another, and then Ainz began to laugh, it was deep, it was long, it was loud, he threw back his head and sent his laughter to the skies, and before him knelt the Holy Queen and the Bloody Emperor, and though they knelt before him, they shared in his laughter, sending their satisfaction to the skies just behind that of their liege. Ainz clapped them both on the shoulders and said, "Stand! Stand! You have truly earned it! Those fools, those foolish fools!" Though his face could not smile as it lacked flesh, they could feel his warmth and joviality as they stood before him.
"Your solidarity with me has meant much, and I will not forget it, the Slane Theocracy came away looking foolish, their 'puppet' of an ally looked weak, their elf king like a monster, and we very nearly had the Dragon Lords ready to fight beside us!" Ainz wished he could give the broad smile he felt, but he let his voice carry his emotions.
"Queen Calca, we will sign the documents of integration after the war is over, for now we must put you on your throne and set everything to rights. Emperor Jircniv, I trust your troops are where I instructed them to be?" Ainz added.
Jircniv grinned, "Yes my lord, our soldiers stand ready to march, we will go where you command us when the time comes."
"Very good." Ainz said, "And Queen Calca, are you ready to deal with Remedios Custodio?"
The Holy Queen looked incredibly sad, but she gave a quiet nod. "I am, I have a duty to do, she has grown twisted beyond all words, in ways I never imagined...but...should have." She choked on her words for a moment, but gathered herself to continue, "I know I can never make up for having...died, or for having left her the means to do the things she did, but maybe if I get her to yield, maybe I can set things to the way they should be. I don't know that she'll even listen to me anymore, but I promise I'll try."
"All anyone can ask of anyone else is their best." Ainz said as he touched her chin and lifted her face up to meet his red glowing orbs.
"If you have done that, if you have done what you can to make things right, no matter what happens, life, death, success, failure, advance, withdraw...then you have nothing to feel ashamed of, not in war, not in peace, and not in life or death. If you do what you can, with what you have, where you are, and while you live...even if you do not achieve all your goals, you may inspire others who come after you to achieve them in your stead. Then you will have no reason not to rest easy when you finally pass away the way you should, old and satisfied and in your own bed, having left your kingdom better for your having ruled."
She gave a small nod, the force of his charisma hit her like a thousand thunderclaps, his noble voice seemed to speak to her soul, and she found herself forgetting, even looking at his skeletal fleshless face, that he was an undead. To her he was the one who saved her nation, and the one who would save it again, a being of ageless wisdom and unlimited power, a traveler of worlds and a walker among the gods, the king of kings, and she was grateful that she could kneel before him as a supplicant and offer her kingdom the blessing of his reign...but first...first they had to take back what was stolen.
"Everyone did very well." Ainz reassured them.
"But...that was Neia Baraja?" Queen Calca asked with disbelief, "And she was just one of my squires?"
"Yes, though an exceptionally gifted one, even if she did not fully appreciate it at the time I met her." Ainz replied, "She has come a very long way from the desperate squire who offered me her head in my throne room if it meant bringing aid to her country even a little bit sooner." Ainz chuckled at the memory, "I still remember the way she lowered her head as it was offered to me by her superior for any offense she called. She went to both knees, leaned forward, closed her eyes, put her neck out and bare, and waited to die for what she'd done. I was...impressed. I suppose you could say I thought that if a nation could produce people like her, it must surely be worth saving." Ainz said as he looked back on it.
"She was offered to me as a squire, though it seemed some of her comrades were glad to be rid of her, she did not get on well with most of them, save Gustave Montagne. She was however, dedicated, strong, brave, and relentless. I came to understand it was her eyes that set her apart from other humans, it made her an outcast that put everyone else into an uncomfortable emotional state, and left her alone. She has since then found comrades, peers who treasure her and who do not tremble at her gaze, despite all the pain she is in I believe in her very much, and though it is a shame no others did for so long, I am glad that I have her faith and confidence now." Ainz said, he smiled at the memory.
"I hope, after all this is over, I can find some way for her to heal." He said wistfully, and Jircniv marveled at his compassion, he had found Neia Baraja to be a terrifying presence, yet the Sorcerer King spoke of her in an almost paternal way, it was...enlightening.
Queen Calca for her part, was embarrassed at such a show of feeling from her liege to be, but she was also embarrassed for her country. "We overlooked a great talent, I suppose it is good that she is being applied to our betterment now though. However I must find some way to reward her service myself when all is said and done."
"I believe she would welcome that." Ainz said, "Now, I will open the gates, and we can return quickly. Tomorrow the march begins and we bring our armies to bear." He paused and cocked his head in thought as he opened the gate for Jircniv, "I wonder how long it will be before they break the agreement."
