God Rising: The Cult of Ainz
Written by: AtheistBasementDragon
Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots
Chapter 155: Cracked and Broken
...Fortress Cross...Dark Elf Borderlands...
Commander Lomon Bela always counted himself a lucky man. Born with a powerful body that he hardly had to work with to improve, he easily dominated the children of other nobles. Born with a clever mind, he never had to study to reach the top of his class. Born with swiftness and a keen eye, he was faster and more accurate than his peers to such a degree that he hardly had to practice with his sword or bow to outperform them. He was the height of competence.
But the height of his luck as he thought about it over breakfast at just that moment, was his current station. He sat in his tower office looking out the small window that faced the Dark Elf territory and its seemingly endless plains. "By the gods, what a view." He remarked happily. He stroked his perfect black beard and smiled contentedly as he took a bite of his eggs. "I still can't believe I was born with perfect luck too, to get stationed here, far, far away from Neia, to not have to march all over the place after Enri, to not have to face off against crazy elves or wild magic part dragon Queens, just a nice easy 'vital' position to ride out the war in." He said to himself before letting out a deep breath of contentment.
He tugged on a small rope that hung near the desk where he was eating and a servant entered. "Have a horse prepared for me, I'd like to go hunting this morning."
"At once my lord." The servant said with a bow, they both froze, there was a low rumble.
"Did you hear that?" Lomon asked hesitantly, doubting his own ears for a moment. He glanced out the window again, in the direction that the sound had come from.
"Sir, I did." The servant replied. The rumbling was just a little bit louder this time.
Lomon didn't ask again, instead he went over to the window and poked his head out, he squinted, there seemed to be a small dot in the distance that hadn't been there before.
He stared for a very long time, or so it felt like he had until a thought occurred to him. 'No, that can't be a small moving dot, if I can see it from here... what in the name of the Six Gods could it be...?'
He tried to discern more about it, but he couldn't, only to realize too late that it didn't matter 'what' it was, it was coming in his direction. He whirled on the servant and pointed at him. "Go! Go raise the alarm, get everyone to defensive positions, order the scouts to ride out and check to see what the hell that thing is!"
He ran from the room, leaving his food to grow cold and not caring worth a damn, he rushed to his quarters and started throwing on his armor as the rumbling began to sound more and more like thunder. When his armor was on, he rushed out and grabbed a servant, "Quickly! Send a rider south and tell them we're about to face a siege!"
"My lord! At once!" The servant shouted in terror, instantly volunteering himself for the duty without saying so.
Lomon ran down the stairs, his feet echoing off the walls as he moved faster than he ever had in his life, normally the echo of those steps was practically deafening, which was why he'd always taken them with care in the past, but in this moment the sound of them was lost beneath the growing rumbling.
He threw the door open to the courtyard and found his soldiers assembled along the walls and in front of the gate in battle position. A sense of great pride swelled within his chest. Their perfect discipline was the result of countless hours of drilling until his was the finest force of guardsmen he knew of in the entire Slane Theocracy.
"Soldiers, I don't know what that is out there, but I have absolute faith in your ability to do your jobs and triumph!" Lomon shouted, and was met with cheers of confidence. "They want a fight, you'll give them one to remember! Now make... ready!" He shouted again and drew his sword, he held it aloft and struck a very noble figure to the eye, his soldiers tensed and readied themselves.
Lomon moved quickly to the tower at the gate house and moved up to the top of the wall. 'With ten thousand soldiers here, this place will not fall easy, all I have to do is hold out, and a relief force will come. Then we'll break the siege and I can rise on the back of my victory to some other position. Might even get my pick and get something nice and safe again.' He thought and smiled to himself, a soldier saw the smile and returned it. Lomon clapped him on the shoulder, "That's right, spirits up, this is what we trained for, and we're the best at it."
He emerged from the top of the stairs and stood over the gate. The dot was larger now. "Gods preserve us... how far away was it?" He asked nobody in particular. "Where the hell are my scouts? It shouldn't have taken that long!"
An hour later he had his answer, at least about how large 'that thing' was. Behind it he saw the marching ranks of the Baharuth Empire's soldiers, but they were of trivial concern. "That thing is gargantuan..." He commented in a slightly nervous tone as the two legged behemoth of stone continued to advance.
