Chapter 6
"Oh, hey. We can see it now!" Seated behind the other two on Rororo, Zenbel grinned at the scene ahead.
A few hundred meters in front of them was coming into view the first village that had been targeted, home of the Razor Tail tribe. It was about the same size as the Green Claw village, but it looked bigger, probably because the lizardmen from other tribes were gathering there. Since they were in the middle of preparing for the war, anyone working was moving in a hurry.
"I can't get enough of this atmosphere!" Zenbel inhaled sharply through his nose and sniffed the air. The smell got his blood pumping and invited even more excitement.
Meanwhile, Crusch, who had probably never smelled anything like it before, had a different impression from the males. "Isn't it dangerous to ride in on Rororo like this?" Currently in plant monster garb, she was anxious about the tension that she could sense from so far away. She was afraid that if they approached on the hydra, the agitated lizardmen might charge at them.
They might know Zaryusu's face, but not Crusch's or Zenbel's and besides, just because some of the Razor Tail tribe members knew him didn't mean they all did.
"No, it's the opposite. We're safe precisely because we're on Rororo."
Crusch looked puzzled—well, he couldn't see her face, but she certainly seemed puzzled—so he gave a simple explanation.
"My brother must be here already and he definitely told them we were coming on Rororo. They probably already told him they saw us. All we have to do is take our time approaching."
In fact, as Rororo slowly continued across the marsh, a single black lizardman appeared. Zaryusu waved at the familiar figure.
"That's my brother."
"Oh?"
"Hmm!"
They reacted in unison: Crusch with pure curiosity, Zenbel like a beast who had discovered another powerful animal.
As Rororo advanced, the distance between the two brothers shrank. Eventually they grew close enough that they could make out each other's faces. It had been only three days since they'd seen each other, but when they had parted ways, both had braced for the possibility that they would never meet again. Needless to say, it was an emotional reunion.
"Hey, you made it, little brother!"
"Yes, and I bring good news, brother!"
Shasuryu looked at the two behind his brother. Zaryusu felt Crusch's arms around him stiffen a bit.
Rororo stopped right in front of Shasuryu, recognizing him, and stretched out his four heads for some affection.
"Sorry, but I didn't bring any food!" Hearing that, Rororo sulkily pulled his heads away. Of course, the hydra couldn't understand the lizardman language. He must have worked it out through what could be called family understanding. Or maybe he just didn't smell any food.
"Okay, let's get down," Zaryusu said over his shoulder to the other two before nimbly hopping off. Then he reached out and took Crusch's hand.
Shasuryu's eyes paused on her as she got down and he frowned suspiciously. "What's that plant monster?"
Crusch slumped a bit at receiving the same reaction once again, but she didn't bother objecting. Her current apathy was probably thanks to Zenbel. But even she wasn't ready for the bomb Zaryusu dropped.
"She's the female I'm in love with."
"Ahh!" Shasuryu emitted a sigh of and turned his shameless gaze on Crusch, who was petrified and still holding Zaryusu's hand. "Mph…well, there's only one thing I want to ask. Is she pretty under there?"
"Yeah, I'm thinking of marr— Ngh!" A sudden pain in his hand made Zaryusu shut his mouth. Crusch had dug her claws into it. Hard.
Shasuryu observed the pair with a dazed expression. "I see…so you like the pretty ones. What was all that about, 'Oh, I can't get married'? Trying to act so cool. You just didn't have the right person… Anyhow, I'm the chief of the Green Claw tribe, Shasuryu Shasha. I'm grateful to you for becoming our ally."
His tone brooked no disagreement because of the nature of their coming together, but Crusch and Zenbel had no need to be shaken by him now.
"Likewise. I'm acting chief of the Red Eye tribe, Crusch Lulu."
Everyone thought Zenbel would reply after Crusch, but contrary to their expectations, his greeting didn't come.
He showed no restraint as he blatantly appraised Shasuryu.