No answer was forthcoming, as Jircniv bowed and then walked through the gate, leaving his carriage to return back on its own. "Our turn." Ainz said to Calca, "We will see you to your proper home, soon enough." She bowed with a smile of gratitude, and when it opened, they stepped through together, followed by Albedo & Sebas, and their carriages as well, began the long ride home unoccupied.
...Midway between Wenmark & Yanana...
When Neia returned through the portal, CZ and Skana were waiting for her. "Well, how was it?" They asked.
"Seeing my god is always a glorious moment." Neia said.
"And the rest?" Skana asked.
"Our enemies are lesser figures, not worthy of mention." She said with empty disinterest and a dismissive shrug. She sounded more like CZ than herself.
Skana touched her arm as Neia began to walk past and took up her bow again. "Hey, are you alright? You don't seem yourself?"
"I'm fine." Neia said, "Its just the last few mining complexes we visited, seems every place we visit is worse than the last, and now we're done, we're on our way out of this hellscape, but some of the blood miners haven't caught up to us yet, and we haven't seen any sign of Remedios. Isn't she looking for us? And why do I think those two things are related?" She asked as she got on to an undead horse and signalled the party to move on. Skana & CZ mounted their own undead horses and fell into step beside her at the front.
Skana was not sure she believed what Neia said about what bothered her, but that didn't mean that her commander was wrong, and that bothered her too.
"They probably are related." Skana said bluntly. "But there is nothing we can do about it. Look the groups we sent out to start fires and burn farms to free their slaves, they volunteered for those missions, some of those tasks were bound to go wrong, and Remedios may have a massive army, but she can't send everybody everywhere, I think we're just out of reach having gone this far East."
"CZ, what do you think?" Neia asked.
CZ frowned for a moment and thought it over. "Ambush ahead." She said.
That caught them off guard, for a moment they imagined that she meant immediately, but then they came to their senses and thought it over.
"Skana, let me see the map." She said, and held out her hand. Skana reached into her pack, took it, and handed it to Neia.
Neia studied the map and their present position. "If I were going to lay an ambush...where would it be?" She asked of herself, thinking aloud.
She began to trace her finger over the map, "It makes sense, they know the nearest safe area is Prart, they know we have some allies in Yanana, so why bother chasing us all over the area around Wenmark when they can just ambush us on the way to a place they know we have to go. To keep us from guessing it, they have to put down a few raids, but if they knew we were traveling west along the north first, then they could march in the opposite direction and snatch us all up at once. So...where would I do this?" She thought out loud again, she looked up at the terrain, she looked down at the map.
"I would say it would be over there." Neia said as she pointed to a narrow gap. "But Remedios is probably not planning this, she's a bull, all she knows is to rush in and kill, she hasn't an ounce of tactical sense to her name, so lets say someone intelligent is planning this." Neia said. She traced her finger along the road, and that was when she saw it.
"I know where it is." She said in a hushed voice.
"Where?" Skana asked.
"We traveled to Wenmark over water, that was easy, because the way we went there was down stream, but to go this way, we have to go overland, that means we have to pass by these woods and that hill. Just before we reach that is a village, they can use that to acquire supplies, they can disguise agents as part of the population, and when we're past the village, they can hit us from every direction at once." Neia said as she pointed out the utility of the different features.
"So...what do we do?" Skana asked.
Neia pondered the matter for a few hours, and then had a decidedly mischievous smile on her face. "Oh...I have an idea." She said, let me think on it a bit more first however. They looked at her, curious, but consented.
As they moved along for the next two days, gradually more Blood Miners, and a few of the Vines who had escaped and been neither caught nor picked up before, filtered to the line of march of Neia's band. Both reported the same thing. The Blood Miners reported that behind them lay foot soldiers and light cavalry, while along the north west there were foot soldiers shadowing the line of march as if they knew where Neia was going. When CZ went out to scout the other side, she reported the same. Each report carried similar information, though the soldiers were relatively few in number, they were disciplined, well equipped, and watchful. Good, but not great.
"So that means the bulk of them are ahead of us, I expect these ones surrounding and shadowing us intend to link up in the village to fight as a united front, while the bulk of the force we're to face will be in the woods and in the hills just beyond the town itself." Neia said, her voice growing more confident as the plan took shape. "How long till we get there do you think?" She asked CZ.
CZ's eyes went blank for a moment, "Twenty two hours at our current pace." CZ said matter of factly.
"Alright, I want us a few hours away from the village at nightfall, we need the darkness." Neia answered.