He let out a sigh of resignation, "Guess I'm not as lucky as I thought." He said to himself as he drew out his sword. "Fire everything we've got at it! We'll chip it down to pebbles if we have to!" Scorpions and small catapults launched their projectiles from the walls, the enormous golem shook off those projectiles with no more difficulty than a horse did flies. Still Lomon Bela did not withdraw, "You want this fortress! You want our lives! Well, come and get them!" He shouted and let loose a warcry from the bottom of his soul as the enormous fist rose up high enough that it cast a shadow over the gate where he stood. "[Lesser Strength] [Ability Boost] [Greater Ability Boost] [Limit Breaker] [Stone Flesh]" He swallowed hard as he used his martial arts. 'By all heaven, that thing is big.' He thought, and then silently prayed. 'Gods of my fathers, six lords on high who have preserved us, lend me the strength to protect my lands, my friends, my family, my fortress, and my soldiers. I, your faithful servant repent of whatever failings I may ever have had, but please, do not let them pay the price for my sins!' He sent his prayer to the gods and the fist of the golem hovered up above, he held his sword overhead with both hands, the tip low behind his back, ready to make a swing to shake the gods up in the heavens out of their slumber.
Then the fist of the golem descended, it felt like it was in slow motion, and Lomon Bela brought his sword forward. He could smell the sweat and courage and fear in the air around him, hear the sounds of his soldiers, the firing scorpions, and the desperate orders to reload. He could see the arrows and bolts careening off the stone of the impossible being that stood over him, and he felt his strength within him more clearly and keenly than he ever had before in his life, just before his sword and the golem's fist connected.
Then they connected, and Lomon Bela was turned into red paste as the fist powered through his guard, crushed his skull, shattered his chest into fragments, and drove what was left of his body along with the stone and metal of the gate, all the way down into the ground, flattening the entrance. He felt nothing after that.
Nimble was duly impressed as he watched Gargantua work, he kept his army back as the servant of Nazarick utterly exterminated the stone of the fortress. It simply kept punching the walls and battering them down to nothing, he never saw it have to punch the same place twice.
"Ah, is it supposed to be just... you know... smashing the walls?" Nimble asked King Zanac with an uncomfortable quiver in his voice and the corner of his lower lip held painfully tight between his teeth at the sight before him.
"I'm sure I have no idea." Zanac replied, "You did tell it to destroy the whole thing so I suppose it will, if I were to guess it is treating the whole wall as one piece, then when that is flat, it'll target the interior. Do you want to demand a surrender? Or...?"
Zanac might not have been an impressive looking man, but his demeanor was calm and relaxed in spite of the danger. 'A good king,' Nimble thought, not for the first time, of the man he'd come to respect. "Give it a minute or two more, they haven't started running and I don't see any surrender flags, they're not broken. You have to time these things just right." Nimble said sagely and nodded at his own words, his eyes closed briefly in satisfaction as his discomfort and underlying fear were buried beneath long professional training and experience, and he took in the battlefield with his other senses.
"As you say, you're the expert." King Zanac remarked as the army watched in mute horror and fascination as the colossal golem did the impossible.
It felt like a day, but it was scant minutes before half the fortress was demolished completely, and soldiers, once proud and brave, became sheep fleeing the wolves in all directions.
"Gargantua, hold!" King Zanac shouted, and the fist of the being froze above a group of huddling soldiers that lay prone on the ground and quaking in fear with their weapons cast aside.
"Everyone who surrenders now will be spared!" General Nimble shouted with urgency in his voice, "Anyone still bearing arms will be immediately eliminated!"
The sound of weapons falling was almost as loud as Gargantua's punches for just an instant.
Nimble looked behind him, "Go in, take every prisoner you can, treat the wounded, mistreat none in accordance with the will of our lord!" Soldiers began to march in a crisp, ordered fashion to seize positions, prisoners, and to break down doors to go look for anyone wounded or concealed.
"Even with all this, it'll still take a few hours at least to secure everyone and everything, if we include the search for intelligence and then demolishing whatever is left of this place." General Nimble commented to King Zanac.
The King of Re-Estize waved the matter off, "It doesn't matter, this was their last northern position, assuming General Enri took Crossroads. That leaves only C'teon, Wheaton, Feron, and Kami Miyako, then the war is over and we can win the peace." King Zanac said happily, "I expect the men responsible for killing my father are in Kami Miyako. It's just a guess, but they're probably Agante. I can sort that out later, but no matter what, this won't last a whole lot longer."