Perhaps satisfied, he nodded and spoke with a feral expression. "Hmm, so you're the one, huh? The warrior who can fight with magic too? I've heard the rumors!"
"I'm surprised they've spread as far as Dragon Tusk," Shasuryu replied. They were like two wild animals acknowledging each other's presence.
"I'm the chief of Dragon Tusk. Zenbel Gugu."
"So good of you to come. I welcome you as a worthy chief for a tribe that prizes strength above all."
"Speaking of which, you wanna have a quick fight? Don't you think it'll be easier to talk if we know who's strongest?"
"…I'm not opposed to it…"
Zaryusu wasn't about to stop him. He figured it would be useful to know in various situations going forward.
Before they could begin, however, Shasuryu held up a hand to curb Zenbel's urge to fight. "…But it's kind of a bad time."
"Aww, c'moooon!"
Shasuryu grinned at Zenbel's discontent. "The ones who are out on patrol will be back pretty soon. Then we should know some details about the enemy. You can wait until after that, right?"
One hut had been designated as the meeting room for the chiefs. Inside gathered the leaders of each tribe, plus Zaryusu, for a total of six.
Zaryusu was well known among the other tribes as the male who killed the chief of the Sharp Edge tribe, previous owner of Frost Pain, as well as the hero who had the idea to form the alliance. None of the chiefs had any objection to having him in the meeting.
The hut wasn't very big, but the six of them managed to sit in a circle. When Crusch had first shown her white skin, three of the chiefs were unable to hide their surprise, but now they were composure incarnate.
After formalities, the first one to speak was the Small Fang chief. He had a small body for a lizardman, but his limbs were strong and smooth like steel. Apparently he'd been a hunter, and he probably had the best projectile weapon skills of any lizardman on the lake. In fact, he had ended his fight to become chief by lobbing a single rock.
"There were a little under five thousand enemies." He had mobilized all the hunting parties to search for the enemy army.
That was considerably larger than all the lizardman forces combined, but it wasn't outside the realm of their expectations. There were even some sighs of relief that their adversaries were not too many.
"…And their leader?"
"We couldn't quite figure it out. There was a monster like a big red lump of meat, but as you might expect, it was hard to get close enough to see much."
"What's their order of battle like?"
"It's an undead mob, skeletons and zombies."
"Were they using lizardman corpses?"
"No. I don't know much about land creatures, so I can't say for sure, but…I think they "might be human bodies. They didn't have any tails," explained the Small Fang chief.
Hearing that, Zaryusu was certain they were the plains-dwelling human race.
"We can't make the first move and attack them?"
"It'd be tough. They're located in a corner of the forest that they've cleared to create an open area. I wonder how long that took. I'm also curious where all the lumber went, since we didn't see it anywhere... Ah, sorry! Guess I'm off topic. Anyhow, they're in the woods. We may have been able to get in there, but I imagine it'd be difficult with the warriors along."
"So what about a hunter-only assault?"
"There's no way, Crusch. How do you expect us to take out five thousand undead with twenty-five hunters? They'd catch us and crush us, it'd be over in a minute," replied the Small Fang chief.
"Hmm… Then how about mobilizing the druids?" Some nodded at Shasuryu's suggestion and their eyes gathered on Crusch, but Zaryusu replied promptly.
"Let's skip this plan."
"Huh? Why?!"
"They've been keeping their promise so far, but I'm not sure they'll continue to once we go on the offensive."
"You may be right. At the very least, we should wait until everyone is here to attack."
"So are we looking at a siege, then?"
"Hard to defend." The broken speech came from one of the lizardmen— the Razor Tail chief. He was clad head to toe in white armor with a dull luster.
The armor was enchanted, if only ever so slightly. One of the lizardmen's Four Great Treasures, White Dragon Bone. It was carved from the bones of frost dragons, creatures with a natural ability to chill things and rumored to inhabit the Azerlisia Mountains. That being said, something carved out of plain bones, even the bones of an immensely powerful dragon, wouldn't be imbued with magic, but at some point, this armor had become magical.