At her instruction, the formation slowed down, until they were roughly three miles from the village and the sun had begun to set. Dutifully they made camp like every other night, and Neia gathered her people together. Skana was much relieved as Neia began a sermon. "Consider the old gods! What did they do for you! For us! For anyone! Oh they might have been a thing in their time! But they did not tell anyone not to own slaves! No! The Sorcerer King has told us to be just with one another, he has told us that we may profit, but not by cruelty or exploitation, that we may live, but that we must provide for one another, that we are a community no matter what our race! You who were the residents of Wenmark, see how the Blood Miners stand together being both elf and human alike? See how I stand before you, a human, weak, but willing to turn what strength I have towards justice! And what did we all accomplish together, with the aid of our god the dark city became a dead city! Evil has been crushed because good people were willing to raise their fists and say, "NO MORE!" Now we face another enemy, one who escaped our grasp before, she has sent out a detachment to slay us, to kill us, to turn us into food for the crows and the beasts of the field, will you leave your brothers and sisters to suffer that fate?!" She exhorted them with a call to courage, and they answered as the power of her voice thrummed through them as if she were playing an instrument and making beautiful music.
"NO!" They shouted.
"Then this is what we will do!" She said, creating the world's first battle sermon.
The plan was explained, and when the darkness consumed the area completely, they began their work. Neia and Skana took a group of Black Justice elites under cover of darkness into the forest, they covered ground swiftly, driving their bodies to the limit, relying on stealth and surprise. Overhead the sky was blessedly covered in clouds, they looked as ominous as the circumstances the humans found themselves in, a low rumbling ahead welcomed them and warned of the coming storm. As she looked up at the clouds, she gave a smile and a stare that seemed to say to the clouds, 'Let us see who is the greater storm!' When they reached the woods their operation began. Black Justice had the advantage of the lessons of the Sorcerer King's domain, and learned like no others the skill of sentry removal, clad in black and Neia's forest green, they moved like moonlight over water, a part of the darkness for which they were named, and one by one they terminated those who could warn their ambushers. Neia approached a man, he looked young, barely old enough to grow a beard. He carried himself well enough, his spear at the ready and his eyes scanning the trees, but as she looked the area over, she noticed that he kept his eyes ahead, and one sentry could not easily see the other. So she climbed up as stealthily as she could until she was above his field of vision and crept along the branch, holding on to the one over head as her feet slid forward, then she dropped slowly to the ground, using her martial skills to silent the landing, she was only a small bit behind him. He seemed at the last moment to realize he had eyes on him, she felt the tension in him as he tried to turn around, but no quarter was given, no mercy was shown, the mad eyed archer reached around and grabbed him over the mouth and pulled back, stiffling his cry even as her other hand pulled out a dagger and drew it across his throat, leaving only choked gasps as he bled out. He must have been a strong one, because she had to hold tight to keep him from turning all the way around, and even so, he managed to turn his head and look over his shoulder. Her face was covered, but not her eyes, and when he saw those, he knew who had killed him, his eyes went from shock to abject terror, and then the life began to fade with the flow of blood. She did not let him drop, that would make to much noise.
Instead she held him, and gently lowered him to the ground. She looked the body over, in the past she knew this should have troubled her, he was young, no doubt he had family behind, she wondered what folly lead him to this place, to die in the woods fighting against a better world. She sensed no evil or hatred, yet he had to die because of where he stood...and somehow she didn't have it in her to feel the tragedy that she knew she should have felt it to be. He wasn't completely dead yet, but he couldn't speak, not well, not with his throat cut. She knelt down, she could at least close his eyes for him, as if he were in rest. She heard his final words gasped out..."Momma...no...momma please...It hurts, I'm scared..." and then he said no more, and she took two fingers and placed them over his face, and closed his eyes forever.
When it was done, she stood and wiped the blood from her blade, and left him there in the dark, scanning for her next target.
Where Neia was good, Skana was great, she crept along the low ground, hiding within the bushes and thrust her sword through the gaps in armor at the pit of the arm, driving it down into the lungs so that no words could pass their lips, and she drew them back into the darkness like a monster whose deeds were told to children to keep them in their beds at night. So it was that one by one the sentries established to prevent exposure were dispatched, and Black Justice, though few in number, drew ever closer to the camp.
CZ for her part, was a maid demon and she killed like it. She did not draw close for sentry removal, she didn't need to, the hill was her target and she was the tip of the spear. She sniped her enemies from a distance, dropping them easily and then moving up. In her mind she contemplated the plans of Neia Baraja, she rather liked Neia, considering her to be a friend, but even without that favorable view this was a good plan. No doubt the encampment a few miles from the village made these soldiers think they had another night before they could spring their trap, that Neia and company would pass through the village in the morning and could be caught by surprise as they left, the few scattered soldiers that were meant to come together in a body in the village and cut off retreat were well out of reach, having stayed in a U shape a mile or more away from the encampment, which meant they were several miles away from where Neia and her soldiers were actually acting.