In front of them, beyond the rubble and destruction, they watched as Baharuth Empire soldiers bound by rope or chains, soldier after soldier from among the Slane Theocracy. There were wounded ones as well who were not bound, some were carried out, some were helped by their peers to hobble into place where they could surrender properly. All of them, however, or at least all those who still had awareness of their surroundings and were neither catatonic nor unconscious, wore masks of unimaginable horror on their faces as they looked up at the monster that had come to destroy them.
"I sort of pity them." General Nimble said with some sentimentality in his voice.
"Not I. The Slane Theocracy was a thorn in my nation's side for far too long. We should have been allies, instead they were nothing but a hindrance in the best of times. Especially after their last round of actions with that bastard Philip, not to mention having had my father killed... and I suppose I should hold it against them for kidnapping Climb as well. No, this is well earned retribution from where I am in the saddle." Zanac said through gritted teeth.
"I guess I'd feel the same in your shoes but... as I look at their broken faces filled with despair, I can't help but feel it anyway." General Nimble responded.
"Ask me again in a few years, maybe I'll feel the same." King Zanac added, and then spurred his horse forward, "Now, let's go take a look around, I'd like to see how many prisoners we took."
"As you like, My Lord." General Nimble replied politely and spurred his horse forward to catch up with the King.
...Nazarick...
Ainz sat reading at his desk, it was a pleasant experience to do so in peace and quiet. Tuare and Sebas stood ready at hand in the event he needed anything, but, as it happened in that moment, there was nothing. Tuare had proven herself adept at cleaning his inner office and did so with great alacrity, and so he rewarded her by allowing her to remain rather than go tend other tasks, and simply enjoy waiting with her husband for a chance to be useful.
That chance came unexpectedly in the form of an unfamiliar voice over message. "Oh boy, I hope this works, ah, listen, Zesshi Zetsumei told me that this would connect to the Sorcerer King. My name is Cenna Tachoni, I'm the Captain of the Black Scripture. This may sound unbelievable, but... we're siding with Zesshi, those of us still alive that is, and we're currently underneath the palace of the Elf King, it's a very weird place down here, but there are 'lots' of captives, some of them in pretty bad shape. She says she's in her father's throne room ready for you to keep a promise with her. Does this make any sense?"
Ainz held back the urge to laugh, the voice seemed boyish and confused, but at least he felt no deception coming from it, he chose to respond in his noble voice, "Yes, I am the Sorcerer King, I will identify your location and..." he hesitated, a strange location, that was what got his attention, "I will come and see you and the prisoners removed to the safety of my home. I trust I needn't relay that any attempt at betrayal will be painful for a long time before it is lethal?" He asked in the most straightforward manner he could.
"Yes, we understand, our weapons will be sheathed so that you may rest assured that we have no hostile intentions." Cenna replied amicably.
Ainz terminated the connection and traced it back to its source location with a minor detect magic origin scroll. He then turned to the Butler of Steel, "Sebas, I want you and Mare to visit the elf encampment where the Elf King resides, you should have little trouble finding him, just... listen for the sound of a woman wailing in pain, and he will be where it is. Also, have Yuri Alpha and Pestonya follow behind me, I want them to assist in getting the captives out, I want to see this 'unusual location' for myself. Tuare, you will join me as an attendant again."
"At once, My Lord!" They said with a swift bow.
Ainz opened a gate just as Sebas went out the door of the office. "Tuare, let's go." He said, and stepped through as the human maid fell into step behind him.
...Elf Army Encampment...
When Sebas and Mare stepped through the gate, they found themselves immediately consumed by a miasma of shame and loathing. It was like a fog over the camp, an aura of despair found in the worst of all conditions. They emerged behind a tent that was nothing but a patchwork of rags that had, once upon a time at least, been of fine workmanship.
There was nobody around them, the cover of night's blanket had sent most to bed, the few who weren't, were busy with tasks of their own. "Th-This place feels s-sick, like the ground has b-been poisoned." Mare said, sticking out his tongue with disgust. "And it s-stinks." He added, pinching his nose.
"We will not be here long, Lord Mare. Please bear with it. This is not a place I wish to linger either. Tell me, do you hear anything that sounds like a woman's cries?" He asked as he folded his hands behind his back. They were quiet for several moments, then Mare pointed. "Th-That way." He said distastefully, "It stinks worse over there too, but… i-if it is for Lord Ainz…" He let out an unhappy sigh.