The problem was that its power likely came from a curse.
White Dragon Bone seemed to make the wearer only as strong as the amount of intelligence they forfeited. On the body of someone wise, it could be harder than not only steel but also mythril or the legendary adamantite.
The catch was that any cleverness stolen by the armor would not return when the wearer took it off—thus its reputation of being cursed.
When the Razor Tail chief, famous for his wisdom, equipped the armor, he was able to repel all the weapons the lizardmen had. Its fellow Great Treasure Frost Pain was no exception. The armor had probably reached adamantite-level hardness.
While most who attempted to use White Dragon Bone had lost nearly all their intelligence and ended up idiots, the Razor Tail chief alone maintained a much lesser but still working mind, showing how intelligent he'd been from the start. That was why ever since he became chief, his tribe hadn't held a fight to decide a new one. He spoke again.
"Here marsh. Bad footing. Walls break easy."
"I see. So we should be more aggressive?" asked Crusch.
"Heh. Sounds good to me! Attacking feels better than defending anyhow. If everybody takes three or four? We just gotta beat'em, right? It'll be a cinch!"
The other participants all just looked at one another. Eventually, Crusch, overlooking Zenbel's remarks, began to speak. "The problem will be if they have backup… It's also possible they're still assembling their force."
"Nnn, I wonder. It doesn't seem like they can fit any more undead in the clearing they have, at that size… Well, but they could just put them here and there throughout the forest."
Undead didn't need food, drink, or rest, so they didn't require a large open campsite. For that reason, it was difficult to accurately estimate their numbers from the size of their location.
"We should keep the possibility of a siege battle in mind, just in case."
"Then we of the Red Eye tribe will reinforce the walls so they'll be able to withstand such a battle. Thanks in advance for your cooperation."
All the other chiefs nodded in approval, even forlorn-looking Zenbel.
"For the time being, let's prepare for a siege. Also, we need to define a system of command."
"For starters, let's have Crusch lead the druids. We should have her command them during the war, too."
As everyone agreed with the Small Fang chief's proposal, one voice objected. "The chiefs should be a separate group." It had been Zaryusu who spoke, and all eyes gathered on him.
"Aha. I see what you mean, Zaryusu," said Shasuryu.
"Plan to make… elite squad?"
"That's right. There are a lot of enemies. If we don't take out their commander, we may lose. And if monsters like those messengers to each village come out, we won't be able to beat them with numbers—we'll need a small select group."
"But don't we need commanding officers?"
"Can… pick from… head warriors."
"We're fine without commanders. All we gotta do is hit the enemies in front of us!"
"…What if we had a separate group to give orders from the rear and only engage if we find their HQ or the battle takes a turn for the worse?"
"Sounds like a plan to me! Okay, so how about this group of six, including Zaryusu?" said Zenbel.
"No, let's break it down further into three and three," said Crusch. Splitting up meant "they would be able to fight on two fronts, but it would make them weaker. "One group to go for the enemy commander and another to hang back on defense."
"Then it would be smart to split up into us three chiefs, and then Zaryusu and the two chiefs he brought over. The squad roles we can play by ear, offered the Small Fang chief.
"Mmm, I'm fine with that. Zaryusu?" said Shasuryu.
"Yeah, that'll work. No objections, Crusch, Zenbel?"
"I'm fine with it."
"Me, too, although it's too bad I can't just punch at random. You beat me, though, so I'll follow your lead."
"So we only have four days left until they attack, right?"
"Yup."
"Then what do we need to do?"
"Get some stones for ammunition, reinforce the walls, set up communication among tribes. We need a system to make sure everything is getting done."
"The Small Fang tribe is for leaving the assigning of all these tasks up to Shasuryu like last time."
"Us fine… too. You two…opinions?"
Crusch and Zenbel nodded their agreement.
"Then I'll go ahead and take command. Let's figure out a detailed plan for the next three days."