As her forces took out the sentries and drew closer to the base of the hill, she realized what Neia had also predicted was quite accurate, they had encamped behind it rather than on top of it where they might be seen, so rather than attack the camp directly, she lead the Blood Miners and the surviving Vines up to the top of the hill. They were armed chiefly with bows and spears, but had a few swords, but elves were renowned for their archery and as they went to the top of the hill, there was only a smattering of people there which were quickly sniped in rapid succession. When it was done, she looked to her massed ranks.
"Gather arrows, form ranks." They moved quickly to the dead, rummaging through their materials and finding a number of additional arrows, and then forming up where CZ instructed them.
"Where I shoot bright, you shoot." She said in the cold emotionless tone that she always had, privately looking forward to her intoxication protocol after everything was over, and promising herself she'd give Neia two stickers for this.
Then she took up a torch, walked to the hill facing the woods, and waved it side to side overhead.
It was the signal they had been waiting for.
CZ went back to the formation of archers, her maid demon eyes looked down into the camp, they had few people awake, and though they were there in numbers, she did not see anyone who could compare to her. She picked out the area where she saw the most people sleeping, raised her spell gun, and fired a bright shot that served as a tracer. "Fire." She said flatly, and the elves lit their arrows and then lit up the night, the bright flames fell like stars out of the sky and landed in the area where people slept in their tents, and the flames caught and screams of shock and pain and fear filled the air. CZ shot again, and so did the Blood Miners and the Vines, they shot again. It became an arrow storm. The Vines and the Blood Miners had in their ranks many captive veterans of the war between the Theocracy and the Elf Kingdom, and as a result many of them were already trained archers, and by selling these enemies into bondage, they brought them to within reach.
Neia saw from a distance as the third flight of arrows lit up the darkness and fell, and remembered the saying of her lord, "Evil will, must evil mar." Now its meaning was stark and clear to her as never before, and she sounded the charge. From out of the darkness Black Justice warriors ran screaming into the camp, and Neia played her part to the hilt, she used her evangelist voice to instill panic in the force they struck, "It is an ambush! We're routed! Run away! Run away!" she screamed as if she were one of their numbers, and her own forces held back private smiles as the panic set in, they kicked over pots and lit flames and everything that would burn, they tried to burn, smoke rose from within and the ambush was itself ambushed, and as men have known since Vegetius, an ambush, if detected and promptly surrounded, will have its intended mischief repaid with interest. The interest repaid was high, dressed in the darkness they moved through, they were hard to see, while the soldiers of Remedios were either undressed as they slept, or dressed in brighter armor that made them stand out in the reflected flame. The unarmored fighting against the armored is not a battle, it is an execution, and drowsed from sleep and not expecting attack, hit by the power of a fear inducing voice, devoid of order and thrust into chaos by a band of veterans of unknown numbers, told to flee by an authoritative voice, they never had a chance. Even the bravest are frightened by sudden dangers, and many simply ran into the darkness with no idea where they should go.
It wasn't a battle, it was a prolonged execution.
Where CZ stood things were only slightly different, the falling arrows gave the shocked soldiers a target, and some few managed to gather a form of order and advance up the hill. However CZ's spell gun and ability to target was second to none, and no one had armor that could withstand her shots. The arrows flew into the formation and though the common arrows of the Blood Miners and the Vines could be stopped by ordinary armor, the mass of them meant that some got through, and with hundreds flying into the advancing ranks, every time a man fell the formation grew weaker. They overlapped their shields as best they could, but CZ simply targeted anyone who seemed to be giving orders, or anyone who seemed to have survived for to long. They would have left a trail of bodies, but on the step hill, the bodies rolled back down to collect in a heap at its base. When she saw the formation begin to waver, she snapped out to them, "Surrender and live!"
They had sterner stuff in them than that...at first, and they advanced further up the hill, but when the maid demon became visible to them and they realized they were not fighting something human, and saw how she simply shot them without any evident effort, the next call of surrender was accepted, they were not halfway up the hill, and CZ called a halt to the killing. Blood Miners and Vines rumbled at this, but CZ's cold expression stilled their bloodlust.
"Go, bind hands. Take weapons. Hurt none." She said flatly, and went to give the signal to Neia that the first stage was complete.
AN: Well Here we go again readers, hope you enjoy this, yes there is a double release today, I owe you five more days of them, perhaps more if others end up donating. :) I'm honestly very proud of this Community in general. If you want to ensure I continue to do daily releases, you can donate to bdgiving dot org, or you can donate blood to a local Red Cross or similar organization. Simply snap a photo to prove your donation, and I'll do an additional double release that day. If you can't, I'll also accept getting someone else to donate in your stead. The way I see it, you should enjoy everything the world has to offer, but at the same time, we should do what we can to make the world a bit of a better place, and if enjoying Overlord helps save a life or improve some other corner of the world...well everybody wins. :)