Sebas strode purposefully as Mare shuffled along nervously beside him, clutching his staff with one hand and pinching his nose with the other. As they drew closer, Sebas detected the smell and sounds that Mare spoke of from this direction. It was the stink of unwashed sex mixed with fear and blood, and heralded by cries of misery and pain.
As they drew closer, they noticed two things, first it was a much larger and more luxurious tent. Not a patch to be had, the second was the cries and stink were louder, and the miasma of misery that the elf encampment seemed steeped in like a little bag of tea in hot water, was much greater and much darker. Sebas was accustomed to being around those he knew to be 'evil' even though they were loyal, even Demiurge, in all his warped and twisted ways though, was a comrade, a fellow creation of the supreme beings. And also, he was cruel with purpose, he was like a barrel, containing evil sealed up save when it was opened to draw from. Yet here, it was like a barrel tipped over and spilling everywhere.
In front of the tent stood two broken looking elves, their faces drawn with sadness and flinching with every cry behind them within the tent. They were so caught up in the sound and travesty behind them, that Sebas and Mare got far closer than they had any right to, before the guards noticed them.
The first emotion other than misery crossed their faces when they saw Sebas, that was hatred, burning and raw at the sight of a human face. This was quickly followed by confusion, with eyes that had been narrow and teeth bared a moment before, becoming wide and even fearful as if concerned for a little girl come to close to a predator.
Pity swept their faces as they thought they understood why Mare was here. "Has he… called for a little girl this time?" The guard asked with resigned and hopeless disgust.
Sebas looked down at Mare, and Mare looked back up in turn as they processed the question, but only Sebas understood it fully. Mare for his part asserted, "I. Am. A. Boy."
Before their confusion could grow, Sebas, who struggled to keep his face neutral through his disgust at the implied carnal desire for little Mare, asserted himself. "I am here to see your king, see me in."
"Ah, he's… he's busy." The elf guard said with a swallow that showed a lump of misery in his throat.
"Not to busy for a matter between royalty. See me in or I will see myself in." Sebas said sharply.
His killing intent grew slightly, and such was the broken spirit of these wretches that Sebas felt as much pity for them as he did for the female whose cries were growing weaker by the moment, and the elf guard looked at the royal eyes of Mare, then did as he was bade.
He stepped in and opened the tent, "Majesty, you have an urgent visitor."
The elf king grunted and dropped the woman with disgust. "Why do you interrupt me, insect?!" He snarled, "I wasn't done with this one yet."
"Yes you are." Sebas said, and he walked swiftly to the Elf King and raised his hand, then brought it down in a slap, his fist cracked across the cheek of the elf king and the impact was like the clap of thunder. It was the slap heard round the world. Only it was heard twice, then thrice, then four and five times, his open hand sending the invincible Elf King's head reeling back and forth like a fish flopping on a hook. He could scarcely grasp what was happening, his mind raced to understand that this being… this old looking human, was 'hurting' him.
The guard looked at the trio with his mouth agape and almost shaking with both disbelief and joy. The woman who the elf king had dropped scrambled backward on all fours, her neck craned to look at the unbelievable moment of deliverance as the unheard prayers of an age were answered with an open hand.
The Elf King's noble features twisted with rage and he reared back as the slapping stopped and threw a punch that had devastated mountains, or so the stories said, only for it to be caught at the wrist by Mare, who squeezed, and when he squeezed the wrist, he squeezed out a scream from the Elf King as surely as if he were squeezing juice from an orange.
"Th-This is the one? R-Right?" He asked anxiously, and Sebas gave him a nod and a pleased smile.
"I-I thought he w-was supposed t-to be strong, he-he's so weak." Mare said, shaking the wrist around and drawing more cries from the king, who desperately pulled away as if he really were a fish on a hook trying to dislodge itself. "A-Are you s-sure?" Mare asked.
"Yes Mare, he is the one." Sebas answered.
He looked down at the angry, agonized, naked brute, "You are going home now, and you will be facing someone who has waited to see you for quite some time, your life belongs to her, as per her agreement with the Sorcerer King." Sebas said calmly.
He didn't ask if the Elf King had any questions, it didn't matter, he didn't care, the gate opened behind the Elf King and Mare simply tossed him through like an undignified sack of potatoes.