Having finished his work for the day, Zaryusu walked silently through the busy village. Several lizardmen saw the brand on his chest and Frost Pain at his hip and greeted him respectfully. It was kind of a bother, but he had to reply to keep morale up. He put on the most confident expression and responded as was expected of a hero.
Projecting that attitude, he headed to a part of the village's outer wall.
A hurried construction project was under way there, and several lizardmen worked on it single-mindedly.
First, they made a frame by filling the spaces between wooden posts with plants. Next, they coated it with pasty mud. The priests cast some kind of spell, and all the moisture evaporated at once to create a cracked wall. They repeated the same process on the back side.
"Oh, Zaryusu. What's up?"
"Nothing. I just wondered what you were doing." Zaryusu sloshed across the marsh to stand next to the overseer, plant monster Crusch. He pointed at the work going on in front of them. "What in the world is that?"
"A mud wall. We have no idea what kind of monsters might show up, so we thought it would be good to build a wall so they can't get into the village so easily, but…we don't have much time, and we're not even halfway done."
"I see… But isn't mud really easy to break through?"
"No worries. A thin coat of mud is easy to break but not a thick wall. It's a rush job, and we weren't able to collect enough materials, so rain'll weaken it a bit, but this wall won't be destroyed so easily."
Come to think of it, anything thick enough is hard to break. Zaryusu was convinced, but despite the dozen or so lizardmen frantically building, the pace was dismally slow. Tortoise slow. Even if they did their best for three more days, the wall wouldn't get much longer. Still, something was better than nothing.
"Right now, we're changing the parts we won't be able to cover to a sturdy fence." She pointed.
The workers had stood the posts up on triangular bases. Multiple ropes of woven plant material were strung loosely between them. Zaryusu remembered this was what the fences around the Red Eye village looked like.
"What is that?"
"You weigh down the bases to make the posts impossible to pull or push over. Then the ropes are positioned so no one can slip between the posts. If you stretch them taut, they're easier to cut with a sword, so you leave them loose on purpose." Crusch replied to his question a little eagerly.
All during their trip she had been learning things from him, so she was happy to be the teacher for once. And there was another emotion she felt.
"I see… Yeah, that'll take a lot to knock down."
Crusch breathed deeply with pride when she heard Zaryusu's admiration.
Zaryusu nodded emphatically.
The rushed fortifications were developing well. They weren't much compared to what humans or dwarves could build, but considering they were on uneven marshland, there was probably nothing better.
"By the way, Zaryusu, did you tell the warriors—" Just then, they heard the voices of warriors shouting on the wind. They were excited about something.
"What the heck is going on? That's a cheer I've heard somewhere before… Oh! It's like when you were fighting. Could it be your brother and Zenbel?"
Zaryusu nodded, noting the uneasiness in Crusch's eyes.
"Won't it be trouble if your brother loses? He's supposed to be the commander in chief."
"Who knows? But he's strong, you know. Especially if he has time to use his magic powers, he'll grow stronger and stronger. My brother can definitely beat me if I'm not careful."
Shasuryu's fighting prowess, especially after casting some protective spells on himself, was no joke. Also, though he probably wouldn't use his attack magic in a sparring match, if he started casting, he'd be so strong that Zaryusu wouldn't have a chance without Frost Pain. After all, when Zaryusu had defeated the sword's former owner, it had been Shasuryu who originally forced the owner to use up the entire day's worth of Frost Pain's power.
"I guess it's okay, then…"
"Crusch couldn't seem to conceal her fear. As Zaryusu considered whether he should let her see his brother fight, he remembered about a worry he hadn't mentioned yet. He wondered whether he should say it or not, but then made up his mind.
It wasn't fair to say something he'd withheld on purpose now that everything was decided, but he couldn't suppress the simple yet intense feeling that he didn't want to hide anything from the female he loved.
"I am worried about one thing…"
He couldn't keep the fear out of his voice, and Crusch smiled. Because she'd known there had been something. That smugness was so unlike her, so out of place, that Zaryusu couldn't get any more words out.
The one who spoke instead was Crusch. "The thing you didn't say back there? The scenario where the enemy expects this? The scenario where they're just waiting for us to form an alliance?"
Zaryusu didn't say anything. She was right.
The possibility lingered that the enemy had given the lizardman tribes time, clearly stated the order in which villages would be attacked, and allowed them to make war preparations only because they wanted to crush all the tribes in one fell swoop.
"There are a lot of things to worry about, especially for someone like you who thinks so much. But I believe we should just try to fight first… and then think from there?"
"Even if we win, that doesn't mean they'll just give up. No, honestly, the chance they'll give up after one fight is so low."
"Maybe so. But you were right about what you said that night, and look—" She raised her hand. She wasn't pointing to anything in particular, but Zaryusu understood that she meant the whole village. "All of us are working together toward a common goal."
It was true. All the different lizardmen were advancing toward a common goal. There was no record of such thing happening ever before.
He remembered the feast held the previous night to celebrate the five-tribe alliance. There hadn't been any distinction among tribes. Of course, it would be a lie to say the survivors of the scattered clans had no hard feelings, but they had the will to swallow them for this alliance.
It's so ironic, Zaryusu thought without moving his lips. He had thought their isolation would continue on and on, but now everyone had united for the first time against a common enemy.
"What we have to protect is possibilities, Zaryusu. This alliance among all the tribes should allow us to grow."
The mud walls were technology Zaryusu had never seen before, but another tribe knew it well. Soon, this type of wall would spread through all the tribes. With protection that sturdy, monsters wouldn't be able to get into the villages anymore. That would lower the chances of weaker lizardmen and children being attacked, and the population would increase. Zaryusu's fish preserves could provide food for the growing numbers. There could even be a day in the not-so-distant future when they made one big lizardman tribe on the marsh.
"Hey, let's win this, Zaryusu. There's no way to know what will happen next. It could be that if we win this one fight it'll all be over. Then we can grow. Maybe the world will be a nice place where we don't kill one another over food." Crusch smiled. It lit up her face and the one looking at it.
Time spent idly waiting normally drags on and on, but before a deadline for preparations, it always goes by surprisingly fast.
And so, the appointed time had arrived.
That day, the sun climbed agonizingly slowly into a clear blue sky. The wind carried not a single sound, and the world was wrapped in a silence so deep it was painful.
The air was so tense a pinprick would pop it.
Someone swallowed hard; someone else was breathing raggedly.
How much time had passed since the gathered lizardmen had stopped talking?
Suddenly a single black cloud appeared, like a hole in the heavens. Just like last time, it spread out to cover the blue sky.
Once it had encompassed the whole expanse, blocking the light of the sun to cast the area into gloom…
The lizardmen looked on as countless undead slowly appeared at the boundary between the woods and the marsh. They couldn't tell how many because of the trees. But the way they came one after the other made them seem endless.
The attackers consisted of 2,200 zombies, 2,200 skeletons, 300 undead beasts, 150 skeleton archers and 100 skeleton riders: 4,950 in total, plus the unseen commander and his guards.
Defending against them was the five-tribe lizardman alliance.
From the Green Claw tribe: 103 warriors, 5 druids, 7 hunters, 124 males and 105 females.
From the Small Fang tribe: 65 warriors, 1 druid, 16 hunters, 111 males and 94 females.
From the Razor Tail tribe: 89 warriors, 3 druids, 6 hunters, 99 males and 81 females.
From the Dragon Tusk tribe: 125 warriors, 2 druids, 10 hunters, 98 males and 32 females.
From the Red Eye tribe: 47 warriors, 15 priests, 6 hunters, 59 males, and 77 females.
It all was 429 warriors, 26 druids, 45 hunters, 491 males and 389 females for a total of 1.380, plus the chiefs and Zaryusu.
A war where one side outnumbered the other three to one was about to begin.